Saturday, 24 March
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - VINCENT LUPPINO
by his family

Sunday, 25 March
5th Sunday of Lent
7:45 a.m. - SALVATORE and MARY ALFONSI
by Andy and Clare
10:45 a.m. - LOUISE TROILO ALATI (3rd anniversary)
by her niece, Regina, and her grandnieces, Jordan and Angela

Monday, 26 March
Annunciation of the Lord (Sol)
12:05 p.m. - SPECIAL INTENTION
(through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier)
by the Weidner family

Tuesday, 27 March
Lenten Weekday
12:05 p.m. - SPECIAL INTENTION
(through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier)
by the Weidner family
7:00 p.m. - STANLEY and DOROTHY RUTECKY
by William and Christine and family

Wednesday, 28 March
Lenten Weekday
12:05 p.m. - ANDREW JOHN LUCAS
by Michael and Catherine Whitney

Thursday, 29 March
Lenten Weekday
12:05 p.m. - MICHAEL and AMELIA PLUSWICK
by their daughter, Mary
7:00 p.m. - SPECIAL INTENTION
(through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier)
by the Weidner family

Friday, 30 March
Lenten Weekday
12:05 p.m. - SPECIAL INTENTION
(through the intercession of St. Francis Xavier)
by the Weidner family

Saturday, 31 March
Lenten Weekday
8:00 a.m. - Rev. JOSEPH A. FEENY (14th anniversary)
by the people of St. Joseph Parish
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - ANTONIO and MARY DeMATTEO
by their daughter, Frances, and their son-in-law, John Weiss

Sunday, 01 April
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
7:45 a.m. - CHARLES F. KUTCH
by his family
10:45 a.m. - AGNES OWENS
(18th anniversary)
by her daughter, Kitty Owens DiCello

Saint Joseph Parish
$984.00 from the envelopes and $130.00 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $1,114.00 the parish's weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments, $358.85 plus the weekly premiums for property and liability insurance, $149.20, the sum of which is $508.05, plus its weekly obligation to All Saints School, $987.21, the sum total of which is $1,495.26, one sees that ($381.26) of this collection is available for operating the parish. This is a deficit!

Saint Francis deSales Parish
$185.00 from the envelopes and $93.80 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $278.80 the parish's weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments, $55.15 plus the weekly premiums for property and liability insurance, $56.72, the sum of which is $253.25, plus its weekly obligation to All Saints School, $197.44, the sum total of which is $309.31, one sees that ($30.51) of this collection is available for operating the parish. This is a deficit!

A LETTER TO MR. PICCIONI

Dear Mr. Piccioni:
I want to acknowledge with gratitude that you have made the final payment on your generous pledge to the diocesan fundraising appeal, Strengthening Our Future in Faith (SOFF).
Actually, it is not my duty to make acknowledgments for SOFF pledges and payments. That's the job of the front office in Allentown. However, because of the special circumstances of your pledge fulfillment, I think it is appropriate for me to make my own acknowledgment.
It was 20 December 2003 when you called me to discuss this pledge. You told me that you had decided to pledge one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). I thought that was admirable of you. I know that you and your family are people of average means.
Unfortunately for your family and friends - although fortunately for you - just one month later (20 January 2004), you transferred your membership from St. Joseph Parish to the Church Triumphant. I remember we had a nice send-off for you. I hope you enjoyed it. [Little Dominic was sad at the time, but we told him not to worry, because his grandpop was a good Catholic and died in the state of grace.]
While we are always happy to see our members move on to bigger and better things, we don't like to see them leave before they fulfill their financial pledges. (I mean, let's face it. We have to be realistic, you know!)
I figured that your dear wife (now widow), the former Ann Breslin, would not even advert to your SOFF pledge or, if she did, would not consider herself bound by it.
Well, let me tell you something, Bob! Just this past week - actually, it was on your 69th birthday, 20 March 2007 - Mrs. Henry Robert Piccioni Sr. mailed in the final installment on the pledge. She did this soon after she attended the 12:05 p.m. Mass that was offered that day for the happy repose of your soul. You married a woman of quality! You know how to pick 'em!
So, thank you, my friend. In fact, thank you very much! It has been a pleasure to do business with you. I shall see you in God's good time. Pray for me.
Fondly,
Edward B. Connolly

SEX AS GOD INTENDED
A Provocative Sex Talk
by Vicki Thorn

Date: Wednesday, 28 March
Time: 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Place: St. Francis Retreat House, Easton
Sponsor: Secretariat for Catholic Life and Evangelization, Diocese of Allentown
Fee: No fee, but registration required

Topics include:
How we are designed to find a marriage partner with whom fertility is possible.
What can interfere with that ability.
Why women who live together cycle together.
How women's bodies are changed:
by each sexual partner
by each pregnancy
Why men are really the more fragile sex.
How men appear to be hardwired for fatherhood.

