Arrangements - Raymond Crawford, Class of 2018

Wednesday, February 17: Visiting Hours will be held at Munson Lovetere Funeral Home, 2 School Street, Woodbury, 4:00-8:00 p.m. (Click here for directions.)

Thursday, February 18: Funeral will be at St. Teresa of Avila, 146 Main St. S., Woodbury, 11:00 a.m.

Directions to St. Teresa of Avila:

From Hartford/East: I-84 West to Exit 17, straight off exit onto Route 64, follow to end, turn right onto Route 6. Church is 2 miles on left. 

From Danbury/West: I-84 to Exit 15, turn left onto Route 6 & 67, stay on Route 6, after Route 64 intersection church is 2 miles on left.

May the Angels Lead Him to Paradise

On Friday, Raymond Crawford was opening the door to St. Thomas Seminary, on his way to his Biblical School class, when he inadvertently stepped over the threshold into the Kingdom of God in its fullness. We mourn our brother in Christ, lost from us but not lost to God. We remember the joy he brought us. (He had an electric smile, deeply graced.) Please keep his wife Peggy and his entire family in prayer. Information on services will be posted when we have it. The class of 2018 will never forget him.

Feast on the Bible During the Lenten Fast

We recommend indulging your "spiritual sweet tooth" while you engage in prayer, fasting and almsgiving this Lent! There are some profound biblical offerings available (many at no charge!) designed to help you encounter God's Word in Christ Jesus more thoroughly and to connect you more closely with His Body, the Church.

In addition to the wonderful programs being presented in individual parishes, here are a few choice offerings:

Care for Our Common Home: The Biblical Roots of Laudato Si

Sunday, March 6, 2016, 12:30-4:30 pm at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, CT, with Sr. Barbara Bozak, CSSJ. Register by February 29 by clicking on this link: Celebration of Sacred Scripture. (Donations will be accepted for the Sr. Jewel Renna Scholarship Fund.)

Lenten Retreat: "MERCY: What God Gives and What God Requires"

Saturday, February 20, 2016 (Snow Date: Feb. 27) 10:00 am - 3:00 pm at the Caritas Christi Center, Hamden, CT, with CBS faculty member, Amy Ekeh. To register, call Sr. Jeanne Marie, ASCJ at 203-281-2569. ($40 donation requested.)

Lent is Trending* is a youth and young-adult resource offering daily reflections on St.

Paul's letter to the Philippians, available as a print booklet or digital download. (It's a short letter people, I promise, but full of amazing words from the first century.) Published by Creative Communications for the Parish. Click here for a link to their website: Lent is Trending.

Lenten In-Service for Catechetical Leaders and Catechists

• Thursday, March 3, 2016, 10:00-noon, followed by lunch at the Caritas Christi Center, Hamden. John Collins sponsored by Sadlier. Register by February 25th on the OREE website by clicking here: http://www.orehartford.org/joomla2/
• Wednesday, March 16th, 7:00-9:00 pm at St. Bridget, Cheshire. Light appetizers and desserts. Register by March 3, 2016. Steve Connor sponsored by Loyola Press. Register by February 25th on the OREE website by clicking here: http://www.orehartford.org/joomla2/

Year of Mercy Resources for Parish Leaders

Available from the Archdiocese of Hartford. Click here: AOH#yearofmercy.

While the ashes are fresh on our foreheads, we
are invited to do something powerful in God's Word!

CBS Advanced Year Planning 2016-17

We're still waiting to hear from almost half the students who are eligible to enroll in next year's Advanced Classes (CBS 300, The Prophets and Psalms).

If you are taking CBS 200 (Year 2) or CBS 300 (Year 3) and have not yet done so, please take the survey asap by clicking on this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VHFJ368. It takes only five minutes and gives me invaluable information to plan the schedule of Advanced-year courses.

Remember: Nothing is set in stone yet, so provide the best answers you can--even if you think your schedule could change between now and September 1!

And if you need to receive this survey as a hard copy, please contact Jill Costa: jill.costa@aohct.org.

CBS Advanced Years Take Note

The schedule for the CBS 400 class that meets on Tuesday nights at the Caritas Christi Center (CCC) has been changed. That class is reverting to its original schedule and will again be "in sync" with the other classes, so feel free to drop in if you like. Here's what to expect:

CBS 400 at CCC Hamden:

• February 16: No class.
• February 23: Class 7:00-9:00 with Fr. Aidan Donahue (Unit Review and HW 2.9 due)
• March 1: Class 7:00-9:00 with Ms. Alexis Chacchia ("Memory Exercise" and Lesson 3.1; no HW due)

CBS 100 Monday Night Location Change for Feb.15

Please note: CBS 100 (Year One) on Monday nights will be meeting at St. Thomas Seminary for February 15 ONLY. You will return to St. Timothy in West Hartford for class in February 22, 2016.

