Saturday, 04 August
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - ANDREW J. FEELEY
(31st anniversary)
by his daughter, Patty Feeley Garland

Sunday, 05 August
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
7:45 a.m. - CAROL KREMER TAMBURELLI (9th anniversary)
by: her husband, Herb; her daughter, Danette; her grandsons, Ryan and Nicholas
10:45 a.m. - STEPHEN CHALINSKY
by the Cescon family

Monday, 06 August
Transfiguration of the Lord (Fst)
12:05 p.m. - God's Blessings on JOHN AND JOANN THOMAS
by their mother / mother-in-law, Barbara

Tuesday, 07 August
Pope St. Sixtus II and companions, martyrs;
St. Cajetan, priest (OptMems)
12:05 p.m. - ANN DEMYANOVICH
by Salvatore and Mary Modesto
7:00 p.m. - PHYLLIS DORAZIO ORLOWSKY
by Barbara Sciarrone Kasper and sons

Wednesday, 08 August
St. Dominic, priest (OblMem)
12:05 p.m. - JOSEPH A. PALKO
by his niece, Patty Feeley Garland

Thursday,09 August
[Edith Stein] St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin, martyr (OptMem)
12:05 p.m. - LEO M. PLUSWICK
(32nd anniversary of wedding)
by his wife, Rose Marie
7:00 p.m. - PATRICIA EVANS LORD (anniversary of birth) by Frank and Rose Popeck

Friday, 10 August
St. Lawrence, deacon, martyr (Fst)
12:05 p.m. - MARIE CATALINI
by her daughter, Rose Marie

Saturday, 11 August
St. Clare, virgin (OblMem)
8:00 a.m. - ELANORE TEGANO FOLINO (2nd anniversary)
by her husband, Jack

Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - NATHAN J. KEVY
(8th anniversary)
by his daughters, Phyllis and Roni (+)

Sunday, 12 August
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
7:45 a.m. - ANGELO and AMELIA (Amoroso) PASCUZZO
by Albert and Martha
10:45 a.m. - JOSEPH A. PALKO
by his wife, Carmella, and his daughter, Joanne

Saint Joseph Parish
$1,480.00 from the envelopes and $120.00 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $1,600.00 the parish's weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments, $410.08 plus the weekly premiums for property and liability insurance, $160.01, the sum of which is $570.09, plus its weekly obligation to All Saints School, $941.06 the sum total of which is $1,511.25, one sees that ($88.85) of this collection is available for operating the parish.

Saint Francis deSales Parish
$183.00 from the envelopes and $54.55 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $237.55 the parish's weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments, $46.15 plus the weekly premiums for property and liability insurance, $60.67, the sum of which is $106.82, plus its weekly obligation to All Saints School, $188.21, the sum total of which is $295.03, one sees that ($57.48) of this collection is available for operating the parish. This is a deficit!

VITALLY IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION!

Fr. Connolly has made his quota - some would say "more than his quota" - of mistakes in his miserable life. A mistake he made in last weekend's bulletin (p.12) dearly needs to be corrected!
In the article about the marriage of Ralph David Chiplonia and Debra Marie Himes, the following sentence appears:

Please know that this sentence contains an egregious error.
I meant to type: "Ralph and Debra received, etc."
My apologies to Ralph and Debra - especially to Ralph!
And, while I'm at it, my apologies to David, whoever he is!

