November 4, 2012 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - St. Joseph Parish

S T . J O S E P H P A R I S H , A P P L E T O N , W I
Fr Jim’s Jottings
Today both of our parishes are remembering parishioners who have
died this past year. We’re doing this a few days after November 2….
All Souls Day….the traditional day to pray for the dead.
I’ve always appreciated the custom of remembering and praying for
the dead at this time of the year. To demonstrate our concern and care,
we will keep their names before us throughout the month of
November. Many of those deceased parishioners have belonged to St
Joe’s or St Mary’s for a long time. It’s a responsibility that we should
remember them in gratitude and pray for their eternal rest.
When I go out to St Mary’s Cemetery and St Joseph’s Cemetery, I try
to comprehend the sacredness of those places. They contain the
remains of great men and women. Some died as infants and others
got close to or passed 100. I try to imagine the grief of many families
who buried a loved one they didn’t want to let go of. Then there are
others who gratefully placed their bodies in the earth after years of
suffering. Their gravestone signals the assurance that they are still
with us but, we pray, their spirit is alive with God.
For them we pray “eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord and let
perpetual light shine upon them.”
12 Ways to Live the Year of Faith
1. Bring a friend to Sunday Mass
2. Be committed to daily prayer as a family
3. Place a crucifix or holy picture in your home
4. Study the Faith in a group
5. Go to confession
6. Volunteer in the parish
7. Participate in a Bible study
8. Help a neighbor in need
9. Pray the Act of Faith each day
10. Read the documents of Vatican II
11. Read the life of a saint or another Catholic book
12. Take 10 minutes each day to read from one of the Gospels.
REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS THOSE
AFFECTED BY HURRICANE SANDY!
If you would like to make an offering to the rebuilding fund, put your
check or money in an envelope and mark it: Hurricane Sandy Relief.
Then place it in the collection. We will forward it to Catholic Charities.
Congratulations to Our
Weekly Calendar Raffle Winners
October 21 —Vicki Rotzel—$25.00
October 22—Richard Schreiter—$25.00
October 23—Justin Gestout- $25.00
October 24—Dennis & Phyllis Verhyen-$25.00
October 25—Mark Derricks—$25.00
October 26—Bea Hagman—$25.00
October 27—Nicholas Wilz—$25.00
Please Pray For...
Please pray for all our parishioners who are ill:
Ellen Irwin, Paul Freund, Mary Rettler,
Lisa Vander Maazen, Sarah Vande Hey & baby
Please also remember our nursing home residents and shut-ins.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
(this weekly article explains one aspect of our Catholic Faith)
How We Celebrate
In its ritual celebrations of the sacraments,
the Church gives vivid testimony to its belief in
the Incarnation – the union of the human and
the divine. The divine and invisible mysteries
are celebrated with human and tangible
symbols. All the human physical senses are
addressed in order to awaken belief in and
appreciation of the spiritual realities which are
celebrated. We see, hear, smell, touch and
taste in our celebration of the sacraments.
The things which make up the rituals
include: hearing readings from scripture,
homilies, music, blessings, prayers; seeing
bread, wine, oil, gestures of prayer and peace,
bowed heads, kneeling, standing, sitting,
water, flowers, candles, colors, ritual
vestments, processions, stained glass; tasting
bread and wine; smelling incense; touching in
anointing, greeting of peace.
All these things and actions are regarded as
having a dignity which worthily points to the
mysteries which cannot be perceived by the
senses. The proclamation of the scriptures in
the assembly is done with a dignity which
indicates that the proclamation of the
scriptures is not merely the prelude to the
homily.
In the ritual celebration of the sacraments,
material things and human gestures are
endowed with a dignity which effectively
points to the mysteries we celebrate.
Copyright by author.
SCRIP CORNER
Thank you to everyone who is using SCRIP. It’s
so easy to use the gift certificates for food and
gas purchases—try it if you haven’t. Using
SCRIP helps St. Joseph Parish by returning a
portion of the amount spent to the parish,
while not costing you any more money.
SCRIP will be available every weekend
beginning TODAY through Dec. 22/23 to
aid you in your Christmas shopping. All
special orders must be in by December
16. No special orders will be accepted
after that date before Christmas. Forms
for ordering are available in the Great Hall
or on the register in the back of church.
Take a moment today to purchase your
supply. Thanks again for using SCRIP.
ATTENTION:
St. Joseph Parish’s
CALENDAR RAFFLES
will be coming soon. Please watch for them in
the Great Hall after Mass next weekend!