st. joseph parish & immaculate conception mission

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St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission Other Sacraments: Anointing of Sick/Last Rites: call Office Number Marriage: Minimum 6 months preparation period, contact father at office number prior to setting a wedding date Baptism: contact Father at office to find out require- ments regarding Baptism RCIA: call Office Number Mass Schedule: Weekend: Sat: 5:00PM St. Joseph Sun: 9:00AM Immaculate Conception 11:00AM St. Joseph Weekday: (T&Th): 10:00AM Wed. 5:00PM Fri 7:30AM Holy Day: Vigil: 6:00PM Immaculate Conception Day of: See Announcements for Time(s) Confession: Sat: 3:30-4:25PM St. Joseph Sun: 8:00-8:25AM Immaculate Conception Wed: 4:00-4:30PM St. Joseph By Appointment Devotions: Sacred Heart of Jesus—1st Fridays: Adoration: TBD Solemn Benediction: TBD Rosary: St. Joseph - 1st Saturday - 4:15 PM Sundays - 10:15 AM Immaculate Conception—Sunday - 8:25 AM Divine Mercy: Saturdays - 4:25 PM Parish Pastoral Council Members Chairperson: Anita Dunnigan, Mandy Bell, Rhea Bernardy, Don Wegner, Ricki Yeager, Bgee Zimmerr- man Parish Finance Council Members Chairperson: Kerry Beasley, Anita Dunnigan, Chris Reichert, Tom Wood, Bob Zimmerman, Patricia Dye Third Sunday of Easter: April 18, 2021 Office: 719 Utah Ave Office Hours: (Tues-Thurs): Tues. 10:00AM - 4:00PM Wed. & Thurs - 10:00AM to 3:00PM Mailing Address: 719 Utah Ave Phone: (406) 293-4322 Email: [email protected] Website: https://23586.sites.ecatholic.com/ Administrator: Fr. Richard Kluk Administrative Assistant: Leona LeRoy Director of Religious Ed: Fr. Richard Youth Minister: Fr. Richard Ongoing Parish Events TBD -RCIA – Weds 7:00-8:30PM - Sept. thru May Suspended -Choir practice - Wednesday’s at 7:00 PM RE/YM/Confirmation classes - 9:30 to 10:45 AM - Sundays before the 11:00 AM Mass - Sept. thru May KoC Business Meeting—1st Tuesday of the Month Suspended -KoC Breakfast - Last Sunday of the Month Bible Study - Every Sunday at 12:15 pm in the Par- ish Hall - All are welcome! CHURCH Hours Hours when the Church will be open for personal adoration/prayer will be: Tuesday: 7:00AM-6:00PM Wednesday 7:00AM-Noon & 4:00-6:00PM Thursday 7:00AM-Noon & 4:00-6:00PM Friday: 7:00AM-7:00PM Saturday: 7:00AM-6:00PM

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Page 1: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Other Sacraments:

Anointing of Sick/Last Rites: call Office Number

Marriage: Minimum 6 months preparation period,

contact father at office number prior to setting a

wedding date

Baptism: contact Father at office to find out require-

ments regarding Baptism

RCIA: call Office Number

Mass Schedule:

Weekend: Sat: 5:00PM St. Joseph

Sun: 9:00AM Immaculate Conception

11:00AM St. Joseph

Weekday: (T&Th): 10:00AM

Wed. 5:00PM Fri 7:30AM

Holy Day: Vigil: 6:00PM Immaculate Conception

Day of: See Announcements for Time(s)

Confession:

Sat: 3:30-4:25PM St. Joseph

Sun: 8:00-8:25AM Immaculate Conception

Wed: 4:00-4:30PM St. Joseph

By Appointment

Devotions:

Sacred Heart of Jesus—1st Fridays:

