Home     Pastoral Sharings     Catholic Resources     St Johns Kids     Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit     Deanery Bulletins     The Passion     EWTN Live     Catholic News     Pauline Year     Contact Us     Site Map      

Memorial of St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor

September 3

 

St. Gregory, senator and prefect of Rome, then in succession monk, cardinal and pope, governed the Church from 590 to 604. England owes her conversion to him. At a period when the invasion of the barbarians created a new situation in Europe, he played a considerable part in the transitional stage, during which a great number of them were won for Christ. At the same time he watched over the holiness of the clergy and preserved ecclesiastical discipline, as well as attending to the temporal interests of his people of Rome and the spiritual interests of the whole of Christendom. To him the liturgy owes several of its finest prayers, and the name "Gregorian chant" recalls this great Pope's work in the development of the Church's chant. His commentaries on Holy Scripture exercised a considerable influence on Christian thought, particularly in the Middle Ages. Together with St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Jerome, he is one of the four great Doctors of the 

Latin Church.

 

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is feast of St. Pius X; his feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is August 21. The feast of St. Gregory the  ...more

Church News   

  •  

    •                                                   

        "The Mother Church of The Norwich Diocese" 

     

    Saint John Gifts 

     


    Click here to see our other gifts featuring the antique sacred art stained glass windows in our historic church   

     

    Nativity Ornament click here

    Saint John School 

    Grades K - 8

    5 St. John Sq.

    Middletown, CT 06457

     Mass Schedule

     

    Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:00 PM 

    Sunday Mass:          8:00 AM and 10:00 AM

     

    Eucharistic Adoration begins in the chapel at 9AM after morning Mass on the 1st Friday of each month and ends at 6PM, in

    observance of the 6:30 Stations of the Cross, with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and a Benediction

     

          Monday Night:   Miraculous Medal Novena in the
                                  Chapel     

          Thursday Night: 7PM Prayer Group in the Chapel

          First Fridays:     8AM Mass and Devotions to the

                                   Sacred Heart

         First Saturdays:  8AM Mass and Holy Rosary

         Confession:        Heard Saturdays, 3:00-3:30PM

     

    Pastor

          Rev. Father Michael Phillippino

    Deacon 

          Rev. Mr. John R. Hancock 

    Principal  

          Mrs. Kathleen King

          Email:  KathleenOKing@comcast.net
    Directors of Religious Education 

          Lyn Willard and Kathryn Connolly  
    Parish Administrative Secretary  
          Ms. Megan Furtado 
          Email:   StJohnSecretary@comcast.net     

    Parish Bookeeper

          Ms. Patty Holmes

          Email:   StJohnBook@comcast.net

    Sexton

          Michael Keleher    

            Email:   StJohnSexton@comcast.net

    Choir Director  

          Bryan Cosham

     

      Parish Office Hours
          Monday, Wednesday, Friday
          8AM to 1PM

          Tuesdays and Thursdays
          9AM to 2PM


    Closed weekends, holidays & holy days

     

     Parish Council
    Meets every 3rd Thursday of the month at 7 PM in the Rectory; all parishioners are welcome to attend

     

     

     

     

     

    Next Week: Faith Seeks Understanding Pt. 5: 

    What Makes Our Faith in the Resurrection Credible?

    The goal of the drafters and original signers of the Manhattan Declaration is to build a movement of Christians willing to take a stand for the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty. By electronically signing the Manhattan Declaration, over a quarter million people have voiced their willingness to do just that, with thousands more joining each day. As more join us, our voice gets even stronger.

     *

     

    RUBENS, Pieter Pauwel

    Christ at Simon the Pharisee (detail)

    1618-20

    Oil on canvas transferred from wood

    The Hermitage, St Petersburg

    The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15. September falls during the liturgical season known as Ordinary Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green.

    Preparing for the Mass - September 5, 2010

    Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
     

    Reading I: Wisdom 9:13-18b
    Responsorial Psalm: 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14-17
    Reading II: Philemon 9-10, 12-17
    Gospel: Luke 14:25-33

     

    Sunday Bible Reflections by Dr. Scott Hahn  

    For adults: The website, The Center for Liturgy, will help you prepare for Mass.  For children: the website, Sadler , will help our kids get ready for Sunday readings.

    Humility Opens Doors

    “Nice guys finish last,” says the world.   “The last will be first,” replies Jesus.

     

    My guess is that the Lord of creation knows best who really wins in the end.  And he says “whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Gospel of Luke 14:11).

     

    To understand why the humble get ahead and why the meek shall inherit the earth, we need to be sure that we understand what humility and meekness really are.  ...more

    Read The Bible? Me?

