| St. Thomas Aquinas Church | May 11, 2008 |
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« Parish News & Events »
Ministry Fair
Dear Friends, on Pentecost, we celebrate the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Your involvement in the ministries at St. Thomas Aquinas is a very great gift to us all, and on the Sunday after Pentecost, May 18, we invite you to let the community know more about what you do.
Between the 8:15 and 10:15 services we will be holding a Ministry Fair in the Aquinas Center, where there will be space to set up tables and displays about the many ministries at St. Thomas. Some of our ministries very visible and well-known, while some are more ’behind the scenes’, but all are essential to the well-being of St. Thomas’. Please take this opportunity to let people know what you do, and to encourage others to become involved! Jane Frogley, Director of Music, on behalf of the Liturgy Committee.
First Eucharist
This coming Saturday, May 17, is an important step for some of our younger parish members as they receive their First Communion. The First Communion Mass is at 11:00 a.m. and all parishioners are invited.
Please keep these girls and boys and their families in your prayer this week. William Bray, Katie Brown, Allison Cox, Matthew Dwyer, Shayla Gawlak, Dylan Klopfer, Christina Langton, Mary Pociask, Race Skog, Julia Stickles, Amy Taintor, Jared Taintor, Adam Tangari, Joseph Walencewicz.
Roof Project
We have recently received gifts from Mary Whitten (parent of UConn student), Dick & Mary Elizabeth Long, and Merrill Cook (in memory of Bob Cook). Our total is now $74,000 of the $75,000 we had originally hoped to raise. We expect work on this long and trying project to wrap up soon. Need for additional repair to brickwork above the windows has been discovered and will be included. We don't have a cost figure for this additional repair. When we do we will be able the cite to total cost of this project. Thanks for all the support, prayers and patience.
University Ministry
Our prayers and best wishes are offered for our university student parishioners as they depart for the summer. We ask God's blessings on our graduates, some of whom have been very active here in Campus Ministry and parish life. We ask God's blessings for a safe summer for all the students and look forward to greeting those who return at summer's end.
The 9 PM Sunday Mass is now suspended for the summer and will resume in late August. The 7 PM Sunday Mass will continue throughout the summer. All are invited.
« Pastor's Notebook »
Pentecost and Mother's Day. A powerful combination. In each case we celebrate the most fundamental gifts of all - the gift of giving life and nourishing and supporting that life. Bringing to birth is a risky act not only in the birthing itself but in the fact that this birth changes everything and opens the door to both great joy and great pain and self-sacrifice. We give thanks for those who have been and are our mothers and fore-mothers and whose lives, prayers, sacrifices, and memory sustain us still.
We also today remember God's bringing to birth the church. The gift of the Spirit is God sharing God's own life with us. We read of some of the great deeds of those who received this gift in the beginning. Let us remember Jesus' promise that we shall do even greater deeds than these. Next weekend we'll celebrate some specific ways these gifts are present in our parish ministries - many of them "motherly" gifts, carried out by both women and men of this community. We also remember today that in the
Baptismal prayers we say that mothers and fathers are to be the "first and best" teachers of their children in Christian life. We pray for the mothers and fathers of our community that they take this mission seriously and that this community is able to support and help them.
“Come, Mother God: come as an enfolding nurturing presence, come as steadfast love to hold us. Come, Father God: come as an enabling, strengthening force, come as tough love to let us go. Come, Parent God: come as friend and comforter healing our wounds, walking our way.”
John Harvey
Peace, and welcome, Fr Paul sj
2008 Annual Bishop’s Appeal
“Bringing Hope to Those in Need”
The initial response is very encouraging but we need the support of each and every family if we are to achieve the results we all desire for our brothers and sisters in need throughout the Diocese. Today is Follow-Up Weekend for the 2008 ABA. Your prayers for the success of the Annual Bishop’s Appeal and the ministries it supports are still needed, as are pledges and gifts. There are so many ways God is made visible in the world around us. Our local Church sees God in the hundreds of thousands of people it takes care of every year by teaching, sheltering and caring for all who come to it for help. Your Church is coming to you now for help during the Annual Bishop’s Appeal. If you have not yet had the opportunity, please make your gift today. There are gift envelopes and pencils available in each pew or if you prefer you can go to the ABA link on the Diocesan web site and download a pledge card. Together with your support we can accomplish many beautiful works of faith, hope and charity. Thank you.
