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WHERE DO YOU PRAY
BEST?
Three preachers
sat discussing the best positions for prayer while a telephone repairman
worked nearby. “Kneeling is definitely best,” said one. “No,” another
contended. “I get the best results standing with my hands outstretched to
Heaven.” “You're both wrong,” the third insisted. “The most effective
prayer position is lying prostrate, face down on the floor.” The repairman
could contain himself no longer. “Hey, fellas,” he interrupted, “you want
to know what I found was the best position for prayer? It was when I was
hanging upside down from a telephone pole!” 
PARISH HISTORY PROJECT
The Parish Centennial Committee will be compiling a history book of the
Parish and would like to obtain historical memorabilia. Anyone
with items of interest who would like to have them included in the book
should call the Parish Office. All items will be returned
promptly.
ROSARY FOR PEACE
The Luminous Mysteries
of the Rosary is recited in Church on Monday,
Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:30 a.m., prior to the
beginning of the 12:05 p.m. Mass. Please join us!!
HOSPICE VOLUNTEER
TRAINING
Hospice and Palliative
Care of Connecticut VNA will be offering a three-week
training program beginning in January for volunteers
interested in working with hospice patients.
Volunteers perform various duties depending on their
abilities and interests. For more info, please call
Darise Datzenko (735-6664, ext 509).
A MIRROR
Isn’t it amazing that the one person we live with 24
hours a day is the person we really do not know very
much at all? When we look in a mirror, we see
reflected back at us the person that other people look
at and recognize, but the reflection we see does not
tell us how they perceive us. The mirror reflects
what appears on the surface, not hidden reality
beneath. It is an interesting experience to hold a
conversation with that image of ourselves in the
mirror and ask such questions as: Who are you? What
are your values? Your ambitions? Your hopes? Who is
your God? A mirror can help us to confront ourselves
and reveal to ourselves who we really are. Mirror,
mirror, on the wall - who is this “me” under all?
COUNSELING
SERVICES AVAILABLE
Many people cannot afford the cost of
counseling or have difficult finding an agency to help. If you or
someone you know is struggling with serious issues, please contact
Catholic Family Services (372-4301, ext 351, or send email to
www.ccfc.ct.org).
CATHOLIC NETWORKING GROUP
The Catholic Networking
Group is for Catholics in Connecticut in their 20s, 30s and 40s,
married or single, who want to participate in spiritual, social and
volunteer activities. For more info, please call Callista Gould at
637-3731 or email callista@intertechmedia.com.
SPOONER HOUSE FOOD BANK
The
Spooner House and the Valley Food-bank are continually in need of food to
replenish what is given to the homeless and hungry on a daily basis.
While out shopping, please pick up a few non-perishable items which may be
brought directly to the Spooner House (119 Caroline Street, Derby) or left
in the rear of our Church in the box marked “Spooner House.”
CONNECTICUT CATHOLIC CONFERENCE
Please
visit the Conference’s website (www.ctcatholic.org),
which has been updated to keep Connecticut Catholics informed and educated
on current issues of concern. Available through the website is
registration to receive informative emails and action alerts related to
pending State/Federal legislation, info on how to contact elected officials,
and links to other web sites.
TEARING DOWN
Earthquakes
and famines occur every day somewhere in the world, all which affect
hundreds of thousands of people. There are songs about peace, love and
kindness but our earth seems to exhibit an alarming absence of God; that
is, unless we understand how God brings about His purposes and rule in the
affairs of men. He tears down what man has built so that He might build a
new foundation based on His rule.
Have you been going through a time of
tearing down? Does your family or marriage seem to be falling apart or
perhaps it is your health or your business? Yes, it may be an attack of
Satan, but it may also be an act of God. Don't be discouraged when
terrible events occur, because God will rebuild your life on a foundation
that the storms of life cannot destroy.
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A CURTAIN
How easy it is to put a
curtain up on a window and then forget about it. We open and close
curtains in an automatic way, rarely stopping to reflect on what curtains
do. It reveals and it hides. It covers and it uncovers. A curtain can
remind us of ourselves. We open up at time, close up at other times.
Usually, we open up when we feel comfortable and trusting, and we close
up when we want to be protected from being hurt.
What
makes us like open curtains? Trust and love. Closed curtains?
