ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA December 28, 2014

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

Jesus, Mary and Joseph:

The Holy Family

Dear People and Friends of Saint Joseph’s,

As we continue this Octave of Christmas, rejoicing that the Baby of Bethlehem is Emmanuel, for God has come in our human nature to save us, we celebrate today the Feast of the Holy Family. Jesus, Mary and Joseph—What a Fam-ily! Yet we ought to avoid the temptation of thinking that the Holy Family had a life that was perfect.

Remember the hardships both Mary and Joseph faced:

that Joseph was not the father of this baby, but was to care for Mary and the child as though he were his son, and that Mary, as a very young woman, was to have this awesome responsibility of being the Mother to God. They had to journey a great distance by foot and donkey, only to find that there was no place like Women’s and Babies’ Hospital in Bethlehem. The only place to give birth to Emmanuel was a stable for animals. Then, the king tried to kill the baby so they fled to Egypt to escape. That does not sound like the perfect family setting that any of us would choose.

Yet what makes the Holy Family our inspiration and our

hope is their example of faith and obedience in the Lord and their love and respect for each other. When God is truly the center of our lives and our homes, and when we respect, love and care for each member of the family, then we are able to endure all kinds of trials and difficulties.

As we are about to begin 2015, let us re-commit our-

selves to shaping our family life by our Faith in the Most Blessed Trinity and the example of the Holy Family. May Saint Joseph not just be the name of our parish church, but truly be an example to all of us, but particularly to all the men and boys of the parish.

Notice that in all of Scripture, we hear no word uttered

by Saint Joseph, yet he protected and guided the Holy Family in the ways of the LORD. In the homily for the Mass

of the Inauguration of his papacy on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Pope Francis highlighted this role of protector:

“How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every mo-ment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.

How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own . . . Joseph is a “protector” be-cause he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sen-sitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly.”

This is what Saint Joseph’s and our society needs from

our men—from our husbands, fathers, grandfathers, un-cles and sons. We need men who quietly, but faithfully and obediently live the will of God before all other considera-tions. The Church continues to need men who put their Faith into action every day without counting the cost. As the men of our parish are strong in their own faith, then faith grows strongly in our families. Saint Joseph, pray for us and our families in 2015.

In the Love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Fr. Allan F. Wolfe

PLEASE REMEMBER IN PRAYER: Those who are ill: Carl Miller, Mary Pichler, Esther Schustrich, James Schustrich, John Skabo and Katrina Short, Karen Umlauf. Those in nursing homes, those presently or recently in the hospital: William Kunkle, Dr. Robert Roschel, Gary Schmalhofer, Robert Walter and those listed in our Book of the Sick.

PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SEMINARIANS: Timothy Sahd, Anthony San Severino, Bennett Smith, Sean Warfield, Rev. Mr. Donald Bender, Rev. Mr. Ryan Fischer, Casey Hungler, Jared Sutski, John Zalesky and Thomas Meinert.

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR JANUARY 4, 2015 - Solemnity of the Epiphany: First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6; Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12.

ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA CONSIDER A BEQUEST TO ST. JOSEPH’S December 28, 2014

Sunday, December 28 - The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

8:00 am Mass - People of the Parish

9:15 am No CCD

9:15 am Focus on Faith - Tipitina’s

10:30 am Mass - Eva Calusic (Gary & Teri Bright)

Monday, December 29 - St. Thomas Becket, Bishop & Martyr

6:30 am Mass - Hipolito Velazquez (Mrs. Velazquez)

8:15 am Mass - Helen Grace Adair (Pat Wenzel)

5:30 pm Basketball - Msgr. Thomas H. Smith Social Hall

7:00 pm Scouts - Scout Rm

Tuesday, December 30

6:30 am Mass - All Souls Intentions

8:00 am Morning Prayer

8:15 am Mass - Living & Deceased of the Mark S. Smith Family

5:00 pm Basketball - Msgr. Thomas H. Smith Social Hall

Wednesday, December 31 - St. Sylvester I, Pope

6:30 am Mass - Intention of Joan Hauck (Joan Hauck)

