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07 / 08 OCTOBER Saint Joseph Parish Saint Francis deSales Parish |
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6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at St. Francis deSales' |
| THE SANCTUARY LAMP at St. Joseph Church is offered, during the week of 15 to 22 October, in loving memory of Robert Kevy and Nat and Lil Kevy, at the request of their sisters / daughters, Phyllis and Roni Kevy. |
| THE LOURDES GROTTO CANDLE is offered, during the week of 15 to 22 October, in loving memory of Raymond Adams, at the request of his family. |
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REMEMBER TO CALL THE RECTORY
IF YOU would like to go to Harrisburg
on Saturday, 4 November, for the annual Catechetical Conference.
The conference fee (includes lunch) is $28.00. The parish will
take care of this fee if you are a CCD teacher. Fr. Connolly will be attending the Conference and would be happy for some company. We will, of course, be car pooling. |
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Dn. Christopher S. Butera Kathleen Keller Dunkel Nicole M. Kern Jane Palewicz Morris Frank L. Tranquillo Charles M. Trapani Aileen Smith Cicero John T. Gleason Elena M. Macaluso Francis A. Tamburelli None, as far as we know. |
None, as far as we know. Christopher W. Eckley Frank B. Generella Lindsey J. Boncore Chad A. Strokelitus Ugenia Morris Caravan Gina M. Chiplonia Dominick J. Maccarone Sr. Bruce A. Marianelli Robert W. Potts Jr. |
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A WELL-WORN ONE-DOLLAR BILL and
a similarly distressed twenty-dollar bill arrived at a Federal
Reserve Bank to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor
belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation. The twenty-dollar
bill reminisced about its travels all over the country. "I've
had a pretty good life," the twenty proclaimed. "Why
I've been to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, the finest restaurants
in New York, Broadway shows, cruises on the Caribbean." "Wow!" said the one-dollar bill. "You've really had an exciting life!" "So tell me," said the twenty, "where have you been in your lifetime?" The one dollar bill replied, "Oh, I got to meet a lot of children. They took me to school to buy lunch and they've fed me into vending machines for candy and soda. And churches! Let me tell you! I've been to a zillion churches - a few Protestant churches but mostly Catholic churches." The twenty-dollar bill interrupted: "What's a church?" |
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Angeline Merlino Angelisanti Frank and Camille Mattera Phyllis C. Kevy and Roni J. Kevy Rose Marie Fabiani Zeller Rita Forte Farrow Rose Marie Fabiani Zeller In memory of Jesse J. Krizno Donna DePauli |
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22 OCTOBER 2006 His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edward P. Cullen, Bishop
of Allentown, will be with us at St. Joseph Church in order to
celebrate the 3:00 p.m. Mass in thanksgiving to God for the 100
years of the existence of Saint Joseph Parish! |
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SAINTS PRESERVE US! This is my story. Make of it what you will. I'm sticking by it. I had arrived in Brazil on 13 September 2006 in order to participate in the wedding (on 16 September) of a young man from St. Joseph Parish. Returning home on Sunday, 17 September, I entered a shop named Sodiler, located in the airport in Rio de Janeiro. The local time was 10:15 p.m., which is 9:15 p.m. Eastern. The reason I can be so precise is that I still have the register receipt, on which are printed the time and the date. I was "passing the time" waiting to board the plane that would take me and my companions to Atlanta, from whence (for me) to Philadelphia and then home to Pottsville. So, that's how I came to be in the shop in the airport. There was plenty of time before the plane was scheduled to depart - time enough to buy a few small items that might bring a flavor of Brazil to St. Joseph Rectory. Coffee is what I had in mind. Good, dark, rich Brazilian coffee! Coffee was what prompted me to enter the shop. I saw bags of coffee on display in the window. After picking up several bags of coffee and placing them on the counter by the register, I decided to select a variety of inexpensive Brazilian fruit bars and candy bars. I saw myself handing these out to visitors to the Rectory and impressing them with the words: "I bought this in Brazil - especially for you!" I indicated to the clerk that I had completed my selection of items and that he could "ring me up". While he was doing so, I spied on a shelf something I had not previously noticed. I saw jars of what looked like Brazilian jelly (or "jam" or whatever the appropriate word might be). On the labels of two of the jars were these words: "DOCE DE LEITE COM NOZES" (sweet milk with nuts) and "DOCE DE LEITE COM MORANGO" (sweet milk with strawberry). I took these two jars from the shelf and asked the clerk to add them to my total. He did so. Then he put everything into a yellow, double-plastic bag. I paid him and that was that! I had already checked my suitcases and gone through the metal detector. My only carry-on was this yellow bag. Now, over the P.A., came the announcement that the plane to Atlanta was at the gate and that all passengers should proceed towards the gate. Since we had already