All high school teens are invited to Teen Night, March 4th following the 4:00 pm Mass. In addition to our usual dinner, games and fellowship, we will be joined this month by Father Lerner who will guide in a discussion: Getting Real with your Faith: Real answers for your real questions, & answers to questions about your faith.

Once on a bike trip I and the other bicyclists saw an amazing and beautiful sight. We were breaking camp at a high elevation with brilliant sunshine all around us and saw a thick blanket of blanketing spread over the valley below us.

Now, remember that image.

Besides a few shepherds, few in 1st century Judea or Galilee considered Mary of Nazareth to be anyone special. Some of her townspeople probably were counting on their fingers as they calculated the timing of her son’s birth and were looking at Joseph and her with arched eyebrows.

But, as that son came to be recognized as the Son of God, Mary was rightly called the Mother of God, the feast we celebrate today. A lesson for us: do not be too quick to judge others or events.

Would you do what is right and good if there were no God, no hope of eternal life, no kind of a reward?

Would you “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them”? (Is. 58:7)

Would you be good for goodness sake? Do you believe that goodness is its own reward?

In Matthew’s Gospel this was the 1st time Peter, Andrew, James, and John encountered Jesus. He must have a magnetic personality to say “Come after me . . .”, and they immediately everything to follow him. What you do in a similar circumstance? Suppose you’re working the yard and a complete stranger comes along asks you to follow him. You’d probably run into your house and call the police. Right?

John the Baptist was in a dudgeon. His thoughts became as dark as the cell he was in. He wondered if he had fulfilled his mission of preparing the way for the coming Messiah. He found himself more than a little confused by his cousin Jesus who had come to him in the wilderness asking for his baptism of repentance. Moreover, John thought the Messiah would be an avenging servant of God, baptizing with the Spirit and with fire, a winnowing fan in his hand, clearing his threshing floor and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Thank you to our 3rd grade faith formation classes along with their Catechists for hosting a beautiful Mass last Sunday.

Congratulations to the 2nd Grade Faith Formation children in receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time last Saturday! It was a beautiful celebration of God's Mercy and Grace in community with their families and Catechists. We look forward to their First Holy Communion in May!

Attention all high school seniors! The Catholic Graduates Club of Greater Hartford is offering three scholarships for the 2017-2018 year.

For more information and to secure an application, please go to www.catholicgraduatesct.org.

Cecilia Suarez ~ HEAD OF OFFICE, CRS MEXICO

DATE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH

TIME: 6:00-7:00PM

LOCATION: ST. THOMAS MORE HALL, ST. JOHN FISHER CHURCH

The Manchester Deanery presents:
An evening for high school students with 

Katie Prejean
Sunday, March 12, 2017

May is Faith Formation Registration Month for all children entering grades 1-9 in the fall.

Registration forms can be downloaded here.

For more information contact Teresa Brysgel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.