8:15 am Mass - Virginia Stewart (Bill Stewart)

The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord

The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

5:00 pm Vigil Mass - Intention of John & Shirley Burger (Shirley Burger)

Thursday, January 1 - The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Parish Office Closed

8:00 am Mass - Monsignor Thomas H. Smith (Christian Students of

Pakistan)

10:30 am People of the Parish

12:00 Noon Community Meal - Msgr. Thomas H. Smith Social Hall

Friday, January 2 - St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen,

Bishops & Doctors of the Church

6:30 am Mass - Enrique Duran (Jean Robertson)

8:00 am Morning Prayer

8:15 am Mass - Dorothy Herren (Pat & Jim Slagel

7:30 pm Mass - John Skubon (Monsignor Smith)

Saturday, January 3 - The Most Holy Name of Jesus

8:15 am Mass - Pius W. Schreiner (Mary, Marie & Helen Schreiner)

9:00 am Baseball - Monsignor Thomas H. Smith Social Hall

10:30 am Nuestra Clinica - Tipitina’s, St. Joseph Rm, Nursery

4:00 pm Confessions

5:00 pm Vigil Mass - Norman & Rose Strosser and Family

Sunday, January 4 - The Epiphany of the Lord

8:00 am Mass - Robert Hoover (Carol Hoover)

9:15 am CCD - Education Building

9:15 am St. Joseph Catholic Club - Club Room

9:15 am Focus on Faith - Tipitina’s

10:30 am Mass - People of the Parish

NEW YEAR’S MASS SCHEDULE Wednesday, December 31

Vigil Mass 5:00pm

Thursday, January 1 Masses 8:00am and 10:30am

FLOWERS FOR CHURCH: Altar Flowers for the main altar (2 vases) or the Blessed Mother or St. Joseph side altars can be ordered to celebrate a happy occasion, in thanksgiving, for a special intention or to remember a loved

one who has died. Available dates are: January 18th, 2015

(High Altar); February 1st, February 8

th and February 15

th,

2015 (All Altars). The cost per vase is $40.00. Call Teri or Deacon Marty at the rectory, 397-6921 to make arrange-ments. (Flowers are not placed on the altars during Lent, except for Laetare Sunday, March 15

th, 2015.)

NEW YEAR’S DAY COMMUNITY MEAL is on January 1st.

We will be serving from Noon till 3:00pm. If you would like to help come at noon. If you know of someone who is in need of a meal or would like to have company that day bring them to the meal. It is free and open to all.

TROOP 16 ANNUAL BLOOD DRIVE: Troop 16 is again sponsoring a blood drive on Saturday, January 17

th. The

blood drive is being run by the American Red Cross. Whole blood is very much in need and every pint of blood can help 3 people who are in need of blood or a blood product. You can sign up to donate at www.redcross.org, or call Matt Stewart, 587-8409, or come the day of the drive. The blood drive will be held from 10:00am to 3:00pm in the Monsignor Thomas H. Smith Social Hall.

ST. JOSEPH WOMEN’S CLUB along with several choir members and young ladies and gentlemen from the youth group serenaded the patients at Lancaster Rehab hospital and spread Christmas cheer along the hallways as we sang. Some patients joined in and many smiled and clapped from their beds. It was a heartwarming experience. Pizza and a movie followed back at the church so it was a tummy warming experience too!!! The Women’s Club will meet again on January 22

nd at 7:00pm. Upcoming events

include our annual Soup and Bake Sale in March. More details soon. In the meantime, say a prayer for all those who cannot be home for Christmas, be they in hospital beds or across the country or across the world. The Women’s Club wishes you all a blessed Christmas and joyful New Year.

Because of the Christmas holiday, the December 28th

bulletin had to be sent early. Stewardship offerings for December 21

st will be published next week.

NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED: If you have visited our parish website www.stjosephslanc.com recently, you will have noticed that is has changed. Our new website was

launched this past week. It is still a work in progress and some pages have not yet been constructed. Check back frequently for updates! Follow us also on Facebook at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA December 28, 2014

PERPETUAL ADORATION: Open hours: Sunday 8:00-9:00pm; Monday 6:00-7:00am, 9:00-10:00am and 1:00-2:00pm; Wednesday 4:00-5:00pm; Thursday 12:00-1:00am, 5:00-6:00am, and 11:00pm-Midnight; and Friday 6:00-7:00pm, 9:00-10:00pm and 11:00pm-Midnight. If you can help or are interested in being a substitute on a regular or

occasional basis, please call Oliver 560-2873 or Vonnie 397-4300. Please notify Oliver if you change your phone number so that he can contact you if Adoration is cancelled. The Blessed Sacrament will be reposed from 4:45pm on January 31

st (New Year’s Eve) until 9:00am on Friday,

January 2nd

, 2015.

GOLDEN HILLS CLUB will meet on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at Noon in the Msgr. Thomas H. Smith Social Hall. If you did not sign up at the December meeting, please call Tom or Helen Hohenwarter at 397-1879 by Monday, January 5 if you plan to attend. New members are always welcome.

PLEASE NOTE: The December issue of the parish newslet-ter indicated that beginning with the March issue, you can receive your copy by email, rather than having it mailed to your home. We just learned that the cost of bulk mailing to 176.. zip codes will be double the current rate. The majority of our parishioners fall in these zip code areas. We ask all parishioners to consider receiving your copy by email. Please send your email address to mgardner@stjosephslanc.com. Thank you for your consideration.

WGUMCD PARTY (What Goes Up Must Come Down): Our Christmas un-decorating party will be held on Sunday, Janu-ary 11

th following the 10:30am Mass. Afterward a light lunch

will be available in the St. Francis Room. To volunteer please add your name to one of the signup sheets posted outside the Reconciliation rooms.

10 WEEK CLUB TICKETS - St. Joseph Catholic Club now has tickets on sale for our 10 Week Club Party to be held May 9

th. Proceeds go to our Youth Baseball and Softball pro-

grams. Please help this worthy cause by purchasing a $25 ticket to our party. Great food, drink and money prizes! The first weekly drawing, for $100, will be held March 1

st. So get

your tickets now. You could win top prize of $2,000! For tick-ets call Gene or Linda Duncan at 299-6940 or Joe at Certified Carpet 394-3731. More infor. at stjosephcatholicclub.com.

RESURRECTION CATHOLIC SCHOOL NEWS: Resurrection Catholic School sends its best wishes to members of all our parishes for a New Year that is prayerfully happy, spiri-tually healthy and joyfully filled with the pres-

ence of the Lord. We invite your family to become part of the Resurrection Family.

“By faith Abraham obeyed.” If you should be called to serve the Lord as a priest, deacon or in the consecrated life, pray for a deep faith and obey Him in love. Call Father Ray-mond LaVoie at (717) 657-4804 ext. 282 or email frrlavoie@hbgdiocese.org.

ADULT EDUCATION COURSES OFFERED: Diocesan Institute 2015 Winter/Spring Course listings are now avail-able. If you are an adult interested in continuing to learn about your faith, go to the Diocesan web site at www.hbgdiocese.org/Institute. You can also click on the Diocesan Institute icon on the right side of the Home Page. A variety of courses are offered at the Diocesan Center and at various parishes this Winter and Spring. Many courses are presented as Webinars and may be accessed from home. Questions, please contact Ryan Bolster at rbol-ster@hbgdiocese.org or (717) 657-4804 ext. 225.

THE ANNUAL WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY will be celebrated from January 18-25, 2015. The annual LARC (Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic) Vespers will be held on Sunday, January 25 at 7:00pm at Saint Paul the Apostle Church, 125 South Spruce Street, Annville. Bishop Ronald W. Gainer will preside and will be joined by the Bishops of the Lutheran and Episcopal communities of Central Pennsylvania.

