Saint Joseph Parish:
Receipts for parish purposes: $1,222.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $33.00 from the second collection (plate); $85.00 from the Dues envelopes; $20.00 from the Building maintenance envelopes; $105.00 from the loose.
Total: $1,465.00
Receipts for non-parish purposes: — $111.00 from the Catholic Relief envelopes —
Analysis: When one deducts from the total of the receipts for parish purposes ($1,465.00) 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 $313.83 is available from this collection for operating the parish.

Saint Vincent DePaul Parish:
Receipts for parish purposes: $1,085.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $59.00 from the second collection (plate); $17.00 from the Dues envelopes; $45.00 from the loose.
Total: $1,206.00
Receipts for non-parish purposes: — $199.00 from the Catholic Relief envelopes —
Analysis: When one deducts from the total of the receipts for parish purposes ($1,206.00) 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 $443.18 is available from this collection for operating the parish.

GOING TO CONFESSION IS SORT OF LIKE THIS: You know you are guilty. The cops know you are guilty. The District Attorney knows you are guilty. All the prospective members of the jury know you are guilty. The Judge knows you are guilty. Your defense attorney knows you are guilty. For crying out loud, even your sweet old mother knows you are guilty. But the Judge says to the DA: “Tell you what. Let’s give this guy a break. Tell him to come in to my private chambers and admit that he’s guilty. If he does, I’ll give him a sweetheart deal. No jail, no fine, no nothing! Just a few fatherly words of advice and out he goes! If he turns down this deal, we’ll have a trial and send him up the river.” So, the DA tells you what the Judge said. Now, tell me: What are you going to do? Are you going to refuse the Judge’s offer? Are you going to say, “I ain’t gonna go in and talk to no judge! I ain’t admittin’ nuttin’. I’ll take my chances with the jury!” If that’s your attitude, my friend, I would say you are not the brightest bulb in God’s chandelier!

His Eminence was our Metropolitan Archbishop during his term as Archbishop of Philadelphia, inasmuch as Allentown is a suffragan see of Philadelphia. He went through the crucible of suffering during his time as Archbishop of Philadelphia and especially during his time of retirement (2003 to 2012). May God be gracious and merciful to our Shepherd, Anthony. Let him rest from his labors for his good deeds follow him.
Eternal rest grant unto Anthony, 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.

“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

Francis Cardinal George
Archbishop of Chicago

THIS REMARK MADE RECENTLY BY CARDINAL GEORGE struck me rather forcefully. In case you don’t know, Cardinal George is a 75-year-old bishop who recently submitted his letter of resignation to the Pope, as is required of all bishops who turn 75. He said that he anticipates that the Pope will give him a couple of more years in Chicago before he pulls the cord. Something else to be known about Cardinal George is that he is well known to be a reasonable man, a lawyer by training, not given to making wild or apocalyptic statements. It would seem from the statement cited above that the Cardinal is not wildly optimistic about the short-term future of the Church in Chicago!!!
We have been hinting rather broadly in these bulletins in recent years that the Catholic Church is moving closer and closer to a time of persecution and I don’t mean “persecution in some benighted Third World nation”. I mean persecution in the United States of America and in western Europe.
I take it that His Eminence Cardinal George sees what I see — and what many others see.
Let’s put it this way: The gloves are coming off! The Dragon is chomping at the bit! The gates of Hell are swinging open! The ovens of the Abortion Industry are glowing hot! Moloch’s belly is growling! Dame Chastity has been expelled from the public school system! Condoms are being thrown at Catholic school girls in Rhode Island! Pornography is available to all at no charge! Furious hatred towards the Catholic Church is palpable. You can see it in the media. You can feel it in the air. You can almost taste it! Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, says openly that Obama lied to him. Tell me! When is the last time you heard the Archbishop of New York say that the President of the United States lied to him???
We are living in remarkable times, a prelude to a time of distress. Hold onto your hat. Hold onto your pajamas. Hold onto your toothbrush, your teddy bear, your grandmother — and anything else that’s helpless! Circle the wagons! Pray the Rosary! Pray that the Lord will shorten the time of distress. If He does not, no one will survive. But we believe that, for the sake of the Elect, He will shorten it.
Encourage as many of your non-practicing Catholic relatives and friends as possible to come back to the practice of the Faith. Encourage as many of your non-Catholic relatives and friends as possible to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. There is still time left, but it is running out.
Postscript to the above: Have you ever wondered why it is that the forces of Hell and their allies in the media and in the White House, the Congress and the Supreme Court never seem to bother with attacking the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the “Non-Demoninationalers”, the UCCers, et al? I can answer that question quite readily. It is because none of the above poses any threat to the establishment. (The World loves those who belong to the World.) They have all sold out, some more than others. All of them have silently (some not so silently) acquiesced to what the World has demanded of them. All of them are pro-choice (loathsome and deceptive term!). All of them are pro-sodomy. All of them (with the possible exception of the Baptists) are pro-homosexual marriage. All of them (without exception) have long since surrendered to artificial contraception. All of them are headed for extinction. The Catholic Church — that assembly of Christians who are in union with the Bishop of Rome, the Rock on which Christ built His Church — will endure until the Second Coming of the Lord, and into Eternity.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PERSONS WHO TRAVELLED TO WASHINGTON DC on Monday, 23 January, on the bus chartered by St. Joseph Parish / St. Vincent dePaul Parish, in order to participate in the annual MARCH FOR LIFE.
To them are addressed these words from a letter Pope Benedict XVI sent to the Bishops of the United States:

