Parishioner wins professional award, parish
receives financial windfall. Mr. Robert
Hensley, a long-time and active member of Saint
Catherine of Siena Parish, has been recognized for
his professional work and was given the Deborah
Eldridge Service Award for the Estate and Business
Planning Council of Hartford. Bob is president of Robert
Hensley & Associates, LLC, of Avon, which specializes in the
services of insurance, security brokers, employee benefits
compensation plans, and financial planning. Because of his
expertise and professionalism—and due to his love of and
generosity of the parish—Bob directed the award’s financial
gift—of $500.00—to be given to the Maintenance Fund of
Saint Catherine of Siena for use in our roof repair projects.
The financial award, recommended by Bob, is administered
by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
I wish to thank Bob for his thoughtful generosity by
remembering our parish needs and to offer him our congratulations
on this recognition in his professional career.
And speaking of parish projects. By way of
update on some work being accomplished here at Saint
Catherine of Siena Parish: you will note some interior ceiling
work being done where past rain damage (on the inside
ceiling of the Church to the left of the vestibule inside doors,
over the gift table in the center of the Church, and over the
doorways where the Church and the Atrium meet) had
caused some stains, sagging overhead plaster, and large,
dangling paint chips. Inside the sacristy— was extremely
small and afforded both little room for people to ready
themselves for Mass as well as limited closets. We now have
taken down the inner wall which backed up to a rarely used
storage room, expanding the sacristy. We built a storage
closet and moved the credenza out of the middle of the sacristy.
Now we have ample storage space for the sacred vessels,
vestments and all other liturgical needs. This will free
up the closet space along the rear wall so that we can unclutter
the Library and religious education/youth ministry
offices and properly store our items. This will go a long way
in keeping things neat and making our parish center and
Church appear as the sacred space that it is.
Over at the rectory we’re making space for
parish needs: The former chapel, which was originally
used for daily Mass and for baptisms prior to the Church
being built, had been used in later years as a great room.
The original rectory living room had been converted into
the priest’s office and the former housekeeper’s room became
the parish office. During the recent rectory renovations—
painting, carpet replacements and flooring upgrades,
which nearly all of the labor was performed by parishioners
and much of the materials used were donated or offered at
greatly reduced rates by parishioners—enabled me to reclaim
the living room for living space and make a smaller
sitting room into my office. With that I have been able to
make the former great room/chapel now available for use
for parish meetings.
Since there is very little meeting space in the new
parish center this causes great scheduling problems for our
many ministries, religious education, youth ministry, parish
council, finance council and other key meetings.
Opening up this rectory space for parish use will greatly enhance
the logistics of our meeting needs. As I am only one
person I do not feel the need for the additional living space.
In order to ready the room for public use, a few small alterations
have to be made. Once the alterations are complete
and the room is repainted, we will be up-and-running. It is
my hope to have the room ready by September. Storage
space in the rectory basement was created for the once-ayear
items such as Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter
decorations. By removing these items from the Church
proper and from the shed, we have been able to clean up our
storage areas and make them more accessible to those who
use them often. I appreciate all who volunteered to clean up
and organize the shed—mainly members from the Men’s
and Women’s Clubs.
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In
today’s Gospel of John, Chapter 6, we hear of the account of
the feeding of thousands of people with just “…five barley
loaves and two fish.” It is a very familiar story and one that
offers to us a great insight into the magnificence of God and
His only Son. In this account of the feeding, we must see as
the main theme the abundance, rather the superabundance—
of Jesus’ love for His people. Not only does He feed
the hungry with more than they can consume—there are
five wicker baskets left over—but He is supplying them with
fulfillment not only in their physical need for nourishment
but He is taking care of their complete spiritual needs.
We see in this gospel account the great love of Jesus
who cares so much for His people that He concerns Himself
not only with their spiritual education—teaching them
about the Ways of God through His ministry and mission,
after all He has been curing the sick, raising the dead, casting
out demons, and preaching the Word of God in the temples
and in the streets but now He is using His divine power
to sufficiently meet the physical needs of those in His
charge. And, He not only gives them what they need—
physical nourishment—but so much so that they have more
than they need. We see that God will provide not only for
our immediate needs but for our eternal needs. He will give
us the earth and all that is upon it. He will give us life to live
in the here and now. And then He will grant us the graces to
live with Him eternally. In His superabundant love, our God
will not only meet our needs but continue to fill us to the
point of unending satisfaction. And, even when it seemingly
looks empty—only five loaves and a few fish—God can and
will provide.
The questions He asks us is, “Do we have trust in
Him?” Will we sufficiently place our hope and trust in the
Lord that He will provide for our needs? Can we distinguish
between our “needs” and our “wants,” and do we have faith
in our God that He knows what is best for us?
