Attention PSR Parents:

First of all I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. This is such a wonderful year for us to be with family and enjoy the times we have together. It also reminds us of our faith knowing that our God sent his only son Jesus Christ to be born in a manger and to fulfill a life of service.

If you have not seen it on our blog, we are off for the next two weeks for Christmas Break, which is a correction from the original schedule. PSR will resume on January 8, 2012.

We will have mass on January 8th @ 9:30am. Please sit towards the front of church on Mary’s side with your family. We will have students participating in the mass as server’s and bringing up the gifts. After mass we will have our Christmas Potluck in Memorial Hall. Please bring a dish to share. PSR will provide the drinks, and paper products. Please join us as we gather together with our parish family. REPORT CARDS will be handed out as well!

Disciple of Christ,

Steven M. Fischer, CRE

January Schedule

January 1..................No Class, Christmas Break

January 8..................Ministries 9:30 Mass, Christmas Brunch Potluck (MH)

January 15................Class

January 17.................First Reconciliation Celebration 7:00 p.m. Church

January 22 ...............Class

January 29................Class

Fourth Week of Advent (December 18th -24th)

The whole purpose of these Advent pages has been to help us find intimacy with God in the midst of our everyday lives. So we have focused on using the background times of our days to create an interior atmosphere that allows us to wait, to hope, to come into contact with our longing and our desire.

This year the Fourth Week of Advent is the full seven days long. Saturday evening is Christmas Eve and Sunday, Christmas.

Perhaps we can use these days to try to heighten our awareness of whatever is going on in our lives these days, and how that can bring us to Christmas. Some examples might help.

So many of us experience the ironic reality that Christmas can be the most lonely time of our lives. Some of these “mixed feelings” or “sad feelings” are difficult to recognize or name.

For some of us, the Christmas we will celebrate this year pales in comparison to wonderful Christmases of our past - perhaps because we were younger or more “innocent” then, perhaps because some of our loved ones who were central to our Christmas are no longer living or not where I am, perhaps because the burdens and struggles of my life or the changes in our world and the war have robbed this Christmas of something that was there before.

For some of us, Christmas will be just another day. Unable to get out to go to church to be with a faith community, and without family or friends to be with, Christmas will be a day we are tempted to ignore.

For some of us, Christmas inevitably means family conflicts. Facing the days ahead, whether it be the last few remaining parties, or conflicting demands of family and friends, or the friend or relative who drinks too much, or the experience I'm having that I drink too much and this season is an easy excuse.

For some of us, Christmas challenges us with terrible financial burdens. Children today become victims of the gross commercial exploitation of the day. For those of us struggling to make ends meet on a day to day basis, feeling the cultural pressure of buying for our children things which we can't afford, can lead us to put more debt on the credit card in ways that simply push us further and further behind.

Some of us, might be really looking forward to Christmas, and not be aware of these struggles with Christmas, yet feel that, in spite of our best efforts to make Advent different this year, there is still something missing, and we still feel unready for Christmas.

For all of us, the story behind these days can draw us in, and invite us to bring our lives to the mystery of how Jesus came into this world and why. Our best preparation for the Holy Night ahead and the Joyful Morning to follow is for us to reflect upon how he came. He came in the midst of scandal and conflict. He came in poverty. He was rejected before he was born. He was born in a feed trough. He was hunted down. And he grew up in obscurity.

He did not shun our world and its poverty and conflict. He embraced it. And he desires to embrace us today, in this day. Right where we are. Right where we are feeling most distant. Right were we are feeling least “religious” or “ready.” If we let him come into our hearts to be our Savior these challenging days, we will find ourselves entering the sacred night and morning of Christmas “joyful and triumphant” as never before.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Click here for more information on ADVENT

Third Week of Advent (December 11th-17th)

Gaudete Week

Our week begins with “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin. It comes from the first word of the Entrance antiphon on Sunday. The spirit of joy that begins this week comes from the words of Paul, “The Lord is near.” This joyful spirit is marked by the third candle of our Advent wreath, which is rose colored, and the rose colored vestments often used at the Eucharist.

The second part of Advent begins on December 17th each year - this year, in 2011, it is Saturday of the Third Week of Advent. For the last eight days before Christmas, the plan of the readings changes. The first readings are still from the prophesies, but now the gospels are from the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. We read the stories of faithful women and men who prepared the way for our salvation. We enter into the story of how Jesus' life began. These stories are filled with hints of what his life will mean for us. Faith and generosity overcome impossibility. Poverty and persecution reveal glory.