HERSHEY BEARS HOCKEY: All are invited to celebrate Catholic Schools Week with the Hershey Bears Hockey team at the Giant Center in Hershey, Saturday, January 31, 2015 at 7:00pm. For tickets get an order form from your school or parish office or contact Janet Dise - jdise@HersheyPA.com. Forms are also available for download at www.hbgdiocese.org/schools. The deadline for orders is Monday, January 26, 2015.

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA LEARNING CENTER COME LEARN WITH US

Our loving, bilingual Pre-School can help prepare your child for success in school through our preschool and pre-k class. Full-time and part-time enrollment options are avail-able for children ages 2-5. School hours are 6:00am-5:30pm, Monday thru Friday all year long. We accept CCIS payments and also offer financial assistance towards cen-ter tuition. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are provided! For information please call Miss Rosario @ (717) 283-0270.

PRAYER SHAWL RETREAT: We warmly invite all women of the Diocese to join us for a Prayer Shawl Retreat on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Diocesan Center in Harrisburg. Hosted by the Harrisburg Diocesan Council of Catholic Women's Organization Commission, the retreat will include prayer, knitting/crocheting, fellowship and lunch. Begin-ners are welcome. If you have a favorite pattern or two, we would like to have those beforehand to copy and share at the workshop. The program is free but ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED BY SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2015. Please call Kathy at 448-8899 or Deb at 514-8815 to reserve your space or e-mail your reservation and patterns to ka-koko120@comcast.net or Mvdb01@verizon.net. We hope to see you there as we come together in the spirit of Mother Teresa -- "Give your hands to serve and hearts to love."

ST. JOSEPH CATHOLIC CHURCH LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA December 28, 2014

Memorials October 1-December 26, 2014

Stained Glass Window Fund

In Memory of Monsignor Thomas H. Smith Harrisburg Diocese Cursillo Movement

Russel Rife Franco & Elena Consoli

Stephanie Dickinson Marilynn & Louis Scheuchenzuber

Mrs. Alice Smiley Helen & Neal Witmer

Restoration Fund

In Memory of Otto Miezitis Mrs. Betty Scheuchenzuber

Bob & Betty McClure Rosemary Rineer

Memorial Contributions –January 1, 2014-December 26, 2014

Restoration Fund $ 8,480.00 Old Cemetery Fund $ 100.00 Stained Glass Window Fund $10,475.00 TOTAL $19,055.00

Thank you to our Bulletin Sponsor of the Week

Kimmich’s Painting & Wallcoverings, Inc.

Residential Commercial Institutional Industrial

392-7025

You can read the bulletin online at our parish website: www.stjosephslanc.com.

Pope Francis proclaimed 2015 a Year of Consecrated Life, starting on the First Sun-day of Advent, the weekend of November 29, 2014, and ending on February 2, 2016, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Consecrated Life. The year also marks the 50th anniversary of Perfectae Caritatis, a decree on religious life, and Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the Church. Its purpose, as stated by the Vatican is to “make a grateful remembrance of the recent past” while embracing “the future with hope.” “I am counting on you to ‘wake up the world,’ since the distinctive sign of consecrated life is prophecy,” the Pope said in a letter to religious for the Year of Consecrated Life. “This is the priority that is needed right now.” The awakening, he explained, is for all Christians to live the Good News of

salvation as a joyful, life-transforming event, which consecrated persons profoundly model by leaving everything to follow Christ. “Radical evangelical living is not only for religious,” the Pope wrote. “It is demanded of everyone. But religious fo llow the Lord in a special way, in a prophetic way.” The Year of Consecrated Life has three aims, the Pope continued: to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to embrace the future with hope

(National Catholic Register)

Prayer for the Year of Consecrated Life

O God, throughout the ages you have called women and men to pursue lives of perfect charity through the evangelical

counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. During this Year of Consecrated Life, we give you thanks for these coura-

geous witnesses of Faith and models of inspiration. Their pursuit of holy lives teaches us to make a more perfect offering of

ourselves to you. Continue to enrich your Church by calling forth sons and daughters who, having found the pearl of great

price, treasure the Kingdom of Heaven above all things. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with

you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (usccb)