The First Tablet
A few months ago, I was at a (non-parishioner’s) wedding reception and found myself in a conversation with a group of people I knew, but not very well. The conversation took place at that point in the evening when guests suddenly feel relaxed enough to freely share their opinions on politics and religion. In due…
Building Happy Marriages
What is the secret to a happy marriage? According to experts, going on dates (with one’s spouse) is very helpful. Unfortunately, most couples rarely enjoy a date night together. Based on a nationwide survey of over 2000 married couples, 52% of married couples report either never or seldom go on dates together, with 48% reporting…
Jesus Among the Inmates
One night this spring, at the James A. Lynaugh Prison Unit in Fort Stockton, TX, a prisoner knelt in his cell and said a prayer. While it is not uncommon for inmates to pray, this prayer was very specific. The man asked God to grant him some kind of opportunity to deepen his faith, that…
Confirmation
Confirmation season has arrived. This weekend, I will confirm four adults at the 11:15 Mass of Pentecost. Next Saturday, Bishop Caggiano will come himself and confirm 53 young members of our parish. Among the sacraments, Confirmation seems the most obscure; the other six seem much easier to understand. Baptism has to do with new birth…
Sanctified along the Way
“Hallow” is the number one Christian prayer app in the world. This Lent, it has featured daily readings from The Way, a spiritual classic first published in 1934 by St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. The Way is a book filled with short, paragraph-long meditations on various subjects. The intended audience for these…
Drifting Apart, Marching Back
Last weekend our parish hosted a marriage workshop called “Adventures in Marriage.” Over the course of three days, 22 couples spent time learning how to constructively work through challenges together, and by all accounts the program was very well-received. I was able to watch parts of the presentation and witness some of the exercises that…
Called by Name
In Tampa, Florida there is an all-boys Catholic high school where over 100 students were received into the Catholic Church between 2010-2023, including 22 students in 2021 alone. In a National Catholic Register profile, an alumnus of Tampa Jesuit spoke about how his experience there helped him to discover a vocation to the priesthood. “I…
Stay Hungry
In her recent address to the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Sr. Josephine Garrett said that a Eucharistic revival will only move forward if built on a two-legged foundation. One leg is greater reverence for His sacred presence – above all in the Eucharist, as well as in our neighbor. The other leg, she said, is…
Munera
Ordaining priests is one of the great privileges of a bishop. Last Saturday, Bishop Caggiano ordained two new priests for the Diocese of Bridgeport – Fr. David Klein, and Fr. Jozef Ukaj. In his homily, Bishop Caggiano described their vocations as the fruit of God’s call, but also the good influence and example of their…
Curbside Sanctuary
Everybody knows that summer in Stamford officially begins with the Greek Fair at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church on Newfield Ave. For many years, our next-door neighbors have provided rides, games, and lots of food the first weekend of June, and the crowds are reliably large. Visitors to the fair typically use the grounds of St.…
Get Married
These days, marriage is often dismissed or overlooked as an important institution for human flourishing. But in his new book Get Married, Brad Wilcox, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, argues that “so many of the biggest problems across America are rooted in the collapse of marriage and family life.” In fact,…
White Garments
My father keeps on his desk a framed photo from the day of his First Holy Communion, 74 years ago at Sacred Heart Church in West Brighton, Staten Island. He’s posing in a white suit with short pants, white knee socks and shoes, with a big white ribbon on his sleeve. Very fancy. Nowadays it…
Our Special Guests
Before you read any further, please mark this date on your calendar: May 21, 2024. At 8pm that evening, the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will arrive to the Church of St. Cecilia. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is an initiative of the bishops of the United States. Four groups of pilgrims will be journeying from different places…
Wrath
Over the past month, Pope Francis has been giving a series of talks on the Seven Deadly Sins. In a recent reflection on wrath, our Holy Father described it as “a vice that destroys human relationships.” If left unchecked, anger over an incident or action often will end up aimed at the other person himself.…
Baptism
The most important day of my life was July 18, 1976. That was the day my parents took me to Sacred Heart Church in Suffern, NY to have me baptized. On the drive over to the church, I was my parents’ child, their lifeblood flowing in my veins which made me their son. But with…
