Random Thoughts By Father Kennedy

God Gave us this World

R T Friday, July 17, 2020
RANDOM THOUGHTS, 7 17 20
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,
What a nice little rain. We could use some more. Heatwave coming starting tomorrow. Summer is here!
The good news is that thousands of scientists around the world are working on a vaccine for C 19. All the major drug manufacturers are working like mad. The need is immediate and I imagine the profits are off the charts. What a daunting challenge. Let us keep them all in our prayers.
The bad news is that C 19 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The numbers are mostly going in the wrong direction. Masks, washing hands, not touching our faces, social distancing, etc, are all important things to remember. This C 19 is a killer.
As I have said before, I think C 19 is Mother Nature fighting back at us for all the pollution we are causing in the world. God gave us this world, not to destroy it, but to use it for our benefit. We have not done a very good job, have we?
The PPP program means the Paycheck Protection Program and we are applying for money as soon as Paola and the Bank and the Government can figure out our official title. The one Uncle Sam has and the one Liberty Bank has, do not match exactly. Poor Paola. I’m sure things will work out.
There have been articles in the press about how much the US Catholic Church has received from this program. I was surprised to find out that we can apply for money even though we are a religious non-profit. We are a very small parish with only five employees. Many parishes are much bigger and employ lots of people, especially if they have a school. Naturally, they could get a lot more. Time will tell.
Not that you need reminding, but BE SAFE. Coming to mass, as with any gathering these days in an enclosed space, may not be your best choice. Staying home may be. Don’t mess with C 19.
Candle test. Someone on TV tried to blow out a candle wearing a mask. If you can blow it out, ditch that mask and get one where you can’t blow out the candle. I tried it Wednesday, after our 5:00 pm mass and I could not blow out the candle.
Small engineering mistakes.

Remember the 7th works…

RANDOM THOUGHTS, 7 15 20
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,
What a nice summer day, lower humidity, lower temperature, but it won’t last. Heatwave coming. Joy!!!
I got up a little earlier than usual this morning and the doorbell rang at 6:00 am. A very polite black lady asked me for some food or money because she was homeless and had slept outside last night and was trying to get some assistance today. Luckily, I had some money. No, the homeless are not just going to disappear. Remember the corporal works of mercy … all seven of them.
Later this morning I took my blind friend to Hartford Health Dental to get his tooth out, after a delay of some six months due to C 19. Finally. Now it’s time to fight the infection.
I watched the first part of the local news, channel 3 I think, and it was really disheartening. Layoffs from big chain hotels and their restaurants. No surprise, just very sad. Bradley Airport is in the same situation.
Weekend Mass. So great to see familiar faces but having Holy Communion at the end of Mass and then dismissing everyone is really not pretty nor is it very reverent. There has to be a better way. How much of a danger could it be to return to our seats for a few minutes of silent reflection of thanksgiving and then end mass in the normal way?
We now have a fund for Sister Gloria. As I mentioned before the Diocese is asking us to kick in $5,000 to help them pay for Sister Gloria. I think this is a very just request, especially in light of C 19 and its devastating effect on income worldwide, including our parish and the Diocese.
Presently we have $1,000. Only $4,000 more to do. If you want to donate, please make a check out to St. Francis Parish with Sister Gloria in the menu area.
As I also mentioned the ACA, Annual Catholic Appeal, will be held on Sunday, July 26. I hope by now you have had a chance to mail in your donation. This yearly collection is vital for the Diocese to maintain its ministries and I’m sure this year is not going to make its goal thanks to C 19. Just another casualty.
As of last Wednesday, at 11:15 am I was negative for C 19. Hooray! Of course that can change in a heartbeat.
Some cat pictures. I love cats.

Untitled

RANDOM THOUGHTS, 6  29  20

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,

Tonight at 6:30 pm we have our first parish council meeting of 2020, via telephone conferencing. Not as good as being in person, but a lot better than nothing. It will be so good to hear familiar voices.

