St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

Masses for the Week

Altar Servers

Announcements

A Memorial Donation for Jean Cisarik was made by Warren Pechin Jr, and is gratefully acknowledged.

Our traditional collection for the Holy Places in Israel will be taken up on Good Friday. We ask you to please be generous.

St. Joseph's Parish offer their sincere sympathy to the Dubinski Family on the loss of David's brother, Daniel. May he enjoy eternal peace.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Several opportunities yet remain for the hearing of confessions in preparation for Easter: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings of this week at 8:30am (prior to the 9:00am Mass) and Tuesday evening of this week at 6:30pm (prior to the 7:00pm Mass).

Holy Thursday, April 9th

At 7:00pm, the Solemn Mass of the Lord's Supper will be celebrated, concluding with the Eucharistic Procession to the Repository. Eucharistic Adoration before the Repository concludes at 10:30pm.

Good Friday, April 10th

The Church is opened at 9:00am for Private Devotion before the Repository. At 7:00pm, the Solemn Liturgy of the Lord's Passion and Death will be celebrated, featuring the Veneration of the Cross and Distribution of Holy Communion.

Holy Saturday, April 11th

The Saturday Evening Mass is not offered at 6:30pm this day, but at a later hour (as noted), so that the Liturgy may begin in darkness. At 7:30pm, the Great Easter Vigil is celebrated, featuring the Service of Light, the Blessing of Water and the Reception of a Candidate for the Sacraments of Initiation. It is the Church's Night of Nights, joyously hailing the victory of Jesus Christ, our Champion over death.

Easter Sunday, April 12th

At 10:30am, A Festive Mass of the Lord's Resurrection will be celebrated, featuring the Renewal of Baptismal Promises and Sprinkling with Blessed Water

Blessing of Easter Foods and Candies

In keeping with the Eastern European tradition, the First Foods of Easter and Children's Easter Baskets will be blessed in St. Stanislaus Kostka Church on Holy Saturday, April 11th, at 2:30pm. Also, at the 10:30am Mass, in St. Joseph's Church, on Easter Sunday, April 12th, the children will be invited to approach the Altar for the blessing of their Easter Baskets and the presentation of an added treat.

Special Appeals associated with Holy Week

Operation Rice Bowl , a Lenten Program of prayer and sacrifice for the world's starving and malnourished peoples, concludes this week. Your kind donation may be placed in the specially marked receptacles in the rear of the Church. Your personal Lenten observance has been transformed into the work of an ambassador for Christ. Thank you for remembering the poor throughout the world this Lenten Season.

Good Friday is the traditional day set aside for the collection of contributions for the Holy Places in Palestine and the Shrines of the Holy Land. These sites, sacred to the memory of our Savior, are under the care of the Franciscan Friars and are maintained by your free-willing offerings.

Outdoor Way of Cross

Good Friday, April 10th, brings the meaningful local tradition of the Annual Outdoor Stations of the Cross, a walk to fourteen different "Stations" within the City of Coatesville. Prayers that relate to today's social situations are spoken at each symbolic stop. This solemn procession lasts approximately two hours, rain or shine, unless the weather is very bad (when the Service is conducted indoors at the Olivet Methodist Church, 3rd & Chestnut Streets). Participants should wear comfortable shoes and gather at 11:45am in the yard of St. Cecilia Church, 6th Avenue and Diamond Street. The walk itself begins at 12 noon.

Marriage Encounter Weekend

Spring is here and moving quickly. Why not take time for yourselves as a married couple, before the long hot days of summer arrive? Go on a Marriage Encounter Weekend. Upcoming dates are April 24th-26th, May 15th-17th, June 26th-28th, and July 24th-26th. For more details, kindly call 1-800-4LOVE30.

Congratulations to our Scholars

We are pleased to recognize the following young parishioners, enrolled in Coatesville Area Catholic Elementary School, who received awards on their recently issued report cards: First Honors to Brian Hart, Rebecca Kousisis, Samantha Davis; Second Honors to Michael Cabry, Karen Powderly, Elana Kousisis, Jennifer Urbine. Heartiest congratulations! Keep up your outstanding efforts in learning.

Congratulations to our Communion Class

The members of our Spring Communion Class experienced the sacramental forgiveness of Jesus for the very first time on this past Thursday, April 2nd, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Our First Penitents were: Brad Ahern, Jose Aponte, Michael Cabry, Paul Florian, Joshua Gregor, Jennie Lasak, Alicia McDevitt, Kevin Mulholland, Carli Nagy, Abigail Reczek, Michael Roberts, Billy Ryan and Daniel Weller. Sincerest congratulations! With them and their families, we eagerly await the day of their First Holy Communion, swiftly approaching.

Adult Choir

Just a friendly reminder - There will be no rehearsal after Tuesday, April 7th evening Mass.

CCD News

There will be NO CCD classes Easter Sunday, April 12th. Classes will resume on Sunday, April 19th.

Jesus Emptied Himself

"Why are you doing this?" "The Master needs it!" All of Jesus' emptying out enabled him to become a human being so that human beings might become like God. Tested in the garden of Gethsemani and on the cross, Jesus lives the truth with God-filled determination - "He set His face like flint." Do we act with conviction too?

Clothing Drive

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul will be at St. Peter Catholic Church, 1080 North Manor Road (Route 82 & Fairview Road), HoneyBrook on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 14th & 15th, 8:00am to 8:00pm to collect donations of usable men's, women's and children's clothing for those in need throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Other items accepted include bed and bath linens; pots/pans/dishes/cooking utencils; small working applicances; books/toys; and small home furnishings. You are invited to bring all donations to the truck/trailer located on the grounds of the parish named above. For home pickup of furniture and large appliance donations, please call The Society at (610)832-0900.

Emmaus Nights

Discernement Series - sponsored by the Vocation Office for Diocesan Priesthood. Bi-monthly sessions, on the second and fourth Wednesday, 7:30-9:30pm, continuing on Wednesday, April 8th, 1998 at Saint Charles Seminary for those men who are seriously discerning the call to priesthood. The evening will include communal prayer, topics of interest, group discussion and refreshements. No registration is needed. Call the Vocation Office for details (610)667-5778.

Women’s Club News

Spring Bazaar

A Big “Thank you” to all who, in any way, helped make our annual Spring Bazaar such a great success. The attendance was wonderful and all were very generous. We had some very nice articles that were donated to be chanced off, and you all came through with the baked goods. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of “paskas” that came in. We could have sold many more! Thank you again and especially to those who labored all day in the kitchen and manning the various tables.

Lucky Winners

Annual Card Party

Don’t forget our next project - our Anual Card Party - Monday, May 4th. Call Mary Benkovich to reserve your table. Admission is $5.00 for a wonderful evening of cards, bingo, snacks, refreshments and wonderful prizes. Please plan to join us!