My dear friends,
        Happy Father’s Day to all the dads! This is a glorious day where we, your sons and daughters, thank you for the love and devotion you offer us. We thank you for all the effort you made to build up a home and family filled with dignity and respect. We thank you for all the times you shuttled us around in cars. We thank you for all the hours you spent teaching us to play ball. We thank you for the barbeques and family vacations. We thank you for the times you sat with us when we were sick, scolded us when we were bad, and laughed with us when we needed some joy. Most of all, we thank you for the gift of love you gave us in so many ways. All that we are, we owe to you. So to all of our fathers, thank you and God bless you! Happy Fathers’ Day!
       We have seen in the quarantine how difficult being a father can be. How many of you were unable to be in the presence of your children? You couldn’t hug your children or grandchildren. You had to learn how to have family time on Zoom or facetime on a smart phone. How many fathers of young children had to keep things together at home, trying to make the unusual seem normal for small children? With changes with how we work, kids going to school, and the rhythms of life upended, it added stress and fear to our lives. Calming the nerves of young children was a challenge beyond any we thought it might be. How many of us had fathers in nursing homes or hospitals who had to be there alone? We couldn’t go to hold their hands and offer comfort as we would hope. This has been a challenging time, and we honor the fathers for their sacrifices and the labors they bore to make it all better.
       As we come out of the limitations of quarantine and severe contact precautions, it will be a very different celebration. We will be able to gather together. Families will be able to be in one space to honor their fathers and rejoice with each other. As we do, don’t take any of it for granted. Cherish each moment with your family and friends. Instead of seeing all that might be wrong, see the good that is here. Remember how difficult the last year has been and thank those who worked to make it more bearable. This Fathers’ Day, we rejoice with renewed vigor and awareness of God’s blessings that flow, even when things are tough.

Joyfully yours in Christ, Fr. Joe

 My dear friends,
       “Where are you going on vacation this summer, Father?” I have been hearing this quite often. Now that quarantine precautions are being lifted nationwide, most people expect me to be getting away for some rest. That sounds like a lovely plan, but that won’t be happening any time soon. I have a great many things to do this summer, so there simply won’t be time to travel.
       We still need staff to hire. There will be interviews for the office manager and the financial officer of Southington Catholic School. Once the new employees are here, we will have to work with them to catch them up with all they need to know. We also have our new principal, Mr. James Messina, starting in July. We will be working through the summer to prepare for the coming year. I will have to be on hand to answer many questions for the new staff so they are comfortable with their position when school opens in the fall.
       We have our new faith formation program for the town to begin. I have been working with our new Faith Formation Director, Mr. Patrick Reid, as he develops a program and chooses materials. We will be recruiting catechists for this massive undertaking (there should be about 1,000 children in the catechism program this coming fall), and we could use help from parishioners. I will be spending the summer, not only helping the director as the program is taking shape, but helping find catechists. It will be a busy summer.
       We have a new youth ministry program to begin. The director we hired, Mr. Christopher Kelley, ended up leaving for Ohio. Our plans are off a bit there. The summer will be spent lining up the new director and getting something organized by this coming autumn for our teens.
       August will see the initial merging of Immaculate Conception, St. Thomas, and St. Dominic parishes. We need to develop a new Mass schedule for three communities, in two churches, that will meet our needs. We will have to line up the many liturgical ministers (Eucharistic Ministers, lectors, altar servers, ushers & greeters, sacristans, etc.) to make that schedule work. We have to meet with music directors to determine who is doing what, when, and where. The bulletin will need a redesign, and the website and social media have to be updated. The churches have to be outfitted with ways to stream liturgies online. There is much to do.
       Come August, we will have a new parochial vicar, Father David Madejski. I will have to greet him and help him settle into ministry here. We will have to work on a schedule of how we will cover the needs of the parish, along with our deacons. We will have to settle into the rectory at St. Dominic’s as a residence, and work to convert the residential section of St. Thomas rectory into offices.
       As you can see, there is simply too much to be done this summer for me to take any time on vacation. Once that is all done, everyone is settled, and the parishes are adapting, then I hope to have some time to rest in the fall. God willing, I can have a leaf peeping trip!