Category: Catholic living

Rosary in Honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel / Confraternity of the Brown Scapular

A Rosary will be recited before the statue of Our Lady in front of the Rectory on Sat., July 12th at 11 AM (English/Spanish).  A small reception will follow in the Parish Hall afterwards with the opportunity to enroll in the Confraternity and receive your Brown Scapular.

The Scapular was first given to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite, in 1251 with the promise “that anyone dying in this habit shall not suffer eternal fire”.  Later on, the Church extended this to everyone.  Wearing the scapular is a sign for oneself to live in total obedience to God and trust in Him through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The ceremony is short and is administered by a priest.  For more info: http://www.sistersofcarmel.com

All ages are invited to attend.

St Peter Church, Main St. Danbury, CT 06810 across the street from the rectory. Parish hall is located on the side of the Church.

#StPeterdanb

Ignatian Faith Sharing Group

 

 Ignatian Faith Sharing Group – What are your strongest desires? Is God calling you to be closer to Him? Or are you too busy to even think about things like this? The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius will help you know yourself better – and deepen your awareness of God’s presence in your life. 

Just an hour a month will help you to know, love, and serve God better. It will change your heart and your life.

Listen to God calling you!   Join us at 10:30 – 11:30 on the 3rd Sat. of the month, beginning June 21st. In the Music room off the Parish Hall.  All ages are welcome. Entrance to the Hall is on the street side of the church.

St Peter Parish, Main St., Danbury, CT 06811

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Hospitality is the Love that God want us to show.

The months of November and December both have great feasts in them, namely, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I happened to hear a video of an excellent talk by a speaker at the summer NAPA conference this year about the importance of hospitality in human relations. The very next day I happened to read the Gospel for that day (November 6th) about the Parable of the Banquet in Lk 14. The meditation in Word Among Us that day was excellent. Not taking this as a mere coincidence, I include that fine meditation below.

Luke 14:12-14

When you hold a banquet, invite the poor. (Luke 14:13)

For Jesus, the dinner table is a sacred place. He often chose to make a personal connection with people by coming to eat at their homes. Because Jesus is present in the sacred meal of the Eucharist, heaven touches earth at every Mass. This holy encounter will continue into eternity in the “wedding feast of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).

But even ordinary mealtimes can provide opportunities to meet with God. From Abraham to Rahab to the first disciples, God’s people encountered their Lord by showing hospitality (Genesis 18; Joshua 2; Acts 2:44). Even more, they reflected the generous hospitality of God himself.

So when Jesus talks about holding a banquet and inviting the poor, he’s inviting us to be hospitable like his Father (Luke 14:13). He’s asking us to rework our guest lists and reorient our hearts. He’s asking us to open our arms to the suffering and marginalized and see them with his compassion. And he’s reminding us that people who are poor or suffering have great dignity.

Jesus is not just describing a meal offered, but a meal shared as family. We can truly encounter and connect with another person by welcoming them, by being present and listening, and by experiencing God’s love together. As we sit at such a table, walls begin to tumble. Sharing a meal communicates love in tangible ways that surpass words, and a stranger can become a brother or a sister.

We might not know how to “invite the poor” into our lives, but we can start by asking the Holy Spirit to show us someone who is hungry—whether for food or for an experience of God’s love. The Spirit can open our eyes and help us to reach out to them. People often have simple, ordinary needs. Even a smile or a few dollars or a kind word can open the door to the hospitality God wants us to show. As we talk with them, we may have an opportunity for a longer encounter—perhaps by getting a cup of coffee or inviting them to lunch. There, we will also encounter the God who lives within them. We can affirm the beauty and dignity he has breathed into their souls—and find Jesus himself.

“Lord, open my heart, my schedule, and my table today to someone who is poor or poor in spirit today.”

Romans 11:29-36

Psalm 69:30-31, 33-34, 36

@stpeterdanb

Introduction to The One

Bishop Caggiano of the Diocese of Bridgeport delivers an introduction of his vision of The One. This is the first in a series of ten. (4 min)

1. What is the One

In this initial video, Bishop Caggiano gives an introduction to the vision he calls, The One.

Transcript

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My dear friends, allow me to begin by offering my personal thanks to the two thousand, three hundred individuals who joined me for those nine initial regional meetings, which allowed me to introduce The One.

But since those days, many people in different venues have asked me, well, Bishop, what is The One?

And of course, it’s a question that may not have such an easy answer.

Because one could say it’s an initiative, and in some sense it is, because in the years ahead, we’re going to have an opportunity to offer events and programs and formational experiences, and those are very good. But The One is more than that.

It is certainly a change of culture. I mentioned that in my talks. The hope is, by all that we do together, the accumulated effects of our work will begin to change the culture of our church so that it will create an environment where every person who’s baptized can come to deeply know the Lord, and enter into discipleship for a lifetime, and go out in mission.

But The One is more than that.

And of course, I called it an adventure, and I do believe it is an adventure. Because it’s going to invite real change in your life and mine.

So what is The One?

Perhaps the best to describe it is for me to say: The One is the one invitation being offered to

 you and me.

An invitation unlike any other invitation you and I have received.

