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From Our Pastor’s Desk
Read, Reflect, and Be Renewed by the Word of God
“Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the
face of the earth.”
Today is Pentecost. Pentecost literally means
50th. It is a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the
Passover feast by the Jews and a feast celebrated
on the 50th day after the feast of the Resurrection of
Jesus by the Christians. The Jewish Pentecost was
originally a post-harvest thanksgiving feast. Later it
was celebrated to remember God’s covenant with
Noah after the Deluge and with Moses at Mt. Sinai.
If Pentecost was the start of the Church, it was a
birth out of a frailty. The believers were huddled in
fear behind closed doors. Yet Pentecost unleashed
a courageous power. Driven by wind and fire, the
followers of Jesus were set loose upon the world to
make bold proclamation. The Spirit brought unity,
not only in a shared sense of poverty and smallness,
but in the common experience of one God in Jesus,
one faith, and one baptism. It was a faith that also
put believers in touch with their deepest humanity.
They would now speak a universal tongue in a way
which could touch the hearts of people from every
continent.
Universality of scope and unity of heart would
be hallmarks of this Church in its truest moments—
not only in its sense of itself, but in its reach over the
earth. “There are different gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different ministries but the same Lord; there
are different works but the same God who
accomplishes all of them in every one.” It is precisely
the strength of unity that allows the Church to
embrace diversity. Without union in faith, the
diversity makes no sense for there is no common
reality over which pluralism agrees. But with the
power of union, separateness is overcome, plurality
celebrated. “It was in one Spirit that all of us,
whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, were baptized
into one Spirit.”
Our deepest union relativizes all distinctions and
eventually subverts them. No longer is being Jew or
Greek the primary distinction of life. No longer is
being slave or free the dominant criterion of worth.
Being one in Christ is. The unity of faith in Jesus is a
subversive power that overturns any particularist
claim to supremacy. Since Christ is our primary
reality, His Spirit is a force that liberates us from any
bondage other than our bond in faith. We are
empowered by the Spirit to resist. This empowering
of the Holy Spirit enables us and compels us to act
according to the promptings of the same Spirit who
dwells within us.
God bless you. ~ Fr. Joseph
Pentecost Sunday
May 24, 2015
Sunday
8:00 AM
10:30 AM
Monday
8:00 AM
Tuesday
8:00 AM
Wednesday
8:00 AM
Thursday
8:00 AM
Friday
8:00 AM
Saturday
5:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM
10:30 AM
Mass Intentions
Mary Hefner / Skippy Peterson
Living & Deceased of St. Joseph
Marion Peterson /
Steve & Peg Misztal
Caroline Steffy / Bruce Gamiere
Jacqueline Hess / Anonymous
Liko Miriru / Anonymous
Steve Kuntz / Family
Jerry Chubb / Patricia Chubb
Jeff Zieman (birthday) / Elise Zieman
Living & Deceased of St. Joseph Parish
Please contact the secretary for Mass intentions for a
deceased loved one or for a special intention.
Office Hours: 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
ATTENDANCE LAST WEEKEND
8 AM = 52 10:30 AM = 80 Total = 204
STEWARDSHIP
Offertory gift for May 17 = $2,222.00
Maintenance = $115.00
SVdP Solicitations ~ NEXT WEEK ~ Many thanks!
5 PM = 72
SVdP PRAY
Solicitations
~ $SICK
~ Many thanks!
PLEASE
FOR OUR
Kindly pray for our parish family and all
those who are journeying in a special
way with Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Stanley Armit, Larry Bovat, Paul Bruechner, Patricia
Caudill, Pat Clemens, Keith Connealy, Patricia Cote,
Joyce Drury, Ed Dubin, Ed & Eleanor Feeney, Harry
Fletcher, Jo Flynn, Ed & Marlene Fuller, Ted Geraets,
Antonieta Geronilla, Susan Henderson, Rita Hernandez,
Dot Holman, Kendra Hough, Jaivi Howell, Alida Jarrett,
Margie Kings, Joe Lacoy, Cece LaManna, Marian Lami
& her mother, Germaine LaPlante, Mary Link, Bill & AnneMarie Mann, Monk Manning, Fr. Howard Moussier OSB,
Anna Marie Murphy, Peg Malone, Bob & Margaret Nail,
Maureen Newhouse, Mary Ann Palmer, Vera Patterson,
Marsha Porter, Sr. M. D. Richardson, Babe Rohan, Ruth Sas,
Jack Slevin, Chad Smith, Jason Soulon & family, Megan
Toohey, Art Trienen, Rick Van Norden, Br. Joseph Weiss
OSB, Arloa Whitehurst, Bootsie Williams, Lucas Williams
~ Prayer Requests ~
Terry Danson – (251-961-2165) or [email protected]
If you are ill or know someone who is ill,
due to have surgery, or in the hospital and would
like a visit from the pastor, please call the rectory.