Mistrust, fear, suspicion. Curtains can teach us a great deal about what
kind of people we really are. Mostly closed? Mostly open? Suspicious
and unloving? Trusting and loving? A closed curtain prevents the sun
from shining in. Do we keep others from us by being closed?
Reprinted with permission from “Little Things Mean A Lot” by Marie
McIntyre; all rights reserved, © 1985.
A CHIRP
A
small but happy sound is the chirp of a bird. It reminds us that God
created little birds for our enjoyment and delight. The chirp of a bird
is a signal of life being lived according to the plan of God. Jesus
reminded us that birds neither sow nor reap but our heavenly Father cares
for them. Birds respond to the laws of nature for their species. They
fly freely from place to place unencumbered by unnecessary baggage and
somehow trust that necessary food and shelter will be provided for them.
Birds teach us to trust, to be free, to conform to nature’s laws, and to
give glory to God with little chirps of gratitude for life. The chirp of
a bird is a small sound with a larger meaning that can help bring us
closer to Jesus who told us to “consider the birds of the air…”
Reprinted
with permission from “Little Things Mean A Lot” by Marie McIntyre; all
rights reserved, © 1985.
A FEATHER
Jesus told us the weak things of this
world will confound the strong. That is just one of His many allusions to
the truth in paradoxes. When we hold a little feather in our hands, we
can think about this truth. A feather is so light it makes no impression
on an ordinary scale, yet a feather has power that none of us has.
Feathers are necessary for the freedom of flight, for warmth and
protection. Birds without feathers are finally helpless and die.
A tiny little feather is a small
creation but is absolutely essential and very powerful when it fulfills
its purpose of creation. When we feel small and insignificant in the huge
crowds of humanity, we can meditate on a little feather and realize we too
have power to confound the so-called strong who foster war and injustice.
Reprinted with permission from “Little Things
Mean A Lot” by Marie McIntyre; all rights reserved, © 1985.
A LAMP
Lamps
and lights are so taken for granted in our culture we forget the real
importance they have in places where they are scarce and darkness
surrounds people. A lamp sheds its light as a sign of order in the chaos
of darkness, warmth in the cold of night’s black, a presence toward which
life moves to discover where it is. Jesus called himself the Light of the
World. He also told us to let our lights shine for others and not to hide
our lamps under a bushel. When we look at a lamp, we see how valuable it
becomes when it is available in the dark. We ignore it during the day.
In
our times, many people live in the darkness of depression, insecurity,
despair and they are in great need of someone to show them the way out of
their darkness. We are asked to be the lamp that lights their way by
reflecting the bright light of Christ. Reprinted
with permission from “Little Things Mean A Lot” by Marie McIntyre; all
rights reserved, © 1985.
AN EYE
Some
parts of our bodies seem more mysterious then others. We can study the
eye and learn how it works, what makes it healthy or ill. We can help the
eye to see better with glasses and magnifying lenses. But we find it
difficult to comprehend the real mystery of seeing. Our eyes bring the
outside world in to us and our eyes often mirror our inside world out to
others. What do people see when they look into our eyes? Does the eye
become the camera of our minds? Can people see, by looking into our eyes,
if we share the vision of Jesus? Do they see mercy, love, forgiveness,
kindness? Or do they see hardness, judgment, cynicism, meanness? Or do
they see both? Jesus told us to take the “beam out of our own eyes”
before we judge the splinter in the eyes of our neighbor. If we did this,
what vision would we have of the world.?
Reprinted with permission from “Little Things Mean A Lot” by Marie
McIntyre; all rights reserved, © 1985.
A LEAF
In
quite moments, we take time to see what we miss when we are in a hurry.
When we pause to look at the leaves of a tree, we can see them as symbols
of life’s seasons. A leaf is born in a tender young bud, full of hope and
potential. It springs into fullness and shines in full-veined greenness
during the warm and bright summer. We could say that “high noon” for a
leaf’s life is when it is in the presence of the most light and warmth.
As fall approaches, it begins to dry up and curl into lifelessness. But
before it dies, a leaf changes into many colors, manifesting a richness
that was hidden even in “high noon.” A leaf reminds us that life is
growing, maturing and dying. Life is constant change. Each period of
life has its own beauty and gift but one period must ultimately replace
the other. Life’s seasons are sequential, not simultaneous.
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