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From Our Pastor’s Desk
Third Sunday of Easter
Read, Reflect, and Be Renewed by the Word of God
Call to Witness
April 19, 2015
“You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”
(Acts 1:8). Witnessing is something that we are familiar
with in our time. The greatest witness of all time is Jesus
Himself. His whole life, everything He did and said was
a witness to the overwhelming love of God our Father
for us. As He said about Himself, “For this I was born
and for this I have come into the world to bear witness
to the truth” (John 18:37). He bore witness by His
compassion for people. He bore witness by the way
He spent Himself for people, traveling through all their
towns and villages, preaching and healing
everywhere. His death on Calvary was a witness that
He loved us even unto death. His rising from the dead
was a witness that God calls us through Him to
repentance and forgiveness and so to eternal life.
As followers of Jesus Christ, what are we called to
witness to? First of all, we are called to witness the
greatness and goodness of God. Speaking of Him with
reverence, carrying out all His commands, growing
into a deeper intimacy of love with Him through
prayer, worshiping Him with and through Jesus in the
Holy Eucharist will make us true witnesses. As we do
all this simply yet openly, we are letting others see our
conviction that God is everything for us, that He holds
first place in our lives, that His will is the supreme value
for us. This is our Christian God-Centered Witness.
But our witness must be man-centered as well,
centered on our neighbor. When it comes to our
neighbor, what we are really called to witness to is
Christ’s love coming to the neighbor through us. Since
Jesus’ love for each one is boundless, there is a
perpetual challenge in this for you and for me.
Sometimes the need my neighbor has to experience
God’s love in a tangible way will be obvious enough.
At other times it will require a sensitive mind to discern
what is needed.
One of the most outstanding ways in which we
can bear witness to Jesus’ love is by sharing His
forgiving spirit with others. All of us get hurt at times in
our relationships with others. Sometimes the hurt
comes from one very close to us. But whether the
injury is inflicted by a neighbor or a companion, by a
stranger or an intimate friend, God wants us to make
the first move toward reconciliation. When St. John
Fisher was taken to the scaffold to be executed by the
command of Henry VIII, he said that his only wish was
to remain loyal to the Catholic faith until the last
moment of his life. Then he forgave the king and
prayed that God would save him and send him good
counsel. This is what Christian witness is all about.
God bless you. ~ Fr. Joseph
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
Living & Deceased of St. Joseph Parish
Dot Holman / Anonymous
Matthew McCandless / McCandless
Jim Wall / J. & P. Hilderbrandt
Lewis Albert Gamiere / B. Gamiere
Virginia Tate / Anonymous
Michael Wall / J. & P Hilderbrandt
Jerry Chubb / Patricia Chubb
Thomas Browning / Kim Kaminski
Living & Deceased of St. Joseph
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 = 66 10:30 AM = 67 Total = 201
STEWARDSHIP
Offertory gift for April 12 = $3,569.20
Maintenance = $410.00
5 PM = 68
SVdP Solicitations ~ NEXT WEEK ~ Many thanks!
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SICK
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,
Bob & Margaret Nail, Peg Malone, Maureen Newhouse,
Mary Ann Palmer, Vera Patterson, Marsha Porter, Sr. M.
D. Richardson, Babe Rohan, Jack Slevin, Chad Smith,
Jason Soulon & family, Rick Van Norden, Br. Joseph
Weiss OSB, Arloa Whitehurst, Bootsie Williams, Lucas
Williams, Terry & Jim Wilmeth
~ 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
Tuesday
Wednesday
8:30 AM
8:30 AM
9:00 AM
Wednesday
4:30 PM
Rosary Cenacle – IM Hall
SVdP Meeting – IM Hall
Adult Faith Formation
Bible Study – IM Hall
Catechism Class – IM Hall
“CATHOLICS RETURNING HOME” ~ Most of us know of
someone in our circle of family and friends who have 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.
Wednesday Bible Study Group will be studying The Gospel
of John beginning this week. If you would like to participate
and need a book, please call Harriet Shields at 961-1611.
St. Benedict’s Catholic School German Fest
April 25 – 8 AM-5 PM – St. Bartholomew Parish, Elberta.
For information, contact Lindsay Schumacher at 251-585-6352.
Reflecting on God’s Word ~ All three of this week’s readings as
well as the psalm point out the weakness of our human faith. Yet
they emphasize the forgiveness and blessing that are always
available to those who turn to “Jesus Christ, the righteous one.” Can
we recognize ourselves in Luke’s Gospel today? Do we realize how
deeply we depend on our weekly “booster shot” of the Eucharist to
remember and reclaim the saving presence of the risen Lord?
Living God’s Word ~ The Eucharist is meant to energize us to
take Christ’s presence out into the world. It may be easy to see
ourselves in today’s scriptures as weak sinners, but we should also
envision ourselves in the roles of Peter, John, and Luke. In the
Eucharist, Jesus feeds us and sends us to “preach in his name to all
the nations” (Luke 24:47). We are his witnesses.
SAVORING THE EXPERIENCE ~ One of the wonderful things
about vacations is the time we spend two or three weeks afterward
savoring the experience, sharing vacation photos and memories
with our family and friends. This kind of reflection puts us back in
touch with the original experience and reminds us of the relaxation
and wonder the vacation afforded us. Today, on the Third Sunday
of Easter, the Church blesses us with reminders of what we
celebrated two Sundays ago. All three readings are reflections on
the meaning of the death and resurrection of Christ. One of the
threads running through these reflections is that the purpose of the
Lord’s suffering, death, and resurrection was to save us, to forgive
our sins. We are given fifty days to ponder this reality—fifty days
to savor the experience of Christ’s dying and rising for us.
TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION
With the Easter season well underway, we
now resume our survey of the sacrament of the
sick. The pastoral care of the sick will be
misunderstood if we start from the vantage point
of the sickroom. Begin with the Sunday
assembly from which the sick person has been
separated by the crisis of illness and whose
absence is given expression in prayer and
service. The goal is to extend the consolation of
the Lord’s presence at the table to those who are
apart from it and for the assembly to enfold them
in prayer.
Secondarily, the goal is to teach people what
the Church desires for all those who are sick.
Seeing ministers dispatched to the sick from
Mass every Sunday might help a caregiver
realize that their dear one can also receive
Communion. Witnessing the anointing of a
woman facing surgery might help another person
to overcome hesitation and ask for the
sacrament’s healing and strength. Society’s
impulse may be to marginalize the sick, but the
tradition of our community is to see them at the
center of our lives. When Roman persecutors
ordered St. Lawrence the Deacon to hand over
the jewels of the church, he assembled a motley
crew of the sick and the infirm and announced
with all humility, “Behold, my lord, the treasures
of the Church of Christ.”
The Old Country Philosopher Sez - Bob Nail
To give in secret is the right way.
Your reward will come in Heaven one day.
But if you should boast of the things you give,
Your reward only lasts on earth while you live.
So don’t tell others, keep it in your mind,
As God can see all—if and when you are kind.
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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
For 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