Another summer day, not sure if the rain will make to Middletown, hope so, grass is getting pretty yellow.

This morning the Social Security office in San Antonio, Texas, called to inform me that the Middletown Police had a warrant for my arrest, regarding banking irregularities. I won’t tell you what I told them, not very priestly. So, I called the MPD and they assured me there was no warrant for me. Such a relief!!!! So, if you get a call from 210-591-8526, don’t even bother to answer it.

BTW, they are slick. Gave me his (a) name, (a) SS Agent number ID, and some other useless info.

Father George is with us for a few days. Lots of funerals in his two parishes.

This coming weekend we will have Mass on Sunday in the parish center, at 9:00 am in English and 11:00 am in Spanish. If you are planning to come, e mail me and let me know. I don’t think we will have standing room only.

No pictures today. Don’t have time. Let us continue to pray for this C 19 situation. Masks work. Wear them!

Reopening Churches

Saturday, June 20, 2020
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,
Yesterday we received word from Bishop Cote about reopening churches for weekend masses. Here is the nuts and bolts of it.
“In coordination with the Archdiocese of Hartford, parishes of the Diocese of Norwich may resume the public celebration of Sunday Mass, including any anticipated Mass(es) on Saturday evening, beginning the weekend of July 4 and 5. Please note: the limitation on gatherings for religious worship, as amended by Executive Order No. 7SS of Governor Lamont, remains in effect. By this order, indoor gatherings are limited to 25% of capacity of the indoor space or a maximum of 100 people, whichever is smaller. The Chancery will notify you if this limit changes.
The Guidelines for the Restoration of Public Worship that were sent to you on May 27 likewise remain in effect. Please use the next two weeks to: (1) review the guidelines with particular attention to their application to Sunday Masses, (2) develop a parish plan for resuming Sunday Mass, including how you will ensure compliance with the stated limitations on worship gatherings, and (3) communicate that plan to your people so that they can know what to expect in your parish(es) as we move forward. If you are not able to implement these guidelines fully by the weekend of July 4 and 5, you should not reopen for Sunday Mass until such time as you are ready. However, if you are unable to resume Sunday Mass at that time, I expect that you will contact my office to state the reason(s) as we will undoubtedly receive inquiries from your parishioners.”
As of now we have two weekend masses in the parish center that we are “live streaming.” We think we have all the bugs worked out, but …. We are looking for a person to take over the live streaming at the 9:00 am English mass. We have the equipment but we need someone to run it during the mass. If you are interested, give me a call ASAP.
We have the church set up with arrows, Xs and bright yellow rope to guide us around and where to sit, etc. I think we will still have mass in the parish center because it costs a ton of money to use the A C in the church. The hall is much less expensive to keep cool. We will probably use the center until fall or if we get a cooler day in July and August. The masses will be on Sunday only, at 9:00 in English and 11:00 in Spanish. I think we can safely get 50 people, maybe 60, into the hall with no problem.
What about music? Good question. Wish I had a good answer. At the Spanish Mass, Ivan and Sonia have been playing. Will e mail our English singers this week.
NB. No matter how we do this, it won’t be the same.
For those of you in the high risk category, I advise you to stay home for now. That also includes me. But it would be difficult to have mass if I stayed in the rectory like the guidelines suggest. In our area there are four of us priests over 70.
To access the “live streaming” go to our new, still in process, website, “stfrancisct.com” and click on the “Live Mass.” It should bring you to the live streaming.
Our new website is far from complete. I noticed this morning that the Parish Bulletins are not up yet and that one of my Random Thoughts is in that category. We’ll get that fixed pronto.
In the very near future you will be getting a phone call, a text and an e mail from the parish suggesting that you sign up for on line giving. This is undoubtedly the future of parish income and I guess we might as well jump in now rather than wait. There is a button to click onto on the front page of our new website, but I don’t have all the particulars at this moment, but will have them next week. I’m sure it is pretty easy, but many of us are “technologically challenged.” Thank God for teenagers to guide us.
Again, our new parish website, which is still a work in progress is stfrancisct.com”

