Dear Friends:
Church law requires every pastor on an annual basis to provide a report on the spiritual and the financial state of the parish. Normally, in the past, this would be done in the early months of the year, usually in February, but now with the change in the fiscal year for parishes in the Archdiocese of Hartford from January 1 through December 31 to July 1 through June 30, this is the time for such a report.
Enclosed in this bulletin is a letter from me detailing the state of financial affairs for our parish. Please take the time to review it and, if you have any questions, contact Meaghan Hayes, our business manager, who will assist you. I will say here, though, that, due to your generous support of the parish, the financial state of Precious Blood Parish is quite good. I thank each and every one of you for all that you do for our parish.
Precious Blood Parish, now in its eighth year of existence after the parish restructuring process that took place in 2017, remains one of the larger parishes in the Archdiocese of Hartford, with just under five thousand households registered. Almost every week, it seems, there are letters going out, signed by me, welcoming new families and parishioners. This is a sign of a healthy parish.
In terms of the pastoral life of the parish, Precious Blood remains a large and complex parish with a great deal of activity going on. In the past year, we celebrated the Sacrament of Baptism for one hundred forty (140) children. We celebrated First Communion for one hundred four (104) children, and Confirmation for eighty- three (83) young men and women in their junior year of high school. We celebrated the marriages of eight (8) couples and we commended one hundred forty-seven (147) souls to God in the rites of Christian Burial, most importantly, the funeral Mass, during the year. All of these are, on the surface, just numbers, but they do speak to a lively and active Catholic community, carrying on the tradition of the three parishes which existed before the merger, namely St. Mary, St. Agnes and Christ the Redeemer.
Looking ahead, it is my hope that we will see more parishioners step forward to serve as readers (lectors) at Masses on weekends and weekdays, more parishioners willing to be considered as Extraordinary Ministers o Holy Communion, and more young people willing to be altar servers at all our Masses in both churches. To that end, and to promote a greater participation of more in the life of our parish on many levels, we will be arranging for a “Ministry Fair” to be held at both churches, probably in late October or early November. We have not had one since the merger and the last one we had at St. Mary’s was quite a few years ago, perhaps ten years ago. More information will be forthcoming.