Take Part in Fortnight For Freedom Saturday

This week there are many opportunities to get involved with Catholics doing good across Connecticut.

Fortnight for Freedom is a 14-day period from June 21 — on the vigil Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More — to July 4 when Catholics from across the United States are being asked by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to focus on prayer, special devotions and catechetical sessions dedicated to the preservation of religious freedom.

Click for updates from the Norwich Diocese and The Archdiocese of Hartford

• June 30th: "Fortnight for Freedom"

Please join Catholic Underground CT this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for an evening of prayer and praise to our God, as we unite in solidarity with our fellow Catholics across the country during this event at Saint Pius X Catholic Church 310 Westfield St.

A light reception will follow in the church basement. Catholic Underground CT wishes to thank the friars at St. Pius X for their gracious support in hosting our event!

• June 27 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM Holy Apostles College & Seminary is an outstanding and highly affordable Catholic liberal arts college that is nationally and internationally renowned for its majors in English in the Humanities, History in the Social Sciences; Philosophy; and Theology. Holy Apostles is a commuter college centrally located in historic Cromwell at 33 Prospect Hill Road.

Scholarships and financial aid are available for qualified students. Please bring family and friends to learn more and tour our beautiful campus. Refreshments will be served. For more information please visit www.holyapostles.edu or call 860-632-3010.

• Join Father Edmond Nadolny on a 1-Day Pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Divine Mercy, Stockbridge, Mass., June 28th.

Bus leaves Sacred Heart Church, 48 Cottage Street, East Berlin, at 8:15 AM. We will arrive in Stockbridge at 10:30 AM with adequate free time to shop and visit the Lourdes Grotto and Candle Shrine, St. Joseph Reflecting Fountain and Holy Family Memorial, Shrine of the Holy Innocents, and Stations of the Cross if you so wish, followed by a talk at 11:15, break for lunch at 12 PM, and then 1:00 PM confessions, Holy Hour, Eucharistic Adoration and Rosary for Life before Mass and Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

• On Saturday June 30th. St. Francis of Assisi Church on 10 Elm St. Middletown is having a yard sale from 8am to 4pm. DON’T MISS IT! Books, Clothing, Household items, Toys, Something for Everyone.

• For girls entering Grades 5 - 9 - starting July 23rd-27th, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 12 Noon at Mercy High School, Randolph Road, Middletown,CT.

Fee: $140.00 includes a new basketball for each girl participating. Director is Tim Kohs, Mercy High Athletic Director and Varsity Basketball Coach. For more info and to download a brochure, visit www.mercyhigh.com or call the Mercy Development Office at 860-347-8957.

• Guests from St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen and people from throughout the city may be eligible to receive financial help from our Community Assistance Program (CAP). Coordinator Valarie Smith listens to people's stories, often very sad and heart wrenching stories, and functions as the "gatekeeper" to match people in need with the resources to help them in many different types of crises and/or emergencies.

This program began in 1999 as a way for the Middletown faith communities to more effectively address the challenges of people who would go from church to church in search of assistance. What better solution than having a central place to refer people to, and a combined fund from many churches and synagogues to really make a significant difference to someone in crisis?

• Connect to Care

Connect-To-Care is a monthly program hosted by St. Vincent de Paul Middletown in the Soup Kitchen dining room where guests can meet with a host of service providers all under one roof.

Representatives set up at a table on the second Thursday each month between 10 and 11:15 am. They have included: Kuhn Employment, United Labor Agency, Merritt Hall, Rushford, River Valley Services, Community Health Center, the Oasis Center, Department of Social Services, the Social Security Administration, the Veterans Administration, Middletown Adult Education, the Shepherd Home, the Eddy Shelter, the Middlesex County Family Shelter, and others.

Connect-To-Care is a project of the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), a group of service providers from various local agencies who meet weekly to outreach to, engage, and track individuals and families who are homeless in the region.

• Middlesex Family Shelter Now Has Bright Space for Children.

This new play area will brighten the lives of the seven homeless families whose 17 children are being served by the Columbus House in Middletown. The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, Columbus House and the Community Renewal Team unveiled the opening of a “Bright Space” for children at the Middlesex Family Shelter on May 23.

Thanks to a grant from the Connecticut Department of Social Services’ Office of Head Start Collaboration and funding from Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, a new child-friendly play space has opened at the Middlesex Family Shelter in Middletown.