February 2020 Four County Catholic Witness to Steadfast Faith   My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, One of the many pleasures I have in being your bishop is witnessing the numerous acts of faith demonstrated throughout the diocese. As Christians, we are people of faith. It is faith that sets us apart in service to others and in reverence to life itself. Through this faith, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we accomplish amazing works. Recently, many of you traveled to Washington DC to participate in the March for Life – leaving the comf...

Read More

Bishop, Catholic

The latest issue of the Four County Catholic is available now, and is filled cover to cover with news from within the Diocese of Norwich.   St. Michael Church Dedication There was a joyous celebration Jan. 18 when St. Michael Church in Pawcatuck reopened its doors after almost 10 years of rebuilding. Read the story about the dedication Mass and see photos in our online gallery HERE.   March For Life The Diocese of Norwich was well-represented at the March For Life in Washington, D.C., where the President addressed attendees for the first tim...

Read More

Catholic, schools

The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist A Parish Mission A Pew poll that purported to show that a majority of U.S. Catholics do not believe church teaching about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist had commentators blaming Communion in the hand, lay Eucharistic ministers, and even the Second Vatican Council. But sacramental theologians, liturgists and pollsters say the wording of the poll question likely skewed the data, since the results vary significantly from differently phrased surveys on the same topic from the past decade. Experts ag...

Read More

Catholic

Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit to come to the Diocese of Norwich Over the centuries, there have been countless instances all, over the world, where God has chosen to have The Eucharist transform perceptibl into flesh and blood. That is, the Eucharistic bread manifesting itself physically into human flesh, and the wine into human blood. In fact, there have been over 160 such Eucharistic miracles approved by the Church. The Church of the Holy Family, in Hebron is hosting the Vatican International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles of the World. The exhibit ...

Read More

The Lenten season in the Catholic Church is a time when we focus on fasting, sacrifice and prayer. The truth is that most people don’t look forward to doing so for 40 days. Giving up candy, screen time or your favorite celebratory beverage is really not something we ever desire or feel motivated to do. Yet, as Catholics, we have been taught that Lent calls us to focus on all of this. The question becomes, how can we make fasting, sacrifice and prayer more meaningful this Lent? How do we share this Lenten journey as a family? When I was a child, my family would sit ...

Read More

Catholic, , lent, faith, sparks

Saint Vincent De Paul Place in Norwich recently received a generous donation from ConnectiCare to support energy efficient upgrades to their facility. ConnectiCare presented a $4,234.43 donation to St. Vincent de Paul Place on Jan. 30 in collaboration with the Connecticut Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit program. The Connecticut NAA program gives tax credits to local businesses who support municipal and tax-exempt organizations. Through this program, ConnectiCare has been able to donate to 36 nonprofits.

Read More

Norwich, Catholic, Saint, Paul, vincent, de, place, donation

Giving Tree helps students fill backpacks for the less fortunate   How do you bring religion lessons to life for young children? This year for an Advent religion lesson on giving and sharing with children less fortunate, kindergarten teacher Trisha Fleury asked her class at Sacred Heart School in Groton if they wanted to collect items to fill backpacks for children that were less fortunate. The first step was to bring the ideas down to their level.   “We had to discuss what fortunate means. We talked about all the things that we have and that som...

Read More

Norwich, Catholic, Youth, School, Sacred, Heart, Tree, giving

By Courtney Mares Vatican City (CNA) - Pope Francis published his response to the Vatican’s 2019 Amazon synod in an apostolic exhortation Wednesday. Despite widespread speculation following the synod, the pope does not call for married priests, but seeks to expand "horizons beyond conflicts." Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis’ much-anticipated post-synodal apostolic exhortation, presents the pope’s "four great dreams" for the Pan-Amazonian region’s ecological preservation and "Amazonian holiness." The exh...

Read More

Mass, Catholic, Priests, Pope, Francis

Few of us know the pain of losing a child. As a parent of three, I cannot imagine having to send one of them home to be with God, yet I know that every year, thousands of parents fight through the pain of just that as childhood cancer claims another life. In all my life, I have never met a more faith filled family than the family of Matt and Caron Smith, who endured such a tragedy in December 2018. The Smiths’ second youngest child, Amber Grace Smith, became sick with a rare brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, when she was only 6 years old. After being hospitali...

Read More

Norwich, Catholic, Amber, Smith, Foundation, endowment

If you are thinking of attending the 2020 Norwich Diocesan Women's Conference March 28 at St. Bernard High School in Uncasville, please check out the afternoon workshop choices listed below.  Please list your top two choices on your registration form, workshops are filled according to a first come first serve basis, so send your registration in today!! We hope to see you on March 28! Faith and Family Balancing life and faith is a challenge most of us face daily.  Adding family to that equation sometimes proves to be impossible.  Li...

Read More

Catholic Women, diocese of norwich, Women, Diocesan Conference, workshops, Catholic, Norwich, Conference, Connecticut, Religion, Catholic, Workshop