Adoration: TBD

Solemn Benediction: TBD

Rosary: St. Joseph - 1st Saturday - 4:15 PM

Sundays - 10:15 AM

Immaculate Conception—Sunday - 8:25 AM

Divine Mercy: Saturdays - 4:25 PM

Parish Pastoral Council Members

Chairperson: Anita Dunnigan, Mandy Bell, Rhea

Bernardy, Don Wegner, Ricki Yeager, Bgee Zimmerr-

man

Parish Finance Council Members

Chairperson: Kerry Beasley, Anita Dunnigan, Chris Reichert, Tom Wood, Bob Zimmerman, Patricia Dye

Third Sunday of Easter: April 18, 2021

Office: 719 Utah Ave

Office Hours: (Tues-Thurs):

Tues. 10:00AM - 4:00PM

Wed. & Thurs - 10:00AM to 3:00PM

Mailing Address: 719 Utah Ave

Phone: (406) 293-4322

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://23586.sites.ecatholic.com/

Administrator: Fr. Richard Kluk

Administrative Assistant: Leona LeRoy

Director of Religious Ed: Fr. Richard

Youth Minister: Fr. Richard

Ongoing Parish Events

TBD -RCIA – Weds 7:00-8:30PM - Sept. thru May

Suspended -Choir practice - Wednesday’s at 7:00

PM

RE/YM/Confirmation classes - 9:30 to 10:45 AM -

Sundays before the 11:00 AM Mass - Sept. thru

May

KoC Business Meeting—1st Tuesday of the Month

Suspended -KoC Breakfast - Last Sunday of the

Month

Bible Study - Every Sunday at 12:15 pm in the Par-

ish Hall - All are welcome!

CHURCH Hours — Hours when the Church will be open for personal adoration/prayer will be:

Tuesday: 7:00AM-6:00PM

Wednesday 7:00AM-Noon & 4:00-6:00PM

Thursday 7:00AM-Noon & 4:00-6:00PM

Friday: 7:00AM-7:00PM

Saturday: 7:00AM-6:00PM

Page 2: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

St. Joseph Ministry Schedule

Saturday (April 24th)

Lectors: Brian Cutsforth

Eucharistic Ministers:

April Ushers: Mark Wood

Sunday (April 25th):

Lectors: Jeff Gruber

Eucharistic Ministers:

April Ushers: Darryl Pfeifer

Altar Servers:

Money Counters: (Apr. 20th) Jeff & Patricia

(Apr. 27th) Jeff & Patricia

Mass Intentions

Tuesday: Expectant Mothers

Wednesday: Fathers

Thursday: For the Purity of worship

Friday: Homeless

Weekend: Spiritual Welfare of our

churches

Parish Organizations contact

person:

St. Joseph Women’s Group:

Ricki Yeager - 293-6980

Knights of Columbus:

Keith McBride - 283-1129

Parish Ministry Contacts:

Lectors/Eucharistic Ministers:

Mark Wood 293-4858

Music Ministry:

Rhea Bernardy 291-7777

Altar Servers:

Fr. Richard 293-4322

Ushers:

Keith McBride 283-1129

Care Center Ministry:

Karilyn Duarte 650-464-7773

Prayer Chain:

Karilyn Duarte - 650-464-7773

Theresa Purdy - 295-7118

Mary Pfeifer - 291-3801

Bible Study:

Laurie & H Walsh - 293-3037

Sacraments:

Fr. Richard 293-4322

March Monthly Parish Financial Report

Thank you for your financial support of our parish & mission.

Priest’s Medical Insurance is billed quarterly

Offertory: $8,692.00

Building/Maintenance: $1,401.00

Easter Collection $125.00

Misc.: $20.00

Total Income: $10,238.00

Average Monthly Expense: (Includes 1/3

Quarterly Payments)

$12,257.35

Net: -$2,019.35

Procedure for Bulletin Announcements: Announcements are

to be provided in writing to the office by Wednesday 2 weeks

before the weekend event.

New Parishioners: To register please call

the office or email us.

