Updates Of Happenings In Our Parish.

My Dear Parishioners,

It is hard to believe that this is the last weekend in June and that next weekend we will be celebrating Independence
Day and the 250th Birthday of our nation. Time does fly; the summer is going by a little too fast.

Here are a few updates of happenings in our parish.

Christ Life Series: I am happy to say that we are partnering with St. Jude Parish in Chalfont to offer the Christ
Life Series. This is a series that can renew your relationship with Jesus and help you to set fire to the hearts of others
for Jesus. The meetings will be at St. Jude School Cafeteria, on Wednesday evenings, starting September 30. “Christ
Life is a three-step relational evangelization process. It consists of three courses: Discovering Christ, Following
Christ, and Sharing Christ. Parishes around the United States and beyond have been using it since 2009 to evangelize
and form missionary disciples.” Look for more information in the bulletin and also information on how to register.
You won’t be sorry and only thankful that you did.

Knights of Columbus: I am happy to report that we are taking the first steps in reviving the Knights of Columbus
in our parish. The Knights of Columbus offer men an opportunity to be better formed in our Catholic Faith, an
opportunity for fellowship, and opportunities for service. Look for more information in the weeks to come and, in
the meantime, if you are already a Knight or already considering becoming a Knight, contact our parish office so that
you can help get our revived council off the ground.

54 Poplar Road: 54 Poplar Road is a house that the parish has owned for quite some time. The present tenant
is moving. We will now be putting the house up for sale. Proceeds from the sale will help finance repairs and
upgrades to our beautiful parish facilities.

Windows: I have now been with you for two years, and it is now time to start tackling some major projects
around here. We do have a good estimate on replacing the windows on the “wings” of our church building. Of
course, the price of everything has gone up. We are looking at close to $300,000 for the project. Besides improving
the “curb appeal” of our building, it will help to lower energy bills and make the old classrooms usable again. Under
Archdiocesan guidelines, we will be getting some competitive bids, but I do want this done. If you would like to
donate to this project specifically, please, let’s talk.

Rear Entrance: We are getting the next set of plans on our new rear (parking lot) entrance. The entrance will
include a handicapped lift. Once the next set of plans are available, we will publish them to the parish. If you would
like to donate to this project specifically, please, let’s talk.

Room Renovations: Sadly, when our school was consolidated to the St. Robert’s campus, our classrooms in the
wings fell into disuse and became storage rooms. My plan, and we are doing this, is to restore these rooms and again
use them for CCD on Tuesdays and as meeting rooms during the rest of the week. Again, if you would like to donate
specifically to this, let’s talk.

It is sometimes hard to believe that our nation’s bicentennial was 50 years ago. I was in elementary school at St.
Philip Neri School in East Greenville in 1976. I remember watching the events of 1976 with my family around our
floor model RCA TV set. Yes, it was a color TV, and the “cable” was to a roof-top antenna. I remember watching
the news reports of the parade of tall ships and the many speeches and concerts and fireworks that were part of our
nation’s bicentennial. It was a special time in our nation.

Next weekend, we celebrate our nation’s semi-quin centennial. However, every weekend here at St. Joseph, we
celebrate independence: we celebrate the independence that Jesus won for us, releasing us from slavery to Satan. We
moreover rejoice that, Jesus provides for our independence through the Most Holy Eucharist, giving us the power to
resist the devil’s temptations and to choose what is good and Holy. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever!

We will have our regular Mass schedule on the weekend of July 4 and 5.

I pray that everyone has a truly blessed week as we prepare to celebrate our nation’s 250th Birthday!

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!

Fr. Michael J. Pawelko, Pastor