Many thanks to all the Saint Catherine of Siena parishioners who joined with folks from Avon Dental and The Hartford to make sure that The Peter Benjamin Sok Spaghetti Fundraiser last month was a great success. All the planning, setting-up, cooking, serving, organizing the raffle, and cleaning-up truly paid off – more than $18,000.00 was raised for the Peter Benjamin Sok Trust Fund. Congratulations to all involved, and thanks to the generosity of so many people, especially our parishioners. Stephen Sok, Peter’s dad, wrote a beautiful touching note of thanks to all, and while we are pleased to have been part of this great community event we shall continue to pray for and be there for Stephen and Peter as a community of faith. God bless you all!
A Gentle H1N1 Reminder. Hoping to keep healthy means a wee bit of common sense during this cold and flu season. Please remember that a wave of the hand, a nod of the head, or a nice broad smile is just fine as one of the many acceptable Signs of Peace during the Sacred Liturgy of the Mass. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion will also continue to use the hand sanitizer before distributing Holy Communion, and the parish will do so only under the species of the Sacred Body of Christ.
Holy Communion and Celiac Disease. If you are allergic to wheat and cannot consume gluten, please see me (Fr. Michael) before Mass in the sacristy to let me know you are at a specific Mass. Then, come to me at Holy Communion time as I will have consecrated gluten-free hosts for you.
Sunday, the 32nd of Ordinary Time. In this weekend’s readings we are given two examples of how to trust in God—and the two examples come to us from two widows in need. In the first reading from 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah begs a poor widow for a drink of water—and a little cake to eat. Elijah could have asked the well-to-do of the community for the water and food but opted to seek the resources from someone who was at the point of destitution. And in spite of her great need, the widow gives to Elijah what she has, all based on his promise that ―the God of Israel will make her handful of flour and her last little bit of oil last until the rain returns. Of the little she has, God makes enough.‖ Why does God present this example of generosity when He could have sent the prophet to the wealthy of the town and the end result could have been so much easier? Yet God uses the poor and destitute to illustrate generosity. In the Gospel of Mark we hear the well-known story of the widow’s mite, another ideal of giving freely. Christ’s disciples must have been surprised by His description of this story of giving where He highlights the poor woman who gives two little coins to the treasury over all the wealthy people who were depositing large sums of money into the treasury.
Why is the "insignificant" donor so important in this weekend’s sacred teaching? God measures our giving not by how much we give, but by how we give. Do we trust enough in God’s goodness and grace that we are confident that He will make all well, even our misfortune will be transformed into goodness when we trust fully in God. It is also less important to concern ourselves with the quantity of giving and more important that we focus on the pureness or quality of our giving. Touching the lives of others is the great concern of God, no matter the size of the act, for the generosity of our action is not determined by the materialistic value attached to it. The "prime mover" rather needs to be our desire to do God’s will, no matter how we go about being His light in the world.
Catholic Signs. In the Catholic Church there are many signs and symbols which help to explain the mysteries of God. These signs help us to "wrap our human minds" around the unseen God whose love is beyond all telling, and who desires us to freely return His love. Actions as well as words tell the world who we are and in what we truly believe. Dr. Scott Hahn, a professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, has written a book entitled Signs of Life. Over the next few months I hope to summarize his work on various topics that relate to our Catholic practices—rituals and beliefs. Though I encourage you to read his book for yourself. It is a great work for both the "beginner" as well as for the "life-long" Catholic.
One of the 40 signs Dr. Hahn’s book discusses is Posture. Why is it important that during the celebration of the Eucharist there are different forms of posture at particular times in the Mass? What is it about kneeling, sitting, or standing during the Mass that says something about what we truly believe. Dr. Hahn reminds us that at the Mass we are coming before the real presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist and our posture—kneeling during the consecration—illustrates that we are in awe before the God of all. We are His creation and He is the Creator. It is easy to understand the significance of kneeling and standing at Mass as both are signs of respect (we stand for a judge as he or she enters court), but what about sitting during the liturgy of the word? What does sitting say about what we are doing during the readings? Dr. Hahn says that ―…sitting is hardly a neutral posture. When we sit, we assume a receptive position. We are listening, taking in the Word of God. At Mass we assume a posture or position in life that is different from all other aspects of our daily living. We are not at the store, nor on the soccer fields. Our disposition is very important—how we dress, what we do, our attitudes and our actions speaks volumes as to what we truly believe—to us, to others, and to God.
Archbishop’s Annual Appeal 2009. A recent letter from Archbishop Mansell asked me to thank all "the good people of Saint Catherine of Siena Parish" for their generosity to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA). As a parish we raised $77,720.00 for this year’s Appeal. Just over 25% of our parishioners donated to the Appeal, with an average gift pledged of $337.92.
Other churches in the Farmington Valley raised the following totals: St. Ann, Avon, $196,890.00; Sacred Heart, Bloomfield, $54,585.00; St. Patrick, Collinsville, $57,026.00; St. Patrick, Farmington, $111,680.00; St. Theresa, Granby, $59,610.00; St. Joseph, Poquonock, $51,975.00; St. Mary, Simsbury, $174,470.00; St. Bernard, Tariffville, $53,374.00; St. Mary, Unionville, $89,055.00; St. Gabriel, Windsor, $50,282.00; and St. Gertrude, $22,285.00. I very much appreciate all who donated to this year’s AAA. With the current economic conditions, the need is so great. Your generosity is truly a sign of the true type of giving God calls for. Pure generosity! For those who have not yet donated, it is never too late. Envelopes are in the atrium and vestibule, and the amount matters not, rather the act of giving is what connects us to our brothers and sisters in need—and to God.
Peace!
