Welcome to St Maria Goretti

Welcome to St Maria Goretti's new website!

Here you will find upcoming events, announcements, CCD news, bulletin and much more!

We hope that you enjoy this website and feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

Sincerly,

St. Maria Goretti Parish Office

Posted by Admin on Wed Sep 15 2010, 01:35PM

Make your offering Online!

Click on the link below to make your church offering online!

https://www.myowngiving.com/Default.aspx?cid=739

If you have any questions about the Online Giving, please email donna@smgchurch.org.

Posted by jcurley on Sat Jan 21 2012, 02:13PM

Lectors Needed!

We are desperately in need of more Lectors for the 4:00 p.m Mass on Saturdays. If you are interested, please contact Nick Pettinico by phone (203) 879- 1966 or email nicholaspettinico@sbcglobal.net. Thank you!

Posted by jcurley on Thu Jan 19 2012, 12:21PM

Faith Formation News For The Week of January 14th and 15th.

FAMILY & FAITH FORMATION NEWS FOR JANUARY 14/15, 2012 

2nd Grade Sacrament News: Subject: 2nd Grade Reconciliation Parent Workshop:

When: February 5, 2012 at 11:45am-1pm.

Where: Fr. Mullins Hall One parent must attend if both are not available.

Please call the office if you are unable to attend.

First Reconciliation February 25 @ 10am-11:30am in the Church Parent Communion Workshop March 4th @11:45am in Fr. Mullins Hall

"The Gift of Life"

St. Maria Goretti's Prolife Committee is going to show the DVD pro- duction, "The Gift of Life" in Fr. Mullen's Hall Wednesday, January 18th, @7:00PM. We would like to invite the Confirmation students and their parents from St. Maria's and St. Pius X to come and join us. Governor Mike Huckabee has produced "The Gift of Life" which expresses the sanctity of life as a moral issue and looks at lives of individuals who were nearly victims of abortion but through the grace of God were spared. Some went on to great accomplishments. The "Gift of Life" profiles leaders of the prolife movement - those who believe that all other issues pale in comparison to whether we re- spect and honor others in the same way we want to be treated.

Weekly Classes Grades 3-7 News

No classes for Sunday January 15 or Tuesday January 17

6th Grade Reconciliation Jan. 21 @ 1:45 in Fr. Mullins Hall

2nd/9th Grade Monthly News

Class is February 5 @ 11:45-1pm

2nd Grade: Unit 3, 14 pages 207-210 is due 9th Grade :

Chapter 5 is due Grades 1st/8th Monthly News

Class is January 22 @ 11:45am-1pm 1st Grade Due: Sessions 9-12 And Unit 2 Quiz 8th Grade: Mary Mother of God/Eucharist Due

Kindergarten Grade News Kindergarten Class is January 29th, 2012

Due: Chapters 5 - 8 and pages 116, 122 to 127

Home School News

Homework

Please ensure you hand in your weekly homework in the homework bin marked "home school" located in the crying room. If you are missing the assignments please call me in the office and I will give you a packet.

Posted by jcurley on Fri Jan 13 2012, 01:39PM

Pace e Bene Blessed be God!

Dear Friends:

