Holy Family Parish 700 Old Stratfield Rd. Fairfield, CT 06825

Email address: holychurch@sbcglobal.net Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 AM-4 PM

Parish Office (203) 336-1835

HOLY FAMILY PARISH WWW.HOLYFAMILYRC.COM FAIRFIELD, CT

Saturday, June 9th 4:30 PM Anna & Ed Miller and deceased

members of the Miller Family

Sunday, June 10th 8:30 AM Theresa Novak

11:00 AM Deceased members of the Martinedes Family

5:00 PM Mrs. Amrafel Mata

Weekday Masses

Monday, 6/11 7:30 AM Parishioners Intentions

Tuesday, 6/12 7:30 AM Dejollacion Margarito

Wednesday, 6/13 7:30 AM Bart DeSanto

Thursday, 6/14 7:30 AM No Mass

Friday, 6/15 7:30 AM Souls in Purgatory

Saturday, 6/16 7:30 AM Alison Steferak

Saturday, June 16th 4:30 PM For all fathers, living and deceased.

Sunday, June 17th 8:30 AM All Masses are for all fathers, 11:00 AM living and

5:00 PM deceased.

Clergy/Lay Leadership

Rev. Norman Guilbert, Pastor Deacon Joseph DeBiase

Deacon Joseph Gagne

Deacon John Moranski Paula Phillips, Director of Music

Cheryl Camillo, Business Manager Viki Heady, Administrative Assistant Patricia Rock, Trustee

Maurice Magnotta, Trustee

Charlene Lebo, Finance Chair

Mass Schedule Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:30 PM

Sunday: 8:30 AM, 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM

Children’s Mass: 11 AM Every Fourth Sunday of the Month (no Family Mass during summer months) Daily Mass: Monday-Saturday: 7:30 AM (except Thursday, no Mass) Holy Days and Holidays: refer to bulletin

Email: holychurch@sbcglobal.net

Offertory 5-29-2018: $4,256.00

Online Giving: $ 630.00

6-3-2018: $6,539.00

Online Giving: $ 862.00

Monthly: $1,470.00

Thank you for your support

Readings for the Week Sunday: Gn 3:9-15/Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 [7bc]/2 Cor 4:13--5:1/Mk 3:20-35

Monday: Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3/Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6 [cf. 2b]/Mt 5:1-12

Tuesday: 1 Kgs 17:7-16/Ps 4:2-3, 4-5, 7b-8 [7a]/ Mt 5:13-16

Wednesday: 1 Kgs 18:20-39/Ps 16:1b-2ab, 4, 5ab and 8, 11 [1b]/Mt 5:17-19

Thursday: 1 Kgs 18:41-46/Ps 65:10, 11, 12-13 [2a]/Mt 5:20-26

Friday: 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-16/Ps 27:7-8a, 8b-

9abc, 13-14 [8b]/Mt 5:27-32

Saturday: 1 Kgs 19:19-21/Ps 16:1b-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10 [cf. 5a]/Mt 5:33-37

Next Sunday: Ez 17:22-24/Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 [cf. 2a]/2 Cor 5:6-10/Mk 4:26-34

Please remember in your pray-ers those who are sick: John Krozer, Doreen Haray, Elinore Stine, Joanne Iurato,

David Carbonella, Dee LaBelle, Nancy Roche, Sue Barnum

PARISH INFORMATION

To all guests and neighbors to Holy Family Parish. We are grateful you found your way to our parish, whether visiting from afar or for convenience of

Mass times. Please be generous in your offerings so we may continue to afford our extended Mass times. We invite you to consider joining our parish as we reinvigorate into a thriving community.

Parish Membership

We invite all of our membership to participate fully in the spiritual and social life of our parish. If you are new to our parish, please register. Registration cards are available at the parish office. If you move, please notify the parish office.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Saturday 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Baptisms Sunday - 1:30 p.m. Please call the Parish office for details. @ (203) 336-1835. Pre-Baptism classes 1st Wednesday of the month.

Marriage Please contact the parish office at least a year in advance to ensure proper time and adequate preparation for this Sacrament. Pre-Cana required.

Anointing of the Sick Ministry For the confined, our shut-ins and the elderly, unable to attend church. For the dying, please contact the parish office immediately.

Holy Family Faith Formation

Mary Jane Perry, Coordinator Catherine Nolfi, Assistant Coordinator Meets: Tuesday: 5:00-6:00 PM, Grades 2 & 4

7:00-8:00 PM, Grades 5 &6

Wednesday: 5:00-6:00 PM, Grades 1 & 3

7:00-8:00 PM, Grades 7 &8

Religious Ed Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 5:30-8 PM, (203) 336-1835, ext. 3. Please call this number only to leave a message. Email address: holyfamilyreled@gmail.com

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) Anyone interested in becoming a Roman Catholic becomes a part of this process, as can any adult who has not received all the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Communion and Confirmation). For further information, please call the parish office.