Page 3: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

***Announcements***

***The National Catholic Youth Conference is happening in-person next November 18-20,

2021! The Diocese of Helena invites parishes and schools to join young people in grades 9-12

from across the country in this 3-day event. More info at dohyouth.org/ncyc

Young people (Grades 9-12) and their parents are invited to a planning meeting at St. Joseph's

on Wednesday, May 5 at 6:30pm. Kevin Molm from the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry

will be there to answer questions. Contact him with questions at [email protected].

***Parish YouTube Channel:

St Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeTgMxO8-IWvwdUoIjNK9A

This channel will currently add 2 25 minute videos which are the parish's Sunday

11:00AM. The 2 videos are normally up by early Sunday evening.

The link is also accessible from the parish website:

St Joseph & Immaculate Conception Catholic Churches

Select "Liturgy" then "Sunday Mass Video" which brings up the YouTube site

Fr Richard

***Bible Study Sundays presents: The Wild Goose series is truly a work of the Holy Spirit. “Wild Goose” was a term that the ancient Celts had for the Holy Spirit. It is a 14 part series featuring Fr. Dave Pivonka and various interviews. Shot in various locations from Niagara Falls to the California desert, The Wild Goose invites viewers to an encoun-

ter, or a renewed encounter, with the Holy Spirit.

Started April 11th and will continue to Pentecost.

All are welcome to join us in the Parish Hall at 12:15 PM. If you have questions please contact Laurie or

‘H’ at 293-3037

Page 4: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Dear Padre April 18, 2021

I thought detraction was a sin only if what you’re saying about someone isn’t true, but my

priest says it’s a sin even if it is true. What do you say?

We commit the sin of detraction when we, “without objectively valid reason, disclose another’s faults

and failings to persons who did not know them” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2477).

Part of respecting human dignity is to recognize that others have a right to their good name and reputa-

tion. We ought not to damage those goods carelessly, which is what happens when we engage in detrac-

tion. We slander or commit calumny when we speak or spread negative falsehoods about someone (see

CCC 2479). But detraction can happen even when we speak the truth.

Sometimes it’s objectively necessary to speak harsh truths about another person. For example, when we

observe an adult engaged in inappropriate behavior with a child, we report it to the authorities because

protection of vulnerable children outweighs concern over any adult’s reputation.

So truth-telling when clear communication of the truth is necessary is not detraction, even if it does

damage another’s reputation. However, carelessly sharing a true story or detail that doesn’t need telling

is detraction, and it’s sinful.

Fr. Matthew Allman, CSsR

**User’s Guide: Sunday Guide

**Worthwhile Sites:

Friars for Life

Link to Vatican Prayer Book (192 pages):

Strong in the Face of Tribulations: The Church in Communion - a Sure Support in

Time of Trial

Bishop Vetter's video message - at bottom left corner

Mass Times for Travelers

On our website (under Faith => Devotions)

Padre Pio's Meditation

Pray with the Little Flower

Page 5: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Catholic News: Third Sunday of Easter - April 18, 2021

Summary of articles from Catholic news organizations (Zenit, Catholic News Agency, National Catholic Register,

Our Sunday Visitor) (For those who don’t have internet access, if you want a hard copy of an article,

please contact the office) Note: Titles are Hyperlinked to the Articles.

‘Going to Get Worse Before It Gets Better’: Religious Membership Decline Prompts Sober Reflec-

tion

Brooklyn Center Catholics Come to Terms with Daunte Wright’s Death and the Impact on Their

Community

US Supreme Court: California’s Limit on Home Religious Gatherings Is Too Strict

California Lifts Capacity Limits on Religious Gatherings Following Supreme Court Ruling

Without Mercy, There Is No Justice

Pope Francis Hails St. Teresa of Ávila as Exemplar of Courage and Spiritual Motherhood

Sex, Gender and a Whole Lot of Confusion

Indiana Bill Would Make Religious Services ‘Essential’ During Declared Emergencies

Ken Starr on Religious Liberty: ‘The Next Crisis Is Coming’

Merciful Mother: Mary, True Model of Trustful Surrender to Divine Mercy

How Would Religious Freedom Fare With Common-Good Constitutionalists?

