Happy Father’s Day

My Dear Parishioners,

Just a reminder that our new schedule of Masses is as follows:  Daily Mass – Monday thru Saturday at 8:00 a.m.  Sunday Masses:   Saturday Vigil 5:30 p.m., and Sunday at 7:00, 10:00, and 11:30 a.m.  We hope to get back to our regular schedule as soon as possible.  I appreciate your flexibility in this.  I realize that not everyone will be satisfied with the timing of Masses.  I regret to report that we will have to discontinue Monday night rosary and Monday night Benediction along with the Saturday Rosary for the foreseeable future.  My hope is that this will only be for the summer months.  At present, the attendance is minimal and we do not have enough rosary leaders and Extraordinary Ministers willing to assist.  If anyone would like to volunteer, please contact me.  We will still have adoration on Mondays following the morning Mass until 4:00 p.m., when the church will be locked.

Happy Father’s Day!  Today we  honor and thank our dads.  Too often, we take them for granted.  Your Father’s Day envelopes with your intentions written on them will stay on the reredos (back altar) for the rest of the month of June.  It is appropriate that they are there at the base of the statue of St. Joseph, the patron of all fathers.  We thank our fathers for giving us what we need to become the people God calls us to be.

Please keep in your prayers the 6 men ordained on Saturday for the priesthood in Philadelphia.  They are:  Rev. Wilmer Chirino, Rev. Louis Monica, Rev. Martin Okwudiba, Rev. Cesar Izaguirre, Rev. Kevin Okafor, and Rev. August Taglianetti.  Please pray for all priests who also will be changing assignments at this time.

In two weeks we will host our annual Manna Food Drive over the weekend of July 4th and 5th.  In preparation for that weekend, we are asking you to collect canned goods from your pantry or buy them from the store to donate to needy in our area.  Usually we provide the brown paper bags at each of the exits this weekend and ask you to return them filled with non-perishable food items.  As of the publishing of this column we have not received them.  I put a call in for more bags, but because of the pandemic I am not sure that they will arrive.  You can use any paper or plastic bags you have at home.  The bags can be placed at the foot of the cross in the back hallway.  This is an important food drive that helps to stock the shelves of our local food pantry, the Coordinating Council of Health and Welfare.  The food cupboard was temporarily shut down due to the Coronavirus, but it has resumed operations.  It is more commonly known as, the Warminster Food Cupboard, and it is located at 75 Downey Dr. in Warminster.  This is the closest site approved and recommended by the Archdiocese for this specific food drive.  The Manna Food Drive helps to stock the shelves of the food pantry through the summer months when donations are typically lower.  Canned food items are usually in greatest need such as beef stew, tuna fish, fruit, vegetables, pasta sauces, soups, pork and beans, etc.  St. Joseph parish has consistently been one of the greatest contributors to this Food Drive.

Beginning June 22, the Feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops celebrates Religious Freedom Week.  Religious freedom gives us the space to carry out the mission that Jesus has entrusted to the Church. Religious freedom means that Catholics, and all people of goodwill, are free to seek the truth and to live in accordance with that truth, and so to strengthen our common life as a nation.  In the midst of our current challenges, join us as we seek the kingdom and find Strength in Hope. Learn more at www.usccb.org/ReligiousFreedomWeek. Join us, June 22 – June 29, as we pray, reflect, and take action on religious liberty, both here in this country and abroad.

June 22: Freedom to Serve in Health Care
June 23: Respect for Houses of Worship
June 24: Religious Minorities in China
June 25: Adoption and Foster Care
June 26: Border Wall Dispute in the Diocese of Brownsville
June 27: Catholic Schools
June 28: Central African Republic
June 29: Civilize It

God Bless You!
Fr. Bordonaro