cleared security and since the shop where I had made my purchases was in the "secure area", I presumed that there would not be another security check. I was mistaken. We all had to line up for a supplemental security check. Don't ask me why. One of the security men motioned to me that I should lay my yellow bag on the table in front of him, so that he could check it out for contraband. I did so. He nodded approvingly over the coffee and over the candy bars. However, when he came across my two jars of jelly, his brow furrowed. He removed them from the bag and told me that these were not allowed on the plane. I protested, pointing out to him that these items had been purchased just a short while ago in a shop that was in a secure area of the airport and that I had the receipt to prove it! He went and fetched another security guy, to whom I told the same story. This guy went and fetched another security guy. This guy - the third guy - was a distinguished looking older man. He gave me the distinct impression that he was "the court of final appeals" in the Brazilian Air Safety System. In fact, for all I know, he might have been the President of Brazil! I started to point out to this distinguished older gentleman that I was a mild-mannered 68-year-old Catholic priest who loved God, the Blessed Mother, the Sermon on the Mount, the people of Brazil, peace, love and friendship among people, etcetera and that I had not even the teeniest inclination towards blowing up any aircraft and that, moreover, my religion frowns at blowing people up and that, even if I were so wretched as to want to blow people up, I sure was not so stupid as to blow myself up! I was also going to tell him that I am totally clueless about how to make bombs and that all I want is to get my jelly safely home, so that I can sit in the kitchen of St. Joseph Rectory, spread some jelly on a piece of toast - maybe crackers - and enjoy it with a cup of tea while I think kind thoughts about Brazil. I thought I could convince this gentleman to say something like, "Okay, Father, sorry for the inconvenience. My boys here are a little overwrought, you know what I mean, what with all the terrorism and stuff like that, you know. So, please don't hold it against them! Here is your jelly back. Take it on the plane with you. Enjoy it! Have a pleasant trip! Come back and visit us again some day!" No such luck! The distinguished older gentleman said, "Don't
blame us! It's the American government that says 'no jelly'!
It's not the government of Brazil! We're just doing what your
government wants us to do!" In other words, he was a bureaucrat.
He was into zero-tolerance. He wasn't being paid to think. He
was being paid to enforce the letter of the law. He was just
telling me that the case was The thought occurred to me at that moment that I had one
of two options: Weighing the two options and thinking about how upset Bishop Cullen would be, in these days when priests are hard to come by, if he were to lose my services due to death or imprisonment, I decided to forfeit my two jars of jelly and go with Option A, viz. "meekly submit". And that is my story. Make of it what you will. I'm sticking by it. |
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Pottsville is seeking energetic adult volunteers to help at its main information desk. Duties would include greeting visitors, directing patients and visitors, using a computer to locate patient information, using the telephone and assisting with wheelchairs. Hours for this volunteer opportunity are Monday to Friday, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sunday, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Volunteers are also needed for Good Samaritan's Seton Gift Shop. These volunteers should feel comfortable handling money, using a cash register, and stocking shelves. Volunteers are also needed to deliver newspapers. This volunteer opportunity calls for someone who enjoys walking and interacting with patients. It is available in the early morning, from Monday to Friday. If you are interested in volunteering for any of these opportunities, please contact Good Samaritan's Volunteer Coordinator at (570) 621-4193 or visit VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Pottsville is seeking energetic adult volunteers to help at its main information desk. Duties would include greeting visitors, directing patients and visitors, using a computer to locate patient information, using the telephone and assisting with wheelchairs. Hours for this volunteer opportunity are Monday to Friday, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sunday, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Volunteers are also needed for Good Samaritan's Seton Gift Shop. These volunteers should feel comfortable handling money, using a cash register, and stocking shelves. Volunteers are also needed to deliver newspapers. This volunteer opportunity calls for someone who enjoys walking and interacting with patients. It is available in the early morning, from Monday to Friday. If you are interested in volunteering for any of these opportunities, please contact Good Samaritan's Volunteer Coordinator at (570) 621-4193 or visit www.gsrmc.com for a volunteer application. |
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SOMETHING I HEARD WHEN I WAS
A LITTLE KID IS STILL IN MY HEAD. My Irish grandmother
used to tell me that, when she was a girl, there were "professional
