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27 / 28 OCTOBER Saint Joseph Parish Saint Francis deSales Parish |
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Tuesday, 06 November 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St. Francis deSales' 3:30 to 4:40 p.m. at St. Joseph's |
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THE SANCTUARY LAMP at St. Joseph Church is offered, during
the week of 04 - 10 November, in loving memory of Angelo and
Geraldine (Downey) Folino, at the request of their sons, Jack
and Tom, and their daughter, Gerry. THE LOURDES GROTTO CANDLE is offered, during the week of 04 - 10 November, in loving memory of Andrew V. Riotto, at the request of Edward and Catherine (Tomko) Riotto Snopek. PLEASE PRAY FOR a gentleman who died on 25 October. Gerald Megna is the brother of St. Joseph parishioner Josephine Megna Messina. Eternal rest grant unto Gerald, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. |
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Louis A. DeMarkis Jr. Stefanie Freed Katharine Carlin Daley Thomas M. Murphy Mary Nicastro Chiplonia Christina Pilo Diehl Catherine Frie Laub Joseph C. Sciarrone Jacqueline Wood Szeliga |
Ryan J. Dallago Cheryl A. Cescon Ashley H. Hullihan Eugenia Maccarone Macaluso Michael J. Yackenchick Juliann Matz Cooper Theresa Mete Cuccia Natale ["Chris"] Mercuri Joshua M. Tranquillo
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DID YOU LOSE A BASEBALL CAP? A baseball cap has been sitting in the living room of St. Joseph Rectory for quite a spell. Let me describe it to you. If you recognize it, please come and claim it. I'm tired of looking at it. It probably belongs to a boy or a young man whose name or nickname is "Ted". It has a red brim. The top is blue. There is a red button on top. It has a logo in front (big red "R"). The back has a "Reading Phillies" patch. The name "Ted" is written on the inside of the brim. We'll give it a week or so and then we shall presume that the owner has abandoned it and we shall send it to The Island of Lost Boys and Lost Baseball Caps. You know, brothers and sisters - do you not? - that the days of getting this kind of detailed, down-home, cracker-barrel personalized information in one's parish bulletin are coming to a close. The days of Mom-and-Pop parishes are numbered. Soon the sheep will be clustered in super-folds. Shepherds won't have the time to worry about lost baseball caps. It's the end of an era. Enjoy it while it lasts. |
| WE ACKNOWLEDGE WITH GRATITUDE the receipt of a contribution to the StJosPar Memorial Fund from Josephine Megna Messina, in memory of her brother, Gerald Megna. |
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SLENDER SLIPPERY TUBES OF EXQUISITELY
REFINED SEMOLINA brought briefly to a
furious boil but only to the point of al dente in crystal-clear
water drawn from an authentic nearby reservoir, then married
to a thick juicy extract from the fruit of the tomato which has
been tantalized with secret sprinklings of garden herbs, topped
with petite globes of finely ground beef all served on a steaming
platter and sprinkled o'er with your choice of condiments, such
as freshly grated cheese, oregano, salt and pepper! "But, grandpop, what is semolina?" "Ah, my child! Semolina is the inner, granular, starchy endosperm of hard or durum wheat (not yet ground into flour), used to make pasta and semolina pudding and other such delicacies that have caused the Italian race to rise to such heights of grandeur over the course of history!" And, best of all: All of this can be yours! When? Today! Sunday, 4 November Where? St. Joseph Parish Hall Time? 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. How much? $6.00 for adults and teenagers; $3.00 for children. |
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REMEMBER THE POOR PLEASE MAKE IT A HABIT TO BRING NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEMS TO MASS OR ELSE DIRECTLY TO THE RECTORY, SO THAT WE HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE TO THOSE WHO COME TO US FOR HELP |
| "Foster a Child, Foster a Future" is the new Catholic Charities' theme to recruit families to serve as foster parents. Information meetings are held throughout the diocese on the second Wednesday of every month at 6:00 PM. Please call 1-800-330-8001. |
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TEN HUT! PIZZA HUT! Catholic Charities, Diocese of Allentown Schuylkill/Carbon Office is selling Pizza Hut Discount Cards to benefit its social service programs. Each card is worth $100 in discounts, is accepted at all participating restaurants, and is a great idea for a Christmas stocking stuffer! Cost per card is $10.00. Call Jule Ann at 570-628-0466 or email to jjoyce@allentowndiocese.org. |
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WHERE'S THE BEEF? And the answer to the question is: THE BEEF IS IN SAINT CLAIR! To be more specific, there will be a ROAST BEEF DINNER at St. Casimir Parish Hall, St. Clair, on Sunday, 11 November, beginning at 11:00 a.m. The price is $8.00 per person. You get roast beef, mashed potatoes, vegetable, roll and butter, coffee & dessert. Take-outs available. Catered by TNT Deli. |
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PMB 2003 EDITION The waters of God's goodness
flow Behold! What wondrous deeds of peace |
PMB 1984 EDITION The waters of His goodness
flow Behold His wondrous deeds
of peace |
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EXPLANATION OF PAGE 7 Recently I visited a Catholic church that I had not visited before. I went into a pew and knelt down. There were hymnbooks in the racks in the pews. I took one out to look at it. For no particular reason, I turned to A Mighty Fortress is Our God. What I saw did not make me happy. The hymnbook was the 2003 edition (I presume the most recent edition) of the PEOPLE'S MASS BOOK (PMB). Here at StJosPar and StFdSPar, we have the 1984 edition of the PMB. As you can tell from comparing the 1984 version of A Mighty Fortress with the 2003 version, there has been some emasculation going on. It seems that someone took St. Paul seriously when he taunted the members of the circumcision party, telling them they should go all the way. But it's not nice to do this to God. Not nice at all! Very offensive! Blasphemous, actually. Sacrilegious, as a matter of fact. Spread the word, dear brothers and sisters: God the First Person is the Father. God the First Person is not the Mother. God the Second Person is the Son. God the Second Person is not a daughter. God the Third Person is the One Who overshadows the Virgin, impregnating her with Child. God the Third Person is never overshadowed nor can He become pregnant. That way lie paganism, earth mothers, witches and other horrors. One would have to be deaf and blind not to notice what has been happening to updated versions of the revered texts and hymns of the Christian Faith. It is bad enough when the gender of human characters in the Bible is rendered ambiguous - as in last weekend's gospel (30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C). Two people went up to the Temple to pray! That's strange, I always thought it was two men who went up to the Temple to pray! Are we all of a sudden uncertain about the gender of the Pharisee and the tax collector? However, while this is merely silly, we get into the area of blasphemy when we trifle with language that refers to God. Be aware of it! Don't buy into it! Resist it! Speak up! Save the Faith for the next generation! |
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WE SHARE THE MAIL The following is an actual letter received this past week at St. Joseph Rectory. As requested, we are answering it in the bulletin. Dear Father: Could you please answer this question in your church bulletin? November is the month of the holy souls. Why do Catholics pray for the dead? If Jesus judges the soul at death, how can prayer help? Is it meant to ask Jesus to change His mind? My question really is: How does prayer help? Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Respectfully, Confused ************************************************* Dear Confused: Thank you for your question. Allow me to give you a brief answer. Much more can be said on the subject. #1 - Catholics pray for persons who have died because we love them and wish them well. We pray for living persons for the same reason, i.e. because we love them and wish them well. If we love and pray for a person who is living, why would we cease to love and pray for that person just because he has died? Death does not destroy love. #2 - Jesus does, indeed, judge each human person at the point of death. We call this the "particular judgment". Prayer helps a person who is undergoing judgment in somewhat the same way as having one's friends, family and sympathizers in the courtroom helps a person who is being judged. #3 - No, prayer is not meant to change Jesus' mind. #4 - How does prayer help? Let's put it this way. A person who has died is judged to be one of the following: (a) deserving of heaven; (b) deserving of hell. If a person is judged by God to be deserving of hell, no prayers can save him or help him. Prayers offered for a person in hell do no good whatsoever for the person being prayed for. |
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A person in hell is beyond all help, beyond
all hope. Neither God, nor angels nor human beings can help a
person in hell. However, we here on earth can't really know for
certain that the person is in hell. So, if we do pray for a person
in hell, God applies the benefit of that prayer to someone else,
someone who can benefit from it. What about a person who is judged
as "deserving of heaven"? There are two categories
of such persons: (1) deserving of heaven immediately, without
delay; (2) deserving of heaven, but not immediately, because
of a need for purification. This purification can be necessary
for one of two reasons: (a) the person has committed some venial
sins for which he has not yet explicitly repented; (b) the person
has some affection for some mortal sin that he committed once
upon a time - a sin for which he repented, which he confessed
and for which he was forgiven, but which he has not thoroughly
renounced. As you know, we call this state of purification by
the name "Purgatory". E.B. Connolly |
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ELECTION DAY Please note: St. Joseph Parish and St. Francis
deSales Parish have a policy of strict neutrality when it comes
to elections. We neither support nor oppose any candidate. Although,
as Catholics, we are called to be vigorously pro-life, nevertheless
we are circumspect when it comes to applying our principles to
political matters. Prudence and discretion guide us through the
minefield of political commentary, especially at election time.
We are keenly aware that Caesar gives the Church the gift of
tax-exemption, in return for which the Church gives Caesar the
coin of silence. Therefore you will never read in this bulletin
anything that would hint or suggest or insinuate that you should
favor one candidate over another. Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme
Court - Retention Judge, Pennsylvania Superior Court - Vote for THREE |
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Judge, Pennsylvania Superior Court - Retention Judge, Commonwealth Court
- Retention Judge, Court of Common Pleas,
District 21 - Retention Note: In addition to the judicial elections, there are contests for various county positions and for what are called "row offices". By and large, the issues that interest the pro-life and the pro-abortion forces do not emerge in these contests. So, we make no comment about these contests and we have no relevant information to offer. |
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SAINT FRANCIS deSALES CHURCH %20Jan%202007/abu076.gif){kind=small} Saturday, 03 NovemberVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - JOSEPH and MARIA LAPLACA by their daughter-in-law, Julia Sunday, 04 November31st Sunday in Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. -DECEASED: FOLINO FAMILY by Julian and Nora Chiplonia and sons 12:15 p.m. - EDWARD BOOTH by Marcus Angelisanti Monday, 05 NovemberWeekday 10:00 a.m. - God's Blessings on Sister MARY RAYMOND, OP by her family Wednesday, 07 NovemberWeekday 10:00 a.m. - MIKE DUNBROWNEY by his daughter, Nancy Dunbrowney Haag Friday, 09 NovemberDedication of the Lateran Basilica (Fst) 10:00 a.m. - SOULS IN PURGATORY re-scheduled from 1 Nov Saturday, 10 NovemberVigil of Sunday 6:00 p.m. - FRANCIS A. KALYAN by Joseph T. Cescon and family Sunday, 11 November32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 9:15 a.m. -DECEASED: NICASTRO FAMILY by Julian and Nora Chiplonia and sons |