Last Saturday evening, I was pleased to attend a retirement-going away party for Fr. Henry Balchunas, who served as Pastor at St. Pius Church for 27 years. I was given the privilege to say a few words and commented on his dedication to the priesthood and to Christ. Even though we cannot give actual statistics, one can imagine the number of masses, confessions, hospital visits, consultations, telephone calls, meetings and overall general dealings with pa- rishioners and non-parishioners that must have taken place over those 27 years. The Town of Wolcott and the religious dimension of the town is marked through his service. Fr. Balchunas and his family had to deal with the ravages of World War II, a fact of which many may be unaware. He had a profound dedication to Christ via his priesthood and made most of his de- cisions based on that dedication. Of course, as all members of the priesthood (even the Pope or the Bishops), he was a human being who tried to do his best. Even if we disagree with him, we can admire the dedication he had to Christ and the priesthood. Ad multos annos - (may he be well) for many years! Last week, we spoke about the hidden quality of evil in life. The Catholic Church always warns us against the subtle urge not to do what is best as human beings. Most us do not 'think' or 'consider' even the possibility of evil in our lives. Our minds and eyes have cata- racts which prevent or color the possibility of evil in our lives. Most of the time, the evil pre- sents itself in pretty small items. We may use God's name in vain almost without realizing it. Or, even more subtle, we may hear someone in our family or group of friends use God's name disrespectfully and tolerate it. We say nothing. As a result, the impression made and given is that there is no consequence to taking God's or Jesus' name in vain. (Would a Muslim tolerate or issue a fatwa if Allah's name was misused or a Jew tolerate Yahweh's name disrespected? The Christian allows it.) As another example of small evil, students may feel that their class standing is more important than honesty and cheat to keep that standing. Even parents may be silent if they knew their child cheated because 'everybody does it one way or another.' Often- times, we look away and allow small evil to be elevated either to neutral or 'good' levels. In this way evil insinuates itself into our lives and sets roots. When this small evil becomes rooted in our general outlook, the stage is set for higher levels of evil. In order to avoid personal cost, a person might lie about an accident. Say an individual bumps their car and damages the car. Well, rather than accepting responsibility, someone may lie and claim the damage must have occurred in a parking lot and the perpetra- tor avoided responsibility. Thus, the cost of the damage is given to the insurance company. It is so easy to do such a thing if we have been performing 'easier' deceptions on a regular basis. Catholicism always says evil lurks in all of us. The only way to be aware of evil is to be aware of the good. Parents should try to lead children to the truth. God bless. Fr. Bill

Posted by jcurley on Thu Jan 12 2012, 02:22PM

A Note From Father Bill

Pace e Bene Blessed be God!

Dear Friends: We celebrate this weekend the feast of the Epiphany. It is a feast that focuses on a particular Catholic theological theme which is the redemption won for us by Jesus is not directed to- wards a select group of people (the Jews) but rather has a universal application. All people, no matter where they are or when they are, can receive the redemption won for us by Jesus. The Three Kings represent the then known world. As such, they are a metaphor for everyone. They also bring select and choice gifts: frankincense, myrrh and gold. These represent not only the gifts of the earth, but most especially the gifts of human labor and the fruits of human action: they represent what we name time, talent and treasure. We should be especially grate- ful for the heritage our Roman Church has given to all people. The Church has given us litera- ture, art, music, science, philosophy, theology. All these emphasize the positive in human nature and whatever demeans or lessens the human person is not part of the Catholic Church. However, this example the Church gives us regarding the positing understanding of the human person does not mean the Church‘s theology is Pollyannaish or blindly optimistic. Jean Jacques Rousseau optimistically believed human nature was fundamentally good and that so- ciety corrupted the human being. Augustine had a very negative understanding of human na- ture, as did Plato and Martin Luther. Our faith acknowledges both aspects – a goodness that is found in human nature as well as a dark side (to use a modern metaphor.) In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain kills his brother out of jealousy. On can just imagine the violence needed for this as well as the internal state of Cain. In a recent movie, ―Brothers,‖ two soldiers are held captive in Afghanistan. Captain Cahill – Tobey Maguire – urges the younger marine to stay firm, to say nothing to their captives, to not agree or disagree. The younger marine is tortured and both are brought out into an open space where the captain is told to murder the younger marine. He is tantalized, told his family would never see him, that he must kill the younger marine. He is given a lead pipe and after being threatened, promised good things, and badg- ered to kill the younger marine, he succumbs and beats him with the lead pipe. While we live relatively sedate and comfortable lives with no real challenge to our ̳virtue,‘ there does reside in each one of us both the good and the submerged evil. Each one of us is capable of collapsing all our moral principles and we can commit ̳sin.‘ This is what each hu- man being is capable of. Look at what Stalin did to his own people. Stalin had gone to a seminary to become a priest. The murder of others can always be justified. (Shades of abor- tion today.) Yet, we are also capable of great achievements. Think of the martyrs who died to preserve their faith. Think of Maria Goretti, who died to preserve her virginity. Stories abound of great sacrifice willingly offered in opposition to evil. We are so capable of good and so capable of Evil. The Epiphany shows us that when we have God as our goal, when we sacrifice time, talent and treasure for God, we can hope that the good in us will conquer that submerged evil. The Epiphany sheds light on human nature. Fr. Bill

Posted by jcurley on Sat Jan 07 2012, 11:10AM

Christmas Schedule

Dear Friends of St. Maria Goretti:

On behalf of all of us here at SMG, I wish to extend sincere best wishes to you and your family during this Christmas Season. We celebrate the historical birth of Jesus, grateful that God has sent His Son for our instruction and redemption.

