Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “Lord, you have called me. Here I am.” This week I had the immense privilege to celebrate the Mass for the first profession of vows of Sr. Allison Zink, a young sister with the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (you might know them best as the sisters who run Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden, or as the sisters who staff the St. Raphael Campus of the Cathedral Academy in Bridgeport). In professing the evangelical counsels through the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, Sister Allison entered upon a beautiful chapter in her…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Perseverance in prayer is one of the greatest spiritual challenges. The encouragement to persist in prayer that Jesus gives in the eleventh chapter of Luke which we read at Mass this weekend is no less challenging. It would seem that our Lord is encouraging not persistence so much as pestering. Though a cursory glance might give that impression, a closer reading tells us that God is ready to give, a provider and giver whose defenses do not need to be eroded. In the Scripture readings for this 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we can…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This weekend is Cooperative Mission Sunday in the Diocese of Bridgeport. At Masses throughout Fairfield County, missionaries from around the world will share their work and ministry with us, inviting each parish to support their work and participate in the mission of the whole Church to spread the Gospel. The second collection taken at Masses goes to help these missions financially. We call it “cooperative” both because the collections taken by each parish go into a single fund to be divided equally among all the missions that join our parishes this weekend, and because…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The story of the Good Samaritan is very familiar – so familiar, in fact, that the phrase “Good Samaritan” has found its way into our vernacular as a title for a stranger who helps someone in need. Luke sets the scene for the parable with a scholar of the law asking Jesus a common rabbinical question: what is necessary to inherit eternal life? The question of how to get to heaven resonates in every human heart, for deep down we know that we were created for an eternity in God’s presence. The things of…read more