Bulletin Deadline: Items for the bulletin must be submitted to the parish office by Tuesday for the next weekend’s bulletin.

Parish Organizations/Ministries Companions on the Journey: meets the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at the Adm. Building, 10:30-12 PM (except summer months). Knights of Columbus: Meets 3rd Thursday of the month, 7:30 PM, K of C Room, Grand Knight, Brian Parisi Parish Nurses: Karen Palaia, (203) 384-0229

Blood Pressure Screenings: announced after Mass

Men’s Reflection Group: Saturdays, 8-9:30 AM, Adm. Building, Maurice Magnotta, (203) 366-6707

Social Concerns: Norma Bissell, (203) 459-0615

Rosary Prayer Group: Thursday evening, 6 PM, parish center Youth Group: Sunday, 6-8 PM, Youth Group Room, school room #10, school, contact hfym.lifeteen@gmail.com

Parish Finance Council Our Parish Finance Council is a consultative body of lay persons established to advise the pastor in matters pertaining to the financial affairs of the church. The chairman is Charlene Lebo. Members of the Finance Council: Maurice Magnotta, Diane Fahey, Ruth Smey

Safe Environment /Virtus Facilitator: Diane Fahey

Virtus Training: The diocesan mandated Virtus training is ongoing for all parish/religious education volunteers (as well as new volunteers) who have not completed their certification or recertification. Recertification can be done online by going to www.virtusonline.org. If you have never attended a Virtus training session, you must attend a live session. Session dates and times are listed on the diocesan website: www.diobpt.org.

Task Force Committee: Chairperson; Diane Fahey, John Connolly, Roxanne and Jason Melaragno, Marsha Lynas, Cal Jones, Viki Heady, Charlene Lebo, Deacon John Moranski, Fr. Norman Guilbert

To all ministries and organizations: All orders which will be paid for by the parish must be approved by the pastor in advance. Receipts must accompany requests for payment, as per Diocesan Financial Guidelines.

Funerals: In the event of a funeral, please contact your funeral director to make arrangements. They will, in turn, contact us with the details and we will make the arrangement for music as well as meet with you to plan the liturgy.

Online Giving is Easy! Now you can sign up for Online Giving using your mobile device. Just click on this QR hashtag and sign up. That’s it. No more hassle with checks, no more forgetting to write one. It’s as simple as a click.

Event at Klein

Families are invited to celebrate the end of the school year at the Klein Auditorium in Bridgeport on Sunday, June 24, 218 for a special sing-along screening of the classic film The Sound of Music. The movie begins at 3 PM and tickets are $5 per person, which includes ice cream, provided by Saugatuck Sweets. Even the Diocesan Youth Choir (C4Y) will be on hand to help with the singing. To register, visit: https://www.formationreimagined.org/the-sound-of-music-

sing-along-ice-cream-social/. Hosted by the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Klein Auditorium. If you have any questions, please call (203) 416-1670.

The Original St. Anthony Feast at St. Margaret

Shrine, 2523 Park Ave., Bridgeport, on Friday, June 8 from 6 PM to 11 PM, Saturday, June 9 from 2 PM to 11 PM and Sunday, June 10 from 12 noon to 10 PM. The Feast is to support our beautiful Diocesan Shrine. Please join us for delicious Italian food and family friendly fun. There is daily entertainment, rides and a raffle. We will have our famous Pizza Fritta and many of our other tasty Italian dishes. On Sunday, June 10, we will have our Special Outdoor Mass at 11 AM. It will be followed by a procession in honor of St. Anthony. Please come and support the only Shrine in the Diocese of Bridgeport. For more information, call the Shrine: (203) 333-9627.

The 11 AM Family Mass, which is held the 4th Sunday of the month, will not be held during the summer months. It will resume in the October.

10TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME JUNE 10, 2018

Catechist of the Month

Kathy O’Shea Grade 3 CCD Holy Family Fairfield

Kathy was born in Newton Massachusetts the oldest of two daughters. Life was very exciting in her multi generational family. Some of her earliest memories were watching Boston Red Sox games, playing whist/bridge card games, playing the piano, learning French and driving with the family