As you know, our schedule for this weekend is: Masses on Saturday are at 5:00PM (Children's Choir) and 10:00PM (our 'Midnight' Mass) and on Sunday only at 10:00AM. This last mass combines the 8:00AM and 10:30AM.

Since this is the end of the year for us, I would like to thank all of you for your generous attention to our parish. We had well over 30 people - both adults and children - helping with the decorations. Throughout the year, there is always a wonderful and warm assistance to our parish. I also ask that you be kindly generous to us this last weekend of the financial year. Your monetary gifts help us maintain and advance the parish in many ways. Again, Thank you and God bless you all.

Posted by Admin on Fri Dec 23 2011, 10:04AM

WINTER CANCELLATIONS

PLEASE NOTE-For any cancellations due to inclement weather this winter, please check the SMG Website or our facebook page.

Posted by jcurley on Tue Dec 20 2011, 01:35PM

A Note From Father Bill-December 18th

Dear Friends:

We enter the last week of Advent. While I know that the secular promptings for beginning the celebration of Christ- mas surround us, it is important that we keep the sense that Advent is a time that recapitulates the Jewish yearning and ex- pectation for their promised Messiah. We saw this emptiness, this yearning, this desire for the completion of God‟s promise to „make things right‟ to Adam and Eve. We Catholics look back on this Jewish expectation with a unique perspective be- cause we believe that the promise was fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Our celebration of the arrival of Jesus in human flesh and form is a celebration of gratitude to the Father, who sends His Son, born alone and away from human tenderness. Of course, He and His family were not alone: the angels shouted the news, the shepherds came to see this event and even As- trologers found Him. We attempt to integrate this experience (though from some 2000 years ago!)into our personal and daily lives. In our days of secular activity and the reduction of the sacred to the trite, it is a strenuous feat to keep the spiritual alive in our daily lives. In order to help us, I would like to refresh our attention to the difference between our secular lives and our religious lives. This distinction, though no separation, allows us to pay attention to the different awareness we can implement. Our public, practical and active lives deal with achieving goals, keeping things in order, making sure all is taken care of, driving the kids around, working and putting up with stresses at home and in the workplace. All of this takes a great deal of time and energy and most are pretty tired from all this activity. It is difficult to shift from the practical and active life to be aware of or sensitive to the religious or spiritual dimension of our lives. It is especially difficult because the spiritual dimension is the exact opposite of the practical. The active part of our life is filled with my goals, intentions and actions. The religious is the opposite: it is not of my doing, but of my receiving. To receive a gift, one needs to stop running around and one needs to stand there (perhaps even embarrassed) in order to receive (take) the gift. God reveals Himself to us not because of how much we are doing or have done. He reveals Himself because he created and loves us. (This reminds me of a family who gave birth to twins. They soon discovered that both boys had a rare disease called Hurler Syndrome. The result of this ill- ness - death by the time they would be two – caused the parents to seek every possible way of delaying the inevitable. They closed their home and moved closer to an important hospital. They attempted every possible way of delaying the tragic end- ing. They did this because these boys were their children and they loved them. They would do anything for them. The boys were the recipients of their parent‟s love and efforts.) Like the children in our story, we could do nothing to break down the door separating us from God. God comes to us. We are gifted with a special possible healing. We need to realize that in the case of our spiritual reality, it is God who comes to us. We can even in the midst of being very busy keep the realization that it is The Father who comes to us. In fact, we layer our busyness with a sense of yearning, waiting, expecting. It is as it were a double consciousness: the awareness of acting and doing as well as waiting at the same time. This is where peace comes from: from the sense that even in the activity of daily life we might be able to find God. As our Advent season comes to an end with the full realization that the One Awaited has arrived, we too can hope that we will find Him, our Peace and Redemption, as we go about our daily activity.

Posted by jcurley on Tue Dec 20 2011, 01:26PM