Our First "Guest Star" Roamin' Catholics Adventure
One mass... one dinner... two viewpoints...
HIS:
Are you a prisoner or a parishioner? This is the
question to ponder this week. More on this later, first a bit of background.
Roamin’ Catholics Body and Soul traveled to the Archdiocese of Hartford in the
Nutmeg State. For those who don’t know which state that is, that’s my
home state of Connecticut. We traveled to the Constitution State (another
nickname) for a quick visit with Mama Sitnik. When in the area we also
try to get together with dear ole Uncle Ed. This is what brought us to
this week’s stop on our journey, St. Dunstan’s in Glastonbury, Connecticut, my
Uncle’s home parish. This was also the first week we shared our
experience (in the flesh) with someone else. Glastonbury is just across
the Connecticut River from my home town and where my Mom lives,
Wethersfield. This would be a good segue to say that both Wethersfield
and Glastonbury are place names in Great Britain. Wethersfield being a
small hamlet northeast of London near Finchingfield (you’ve heard of that,
right) and the home of an RAF base. Glastonbury is west of London in
Somerset, near that famous hamlet of High Ham. Why am I giving you this geography
lesson when I should probably be talking theology and food? I have no
idea. Mary says I go off on tangents and cant tell a short, concise story
and get to the point quickly. “Give me the baby, not the labor
pains!” But I digress. The reason I bring all this up is that it
pertains to the origins of the name of this week’s church. When this
parish was founded as a mission church in 1971, the Parishioners were charged
with coming up with a unique name that wasn’t already being used in the Archdiocese.
They looked to where they were located and apparently it was a no
brainer. St. Dunstan (909 – 908) was the head (Abbot) of an Abbey in,
wait for it…..GLASTONBURY England. Phew, took awhile but I got
there. Thanks for sticking with me.
St. Dunstan’s was probably one of the smaller churches we’ve
been to this year. As you know by now, I am not a huge fan of the modern
church construction. Its gonna be hard to beat the grandness of St
Casimir’s from two weeks ago. That said, given the 70s vintage of this
building, I would say that it has held up quite well, but nothing fancy
about. I’m sure when the church opened its doors for the first time in
the mid seventies, it didn’t represent a huge change to the middle school
auditorium they had been celebrating mass in since parish’s founding in
1971. With respect to there being a personal connection, in researching
the parish, I found that one of the past pastors was Reverend Zigford
Kris. Father Kris was the principal of South Catholic High School in
Hartford, my alma mater.
This week’s homilist was Deacon Hank. The Deacon began
by reminding us that this time of year is a time for spring cleaning.
Clearing out our attics and basements, garages and closets of the accumulated
junk of our lives. This is what Lent is supposed to represent. We
are supposed to reflect on our lives and clear out all the “junk” of our
lives. Part of our duty as Catholics during Lent is to go to
confession. This is the religious version of cleaning out the
attic. The Deacon compared keeping our homes clean through out the year,
would eliminate the need for “spring cleaning” and going to confession
regularly would eliminate the need to clear out our spiritual attic.
One of the ministries that Deacon Hank is involved in is a
prison ministry. He commented on how the prisoners that he interacts with
regularly ask when a priest will be visiting the facility so that they can
attend confession and thus be pure to receive the Lord. Many of these men
committed much more serious sins than most of us will ever be faced with
confessing, but they feel the need to seek forgiveness more than we do.
He challenged the congregants, are we a parishioner or a prisoner. I
would take it one step further, don’t be a prisoner of our sins.
Dinner this week brought us to a favorite Connecticut place
that we have been to several times during our visits up north. Max
Fish. Max’s is part of a group of restaurants in the Hartford area
owned by the same entity offering a variety of cuisines and settings.