from Boston to Los Angeles with many stops along the way. Her first school, grades 1 – 8, was taught by French speaking nuns half- day English, half-day French. In high school, Our Lady Help of Christians, Kathy became a junior naturalist for the Audubon Society, started teaching CCD, loved competing in JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) science fairs, and started teaching bridge at the senior center. She worked for the telephone company and was a pitcher for the town softball league. In college, Newton College of the Sacred Heart, which eventually merged with Boston College, Kathy worked full time to pay for school while pursuing a degree in Mathematics, with minors in Computer Science and Education. The highlight of her college experience was backpacking through Europe for 2 1/2 months which included 15 countries. Kathy was engaged and married soon after college graduation and began working for IBM as a systems engineer in NYC. They did not enjoy the city life and moved to Fairfield CT to buy a house and start a family. Holy Family was their parish of choice after visiting many neighboring parishes. Kathy loved performing in the Holy Family Variety Shows, being a member of Emmaus and eventually running a weekend, being on the parish council and eventually its president, joining Curcillo and most important was being awarded the Diocesan St Augustine Medal of Service. At the parish Kathy lectors, teaches CCD, is a Eucharistic Minister and money counter. Her children, Ann and Carrie, attended Holy Family School through grade 8. They now both own their own homes and live in Madison WI and Fairfield CT respectively. In time, her oldest grandson ,Luke, attended Holy Family until it closed when he was in the 5th grade. This year he will graduate from Notre Dame and head off to college. Her youngest grandson, Logan, was a shepherd in the Holy Family Living Nativity on the vigil of Christmas 2017. Kathy now works as an ESL (English as a second language) coordinator helping refugees and

immigrants learn English and become citizens.

EM/Lector Schedule for the Weekend of June 16/17

4:30 PM

8:30 AM

11 AM

5 PM

Lector

Maurice Magnotta

Mary Jane Elwood

Roxanne Melaragno

Mary Lou Edwards

EM

Kathy O’Shea

Diane Fahey

Cindy Elwood

Terry Armstrong

Virginia Rabacs

Julie Storms

FAITH FORMATION

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Have you ever felt judged by your family? St. John Paul II noted that the family "is the cradle of life and love" (On the Lay Members of Christ's Faithful, 40). Yet unmet expectations and divergent priorities can cause tension in even the most loving family situations. This is true for us, and it was true for Jesus!

In today's Gospel, Jesus has returned home to Nazareth. A large crowd gathered, and Jesus finds himself facing stiff opposition from his family. This was likely Jesus' large, extended family. The Semitic language has no specific words for extended relatives, so everyone is "brother" or "sister." The entire clan has gotten wind of Jesus' preaching, and they are not amused. "They set out to seize him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.'" To make matters worse, the religious authorities even accuse Jesus of being possessed by a demon. It's a mess by any standards.

The family's perspective is perhaps understandable. In Jewish culture, teachers and scribes underwent intensive schooling and apprenticeships, none of which Jesus had done. The family knew Jesus the carpenter, not Jesus the rabbi. For them, Jesus' bold preaching threatened the reputation of their family! Jesus' words to his family can seem controversial. "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Yet Jesus knows what he is about. He has always known he would be about the business of his Heavenly Father. And what is that business? It is the business of the new covenant and the Kingdom of God. In this Kingdom, we are all adopted sons and daughters of the King. Jesus begins, even now, to expand the perspective of his listeners. Being welcomed into this family does not depend on our families of birth or ethnic origin, but a wholehearted commitment to "do the will of God."

LIVE THE LITURGY - INSPIRATION FOR THE WEEK

A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Is the kingdom of your soul divided? We are often confronted with choices that appear to be good but in essence are not. We struggle with choosing good over evil and right from wrong. Conflicts often exist within, and we walk through life with a divided heart. We realize what is needed to live with God but find ourselves doing the exact opposite. As we gather with our brothers and sisters and seek God's gift of Christ in the Eu-charist, may we not only be united with one another in faith but united with God within. All conflicts and divisions can cease, and we can act with a focused, strong, and deter-mined heart.

EVERYDAY STEWARDSHIP - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

I have coached all three of my children in soccer at some time in their lives. I loved teaching them and their teammates the importance of functioning as one unit. If we were not all moving together toward victory, we would all find ourselves together in defeat. We used to go through one drill I called the "human foosball." We would scrimmage with players in lines like on a foosball table. If you ever got too far behind or too far ahead of those in your line, play would stop and the ball would go to the other team. The goal was to help build an awareness of where your teammates were on the pitch and to teach the lesson that no one player is a team onto themselves. As disciples and stewards, we sometimes find ourselves far behind or maybe even too far ahead. As a consequence, our actions either hinder the ability of the Body of Christ to evangelize and pass on the faith to a new generation or present the Church as an entity that sees itself as judgmental or too holy to be in the world. We are called to community, and in that community, we must be aware of our brothers and sisters in the faith. At times, we need to help them grow in their faith. Other times, we need to slow down and realize that we cannot change the world on our own. We all have unique gifts we are called to share, and we can only bear true witness to the power of the Body of Christ when we are all moving together and making each other strong.

-Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Dear Parishioners, The 5PM Mass… I’ve heard all the latest comments (usually indirectly from a third party). But I know well what’s going on. “Is Father going to

‘take away’ our 5PM Mass? “Does Father care about us? “How can Father do that?” So here is the ‘skinny:’ About a year ago I noticed an alarming trend. In comparing the two most populated Masses of the weekend, the 4:30PM Saturday and the

5PM Sunday, each with an average of 125 - 150 attendees, I noticed a great disparity in the collection, which didn’t seem to make sense. Although about the same amount of people attend both Masses, the collection at the 4:30PM is usually three times the collection at the 5PM. Sometimes, the 5PM didn’t even break $500, compared to the usual $1500 - $1700 we gather from the 4:30PM. Realizing that this trend was harming the parish and limiting our income, and thus our ability to pay our bills, I made a simple statement in the bulletin at that time: that given that low level of income we gather from the 5PM, we may not be able to afford to continue it because after paying a guest priest a stipend, the Mass actually costs the Parish money!

Why do we need to pay a guest priest? Because according to Canon Law (Church Law), a priest may not say any more than three Masses on

a given day (and the 4:30 counts as a Sunday Mass). We have 4 Masses. All was fine when we had two priests here, but now we do not. A substitute each week is necessary, and he must be paid. That’s one reason why we need adequate income from all the Masses, not just some. It’s a simple economic reality. Stipends, lights, heat, air conditioning, insurance. Most of you are homeowners. You know that stuff doesn’t come free. So how can anyone expect it to be provided without cost here?

The 5PM Mass is largely attended by guests and visitors, I know that because I’ve purposely walked through the church in regular street

clothes from time to time (on purpose) and was amazed at how many people didn’t know who I was. Of course not everybody is a visitor, some are parishioners who simply like the 5, but many are our guests from other parishes who for whatever reason like the 5PM time slot. As members of other congregations, my sense is that they contribute to their home parish (a good thing!), and contribute a far smaller amount to us when they attend here, even though it is we who are providing the service to them. We don’t share collections in this diocese. We simply lose out when this happens.

So, given the normal downturn of attendance in July and August, and trying very hard to contain escalating costs, and seeing that despite my

efforts to convince attendees to contribute more equitably on an ongoing basis, the collection has sadly remained too low for sustainability since my communication of the problem last year in the bulletin. Essentially, the other Masses are subsidizing it. Therefore to save resources, I made the decision to curtail the 5PM during the summer months of July and August only, when attendance falls as people go off on vacation, etc., and to resume it in September when people return. We started announcing it in the bulletin months ago, but when we made an oral announcement last week, the place reacted like it was the first time it had heard of it. There was surprise, comments, and some push-back. Believe me, it pays to read the bulletin!

Certain people came up to me to discuss the issue. It became immediately apparent that the issue was being viewed emotionally, as if I was

coldly taking away what is considered a local entitlement. Luckily, the ones who did come forward were reasonable people, who understood that this decision had to be guided by the best interests for the entire parish, and that sometimes hard decisions must be made soberly for the greater good of all.

So, contrary to what some may think, I am far from insensitive to parish needs; this has nothing to do with the pastor ‘wanting time off,’ in

reality, because I care so deeply for her present and future well-being, I am forced to make a hard decision which I know may not please some. However, a solution is possible. I averaged out the collections for the 4:30PM Saturday Mass for the last six weeks and compared it to the

average of the 5PM Mass for the same time period, and the disparity was apparent. The collection for the 5PM for the six weeks preceding last weekend was only 39.6% of the average for the 4:30.PM. And remember, the attendance was similar in terms of numbers. However, almost as if the congregation sensed the imminent need to do something, last week’s 5PM was much stronger, exceeding $800, and topping $900 with the second (monthly) collection combined. That’s pretty good. If we can continue the strong giving of last week so as to not allow the 5PM to lose money, I will not cancel it. However, if the collection falls again to an unsustainable level, I will be forced to reexamine my decision.

So there it is. Some might think “I don’t care.” I do, deeply. I care about providing adequate services to the parish and doing it in an

economically responsible manner. I care about being able to provide heating, air conditioning, and lighting. Contrary to what some may think, and just like anything else, ‘Church ain’t free’ and to think it is, is not realistic. We must all ‘step up to the plate’ if we wish to have the services we expect, whether it be at church or anywhere else.

Most of you who know me know that it is very rare for me to discuss money. I was a layperson for most of my life (I was ordained at 41) and

know what it’s like to struggle. I get it, but still, I have economic realities too, which really, if you think about it, are your realities as much as mine. So, let’s all plan to do our part, no matter what Mass we attend, and many, many thanks to the hundreds of you who contribute each week to the ongoing support of Holy Family parish. Keep it up! And may God bless you all.

FROM THE DESK OF FR. NORM