Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,
It is so very hard to imagine that the great national holiday of Thanksgiving is upon us. For me, despite the challenges of the last 10 months, I am trying to be grateful each day for the blessings of people and situations that positively impact my life. Of course our traditional celebrations of this feast day will be dramatically changed. Even our annual parish wide Thanksgiving Food Basket drive for the office of human services here in Rocky Hill will need to change. We will not be able to collect food baskets. However, you can directly contact Rocky Hill Human Services at 699 Old Main Street, Rocky Hill, CT 06067 and drop off a gift card for groceries or a monetary gift.
This coming weekend begins the Advent Season. We are hoping to provide several family oriented and virtual opportunities for your spiritual enrichment during this holy season of preparation for Christmas. Traditionally, we have provided the wonderful daily meditation books “Blue Books” to assist you on your daily journey through Advent. We have ordered a smaller amount of the books (approximately 200) and will place them at the doorways of both churches. It will be on a first come basis. However, you can order your own personal copy at the following address: littlebooks.org.
One of the best known customs for keeping the season of Advent in our homes is the Advent wreath. The wreath is a circular and made of evergreens symbolizing the eternity of God. Christians use the wreath as a sign of great hope that Christ reaches into our time to lead us to the light of everlasting life. The four candles on the wreath mark the progress of the fours weeks of Advent and the growth of light. Get your Advent wreath ready (or make a new one this year) so that we can mark our journey through Advent together, both at Church and in our homes.
During the Advent season there will be other opportunities as well: Bible study with Deacon Michael Ward, a modified Giving Tree program, some outreach through our Faith Formation Program, spiritual nourishment through our e-newsletter and bulletin, and a weekly Facebook livestream of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary on Wednesday Evenings with Fr. George.
A few years ago we offered a simple Advent spiritual activity called the Gratitude Journal. We would encourage your participating in this once again. More than ever, we need to focus our attention on our daily blessings. It is simple: buy a notebook and dedicate 5 minutes a day to reflect on the blessings of the day and jot them in the journal. At the end of Advent review the journal and discover the beauty that emerges. The last time we offered this exercise to the parish many folks remarked on the awesome revelations of gratitude that emerged.
Recently Archbishop Blair announced to all the priests that the dispensation for the obligation to attend weekend Masses and Holy Days of Obligation (Immaculate Conception, Christmas and New Year’s/Mary, the Mother of God) has been extended to February 16, 2021. As the virus seems to be raising its head once again, it is with an abundance of caution and respect for your safety that we continue to take seriously the recommendations of the State Health Department and the CDC. For your information, we are planning a modified Christmas schedule that will include more opportunities to view the Masses of Christmas virtually from the safety of your homes. As we get more information, we will try to inform every household, by mail, and all our other means 0f communication, of the potential Mass schedule and the restrictions that will probably still be in place.
I write with gratitude as we approach Thanksgiving for your ongoing support and send blessings to you, your family and friends.
Fr. George Couturier
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Rocky Hill Community Virtual
Thanksgiving Worship Service
Tuesday, November 24 at 7:00 p.m.
Join us virtually this year as we celebrate our ecumenical Thanksgiving Service along with our friends from the Rocky Hill United Methodist Church, Rocky Hill Congregational Church and St. Andrew the Apostle Episcopal Church. Join the service through ZOOM at the following link:
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Join us Virtually
Thanksgiving Day Mass
November 26 at 8:00 a.m.
Join us to give praise and thanks to God on Thanksgiving morning with our livestream of Mass at 8:00 a.m. Participate through Facebook or the front page of our website at 8:00 a.m. and throughout the rest of the day. Use the comments to share what you are grateful for during mass. For the Thanksgiving Mass Worship Aid, Click Here.
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Virtual Journey Together in Faith |
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November Theme:
Praise, Thanksgiving & Gratitude
All members of the Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish community are invited to join in the faith activity for the month of November called The Thankful Pumpkin. To learn more, Click Here. Email pictures of your Thankful Pumpkin to the Faith Formation Office at reo@sjbrh.org.
Prayer For Thanksgiving Dinner
Father in Heaven,
Creator of all,
source of all goodness and love,
please look kindly upon us
and receive our heartfelt gratitude
in this time of giving thanks.
Thank you for all the graces and blessings
you have bestowed upon us,
spiritual and temporal:
our faith and religious heritage,
our food and shelter,
our health, the love we have for one another,
our family and friends.
In Your infinite generosity,
please grant us
continued graces and blessing
throughout the coming year.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
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First Sunday of Advent
Sunday, November 29, 2020
Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish will livestream the 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM Sunday Mass using Facebook Live. The livestream of the Mass can also be viewed on the front page of our website. The recordings remain available afterward on the Parish Facebook page. Join us for Sunday Mass online!
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Advent Bible Study
Finding Hope This Christmas
2020 has been quite a year. Our time to meet and pray together has been seriously impacted and limited by the COVID 19 pandemic. Not being able to be together for Eucharist on Sunday regularly has called for adjustments in the way we maintain our spiritual lives as well as our connections to each other and the Lord. This will be particularly true about Christmas this year!!
Christmas is one of the high points of the Church year when we remember the very start of the Lord’s sojourn among us “for us and our salvation”...the start of the earthly story that gives us so much to hope for in this life and beyond.
Preparing together for it in a more deliberate and personal way this year is a chance to connect to each other and prepare more deeply for the great Nativity of the Lord at Christmas!
Consider joining others online for a three week reflection series on “Hope” on Monday evenings December 7, 14, 21 at 7:00 p.m.