Meet the Friars Feeding the Hungry During the Pandemic: ‘It’s a Beautiful Thing’

Arkansas Gender-Transition Ban Praised for Protecting Kids

Bill Requiring Burial or Cremation of Aborted Babies Advances in Tennessee

Archbishop Cordileone calls for ‘inoculation against racism’

In Major Pro-Life Win, Sixth Circuit Upholds Ohio Law Barring Abortions Based on Down Syn-

drome

Colorado Bishops to Restore Sunday Mass Obligation on Pentecost

New Mexico Legalizes Assisted Suicide

Utah’s New Law Could Be Part of Winning Pro-Life Strategy

US Theologians Echo Fears of Schism in Catholic Church in Germany

Cardinal Bo: ‘We Need the Light of God’s Mercy in Myanmar'

Tabernacle, Eucharist Desecrated in Mexican Chapel

Death Penalty Abolition Gains Momentum After Virginia

Church in France Opposes Bill to Legalize Euthanasia

Wyoming Governor Signs Born-Alive Bill into Law

Abstain From Evil — Not From Love

Blinken’s Dissent From the Human Rights Magisterium

Seeing Jesus Through the Eyes of Mary

Pro-life leaders: Allowing mail-order abortion pill will pose 'grave danger' for women

Young woman dies after getting legal abortion in Argentina

Gemma: Daughter of the Passion – Chapter 4

SPIRITUALITY:

St. Thérèse of Lisieux lived through a pandemic and left us her testimony

A family guide to the Easter Season

6 Ways to avoid an Easter spiritual letdown

Catholic prayers for anxiety

What can a Christian man do if he’s dealing with depression?

Catholic prayers for strength

St. Padre Pio: His life, his miracles and his legacy

5 Tools to help you have a faith-filled childbirth

4 Ways to help children with anxiety

A few remedies that can help you sleep better at night

The saint who shows us what to do when life isn’t going as planned

12 Vital saints for the modern woman

A simple test to see if you really believe Christ is risen

10 Women from the Bible who lived out the feminine genius

Page 6: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Mass Readings for the Week: Monday

APRIL 19

Easter Weekday

Acts 6:8–15

Jn 6:22–29

Tuesday

APRIL 20

Easter Weekday

Acts 7:51—8:1a

Jn 6:30–35

Wednesday

APRIL 21

Easter Weekday

Acts 8:1b–8

Jn 6:35–40

Thursday

APRIL 22

Easter Weekday

Acts 8:26–40

Jn 6:44–51

Friday

APRIL 23

Easter Weekday

Acts 9:1–20

Jn 6:52–59

Saturday

APRIL 24

Easter Weekday

Acts 9:31–42

Jn 6:60–69

Sunday

APRIL 25

Fourth Sunday

of Easter

Acts 4:8–12

1 Jn 3:1–2

Jn 10:11–18

Scriptural Reflections

Third Sunday of Easter (B)

•Acts 3:13–15, 17–19; 1 Jn 2:1–5a; Lk 24:35–48 Good News!

What will it take for the early followers of Jesus to recognize him in their

midst? Today’s Gospel recounts yet another episode of confusion and unbelief.

They had an extraordinary experience that startled and terrified them. Even

though other disciples reported having come upon the risen Lord, they didn’t real-

ize that it was also he they were encountering. Such an unusual experience might

have left them doubtful about the Lord’s presence, but the reports of others should

have thrown light on the reality of their own experiences. Are they like Thomas,

who was unwilling to take the word of others but demanded his own tangible expe-

rience of the risen Lord?

However, every account of the risen Lord’s appearance reports that his identity is

initially hidden. They only knew that it was him when he revealed himself. Mary

recognized him when he called her name (John 20:16); the couple in Emmaus

knew him in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:31); even Paul on the road to Da-

mascus only understood who the Lord was when he revealed his name (Acts

9:3).

