Heavenly Creator, In this season of gratitude and abundance, we give You thanks for our many blessings as we pray for all who struggle with hunger and want. Be with them in the dark of night, when all hope seems lost. Keep their faith strong as they await relief. Let Your goodness flow throughout our hearts and hands as we reach out to one another in the full, true joy of Thanksgiving in Christ. Amen

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By Gina Foster In addition to providing an excellent education, our Catholic schools instill strong community pride which was apparent at this year’s Tenth Annual Seton Scholarship Dinner held on November 3rd at St. Clements Castle & Marina in Portland. In its largest dinner to date, 230 people representing 30 Catholic schools and churches gathered together as one community to support three very special individuals being honored for their contributions to Catholic education within the Diocese of Norwich. Guests enjoyed St. Clements’ beautiful facilitie...

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Norwich, bishop, Catholic

Bangkok, Thailand (CNA) - Thailand’s first Christian missionaries set out feeling the absence of the Thai people from their lives and wanted to share everything they knew about God’s love, Pope Francis told the country’s Catholics during Mass on Thursday. The missionaries ended up learning more fully the plan of God, and found the Thai people to be their unknown family, he reflected. “By hearing the Lord’s word and responding to its demands, they came to realize that they were part of a family much larger than any based on blood lines, cu...

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A Great Way to Kick Off the Advent Season Come join us, Thursday, December 5th- 6:30-8:00 pm- St Pius X Church Hall, Middletown!  Families, children, parishioners and priests are all invited to come and ask Bishop Cote, and a panel of knowledgeable guests, questions about our Catholic faith traditions.  The evening will highlight the season of Advent. Questions can be submitted through your local parish Faith Formation program or to the Office of Faith Events when you RSVP.  All questions need to be submitted in advance. Come for a night of fun, fe...

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advent

The week of November 4 – 8th was devoted to New England Catholic Schools Week. The students and families of St. Mary – St. Joseph School in Willimantic, celebrated the week by having several events that honored our uniqueness!  We kicked off the week with Buddy Day. Upper students got together with their younger reading buddies and collaborated on two projects; making Veteran’s Day cards and puzzle pieces.  Students painted, glued, and designed handmade thank you cards to hand out to our Veteran friends at the special Veteran’s Day Pra...

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Father Gregory Galvin, Director of Priestly Vocations Each year we celebrate the start of November with the feast of All Saints, followed by the feast of All Souls Day. This month also marks the celebration of Thanksgiving, while the end of the month closes the calendar year of the Church with the Feast of Christ the King. These occasions are opportunities for us to deepen our spiritual lives. November also gives us an opportunity to renew the gift of silence in our own lives, particularly in prayer and reflection. Silence assists in opening the soul to God. As we bec...

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Vocations, Norwich, Catholic

By Ryan Blessing Photos by Jackson Morrison They respond to fires, accidents and medical emergencies and put their own lives on the line at times while doing so. That selfless dedication shown by firefighters and EMS personnel, at all hours of the day and in all kinds of conditions, received praise and thanks at the 27th annual Diocesan Mass in their honor, held Saturday, October 19 at the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Norwich. Firefighters and ambulance crews love a parade, and the procession before the Mass from Chelsea Parade to the Cathedral included trucks from...

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Norwich, Mass, Catholic

"The pleas of gravely ill persons who sometimes ask for death are not to be understood as implying a true desire for euthanasia; in fact it is almost always a case of an anguished plea for help and love. What a sick person needs, besides medical care, is love, the human and supernatural warmth with which the sick person can and ought to be surrounded by those close to him or her, parents and children, doctors and nurses."[283]     The sick person who feels surrounded by a loving human and Christian presence does not give way to depression and ang...

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FCC News Desk Here's a recap of some of the developments that took place this week at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. To read more, click on the link under the text.   New USCCB President, Vice-president Elected Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) during the Fall General Assembly in Baltimore. Archbishop Gomez has served as vice president of the Conference since 2016. Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit was elected as USCCB vice president. Both th...

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Bishop, Conference, Catholic

FCC News Desk On November 3rd the St. Andrew Parish family worked together to pack 21,600 meals to send to the Philippines. It was a wonderful intergenerational service day with the pastor, Father Marek Masnicki, parochial vicar, Father Richard Breton, and Deacon, Michael Puscas, all working alongside parishioners from small children to the elderly.  Parishioners were also joined by Father Brian Maxwell. Under the direction of Harvest Pack, this took only about one hour from start to finish. There were parishioners from nearly all ministries and all grade...

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Norwich, Catholic