Preparing our Hearts and asking for Grace

We prepare this week by feeling the joy. We move through this week feeling a part of the waiting world that rejoices because our longing has prepared us to believe the reign of God is close at hand. And so we consciously ask:

Prepare our hearts
and remove the sadness
that hinders us from feeling
the joy and hope
which his presence
will bestow.

Each morning this week, in that brief moment we are becoming accustomed to, we want to light a third inner candle. Three candles, going from expectation, to longing, to joy. They represent our inner preparation, or inner perspective. In this world of “conflict and division,” “greed and lust for power,” we begin each day this week with a sense of liberating joy. Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say,

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Each day this week, we will continue to go through our everyday life, but we will experience the difference our faith can bring to it. We are confident that the grace we ask for will be given us. We will encounter sin - in our own hearts and in our experience of the sin of the world. We can pause in those moments, and feel the joy of the words,

“You are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people
from their sins.” Mt 1:21

We may experience the Light shining into dark places of our lives and showing us patterns of sinfulness, and inviting us to experience God's mercy and healing. Perhaps we wish to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconcilation this week. We may want to make gestures of reconcilation with a loved one, relative, friend or associate. With more light and joy, it is easier to say, “I'm sorry; let's begin again.”

Each night this week we want to pause in gratitude. Whatever the day has brought, no matter how busy it has been, we can stop, before we fall asleep, to give thanks for a little more light, a little more freedom to walk by that light, in joy.

Our celebration of the coming of our Savior in history, is opening us up to experience his coming to us this year, and preparing us to await his coming in Glory.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Click here for more information on ADVENT

2nd Week of Advent (December 4th - 10th)

Preparing our Hearts and asking for the Grace

We prepare this week by stepping up the longing. We move through this week by naming deeper and more specific desires.

Each morning this week, if even for that brief moment at the side of our beds, we want to light a second inner candle. We want to let it represent “a bit more hope.” Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say,

“Lord, I place my trust in you.”

Each day this week, as we encounter times that are rushed, even crazy, we can take that deep breath, and make that profound prayer. Each time we face some darkness, some experience of “parched land” or desert, some place where we feel “defeated” or “trapped,” we hear the words, “Our God will come to save us!”

The grace we desire for this week is to be able to hear the promise and to invite our God to come into those real places of our lives that dearly need God's coming. We want to be able to say:

“Lord, I place my trust in your promise. Please, Lord, rouse your power and come into this place in my life, this relationship, into this deep self-defeating pattern. Please come here and save me.”

Each night this week we can look back over the day and give thanks for the moments of deep breath, that opened a space for more trust and confidence in God's fidelity to us. No matter how difficult the challenges we are facing - from the growing realization of our personal sinfulness, to any experience of emptiness or powerlessness, even in the face of death itself - we can give thanks for the two candles that faithfully push back the darkness. And, we can give thanks for the graces given us to believe that “Our God will come to save us” because we were given the courageous faith to desire and ask boldly.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Click here for more information on ADVENT

Pancake Breakfast

Come join the Forester's as they have their annual Pancake Breakfast this Sunday - December 4th!

Santa Claus will be there to get picture with all the kids and hand them a goodie bag. He will be there from 8 am to 12 pm.

Tell all your friends and enjoy some time with your parish community.

December Schedule

December 4..............Class, Reconciliation (2nd Week of Advent)

December 11............Class, Reconciliation (3rd Week of Advent)

December 18............Class (4th Week of Advent)

December 25.......No Class, Christmas Break

1st Week of Advent (November 27th - December 3rd)

we begin Advent, we light one candle in the midst of all the darkness in our lives and in the world. It symbolizes our longing, our desire, our hope. Three “advents” or “comings” shape our desire. We want to be renewed in a sense that Jesus came to save us from our sin and death. We want to experience his coming to us now, in our everyday lives, to help us live our lives with meaning and purpose. And we want to prepare for his coming to meet us at the end of our lives on this earth.

So, we begin with our longing, our desire and our hope.

When we wake up, each day this week, we could light that candle, just by taking a few moments to focus. We could pause for a minute at the side of our bed, or while putting on our slippers or our robe, and light an inner candle. Who among us doesn't have time to pause for a moment? We could each find our own way to pray something like this:

“Lord, the light I choose to let into my life today is based on my trust in you. It is a weak flame, but I so much desire that it dispel a bit more darkness today. Today, I just want to taste the longing I have for you as I go to the meeting this morning, carry out the responsibilities of my work, face the frustration of some difficult relationships. Let this candle be my reminder today of my hope in your coming.”

