Once upon a time, a man in a small Scottish town had stopped attending Mass for a few weeks, out of laziness. His pastor decided to pay him a visit. He stopped by one evening, and the man was surprised to see his priest at his front door. He welcomed the priest in, but was sure that he was going to hear a harsh sermon because of his absence from church.

The priest and the man settled down in armchairs next to the fire. Without a word, the priest took fire-tongs and took out a glowing coal from the fire, and set it out on the brick fireplace, apart from the rest of the wood. In silence, the two men watched the coal go from glowing red to pink to black as the fire slowly went out.

Once the coal was cool, the priest used the tongs to pick it back up and place it in the midst of the fire. Surrounded by the heat, it began to glow once again.

The man stood up and ushered the priest to the door. “Thank you, Father,” he said. “That was a very powerful sermon. You will see me in church on Sunday.”

A symbol he would never forget! When a coal is taken away from the other coals, the heat dies out quickly. And when a Christian is isolated from other Christians, how quickly does the fire of the Holy Spirit die out in our hearts!

Scripture says that “just as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17). A big turning point in my own faith journey as a teen came about through a series of retreats I used to attend with a group of other high school boys. I don’t remember a single thing that was said on the retreats – but I will never forget the friendships that were forged, friendships based in Jesus Christ. For the first time in my life the peer pressure was positive! I found friends who made it cool to be Catholic – and I am still friends with some of those men today! (I remember telling my best friend Steven that I had just gotten my driver’s license, and he exclaimed, “That’s great! Now you can go to daily Mass!” – that is some positive peer pressure!)

All of us need good Catholic friendships. But so many of us may attend Mass and then bolt out the door, without really getting to know anyone else in the parish. It used to be that the parish was the center of people’s social lives – I hear stories from some of our older parishioners about parish-wide dances, bowling leagues, CYO basketball, parties…but now it is not common to see our parish as the locus of friendships.

But Christ-centered community is such an awesome blessing – and such a critical need in all of our lives! We have several opportunities this summer for our youth and our families to gather and socialize, but this weekend we have an awesome opportunity for the whole parish to get together! I want to personally invite you to our parish picnic, taking place at Holy Ghost Park in Shelton on Sunday from 1-6pm.

Even if you didn’t register, please come. Even if you don’t know anybody, please come. Even if you are a shy introvert (which most people are), please come. You may be surprised by how great a blessing it is to be surrounded by others who share the same Catholic faith, and to develop friendships with other followers of Christ!

Corpus Christi Procession

The feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord is fast approaching! Join us to honor our Eucharistic Lord with a beautiful traditional Eucharistic procession immediately following our 11:30am Mass. The procession will stop at different altars all around our campus, where we will offer love and worship to Lord. Come and experience the beauty, the tradition, and the worship of our first-ever Eucharistic Procession for the Feast of Corpus Christi!

Thank You David Baranowski!

It is with great sorrow that we bid goodbye to our phenomenal director of music, David Baranowski. He has taken a new position as director of several choirs, one of which meets on Sunday mornings. He has truly elevated our music program and added so much elegance, beauty, and true worship to our liturgies. He will be truly missed. We will be interviewing for new director of music within the next several weeks.

Parish News

The Knights of Columbus Council 5986 is sponsoring a blood donation drive at St. Jude's on Saturday, July 23. Any parishioner wishing to donate at that time can do so by following the instructions below:

Here is how you can make an appointment. Go to the ARC blood donation web site, https://www.redcrossblood.org/. In the upper right hand corner place '06468' in the zip code box. At the top of the left hand column, click “refine search” and then find and click “Choose my dates”. When the calendar comes up, click on July 23, 2022 then click on 'refine results'. Our drive should appear. From there, you can schedule your own appointment.

Hopeline Baby Bottle Appeal

Knights of Columbus

St. John XXIII Council 5987

The Knights of Columbus will be initiating a fundraising drive to raise much needed funds for the Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Centers. Hopeline has been helping women in Connecticut for over 30 years. It is a faith based organization committed to caring for women and their families through their free and confidential pregnancy services which include pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and counseling on the truth about abortions as well as the option of parenting and adoption.

This is a wonderful way to put our faith into action. Our goal is to raise $5,000. We will be distributing baby bottles after each mass, beginning the weekend of June 4^th and 5^th, to be filled with your donations. We will be collecting these bottles after all Masses each weekend from June 11^th to June 19^th.

Any amount you can donate will be appreciated by the Knights of Columbus, Hopeline, the expectant mothers and the unborn babies.

The Reverend James McCarten Assembly 119

4^th Degree Knights of Columbus

Patriotic Rosary

Flag Day

Tuesday June 14^th 7 P.M.

Madonna Statue (Church if bad weather)

7P.M.

St. Jude’s Parish

The 4^th Degree is the Highest Degree Taken By Knights and Is The Patriotic Degree of The Order

 St Jude Columbiettes would like to thank the parish for their support of our recent virtual tea party. We raised $580 for the charities that we support throughout the year including the Annual Campership. We were able to make a $1000 donation to the Campership that enables parents with a disabled child to attend camp during the summer. We prayed a rosary at our May meeting for your intentions.