Church Life

RANDOM THOUGHTS Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,
Another summer day. I must say it really takes a lot out of me. I’m already looking forward to October.
I got a letter from Bishop Cote regarding Sister Gloria. I have expected it for quite a while. The Diocese pays her salary and due to the present C 19 pandemic it needs help. Bottom line is that our parish needs to come up with $5,000 to help the Diocese. I’m sure we can do this. All the nuns that work in our Diocese work very hard and earn every penny they make.
This past Saturday Anthony Rivera made his First Holy Communion and on Saturday, Deacon Octavio and I did a wedding for Carmine and Elizabeth, from New York. Ten people total. Very nice. Hopefully they can have a reception sometime next year.
The weekend of July 4 and 5 is “reopening” weekend. We will still have masses at 9:00 am in English and 11:00 am in Spanish in the parish center. According to the guidelines most of our English speaking members should stay home. We are already seeing a spike in cases in 25 states now that they have “reopened,” so to speak. This is NOT a good sign. I think our issue is going to be with the Spanish community, which is a lot younger. But, it will all work out somehow.
I have been called to the hospital to give Anointing of the Sick to two people. Right now MMH is C 19 free. Let’s hope it stays that way. I am still not going for services at the three nursing homes I attend, but they call me if they need me for an emergency anointing.
I don’t know if or when we will get back to what we used to know as “normal.” My gut feeling is that C 19 is not going to leave us anytime soon. So, we continue to pray, wear masks, wash our hands, and practice social distancing. Isn’t it sad that wearing a mask is now a “political” thing?????

R.T. June 21, 2020

RANDOM THOUGHTS, Sunday, June 21, 2020
Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,
I don’t like this heat. Really takes a toll on me. But summer is here and we might as well get used to it.
Presently we are scheduled to begin “normal” weekend masses on July 4 and 5 in the church. We have two problems with that at the moment. The AC and the wi fi service in the church, which is not powerful enough to transmit the live streaming mass. To run the AC in the church with a 30 plus year old system, is very expensive and since we can’t transmit the mass, we will stay in the parish center.
I admire the detail in the Bishop’s guidelines for “reopening” our parishes, but they don’t do much to protect older priests with pre-existing medical conditions, like me.
Celebrating the mass as we are now lacks so much. I really miss the music, Paul at 5 pm and the choir at 9 am. But it’s the best we can do for now. The virus doesn’t care much about how I feel, or you either. Let’s focus on the positive.
I am very happy that the Supreme Court is allowing the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to stay, for now. Congress will have to take up more legislation, but these DACA kids now have more room for hope.
As you know our fastest growing group of parishioners are Spanish and a good number of them are undocumented and some of the kids are DACA kids who have only known this country. I know this is a political hot potato, but you should know where your pastor stands and if you disagree, that’s OK. We live in America, not North Korea.
Yesterday we had a first holy communion in Spanish, nine of us present. Tomorrow I have a wedding for a couple from New York. About ten people will be there. Hopefully they can have the reception in the fall or next year some time.
Thank you again for mailing or bringing in your donations. If you didn’t do this on a regular basis, we would be in big financial trouble.
Pictures of things that did not quite work out as planned

