They say, “ April showers bring May flowers and Mayflowers bring pilgrims!” The month of June will end with members of the Sacred Heart Parish family participating in a pilgrimage to the Marian Shrines at Fatima and Lourdes as well as a stop in Barcelona. We will be joined by friends from St. Mary Parish in Simsbury and other friends as well. The group under the guidance of Fr. Stephen Sledesky, pastor of St. Mary in Simsbury and a former Assistant Pastor at Sacred Heart as well as Fr. Joe Keough will embark on the pilgrimage on June 23 and return on July 2. In addition to the 45 participants on the journey, we will be carrying the prayer intentions of family members and friends on this very special trip. Like all pilgrimages, there are planned events, but the group also remains open to God’s events along the way. We will carry in our hearts and prayers the members of our families, parish family and the local community. While the group is away there will be no daily Masses at Sacred Heart, but the weekend Masses will be covered by our friend and former pastor, Fr. Mark Jette.
In addition to the pilgrimage, June is also the beginning of our Summer Worship Schedule which will be in place from June 1 through August 31. Historically lower attendance in the summer will enable us all to fit in the church on this reduced schedule. Saturday Mass will be at 4:00 and Sunday morning Masses will be at 8:30 and 10:30 AM. There will be no 8, 9:30 or 11:00 Mass (obviously) for these months. This will be a good opportunity for many of our members to reconnect with fellow parishioners who normally attend other Mass times.
Registration for our Religious Education Program for grades 1-9 will take place toward the middle of the month. Families new to the parish should register with the parish before signing up for Religious Education classes. For more information, please contact Donna Swols at the Religious Education Office, 860-668-7766. The program had a great year with our largest class for First Holy Communion in over ten years! With the number of baptisms in the past few years we are expecting to see an upward trend. It is always wonderful to see our young families being active in their faith. Our students had several successful collections for their neighbors in need by collecting food and other items for local charities, such as Suffield Community Aid, as our young parishioners put their faith into action.
Our whole parish family responded generously throughout the year to our monthly food drives (June 15 and 16 is the next one), providing food, cleaning supplies and hygiene products in support of Suffield Community Aid. The recent Spring Clothing Drive to benefit Springfield Rescue Mission resulted in four carloads of items to help people of all ages. These drives are organized by the dedicated members of our Human Needs Committee.
Our Knights of Columbus Council will hold its annual golf tournament at Suffield Country Club on Saturday, June 1 as a fund raiser for their high school scholarship fund. A dinner will follow, and the 2024 scholarships will be awarded. Our Parish Scholarship will be awarded on Father’s Day weekend to high school seniors of the parish who are actively involved in the life of the parish during their high school years.
If you would like more information about the faith life at Sacred Heart Parish, visit our website at http://www.SacredHeartCT.com or follow us on Facebook, Sacred Heart, Suffield.