Further details on the parish website, Click Here.
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Advent Giving Opportunities |
Advent Giving Project
Our annual Advent Giving Project will look different this year due to COVID restrictions. We will forego gift tags and wrapping but the following items are greatly needed:
Men's socks, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, gloves and toiletries (shampoo, soap, deodorant, disposable razors, shaving cream, lip balm, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc.)
Items can be dropped off at either church location:
St James Church; Father Shea Hall, Mon-Fri (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. or before the masses at 4:00 or 11:00.
St Elizabeth Seton Church: Bins located in church entry, Mon - Fri (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.), or before the Sunday mass at 9:00.
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Candy / Sock Collection
Sweet Feet Project for the Homeless
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For Christmas this year our Confirmation Candidates are collecting socks & candy for our Sweet Feet project. The candidates will fill new warm socks with candy to be given out at Christmas to those in need.
We hope to fill at least 500 pairs of socks and need your help. Contributions of any kind of candy and socks for men, women, or children may be put in the plastic bin outside the front of St. James Church or placed in the boxes in the front & back entrance of St. James, open daily until 1:00 p.m.
Thank you for helping make this Christmas a little “sweeter” for others!
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Our Local
Food Pantries
We continue to seek food and cereal donations for our monthly delivery
to the Rocky Hill and Amazing Grace food pantries. Non-perishable food items and cereal boxes can be dropped off at either church location:
St James Church; Father Shea Hall, Mon-Fri (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. or before the masses at 4:00 or 11:00.
St Elizabeth Seton Church: Bins located in church entry, Mon - Fri (9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.), or before the Sunday mass at 9:00. Contact
with any questions. As always, thank you for kindness and generosity!
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Here We Go a Caroling….
Socially Distant Caroling (that is)
Join us on December 11 at 6:00 p.m. at St. James Church parking lot to spread some Christmas cheer through our beloved holiday carols. Groups of 5-6 socially distant, masked, people will be sent out to sing 3-4 carols for the homebound of our parish. Family groups are encouraged! This a great community service opportunity & memory-making event for the carolers and for homebound. Email Joy@sjbrh.org to sign up. If you know someone who would appreciate a visit from our merry band of carolers, please email Joy. There is a limited number of people we can visit based upon the number of carolers we have, so get your requests in early. Snow date is December 18.
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To the extent that you are not adversely affected financially by the pandemic, please respond to the 2020 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal as best you can. Any gift, no matter the size, is truly appreciated and can make a significant difference. The First Sunday of Advent, November 28-29, is Commitment Weekend, if you have not made your gift to the 2020 Appeal, please give prayerful consideration to including the Archbishop's Annual Appeal this year in your year end giving, as all gifts can be paid through December 31, 2020.
All funds contributed to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal are used exclusively for the purposes outlined in the Appeal literature, which can be found at https://archdioceseofhartford.org/appeal/ No Appeal funds are ever used for legal fees or settlements.
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Retrouvaille January 15-17, 2021 Weekend Announced
Life can be difficult, and so can the challenges you face in marriage. Retrouvaille can help and offers hope for a better relationship by teaching tools of healthy communication. Learn how to (re)build trust, resolve conflicts fairly and rediscover why you fell in love. The next local Retrouvaille Weekend is January 15-17, 2021. For information, call 1-800-470-2230, email cherylandsteve@cox.net, or visit www.helpourmarriage.com for information & registration.
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VIRTUAL “ABCs OF ANNULMENT”
Sponsored by the Metropolitan Tribunal, Bloomfield
Father Nicholas P. Melo, Pastor of Christ the King Parish, Wethersfield, in collaboration with Father George Mukuka, the Judicial Vicar from the Metropolitan Tribunal in Bloomfield, will host the first Virtual “The ABCs of Annulment” on Saturday of December 5, from 10-11 AM on Zoom. An updating of the process initiated by Pope Francis as well as updates made in the Archdiocese of Hartford will be discussed by Br. Larry Lussier CSC and Jim Tottenham, the Annulment Team. Included will be a complete review of the Archdiocesan Application Form or Petition.
The “ABCs of Annulment” event is open to all. Registration is required so that we can email the details of the meeting. To RSVP and Register, Click here.
After the workshop, participants can sign up for one-on-one virtual assistance at their convenience with Br. Larry Lussier, at 475-221-8464, or James Tottenham, at 203-859-4195.
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Volunteers Needed to Manage
Rocky Hill Community Fund
In 2019, The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving established a $1000,000 community fund for each of the 29 towns in the Foundation’s geographic region, which includes the Town of Rocky Hill. This fund is targeted to support residents in taking ownership of the town’s needs that are not traditionally funded by the Town government.
In order to allocate this grant, there needs to be an Advisory Committee that is inclusive and reflective of all the town’s residents. The Advisory Committee will identify community needs that will be beneficial to a majority of Rocky Hill’s residents.
To be eligible to serve on the Advisory Committee, you must:
1. Be a resident of Rocky Hill
2. Not serve as a current elected official of Rocky Hill
3. Be at least fourteen (14) years old
To apply to be on the Advisory Committee please go to hfpg.org/rockyhillcf. This will take you directly to the Rocky Hill web page where the application will be. Interested individuals can complete the application online, download a form and email it to RockyHillCommunityFund@gmail.com or print the form and drop off a completed application in the designated box in the Cora J. Belden library. Applications must be received by December 5, 2020.
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Complete this simple online form to update your contact information for our parish. |
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St. Josephine Bakhita Parish
767 Elm Street
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
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