Each morning this week, that momentary prayer might get more specific, as it prepares us for the day we will face. And as we head to work, walk to a meeting, rush through lunch, take care of errands, meet with people, pick up the phone to return some calls, answer e-mail, return home to prepare a meal, listen to the ups and downs of our loved ones' day, we can take brief moments to relate our desire for the three comings of the Lord to our life.

If our family has an Advent wreath, or even if it doesn't, we could pray together before our evening meal. As we light the first candle on the wreath, or as we simply pause to pray together our normal grace. Then, as we begin to eat, we can invite each other, including the children, to say something about what it means today to light this first candle.

Perhaps we could ask a different question each night, or ask about examples from the day. How am I getting in touch with the longing within me? How did I prepare today? What does it mean to prepare to celebrate his coming 2,000 years ago? How can we prepare to experience his coming into our lives this year? What does it mean for us now, with our world involved in so much conflict? How are we being invited to trust more deeply? How much more do we long for his coming to us, in the midst of the darkness in our world? In what ways can we renew our lives so we might be prepared to greet him when he comes again? Our evening meal could be transformed this week, if we could shape some kind of conversation together that lights a candle of anticipation in our lives. Don't worry if everyone isn't “good at” this kind of conversation at first. We can model it, based on our momentary pauses throughout each day, in which we are discovering deeper and deeper desires, in the midst of our everyday lives.

And every night this week, we can pause briefly, perhaps as we undress or sit for a minute at the edge of the bed. We can be aware of how that one, small candle's worth of desire brought light into this day. And we can give thanks. Going to bed each night this week with some gratitude is part of the preparation for growing anticipation and desire.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come and visit your people.
We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Click here for more information on ADVENT

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you for your faith and for allowing us to help you along the way as we bring Christ to your children. We are so blessed to have a PSR program here at St. Joseph and for a parish that supports us in our faith journey. We can't do this alone and that is why we belong to a parish. I am thankful for all those that have prayed not only for the program, our catechists, families, but also for me.

The spirit works in mysterious ways and it is always amazing to feel the prayers of others. So thank you! Thank you for choosing life, for being faithful and for bringing your children into the Catholic faith. Take this time to enjoy the time together this Thanksgiving season because as parents we know, that in a blink of an eye, they will not be your little babies anymore.

Below is a prayer that I would like to share:

Thanksgiving Prayer

This Thanksgiving let those of us who have much and those who have little gather at the welcoming table of the Lord. At this blessed feast, may rich and poor alike remember that we are called to serve on another and to walk together in God's gracious world. With thankful hearts we praise our God who like a loving parent denies us no good thing.

From Songs of Our Hearts, Meditations of Our Souls: Prayers for Black Catholics, edited by Cecilia A. Moor, Ph.D., C. Vanessa White, D.Min., and Paul M. Marshall, S.M.

A rich and powerful season of the Church year.

We are so blessed to be Catholic and to have the liturgical calendar to keep us focused on our faith. It is times like this that we really need to grasp the rich and powerful season of the Church year. To be honest we often miss Advent's power because these December weeks are full of secular Christmas parties and preparations for Christmas that you would think would draw us closer but at times it does just the opposite.

Each year, the busyness of this season serves to distract us from having an Advent season that truly prepares us for the celebration of Christmas, with all its meaning. It is not even Thanksgiving and we are already seeing Christmas in stores and ads out there for our children to make their wish list.

Over the next four weeks I will be posting from a site that offers simple ways to enter into this Advent season, week by week, in the midst of our everyday lives.

Don't be worried or anxious.

These resources are simple and friendly. You won't need to rush out and get an Advent wreath if you don't have one. You won't need to make your family recite prayers that don't seem to fit where you are.

These reflections are for adults.

They are prepared, however, to draw children in. They are resources to help us adults with the un-named anticipation or longing in our hearts. They allow us to enter into the experience of our darkness and therefore to give glory to God for the Light.

Praying Advent website helps our journey

Want some help for the Advent journey? The Praying Advent website offers a Daily Prayer for each day of Advent, based upon the new Collects of the New Roman Missal. In addition, there are family Dinner Prayers for Advent, help for parents and for people caring for parents. There are even audio reflections and a few audio retreats. All, brief and intended for busy people - to help make our Advent full of grace. Just Google "Praying Advent 2011." or click here.

Closing of Forty Hours

We adore You and We praise

You, Lord Jesus Christ


present in the
Most Holy Sacrament
of the Eucharist
_________________________________________

Last year’s First Communicants, this year’s Confirmation group and representatives of parish organizations marched in the Eucharistic procession.

These devotion highlighted the significance of our Eucharistic faith. As Fr. Gerry mentioned those who want their families and themselves rooted in the traditions of our faith will want to take advantage of this occasion and many did.

