Pastor’s Corner

Year for Priests
June 2009 - 2010

Lent is upon us, and I am going to talk to you about Christmas. I did not get a chance to publicly thank you for your generosity to your
parish at Christmas and in the Sunday offerings. You may have noticed in the bulletin that we are above our goal for the first time
in years. These funds will come in handy because we have recently had some extra maintenance expenses: our church boilers are shot and the fire department says we need a new smoke detector system in the church. Your continued generosity will help us cover these expenses without any extra collections.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Soon our diocese will take up The Catholic Relief Services Collection. This important Collection not only provides for our impoverished and
vulnerable brothers and sisters all over the world—it does much more. This Collection gives hope to Jesus in disguise.

Catholic Relief Services gives hope to the community that has lost its livelihood to crop failure and hope to the refugee child, separated from her mother. Catholic Relief Services gives hope to the immigrant, trying to keep faith alive in a foreign land. The Catholic Relief Services Collection helps to fund programs that give hope to refugees, the impoverished, and immigrants, including victims of war, natural disaster, and drought. These programs aid victims of natural disasters and armed conflict; provide agricultural assistance, water programs, and health care; resettle refugees and immigrants to the United States; help alleviate poverty in developing countries; provide legal support services for poor immigrants; and advocate for policies and programs that promote global justice and peace. Through these humanitarian, economic, pastoral, and advocacy efforts, The Catholic Relief Services Collection gives hope. I invite you, too, to give hope to Jesus in disguise.

In our diocese, The Catholic Relief Services Collection is scheduled for March 13/14. You can visit www.usccb.org/ nationalcollections for more information about The Catholic Relief Services Collection.

Thank you for your generosity!
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend J. Peter Sartain
Bishop of Joliet

Adult Faith Formation Board

The Adult Faith Formation Board is looking for four new members. Adult Faith Formation Board members meet every other month to evaluate and plan parish opportunities for adult Catholics to grow in knowledge and love of their faith. Those interested in serving the parish throughthis ministry are welcome to attend the next Adult Faith Formation Board meeting on March 16at 7:30 pm in the Parish Center.
For more information, contact Antonia Summers at the Parish Center or antoniasummers@gmail.com.

Theology for Beginners - Session II

January 14 —March 11 from 7:00-8:30 pm,
St. Joseph Church— Fitzgerald Hall

This introductory course in theology is based on the class offered for credit at the University of St. Francis. Session II covers Creation, Fall and Redemption; The Church: Spotless Bride of Christ; and Christian Life and Liturgy. It is taught by Fr. Jerome Kish, who received his license to teach Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary. Required texts are: Bible, Catholic edition, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second edition, and Theology for Beginners, Frank Sheed.

Register now by contacting Antonia Summers by email at antoniasummers@gmail.com or at the Parish Center, (630) 964-0216 x1207. New participants welcome! If you attended Session I, you do not need to register again.

Catholics Come Home...to St. Joseph Parish

You’ve probably seen the Catholics Come Home commercials on network television. These striking ads are a combined effort of our Diocese of Joliet, the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the Rockford Diocese. We hope these ads will be an opportunity for each one of us to invite back home our family and friends who may have been away from theChurch.

We especially want people to join us at Mass, the source and summit of our Christian life. It is at the Holy Eucharist that Christ becomes present to us in his living Body and Blood, drawing us by the power of the Holy Spirit in a prayer of praise that reaches the heights of heaven to God our Father. Christ feeds us deeply at the Sunday Mass in order to strengthen us for the week ahead.

O f t e n , we are speechless at the amazing and unseen things that happen at each Mass. So it can be difficult for us to explain its beauty to others and effectively invite them home. Fr. Larry Richards is a dynamic preacher who reveals to us the beauty of the Eucharist. His CD, “The Mass Explained”, was mailed to you as a free gift in the February 19, St. Joseph’s Workbench Newsletter.

