Remember St. Rita Parish in Your Will

How will your earthly possessions be used when you have died? Will any benefit the Church that has played an important part in your life? A simple bequest of some portion of your estate to St. Rita can help maintain and preserve our wonderful parish for years to come. Please speak to your attorney about such a bequest.

Need Help with Air Conditioners or Heavy Items?

The St. Rita Knights of Columbus council wishes to help seniors with screens, air conditioners or any heavy lifting of items. Please call Laura at the Elderly Ministry Office – 203-281-7387 in you need help.

News & Notes: June 15, 2010

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

It is difficult to believe that another academic year is over. Graduations and celebrations that mark the passage of educational accomplishments have been observed, and already the new school year is being anticipated. Before the school year ends; however, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each of you in the name of all of us at St. Rita School. Whether you will return to us at the start of the new school year…whether your last or only child has graduated…whether you will be moving to a new town or a new school…we remain most grateful to you for sharing your most precious of gifts with us…your children. It is our prayer that your children have grown in wisdom and grace, and are well prepared to move on in their educational journeys.

As the summer begins I would encourage you to find a few quiet moments to anticipate the weeks ahead in an effort to savor all they might hold for you and your family. So often we move through our days without plan or without pause and we find that at summer’s end we are disappointed with not having lived each day fully. Perhaps we can build a few of the following suggestions into our days this summer…

Pray… Summer is a wonderful time to rejoice in the creation that God has given us. We spend more time outside engaging in activities that are renewing in body and soul, and they are often celebrated in the midst of God’s wondrous world. This is the season for praise…it is a time to truly glory in flower, sun and all that is good. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner states,

Holy gates are everywhere…Culture and organized religion conspire to trick us into

believing that entrances to holiness are only at predictable times and prearranged

places…Entrances to holiness are everywhere and all the time.

Summer is a time to renew our commitment to Sunday worship, and perhaps experience community in new ways as we visit other parish communities in our travels.

Read… Although for most, there are no true “lazy days of summer”… but there is often more opportunity to find a good book that brings new insight into life’s living. Although summer is often a time to fly through lighter novels, I would challenge you to find a book that you can truly sink your soul into. There are many out there… perhaps you might choose to return to a classic that you read years ago. (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Open the Door/A Journey to the True Self by Joyce Rupp, The Power of Half/One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back, by Kevin and Hanna Salwen; The Anatomy of Peace by Arbinger, My Life With The Saints, by James Martin, SJ; The Seven Storey Mountain, by Thomas Merton)

Play… So often we take ourselves too very seriously… we act as if we were in complete charge of our lives and when something does not go in the direction we play…we become agitated, upset and often angered. Perhaps we need to laugh a bit more… do something that has no real purpose except to enjoy the moment… take an afternoon off and do something out of the ordinary with your children… pack up a lunch or early dinner and drive to nowhere in particular for a picnic… A friend of mine gave each of her children an opportunity to plan a day for the family based on a given budget. Each member of the family would explore places in their own area that would engage their family in some way. One planned a day that began with breakfast in an old nearby town. She even went as far as getting a menu so she could list those things the family could order to stay within her budget. They then took a long ride to a park where they feasted on a picnic lunch and enjoyed swimming in the lake. Later in the afternoon they grabbed a bite to eat at a diner and then drove to the last drive-in movie theater in the state where they feasted on popcorn and soda that was brought from home. Life is made up of moments… memories are made from moments that catch us by surprise… Summer is a wonderful time to celebrate moments and make memories.

I also want to extend heartfelt thanks to Miss Maureen Christian, Mrs. Susan Hummel and Ms. Christine Rogers who have given of themselves so generously to our school community. Each of them has cared for and encouraged your children. We assure them of our prayerful support as they begin new chapters in their lives.

As the school year comes to a close and as summer begins in earnest, be assured that prayer continues for each of you and your families. May God bless you with peace…may your summer be a safe one…and may you find renewal in prayer, reading and play!

In prayer and gratitude,

Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: June 8, 2010

June 8, 2010

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. On Saturday evening at 4:00 PM Mass at our parish Church, our eighth graders joined the St. Rita Parish community in gratitude for the support we receive from our parishioners. Our eighth graders read, participated in the presentation of gifts, and served at the altar. I took that occasion to thank our parishioners for the many ways they support our school, and at the same time I shared with them some of the many reasons we are proud of our students. ( I will attach a flyer that was shared with the parish community that included a few highlights of the school year). In speaking with our parish community, I shared with them that these accomplishments are, indeed, a source of pride for all of us, but that these statistics do not reveal the whole picture.

