Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Because my everyday wardrobe is mistaken for a Halloween costume almost every year, I rarely give much thought to the day itself. This year, though, I could not help but notice the appearance of spider webs and various inflatable goblins on lawns as early as October 1st. With early Halloween decorating come inevitable questions about what we as Catholics ought to do with this particular day. Is it a demonic evening? Are we opening ourselves to spiritual attacks? Is it pagan? Is it Catholic? To begin, we can give a cursory (perhaps overly cursory)…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” These words of the Responsorial Psalm this weekend are especially apt for our community this week, for on October 25, our parish turns 66 years old. When the parish was established in 1955, no church had yet been built, but 464 pioneering families took up the challenge to form a new Catholic community in Fairfield. Today, the parish has grown to over 2,400 families. The 11 acre parcel of land which the Diocese of Bridgeport purchased from Walter O’Malley (at the…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Each year, as you know, the Diocese of Bridgeport holds the Annual Catholic Appeal, a fundraising effort that helps to finance vital ministries and charitable works of the Catholic Church throughout Fairfield County. The 2021 Appeal has gone very well for most parishes: we at St. Pius are at 90% of our fundraising goal of $234,600. That amount has been reached through the generosity of 310 donors. A new facet of the campaign this year is the pairing of parishes. That is, some of the parishes in the Diocese that are spiritually and pastorally…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Gospel passages read at Mass for the last few weeks have included some very real challenges for us, as well as a sense of urgency. To live according to the Gospel that Jesus preaches is no easy task. Nor is there any time to waste! In each of the Gospel passages we have reflected on over these weeks, we should note, in addition to the challenges our Lord places before us, the real longing of the human heart that echoes in the Gospel. For example, two weeks ago we heard Jesus telling the…read more