Would you please join together with me in this effort? It takes only three simple steps:

1. Listen to the CD of Fr. Larry Richards
2. Hand it on to someone else
3. Invite someone to Mass

Actually, inviting someone to Mass should be a regular part of our Christian life. The great privilege and honor of meeting our God Jesus Christ in the flesh is an overwhelming joy we should be constantly sharing. Our Lord counts on you to share his friendship with
others in each particular corner of the world he has sent you. As Catholics, we do this with great naturalness; our Lord is also fully
human and as much our friend as the person next to us.

Please pray for many blessings on this parish effort to spread God’s kingdom

Journeys of Faith

Often, we look at people who are on fire with their faith and think they must have always been that way. Ordinarily, that is not the
case. It is not unusual for us as young adults to put aside our faith for a time, only to return when a major event causes us to realize
what we are missing. Such an event may be a marriage, a divorce, the death of a loved one, the birth of a son ordaughter.

The road to finding our faith and our true calling is most often filled with twists and turns, bumps and bruises and we never know what is around the next corner.

How did an electrical engineer from Beecher, Illinois, come to realize he is called to serve the People of God as a Catholic priest?

How did a corporate consultant from New York City, who thought there was no civilization west of the East River come to Downers Grove to serve people in need at Catholic Charities?

How is it that you have come to where you are on your Journey?

Join us Sunday, March 7, at 6:30 pm as Adult Faith Formation presents Journeys of Faith: true stories of the Spirit at work in our lives. Be inspired by these stories and let others be inspired by yours!

Is God Calling You? Are you heeding His call?
Pastoral Council is Seeking New Members

Will you heed God’s call? Our discernment process will take us through the middle of May. We are currently looking for six new members. Please help us identify individuals you believe will bring the important skills needed for our parish’s spiritual and long-term growth.

If you have asked yourself, “What in the world does the Pastoral Council do?” or, “How can this group influence my life as a parishioner?” Stay tuned for announcements in this bulletin along with:

• After Mass Question/Answer sessions with Pastoral Council members;
• Answers to most frequently asked questions, such as, what are the skills required by a Pastoral Council Member; and
• Status of Recruitment and Discernment process.

Please do not hesitate to call me with any questions you might have. Also, send me the name of your nominee, this can be you, if you feel called. We will also need a phone number to contact the person and your reason for selecting this individual. This can be sent to williamp1959@yahoo.com or you can reach me at home at 630/964-2980.

May God Bless you, Bill Paradise

Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross will be celebrated on the following Friday’s of Lent at 7:30 pm: March 5, 12, 19, and 26

Lenten Regulations

1. Everyone 14 years of age or over is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent (excluding the Solemnity of St. Joseph per Canon 1251).

2. Everyone 18 years of age and under 59 years of age is bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

3. On these two days of fast and abstinence, only one full meatless meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted on these two days, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices are allowed. When health or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige.

4. To disregard completely the law of fast and abstinence is seriously sinful.

5. Lent is the principal season of penance in the Christian year. All of the faithful are strongly urged to develop and follow a program of voluntary self-denial (in addition to following the Lenten regulations), serious prayer, and a performance of works of charity and mercy.

A Lenten Prayer Service in the Spirit of Taize

Thursday, March 4 at 7:30 pm
St. Joseph Church, 4801 Main Street, Downers Grove IL

As a community of faith, surrounded in candlelight, we continue the Lenten prayer. We sing simple songs and chants; we enter into silence allowing the Lord, the Divine Healer, to speak to us and to draw us closer to his heart.

We pray for a true spirit of reconciliation within our household, within our communities, within our world:

That all hearts may know love,
That all peoples may know freedom,
That all lands may know peace.

Come, experience the presence of the Lord amont his people.

March 7 is Donut Sunday at St. Joseph Church

The first Sunday of each month is designated Donut Sunday. Come and mingle with fellow parishioners and enjoy fresh donuts and a hot cup of coffee after the 7:00, 8:45 and the 10:30 am Masses in the narthex.

Save the Date!
St. Joe’s Athletic and Booster Committee’s Annual St. Patrick's Party

Saturday, March 6 Doors open at 6:30 pm, Dinner served at 7:30 pm
$20 per person for a great corn beef and cabbage dinner. Cash bar will be available. Music will be provided by Hindsight! Fun for everyone.
This party supports St. Joe’s Sports Programs.

