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United in Faith and Community

What is St. Rita “United in Faith and Community”?

United in Faith and Community is a multifaceted initiative at St. Rita to strengthen our parish. The primary goals of this initiative are to increase Mass attendance, ministry participation, regular financial support, and to ensure the continued long-term growth and success of St. Rita church and school.

Why is St. Rita undertaking this initiative?

Over the past five years, we have all been through some challenging times – the Global Pandemic, the Diocese of Rochester bankruptcy, economic and other changes. St. Rita Parish is bouncing back from these tough times with a renewed faith and vitality. Engagement in our ministries is growing again, opportunities for education of all ages and fellowship have increased significantly, we have started five new ministries for education, hospitality and service, our school enrollment is up by 36%, and we are starting to see a slight uptick in Mass attendance.

While there are many positive signs at St. Rita, two areas, Worship Attendance and Offertory Collections have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. United in Faith and Community is the initiative to communicate and address these concerns while encouraging our parish community to join together in faith and fellowship and to especially experience the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist at Mass.

What are the goals of “United in Faith and Community”?

Increase our average weekend worship attendance by 200 people and our average weekly offertory collections by $2,500.

How can you help us reach these goals?

Help us also to build our community of faith. Please invite your families, friends, and neighbors to join us at St. Rita for Mass, for fellowship, for spiritual support, for education (adult and youth) and for service.

Please prayerfully consider your offertory giving and return your Response Card (sent to parishioners in the mail or available in the Narthex) by May 8, 2024.  You can also fill out a response card online here and see additional information about the initiative.

Thank you for your support of this important initiative!

A Parent's (and Grandparent's) Prayer

As our granddaughter makes her First Communion this weekend, Chris and I are filled with a sense of hopefulness and joy that, as crazy as the world can seem at times, indeed all shall be well. Over the next month, as more and more of our youth experience the joy of First Communion and Confirmation, I encourage us to keep them in our prayers. I found this one from Loyola Press that seems to hit the mark!

Loving God,
You are the giver of all we possess, 
the source of all of our blessings.
We thank and praise you.
Thank you for the gift of our children.
Help us to set boundaries for them, and yet 
encourage them to explore.
Give us the strength and courage to 
treat each day as a fresh start.
May our children come to know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, 
whom you have sent.
May your Holy Spirit help them to grow in faith, hope, and love, 
so they may know peace, truth, and goodness.
May their ears hear your voice.
May their eyes see your presence in all things.
May their lips proclaim your word.
May their hearts be your dwelling place.
May their hands do works of charity.
May their feet walk in the way of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord.
Amen.

Much love,
~Deacon Jim

He is Risen!

We made it! We are here at Easter, the Paschal Festivities! We have come to the end of Lent – meaning both arriving at the close of Lent and arriving at the purpose of Lent. Today is THE feast of our Salvation and of our Lord. We are a resurrection people!

I am fascinated by the reality that Jesus does not appear in our Gospel readings today. The woman (or women, depending on which Gospel) arrive wanting to lovingly complete the funeral rites for Jesus and they find the tomb open and empty.

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!

Here we are, a resurrection people – a resurrected people – joyfully coming with the women to the empty tomb once again. This Sunday is filled with wonder and awe, with purpose and potential. This is the day of our re-creation. This is the day of all of God’s promises coming together and being realized, being made real.

These are the feasts of the Paschal Mystery when Jesus Christ defeated death, saved us from sin, and pledges to us Eternal Life with Him. This is the Passover of our Lord! By God’s grace we pass over death with Him!

Today is the source of all our joy, the reason why our hearts are not troubled even when life can be so terribly troubling. Today is the celebration of the absolute and infinite love of our God who gave us his only Son, who raises his Son to new life, and who, in that same love and power, raises us to new life and makes of us new people.

Today we celebrate with great rejoicing the new life into which we journey – with God and Jesus within us and beside us.

This is the “end” of Lent, the purpose of all we have put into our journey of Lent. We have been saved. The human race has been redeemed. The universe has been recreated. All things are being made new.
Rejoice and be glad! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Peace,
~Fr. Tim

Do We Have Passion?

Fr. Daniel Groody, from the University of Notre Dame, wrote “God became a human being. He entered a world where human beings have the passion to become God. But God’s passion was to become a human being.” 

As we enter into the Triduum this week, reflect upon your passion for Christ. Do we have the passion to become like God, a compassionate, merciful God, loving and serving others? Bring your questions, your challenges with you as we enter Holy Week. See how God’s passion for us unfolds over Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Perhaps your faith will be reinvigorated with a renewed passion to live our faith to the fullest!

Blessings this week,
Deacon Jim

Eucharistic Communion and Seeing Those in Need

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that receiving the Eucharist “commits us to the poor” (1397). Why is this so?

Receiving the Eucharist means that we enter into union with the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And being in Holy Communion with Jesus himself means something profound. Let’s consider one facet of this great mystery.

The Eucharist is Jesus himself. He is the Eternal Word, living in Trinitarian communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But out of love for us, in order to save us from sin and death, the beloved Son of the Father chose to take upon himself a radical poverty: the weakness of the human condition of his beloved creatures.

Continue reading this article by Dr. James Pauley here.