Creados a Imagen de Dios

RANDOM THOUGHTS, 6 18 20
A few days ago, in a landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled that LGBTQ workers are protected from job discrimination.
The decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person’s sex, also covers sexual orientation and transgender status.
I wonder how many of you who are now reading this edition of R Ts don’t know someone who is L G B T Q or OTHER? A sibling, a cousin, a child, an uncle/aunt, a parent, a fellow worker or classmate … the list goes on. Is that person a sexual monster or a relatively “normal” person? In your lifetime how many negative encounters have you have with people who are “heterosexual”, i.e. “straight?”
We are all made in God’s image, Genesis 1.27 KJV “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female He created them.“ So, men and women look like God. It doesn’t say anything about a person’s sexual orientation.
I was in second-year high school when the Supreme Court passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I can’t remember it at all. I was busy playing baseball, football, working part-time at a drug store, and dating (girls.) Sexual orientation was probably the last thing on my mind.
When I was in the seminary in Wisconsin in September of 1966, we had mandatory spiritual reading for 30 minutes each day in the chapel before breakfast. One day some of us went to the library to check out a batch of new books that had just arrived.
Immediately one book caught our attention. It had a bright shiny purple cover. I picked it up and the title said, “The Church and Homosexuality.” Wow! I vaguely remember saying to myself, “I don’t know much about the Church and I don’t know anything about homosexuality.” So, I took the book to the chapel and began to read it.
Three days later the book disappeared. After breakfast, the dean of students, Father N, called me into his office and the book was on his desk. He asked me what I was doing reading the book. I remember thinking to myself, ”That’s a pretty dumb question.” But I told him, “I got it from the new batch of books for
spiritual reading that the priest librarian, Father X, had put out a few days ago.” Father N was not impressed. He told me I had to get another book. So I did.
After 45 years of being a priest, I know a lot more about the Church and homosexuality. I am not impressed with the way the Church has treated and still treats members of the LGBTQ and OTHER community. Thank God Pope Francis said, “Let’s not judge …..”
The other day I watched a WW 2 movie called “Fury.” Very violent. “Fury” is a tank and one crew member asked another crew member if he thought Jesus loved Hitler. He said, “I imagine He does.” It caught my funny bone and I laughed. Was Adolf gay or straight?
Mistreating people due to their sexual orientation is no laughing matter and our Church has to get its act together and realize that God created us all, and that means everyone in His image. God must look pretty odd, but that’s His business.
Not all days go as intended pictures

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Francis Parish,

Another super day. Rain and T storms tomorrow. All Johnnie is doing is cutting the grass and trimming the hedges.

Yesterday I got together with Sue G and Sherry S regarding our traditional parish fund raisers. Not a happy meeting. So many BIG events in our area have already been cancelled. What to do? With social distancing we are in a bad situation due to the way things run. All our events are aimed at getting a lot of people into our hall, not keeping them six feet apart, let alone vendors, and volunteers and kitchen help.

We are thinking of some kind of raffle, mail home the tickets and hopefully parishioners can sell them. If you have a practical idea, please let us know ASAP. Things need lots of planning and that takes time.

No, I don’t know when we will resume our regular weekend mass schedule. Hopefully before I retire in 2023 or so. When we get word from the Bishop, I will notify you as quickly as I can.

The live Mass at 9:00 am on Sunday is streamed on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/St.FrancisofAssis But on Friday a link will be in place on https://www.stfrancisct.com

Motorcycles. I’m sure some of you can guess these bikes in a heartbeat. I had a Honda 305 in college and a Honda 125 when I was in Cromwell. No more 2 wheels for me. Four is the magic number.

ANSWERS FROM YESTERDAY, MUSCLE CARS

Judy
1-Plymouth Barracuda (had one years ago) 2-Chevy Malibu
3-Pontiac GTO
4-Ford Galaxies
5-Pontiac Firebird

Paul
1. 1971 Plymouth Hemi Barracuda. That thing’s worth a fortune, $900K to $1.2 mil.
#2. 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle SS. If the L-79 designation on the front plate would indicate it’s a 327ci V8. $60,000
#3. 1972 Oldsmobile 442 $30,000
#4. 1959 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible $30,000
#5. 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400 Convertible $35,000

Bill
1. Yellow 71 Plymouth Barracuda
2. Green 65 Chevy Chevelle Malibu
3. Yellow 70 Oldsmobile 442
4. Black and white 59 Ford Galaxie 500 Fairlane Convertible 5. Red 67 Pontiac Firebird convertible

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Random Thoughts By Father Kennedy