To make reservations, call Sheila O’Meara at 630/968-3810 or omearaboys@comcast.net.

Help Needed For PADS Meals (Public Action to Deliver Shelter)

Each Monday evening during the month of March, St. Joseph Parish will be providing a meal for PADS (shelter is located in the lower level of the church, directly across the street from the Downers Grove library). Approximately 90 homeless are served dinner, provided a safe night’s sleep, and breakfast the following morning including a brown bag lunch.

Help is needed to provide either a specific food item for the dinner meal or assist in the kitchen during meal time. Church communities are also asked to provide food items used to prepare brown bag lunches for the next day, as well as breakfast foods for the following morning. If you are willing to help, please call the contact assigned to each meal. We will be looking for entrees, salads, vegetables, and desserts for each dinner; bulk lunch meat, bread, and fruit for the preparation of brown bag lunches and bulk eggs, bread, bacon and cereal for each breakfast. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

March 8 Meatloaf
Joanne Norgle 630/971-3789

March 15 Turkey
Chick Briner 630/960-5072

March 22 Beef Sandwiches
Julie Correll 630/963-6922

March 29 Lasagna
Pat Lord
630/321-1002

Help Needed for PADS Night Staff

St. Joseph Parish is also responsible for supplying Volunteers to staff the overnight shelter. If you are able to work on any of these Monday nights, please contact Deacon Frank Kozar at 630/964-0216 x1107.

The following shifts are available:
9:00—11:00 pm, 11:00 pm—3:00 am,
3:00—7:00 am. If you have never worked
PADS overnight, be assured that you will
be scheduled with experienced people!

Joliet Council of Catholic Women present a Lenten Morning of Reflection “IT WAS THE WOMEN WHO STAYED”

St. Charles Pastoral Center, Romeoville Saturday, March 6, 8:30 am All women are invited to the Joliet Council of Catholic Women Lenten Morning ofReflection on Saturday, March 6. Colette Wisnewski will present “IT WAS THE WOMEN WHO STAYED”. This program will explore a discipleship of presence and witness in our daily lives. What lessons can we take from the woman who followed Jesus through Galilee and provided for him, remaining with him all the way through his suffering, standing at the cross and near the tomb and bearing witness to his death and resurrection? Beginning with the stories of woman in scripture, moving to the wisdom of the saints in our tradition and turning to the examples of some of our contemporaries, we will explore those moments in our lives when we too are called to stand at the foot of the cross being totally present and committed to another and bearing witness to Christ’s suffering and resurrection in our world. How do we reach out in service to the “others” in our lives? What role does prayer, ritual and friendships have in living out our commitment to follow Jesus?

Our speaker, Colette Wisnewski, is a writer, retreat leader and graduate of the Chicago Theological Union. She brings with her an ongoing desire to explore the relationship between spirituality and creativity. Colette has served the JDCCW as Commission Chair in the past.

Please join us for this special morning at St. Charles Pastoral Center, 402 S. Independence Boulevard in Romeoville. The morning will begin at 8:30 am with continental breakfast in room 155. A $5.00 donation per person is requested. (Checks may be made payable to
JDCCW.) Mail your checks to: JDCCW, 402 S. Independence Boulevard, Romeoville, IL 60446, attn: REFLECTION. Reservations are requested on or before March 1. You may call the JDCCW office at 815/834-4808 for more information or Pat Lord at 630/321-1002.

Come one! Come all! let us celebrate the Patron Saint of our Parish!
March 19, 2010 ~ the Feast Day of St. Joseph

We will begin with Mass at 5:30 pm, followed by a delicious St. Joseph Table feast of pasta,breads, cakes and cookies!

St. Joseph, the earthly father of Christ and husband of Mary, keeps under his beneficent watch fathers and families, workers and craftsmen, immigrants and travelers. The humblecarpenter of Nazareth aids and protects expectant mothers and doubting souls. He is the champion of social justice, and the guardian of a happy death. He holds the exalted position of patron of the universal church.