And what about us? What will it take for us to recognize the risen Lord in our

midst? Do we also need concrete evidence? Will it only happen if we have a meal

with him? But isn’t that exactly what the Eucharist is—a meal with the risen

Lord?

Sr. Dianne Bergant, CSA

A Word From Pope Francis

We know that slander always kills. This “diabolical cancer” that arises from

the desire to destroy the reputation of a person also attacks the ecclesial body

and seriously damages it when, as a result of malicious interests or to cover

up one’s own inadequacies, people unite to denigrate someone.

GENERAL AUDIENCE, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

For Reflection

* Our faith tells us that the risen Lord is in our midst. Pray that you might

recognize him in your family members or in your workplace.

* What can you do for the needy in your society with whom Christ identifies?

Page 7: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Save the Date

***St. Joseph Women Rummage Sale – May 7th & 8th at the St. Joseph Parish Hall

from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

We will be accepting household items & outdoor furniture, shop items (tools, lawn equipment

and sporting goods) in good working condition. Please, no electronics – TV’s, printers or com-

puters and NO entertainment centers.

Rummage items can be left at the door of the parish hall May 3rd through Thursday, May 6th.

Call Rhea Bernardy (291-7777) for more information. New items will be added each day.

***Tickets are available now for the Son Light Celebration raffle - contact the of-

fice if you would like to purchase some.

Page 8: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

From Father - April 18, 2021

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ,

Take a look at our Parish YouTube Channel:

St Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHeTgMxO8-IWvwdUoIjNK9A

This channel will currently add 2 - 25 minute videos which are the parish's Sunday 11:00AM

mass. The 2 videos are normally up by early Sunday evening.

The link is also accessible from the parish website:

St Joseph & Immaculate Conception Catholic Churches

Select "Liturgy" then "Sunday Mass Video" which brings up the YouTube site.

Fr. Richard

Bishop Barron’s Corner Catholic social teaching—when it is not distorted or misrepresented — is famously confounding to

the pundits and politicos, both left and right.

This unique Catholic Social Teaching Collection aims to bring the both/and of the Church’s

social teaching into sharp relief .

Drawing on the Church’s encyclicals, Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the writings of various

saints and spiritual masters, the Catholic Social Teaching Collection reveals the ethical and

historical breadth of the Church’s various social teachings, and the metaphysical heart around

which they fall into harmony: the existence of God.

Learn more about the new Catholic Social Teaching Collection at https:/ /wordonfire.org/cst .

Page 9: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Catechesis

Catechesis on prayer - 21. The prayer of praise

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning!

Let us continue our catechesis on prayer, and today we will give space to the dimension of praise.

We will take our cue from a critical passage in the life of Jesus. After the first miracles and the involvement of the disciples in

proclaiming the Kingdom of God, the mission of the Messiah undergoes a crisis. John the Baptist has doubts and makes Him

receive this message — John is in jail: “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Mt 11:3). He feels this an-

guish of not knowing whether he is mistaken in his proclamation. There are always dark moments, moments of spiritual

nighttime, and John is going through this moment. There is hostility in the villages along the lake, where Jesus had per-

formed so many prodigious signs (cf. Mt 11:20-24). Now, precisely in this disappointing moment, Matthew relates a truly sur-

prising fact: Jesus does not raise a lament to the Father but, rather, a hymn of jubilation: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heav-

en and earth that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25).

Thus, in the midst of a crisis, amid the darkness of the soul of so many people, such as John the Baptist, Jesus blesses the Fa-

ther, Jesus praises the Father. But why?

First and foremost, he praises Him for who He is : “Father, Lord of heaven and earth”. Jesus rejoices in his spirit because he

knows and feels that his Father is the God of the Universe, and vice versa, the Lord of all that exists is the Father, “My Fa-

ther”. Praise springs from this experience of feeling that he is “Son of the Most High”. Jesus feels he is Son of the Most High.