Often many intangible signs of what makes us a vibrant school community get lost in statistics and other measureable means of quantifying success. Let me share with you two examples that are quite simple, and yet profound illustrations of what is truly at the heart of our school.

I shared the following with our parishioners:

“Friday we celebrated the First Communion of one of our fourth grade students. It was a wonderful event. We witnessed Christ’s life being welcomed ever-more deeply into the life of this young man. Our third grade students prepared the liturgy, read, and participated in the presentation of gifts while our Kindergarten students led us in song with a Communion meditation, and some of our Middle School boys sang the offertory hymn. So many participated and joined their prayer to the many prayers offered throughout the liturgy. It was a wonderful experience of life…of true communion… of oneness in Christ. As students were being dismissed to return to class, I noticed something that captured the experience of Eucharist for me. Two eighth grade boys approached the first bench where the young man who had just received his First Communion sat with his family. They extended their hands to congratulate the young man on this sacred event in his life…and then they walked to join their class and continue their day…an extraordinary moment almost lost in its simplicity.

Another experience that occurred this past week involved a teacher who came to me with a pile of papers in hand, moved by what her students had written. One essay from a fourth grader spoke of Mary, Christ’s mother as a young girl participating in a foot race…the fourth grader wrote of Mary’s applying herself…working hard… and finally winning the race and capturing the trophy. I would imagine in many cases the story would stop here, but this young writer went a bit further… she wrote of Mary looking back at the course she ran only to find a little girl lagging far behind… a little girl who wanted to win more than Mary did. In the next moment the young writer had Mary striding toward the little girl, encouraging her and gifting her with the trophy she herself had won. The young fourth grader ended the narrative by sharing simply… that the young girl whom Mary encouraged was the writer herself.

There are countless stories like these that reveal what is at the heart of our school.

We are certainly proud of our young people’s gifts and talents as well as their application and sharing of them… but what makes our students unique is described best in the simple stories that reflect what many might see as merely insignificant experiences… but each hand reaching out…each story written to reflect one’s heart…each act of charity…each expression of compassion does make our school…our parish…our town…our world a better place.”

We do have much for which to be proud at St. Rita School. We are learning how to live each day…in the midst of challenges…accomplishments…shortcomings…activities. We are the Body of Christ…living, breathing, and sharing the love that we have come to know.

May your week be filled with simple experiences that help you to see Christ alive in your midst.

In prayer,

Sr. Maureen

News & Notes: June 1, 2010

June 1, 2010

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

Recently I read a story by John Shea. He is known for finding or creating stories that are simple, yet provide much food for thought. The story I would like to share with you is, indeed, simple…and yet I believe its meaning runs deep for each of us.

“For twenty years, I was a teacher. At Christmastime, it was the custom at the school where I taught for all the kids to bring gifts.

After about the third year, I could name the gift by the size of the box it came in. Whenever my students would come up with long, flat boxes, I would know they were handkerchiefs. Since thank-you notes were not expected, I would take these long, flat boxes and just throw them in my closet unopened. Then, as I needed a handkerchief, I would open a box and take one out. I always had more boxes than I needed handkerchiefs.

One time I went into my closet, took out a box, and opened it. Instead of a handkerchief, there was an antique pocket watch. All this time, I possessed an antique pocket watch and I didn’t know it.”

I found this story and interesting one… a gift given…an assumption as to what the gift is…the discovery of the true gift. As with every good story, there can be…and are…multiple layers of meaning which reveal themselves upon reflection. Perhaps I am presumptuous in asserting what the story’s meaning has for me… but let me offer a few thoughts…and then I encourage your own…even deeper reflections.

Each of us has been given a gift that is wondrous…beyond measure…undeserved… The gift each of us has been given is the gift of life, and that life comes from God who has breathed into each of us his Spirit, and has called us to life, creating us in His own image. Stop for a moment… don’t read these lines as you would any other… savor them…wonder at the prospect of having this gift… be in awe of God’s generosity, and the trust and unfathomable confidence God has in us.

What do we do with this gift? If we are like Shea we at times toss it in the back of our life’s closet and assume we know what the gift box holds. Perhaps at some point in our lives when we need a realization of love and hope, we rummage through the dark recesses of the closet and unearth the box that holds what was ours all along.

We often walk through life clinging to what is passing…what delights for only a moment…what we believe will bring us peace… and we forget that we already possess the greatest of gifts which we have not earned, which we do not deserve, which was given to us out of pure love.

Pause…reflect…ponder…the ultimate gift… and then sing…shout…dance…declare your gratitude for it… Christ proclaimed “I have come to give you life, and life to the full” What an incredible promise, what a wondrous reality. Let us live each day with a deep awareness of what is ours…

In prayer,

Sr. Maureen