The June issue of the Family Newsletter is now available - click below.  If you would like to be added to the recipient list, e-mail Jessica Iannotta

Young families with children and teens are invited to meet at Great Hollow Lake at 5 pm on June 22 for hiking with Fr. Joseph. After hiking we will meet at St. Jude for Pizza. 

RSVP below so we know to expect you!

Save the Dates for Summer Family Events! 

Tuesday, July 26: Family Bingo Night - 6:30 pm

Friday, August 12: Family Movie Night - 7 pm 

REGISTER NOW for Vacation Bible School!

Visit https://www.stjuderc.org/vacation-bible-school.html to register your child entering Grade K-5. Space is limited so sign up early to reserve a spot for your child!

PLEASE REGISTER ASAP so that we can order materials. 

If you have already registered, please send in the parent release.

We need more ADULT and TEEN volunteers!

If you are an adult interested in volunteering, please fill out this form to let us know your availability and what you'd be interesting in helping out with. If you are a teen who would like to volunteer, please fill out this volunteer application. Contact Jessica Iannotta for more information.

Mom's Group Announcements!

St. Jude's Mom's Group Kickoff Meeting Recap is available on the parish website. Contact Jessica Iannotta for more information and click here to register for the group contact list.

Next meeting Wednesday 6/29 at 7 pm in the social hall to kick off our summer book club on Living Joy by Chris Stefanick.  To join our monthly mother's Zoom rosary e-mail Jessica Iannotta

Diocesan Wedding Jubilee Mass 

Bishop Caggiano will be celebrating the Wedding Jubilee Mass on October 22nd at Saint Mary's Parish in Bethel at 11 AM

This Mass will be for couples celebrating 25, 40, 45, 50 or more years of marriage.

Parishioners wishing to attend may feel free to either email Pat Hansen at phansen@diobpt.org or call 203-416-1342.

Please remember in your daily prayers:

Marge Tranzillo, Judy-Beth Raine, Maria Bertone, Deacon Ronnie Bicknell, Marie Micholovich, Vincent Daniello, Dyana vander Wielen, Joe Pinto, Ray Schwartz, Zoey Frigo, Daniel Louis Bianco, Max, Hung Vu, Alfred Zawadski, Michael Serke, Kristen Kelly, Leroy Moye, Richard Carrano, Judy Thomas, Dr. John Kezel, Joseph Sheridan, Francisca Testa & family, Catherine Belanger, Stephen Henn, Robert Orol, Manny Cambra, Bennett Gulyas, and Tom Pleva

All healthcare workers, first responders, caregivers and the men and women in the military.

If you have anyone that you would like to add to the list, please call the office or email with the name to be added.

Please join us in praying our Monthly Parish Intention. 

Our Petition for June is:

Through devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Most Loving Heart, may our own hearts grow in love for others,

We pray....

SACRED HEART OF JESUS, I PLACE MY TRUST IN YOU

Upcoming Mass Intentions

Sat   June 11     5:00pm               St Jude Parishioners

Sun  June 12     7:30am               Irene Zawadski

Sun June 12     9:30am               Maria Emilia Monteiro

Sun  June 12     11:30am             Raymonda Blair

Mon June 13     9:00am               James Barcus

Tue  June 14    9:00am               Theresa Chapman

Wed June 15     9:00am               Kazmiera and Stanislav and John

                                                         Wadolwski

Thu  June 16     9:00am               Joseph and Margaret Mende        

Sat   June 18     5:00pm               Luis and Elvira Ferreira

Sun  June 19     7:30am               St Jude Parishioners

Sun June 19     9:30am               Pinto and DeAndrade Family

Sun  June 19     11:30am             Rose and Salvatore Casa

The Tabernacle Candle will burn in memory of the deceased members of the Bonitatibus and Tranzillo families during the month of June

If the 9:00 am Weekday mass is not listed, an intention has not been requested. Also, there are no public Masses on Friday mornings.

Monday through Thursday Weekday Masses will be in the main Church at 9 am and live streamed.

The Weekend Masses inside the Church are Saturday at 5:00 pm and Sunday at 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30. Only the Saturday Mass at 4:00 pm and the Sunday 7:30 am Mass are live streamed.

Reminder, after 5/1, the Saturday evening Mass is at 5:00 pm instead of 4:00 pm.

(Live-streamed Masses may be viewed at https://www.stjuderc.org/view-masses.html )

St. Jude Religious Gift Shop is located downstairs in the Msgr. Sabia Social Hall. Fr. Joseph's Books and CD's are available in the Gift Shop. Also new items: Gifts and cards for Father's Day, Graduation, Teacher's Gifts, statues, rosaries and more. Come in and browse. Call Fran Cambra 203-261-2573 or Parish Office 203-261-6404.