No Double-Dipping
George Costanza is not a good role model. There are many reasons why this is true, including his propensity to double-dip. We first learned of the Seinfeld character’s bad habit in Season 4 during the episode when George tries to score points with his new girlfriend by accompanying her to Michigan to attend the funeral…
R.I.P. Shane MacGowan
The unusual Christmas song “Fairytale of New York” will be getting extra airplay this year. That’s because the unusual man who wrote it, Shane MacGowan, died this past November 30 at the age of 65. The song made MacGowan and his band The Pogues famous when it was released in 1988, and was the biggest…
Feels Like Home
When I was 25 I spent a year living in Spain. I was between jobs and unsure what my next move was going to be, so it seemed like a good (and fun) use of time as I contemplated my future. One of the most memorable parts of that year was the month I spent…
Truly Present
A young woman I know is reading a book by Bishop Robert Barron entitled: This is My Body: A Call to Eucharistic Revival. She has found the book helpful, but she noticed that Barron often describes the Eucharist as “the body, blood, soul, and divinity” of Jesus, and wondered what that was all about. We…
Alma Mater
This weekend I will be away from the parish, attending my college class reunion. Twenty-five years ago, I graduated from the University of Dallas (UD), a small Catholic university located in Irving, TX. It was an unlikely choice for an 18-year-old from Connecticut, but I had a cousin studying there whom I visited as a…
Fr. Coley Palmer, R.I.P.
On August 14, Fr. Michael “Coley” Palmer passed away at the age of 86. Fr. Palmer was born in Stamford in 1934 and was baptized at St. John’s Church on Atlantic St. When he was still a boy, his family moved to Springdale where they became members of St. Cecilia Parish when the church was…
Living Together
A few months ago, the Institute for Family Studies published “How Moving in Together Makes It Harder to Know if He’s the One,” an article by Scott Stanley and Galena Rhoades, research professors at the University of Denver. The authors note that more than 75% of couples live together before marriage. While a couple’s decision…
Go to the Sacred Heart
Since it was opened in 1885, people have been visiting the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the Montmartre neighborhood overlooking Paris to take in more than just the view. Above the main altar in the sanctuary of the church, the Most Blessed Sacrament has been exposed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…
Ite, Missa Est
There’s a famous story about St. Philip Neri (1515-1595) in which he noticed that there was a man in his congregation who had the habit of leaving Mass immediately after receiving Communion. St. Philip eventually decided that he needed to address it, so he instructed two of his altar servers to follow the man out…
A Fresh Start
People love New Year’s Day for the same reason we love make overs and mulligans – they all offer a fresh start. As we try to come up with different ways to make the most of this opportunity of a brand new year, may I suggest a resolution to rediscover the Sacrament of Confession, which…
Communion
This Tuesday, November 1, is the Solemnity of All Saints. It is one of the greatest feasts of the year because it is a celebration of those who have reached the final destination for which we are made and to which we all aspire, with the help of God’s grace. It’s important to remember that…
Altars
The most important object in every Catholic church is the altar. An altar is a table-like structure upon which is offered a sacrifice to God. In the worship rituals of the Old Testament, a sacrifice of an animal or grains would be offered to the Lord on the altar. The sacrifice would then be burned,…
An Odd Sort of Mercy
Graham Greene was one of the most acclaimed writers of the 20th century, whose best novels feature morally complex characters who experience grace through their very real struggles with fallen human desire. I recently read his 1951 novel, The End of the Affair, which takes place in London in the mid-1940s. A writer named Maurice…
Survey Says
A couple of months ago, the Diocese approached me and asked whether our parish might be interested in participating in a program that assists in outreach and ministry to married couples and families. After listening to what they had to say, I saw it as a good opportunity. There seems to be little debate that…
On the Calendar
In the kitchens of my sisters’ homes a guest will notice a large calendar hanging on a prominent space on the wall. Except, it’s not just a calendar. In their homes it is referred to as THE calendar. According to them, the calendar is what keeps their homes from falling into complete and utter chaos. …
What’s Most Real