On Monday, 30 July 2007, the St. Joseph Parish housekeeper / laundress, who comes every Monday to the Rectory to do her chores, was in the basement, emptying the contents of the laundry basket into the washing machine. To her utter shock and dismay, nestled in the bedsheets from the pastor's bed, she found a deceased mouse. A mature and self-controlled woman, the laundress did not scream. She simply removed the corpse and disposed of it appropriately. Later she told the pastor about this peculiar and distasteful episode in the laundry room.
As of press time, only one piece of testimony has been elicited: The pastor asserts that he is certain, beyond any doubt, that: (a) the deceased did not live in his bedroom; (b) the deceased was not in the bed at the time the sheets were removed; (c) never at any time did he knowingly share his sleeping quarters with a mouse.
Police are trying to determine which of the following is the likely scenario: (a) The mouse snuck into the basement from outside, climbed into the laundry basket and expired, either from suffocation or else from some pre-existing condition. (b) While frolicking outside, the Parish Cat came upon the mouse, whacked it, brought the corpse into the basement and, trying to cover up its misdeed, deposited the evidence in the laundry basket. Predictably, the Parish Cat has been distinctly uncooperative and aloof up to this point. This makes the objective observer lean towards (b) as the more likely scenario. We may never know for sure. I say, "When in doubt, blame the butler. If there's no butler, blame the cat!"

Father John Vallayil, VC is our most welcome guest this weekend. He comes to us under the auspices of the Missionary Cooperative Program of the Propagation of the Faith. Father John is a member of the Vincentian Congregation.
Each year, a priest is assigned to visit a particular parish or parishes. He preaches at all of the weekend Masses. The pastor then authorizes either a special collection for the work of the visitor's community or else designates that a certain percentage of the collection be given to same.
Fr. Connolly promises to send 80% of this weekend's plate collection to the Mary Mother of God Province of the Vincentian Congregation in India.
The members of the Vincentian Congregation dedicate their lives to bringing the Good News of salvation to the poor and the oppressed, and to work for their total liberation.
The work of the Vincentian Congregation can be summarized thus: It is nothing more nor less than to win the Indian sub-continent for Jesus Christ!
This work includes:

training of future priests;
caring for poor children in orphanages and in schools;
running various social and charitable projects in mission centers;
conducting spiritual renewal programs and retreats.

We ask everyone to be VERY GENEROUS in the loose collections this weekend. If you did not bring any extra money along with you, please drop something off at the Rectory this week. Make out your check to "St. Joseph Parish". On the bottom of the check and / or on the envelope, write "Missions", so that we will know to add it to the total for Fr. John's community!

I AM MY OWN GRANDPAW
Many, many years ago when I was twenty-three
I was married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her and soon they too were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life,
For my daughter was my mother, 'cause she was my father's wife.
To complicate the matter even though it brought me joy,
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became a brother-in-law to dad,
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother
Of the widow's grown-up daughter, who of course, was my stepmother.
Father's wife then had a son who kept them on the run,
And he became my grandchild for he was my daughter's son.
My wife is now my mother's mother and it makes me blue,
Because although she is my wife she's my grandmother, too.
Now if my wife is my grandmother then I'm her grandchild,
And every time I think of it, it nearly drives me wild.
For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw,
As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpaw.

Lonzo & Oscar

Note: A friend of mine recently brought this to my attention. It brought back memories. It was a song that was popular back around 1947. I remember my parents and other adults talking about it, analyzing it and laughing about it. I remember trying to figure out how it could possibly be that a man could wind up being "his own grandpaw"! Examining these lyrics might be entertaining for you.

01. Tell cool, funny jokes, not the kind that would make a pure woman blush-or be offended!
02. Find saints that you relate to and ask them to pray for you as you imitate their virtues. Some awesome real men include St. Joseph, St. Augustine, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, and St. Josemaría Escrivá.
03. Keep your standards high. Date only those women who have the qualities you want in a future wife and mother of your children. Pray for your future wife (even if you have no idea yet who that will be), that she will have the love and strength to save the gift of sexual intimacy for you - and pray that you'll have that strength, too!
04. Read the Bible! Be open to God's Word. Let it convict you to live courageously and to do deeds that require self-sacrifice and that will make you holy.
05. Respect women, even those who don't respect themselves and may throw themselves at you. Don't take advantage of them but help them to know their true worth. These women have a hole in their heart that they are looking to fill. Point them to the only One who can fill it, Jesus Christ.
06. Be a man of integrity. Do everything as if someone were watching, because Someone is watching, viz. God. Prepare now to lead a family someday. Work hard to prepare yourself to provide for and protect them, not only financially and physically, but also spiritually, morally, and emotionally.
07. Be both strong and gentle. St. Francis de Sales said that "there is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength." A real man is neither a bully nor a wimp. A real man transcends his own ego, his own fears, his own selfishness. A real man sacrifices himself as a gift to those he's called to protect."
08. When you see a woman who is dressed immodestly, say a prayer for her. Pope John Paul II said, "[God] has assigned as a duty to every man the dignity of every woman."