I’ll give you two guesses what Max Fish’s specialty is. You first
guess doesn’t count. You got it, FISH! I have never been
disappointed in any of the meals I have had at any of the Max family of
restaurants. The setting is warm and inviting, the staff is attentive and
most importantly, the food is fabulous. On this go round, I decided to
have a crab cake sandwich. Being that I live in Maryland, home to the
best crab cakes in the world, I’m not sure why I made this choice. It was
kinda like the time I got ribs at an Italian restaurant or Mary got and Italian
sub at a Jewish deli. You just don’t do these things. I must admit,
I was a little disappointed. The fries that came with the entrée were Old
Bay fries and they were a nice compliment. I wanted to try something
different and will know better for next time. I was the recipient of some
lobster meat from one of my dining companions. That was a nice little
treat! Lastly, as Mary and I have been abstaining from alcohol during
this Lenten season, with the exception of a glass of wine during our Roamin’
jaunts, I thoroughly enjoyed a nice glass of Syrah! I cant wait for next
week
HERS:
Happy St. Patrick's Day & Happy 20th Birthday to our niece Diana!
This week's Roamin' Catholics had us filling up the tank and driving 343 miles to visit my mother-in-law in Connecticut for the weekend. Mass this week was the Saturday 4:00 pm early bird special at St. Dunstan's in Glastonbury, CT. If I were to choose one word to describe the church itself, it would be "simple". I would use the word "friendly" to describe the congregation. This was our first what I'll now call "Guest Star" Roamin' Catholic Adventure. Lou's mom attended with us and we met Lou's Uncle Ed at the church - he belongs to St. Dunstan's parish.
We had attended this church one other time for Uncle Ed's wife's funeral. As this was a very sad occasion, I was glad to come back to to this parish under happy circumstances; to attend mass and then to have dinner with Lou's mom and uncle.
Only the bells on the outside of the building gave any indication that this was a church, and when we stepped inside, I felt like I was stepping into a theater rather than a church. Ok, the altar, crucifix and statues were telltale signs that this was a church, but everything about the inside of the building was simple and unassuming. Speaking of telltale signs, the very large hymn numbers at the front of the church alluded to a more mature set of parishioners in attendance at this parish.
The resonating words for the mass were SPRING CLEANING. The Responsorial Psalm, "Create a clean heart in me, oh God" seemed to be the spring board for Deacon Hank Szumowski's homily. He began by saying this is the time of the year for Spring cleaning. Was he talking about our physical home or our spiritual home? He then asked the congregation what would happen if whatever we gave up for Lent was something that we gave up forever? That was an interesting concept. If what we give up makes us better people, why are we just giving it up for Lent?
Because it is difficult!!!!! Because we are human!!!!!
He went on to talk about cleaning our hearts and souls through confession during the Lenten season. Apparently, confession attendance is down because all the priests have talked about this in their homilies thus far. Deacon Hank went on to say that he participates in prison ministry and said that the demand for reconciliation among the prison population is great. Prisoners are asking for reconciliation. He then said the demand for reconciliation among the "free" population was not as great. He then asked with this contrast, whose heart was more pure, the prisoner's or the non-prisoner's? That was an interesting question. Personally, confession has always caused angst for me. I am sure I am not alone. Sure, I feel better when it is over, but what is it about confession that causes angst?
He wrapped up his Spring Cleaning homily by telling us of a picture of Jesus that he recently purchased that seemed to have a smudge over Jesus' face. He said the picture vexed him and he prayed over why this smudge was over Jesus' face. The conclusion that he reached was that it was not Jesus' face, but rather, his face (and in turn, our faces). He believed this symbolized that when we don't clean house, we have a part of Jesus with us, but there are things that we allow into our lives that keep us "smudged" and don't allow Jesus to fully become a part of our lives. Who can't relate to this?
The one part of the church I found to be most impressive but didn't even see until it was mentioned, was "the prayer wall". I did not see it because we were sitting directly under it! This "prayer wall" was a homemade wall hanging made of fabric woven in and out like the reeds of a basket. Like the rest of the church, this too was very simple, but the concept was quite profound to me. The instructions said to leave a prayer intention and take a prayer intention. I love that concept! I currently have a friend from high school who is very sick and in need of prayers, so I lifted her care along with knowledge for her doctors up to the prayer wall. I found it comforting to know that someone I didn't even know was going to pray for my friend... another avenue to God.
When mass was over, the four of us headed to Max Fish in Glastonbury for an evening of food and fun. Even after 25 years of marriage, I learn new things about my husband. This evening solidified something I already knew... that I married a good man... and not just because his mom told me so after dinner (lol), but because I know it in my heart. I am fortunate to be taking this journey (both the life one and the roamin' one) with him.
As always we end with our Soulfie... thank you for reading!
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