Adoration: What is it?

Simply put, Adoration is prayer. Adoration celebrates Jesus, who is fully present in the Consecrated Host at Mass and reserved in tabernacles in Catholic churches and chapels. At Adoration, the Consecrated Host is reverently displayed on the altar in a receptacle called a monstrance. Adoration is a time for us to pray, to listen, and to be in His presence.

Where did it come from?

The Bible. After Christ instituted the Eucharist and celebrated the first Mass at the Last Supper, He took His disciples to the Mount of Olives and invited them to stay awake with Him, praying there in vigil for what was to come. Christ gave to the disciples, and to all Christians, this pattern of prayer. Jesus’s question to his disciples, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” is the same question he asks us today…Could you not keep watch for one hour? (Mark 14:37)

How does Eucharistic Adoration relate to my life?

Whether it is homework, service work, faith, athletics, a relationship, friendships, or fun, everything you do can be rooted in Christ through Eucharistic Adoration. Pope John Paul II reiterated Vatican II’s proclamation, that the Eucharist is “the Source and Summit of the Christian life.” Eucharistic Adoration nourishes us, inspires us, and gives us the strength and grace to make Christ relevant, whether in our school work, our leisure time, our relationships, or our service to those who are in need. By spending time with Jesus in Adoration, we are made more mindful of Him and His presence with us throughout our day.

How is it different than Mass or private prayer in my hall chapel?

Prayer can be done at anytime, anywhere, by anyone. You can always find and make time for prayer.

Mass is the perfect prayer. When we gather as a community at Mass, we celebrate God’s gift to the Church in giving us His Son. By the words of the priest and through the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine offered at the altar become Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Jesus’ Real Presence remains in the Consecrated Host, which is reserved in the tabernacle following Mass. Outside of Mass, people are always welcome to pray in our churches and chapels in the presence of Christ at any time.

Eucharistic Adoration is that time set aside when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed (placed in a monstrance on the altar) so that the faithful may see, pray, and adore our Risen Lord. Jesus is just as present in the tabernacle as in the monstrance, but many believers find comfort and ease when they are able to adore while looking upon Jesus exposed in the monstrance.

The Closing of Forty Hours was such a beautiful celebration. It was an outward sign of our relationship with Christ to the community. Fr. Nick Rottman during his homily highlighted that the very essence of a Christian life is our relationship with Christ. All the things that we do for credit or admiration for other people is not what gets us to heaven. Rather it is the relationship that we form with Jesus himself is what gets us to heaven and that is why we are here.

" I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that

I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

John 6:51

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you

eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you do not have life within you."

John 6:53

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,

you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:26

Here at St. Joseph we have Exposition of Blessed Sacrament from 10am - 6:30pm every Wednesday. This is a great opportunity to spend some quiet time with our Lord throughout the year.

Many thanks goes to Fr. Josh, Dave Wegert, and Connie Ruprich in all the preparation they put into making this a beautiful celebration. We also thank all the parishioners that took time out of their busy lives to make sure that someone was here with our Lord during these forty hours. To all the families that made it to the closing - THANK YOU. We hope you come and fill the church with your voices, prayers, and presence at this beautiful celebration next year.

The questions and answers came from the following website: Office of Campus Ministry

FIRE DRILL

Today we had a FIRE DRILL!

Unfortunately there are no pictures to post but the children did an awesome job following instructions. It's very important that your children are prepared in case there was a true fire.

In a way it is very similar to being prepared as we work our way to HEAVEN. We may not know the day nor the hour - but as long as we know CHRIST and follow his teachings then of course we will be prepared for the day he calls us home. So taking a FIRE DRILL and relating it to our goal of what we are preparing for makes a lot of sense.

As catechists we teach the faith once a week to your children, but you have them the rest of the week as you LIVE the faith. Let's put this in to perspective. The other day as I was driving with the kids running some errands and I realized why my children snap at each other. I snap at them! I didn't realize it until I really started thinking why do they treat each other this way. I can see that they get a lot from TV, but what about what we teach them at home. We all have heard it before - "actions speak louder than words".

So Kari and I decided that before we snap, we are going to silently say a "HAIL MARY" before we talk to the kids when they are misbehaving. This will give us time to relax so we don't get caught up in the moment. Why a HAIL MARY? Well Mary is one of the greatest examples of how to be a christian - always saying, "YES" to God! Just imagine being in her shoes as you read the story that is told in the New Testament and living her life. Could you do it? I would like to say that we could but we have to be truly connected to our Lord on a daily basis.

So once we as parents have this down we are going to hopefully see a change because our ACTIONS are going to coincide with our words. This is how it should be always, after all we can't call ourselves CHRISTIANS if we aren't Christ-like always. Starting this at home with our family is where it all begins because our home is the first church. So the this is the goal and GOD knows that we aren't perfect. That is why he hears our prayers and our confessions.

Now the hard part is realizing what we have done and how we are going to correct it. This will allow us to get back on the right path. What better way than through prayer? Advent is just around the corner and that is a time for preparation for the coming of our Lord. We don't just be good around Christmas as our children may think, but all year around! GOD BLESS!

Change War Results

Thanks to all the grades that participated in our Change War for 'Be Concerned'.

As a group we collected $93.11

2nd grade collected the most money, $35.81.

Their prize is donuts - chocolate iced with sprinkles - YUM!!!

Thanks for all your support and we look forward to our next service project!

Attention 3rd and 8th Grade Parents!!!

All PSR families are most welcome and encouraged to attend! As 3rd and 8th grade parents, your children will have a special role in the Solemn Closing of these devotions: Sunday, November 13. As 3rd grader's, and those who made their First Holy Communion last year, your children are invited and expected to have an honored place in the procession at the Closing, which will be going outdoors: a public witness to our faith in the Lord's Eucharistic presence (weather permitting!) They are encouraged to wear their First Communion attire from last year if that is possible. As 8th graders, and those preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, your children are likewise invited and expected to have an honored place in the procession. We ask 3rd and 8th graders to meet in Kelley Hall at 3:30 PM.

Please RSVP by emailing stjoepsr@hotmail.com so we may have a head count of how many 3rd and 8th grader's that will be attending the closing. Thank you!

November Schedule

November 6 ................Class
Sacristy Tours for 5th and 8th Grade w/Fr. Josh

November 13 ...............Class
Closing of Forty Hours 4pm - all welcome!
** see message from Fr. Josh that was posted on Monday, October 3, 2011

November 20 ..............Class

November 27 ...............No Class – Thanksgiving Break (1st Week of Advent)

All Saints Day!

Basic Facts/Meaning About All Saints Day

Liturgical Color(s): White
Type of Holiday: Solemnity, Holy Day of Obligation (West); Feast (East)
Time of Year: November 1 (in the East, the Sunday after Pentecost)
Duration: One Day
Celebrates/Symbolizes: All Saints, known and unknown
Alternate Names: All Hallows, Hallowmas, Halloween
Scriptural References: Mark 12:26-27; Ephesians 6:18; Hebrews 12:1, Revelation 5:8

Every day in the Church calendar has a saint day, but the Solemnity of All Saints is when the Church honors all saints, known and unknown. This is much like the American holidays Veterans Day and Presidents Day, where many people are honored on one day. While we have information about many saints, and we honor them on specific days, there are many unknown or unsung saints, who may have been forgotten, or never been specifically honored. On All Saints Day, we celebrate these saints of the Lord, and ask for their prayers and intercessions. The whole concept of All Saints Day is tied in with the concept of the Communion of Saints. This is the belief that all of God's people, on heaven, earth, and in the state of purification (called Purgatory in the West), are connected in a communion. In other words, Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that the saints of God are just as alive as you and I, and are constantly interceding on our behalf. Remember, our connection with the saints in heaven is one grounded in a tight-knit communion. The saints are not divine, nor omnipresent or omniscient. However, because of our common communion with and through Jesus Christ, our prayers are joined with the heavenly community of Christians. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 350) testifies to this belief:

We mention those who have fallen asleep: first the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, that through their prayers and supplications God would receive our petition...(Catechetical Lecture 23:9).

The Catholic Catechism concisely describes this communion among believers, by which we are connected to Christ, and thus to one another:

"Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness...They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us...So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."

"...as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself: We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples (CCC 956, 957)!

There are thousands of canonized saints, that is those individuals officially recognized by the Church as holy men and women worthy of imitation. Because miracles have been associated with these people, and their lives have been fully examined and found holy by the Church, we can be assured they are prime examples of holiness, and powerful intercessors before God on our behalf. There are also many patron saints, guardians or protectors of different areas and states of life. For instance, St. Vitus is the patron saint against oversleeping, and St. Joseph of Cupertino is the patron saint of air travelers. It may sound crazy to have a patron saint against oversleeping, but keep in mind the Church has something meaningful for every area of our human lives. All of these saints are celebrated throughout the year, as many have their own feast days (for instance, St. Hilary of Poitiers, whose feast day is celebrated January 13).

Click on the link below for more info:

http://www.churchyear.net/allsaints.html