Saint Joseph Parish:
Receipts for parish purposes: $1,501.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $80.00 from the second collection (plate); $50.00 from the Dues envelopes; $62.00 from the Building Maintenance envelopes; $78.00 from the loose.
Total: $1,771.00
Receipts for non-parish purposes: — 0 —
Analysis: When one deducts from the total of the receipts for parish purposes ($1,771.00) our weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments ($329.54), plus our weekly premium for property and casualty insurance ($464.00), plus our weekly subsidy to Trinity Academy ($358.17), the sum total of which is $1,151.17, one sees that $619.83 is available from this collection for operating the parish.




Saint Vincent DePaul Parish:
Receipts for parish purposes: $817.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $117.00 from the second collection (plate); $20.00 from the Dues envelopes; $16.00 from the Building Maintenance envelopes; $85.00 from the loose.
Total: $1,055.00.
Receipts for non-parish purposes: — 0 —
Analysis: When one deducts from the total of the receipts for parish purposes ($1,055.00) our weekly financial obligation to the Diocese, i.e. assessments ($229.38), plus our weekly premium for property and casualty insurance ($282.46), plus our weekly subsidy to Trinity Academy ($250.98), the sum total of which is $762.82, one sees that $292.18 is available from this collection for operating the parish.

G.K. Chesterton

CATHOLIC CHARITIES, DIOCESE OF ALLENTOWN, is sponsoring “Opportunities and Gifts of Mid-Life – an Advent Reflection” Conference for Mid Life Adults on Saturday, December 4 from 8:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. at St. Mary Church, Kutztown. Most Reverend John O. Barres, D.D. will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving. Registration fee is $25 with deadline of 23 November. Brochures are available either in the back of the church, or by calling 610-791-3888 ext. 304, or at www.catholicharityAD.org. This event is made possible, in part, through SOFF funding.

The Mass of Christian Burial for Nora will be celebrated at St. Joseph Church on Wednesday, 29 September, at 11:00 am. There will be a viewing in the church from 09:30 am to 11:00 am. The interment will take place in the parish cemetery in Fountain Springs.
Eternal rest grant unto Nora, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Mr. Byrne does not look for any compliments from his pastor (nor from anyone else, I would bet) but I choose to pay him one anyway: He was utterly faithful to visiting his wife during the years of her infirmity, during which time he learned, if he hadn’t already learned it, that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. We thank him for his good example

We had our first CCD classes for the school year this past Sunday (19 Sept).
If you were vacationing on one of the moons of Neptune and were delayed getting back to Girardville, please know that we will still accept your child for CCD. Bring the lad or lass to the Sheridan Room a little before 06:00 pm on Sunday, 26 September.
For your convenience we have provided several options for registering your child for CCD.
Go online to http://stjospar.org/ where you can either fill out the form online or print a hard copy and fill out the form by long hand
Request a hard copy of the registration form from the parish office
Once filled out, you also have several options to get the form to us.
Electronically, you can email to ebconnolly@verizon.net
For hard copies, you can mail, fax or hand deliver to the parish address listed on the top of the form.

Confirmandi will be meeting with Fr. Connolly and Miss King in the St. Joseph school hall (aka Immaculate Heart school hall) each Sunday from 06:00 to 07:30 pm. We started last Sunday and will continue up to and including 24 October. Attendance at each and every one of these sessions is a requirement for reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation on 28 October.

A FEW THOUGHTS ON A WELL-KNOWN SCRIPTURE PASSAGE. I thought about this as I was preparing for today’s wedding. The bride and groom had chosen Mark 10, 6-9 for their Gospel reading. It reads as follows: “(Jesus said:) But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together no man must separate.”
Notice verse 6: “But from ….. male and female.” This is, of course, a re-echoing of Genesis 1,27: “God created man in his image, in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them.”
Question: Why did the writer of Genesis and why did Jesus “belabor the obvious”? Why did they stress the maleness and femaleness of the human creature? Isn’t it perfectly obvious that we are all either male or female?

Answer: Well, it should be “perfectly obvious” but, apparently, to some persons, both in ancient times and in our present time, it is not so obvious! There are people who try to convince us that gender is a matter of choice. They will tell us that some persons are created to be heterosexual and some are created to be homosexual. This is just not true. EVERYONE is created EITHER male OR female. To believe otherwise is to have bought into intellectual claptrap. It is not difficult for a person to know whether he or she was created MALE or FEMALE. If anyone does not know how to tell which gender he or she belongs to, I would be happy to explain how to discern which it is, but I would do this only in a confidential conversation. There are certain physical characteristics that are sure markers, but we won’t go into that in this bulletin.

If our two parishes do not reach our goals for the BAA, it is possible that the pastor will climb up to the roof of St. Vincent dePaul Church and jump off, after which he will climb up to the roof of St. Joseph Church and jump off. No parachute, no bungee cord, no safety net! If it is a slow-news day, these jumps will probably make the newspaper, maybe even the TV news. Please know in advance that, if this tragedy comes to pass, it will NOT be the fault of the persons listed above!

The following “description and definition” of GOD is the work of Blessed John Henry Newman. I encourage everyone to read it in a quiet place at a quiet time. Turn off the TV. Let your eyes and mind savor the words. Learning just what is meant by “GOD” is the study and meditation of a lifetime.