Pope Francis has asked our parish to support the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, which helps Christians in the Holy Land. Your support helps the church minister in parishes, provide Catholic schools and offer religious education. The Pontifical Good Friday Collection also helps to preserve the sacred shrines. Thank you all for your support.

Online Mass ~ 5th Sunday of Lent ~ March 21, 2021

5^th Sunday of Lent, B21

Why would some Greeks approach Philip to ask to see Jesus? And what are they doing at the Jewish feast of Passover?

Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee, a town with a Jewish name but just over the border in Gentile territory. Those Greeks may have been proselytes, people who have totally converted to Judaism or “God-fearers”, a step below. Philip goes to consult with Andrew (also a Greek name though he was Peter’s brother); and, together they go to tell Jesus about the visitors who, it seems, were left standing there and waiting to hear whether Jesus would meet with them. The question I have is: Did they ever get to meet Jesus? The text gives no indication that they did. Instead Jesus answers Philip and Andrew by saying what we just heard read in today’s Gospel, changing the subject. Nothing more is said about those Greeks. They are forgotten.

Palm Sunday Mass with distribution of previously blessed palms

Saturday, March 27th @ 4:00pm Mass. Signup required.
Sunday, March 28th@ 9:30am Mass. Signup required.
Sunday, March 28th, 11:00 -11:30am. Drivethru distribution of palms (no service and signup not required) behind the church. Enter from the south entrance (as we did for the Graduation Celebrations and the Living Nativity) and exit from the north.

Holy Week

Poor nutrition can lead to devastating longterm consequences for individuals, communities and entire countries. That’s why communities must work together to ensure that all children have access to better food and nutrition. New planting and cooking techniques are helping many communities in Madagascar improve the health and wellbeing of their children. 
How does your community work together for the good of others? 
Visit crsricebowl.org to learn more

Anyone interested in supporting the Teen program 500 Acts in 5 hours,where our high school teens are being invited to complete 500 acts of service in five hours during April vacation.  Please contact Jen O'Neillat This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions.  Thank you in advance for your support of our teens.  We would greatly appreciate:

Make a monetary donation —  Donations can be brought to the church and left in the mailbox by the office or dropped off at the office during business hours or at Mass.  Please make a note on the check if it is for this project;

Help secure small prizes for the teens participating ($5 gift cards,candy . . . );

Help secure donations such as individually wrapped snacks and drinks for the teens;

Help coordinate lunch; Help with set up or clean up;

Be a mentor.Keep us and our recipients in your prayers!

Calling all high school teens - put your heart and hands to good use!

Join 500 Acts in 5 Hours

Tired of Zoom! Want to do something real instead of virtual? Did Covid cancel your April Vacation Plans?

Tuesday, April 20th (Rain Date: Wednesday, April 21) Outside St. John Fisher

From 10:00AM-3:00PM

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Downlad a flyer, click HERE

The Admissions Office is excited to announce that we will be offering an Outdoor Open House for Prospective Freshmen and Transfer Students on Thursday, April 8 from 4-6 pm, weather permitting.  Please join us on campus to experience the East Catholic difference as families can walk freely amongst stations featuring academic departments as well as athletics and the fine arts.  Masks and social distancing are required.  More details to follow.

Join the Stations of the Cross
Week 4 of Lent - Friday, March 12, 2021

Help us decorate the town by making an inspiring Easter Egg.

Poster board eggs are available at church from Mrs. O'Neill.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like to participate or come pick up an egg on Wednesday, March 17 from 3:00-5:30PM

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS

4^th Sunday of Lent B21

As in Advent, so in Lent we celebrate a Sunday of Rejoicing.  In Advent the Entrance Antiphon told us to “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!”^[1]  Today’s Entrance Antiphon has three verbs that serve to invite us to rejoice, be joyful, exult, and be satisfied.^[2]

But, the 1^st reading from the Second Book of Chronicles starts off by relating the fact that the leadership class of the government (princes) and of religion (priests) and everyone else (the people) “added infidelity to Infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord’s temple”.^[3]

The Connecticut General Assembly is considering legalizing a form of suicide in our state, commonly referred to as “aid-in-dying” or “physician-assisted suicide.”  The legislation is House Bill 6425  “An Act Concerning Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients.”

Modern hospice care and the proper use of pain medications render suicide unnecessary, and we need to be mindful of the threat that a suicide mentality poses to vulnerable people and to people with disabilities.

Catholic teaching condemns physician-assisted suicide because it, like murder, involves taking an innocent human life:
      Suicide is always morally objectionable as murder.  The Church's tradition has always rejected it as a gravely evil choice: To concur with the intention of another person to commit suicide and to help in carrying it out through so—called “assisted suicide” means to cooperate in, and at times to be the actual perpetrator of, an injustice that can never be excused, even if it is requested.  Saint Augustine writes that  “it is never licit to kill another: even if he should wish it. ”True “compassion” leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear.  (John Paul II, The Gospel of Life, no. 66)

Take Action
We invite you to go to the website www.ctstopsuicide.org to read more on the issue and sign the petition to stop the legalization of assisted suicide in Connecticut.

Online Mass ~ 3rd Sunday of Lent ~ March 7, 2021
Available as of Saturday, March 6, 2021

The Grotto Gift Shop at the Shrine of Lourdes in Litchfield, 53 Montfort Rd., Rte. 118, Litchfield, is now open on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 to 4:00. New stock is arriving daily including Lenten and Easter items and Baptismal, First Communion and Confirmation gifts. For further information, call 8605670891 or visit our website, www.shrinect.org.