At the Vatican in Rome last February, at the request of Archbishop Leonard Blair, Pope Francis conferred Papal Honors on fourteen people from the Archdiocese of Hartford, in recognition of their service to the Church . These papal honors were bestowed by the Holy Father on the occasion and in recognition of the 175th anniversary of the creation of the (Arch)Diocese of Hartford. Mr. Robert J. O’Hara and Mr. Jean-Pierre van Rooy, both from Saint Catherine of Siena Parish, were two of the fourteen honorees upon whom the Holy Father bestowed these papal honors, both received the Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

Stenciled on the back sanctuary walls of Saint Catherine of Siena church are the Beatitudes—which are considered the blueprint for the Christian life. In fact, they represent the spiritual and corporal works of mercy that each one of us, as baptized believers, are called to support and promote in-and-through our daily lives of discipleship. One of those ongoing humanitarian aspects of the Catholic Church here in Hartford is the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA) which provides financial resources to Catholics and non-Catholics alike

As pastor I am reaching out to all our Mass attendees and I am asking for your assistance. Our parish is in need of additional ushers and lead ushers at our Masses. What does a Lead usher do? A lead usher arrives early before the Mass begins and organizers those who will help take up the collection, locates and confirms the family who will bring up the bread and wine in the offertory as well as welcomes people to Mass and offers them assistance to a pew 

A growing trend among some Roman Catholic families is to not have a funeral Mass for their deceased family members. Rather, they choose to have a “service” at the funeral home – sometimes with a priest and prayers, sometimes without. What is the cause of this growing trend? I am sure there are many answers to that question. However, one unsettling trend appears to be the feeling that the death of an individual and their religious preferences are less about the deceased and more about the remaining family members of the deceased

The Triduum—Holy Week—in the explanation of the Passion, death and Resurrection of Christ was all about the unconditional love of God for all of us, through His Son Jesus. Today we hear of Christ’s focus on love once again—but this love, which is again meant for us all, comes in a restoring act of Peter through God’s mercy. Today’s gospel has some pretty interesting parts to it—parts that are meant to make us ponder what Christ is asking of us and how we are going to respond to being both loved and challenged in our own faith lives…if we truly wish to be Christ’s disciples.

Our Youth Ministry is working on another mission trip. This time instead of urban Boston they will travel to upstate New York and work with people in rural setting. There will be yard work, house repairs and other manual labor. They will have opportunities to see how it feels to be of service to another. Christ gave us the perfect example of caring: He encountered the poor and the sick and the disadvantaged and He did not remove them from His sight but rather engaged them and entered into their lives.