It’s an invitation to ask with courage a basic question.

What is it that you are truly, deeply, personally looking for in your life?

And the person who’s asking that question needs to come face to face to the one who’s inviting you and me. And that is the Lord Jesus.

The One is really accepting the invitation of Christ, to come to know love, serve, and follow him in our daily lives, together as sisters and brothers united as his body in the world.

So the one invitation is what brings us together. It’s the one invitation that you and I need to make a personal choice about. It’s the one invitation that simply invites us to allow our lives to be transformed, to give us hope, and through us, to a whole broken and confused world. And of course, we’re not the first to be offered that invitation.

Each Easter, we hear the beautiful story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

And in that moment, they were invited to allow Christ to enter into their lives.

And in the weeks ahead, together with these videos, we’re going to explore what that really meant, how that really changed them. Because the same can happen to you and me and to our entire church.

So what is The One?

It’s the invitation to take our lives and allow them to be transformed in Jesus Christ.

So the question I leave you with, are you and I willing to accept that one invitation?

@speterdanb

@igesaistpeter

The Adoration-Healing Service

First, I would like to thank Fr. Mecca for initiating this service.  The service was held in the church on Friday evening, June 23rd, starting with Adoration at 7 PM.   Fr. Sean Kulacz then gave a short presentation about healing followed by the service with four prayer teams.  Over 150 people came, and Fr. Sean and his prayer teams prayed over all those who presented themselves for the next 3 hours without a break.

Second, I want to thank all those, both on and off the Committee, who assisted with set-up and during the service.  For more information about Healing, Fr. Kulacz and the prayer teams, visit: https://encounterschool.org/fairfieldcounty/. 

John Feeney, Worship & Spirituality Committee.

@Iglesiastpeter

@stpeterdanb

Adoration and Healing Service at St Peter Church in Danbury, CT

There will be an Adoration and Healing Service at St Peter Church located at Main St., Danbury on Friday, June 23rd at 7 PM.  Laying on of hands (by choice) for healing in body, mind and spirit.

Fr. Sean Kulacz of Holy Family Parish and Encounter Ministries will be here along with his Prayer Teams for Adoration and to perform the Healing Service.  All are invited! **Bring a friend along as well.**

For more information, visit http://www.stpeterdanb.org or call 203 743-2707.

@stpeterdanb

@iglesiastpeter

Are You Taking Care of Your Circle of Love?

The Advent and Christmas seasons are always special times each year when Christians are anticipating the Coming of our Saviour and then celebrating the arrival of the Infant Jesus. We started earlier than usual and were actually able to get our preparations completed early this time! (Well, most of them anyhow). This gave us more time to enjoy our 17-month-old grandson who is a lot more active and aware (He is walking around everywhere now….).

During my prayer time, I always go over the Mass Readings for the day and the meditations from various sources. The plight and struggles of families to raise their children in the Faith has been a growing concern of mine for the past several years. When the Feast of the Holy Family came on December 30th, the readings of Sirach 3: 2-6 and 12-14 and Mt 2: 13-15 and 14-23 were powerful. In Sirach, he talked about how God sets the father and mother over their children and, in Matthew’s Gospel an angel of the Lord tells St Joseph to take the family and flee to Egypt to protect them.

A Meditation in the December 2022 issue of Word Among Us for Dec. 30th was very good and follows here for you to ponder the title of this piece.

DAILY MEDITATION: SIRACH 3:2-6, 12-14

Take care of your father when he is old. (Sirach 3:12

Doesn’t today’s first reading paint a beautiful picture of family life? Parents eagerly welcome their newborn baby into their hearts and home. They take care of that child’s every need until she is able to live on her own. The child, in turn, honors and respects her parents, and when they grow old and become unable to care for themselves, she steps in and cares for them. 

Of course, we know that it doesn’t always work out that way, often through no fault of our own. But we can still form the circle of love that God desires every time we follow his call to “take care” of one another (Sirach 3:12).

On this feast of the Holy Family, let’s consider what it means to take care of our loved ones. Of course, it starts with making sure that they are physically safe and healthy. But it goes far beyond that. “Taking care” means being aware of their feelings and paying attention to how our words and actions affect them. It means being patient when they are slow to learn or unable to do things for themselves. It means doing all we can to share our faith and enable them, whenever possible, to practice theirs. It means telling them how much we appreciate them. It means forbearing when they annoy us and forgiving them when they hurt us. And it means interceding for all their needs.

So take care of your children, your parents, your siblings. Take care of them when they are too young or too old to take care of themselves. Take care of them when they are ill or troubled. Take care of them when it’s a delight and when it’s a sacrifice. 

This is a high calling, and we may fail at it sometimes. That’s all the more reason to ask Jesus, who experienced family life himself, for the grace to keep forming this circle of love-day by day, week by week, year by year. Let’s also ask Mary and Joseph to pray for us. May our care for one another bind us together in the Lord all the days of our lives!

“Father, thank you for the gift of my family. Help me to care for them as you care for me.”

Psalm 128:1-5
Matthew 21:13-15, 19-23

@StPeterDanb

#StPeterDanb