St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

Masses for the Week

Congratulations

Congratulations to Michael and Lynn Takach on the recent Baptism of their daughter Celeste Ava Takach.

Retirement Fund

Contributions made recently to the National Appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious Sisters, Brothers and Priests amounted to $654.00. Thank you and God bless you.

Your Prayers are Requested

In the kindness of your prayers, please remember the Sick: Julia Esposito, Vera Lahm, Casper Hracho, John Yankech, Mary Riley, Rose Guldan, Jean Moister, Ann Hook, Lyndsey Conner, Helen Simmers, John Sabocsik and the Dead: Dorothy Hayes.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

This weekend, Confessions will be heard on Sunday, January 3rd, from 9:45 to 10:15am, prior to the morning Mass. Next weekend, Confessions will be heard on Saturday, January 9th, from 5:45 to 6:15pm, prior to the Evening Mass. Also, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available anytime upon request.

A Tremendous Thank You

Words alone do not adequately express our deep appreciation to our many parishioners, young and old, who created a magnificent Christmas Season for us. Our thank you goes out to those who physically prepared our Church and dressed it in its beautiful holiday finery.

Likewise, we extend our sincerest gratitude to all whose dedicated ministry added to the splendid celebration of our Christmas time: Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Altar Servers, Organists and Cantors, Adult and Children's Choirs, Ushers and Sexton.

May God, who cannot be outdone in generosity, bless them many, many times over with His grace and peace, love and joy!

St. Joseph’s Choirs

Thanks to everyone (choirs, cantors, soloists and organists) for all their hard work on the services for Christmas. A job very well done!

We’ll take a couple of weeks off to rest then rehearsals for the Lent and Easter will begin around the 3rd week in January. Check the bulletin for the exact dates. Choir members, don’t forget, the Adult Choir will sing at the special Anniversary Mass on January 10th.

One last note. We accidentally omitted one of our new members, Mrs. Pauline Howell from the list of Adult Choir members in the Christmas Vigil program. We’re very glad to have you with us this year "Po", sorry for the mixup.

C. J. Cigas
Music Director

Our Parish Jubilee Year Dawns

Next Sunday, January 10th, the Feast of the Lord Jesus' Baptism, solemnly opens the 75th Anniversary Year of the Founding of St. Joseph Parish. To mark the happy occasion, the 10:30am Mass will be featuring the Rite of Sprinkling with Blessed Water, a brief Rite of Welcome for our Candidates for full Reception into the Church and the distribution of a special Jubilee item for all households of the Parish. With gladness, pride and thanksgiving, plan to enter into the Anniversary events of 1999. Certainly, God's grace and goodness to our Parish Family have not been lacking to our forbears and ourselves over these 75 years. Let us rejoice and celebrate!

Searching

Look to the heavens. The wise men were star-gazing astrologers from the East who thought their calculations could discern great events. This time they were right! They sought - and found - the unique, bright, delightsome Child with his ever-virgin mother Mary. After offering their treasured gifts, they went home. With the Child - our treasure, who's light leads us heavenwards - we travel to our true home. Can we bring our gifts and follow him?

The Rosary Society

Intentions for January

1. That this New Year, we all keep our well form resolutions to keep peace with one another and the world.
2. For those who carry burdens of pain, sorrow, guilt and anxiety, that they find help to lighten their load.

Jesus Group - Joyful Mysteries
Mary Group - Glorious Mysteries
Joseph Group - Sorrowful Mysteries

There is no surer means of calling down God's blessing upon the family than the daily recitation of the Rosary.

The Rosary is recited every day before the weekly 9:00am Mass in both St. Joseph and St. Stanislaus Church. Come, join in - the rewards are great.

A Family Perspective

Epiphany

Herod was greatly disturbed because he saw the newborn King of the Jews as a threat. Today, some people are still threatened by Jesus and his Good News. Sometimes that's because of the way his followers act. Jesus needs our families to be positive witnesses for him.

Registration

Registration for our Coatesville Area Catholic Elementary School will be held in the Schneider Center, Parkesburg, on February 22nd, from 9:00am to 12:00pm and in the Primary School Office in St. Cecilia's Parish on Tuesday, February 23rd, from 9:00am to 1:00pm.

To enter Kindergarten, a child must be five years old by September 1st, 1999.

To enter First Grade, a child must be six years old by September 1st, 1999. A birth certificate, Baptismal certificate and Immunization records are NECESSARY at the time of registration. Catholic families MUST present a letter from their Pastor verifying membership in the Parish before a child will be registered. There is a $40.00 non-refundable registration fee.

All parents with pre-school children are invited to an orientation and social in the Schneider Center, Parkesburg, on Monday, February 22nd at 9:30am. We will be happy to have you visit our little ones at work in their classrooms and answer any questions you may have about our school. This will be the ONLY Open House for the school year 1999-2000.

NOTE: Policy for a Strike in on of our school districts - we will take registrations from parishioners who have students in the public school district in grades 2-7, depending on the availability of space, ONLY on registration days - our rolls will be closed until after the school district's strike is settled.