“His Holiness is deeply grateful to all who take part in this outstanding annual witness to the Gospel of Life and to the many others who support them by fasting and prayer. He urges them — as followers of Christ and as responsible citizens concerned for the future of our society — to persevere in their effort to ensure legal protection for the most defenseless members of the human family.”

                                   OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
                                      Mailing Address
                                POST OFFICE BOX F
                        ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
                                        18105-1538

4029 WEST TILGHMAN STREET
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA 18104
(610) 437-0755
Fax (610) 433-7822

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the
United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of my faith,
The federal government, which claims to be "of, by, and for the people," has just dealt a heavy blow to almost
a quarter of those people-the Catholic population-and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic
faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers,
including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees health coverage that includes
sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include
those "services" in the heath policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that
coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, denying to Catholics our Nation's first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And
as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or
to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration's sole
concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

We cannot - we will not - comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class
citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this
important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to
help build America's cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to
have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to
count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on
this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit
ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored.
Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting
usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact
Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Administration's decision.

I came across this paragraph in an article I read this past week. The writer is Anthony M. Esolen, PhD, a distinguished Catholic gentleman, a professor of English at Providence College, an author, translator and blogger.
We live in a world that is saturated in darkness and self-serving lies. It is so refreshing to read something like this. We say, “By golly! That’s the truth!” Thank you, Professor Esolen!

It was Friday, 03 February 2012, when I heard the following words fall from the lips of none other than Bill O’Reilly, the shy, modest, self-effacing, soft-spoken King of Fox Cable News. I could hardly believe it! I have taken potshots at Bill O’Reilly several times in this bulletin but now I take no potshot. Instead, I send him roses! I say, “Way to go, Bill! God bless you for speaking the truth from your heart. I am glad to know that, despite your bluster and self-assertion, you still fear God. There is hope for you yet!”
The beginning of Wisdom is the Fear of the Lord!
Fortunately, I had set my DVR to record “The O’Reilly Factor”, so I was able to back up and scribble the words on the back of an envelope so as to include them accurately in this bulletin.
The context of Bill’s remarks was the giving of money to Planned Parenthood and, by extension, to organizations like the Susan G. Komen Foundation that provide financial support to Planned Parenthood.

Allow me, please, to add to this the following: If you provide financial support or even moral support, either directly or indirectly, to Planned Parenthood, you are committing a Mortal Sin. Planned Parenthood is a profoundly wicked organization. If you tell me that you know some “very nice people” who support Planned Parenthood, I tell you that a substantial portion of the population of Hell is “very nice people”. Some of these “very nice people” are prominent, well-dressed women in our community (and their wimpy husbands) who hold fundraisers for Planned Parenthood. They will never see God face to face — unless, of course, they repent before they die.