This Week’s Schedule
Monday
8:30 AM
Wednesday 9:00 AM
Wednesday 10:30 AM
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
Rosary Cenacle – IM Hall
Adult Faith Formation Bible Study
Choir rehearsal – church
Our Congratulations
to Elizabeth Edwards, daughter of Robert and Jennifer
Edwards, who received Confirmation at Holy Spirit Catholic
Church in Pensacola at their 5:30 PM Mass on May 23.
A Profound Expression of Appreciation and Gratitude
to Mr. Frank Mullek for his generous contribution of
providing the vinyl tile in the auditorium of IM Hall.
Sanctuary Flowers ~ If you would like to
provide flowers for our weekend liturgy in
memory of someone or for a special occasion,
please call the office. Thank you for all you do to help.
Saint Benedict School has first and second grade teaching
positions open for the 2015-2016 school year. If interested,
please call the principal, Mrs. Jaivi Howell, at 251-986-8143.
“CATHOLICS RETURNING HOME” ~ Most of us know of someone in
our circle of family and friends who has left the Church. Here at
St. Joseph, we have a special program to help non-practicing
Catholics return to the Church. For more information, call our
church office at 251-962-2049 or email [email protected].
Inquiries are confidential.
A SIGNIFICANT DAY ~ “And suddenly there came from the
sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire
house in which they were” (Acts 2:2). The Holy Spirit’s arrival
on that first Pentecost was signaled by a rush of wind. We all
know what it’s like when our windows are open just as a
summer storm rises up. Curtains fly, papers become airborne,
house plants shudder, dust is scattered. A rush of wind disrupts
the orderliness of our home. The coming of the Holy Spirit as
celebrated each year at Pentecost can also disrupt ways that
have become comfortable and orderly. The Church always
needs Pentecost. We need the breath of God’s Spirit to blow
away any complacency or malaise that has settled into our
faith. Jesus breathes on his disciples, and they receive the Holy
Spirit. With that reception comes the power to share the Good
News of salvation. Today, this is no less true for us.
Welcome
Marriage is ideally a parish event today, but
in the first three centuries of the Church’s
history, it was a household celebration guided by
civil law and pagan customs. Changes happened
quickly after the Peace of Constantine in 312,
and the fresh air after long persecution brought
some creativity. The speech that the father of the
groom’s family gave before dinner or the veiling
or crowning of the bride (or even the spouse’s
arrival at the honeymoon suite) attracted a prayer
of blessing.
With amazing rapidity, worship was
propelled out of the intimate setting of house
churches to large public gathering spaces, and
some parts of the marriage ceremony began to
migrate with the growing community to the new
spaces. In Rome, the veiling of the bride with the
customary daily headgear of a married woman
became the central liturgical act, accompanied
by a biblical prayer for her integrity and
fruitfulness. There were no vows as such (just as
there are no vows to this day in the Orthodox
marriage rite). In the liturgy, after hearing John’s
Gospel account of the wedding at Cana, the bride
was veiled and blessed, and the priest gave the
kiss of peace to the husband, who then gave it to
his bride. The liturgy of Rome traveled far, and
everywhere it went, marriage became a church
celebration.
The Old Country Philosopher Sez - Bob Nail
~ Thank you for attending Mass with us today. We
welcome all our visitors and new members and invite you to join in the
ministries of our parish by sharing your gifts and talents. If you are not
currently a registered member and wish to be, please pick up a
census card at the church entrances or contact the parish office.
How can we have hearts that are pure
And free from mortal sin?
We’ve but to ask His pardon now
And let our Savior in.
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SAINT BENEDICT CATHOLIC SCHOOL
12786 Illinois Street, Elberta, AL 36530
www.saintbenedict.net
Visit us on the Web! www.saint-josephs.org
First Friday Memorial Mass Association
Our Loved Ones – Bob & Margaret Nail
Living & Deceased Kaiser, Klein & Murphy Families
Living & Deceased Scott & Weiss Families
Living & Deceased Bush, Alvarez & McAleer Families
Living & Deceased Mullek & McCandless Families
Living & Deceased Patton & Norton Families
Living & Deceased Shields & Self Families
Living & Deceased Kottsick & Krueger Families
James E. Link
Bob House
Joseph LaManna
Anita Warriner
The Holy Souls
in Purgatory
Living & Deceased Allard & Palmer Families
Living & Deceased Chubb & Burns Families
Living & Deceased Fehn Family
Living & Deceased Lacoy & Clancy Families
Living & Deceased Kearns & Paterson Families
Living & Deceased Altar Society
For the Baptized Who Do Not Practice Their Faith