St. Joseph the Worker

Parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker:

The end of the Easter season is here as we celebrate Pentecost this weekend.  Our 50-day journey will come to a close.  The Paschal candle will be put back near the baptismal font.  On Monday we return to Ordinary Time for our daily readings.  But, the Alleluias of Easter should continue to ring out from our lives each day because we live in the light of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Let’s make sure that the life, joy, faith, and love of the Easter event live on through us to the world that desperately needs those things, and more.

As we celebrate Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, we recall the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Mary in the upper room.  After that life-changing event, they go forth to preach the Risen Christ.  They emerge as those witnesses to the Good News of the Lord.  They commit themselves to build the Church, the continuing presence of Christ in the world. 

How do we continue their evangelization this very day?  How do we live out our Confirmation, the Sacrament in which we received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?  How alive, on fire, energetic are we in our Catholic faith?  How are we ensuring that the Church continues into the future by our strengthening it right now?

May the Holy Spirit be upon us, now and forever, as we pray:  COME, HOLY SPIRIT, FILL THE HEARTS OF YOUR FAITHFUL.  ENKINDLE IN US THE FIRE OF YOUR LOVE.  AMEN.

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This Sunday, May 19, is the annual High School Graduation Brunch after the 10:30 a.m. Mass.  We honor those young men and women from our parish who are graduating this year from area high schools.  How blessed we are at SJW to have the quality we have in our graduates.  They “make us proud!!”  As pastor here, I thank them for their witness to their Catholic faith, their involvement in the parish over the years, their enthusiasm and joy at being disciples of/for Jesus Christ.  Let us pray for them as they move on to college, the military, the job market, or wherever/whatever.  May the Holy Spirit inspire them daily; infuse His love into them each moment; guide them each step of the way. 

Your Pentecost Pastor who is Proud of our Graduates, Father Joe

P.S.  Next weekend, May 25^th and 26^th, is the special envelope collection for the Retired Priests of our diocese. How blessed we have been to have had these men in ministry, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with countless people in the diocese of Springfield in Illinois – from Quincy to Robinson, from Godfrey to Sherman, and all places in-between.  May your generosity enable these faithful priests to live their lives peacefully, as they richly deserve.  Thank you, as Associate Vicar for the Senior (Retired) Priests, for your generous remembrance of these holy men of God.