I’m a big believer in having a daily routine. The year before I entered seminary, my daily routine consisted of waking up at 6:30 and getting to daily Mass at 7:30am on my way to work. After work, I’d get some exercise before making myself something for dinner. Then I’d go to a nearby church…
“They Glorified God in Me”
The title of this article is the phrase with which St. John Henry Newman introduces his short poem titled: “Transfiguration.” The poem is as follows: I saw thee once and nought discern’d/ for stranger to admire;/ A serious aspect, but it burn’d/ With no unearthly fire./ Again I saw, and I confess’d/ Thy speech was…
Blessing of Priesthood
Several weeks ago, I attended a Mass at which a newly-ordained deacon gave his first homily. he preached about his experience of vocational discernment, which led him to the priesthood, to which he will be ordained next year. As a boy, people asked him if he wanted to be a taxi driver like his father…
Confirmed in the Spirit
This Thursday evening (May 26), 68 young men and women from our parish will receive the sacrament of Confirmation at the hands of Bishop Frank Caggiano. With the reception of this sacrament, they will be fully initiated members of the Catholic Church, and will have received an increase and a deepening of what they first…
First Communion
One of the best days of the year in every Catholic parish is the Saturday on which we celebrate First Holy Communions. Everybody is dressed up and the church is filled with the buzz of excited family members. The best part of the experience for the priest, of course, is giving the young men and…
Dressing Up
This is the time of year when people, young and old, dress up in costumes for trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. For this reason, I thought it opportune to write about liturgical vestments and the significance of the garments that the priest wears for liturgy. It’s important to note, however, that there is a fundamental difference between a…
Holy Hour for Vocations
Several years ago, when I was the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Bridgeport, I came across a talk that Mother Teresa of Calcutta gave back in 1993. In it, she told the story of an old man that her sisters discovered and pulled out of a gutter. He was in very bad shape. They brought him to…
Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi
During a recent conversation with a member of our parish, he told me that over the past few years he has come to a greater love and appreciation for the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He attributed this awakening to his experience of reverence in the liturgy. In particular, he said that attending Eucharistic exposition and benediction,…
Confirmed in the Spirit
This Wednesday (5/26), Bishop Caggiano will be coming to confirm 23 young men and women of our parish. It’s a lovely thing to have Confirmations so soon after celebrating Pentecost, the great feast on which the Church commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the world 50 days after Easter. As part of the liturgy of Pentecost, the Church gives us…
Emmaus
We have come to the end of Easter Sunday. Yes, the Solemnity of Easter was a week ago, but we must remember that Easter is such a big deal that the Church gives us eight days to celebrate it properly. We call that eight-day period the “Easter Octave.” The second Sunday of Easter – Divine Mercy Sunday – is the final day in…
From the Ruins
Last weekend, perhaps overshadowed by the media coverage given to Oprah Winfrey’s interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Pope Francis made a historic pilgrimage to Iraq, becoming the first pope to visit that country. The images from the visit are remarkable, especially the Holy Father’s visit of the city of Mosul. Mosul is the second-largest city in Iraq, and was the…
Thoughts on Ash Wednesday
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which is typically one of the busiest days of the year in every Catholic parish. This year was no different. We started with our normal 7:30am Mass, which reached maximum capacity (160) under the current COVID restriction, which was really nice. Just after the parish Mass, we had Mass for some of the students at the Catholic Academy of Stamford. …
Psalm 95
“Come, let us sing to the Lord, and shout with joy to the rock who saves us./ Let us approach Him with praise and thanksgiving and sing joyful songs to the Lord./ The Lord is God, the mighty God, the great king above all the gods./ He holds in His hands the depths of the earth and the highest mountains as well./ He made…
Come, Holy Spirit
There was a priest with whom I used to meet for occasional spiritual direction, named Fr. Mike. During a conversation one day, Fr. Mike told me about a habit that he had developed over the years. Any time he encountered someone whom he sensed was in distress or sad or anxious, or if he passed…
Sacramentals
Statues, rosary beads, crucifixes, scapulars, holy cards, miraculous medals, candles, palms, ashes – these are part of the “furniture” of our lives as Catholics. Technically, we call these things “sacramentals.” Sacramentals are different than sacraments in a couple of ways. The sacraments were instituted by Christ Himself as the seven ordinary ways in which He shares His life – His sanctifying grace – with us. As one author puts it: “Sacraments bear…