mourners". These were people who were paid to go to funerals
in order to cry and to carry on. So, that prompts this thought: What would you call "non-professional mourners" - i.e. persons who volunteer their services to go to funerals in order to cry and to carry on? The answer, I guess, is "voluntears". Well, it's just a thought! |
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To Port Carbon: Frackville My comment I can't remember ever in my entire life having read anything
so spectacularly stupid. What kind of sick, twisted thinking is this? This is blasphemy against the Lord God Almighty! God created the angels once and for all. No human being was ever an angel. No angel was ever a human being. Angels and humans are two separate and distinct orders of creation. Angels are awesome spirit persons. They are not to be patronized or trivialized. Most of all, they are not to be blasphemed by ignorant persons who think that aborted infants are morphed into angels! How sick! How stupid! NOW HEAR THIS! It is NOT a woman's choice to have or not to have a child. It is a woman's decision whether or not to open herself up to conceiving a child. But if a woman is pregnant with a child, the child is in God's domain. The unborn child's life or death is God's decision, not the decision of the woman nor of any other human being! The person also says that it is a parent's decision to decide what is best for his or her minor child. The implication, of course, is that sometimes a woman will decide that what is best for her "minor child" is to slice him or her up with a sharp instrument (curette) and pull his or her body parts out with a forceps. Or, if the child's body is small enough, one may simply vacuum him or her out of the uterus like so much garbage and empty the canister into the dumpster! Sin makes people stupid! To be pro-choice (pro-abortion)
is to be not merely sinful, it is to be stupid as well. I recommend
to the person from Frackville who holds the opinion cited that
he / she hit the yellow-brick road to the Land of Oz. Perhaps
the Wizard has a brain he can give you. |
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A SIMPLE GOOD DEED THAT DESERVES
TO BE LAUDED AND, MOST OF ALL, OUGHT TO BE IMITATED! A WOMAN WHO BELONGS TO STJOSPAR called the Rectory last Saturday (7 Oct). She said that she was headed for the supermarket to do some shopping. Her family had a special celebration coming up for which she would be the hostess (chief cook and bottle washer) and she estimated that she was going to have to spend about $300.00 for groceries. She asked me if we had $300.00 in grocery certificates [GIANT, WEIS and WAY-MART] on hand. I checked it out and told her, "Yes, we do." She said, "I'll be there a little later today to pick them up." Sure enough she came and made the purchase. I thanked her kindly. NOW, WHAT IS MY POINT IN PUTTING THIS INTO THE BULLETIN? Here is my point: This woman did not derive any personal advantage from purchasing the parish's supermarket certificates. Truth to be told, neither did she suffer any disadvantage, other than the minor inconvenience of stopping by the Rectory before going to the supermarket. BUT THE PARISH DID DERIVE AN ADVANTAGE! THE PARISH MADE FIFTEEN DOLLARS ($15.00) ON THE TRANSACTION. BELIEVE ME, DEAR MEMBERS OF STJOSPAR AND STFDSPAR, FIFTEEN DOLLARS IS A BIG DEAL FOR OUR IMPECUNIOUS LITTLE PARISHES! THE WAY IT WORKS IS THIS: WE EARN 5% WHEN WE SELL THE CERTIFICATES. This same woman is a regular purchaser of our parish's supermarket certificates. Another example: There is a couple in StFdS Parish who, with infrequent exceptions, purchase every weekend approximately $100.00 in supermarket certificates. By doing so, they are automatically contributing $5.00 to the parish, without incurring the inconvenience of being $5.00 poorer for it! I am grateful to this couple and to all who purchase our supermarket certificates - especially those who do so "on a regular basis". IF ONLY all members of our two parishes would purchase our certificates, we might be able to pay some of our bills instead of languishing in debt as we are! SO, PLEASE! You have heard the pastor say a zillion times: "There will be a lady in the baptistery (or in the back of the church) selling our supermarket certificates. We appreciate your patronage!" Now, please take it seriously! |
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SAINT FRANCIS deSALES CHURCH  Saturday, 14 OctoberVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - DOMINICK J. D'ALESSANDRO Jr. by his Mom and Dad Sunday, 15 October28th Sunday in Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. - EDWARD W. KULL by his family 12:15 p.m. - WILLIAM E. BRENNAN by his sister, Anne, and his brother, Vincent Monday, 16 OctoberSt. Hedwig, religious; St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin (OptMems) 10:00 a.m. - LOUISE TUCCI by Joseph T. Cescon and family Wednesday, 18 OctoberSt. Luke, evangelist (Fst) 10:00 a.m. - FLORENCE, ROSE and ROBERT NICASTRO by Carmella Evolo Palko and her daughter, Joanne Friday, 20 OctoberSt. Paul of the Cross (OptMem) 10:00 a.m. - JOHN J. KANE by bequest Saturday, 21 OctoberVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - BRUCE E. MEASEL (anniversary of birth) by his mother, Mary Sunday, 22 October29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. - EUGENE J. REHNERT by his wife, Rita 12:15 p.m. - BASTINA ["Betty"] FOLINO NICASTRO by Thomas S. Chiplonia |