09. When you see a woman who is dressed immodestly, say a prayer for yourself, for your purity. Use the occasion, which Satan uses as a temptation to pull you away from Jesus, to draw closer than ever to Him.
10. Honor your mother and your sisters. An intelligent woman knows that the way a man treats his mother is the way he will someday treat his wife.
11. Find creative ways to express your feelings to the woman you like, ways that are both pure and chaste. Show her that you can love her without using her. Show her that she is beautiful both inside and out.
12. Find good adult male role models to emulate. Get relationship advice from godly men.
13. Be open to the possibility that God is calling you to the priesthood.
14. Show gentlemanly respect to all women, not just the woman you're dating. What does it mean if you hold the door for your girlfriend but let it close in the face of the woman walking in right behind her?
15. Trust in God's mercy. When you fall, go to confession. Receive strength from Christ truly present in the Eucharist. Approach the Communion rail as often as you can. Feed on the Bread of Angels, so as to obtain all the energy you need to fight inner battles.
16. Don't settle for counterfeits such as pornography or masturbation. Avoid them like the plagues they are, especially if you want someday to enjoy the utterly amazing gift of sexual intimacy according to God's plan.
17. Guard your senses from temptation, and be always ready to choose God's way, no matter what the cost.
18. Recognize Mary as your Mother and say a prayer to consecrate your heart to her. Her prayers for you will be very powerful in helping you draw near to her Son.
19. Lay down your life in the little things; practice making small sacrifices by putting someone else's wants or needs before your own.
20. Make Jesus Christ your best friend and greatest role model. Learn to love Him present in the Blessed Sacrament.

cf. www.omsoul.org

I saw it hanging on the Foursquare Gospel building on Centre Street and on the Methodist church building across the street from Foursquare. I also saw it on Mahantongo Street outside the Presbyterian church building. I also saw it somewhere else.
Here is the exact wording on the sign:

There are seven lines. God knows I have no problem with lines #1, 2, 3, 4 and 7. The lines that make me uneasy are lines #5 and 6. The connotation of these two lines is the heresy of religious indifferentism, viz. that "it really doesn't matter what religion you belong to because, after all, there's only one God!"
If the "eleven churches" referred to were all Protestant congregations, I would have no problem whatever! It is the fact that I suspect that one or more of the "eleven churches" referred to is a Catholic parish that causes me to be uneasy.
We Catholics tend to have an inordinate desire to be liked, to be considered "just regular guys and gals", just part of the crowd, just branches on the tree whose trunk is Christianity. What we often fail to realize is that this inordinate desire leads us into rank heresy.
Allow me to shout from the rooftop the following inconvenient truth, guaranteed to save your sanity and your soul: The Church that Jesus Christ founded subsists in the Catholic Church. The Church that Jesus Christ founded most definitely does not subsist in any of those ecclesial communities known as "the Lutheran" or "the Episcopal" or "the Methodist" or "the Presbyterian" or "the UCC" or "the Foursquare Gospel" or "the Assemblies of God" or any of the other multitudinous denominations or sects. If you don't understand "subsists in", substitute "is" and if you don't understand "does not subsist in", substitute "is not" and you will get the point

CONNOR JEROME REBER,
first born child of Daniel and Melissa (Galati) Reber, will be baptized today (Sunday) at St. Joseph Church.

Q - WHY did God create Connor Jerome Reber?
A - God created Connor Jerome Reber to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next!