First Communion
This Saturday, as we did last Saturday, we will celebrate Masses of First Communion in our parish. These Masses almost always happen at the beginning of May, but because of the shutdown we had to move them to September. In every parish, First Communion is one of the best days of the year, and I’m very…
Holy Matrimony
posted 9/17/20 The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is one of the most remarkable places in the world. The current church dates back to the 11th century, and is built on the ruins of one that dates back to the 4th century. Within this church are the sites of Our Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. I remember the first time I went…
Holy Orders
posted 9/15/20 What is a priest? A priest is one who offers sacrifices on behalf of a group as an act of worship to God. As long as human beings have roamed the earth, there have been priests. We see them in the most ancient days of the Old Testament. Adam was a priest, as were the Patriarchs…
Anointing of the Sick
posted 9/10/20 The other day I was perusing my bookshelf and rediscovered a book that I hadn’t picked up in a while. It’s called The Faith Explained by Fr. Leo Trese, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit and a best-selling author who died in 1970 at the age of 68. Leafing through it, I was reminded how well Fr. Trese…
Confession
posted 9/8/20 If you ever visit a seminary you will find that they are places where there is much laughter. I really enjoyed the comradery I found among my classmates, which was healthy and joyful. While most of our formation sessions involved moments of levity and laughter, there was one particular experience that I remember we took with absolute seriousness, and that was…
The Most Blessed Sacrament
posted 9/3/20 We have come to the third “Sacrament of Initiation,” which is the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist. While Baptism is the first Sacrament and the doorway to the supernatural life of grace, the Eucharist is the greatest of the Sacraments. Indeed, the Second Vatican Council refers to the Eucharist “the source and summit of the Christian life…. For in…
Why Confirmation?
posted 9/1/20 What is the sacrament of Confirmation? What does it do? When Bishop Curtis confirmed me many years ago, I don’t think I would have been able to give a good answer to those questions. I knew Confirmation had something to do with the Holy Spirit. Even better, it meant you got presents AND you didn’t have to go to religious…
Why Baptize?
posted 8/27/20 Baptism is the first sacrament. Typically, within a couple months of a child’s birth, the family will bring the baby to the church, and the priest (or deacon) will pour water over the child’s head while saying the words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the…
Do the Right Thing
posted 8/25/20 On June 3, 2017, Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit celebrated a Mass during which he attempted to ordain five new priests, but failed to do so. Only four of the five men were actually ordained that day, since one of them, Fr. Matthew Hood – a young man who had just spent 6 years in seminary formation…
On the Mass
posted 5/24/20 As we make preparations for the resumption of public Masses this weekend, it’s hard to believe that it’s been 62 days since the last public Mass in our parish and throughout the Diocese of Bridgeport. Perhaps now is a good time to consider why, in the absence of the faithful, priests continued to say Masses over these past three months – not just in front of a camera, but…
Consubstantial
posted 5/1/20 Athanasius Contra Mundum. This is a famous Latin saying that means: “Athanasius Against the World.” The man to whom this refers is St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a 4th century bishop from Egypt who found himself embroiled in the great Arian controversy of that period. Now, it’s important to understand that 4th centry Arianism has absolutely nothing to do with the 20th century racist ideology…
The Importance of Liturgy
posted 4/27/20 In my conversations with members of the parish, it is common to hear people express their desire to receive the Eucharist. It is certainly one of the great sufferings of our current circumstances that the faithful are deprived of the reception of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Holy Communion. But I have come to realize that it is not…
Emmaus
posted 4/15/20 The gospel for today’s Mass gives the account of the encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35). It takes place on Easter Sunday, when two disciples of Jesus are leaving the city of Jerusalem to go to a nearby town called Emmaus. As they are engrossed in their conversation, Christ draws near and walks with them, but…
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 