Pope Benedict XVI

Dear brothers and sisters,

Holy Week, which for us Christians is the most important week of the year, offers us the opportunity to be immersed in the central events of Redemption, to relive the Paschal Mystery, the great mystery of the faith. The solemn liturgical rites will help us to meditate in a more lively manner on the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord in the days of the Holy Paschal Triduum, fulcrum of the entire liturgical year. May divine grace open our hearts to comprehend the inestimable gift that salvation is, obtained for us by Christ's sacrifice.

How marvelous the gift, and at the same time amazing is this mystery! We can never meditate this reality sufficiently. Jesus, though being God, did not want to make of his divine prerogatives an exclusive possession; he did not want to use his being God, his glorious dignity and power, as an instrument of triumph and sign of distance from us. On the contrary, "he emptied himself" assuming our miserable and weak human condition -- in this regard, Paul uses a quite meaningful Greek verb to indicate the "kenosis", this descent of Jesus. The divine form (morphe) is hidden in Christ under the human form, namely, under our reality marked by suffering, poverty, human limitations and death. The radical and true sharing of our nature, a sharing in everything except sin, leads him to that frontier that is the sign of our finiteness -- death. But all this was not the fruit of a dark mechanism or a blind fatality: It was instead his free choice, by his generous adherence to the Father’s plan of salvation. And the death, which he went out to meet -- adds Paul -- was that of the cross, the most humiliating and degrading that one can imagine. The Lord of the universe did all this out of love for us: out of love he willed to "empty himself" and make himself our brother; out of love he shared our condition, that of every man and every woman. In this connection, Theodoret of Cyrus, a great witness of the Eastern tradition, writes: "Being God and God by nature and having equality with God, he did not retain this as something great, as do those who have received some honor beyond their merits, but concealing his merits, he chose the most profound humility and took the form of a human being" (Commentary on the Letter to the Philippians, 2:6-7)

Benedict XVI

SCHEDULE FOR HOLY WEEK – 2010

SCHEDULE FOR HOLY WEEK – 2010

WEDNESDAY, March 31

7:30 p.m. Tenebrae (No evening Mass)

HOLY THURSDAY, April 1 (No morning Mass)

8:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper

GOOD FRIDAY, April 2

Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion

12:00 Noon, 3:00 p.m. (English)

5:30 p.m. (Portuguese)

8:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross

HOLY SATURDAY, April 3

2:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Food

8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

EASTER SUNDAY, April 4

Holy Mass Times: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (change in Mass time Easter Sunday only)

PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO 6:00 P.M. MASS


PLEASE BE AWARE OF PARKING
ESPECIALLY DURING THE EASTER TRIDUUM AND SUNDAY MASSES.
YOU MUST NOT PARK IN THE FIRE ROUTE
OR YOU WILL RECEIVE A TICKET.
A PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER REGULARLY CHECKS THE PARKING LOT.

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph Parish,

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph Parish,

In the last few weeks, the media has given a lot of attention to serious allegations involving priests, and have tried to involve Pope Benedict in alleged cover up of clerical misconducts. Let it be said that the abuse of minors is a particularly serious and heinous offense and needs to be dealt with in a decisive manner.

However the attempt to link the Holy Father to any form of cover up appears particularly callous and not founded in facts. If one was to look closely at the statements put out by the Holy See and the different Dioceses in Germany it establishes clearly that the Holy Father, when he was Archbishop in Munich and while Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, took appropriate actions.

I bring this difficult topic up partly with the intent of inviting us to be careful when we read or hear in the media accounts of what happens in the Church. Very often their reporting is not accurate. But mostly I wish to invite us to pray earnestly for the Holy Father at this tumultuous time. You will find below prayers for our Holy Father. I invite you to use them in your personal prayers as well as when you pray as a family or group.

Prayer for the Pope

V. Let us pray for Benedict our Pope.
R. May the Lord preserve him, give him long life, make him blessed upon the earth, and may the Lord not hand him over to the power of his enemies.
V. May your hand be upon your holy servant
R. and upon your son whom you have anointed.

Let us Pray: O God, the Pastor and Ruler of all the faithful, look down, in your mercy, upon your servant Benedict, whom you have appointed to preside over your Church; and grant, we beseech you, that both by word and example, he may edify all those under his charge; so that the flock entrusted to him, may arrive at length unto life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Or
Lord, Source of eternal life and truth, give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with Fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor of the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your Church into a sacrament of unity, love and peace for all the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN.

Hoc Facite in meam commemorationem

Those sacred words now adorn our sanctuary; they were pronounced by the Lord at the Last Supper and are repeated by the priest celebrant at every Mass. They mean:
“DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME”

May they remind us of the Lord’s command to offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice until he returns in Glory. May it inspire us to make the Eucharist the centre of our lives!

Fr. Marc-André Campbell

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH

FEAST OF ST. JOSEPH

Friday, March 19 is the Feast of St. Joseph. Mass will be celebrated by Most Rev. John A. Boissonneau at 7:30 p.m. Following the Mass, there will be a reception in the parish hall with the Blessing of St. Joseph Table. Parishioners are asked to bring a dessert to the parish hall before Mass. To share our blessings with the poor, we will also be collecting non-perishable food items.

FORTY HOURS DEVOTION

It is a time of forty hours of Eucharistic Adoration. We will hold this devotion in conjunction with our Patronal Feast. This time of fervent prayer is an invitation to all to make the Eucharist truly the centre of our life. Eucharistic Adoration sign-up sheets are located at both entrances of the Church.

EXPOSITON OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

… on Wednesday March 17, after the 7:30 p.m. Mass from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

… on Thursday, March 18, after the 8:30 a.m. Mass from 9:00 a.m. exposition all night Friday until March 19, 5:00 p.m.

LENTEN RECONCILIATION SERVICE

.. on Thursday, March 18, 7:00 p.m. Several confessors will be available for confessions in preparation for Holy Week.

SCHEDULE FOR HOLY WEEK – 2010

SCHEDULE FOR HOLY WEEK – 2010

WEDNESDAY, March 31

7:30 p.m. Tenebrae

No evening Mass

HOLY THURSDAY, April 1

No morning Mass

8:00 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper

GOOD FRIDAY, April 2

Commemoration of the Lord’s Passion

12:00 Noon, 3:00 p.m. (English)

5:30 p.m. (Portuguese)

8:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross

HOLY SATURDAY, April 3

2:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Food

8:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

EASTER SUNDAY, April 4

Holy Mass Times: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m.,

11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (note change in Mass time)

PLEASE NOTE

THERE WILL BE NO 6:00 P.M. MASS

Parishioners of St. Joseph



Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph:

As you enter our Parish Church you will notice some changes are starting to take place. The work that has been undertaken will place emphases on certain sacred areas of our Church, especially the central area reserved for the Tabernacle, as well as for the various beautiful statues of St. Joseph, the Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Good Voyage, and Our Lady of Fatima that adorned our Church. In doing so, we will create some focal areas that in essence underline their importance and direct our prayerful gaze.

It is hoped that the Sanctuary will be painted before the Feast of St. Joseph on March 19th. After Easter the Second phase of the project will start. It will involve painting the main body of the Church, refinishing where Our Lady of Good Voyage stands and placing special emphasis on the Stations of the Cross.

In the Lobby of the Church boards with the design for the entire Church are on display. Please take a look at them.

Parishioners are welcome to make a contribution to the project by making a donation for a specific element of the project for example by providing funds to paint the backdrop behind St. Joseph or one of the Stations of the Cross. All donors will be recognized by having their names inscribed on a wall plaque. If you are interested more information is available at the parish office.

Father Marc-André Campbell