Bulletin Deadline: Monday at 10:00 a.m. Website News: to: Pastor The Reverend Michael Whyte,

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1 A Parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford Mass/Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vigil at 5:00 p.m. Sunday Masses at 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, NO 5:00 p.m. Sunday Mass) Daily Mass at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Wednesday, and Friday. (Yearly) Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday from 4:00 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Baptisms and Baptismal Preparation: Please call the parish office at Sacrament of Holy Matrimony: Please call the parish office at at least 6 months in advance Choir Practices: Adult Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Youth Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Contemporary Music Group Sundays at 4:00 p.m. Bulletin Deadline: Monday at 10:00 a.m. Website News: to: StCatherineWebMaster@Comcast.net 265 Stratton Brook Road, Box 184, West Simsbury, Connecticut Tel: /Fax: stcathy@comcast.net Website: WELCOME! We welcome all visitors who are celebrating with us today. As is our custom at St. Catherine of Siena, please remain in your pew for the singing of the first and last verses of the recessional hymn. Parish Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. The St. Catherine Parish Legacy Fund is committed to ensuring the long-term stability of our parish and its ministries. Please consider a gift in lieu of flowers upon a love one's passing as a way to ensure our community will thrive well into the future. Third Sunday of Lent 28 February 2016 Pastor The Reverend Michael Whyte, PARISH STAFF Administrative Assistant-Parish Office Mrs. Lisa Cerchia or stcathy@comcast.net Director of Religious Education Mrs. Kathi Bonner or kathidre@aol.com Director of Youth Ministry Mrs. Judy Pluta or judyplutaym@gmail.com Director of Music Ministry Mrs. Susan Zybert or susanzybert@comcast.net Facilities Manager Mr. Michael Grappone, Parish Council President Mr. Jim Peters or jpetersjjr@gmail.com Finance Council Chairman Mr. Scott Muryasz Parish Legacy Fund Chairman Mr. Peter Pabich, Parish Lay Trustees Mrs. Melissa Horbal, Mr. Joseph Capozzoli, Thanks for worshiping with us. If you would like to join our parish family, fill out a yellow membership form found in the vestibule or atrium and mail it to us, drop it in the collection basket or call us at We Welcome You to Our Family of Faith!

2 WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS Saturday, February 5:00 pm Mass for Jack Winters, birthday remembrance, requested by his wife; Sunday, February 8:00 am Mass for William Rose, 21st anniversary, requested by his family; Sunday, February 28th@ 11:00 am Mass for Nicole Larramee, 18th anniversary, requested by Fred Prior; Sunday, February 5:00 p.m. Mass for Eileen Adams, requested by Julia & Myles McCabe. Monday, February 8:30 a.m. Mass for Margaret Casey, requested by Julia & Myles McCabe; Tuesday, March 8:30 am Mass for Keiko Osborne, 1st anniversary, requested by her family; Tuesday, March 9:00 a.m. ROSARY; Wednesday, March 8:30 a.m. Mass for Special Intention; Friday, March 8:30 am Mass for Joan Tschinkle, requested by Fran Sethre; Saturday, March 5:00 pm Mass for Joan H. Cummings, requested by the Burke Family; Sunday, March 8:00 am Mass for Josephine DeAngelis; Sunday, March 11:00 am Mass for Patrick Duggan, requested by the Reilley Family; and, Sunday, March 5:00 p.m. Mass for Grade 7 Class. Religious Education News CHILDREN MAKING CHANGE Be Merciful Like the Father! This Lent the children, K-8, will participate in "Children Making Change" to support Connecticut Children's Medical Center. Children can make a difference just by bringing in their change each Sunday during Lent. Each week the "change" will add up to helping other children who are in need. Watch the big container get filled-up each Sunday of Lent and see how your change makes all the difference. CONFIRM I & II Classes meet again today, Sunday, Feb. 28th. GRADE 8 Students will be rehearsing The Living Stations of the Cross for the next 3 weeks beginning today. Please make attendance a priority so the teens are prepared for this program on Friday, March 11th. Grade 7 Class Mass is Sunday, March 6th at 5pm. All 7th graders are required to attend this Mass. Students should arrive at church no later than 4:30 pm to practice the parts. If possible, please remember to bring a non-perishable food item for the food pantry. YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS Offertory Collection Weekly Collection: $10, Loose Cash/Checks $ 1, Envelopes $ 9, Cathedraticum* -$ School Tax* -$ *Parish taxes (5.5%) paid to the Archdiocese for services to the parish. Youth Mission Trip..$115.00(additional) Next Week s Second Collection is for Easter Flowers. Please support our Lenten Mercy Project Week 4 Shelter the Homeless. Divine Mercy Holy Hour will be celebrated at St. Ann s in Avon on Sunday, February 28 th from 2:30-3:30 p.m. In His revelations to Saint Faustina, Our Lord asked for special prayer and meditation on His Passion. Please join us for this special devotion. SENIOR HIGH Sunday, February 28th, 4:30 sharp-6:00 pm MISSION TEAM MANDATORY ORIENTATION MEETING. (Please be on time. Confirmation class moves into Russell Hall at 6:00 pm so we must start and end on time.) Sunday, March 6th-6:00 pm The first half hour of Youth Group will be spent making Easter baskets for children in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Baskets, grass and cellophane wrap will be provided. PLEASE BRING: small wrapped candies to fill the baskets. JUNIOR HIGH Monday, March 7th, 7:00 p.m. Join us tonight as we make Easter baskets for children in soup kitchens and homeless shelters. PLEASE BRING: small wrapped candies to fill baskets. Group activities round out the evening.