And then Jesus praises the Father for favoring the little ones. It is what he himself experiences, preaching in the villages: the

“learned” and the “wise” remain suspicious and closed; they make calculations; while the “little ones” open themselves and

welcome his message. This can only be the will of the Father, and Jesus rejoices in this. We too must rejoice and praise God

because humble and simple people welcome the Gospel. When I see these simple people, these humble people who go on pil-

grimages, who go to pray, who sing, who praise, people who perhaps lack many things but whose humility leads them to

praise God. In the future of the world and in the hopes of the Church there are always the “little ones”: those who do not con-

sider themselves better than others, who are aware of their own limitations and their sins, who do not want to lord it over oth-

ers, who, in God the Father, recognize that we are all brothers and sisters.

Therefore, in that moment of apparent failure, where everything is dark, Jesus prays, praising the Father. And his prayer also

leads us, readers of the Gospel, to judge our personal defeats in a different way, to judge differently the situations in which we

do not see clearly the presence and action of God, when it seems that evil prevails and there is no way to stop it. Jesus, who

highly recommended the prayer of asking, at the very moment when he would have had reason to ask the Father for explana-

tions, instead begins to praise him. It seems to be a contradiction, but therein lies the truth.

To whom is praise helpful? To us or to God? A text of the Eucharistic liturgy invites us to pray to God in this way, it says this:

“Although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your great-

ness, but profit us for salvation” (Roman Missal , Common Preface IV). By giving praise, we are saved.

The prayer of praise is helpful to us. The Catechism defines it this way: it “shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart

who love God in faith before seeing him in glory” (no. 2639). Paradoxically it must be practiced not only when life fills us with

happiness, but above all in difficult moments, in moments of darkness when the path becomes an uphill climb. That too is the

time for praise, like Jesus who in the dark moment praises the Father. Because we learn that, through that ascent, that diffi-

cult path, that wearisome path, those demanding passages, we get to see a new panorama, a broader horizon. Giving praise is

like breathing pure oxygen: it purifies the soul, it makes you look far ahead, it does not leave you imprisoned in the difficult

and dark moment of hardship.

There is a great teaching in that prayer that for eight centuries has never lost its beat, that Saint Francis composed at the end

of his life: the “Canticle of Brother Sun” or “of the creatures”. The Poverello did not compose it in a moment of joy, of well-

being, but on the contrary, in the midst of difficulty. Francis was by then almost blind, and he felt in his soul the weight of a

solitude he had never before experienced: the world had not changed since the beginning of his preaching, there were still

those who let themselves be torn apart by quarrels, and in addition he was aware that death was approaching ever nearer.

It may have been a moment of disillusionment, of that extreme disillusionment and the perception of his own failure. But at

that instant of sadness, in that dark instant Francis prays. How does he pray? “Praised be You, my Lord…”. He prays by giv-

ing praise. Francis praises God for everything, for all the gifts of creation, and even for death, which he courageously calls

“sister”, “sister death”. These examples of saints, of Christians, and also of Jesus, of praising God in difficult moments, open to

us the gates of a great road towards the Lord, and they always purify us. Praise always purifies.

The Saints show us that we can always give praise, in good times and bad, because God is the faithful Friend. This is the foun-

dation of praise: God is the faithful Friend, and his love never fails. He is always beside us. He always awaits us. It has been

said that “he is the sentinel who is close to you and keeps you going forward with confidence”. In difficult and dark moments,

let us have the courage to say: “Blessed are you, O Lord”. Praising the Lord. This will do us much good.

Page 10: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

c. 1033–1109

April 21—Optional Memorial

Liturgical Color: White

His pen pierced the blue sheet above to see God

Few bishops have been canonized as saints since the Catholic Counter-Reformation of the sixteenth and seven-

teenth centuries. The earlier history of the Church is, however, replete with saintly bishops. In the patristic era, in

the first few centuries after Christ, a vast constellation of saintly bishops shined on the Church. Today’s saint was

a scholar bishop in the mold of the educated churchmen of an earlier time. Saint Anselm was a world-class thinker,

a politically aware defender of the Church’s rights, a contemplative monk, a faithful son of the pope, and the great-

est philosopher of the eleventh century.

