Flowers Flowers Everywhere.
I am sure you will agree that Fr. Raymond and his committee did a wonderful job of decorating the Church for Easter. It was a veritable explosion of color. One might think that all you have to do is buy the flowers and place them in the church. I assure you there is much more work than the day when the decorating takes place. Almost every day Fr. Raymond is in the church watering the plants and removing those which are past bloom, and as he does this he re-arranges everything to keep our Church beautiful. When you see him, please let him know that you appreciate his hard work. All of the plants which are past bloom are being placed on the side of the church. We will keep them alive as best as we can. If you would like to take some for your garden please feel free to do so.
Maybe More Than Meets The Eye
I was surprised to hear from one of our parishioners that the man who visited our Church and frightened some of our Senior Citizens might have done so at other Churches in the area. Sadly it seems that what happened at St. Paul’s and other churches is very similar. We are in communication with the Berlin Police to see if all these events are connected. We have not had problems before and, for the time being, we do not plan on locking the Church. If you ever feel uncomfortable anywhere on our property please don’t hesitate to call the Berlin Police and/or let us know in the Parish Center.
We Can’t Find You...
The other day when I was called to New Britain General (HCC) to anoint someone, a woman came running out of a room on the 5 North floor and called to me. She was upset because her mother, who was from our parish, was in the hospital for 2 weeks and no one from the parish had come to visit her. I brought her down to the volunteer desk and asked to see the St. Paul list. Soon it became apparent that she was not on our parish list. The friars visit HCC at least twice a week and sometimes even more. We probably walked right by this woman’s door over and over again. Whenever you or someone you love is admitted to the hospital, please make sure that St. Paul Church is listed in the patient record. This is usually done when someone is admitted. To be safe, we would also appreciate it if you would call the office and let us know.
Anointing of the Sick
The friars are happy to anoint you whenever you are ill or going into the hospital. No appointment needed. If you need to be anointed, simply stop one of us before or after Mass and we will be happy to pray with you and anoint you. Whenever a person is anointed in our parish, we make a note of it in the Parish Census so that should your family call, we can let them know that you have already had the consolation of this beautiful sacrament.
The Epistle
The mid-April edition of the Epistle, our parish online newsletter, was sent out last week. It included several great articles and videos. There is an article on Religious Liberty from the Catholic
News Service. There are also articles on forgiveness, one entitled “When God Says No”. There are great videos on voting with Catholic values and Scott Hahn speaks about the Ministry of Peter. Annie Molleda, our Director of Religious Education, provided our young parents or young grandparents with resources to continue the religious education of their children and grandchildren over the summer.
If you did not receive a copy of the Epistle Online, please email us at [email protected] so we can add your email address to the list. I am sorry that for now we are not able to supply a printed copy of the Epistle.
A special thank you to Cindy Kobus, Mary Ann Massirio and Fr. Peter who have volunteered to help edit the Epistle each month.
How about a prayer
If you have a chance, how about prayer for the repose of the soul of my Dad. Today was his birthday.