Connor is just a tiny little boy at the present time. But his "tiny-little-boyness" is an extremely short phase of His existence. If all goes according to plan, he will soon be a not-so-tiny little boy and then a medium-size boy and then a big boy and then a young man - followed by middle-aged man, followed by old man, followed by separation of soul from body, followed immediately by divine judgment and then, depending on the divine judgment, entrance into either eternal light or eternal darkness.
The Catholic Church always looks to the future. In a certain real sense, the future is already in our midst and the future belongs to those who prepare for it. We want Connor to receive a merciful judgment, to enter into the eternal light, to be happy with God and with other victorious human beings forever.
Today we incorporate this beautiful little boy into the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. By baptism, he becomes our fellow Catholic Christian and an heir to eternal life. May God keep him on the right path.

 FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

On Monday, 16 July 07, during the 12:05 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph Church, two boys received the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist for the first time. They are:
Alexander Brendon Gustis, age 15, is the son of Anthony C. Gustis and Melinda (Meusel) Flannery. Alex lives with his mother in Laguna Niguel CA. When he comes East to visit his father in Forest Hills, he attends Mass at St. Francis deSales Church. We count Alex as a "seasonal member" of St. Francis deSales Parish.
Stephen James Gontis, age 8, is a son of James and Eva (Zemanek) Gontis. The Gontis family are former members of St. Francis deSales Parish. They live now in Harrisburg. Their pastor in Harrisburg gave permission for Stephen to receive FHC in Pottsville.
May the devout reception of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the species of bread and wine bring about in Alexander and in Stephen the desired transformation. May they come to the fullness of the glory God has in mind for them.

CONFIRMATION

On Thursday, 19 July 07, during the 7:00 p.m. Mass at St. Joseph Church, a young man received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Fr. Connolly requested and received from Bishop Cullen the faculty to confirm this particular person.
John Stephen Brilla Jr., age 17, is the son of John S. Brilla Sr. and Carol A. (Keip) Brilla. He chose "Thomas" as his Confirmation name. His sponsor is Ann Chalinsky Tranquillo.
May the Holy Spirit of God dwell always within this lad. The day is coming when his true splendor will be revealed. We will know him as God knows him and we will be amazed!

THOUGHTS WHILE WAITING IN LINE AT WAL-MART!

I went to Wal-Mart this past week (a) to pick up a prescription and (b) to buy some mouthwash and shaving cream and such things. While searching the shelves for the bargain mouthwash and shaving cream, I came across a large display of a hair product called JUST FOR MEN.
Here is what is I read on the label:

The question that I have is this: How does this product know that it should target only the gray hair? Suppose you put the black color gel on a brown or blond or red beard. Is there a little man inside the bottle who says, "Sorry, buddy, I don't deal with brown or blond or red hair. My job is to color only the gray hair. Put this bottle down right now or else I'm going to blow my whistle and get the hair-color police on you!"
Then I looked at the variety of colors available: Sandy Blond; Light Brown; Light - Medium Brown; Medium Brown; Medium - Dark Brown; Dark Brown; Real Black. This made me think about buying some JUST FOR MEN for myself. The thought came into my head, stayed for about one-eightieth of a second and then went out. During that one-eightieth of a second, I wondered: Would the collections be higher if I colored my hair and beard? Would we make our goals for the Bishop's Annual Appeal if I had a "real black" (or even "dark brown") beard instead of my yukky natural gray beard? Would people like me better if I colored my hair and beard? Would Bishop Cullen like me better? Would God like me better?
Unfortunately, these questions will have to remain unanswered.
Oh, yes, there was one other thing I thought about while standing in line at Wal-Mart.
Near the cashier there was the usual array of tabloids. One of them - I think it was "THE SUN" - had an absolutely fascinating front page. Here is what it said:

Unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to pick it up, let alone buy it. I kind of regretted it afterwards. I might have learned something I didn't know. It might have been good sermon material. Actually, I was too proud to be seen buying a copy. Maybe that's my main problem: just too damn proud! Lord, have mercy on me! On second thought, maybe I'd be better off if I colored my hair and beard and read the tabloids.