Saint Anselm entered the Monastery of Bec in Normandy, France, as a young man and quickly impressed his supe-

riors with his character and incisive mind. He was elected prior, then abbot, at a young age. He was a deeply

prayerful abbot who was close to his monks and who hated to be away from the cloister. The monastery had many

dealings with England due to its close proximity to that country, however, so Anselm travelled there regularly.

These visits eventually led to his appointment as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm spent many years as

archbishop in conflict with English civil power over who had the authority to “invest” or empower, a bishop with

the symbols of office at his installation Mass. The lay investiture controversy was a long simmering dispute

throughout Europe. It was eventually resolved in favor of the Church’s right to invest its own bishops with crozier,

miter, and ring.

Much more than his role as a pastor in church-state conflicts, Saint Anselm’s most enduring legacy is as a philoso-

pher and theologian. Thinking was his avocation even as the monastery was his vocation. Anselm’s famous defini-

tion of theology as “Faith seeking understanding” has guided centuries of Christian thinkers. Anselm was a work-

ing intellectual who produced erudite works on a range of complex subjects. He is the originator, in particular, of

the ontological argument for the existence of God. The argument is ontological (or just “logical”) in that it is not

empirical (scientifically verifiable). It does not argue from outward in, starting with external, observable evidence

and then moving toward internal conclusions. The argument is powered, instead, by the raw strength of reason

itself. As an example of a reason-driven argument, no one needs to search the world over for square circles to con-

clude that square circles don’t exist. Circles are round, by definition. And no one needs to interview every single

bachelor to know that a bachelor is male. A bachelor is, by definition, male. Similarly, the very definition of God,

Anselm’s holds, is proof that God exists.

Anselm argued that God is a being than which none greater can be imagined. Supposing that the mind can imag-

ine nothing greater than God, and further supposing that what exists in reality is greater than what exists only in

the mind, then God must exist in reality. God’s non-existence is, then, logically impossible. This argument assumes

that the maximum or upper limit, to what the mind can attribute to God is self-contained in the meaning of the

word God. No such upper limit exists in defining pain, temperature, length, or numbers, for example. A longer line

can always be drawn, a greater number imagined, a sharper pain experienced, or a hotter temperature described.

But to imagine a being greater than God would just be to imagine God more fully. As long as the mind’s concept of

God is rational, then the argument is convincing. Anselm’s nuanced argument has provoked centuries of sophisti-

cated commentary.

Anselm’s life began among the Alps of today’s Northern Italy, a land of jagged, snow-encrusted mountains which

stand over the green valleys below. One night the boy Anselm, asleep in his remote valley home, had a vision. He

was called to the court of God on a high summit. Ascending to the very peak of a mountain, he entered the pres-

ence of the royal court and sat at the feet of the Master. God asked the boy who he was and where he came from.

Anselm answered well and was rewarded with sweet bread from heaven. And then he woke up. Anselm never for-

got this dream. He recounted it, in detail, many decades later, to the fellow monk who wrote his first biography.

Saint Anselm’s mind never really came down from that high court he first visited in a childhood dream. He walked

in the highest ranges, above the clouds, hiking from summit to summit, his pen piercing the blue sky to gaze di-

rectly into the realm above.

We ask your intercession, Saint Anselm, to help our faith to understand its object. You did not leave man’s sense of

wonder unchallenged but sought to organize human thought to meet the challenge of God. Help all thinkers to be

open to finding as much as searching.

Lives of Saints

Page 11: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Events Around the Diocese

Page 12: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission

Prayer Box & Other Prayers April 18, 2021

Prayer Box * No prayers this week

From Bishop Vetter

Throughout this year dedicated to St. Jo-

seph, let us pray;

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse

of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God

entrusted his only Son; in you Mary

placed her trust; with you Christ grew to

be a man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a

father and guide us in the path of life.

Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage,

and defend us from every evil.

Amen

Page 13: St. Joseph Parish & Immaculate Conception Mission