    I used to think the Bible was boring. Then, one Sunday Mass changed everything…

     

    How many words does it take to change your life? For most of us, it depends on which words we may be waiting for. “Marry me!” “I forgive you.” “You have talent, kid.” “The test results look good.” One thing is for sure: Words have power to shape our destiny. The right word—one of life, love, or hope—can make all the difference.  ...more

    Blessed Rosebud

    had a chance to meet Mother Teresa once. I declined. I heard her speak though – at Cincinnati’s St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, which was filled to capacity one night (if memory serves) in 1974. The priest who’d brought me suggested I attend the meet-and-greet afterwards, but I refused, because it was clear that Mother didn’t want to meet me.

     

    On the back cover of Where There Is Love, There Is God , a new collection of her writings (timed for today’s centenary of her birth), there is a “call-out” quotation:

     

    “What you are doing I cannot do, what I’m doing you cannot do, but together we   ...more

    International adoption: From a broken bond to an instant bond or

    a quick read to lift the spirits

    Scott Simon -- the sonorous voice of NPR's "Weekend Edition" -- has written a short, tender book about the two most important people in the world. At least to him. "Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other" recounts the arrival of his two daughters, Elise and Lina, from China, while telling the stories of other families changed by adoption.

     

    Simon describes himself as skeptical of transcendence but as taking part in a miracle. "My wife and I," he says, "knew that Elise and Lina were our babies from the ...more

    Does Mass Have to be Said in a Church?

    Q: Does a priest have to say Mass in a church?  –Paula

     

    A: Now this is a simple question with an answer that is perhaps more complex than one would think!

     

    When Canon 897 states that the Eucharistic Sacrifice is the source and summit of all worship and Christian life, it is quoting verbatim from Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (11). Since, as we have seen so many times before in this space, canon law follows theology, the direct connection between the Code of Canon Law and a theological conciliar document should not be at all surprising. Canonical requirements concerning the sacraments are driven by the theological significance of those sacraments; thus it is entirely logical that the tremendous reverence which the Church teaches us to have for the Eucharist plays out in the canons that pertain ...more

    How To Become a Saint

    Since St. Monica's feast day is today, (August 27th), her son - St. Augustine - has this to say to us about how we can become Saints.

     

    1 - Humility is the key to growing spiritually:

     

    "Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation."

     

    2 - We all need to forgive and be forgiven:

     

    Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and ...more

    Christ: The Theme of the Old Testament

    You might wonder where I find all these bible tidbits. Well, I get them from reading, listening to the radio, speaking with others, but mostly from listening to CD’s of talks. Usually the talks are well prepared, clear, educational, and inside of that something jumps out and catches my attention. I think it is important to take those things and pass them on to others to attract them closer to our faith.      ...more

    Harvard Valedictorian Joins Convent

    Don’t tell Mary Anne Marks the Catholic Church is an oppressive, misogynistic disaster. She knows better. And she’s got a Harvard degree, too.

     

    Miss Marks, a native of Queens, N.Y., graduated from Harvard University this past semester with an undergraduate degree in classics and English, delivering her commencement address in Latin. This fall, she begins a new life, discerning her future consecrated to Christ as a Catholic religious sister with the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Mich. She and I are alumnae of the same high school, Dominican Academy, in Manhattan. Before heading to Ann Arbor, she  ...more

    Fearless: How John Paul II Changed the Political World

    John Paul II was a shaker of world events. He regraded the political landscape of the 20th century and was counted among the few who were responsible for the relatively peaceful demise of the Evil Empire. Pundits were busy assessing his impact in this realm and wondering about his broader political legacy. They were having a hard time of it because, politically speaking, each side that would like to claim the pope for its own has to disregard or discount certain of his actions that seem inconsistent with its views...more

    Our Father 

    In Luke’s gospel, the “Our Father”, like so much else in Jesus’ teaching, is occasioned by a request from his disciples: “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). This should get our attention, because it is typical of Jesus’ method of revelation that, instead of going around announcing, “Hey! I’m the Messiah!” he appears to leave so much of revealing himself to the initiative of others. Half of his sayings are replies and rejoinders to things somebody else said or asked. Even the great and shocking revelation of his identity as the Christ, the Son of the living God is made, not by him directly, but through the apostle Peter. The disciple makes the great  ...more

    A Great Victory for the Devil

    It is the most secure unwritten rule in American life: you don’t talk about religion in “polite” conversation. Whether it be at work, at home or out in public, we are allowed to talk about just about any topic from sports to the weather to the kids, as long as it doesn’t touch religion. This avoidance of religion extends to popular culture as well. For example, look at this list of TIME magazine’s “50 Best Websites“, grouped by category. Can you see what category is missing? That’s right: religion. “Shopping and Travel” gets its own category (after all, consumerism does consume us these days), but religion has ...more 

    Plenary Indulgence at the Hour of Death

    My Lord God, even now resignedly and willingly, I accept at Thy hand, with all its anxieties, pains, and sufferings, whatever kind of death it shall please Thee to be mine.

     

    By a decree of the Congregation of Indulgences of 9 March 1904, His Holiness Pope Pius X, has granted a plenary indulgence at the moment of death to all the faithful who, on any day they may choose, will receive the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist and make this act for the love of God  ...more