Fr. Connolly will be attending this lecture. If you would like to attend and would like a ride, please let Fr. Connolly know no later than Monday, 26 March.
For a preview of the material used by the lecturer, you may check out http://www.noparh.org
This lecture is about the biochemistry of male and female sexuality. It is appropriate for adults and teenagers, but not for younger children.

GRESHAM'S LAW IN RELIGION
I remember, from the time, many years ago, when I was a student in an Economics class, the professor speaking to us about "Gresham's Law". I wouldn't want to be quizzed now on the things that I learned (or was supposed to learn) in Economics class. [It was not my favorite subject!] However, I do remember Gresham's Law.
Gresham's Law, stated succinctly, goes like this:

Yes, I do see how that can happen!
The same principle applies in various areas of life.
It applies in religion.

Let's put that another way.

Or still another way:

Part of my job as a parish priest is to try to identify pious, sentimental drivel --- which is often superstition --- and to exorcise it, replacing it with solid, orthodox theology, so that the people towards whom I have a responsibility will not find themselves holding onto counterfeit beliefs.
Let me give a concrete example. Maybe I should say, "Let me give a bronze example".
There is a bronze plaque mounted on the brick that borders one of the sets of steps that leads up to the entrance of PAHS, on Elk Avenue at 16th Street. It is a memorial plaque. It is visible to one and all as they pass by that busy corner.
The plaque reads as follows:

(Out of respect for the deceased students, I have omitted their names. I do ask God to grant them eternal life and I do ask that the parents and families of these young persons be consoled with the peace only God can give.)

Here is what I think needs to be said about this plaque:
#1 --- The deceased students never were angels. They are not angels. They never will be angels. Nor am I an angel. Nor was I ever an angel. Nor shall I ever be an angel. Nor is any human being an angel. Nor was any human being ever an angel, nor will any human being ever be an angel. Angels were created once and for all by God. They are eternally in existence. They never die. They never reproduce. They have no bodies. They are pure spirits. This plaque makes the whole concept of "angel" seem to be an absurdity and, consequently, it makes orthodox religion seem to be absurd. These three youngsters who died, if they died in the state of grace, have a magnificent future as glorified, immortal, beautiful, resurrected human persons, but not as angels.
#2 --- The last sentence on the plaque is dangerous nonsense. It implies that "the best" teenagers are those who die young. This is certainly not true. Why would anyone ever claim that "the best" are those who die young and tragically? What does that say about those who survive long enough to make it into their twenties, thirties and eighties? For a depressed kid, this line could even provide a kind of morbid motivation towards suicide!

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO OUR TWO LITTLE PARISHES?
People ask me this question quite often.
My honest answer is: I don't know. In fact, I don't know much at all.
But I do know this: A short time ago, I recommended to Bishop Cullen that St. Francis deSales Parish be split (i.e. subdivided). I told him that our church on the east end of Main Street in Mount Carbon was sufficient for the needs of the people of East Mount Carbon, but that the folks from West Mount Carbon are agitating to have their own parish and their own church. So, I spoke with him about buying some properties on the west end of Main Street, tearing them down and building a new church for the new parish.
I told him that this new parish would be a nice starter parish for that fine young priest, Fr. Reilly.
As I recall, he patted me on the head and said that he would get back to me on that, but that I shouldn't start buying any properties unless and until he gets back to me. I think he wants to talk it over with the Pope or the College of Cardinals or something like that.

This afternoon - Sunday, 25 March - there will be an organ concert at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Harrisburg. It begins at 4:00 p.m.
This concert is entitled MUSIC FOR THE ANNUNCIATION.
The organist, Dr. Terry Heisey, will present organ works that explore the story of the annunciation of Jesus Christ.
A free-will offering will be taken at the door.
This concert is the fifth in the series of eight sacred concerts held at St. Patrick's from 17 Dec 06 to 22 June 07.
For more information, call St. Patrick's at 717.232.2169.
Or one may visit the website: http://www.stpatrickcathedral.com

These concerts are permissible - one might even say admirable - because they conform to the law of the Catholic Church.
The law of the Catholic Church permits concerts of sacred music in church buildings.
The law of the Catholic Church forbids concerts of secular music in church buildings.
The law of the Catholic Church forbids that there be an admission charge for concerts that are held in church buildings.
The law of the Catholic Church permits that there be a donation requested for admission to concerts that are held in church buildings.
The law of the Catholic Church forbids that the singers (if it be the kind of sacred concert that involves singers) or other musicians be gathered in the sanctuary of the church building. By "sanctuary" is meant the area where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, viz. the area in proximity to the altar of sacrifice.