3 FROM FATHER MICHAEL... Discipleship: How Shall We Communicate Our Role? The Lenten Season highlights the call from Christ for us to be vigilant in our faith and our discipleship from the overall theme of Lent which is prayer, almsgiving and fasting to the Sunday readings and gospels which calls us to an active faith or lived faith. From some modern-day believers you often hear that I am Catholic but I cannot bring my faith into the public arena. Some even strongly question the Church when she involves herself in public policy discussions. They simply do not see the connection between faith and government, usually misconstruing our Founding Fathers emphasis on the Separation of Church and State. They mistakenly believe that this separation was meant to bar the influence of faith in the public arena. Nothing absolutely nothing could be further from the truth: our Founding Fathers meant to keep the government s nose out of religion. At last weekend s publicly televised funeral Mass for the late United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, his son, Father Paul Scalia in his homily said the following about his father: God blessed Dad, as is well known, with a love of his country. He knew well what a close-run thing the founding of our nation was. And he saw in that founding, as did the founders themselves, a blessing, a blessing quickly lost when faith is banned from the public square, or when we refuse to bring it there. (Emphasis added.) During Lent and beyond, let us take to heart the words of Fr. Paul Scalia and remind ourselves of the noted blessing of which he speaks: and how we are called by Christ not to be silent or uncomfortable with the Truth in which God deemed important to form us, and so now also calls us to form others our children, family, friends, community, work and nation formed with His love and charity, so that all souls will benefit eternally. WOW!!! Your Support of the Little Sisters of the Poor was Amazing! I cannot say thank-you enough for the overwhelming support our parish has given to the Little Sisters of the Poor. SUVs full of donated coffees, teas, water and more were carted up to Saint. Joseph Residence in Enfield where Sister Frances was astounded by your generosity. As Sister noted time and time again, this is the single largest donation we have ever received! Thank-You one and all!!! To our deliverers, Sherry Cordani and Tina Yablonski were asked over and over again, How big is your parish? The sisters were just taken aback by your support and concern by your Christ-like hearts. By the end of the Masses on Sunday our atrium and vestibule looked like an annex for Stop and Shop. I could not believe the outpouring of assistance and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. This parish is a loving and giving community that shares her blessings with those in need. Peace! Altar Server Training A number of young folks asked if they could be trained to be altar servers. So there will be sign-up sheets in the atrium and vestibule during the next three (3) weekends and training will take place on April 4th & 5th. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel to contact Fr. Michael at or after Mass, or Mrs. Kathi Bonner at Thank you! Third Sunday of Lent: Fertilizer On this third Sunday of Lent we hear in the Gospel of Luke (13: 1-9) the parable of the fig tree and the gardener who goes looking for some figs but finds none on his tree a tree he has pruned and cared for over three years, to no avail. Dominican Father Anthony Giambrone, O.P. offers us a reflection on this gospel in this vein: the Lord has given us good seed (faith), He has given us rich soil in which to grow, and has tended us (with Church teachings and guidance). Christ said to Peter,: And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19) And now asks us to think of our lives as the fig tree in the good see and soil He has given to us. And what are we to do with it? Producing much good fruit! Should we expect to be left to our own devices or will the gardener (God) come along and prune us, perhaps remove us from the land if we do not produce good Christian fruit? Once-upon-a-time in confession someone confessed they were too busy to go to church or to pray, noting that sports and other activities took up their time. Asked by the priest if they believed in God and His gift of eternal salvation, they said yes. When asked if they thought their coach or their other activities that kept them busy were also able to offer them eternal life in heaven, they said of course not. So the question next posed is: why then does soccer or baseball or hockey take a priority over God and Church.? Knowing the Truth will set us free. Lent is a time to recommit to our faith in Christ. And from time-to-time we all have to recommit to Christ. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the world of work and family, to be swayed by all the fun things we wish to do or by the daily responsibilities of life which perhaps are not always fun but nonetheless demanding of our time. True enough. But the Lord does require us to set priorities, and while we may not always adhere to them perfectly well, the Lord is forgiving, loving, merciful and just. May it be our collective Lenten prayer that we will do our best to recommit to Christ and His love, to His call to us to be Christian people, and to His hope that proclaims: And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. (John 6:39) The Lord Himself wishes to be the fertilizer that nourishes us in our faith. He provides us abundant graces, unlimited forgiveness, and ongoing strength through His Church and His Sacraments to become the fruit-bearing people He created us to be. It is never too late to begin anew. It is never too late to return to the Father. May we who believe in our hearts, and yet are at times pulled from the Lord, use this Lenten time to go home again by opening our hearts to His grace and then reach out to someone in need in need of time to comfort them, in need of food to feed them, in need of forgiveness to heal them. Whatever the need, it can be filled it all begins with our asking Christ to give me the grace and strength to do Your Will. He will do the rest. Try it! Lenten Penance Service Our Lenten Penance Service will be held this Wednesday, March 2nd, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. For your convenience, there will be three priests in addition to myself.

