St. Raymond of Penafort

GIVING TREE

Once again we will have the Giving Tree during the Advent season. Each family is invited to take one of the paper ornaments, obtain what is suggested on it, wrap it and place it under the tree. Monetary donations may be placed in the basket in front of the tree or put it in the offertory basket. This year’s recipients of your donations will be the Enfield Warming Center, St. Gerard Center, Enfield Loaves & Fishes, Hope for Haiti, Little Sisters of the Poor, HomeFront, Felician Adult Day Care and the Enfield Food Shelf (donations of money/food).

ST. NICHOLAS TREE

The St. Nicholas Tree, located in the front of the church, is decorated with “gift tags” for local merchants. You are asked to purchase a gift certificate, with the suggested dollar amount and return it to the Rectory Office either in the offertory basket or directly to the office. The gift certificates will be given directly to the local families that the parish has adopted. Please return the gift certificates no later then December 18th. Thank you helping us help our local families in need.

Synod report

A synod is an assembly of selected priests and parish delegates called by the Bishop to assist him in deliberating on the pastoral needs of the diocese under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

On the weekend of Oct. 25-27 more than 300 delegates from all the parishes in the archdiocese met to discuss the pastoral needs of the Archdiocese and our aim to “Grow and Go”. Four excellent speakers, young and on fire with the faith and love for the church, spoke on topics like evangelization, discipleship, and the place of faith in modern society.

There were 4 themes discussed: Encountering Christ – Ongoing Conversion

 Becoming Missionary Disciples

 Sent on Mission  

 Collaborating in the Local Church   

 Each of these themes had from 3-7 propositions we were asked to affirm or amend, based on issues facing the Church in Conn. and brought up in the listening sessions held last year. It is important to note that we were not discussing any changes in what we believe, or the teachings of the church. It was more about pastoral issues, ideas on how to meet the needs of a new generation of believers. We then made practical suggestions to help correct some of the issues. The 15 or so small discussion groups then reported back to the whole group, and all the recommendations we recorded. The committee will now sift thru all the info and put together the official document. On Pentecost Sunday next May the Synod will come to a close and the official document will be presented.

But the underlying thread that ran through- out the weekend was the call to the new evangelization. The world and the church are very different than they were 60 or 40 or even 20 years ago. We can’t meet our present needs with our past solutions. In order for the church to grow, we all need to accept our Baptismal mandate and spread the Good News of the Gospel. It is no longer just up to the priests! We need to live our faith in authentic ways that will attract others to Christ and His Church. This often begins with our own personal “conversion”, developing a personal relationship with Jesus, and growing in our own faith. Then when we “Go” out in the world we attract others to the Church by the way we live our lives and by sharing our faith and witnessing to Christ’s presence in our own lives.

SPIRITUAL ADOPTION: “Thank you for praying for me as I grow. At Month 1, I have a heart pumping my blood and a backbone. I am very, very tiny. At Month 2, I am 2 inches long. You can see my eyes, nose and mouth. I will use them to experience God’s world after I am born. I appreciate your prayers.”

Please remember to pray daily for your Spiritual Adopted Baby and the baby’s mother and father: Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion