Saturday, 01 September
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - VERONICA J. KEVY
by Joan Ferugio and family

Sunday, 02 September
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
7:45 a.m. - ARTHUR B. WHITNEY
by Michael and Catherine
10:45 a.m. - MARGARET McDONALD DEE
by Katherine Owens DiCello

Monday, 03 September
St. Gregory the Great, pope, doctor (OblMem)
12:05 p.m. - ANTONETTE BRILLA FANOK
by her daughter, Mary, and her grandson, Harry

Tuesday, 04 September
Weekday
12:05 p.m. - BERTHA LaFAVER
by Ed and Florence Kane
7:00 p.m. - SPECIAL INTENTION
by Sandy

Wednesday, 05 September
Weekday
12:05 p.m. - In Honor of SAINT JUDE
by JJB

Thursday, 06 September
Weekday
12:05 p.m. - SPECIAL INTENTION
by Sandy
7:00 p.m. - DONALD E. SHISSLER Sr.
by Mary, Joseph and John Krizno

Friday, 07 September
Weekday
12:05 p.m. - God's Blessings on JOHN and JOANN THOMAS
by their mother / mother-in-law, Barbara
6:15 p.m. - God's Blessings on EBC
by Sandy

Saturday, 08 September
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Fst)
8:00 a.m. - ELANORE TEGANO FOLINO
by her husband, Jack
Vigil of Sunday
4:30 p.m. - MICHAEL D. FERUGIO
(6th anniversary - 09/11 - WTC)
by Phyllis C. Kevy and Roni J. Kevy (+)

Sunday, 09 September
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
7:45 a.m. - DECEASED MEMBERS: EMIDIO GARBETTI FAMILY
by James and Marie Cairns
10:45 a.m. - STEPHEN CHALINSKY
by his wife, Jeanette

Saint Joseph Parish
$4,537.00 from the envelopes and $129.00 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $4,666.00 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 $1,511.15, one sees that $3,154.85 of this collection is available for operating the parish.

Saint Francis deSales Parish
$122.00 from the envelopes and $132.80 from the plate. Thank you.
When one deducts from the sum of these two figures, $254.80 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 ($40.23) of this collection is available for operating the parish. This is a deficit!

WE ACKNOWLEDGE WITH GRATITUDE the receipt of a contribution to the StJosPar Memorial Fund from Andy and Loreta DeStefano in memory of Mary Tamburelli Hilbert.

Dates:       7 to 9 September
Place:       St. Francis Retreat House, Bethlehem
Contact:   Mary Chiodo at 622-6817

One reads and hears that an image of the Blessed Mother is appearing on a garage door in Minersville.

We read and hear that the phenomenon has drawn up to 400 persons at one time.
Some of them come to pray the rosary and other prayers.
Some are simply curiosity seekers.

The Pottsville Republican and The Allentown Morning Call have not been negligent in publicizing the phenomenon. Not only did Perry dispatch Lois to cover the story, he also sent Jimmy along to take some pictures. Articles about celestial PowerPoint presentations on garage doors are much more interesting than articles about the Federal Reserve and the fallout from the sub-prime debacle.

My own reaction to the phenomenon wins no prize for originality. It is simply this: I think the evidence thus far points to a purely natural explanation. I think it is the sun bouncing off some as yet unidentified source, probably a window. It is possible that it is something contrived and somebody is having a good laugh on us. However, it is also possible that it is a natural coincidence of purely accidental origin. Such things have happened in other places countless times. They run their course and then we all have to get back to our knitting.

I remember that, when I was a little boy, no more than eight or nine, there was talk about the Blessed Mother appearing in a tree in West

Philadelphia. My Dad was curious. So was I. We lived in Philadelphia. So, my Dad took me via trolley car and subway and bus out to the scene of the alleged apparition. Dad was a devout Catholic and a true believer, but he was not gullible. He had been obliged to quit school when he was about 12 years old because his Dad had died. But, the fact that he didn't have much formal education didn't mean that he accepted everything that everybody said. He was astute. He often cautioned me to watch out for cheats and bunko artists. My Dad's religious standards for me were as follows: (a) believe in Jesus Christ; (b) go to Confession, go to Mass and receive Holy Communion; (c) say the Rosary; (d) obey the Commandments; (e) don't buy any bridges.

I remember standing with my Dad in the midst of all these people. After staring at the tree, I came to the conclusion that, if you tried really hard, you could - kind of, sort of - make out the outline of a veiled woman in the branches. I pointed this out to my Dad. He agreed but didn't seem too impressed. So, my Dad and I went back home, both of us satisfied that it was all a lot of bunk and we would just be satisfied with the basics: (a) Jesus Christ; (b) Confession, Mass and Holy Communion; (c) the Rosary; (d) the Ten Commandments; (e) caution about buying bridges - at least until Pius Twelfth or Cardinal Dougherty or Father Greene (our pastor) gave us the green light.

Here are some important points to be kept in mind when discussing the Minersville garage-door phenomenon and other like it:
We affirm that God can do anything He wants, as long as it is not intrinsically impossible. God can even suspend the normal operations of Nature, if He sees fit to do so. If He wants to shine holy pictures on a garage door in Minersville, ain't nobody going to tell Him He can't!

theological learning, we must remember to be respectful to the reasonable piety of the faithful. So, we are not snide or cynical. We remember that God reveals Himself to those who are humble and tosses into the dungheap those who are proud in their own conceits!
We await the judgment of the Church, which is, in the first instance, the judgment of the priest or priests who have pastoral responsibility in the area (in this case, Minersville), and which is, in the second instance, the diocesan bishop (in this case, the Bishop of Allentown). And, if there is no spoken judgment, we keep in mind that the silence of the Church is itself a kind of judgment.
If you were to ask me personally - go ahead, ask me! - whether I believe that the phenomenon in Minersville is of supernatural origin, I would say that I am 99.999% positive that it is not. However, I am open to being convinced otherwise. After all, what do I know?

To tell you the truth, I wish it were true! I am all in favor of the Blessed Virgin Mary showing herself to the people of Minersville in some marvelous way. Why not? God knows, they need it! And, when she's done with Minersville, I would be delighted if the Holy Mother would come down 61 to Pottsville, do what she thinks needs to be done and then take a little excursion over to Mount Carbon. Ah, yes! Mount Carbon could use a visit or two from the Holy Mother. Yes, indeed it could! You bet it could! That would be sweet. I would ask her to consider a special appearance at Goodfellas, maybe on the parking lot if she doesn't want to go inside, for which I wouldn't blame her. Can you imagine the media frenzy if the Blessed Mother were to show up at Goodfellas? Maybe she would do for the management and the clientele there, God bless them, what she did for Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta, viz. show them a vision of hell.
theological learning, we must remember to be respectful to the reasonable piety of the faithful. So, we are not snide or cynical. We remember that God reveals Himself to those who are humble and tosses into the dungheap those who are proud in their own conceits!
We await the judgment of the Church, which is, in the first instance, the judgment of the priest or priests who have pastoral responsibility in the area (in this case, Minersville), and which is, in the second instance, the diocesan bishop (in this case, the Bishop of Allentown). And, if there is no spoken judgment, we keep in mind that the silence of the Church is itself a kind of judgment.
If you were to ask me personally - go ahead, ask me! - whether I believe that the phenomenon in Minersville is of supernatural origin, I would say that I am 99.999% positive that it is not. However, I am open to being convinced otherwise. After all, what do I know?

To tell you the truth, I wish it were true! I am all in favor of the Blessed Virgin Mary showing herself to the people of Minersville in some marvelous way. Why not? God knows, they need it! And, when she's done with Minersville, I would be delighted if the Holy Mother would come down 61 to Pottsville, do what she thinks needs to be done and then take a little excursion over to Mount Carbon. Ah, yes! Mount Carbon could use a visit or two from the Holy Mother. Yes, indeed it could! You bet it could! That would be sweet. I would ask her to consider a special appearance at Goodfellas, maybe on the parking lot if she doesn't want to go inside, for which I wouldn't blame her. Can you imagine the media frenzy if the Blessed Mother were to show up at Goodfellas? Maybe she would do for the management and the clientele there, God bless them, what she did for Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta, viz. show them a vision of hell.

Words & Music by Maxwell Anderson & Kurt Weill, 1938
Recorded by Bing Crosby, 1946; also by Maurice Chevalier, 1960

Verse 1
When I was a young man a-courting the girls,
I played me a waiting game;
If a maid refused me with a toss of her curls,
I'd let the old world take a couple of twirls,
And I'd ply her with tears instead of pearls,
And as time came around, she came my way,
As time came around, she came.

Refrain
But it's a long, long time from May to December,
And the days grow short when you reach September.
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame,
One hasn't got time for the waiting game.
Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few...
Sep-tem-ber...No-vem-ber...

And these few precious days I'll spend with you.
These precious days I'll spend with you.
Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few...
Sep-tem-ber...No-vem-ber...
And these few precious days I'll spend with you,
These precious days
I'll spend with you.

Verse 2
When you meet with the young men in the early spring,
They'll court you with wine and with song.
They'll woo you with words and a clover ring.
But if you examine the goods that they bring,
They have little to offer but the songs that they sing,
And a plentiful waste of time of day.
A plentiful waste of time.

Refrain (repeat)

#1 - I like it a whole lot and I'm the pastor.
#2 - It's September, in case you haven't noticed.
#3 - The words to this song are very Christian. If you wonder how the words to this song are "very Christian", I'll tell you: Because they remind us that life is short and that it is not to be wasted and that life has an End Point to it and that we are moving towards that End Point and that the End Point is moving towards us and I sure don't want to regret my life when I meet the End Point, Who is Jesus Christ my Lord.

Diocesan Survey-Bulletin Announcement #2
To Run in Parish Bulletins the weekend of September 1-2, 2007

Survey Sunday-September 15-16, 2007

The diocese-wide parish survey is fast approaching. Your participation in the survey is important. All Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass in their home parish on that weekend. If you are unable to attend Mass at your home parish that weekend, you may still take part in the survey at any parish in the Diocese of Allentown.
The survey will only take about ten (10) minutes to complete and has been designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible. So that the length of the Mass will not be unduly prolonged, the survey will be conducted at the beginning of Mass and will utilize the time usually reserved for the homily, which will be omitted that weekend. Please bring a pen or pencil with you.

STING OPERATIONS
The arrest of Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) for solicitation of sexual favors in a public bathroom is a sorry mess.
While many no doubt think that pre-emptive strikes on the part of the police are "a good thing" for society, I have my doubts.
It is my opinion that, when the police busy themselves with such activities, they generate more evil than they prevent.
The humiliation of Senator Craig has not made our country any safer or any nobler.
Some anonymous person made the following observation:

I concur.
Nothing in this opinion of mine is meant to be construed as meaning that I look with anything but hearty disapproval on the immoral behavior that is referenced or alleged in the case of Senator Craig.
But it seems to me that, if we as a nation are going to insist that homosexual behavior be regarded as normal, natural and non-criminal, then it seems strange that we should be so zealous to criminalize and to pre-empt such behavior in public places.
The United States is well on its way to becoming a police state.
Eventually, it will be "every man a wolf to his neighbor".