First Holy Communion And The Feast Of St. Francis of Assisi
My Dear Parishioners,
Please keep in your prayers the children who received their First Holy Communion recently. This was the class that was delayed because of the coronavirus. 18 young people have gotten closer to the Lord through this Sacrament (15 just this past Saturday). We hope that they will only grow deeper in love with the Lord and that their families will help them remain close to Him. This Sunday, October 4th is the Church’s feast of St. Francis of Assisi. In honor of St. Francis, St. Joseph Church will be hosting our annual Blessing of the Animals on Sunday afternoon, October 4th at 1:00 p.m. Please bring your leashed animals to the grassy area between the two back parking lots for a brief prayer service and blessing.
You should have already received our Annual Stewardship Appeal letter. In the letter, I let you know of the drop in income since the start of the coronavirus. While the reasons for this are certainly understandable, this year the Stewardship Appeal will be even more crucial than ever to help St. Joseph continue functioning in these difficult times. If you have not yet responded, I ask you to give your donation serious thought and prayer. All of the money raised as part of this appeal stays here at St. Joseph parish and helps to keep the parish operating. St. Joseph Parish cannot survive simply on the weekly contributions collected. Please believe me that your generosity is sincerely appreciated. If you are not able to make the requested contribution, please make whatever donation that you feel is appropriate and supportive of your parish and know that it does make a difference. You can make a contribution by mailing the form back to the parish, or dropping the envelope in with your regular collection contribution, or online, simply follow the instructions for online giving at www.saintjosephchurch.us.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has put the following on their website to assist PA Catholics: “On November 3, 2020 general elections will take place with local, state, and federal offices on the ballot. To assist the faithful as they prepare to vote with formed consciences, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference (PCC) has produced a Presidential Candidate Comparison http://archphila.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PresidentialComparison2020.pdf document and a State Legislative Voters Guide http://archphila.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/voterGuide.pdf. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the PCC do not endorse or oppose any candidate for political office, nor does it intervene in political campaigns in any way.”
As Catholics we believe that we need to follow our conscience, but this does not mean that we are free to do anything we want and claim that “I was just following my conscience.” We also have the obligation to properly form our conscience. To assist in this effort, especially in regards to the election, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops issued a document in 2015 entitled, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility. It was then updated in 2019. Here is the link: https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship-title
God Bless You,
Fr. Bordonaro