April 29, 2025

The Season of Easter at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish

April 29, 2025

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,

Greetings and Happy Easter to one and all!

Friendship, communion, and family are at the core of our deepest longings, but they are not cheaply bought. Nor do they spring to full flower in a day. They are built slowly. And they are permanently beyond the reach of those who walk away too soon. Our loves can be our greatest curse or our greatest joys. Which they become depends upon our fidelity to them.

It seems that the apostle peter had a heart with an oversized capacity to love and to lead. (just like our beloved Holy Father, Francis as we remember him at his recent death). Peter gave his heart to Jesus, but then he took it back. Oh, so real, so human! That could have been the very end of him, but Jesus was faithful even when Peter was not. He gave Peter a second chance: “Do you love me, Peter? Do you really love me? Do you love me enough to be faithful and not let your “yes” turn into a “no” again?” Probably with many tears, Peter spoke his “yes” to Jesus, and he lived it with passion for the rest of his life, it seems.

So, what about our “yeses”? Our yeses of discipleship, commitments, ministry, citizenship, children, friends, strangers, those in need, etc.? And what about the gifts God has given us? God spelled out a special vision for each one of us with a special array of gifts. Have we been faithful to that vision or has our “yes” just become a “no”?

The back story or facts are different for each of us, but one thing remains the same always: no matter what we do, God never waivers in fidelity to us. All God asks in return is that we become faithful as He is faithful, which in practical terms means that we learn how to forgive as God knows who and how to forgive.

Let us live our “yes” with all our heart.

May Pope Francis rest in the embrace of mercy and peace of the Father forever. Good and faithful servant!

Blessings!!

Fr. George Couturier

Enjoy a Gallery of Easter Celebration Pictures Here

Join Us For The Third Sunday of Easter

May 4, 2025

4:00 PM Vigil at St. James

9:00 AM at St. Elizabeth Seton

and livestreamed

11:00 AM at St. James

Bakhita Bible Camp is Back!

Mark your calendars now for Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish Vacation Bible Camp to be held Monday, June 23, 2025 - Friday, June 27, 2025 from 9:00 AM - Noon.

Bakhita Bible Camp welcomes campers entering Kindergarten through Grade 6.

Registration forthcoming for Teen Volunteers entering Grades 7-12 and Adult Volunteers of all ages.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about volunteering opportunities, please contact Lisa Torneo at biblecamp@sjbrh.org.

Scan the QR Code to Learn More and Register Campers for Bakhita Bible Camp

Click Here To Register Campers for Bakhita Bible Camp

On March 29, 2025, our faith formation students celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time with Fr George at St James Church. After receiving the sacrament, the children were presented with a candle and proceeded to light it accompanied by their parents and other family members. May God continue to bless them in their journey of faith as they prepare for the Sacrament of First Eucharist in the Fall of 2025.

Other Fun Tidbits

Pilgrimate to Fatima, Lourdes & Spain

April 28 - May 8, 2026

Deacon Michael and Krystyna Ward are pleased to announce that they will be leading a pilgrimage to Fatima in Portugal, Lourdes in France and notable sites in Spain along the way from April 28-May 8, 2026.

Arriving in Lisbon from New York and after a brief stop in Lisbon we will be moving on to our first major spiritual pilgrimage site visit at Fatima. From there we will stop in the Spanish cities of Salamanca, Valladolid and Burgos on our way to our second major pilgrimage site at Lourdes in southern France. At Lourdes we will visit the apparition site and related points of interest. Leaving Lourdes we will return to Spain visiting the mountaintop monastery at Montserrat before concluding our pilgrimage in Barcelona, visiting the famous Gaudi-designed Holy Family Church and other points, with some free time for exploring this beautiful city, before heading home!

We will be having an informational meeting on Wednesday April 30, 2025 at 7:30 PM at the St. James Parish Center (behind the church!) 767 Elm Street in Rocky Hill.

If you are at all thinking of going, or are just curious, please contact Deacon Michael at saintjmdeacon@gmail.com or call him at 860-836-8218.

Learn More Here

Support Walk MS

Knight of Columbus, Will Shivell, will be participating in the MS Walk on Saturday, May 17. Will and others will be walking to raise money to help people with Multiple sclerosis and to fund research for a cure. Please consider supporting Will by donating to this very worthy cause. Thank you!

Donate Here

Parish Visitors

Our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are available to bring Holy Communion to our homebound parishioners and those recuperating from surgery or illness. Please contact the parish office to request a visit: 860-529-8655.

Thank you to the parish families who have made a gift or pledge commitment to the 2025 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. If you have not yet had the opportunity, please consider prayerfully supporting the many “Good Works” of the Archdiocese. Every gift will be gratefully received and sincerely appreciated. All funds contributed to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal are used exclusively for the purposes outlined in the Appeal literature, which can be found here. No Appeal funds are ever used for legal fees or settlements.

Retirement Celebration for Fr. George Couturier

The Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish Pastoral Council invites you to join us for a retirement celebration in honor of Father George Couturier on Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 12:30 PM. The celebration of his decades of service will take place in the Saint James Parish Center after the 11:00 AM Mass. All are welcome for food, drinks, music and more as we wish Father George well in his retirement. In lieu of gifts, Father George has requested donations be made to the newly-established Fernand & Yvette Couturier Scholarship Fund.

Retirement Gifts for Fr. George Couturier

Many have asked about the protocol of, and Father George’s needs, tastes and wishes regarding gifts for him on the occasion of his retirement.

With characteristic foresight, humility and generosity, Father George has not left us in the dark on this matter. With emphatic clarity he has indicated that he does not wish to receive personal gifts on the occasion of his retirement.

Rather, he has asked that in lieu of personal gifts that people make a donation to a parish scholarship fund established in the memory of his dear parents, Fernand and Yvette Couturier. This fund, now being established at St. Josephine Bakhita Parish, would provide financial assistance to young people, from parish families, that are furthering their education after high school.

Those wishing to honor Father George in his retirement may do so by making a contribution to the:

Fernand & Yvette Couturier Scholarship Fund

℅ St. Josephine Bakhita Parish

767 Elm Street

Rocky Hill CT 06067

Checks should be made payable to “St. Josephine Bakhita Parish” with “Couturier Scholarship Fund” on the memo line. Donations in envelopes so addressed may be mailed, delivered to the parish office at that address, placed in the Sunday collection, or placed in designated receptacles at the parish reception for Fr. Couturier on Sunday June 1, 2025 following the 11:00 AM Mass at the St. Josephine Bakhita Parish Center.

Please help us celebrate Fr. George, and keep the memory of his dear parents, by honoring this generous request!