Weather-Related Cancellations and Make Up Classes

On Monday, February 8, 2016, Catholic Biblical School classes are cancelled, due to inclement weather.

Students are reminded to begin preparing the next homework as if you had class this week, so you have two homework lessons prepared when you attend class next week.

Monday classes will meet at the usual time next week, February 15, to make up the missed class.

Make Up Classes Scheduled during the Late Winter Break Week (Feb 15-19, 2016):

• CBS 100 (Year One) at St. Timothy, West Hartford, will meet on Monday evening, Feb. 15.
• CBS 200 (Year Two) at St. Thomas Seminary will meet on Monday evening, Feb. 15.
• CBS 200 (Year Two) at St. John Vianney, West Haven will meet on Wednesday evening, Feb. 17.
• CBS 200 (Year Two) at St. Thomas Seminary will meet on Friday morning, Feb. 19.
• CBS 400 (Advanced Years) at St. Thomas Seminary will meet on Monday evening, Feb. 15.

Welcome Sr. Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ, PhD

Sr. Mary Grace begins her tenure as Provost for Education in the Archdiocese of Hartford this week. She will oversee all educational efforts, including the Catholic Biblical School. I hope we will all greet her warmly when we see her in the Seminary building or in classes.

And we will miss Fr. Christopher M. Tiano as he steps away from his role as Director of the Office of Religious Education and Evangelization. We know he will continue to bless the Archdiocese deeply as pastor of St. Francis, South Windsor.

Class Cancellations and Rescheduling

1) CBS 200 (Year 2, Ms. Amy Ekeh) Friday morning class at St. Thomas Seminary will not meet today, February 5, 2016. Homework for both lesson 2.7 and 2.8 will be due at your next class meeting, February 12. This class will also meet to cover missed material during the late winter break on February 19, 2016.

2) CBS 200 (Year 2, Ms. Amy Ekeh) Wednesday evening class at St. John Vianney, West Haven, scheduled for Ash Wednesday (2/10/16 with Amy Ekeh) has been rescheduled for February 17, 2016. There will be no class in West Haven on Ash Wednesday.

3) CBS 400 (Advanced Year, Fr. Aidan Donahue) Tuesday evening class at the Caritas Christi Center in Hamden will be working on an alternate schedule for the rest of Unit 2 beginning February 16. Class will meet as usual on February 9, then will meet during the late winter break on Tuesday, February 16 for the review session. The "memory exercise" (exam) will take place on February 23, 2016. There will be no class at Caritas Christi Center on March 1.

Note that THREE classes are expected to meet (so far) during the late winter break: CBS 400 in Hamden on 2/16/16, CBS 200 in West Haven on 2/17/16 and in  Bloomfield on 2/19/16. Consult with your instructor for more details, or if you are not a regular member of those classes and would like to attend, email catholic.biblical.school@aohct.org to get further details.

Stay warm and dry!

A Weekly Bible Study: Barbara Gawle

Feast of Christ the King 2015
A Weekly Bible Study

With this weekend we conclude the three-year cycle of Bible Study columns. It has been my pleasure to give you a glimpse into the vast treasury of revelation that is Sacred Scripture, where we come to know the Lord – and ourselves – more deeply.  It is my hope that you will continue to explore Sacred Scripture and find it to be an enriching source of knowledge, inspiration, strength and hope. I now offer a closing invitation to embrace the Word more deeply.


If a wonder of nature or a marvel of creation caught our eye and moved us deeply we would not
hesitate to stop and observe this majestic sight, perhaps even to pause to praise the Lord. We might spend time studying its delicate or awe-inspiring features. Nature has a way of slowing us down, stopping us in our tracks, enabling us to commune with its intricacies.

Does our reading of Sacred Scripture stop us in our tracks? Why or why not?

Sacred Reading or Lectio Divina invites us to pause, ponder and pray. Unlike recreational or informational reading, we allow the Word of God to penetrate slowly our minds, hearts and wills. We invite the Word to speak to us at ever deepening levels. As we engage with the Sacred Word, we read, listen, respond, rest and perhaps begin again in a kind of circular motion. This kind of reading is not so much a process as it is a disposition of the heart. Initially we may be engaging with the printed word, the message of Scripture, but we move gracefully into an encounter with the Word who is Christ.

Reading about Lectio Divina recently, two phrases caught my eye: moment of insight and movement of love. The author was describing the flow of this way of prayer that often stops at such moments and leads to such movements. There is a gentleness about these two phrases, as if being tenderly led into the mysterious chambers of the heart where one can gaze upon the Lord’s loveliness while also being instructed in the God's ways. In these days of over-stimulation and lack of reflection, isn’t it refreshing for the spirit to be brought back to a place where it can move slowly, deliberately and lovingly through a printed word and be nourished as well as transformed?

The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is a CBS graduate and the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.