I would love you to consider being a lector, Eucharistic minister, or altar server. The church runs smoothly when the priest and the laity all perform their roles both in the liturgy (at Mass) and in the parish (in ministries). Vatican II called for the “full and active participation of the laity in rhetorical Church.

Today’s liturgical celebration, the Feast of the Epiphany, also known to some as Three Kings’ Day or even Twelfth Night, is a wonderful celebration in the Catholic Church as Christ the Savior of the World is made known to all. The Feast of the Epiphany in our Catholic faith has several important meanings and applications in our modern world:

The world calls us to celebrate Christmas on 25 December, for many it is a one-day event…with lead-up preparation time beginning right at Halloween. Usually one can see Christmas trees discarded at the curb around January 1. However, for the Church, and for important reasons, we celebrate 12 days of Christmas—and it is more than a song

According to Catholic tradition and belief, the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, is rooted in a unique and sacred family unit. Accordingly, Jesus is the Son of God who took on human form and was born to the Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, in the first preface of Christmas, it speaks of God being invisible in nature and begotten before all time, now visible in our nature and exists in time

Advent Leaves… As we say goodbye to Advent, where we have considered the practice of our faith in our lives and in the world around us, we consider how in the New Year we can experience new ways to bring our faith to life through our words and deeds....In Addition, Christmas Cometh

“Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart.” A Joyful Sunday. The Third Sunday of Advent, know n as Gaudete Sunday, from which the word “gaudete” is derived from the Latin words “gaudium,” joy, and “gaudeo,” to rejoice or be glad. Gaudete Sunday occurs eight to thirteen days before Christmas.

Once again, our Advent Giving Trees are in our parish’s vestibule and atrium, replete with envelopes noting our beneficiaries for this year’s charitable giving: the Knights of Malta House of Care and our parish’s own Neighbors in Need fund. St. Catherine of Siena Parish has a long tradition of being a generous and compassionate people. She has long supported the local residents of the greater Hartford area with needs from food insufficiencies, to help with electricity bills, to heat in the cold winter, to repairs for the automobiles so they can continue to work and more.

Beginning the Church's liturgical year, Advent (from, "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to") is the season encompassing the four Sundays (and weekdays) leading up to the celebration of Christmas. In 2023, Advent begins on Sunday, 3 December and the Season ends on Sunday, 24 December. The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time AND to the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth on Christmas.

Today’s gospel parable uses imagery and titles from the time when Christ spoke to the people of the ancient world. For some today, it may seem outdated and therefore dismissed as not applicable. However, if we view it with eyes of faith and an open mind, we can come to understand its power for our lives in 2023.Perhaps the main theme is this: if God knows me by words and deeds of my life, what will He think of me? Do I live out His Commands:

Our gospel this weekend, from Matthew (23:1-12) ends with the following statement "The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whomever humbled himself will be exalted" The gospel's ending asks us to consider the style of leadership that Jesus employed during His earthly life.

Some interesting Catholic-specific statistics from CARA, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, at Georgetown University illustrates the impact of fading Catholic influence in the United States. In addition, it calls us to a greater need for a “new and improved” mode of communicating the eternal-life saving messages of the Church.

A Teaching Mass Over the next few months, I will use three Specific Masses to teach the finer points of the Mass: what are we saying at Mass, what is the meaning and purpose of the words of the Mass, and what is actually happening at specific points of the Mass. These three Masses one Saturday Vigil, one 8 a.m. Mass, and one 11 a.m. Mass which have been slated as Faith Formation class Masses, will be offered so that we all have a better understanding of just what we are doing at the Mass. You know the saying, "The more you know...the more you participate".

This Sunday, November 5 at our 11 a.m. Mass, our parish will remember the Faithfully Departed all those who were buried from our parish from November 2022 through October 2023 in a brief ceremony following the homily. We will read the names of the faithfully departed, toll a bell, and incense the Book of the Dead placed upon our altar.

Annually, during the month of October, The Church observes and celebrates World Mission Day. This year our annual worldwide Eucharistic celebration for the Missions and missionaries of the world will be held on the weekend of October 21st-22nd. Pope Francis chose a theme inspired by the story of the disciples on their way to Emmaus, in the Gospel of Luke (cf. 24:13-35): "Hearts on fire, feet on the move"

Again, this weekend there is an array of choices in our gospel parable: shall we refuse a direct, personal invitation to God’s wedding feast, or will we be uncaring or indifferent in our choices by putting something else (work, spots or a comfortable Sunday morning) as a priority above the invitation to know God? Will we finally become so obtuse that we shall choose evil as our response to His ongoing invitation?

I have chosen you from the world to bear fruit! I added the exclamation point. Today’s parable closes out last week’s parable of the two sons—one who was open to God’s call—by way of a slow conversion. The other son said, “Sure, dad, I will do Your Will” but then goes back to his own indifference—nothingness.

In this 26th week of Ordinal Time, the Gospel of Matthew presents a parable and asks for “your opinion” on the topic of openness to God’s Will in the lives of two sons. This same question should be asked of ourselves—“Am I open to doing God’s Will in my life?” On the other hand, is God’s Will too inconvenient or too stressful for me in today’s world? Will it cause someone in my family or circle of friends to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed or will it cause a rift in our friendship? Will people think I am weird or fanatical if I do God’s Will in my life?

In order to keep the momentum of the spirit alive and flourishing, we need to build upon our spirit and lead us all deeper into the Truth of Christ, which ultimately brings Joy to all who Hope, Trust and Act in the Lord. And thanks to the many, many donors to our Forward with Faith campaign a number of years ago—and to all who have remained loyal to the campaign commitments, we are able now to truly add more “meat” to the spirit of our community.

(A storytime for young children ages 3-8) Saturday, September 23, 6 p.m. in Russell Hall This year, youth ministry has started a new program to have our teens engage with the younger children in our parish. Our youth ministry teens are great role models for our younger children, and the children in our parish look up to them. Once a month through December, youth ministry is piloting a program called Once Upon A Book. Our first program is Saturday, September 23, immediately following the 5 pm Mass.

Our gospel today has a powerful message, which our world certainly needs to hear today. We could simply interpret this gospel to say, in our current national climate, that we may not all agree on something, but we do not have to become enemies. The goal of “communal living” and the goal of the Christian faith is to respect one another in the midst of differing opinions.