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

Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest

July 31

 

In the year 1521 a cannon ball fractured the left leg of Captain Ignatius Loyola, the future founder of the Jesuits. While he was convalescing, Ignatius read about Christ and His saints and thus turned wholly to God. He then undertook to equip himself for Christ's service by acquiring a good classical and theological education. The members of the Society of Jesus became the shock troops of the Church in the battle against the spread of Protestantism in Europe, as well as one of the greatest foreign mission organizations that the world has known. Ignatius died on July 31, 1556.

 

See Catholic Culture's special section on St. Ignatius.

 

St. Ignatius

Ignatius, by nation a Spaniard, was born of a noble family at Loyola, in Cantabria. At first he attended the court of the Catholic king, and later on embraced a military career. Having been wounded at the siege of Pampeluna, he chanced in his illness to read some pious books, which kindled in his soul a wonderful eagerness to follow in the footsteps of Christ and the saints. He went to Montserrat, and hung up his arms before the altar of the Blessed Virgin; he then watched the whole night in prayer, and thus entered upon his knighthood in the army of Christ. Next he retired to Manresa, dressed as he was in sackcloth, for he had a short time before given his costly garments to a beggar. Here he stayed for a year, and during that ...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

     

     

     

    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.

     

     

    7. The Rosary

     *

     

    REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn

    Parable of the Rich Man (Detail)

    1627

    Oil on oak

    Staatliche Museen, Berlin

    The month of August is dedicated to The Immaculate Heart of Mary. The entire month falls within the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is used in the offices and Masses of Ordinary Time. The last portion of the liturgical year represents the time of our pilgrimage to heaven during which we hope for reward.

    Preparing for the Mass - August 1, 2010

    Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 
     

    Reading I: Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
    Responsorial Psalm: 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17
    Reading II: Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
    Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

     

    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.

    Like Sands Through the Hourglass....

    "Though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions.” If Shakespeare were to hear our Gospel today, he would be likely to say perhaps, “Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, so do our minutes hasten to their end.” Or, “Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth and delves the parallels in beauty’s brow.” No one was more distressed by the transience of life and the destructiveness of time than Shakespeare. For his character Macbeth, life was a “brief candle – a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage.” For Prospero, “we are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep.” Or as a more contemporary ...more

    Money--You Can't Take it With You

    In his space trilogy, C.S. Lewis called him ‘the Bent one.”  That is really an apt name for the one the Bible is calls “Satan” or the Accuser.  The perverse choice he made to serve himself rather than his creator warped his nature, and ever since his delight has been twisting anything he can get his hands on.

     

    Take sexual desire for instance.  It was created by God to draw together a man and woman in committed, covenant love that issues in new life.  As such, sexual desire is clearly a great good.  But when it is twisted at the instigation of the “Bent One,” it becomes lust--the urge for sterile self-gratification that is willing to trample upon ...more

    Rich in What Matters to God

    In this week’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to be rich in what matters to God, His Father. This comes on the heels of offering a strong warning about greed and how destructive it is to the human spirit. Greed has a way of seeping into our hearts and poisoning our lives with an insatiable longing for stuff, for prestige and for fun. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, greed keeps us from devoting ourselves to those things that make us truly rich, those things that build us up, make us fully human and bring us lasting ...more

    Archbishop Fulton Sheen on the Silver Screen

    A new documentary on the life of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be shown in movie theaters as pre-release screenings.  It will also be available in DVD format (TBD).

     

    “Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: Servant of All” is a one-hour documentary that tells the story of Sheen and the tremendous impact he had on individuals, the Catholic community, the American public, and the world. Divided into five main sections, the film uses still images, video footage and interviews with those who knew Sheen to tell the story of this remarkable man, gifted teacher, missionary, priest, and loyal son of  ...more

    Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery Solved?

    The recent decoding of a cryptic cup, the excavation of ancient Jerusalem tunnels, and other archaeological detective work may help solve one of the great biblical mysteries: Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?

     

    The new clues hint that the scrolls, which include some of the oldest known biblical documents, may have been the textual treasures of several groups, hidden away during wartime—and may even be "the great treasure from the Jerusalem Temple," which held the Ark of the Covenant, according to the Bible.   ...more

    What is purgatory, and why do we pray for the dead? 

    Why do we pray for the dead? And how do we pray for the dead? I think a lot about these questions and hope you can give me some insight.

    - S.P., Connecticut

     

    These are good questions, shared by many others, and they touch upon a long tradition in the Church of not only remembering those who have gone on before us, but also commending them to God’s loving mercy.    ...more

    "Other People Are Worse Sinners Than Me!"

    Have you ever heard, or perhaps even argued this dusty and worn out proclamation, “Other people are worse sinners than me!”? Ironically, whoever says it is right. We are all sinners, yet some are worse or better in resisting sin than others. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle to varying degrees. What is (possibly) wrong, however, is the inference drawn from that statement, that “Others are worse so I’m going to Heaven some day and they aren’t!“ Such “logic” is beyond naiveté; it’s a trap, and with potentially serious and eternal consequences, above and beyond the fact that we are ...more

    John the Baptist in Bulgaria?

    Parts of St. John the Baptist's relics might have been discovered during archaeological excavations in Bulgaria's southern Black Sea town of Sozopol, report Bulgarian media.

     

    Archaeologists investigating the Sv. Ivan (St. John) island off Sozopol have found an exquisite reliquary - a relic urn - built in the altar of an ancient church bearing the name of St. John the Baptist

     

    The reliquary has the shape of a sarcophagus and is dated end of 4th - beginning of 5th c. AD. It was discovered by the team of Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov.     ...more

    Catholic Parapsychology: An Apostolate to the Holy Souls

    Man's inborn religious instinct tells him that there is more than the sensible world; indeed, it "never feels natural to accept only natural things," as Chesterton said. But about the afterlife we have more than just an intuitive inkling. Throughout history there have been manifestations -- some vague, others more concrete -- to support this ineradicable and universal intuition.

     

    Today, phenomena such as near-death experiences, spiritualist practices, and "channeling" or "phantom-chasing" (attempts to technologically register the presence of ghosts) attract a lot of attention. Of course, false explanations abound, and valid ..more

    What Every Catholic Needs to Know about the Church's uniqueness

    The Church’s uniqueness necessarily involves it with all human belief systems of the world. Here’s how

     

    The Catholic faith is utterly unique — because it is so much like so many other religious and philosophical traditions.

     

    Many people get confused by this paradox, but the strenuous efforts of the debunkers to reduce Jesus to the level of every other religious figure is itself the firmest testimony to that fact. That’s why, while you constantly run across books and news articles that Jesus is “nothing but” a rehash of Osiris or Mithra, you never see excited news stories...more

     What if you said the Our Father and God really

    answered you mid- prayer?

    THE LORD'S PRAYER

    Rather cleverly done in two parts:

    The prayer (in blue type) and GOD (in red type) in response.

    It is very, very good.

                                                             .... more

    St. Dymphna: Out of the Shadows of Mental Illness

    Mark had his first nervous breakdown when he was 16. Another followed two years later, during his freshman year in college. The diagnosis was bipolar disorder, type 2. The treatment was therapy and medication.

     

    In time, he found a way to manage his illness. He started a family and returned to the faith he had abandoned, finding new peace and unexpected strength in the Church. "We went through a really bad period," he says, "losing a lot of loved ones and having all kinds of health problems. Normally, those would have triggered a downward spiral into depression but they didn't. Prayer, faith, the Church, the Eucharist: all those things..more