4 Get involved: you don t have to do everything... but everyone should do something! Upcoming Meetings/Events February -Sun, 28th Children s Liturgy of the Word, RH, 11 a.m. -Sun, 28th St. Elizabeth House, parking lot, 3:45 p.m. -Sun, 28th Mission Trip Orientation Mtg, RH, 4:30 p.m. -Sun, 28th Contemporary Choir, MR, 4 p.m. -Sun, 28th Confirmation, all rooms, 6 p.m. -Mon, 29th Confession, Church, 6 p.m. -Mon, 29th Men s Club Ministry, RH, 6:30 p.m. March -Tues, 1st Rosary, Church, 9 a.m. -Tues, 1st Children s Choir, MR, 6:30 p.m. -Tues, 1st RCIA, Library, 7 p.m. -Tues, 1st Adult Choir, MR, 7:30 p.m. -Wed, 2nd Bible Study, Library, 9:15 a.m. -Wed, 2nd LENTEN PENANCE SERVICE, Church, 7:30 p.m. -Thurs, 3rd RENEW, Library, 10 a.m. -Fri, 4th Stations of the Cross, Church, 9 a.m. -Sat, 5th Bagels and the Bible, RH, 9 a.m. -Sun, 6th Children s Liturgy of the Word, RH, 11 a.m. -Sun, 6th Contemporary Choir, MR, 4 p.m. Social Outreach Pantry Partners The next SCPP distribution is on March 19. All orders are due by March 12. We welcome all Confirmation students who would like to add two hours to their total service hours. Please contact Karen Willis at scpp2013@gmail.com if you are interested in helping in March, or any third Saturday of the month. St. Elizabeth House next service date is, today, Sunday, February 28th. Food needs to be ready to serve casseroles hot, salad pre-cut) and at the church by 3:45 p.m. Please sign up in the atrium. Any questions, please contact Leila Bruno at (860) Thank you! VBS VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL IS BACK!! We will offer VBS from June 20th June 24th, 9:15 am 12 Noon, here at our parish for children in Grades K-4. Our theme is "Everest! Conquering Challenges with God's Mighty Power!".! Contact Kathi Bonner, kathidre@aol.com for more information. Men s Club Ministry Meeting in Russell Hall on Monday, February 29th at 6:30 p.m. for pizza &refreshments. Regular meeting at 7 p.m. Please join-n and come to a meeting of your choice. Our Parish Holy Land Tour 2016 Our Parishioners who are traveling to The Holy Land in October, 2016 invite you to travel with them. Learn all the details of this exciting once in a lifetime trip on Wednesday March 9th at 7 PM in Russell Hall. A veteran professional Holy Land traveler will present the trip itinerary including: Galilee, Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. Non-stop airfare, accommodations, tour guides, trip costs and trip insurance will be reviewed. Please join us for this opportunity to experience our themed tour Walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Questions or for more information contact Tom Clarke, or tom.daybreak@gmail.com. Our Men s & Women s Clubs will be going on retreat and would like you to join them for Into the Heart of Mercy, a retreat at Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, celebrating the Year of Mercy, proclaimed by Pope Francis. This retreat will examine the Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy and explore ways of cultivating mercy amid life s inevitable challenges, identifying practical ways of integrating mercy into our daily lives. The retreat includes: home-cooked meals, inspirational liturgies, uplifting music, free time, and workshops. The retreat begins with dinner at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening and concludes with Sunday brunch at noon. You may register at or call Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, West Hartford, CT at for more info. Women s Club Retreat Dates: March 4-6; (Michelle Helitzer, ) Men s Club Retreat Dates March 18-20; (Lou Daniels, ) 24 Hours for the Lord Our Lenten practice this year calls us to rejoice in God who is rich in mercy. His Holiness, Pope Francis, asks that the whole Church throughout the world, including Hartford, unite on March 4-5 to pray and seek mercy for us and the world. This worldwide act of prayer is called 24 Hours for the Lord. For 24 hours, beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 4 th and continuing until 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 5 th there will be exposition and adoration of the Eucharist and the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation throughout the world. In the Archdiocese of Hartford this will take place at three parishes: St. Peter Claver in West Hartford, Resurrection in Wallingford, and St. John s in Watertown. This initiative needs your involvement. Please come to one of these parishes to pray and unite with the whole world in seeking God s mercy. Please come and experience the grandeur of God s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and place mercy and the center of your life. Please come knowing that when you seek the mercy of God you will surely find it. This is a time, as Pope Francis writes, to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father s action in our lives. May we all continue to be transformed by mercy.

5 End of Bulletin Information on this page is not printed Church: City: St. Catherine of Siena West Simsbury, Connecticut Account # Run # Routing Code: O Phone: Fax: Contact: Lisa Cerchia