History of St. Joseph Altar Sicily, the largest and most populous of the Mediterranean Islands, because of its location in the north central Mediterranean Sea, has often been used as a “stepping stone” to and from the European continent.

In the ninth century, agriculture and commerce flourished by cultivating mountainous land. Grapes, olives, wheat, and citrus were the main crops and chief exports.

For too long there had been no rain to nourish the crops that sustained life for the Island. The dried out crops cracked beneath the feet of the poor farmers as they walked through their barren fields. Only a sea of dust and withered vines remained from what had once been row upon row of brightly colored fruits, vegetables, and wheat.

And so the people prayed to their patron, St. Joseph, for relief from the terrible famine that gripped the Island. At last the skies opened, sending down the life-giving water, and the people rejoiced. For their gratitude, they prepared tables of an assortment of foods they had harvested.

After paying honor to St. Joseph, they celebrated together and also distributed food to the less fortunate. Whether a St. Joseph Altar is displayed at an elegant church or a humble table, it is a reflection of deep devotion to St. Joseph, the patron of those in need ~ workers, the poor, the aged, and the dying.

PLEASE join in helping us honor our Patron Saint on March 19. Our St. Joseph Altar and Table will be sponsored by St. Joseph Knights of Columbus and St. Joseph Youth Ministry. Would you contribute a food item for the table? Traditional St. Joseph Table fare includes home made breads, cookies and cakes. Please call the Parish Center 630-964-0216 and contact either Frank Kozar ext. 1107 or Marta Spiezio ext. 1201 to let us know what you will add to the table! If you cannot make the 5:30 pm Mass, you are still welcome to partake of the St. Joseph Table from 6:00-7:30 pm.

Evening of Recollection

• for women Monday, March 22 at 7:30 pm
• for men Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 pm

Each evening will include exposition of theBlessed Sacrament, preached meditation, silent prayer and opportunities for confession.

World Day of Prayer for Priests Begins June 19, 2009
http://www.wdppjoliet.org

A Prayer for Our Priests
Almighty God, in your love you bless your Church with priests, a sign of your faithfulness to your people. May our prayerful encouragement, during this year and years to come, help them remain faithful to the calling they have received from you. As they tend your flock, grant them a caring heart. In them may we know the voice of Christ,
our Good Shepherd, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen
Copyright 2009, J.S. Paluch Co., Inc. All rights reserved

Do you respect the priesthood? Do you love our priests, deacons, and religious brothers? Do you want an opportunity to support our clergy and religious men throughout the U.S.? If you answered yes to any of these questions, The Upper Room Crisis Hotline is your opportunity! A new training class for volunteers is beginning July 14 until August 27. Please come to support our priests, deacons, and religious brothers! Please complete the information below and return it to: The Upper Room Crisis Hotline, P.O. Box 3572, Joliet, IL 60434 or call to register at 815/341-9124.

Name: _________________________________________
Phone Number: _____________________________

YOUTH MINISTRY

The Office of Divine Worship has finalized the schedule for the Sacrament of Confirmation. We are pleased to announce that St. Joseph Confirmation ceremony has been set for Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 10:00 am. Celebrant: Abbot Dismas Kalcic, OSB

Right of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

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Welcome New Parishioners!

Eileen and Peter Breeze
Dawn and Robert Damore
Sasha and Matt Demos
Brian Hickman
Margaret Kelly
Sheila and Michael Krueger
Cathleen and Matt Lange
Leslie and Geoffrey Neustadt
Julie and David Parrilli
Diane Ferrigan
Rima and John Franklin
Andrea and Stanley Gray
Laura and Tom Harrington
Mylene and Dave Kane
Peggy and James Kepple
Nicole and Ryan Kibiloski
Barbara and Mariusz Klusa
Ami and Randy Kulik
Susan Larson
Stacy and Jeremiah O'Keefe
Diane Parrilli
Theresa and Anthony Perna
Claire and Sean Reynolds
Suzanne (Trent) and William Richardson
Nancy and Robert Rifenburg
Jennifer and Erik Rook
Margaret and Todd Sluzas
Nancy and Jeffrey Strolle
Laura and Scott Wilson