Pentecost Sunday (a solemnity) marks the end of the Easter Season and celebrates the “birthday” of the Church as we note the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the beginning of the Church. The story of Pentecost is found in today’s first reading (Acts 2:1-11) where we hear of the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles with tongues of fire which enabled every person in Jerusalem—whether Jew, Gentile, Arab, Parthian, Cretean, Phamphylian and others—to understand, in their own languages, these Galilean apostles proclaim the mighty deeds of God. Click to read more...

Thank you! A very BIG thank-you to the ladies who keep the altar linens so clean, pressed and beautiful for the celebration of the Mass. Without your quiet work, the reverence and prayerfulness of the Mass may not be fulfilled. I greatly appreciate all that you do to make sure that such care is taken to attend to the altar linens. Many, many thanks! –Fr. Michael

The nine days between Ascension and Pentecost are the original novena, a time set apart by Jesus himself: “He enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, ‘but to wait for the promise of the Father.’” (Acts of the Apostles 1:4) This is known as the Pentecost Novena.

Finding God?! We hear in the well-known saying, “Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus, Deus Aderit” which, loosely translated, means “Whether or not you ask for him, God is present.” This phrase, from the Latin, was attributed to Erasmus but it might be even earlier. And as Catholic Christians we know full well that while no one has ever seen God…God is here. CLICK TO READ MORE...

Thursday, May 17, The Ascension of the Lord—a Holy Day of Obligation. Are you confused as to why we celebrate this holy day on Thursday and not, as many dioceses do, on the following Sunday? The Feast of the Ascension remains a Holy Day of Obligation throughout the United States. The day on which it is celebrated, however, varies. Click to read more...

A big congratulations to younger religious education students who participated in our Lenten “Children Making Change” project, aimed at raising money to support neglected and abused Connecticut children through the good efforts of “Covenant to Care,” a Connecticut non-profit organization that helps children in need. Click to read more...

Anyone who has tended to the needs of a garden, even if just a few plantings in the yard, knows that for a plant to grow, to flourish, to bear fruit, it is necessary to for the branches to remain part of the whole plant. Without that connectedness, the life of the branch, separated from the plant, dies. It bears no flower, no fruit—no nothin’. Click to read more...