First Saturdays at St. Joseph's: For Life and Now, For Vocations, too
October 2, The Guardian Angels
For several years, our parish has scheduled Evening Holy Hours on the First Sundays from September through January. The attendance has been very satisfactory.
That five of the some twenty who left for St. Charles’ Seminary last week came from this parish is surely a sign of God’s blessing upon our prayers.
Should we just “coast along” on the formula next month? After all, some families had accepted to come in the long distance twice in the same day.
I appeal to the whole congregation to approve a new experiment in response to Bishop Burbidge’s call to every parish in the Diocese to pray for our seminarians and to ask God to increase their number.
First Saturdays, long a mainstay of St. Joseph’s devotional life, are now being summoned to carry a special thrust for “Vocations” as well as “Life.”
Following the eight o’clock Mass, there will be exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, praying of the Rosary (with commentary on five decades), and then Benediction.
The Sacrament of Penance will be offered at 9:45 a.m. until all are served. For those who cannot stay after the Mass, due to Life engagements or other duties of the day, the Church is open every first Saturday by 7:00 a.m.
The urgency of our Church’s need for more priests – and sisters, too – has been underscored for some years now.
Families, “seniors”, youth and young adults are being convoked to support this Holy Saturday Hour – which should be a sign to those discerning a call to the priesthood and religious life that the subject is such that the bodies of parishioners are on the line before the “Lord of the Harvest” asking for more workers for the vineyard.
The Chalice program continues, as well as a prayer during First Friday devotions, at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart. First Saturdays, associated for nearly a century with the message of Fatima, are privileged times for prayer for peace…for the Gospel of life. We make room for a new layer of intentions: vocations.
Thank you for planning now to make the Saturday of the Labor Day weekend a good start.
Yours faithfully, in the Holy Name,
(Monsignor) John Williams
Pastor
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