BTC –Day 4 Journal – Manchester, St. Bridget’s to St. Timothy’s, West Hartford to Holy Family, West Hartford

BTC –Day 4 Journal – Manchester, St. Bridget’s to St. Timothy’s, West Hartford to Holy Family, West Hartford

We gathered at St. Bridget at 7:30. This was kind of reminiscent of our first day. We had 13 bikers riding his day. Kelley O’Shea from Court House, one of Lou’s spin teachers, joined us after being invited by Charlie and Lou. She borrowed Kelly’s riding jersey so she fit in perfectly. We also had John Rowe with us for the first time and this Patty’s first day this year as well.

Bill Shea was there again to take photos. It was so great getting ready to start again. Fr. Stephen couldn’t ride with us this morning. He had to work. He gave us a nice blessing to start the day. John Ryan also offered up a wonderful social justice prayer before we mounted up. It put all of us in the perfect mood. We were on our bikes rolling away around 8:15.

The ride to St. Timothy’s was relatively flat and everyone enjoyed it. We all stayed close together. Kelley seemed to really enjoy herself and we believe she is now hooked as part of this team. She’s got it and knows it is not about the bike.

We got to St. Timothy’s earlier than we expected, around 9:30. Bill Shea had just got there so he was able to take photos of us arriving. Timing is everything. We rested some and had bagels and juice before we greeted parishioners for the 10:30 mass. We were actually early enough to greet the 9:00 ma parishioners as they were leaving. We either handed them a slip of paper inviting them to the presentation after mass or verbally engaged them. Many were already aware of our visit. Good prior advertising thanks to Lou and Pat Piano’s efforts.

We were all actually surprised at the turnout thinking who would come around 12:00 to a presentation. We were pleasantly surprised. We all tried to speed things up and completed the presentation right at 53 minutes. Remember, every 53 minutes a child in the United States dies as a result of the causes of poverty.

We were engaged and totally into it. Our audience was also engaged. Pat Piano, the Pastoral Associate at St. Timothy’s has already agreed to have us back. We connected with Patty Moran’s husband’s cousin, Bobbi Moran, their Confirmation leaser to set a date in October. The cool thing is that Pat Piano wants to bike with us. I hope she does. She has real enthusiasm and a love for what she is doing. Pat was impressed with our presentation. I guess everyone was since we received our first standing ovation. Fr. Cody also was impressed. He thought our enthusiasm was exceptional and catching as Christianity should be.

We had a larger crowd than for any other presentation. We performed well and timely. It was ironic that the second reading today was so appropriate. “Whoever has much should not have more, whoever has little should not have less”.
We left St. Timothy’s with joyful hearts.

We decided to bike through Hartford on the streets you would not bike alone, Albany Ave., Park Street, etc. We all noticed the conditions of the streets. A fire cracker went off and some of us thought it was a gun shot. We did our best to engage with people. We got some waves, some thumbs up, some looks like why are you guys here. But it is always and eye opening ride.
We brainstormed as we rode. Kelley was already thinking of ways to do things for the future like meeting right there with those less fortunate. Like we said, she is hooked.
After we arrived at Holy Family we got into our circle and we all reflected and shared our impression of riding through Hartford. Really a powerful way to end the ride.’

We had a wonderful supper and celebrated Fr. Stephen’s 43 birthday with a cake from Mozzicato’s bakery in Hartford. His dad came to celebrate with him.

We went to the auditorium for the presentation. Not many showed up and Fr. Terry was a bit disappointed. He tried his best to get folks there. Oh well, sometimes that’s the way it is. We still conducted our presentation as always.

One of the few attendees was a priest from West Africa who came with Fr. Dennis. Fr. Peter approached Lou and said to him he was moved by our presentation talking about poverty in the US. He said it was strange to him because people who really live in poverty look to the United States as a place for hope because of our wealth. We could see his point.

After the presentation we gathered on the third floor for some refreshment as Italian cookies from Mossicato’s. Yummy! Also a little fresh fruit and some wine. We faith shared and discussed the next day’s ride.


Lou