Dear Parishioners, 

Thank you for your consistent support of the food bank during 2020. Your garden, your food donations, your Thanksgiving bags, monetary help…

We could not meet the needs of so many without your help. 

Dawn Tavolieri
CoDirector of Marlborough Food Bank

"Gracious and merciful God, at this sacred time we come before you in need indeed on our knees. But we come still more with hope, and with our eyes raised anew to the vision of a "more perfect union" in our land, a union of all our citizens to "promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity."

Looking for a New Year’s resolution that will bring you some peace and a deeper connection to our Blessed Mother? Come pray the rosary virtually on Monday mornings at 8:30am. It takes about 30 minutes and is a beautiful and powerful way to start your week. Signup on line or by emailing Jen O’Neill at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the link.  

Connecticut Food Bank and Food Share are merging and are now
offering a total of four locations for drivethru food distribution.
The new sites and addresses are as follows:

Do you ever wonder if a Catholic School could be the right fit for your child?

Corpus Christi School of Wethersfield, a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, is accepting applications for the 2021 – 22 school year and has limited space available for this current school year. Our students have been learning in person since September. Corpus Christi School students benefit from smaller class sizes and personalized instruction as evidenced by their recent successes. Students scored almost 4 GRADE LEVELS ABOVE their current grade in the Language Arts/Reading portion of their standardized tests.  Imagine how your child could soar!  Come and witness firsthand the Corpus Christi School difference. To schedule your personalized tour, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 860-529-5487 and ask for Coleen Antico. The school encompasses Preschool – 8^th grade

Mass ~ 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ January 24, 2021

3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B21

Words have consequences. One of those consequences is that they lead to actions. We saw that a little over two weeks ago when our Capitol building was stormed by a mob of so-called “patriots”, incited by a barrage of words over the last few months that they had come to believe.

Words have consequences. One of those consequences is that they lead to actions. We read about that in today’s 1^st reading from the Book of Jonah. Jonah was a reluctant prophet, sent to the capitol city of a hated enemy to announce the destruction of that city. I imagine he would be overjoyed to bring that message! But his words led to an action he did not expect. After one day of Jonah’s preaching, the Ninevites proclaimed a fast and turned from their evil ways with the result that God abandoned his plans of destruction. What a turn of events! The people of Nineveh listened to a foreign prophet of a god they did not worship.

2^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B21

There’s something strange going on. Did you notice? After spending some time last week going over various aspects of Mark’s Gospel and by stating that his Gospel will be read in Ordinary Time during Year B, the Gospel of this 2^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time is according to John! Regardless, this is a vocation story of the first followers of Jesus and for us.

The 1^st words that the Gospel has Jesus speak are a fundamental question that every person must answer: “What are you looking for”.

Mass ~ 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ January 17, 2021

May we be reminded of Dr. King’s words on agape something we need today more than ever.  This  definition reminds us what is involved in creating God’s beloved community here on earth:

“Agape means understanding, redeeming good will for all men. It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It is not set in motion by any quality or function of its object…

Join thousands of Catholics nationwide in the annual Respect Life novena, 9 Days ƒor Liƒe,Thursday, January 21 − Friday, January 29. Get daily intentions, brief reflections, and more. Sign up at 9daysforlife.com!

Going through closets and bringing some items to Goodwill? Be sure to stop by the church to pick up a Goodwill Donation Card to bring with you.

Head to any of the 26 Goodwill drop off locations on the back of the card with the clothing and donation card. Drop the clothing in the appropriate boxes and give the card to an attendant.  Goodwill Industries sends St. Vincent de Paul Middletown VOUCHERS for free clothing based on the total donations received using the donation card that you just used. We make those vouchers available to social service agencies across our community.  Families needing clothing no longer have to go door to door, church to church to see if they have a warm coat, shoes or other apparel.

A month after announcing that Connecticut Food Bank and Foodshare are in discussions to merge as one statewide organization, the two food banks announced the launch of three new food distributions in New London, Norwich and Norwalk replicating Foodshare’s emergency drive-thru food distribution at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? If not, there's still time, and Pope Francis has some ideas for you.

These are the ten things that he called upon Vatican employees to do:

1. “Take care of your spiritual life, your relationship with God, because this is the backbone of everything we do and everything we are.”
2. “Take care of your family life, giving your children and loved ones not just money, but most of all your time, attention and love.” 
3. “Take care of your relationships with others, transforming your faith into life and your words into good works, especially on behalf of the needy.” 

Baptism of the Lord B21

Year B Gospel readings in Ordinary Time are taken from Mark. The first thing you’ll notice there’s no account of Jesus’ birth and no mention that John the Baptist and Jesus were related.  A second aspect of Mark’s Gospel is how often he uses the phrase “at once” or “immediately”, a total of 31 times (I counted!). It seems as Jesus was in a hurry, driven to act, teach and heal. A third characteristic is what is called “the Messianic Secret”. Mark has only demons (and those who read his Gospel) recognize Jesus for who he is. When Peter finally says in Chapter 8 “You are the Christ”, Jesus gave him and the rest of the disciples a strict order not to tell anyone about him. Jesus said the same thing to Peter, James, and John after the Transfiguration. And the women who went to the tomb and noticed the stone rolled away from the entrance and saw a young man in a white robe who addressed them saying that Jesus has risen, ran away frightened, as one translation has it, out of their wits and said nothing to anyone. It’s almost as if Mark is telling us to make up our own minds about Jesus. Is he the Christ, or not?