A happy and blessed Easter to everyone here at Saint Catherine of Siena parish—our parishioners and all our visitors who are joining us for the celebration of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ! It is our collective prayer—and that of the whole Church—that your Easter Season be filled with the divine and unconditional Love of God; that He who created you out of Love, and then called you to Eternal Life with Him in heaven, now blesses you with His Sacramental Graces as His Mystical Body in the life of the Church.

Alleiuia! Christ is risen from the dead, and in Him we too are born to a new and indestructible life. To Him be glory and praise foreverl During this Easter season, we are called to recognize the depth of God’s love and mercy revealed in Christ‘s sacrifice on the Cross and poured out for us in the sacramental life of the Church, especially in Baptism and the Hoiy Eucharist.

The Easter Triduum is a period (of three days) in the calendar of the Catholic Church that spans from Holy Thursday through to Glorious Easter Saturday. These are the three days that immediately proceeds Easter Sunday, when the Church erupts with celebration over Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. There is great celebration as the Church remembers this event in the history of mankind because it is the realization of God’s plan of salvation for us all. It means that through the blood of Jesus, through His resurrection from the dead, God has made a way for us all to fulfil the real purpose for our existence; that is to live with Him forever.

As the Faith Formation year heads to a close, I want to express my sincere thanks to aeveryone who makes our program such a success—the parents, the students and the teachers. We are blessed at Saint Catherine of Siena with a large and growing Faith Formation program: dedicated and committed parents—that is not always the case in every parish, with more than 650 students who are active and involved, and of course a dedicated group of catechists (more than 60 volunteers). Kathi Bonner, our director of Faith Formation, puts her heart and soul into this program and your children’s successes.

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”(v.11) In today’s Gospel of John, 8:1-11, unfortunately we hear a consistent message of forgiveness and Truth that often times is received or heard superficially which leads some to go into the “weeds” of the scriptures meaning, viewing this reading’s meaning in a confused or conflated way. There is an adage in communications that says: Communications is less of what’s said and more of what’s heard. That (mis)understanding can be applicable to today’s parable too.

The Gospel on this Laetare Sunday Today’s Prodigal Son parable is only told in the Lukan Gospel, chapter 15. And scripture scholars have noted that if a “story” is told in a gospel, the concern or problem of that parable was probably happening in the local church at that time.

On March 29 th a movie was released nation- wide entitled “Unplanned.” The movie tells the true story of Abby Johnson, a Planned Parenthood clinic director who left the nation’s largest abortion provider in 2009 after a conversion experience (she witnessed an abortion at her clinic for the first time). Ashley Bratcher, the actress staring in the role of Abby John- son, was herself nearly aborted by her mother when she was 19 years old, but her mom changed her mind and left the procedure room at the clinic

Thanks to the generosity of our parishioners, our monthly collection for the Repair & Refurbishment fund enables us to take timely care of our facilities—from heating and air conditioning concerns to electrical, building safety and regular repairs. CLICK TO READ THE DETAILS!

Archbishop Leonard Blair awards the medal at the Cathedral in the month of March, and this year on March 31st, the Archbishop will bestow on Lorraine Cosgrove the honor of the Saint Joseph Medal of Appreciation. The medal is named after the patron Saint of our Archdiocese, who happens to also be the patron saint of the Universal Church, St. Joseph the foster father of Jesus Christ.

This coming Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. our parish will host our annual Lenten penance service for everyone. It will begin with a brief prayer service, an examination of conscious and then individual confessions offered by 4 different priests.  Haven’t been to confession in a long time? No worries! The priests are here to help…and there will be cheat-sheets available in the pews, take a moment to review them and ask any questions.

Our youth and all their chaperones will head out to Boston for the annual Mission Trip next weekend and we will certainly keep them in our prayers for great success in seeing Christ in everyone they meet on the streets, the Common and in the homeless shelters. We know that these missionary disciples will keep Saint Catherine of Siena parish in their prayers, too.

On Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. our parish will celebrate our traditional Lenten Penance service in the church proper. Four priests will hear Confessions. Come be refreshed by this Sacrament which was instituted by Christ and given to His Church to heal and strengthen all of us as we journey toward Him in this world.

In the Gospel of Luke (4:1-13) this weekend we are transported to the Mt of Temptations near Jericho. While we are not sure of the exact location, that is the exact “mountain”, we do know that Jesus was in the Wadi Qelt desert near Jericho, a desert that is very barren--dry and rugged--not an easy place in which to be.

Q. The Missal for the Mass uses the word “epiclesis” when the priest extends his hands over the bread and wine at the Consecration, what does it mean and why is it used? Q. How and why did the kiss of peace or shaking hands, at Mass originate? Do you think our Lord shook hands with His apostles when He said, “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give you? How can this practice be avoided by those who find it obnoxious?

Just as a bad tree cannot bear any good fruit or polluted wells do not offer any drinkable water, what comes from within us is—what we are (and seen by others). Today’s gospel reading uses a number of well-known parables to make a powerful point: that what comes out of us—our words and deeds—is who we are.

This Sunday I get a rare opportunity in the proclamation of the Gospel at Mass—I get a “do over!” This past Tuesday I was joined by 14 youth ministry members as well as some of their parents and our youth ministry leader, Manuela Hanshaw and her assistant Ashley Kara at the taping this weekend’s television Mass for broadcast on Sunday. I say a “do over” as I get to offer a more refined homily (hopefully) after reviewing the notes from Tuesday.

On Friday, March 8th at 7 pm. in the church proper the Women’s Club Ministry will present Mary’s Way of the Cross as part of our Lenten observance of the Stations of the Cross and have invited newly consecrated Hartford Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt to offer a spiritual Marian reflection on the Way of the Cross

Today’s gospel from Luke is a shorter and more direct version of Matthew’s coverage of the Beatitudes:the teachings of Jesus Christ. In Matthew the sermon takes place on the mountain top, in Luke it is on a stretch of land down below. The certainty of the locale is not all that important, but rather the teachings and their meanings are the key message.

This Sunday’s gospel offers us the story of exhausted fishermen who have experienced what seems to have been a fruitless, night-long fishing trip and now the good Lord is telling them to get back into their boats and back to work—during the daytime? The first question in any fishermen’s mind, according to scripture scholars, would have been: “what does this rabbi (clergyman) know about fishing?” After all, any fisherman would tell you that the best time to fish is at night and the best place is close to the shoreline, where the water is shallow and the plant life, which the fish feed on, is plentiful. So why listen to Him?

Connecticut pro-lifers need to turn out Monday in numbers as big as possible and testify against this bill! Please make plans now to be there. CLICK ON TITLE FOR IMPORTANT DETAILS: