St. Joseph the Worker

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker:

This Sunday, May 21^st, is our annual parish’s High School Graduation banquet after the 10:30am Mass.  It is a time when we say CONGRATULATIONS to our wonderful young people who are ending their high school journey and beginning a new phase in their lives—whether to college, the military, a job, or some other course of action.

We owe our youth a lot.  Our faith community is a great faith community because of their presence.  They inspire us, challenge us, surprise us, and much more.   As a parish, we support them because one day they will be the adults in our Catholic Church, ready, we pray, to lead councils, committees, and be examples of Jesus Christ until He comes again.

One of my prayers each day is that one (or more) of our young men will answer God’s call to priesthood.  I have asked many of them to at least put the suggestion on their list of options.  Too often in today’s world, the choice of being a priest is thought strange, unmanly, goody-goody, or the choice when all else fails.  Those things couldn’t be further from the truth.

Priesthood is a vocation called forth by God Himself.  Priesthood is such a fulfilling call to answer.  Priesthood is a fantastic and wonderful way to live one’s life.

May we all pray for our young people, that they choose the vocation to which the Lord is calling them.  May we all pray that God’s blessings will be upon our youth, their parents, and their mentors.  May we all pray that our parish will give thanks each and every day for those among us who are in their teenage years.  And may we pray for the rest of us well beyond our teenage years to be able to remember when we were teenagers!  HA!!!

Your Pastor well-past the teens, Father Joe

P.S.  As you may know, I am the Associate Vicar of Senior (Retired) Priests in our diocese.  These men have given so much of themselves over many decades for God’s People and the parishes in our diocese.  All of us owe them a great deal, as well as our sincere gratitude.  How may we show them our appreciation?  TWO WAYS ARE COMING UP – On the weekend of May 27/28, there is an envelope in your packet for the Retired Priests, a beautiful way to say “thank You” for helping our diocese to fund their needs.  And, the other way is to support our Annual Golf Outing on June 11^th; half of the proceeds goes to the Retired Priests Fund.  Please be generous to/for our retired priestly ministers!