This week we celebrate Our Lord’s Ascension, when, after His resurrection, Jesus ascends to His Father’s right hand in heaven. His promise, our hope, is that we too will ascend with Christ to live with God in our true homeland in heaven. Our lives here on earth are a preparation for that true and eternal life in heaven. We seek to grow in holiness on our pilgrimage to our final destination in God’s house. Ascension Thursday is a Holy Day of Obligation, so we’ll have an Ascension Vigil Mass this Wednesday at 7pm, and Masses on Ascension Thursday at 12:10pm and 7pm.

This Wednesday, Fr. John Baptist will be back at St. Joe’s to give a presentation with Daniel Meola, the founder of Life Giving Wounds. You may remember that ministry: they specialize in helping the adult children of divorce and held a retreat at the Catholic Center a few years back. They just published a book together and will give a presentation on the book this Wednesday at 6pm in the parish hall. Come support Fr. John Baptist.

I just want to encourage you to stop by the church this Friday evening, April 26, anytime between 8 and 11 p.m. That evening we’re holding our second installation of NightFire, an event designed for evangelizing the neighborhood. The church will be lit almost exclusively by candlelight, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar for adoration, and there will be beautiful music provided by the School of Sacred Music and our own parishioners.

I ask you to please consider giving to our Annual Friar Formation Appeal. Dominican formation is not covered by the Cardinal’s Appeal or the Archdiocese of New York Seminary Appeal (those support Diocesan priest formation, not Dominican formation), so we must raise money to train friars separately, which is the reason for this appeal. The student brothers your gift will support will be the friars who eventually serve at St. Joseph’s and our many other ministries throughout the Eastern US Province of Dominicans. Thank you for your support!

Today ends the Octave of Easter—a holiday so great that we celebrate it for 8 days! This Sunday is also Divine Mercy Sunday where we celebrate God’s mercy towards us. At St. Joseph’s we have the Divine Mercy Adoration Chapel dedicated to this great gift. If you haven’t signed up to adore Jesus in the chapel already now would be a great time to sign up for a keycard and spend time with Jesus and encounter His love and mercy for you.

This week is Holy Week, the most important week of the year. There are many special liturgies this week—please see the Triduum and Easter schedule in the bulletin and on the website for times.

This week is Holy Week, the most important week of the year. There are many special liturgies this week—please see the Triduum and Easter schedule in the bulletin and on the website for times.

Our Parish Mission is this Monday through Wednesday, 7pm each night! Fr. Gabriel Torretta OP will preach it. He’s a great preacher and it should be a wonderful mission. The topic is “Call Me Jonah: Coward. Bigot. Curmudgeon. Image of Christ.” Fr. Gabriel comments on the topic: “The prophet Jonah isn’t what we think a saint should look like—he’s too mediocre, too petty, too normal. But his story is the story of Lent, the story of redemption, the story of reality. It’s our story.”

We’re approaching the culmination of Lent in Holy Week and the week after this one, on Monday 3/18 to Wednesday 3/20, we’ll have our annual parish mission. Fr. Gabriel Torretta OP will preach it. He’s a great preacher and it should be a wonderful mission. It’s three nights, Monday through Wednesday, at 7pm each night. The topic is “Call Me Jonah: Coward. Bigot. Curmudgeon. Image of Christ.” Fr. Gabriel comments on the topic: “The prophet Jonah isn’t what we think a saint should look like—he’s too mediocre, too petty, too normal. But his story is the story of Lent, the story of redemption, the story of reality. It’s our story.”

This week is our annual Cardinal’s Appeal in-pew weekend. The Cardinal’s Appeal supports the work of the Archdiocese of New York. That includes funding the services it provides, its tribunal and administration, the financially struggling parishes and schools it supports, its charitable outreach, the training of Diocesan priest (not Dominican Friars though), and much more. Please consider giving to this appeal, and make sure to mark St. Joseph’s as your parish. The Archdiocese considers not only the amount given, but also how many people give, so large and small gifts are much appreciated.

Dominican Discourse will continue this Monday at 7:30 in McGuire Hall. A friar will speak for about 15 minutes about a topic that interests him and is related to our Faith, followed by a discussion of the topic. It will meet every Monday at 7:30pm in McGuire Hall, and will conclude at 8:30. It’s open to everyone so I hope to see you there.

This Monday the friars are starting a new ministry called Dominican Discourse. A friar will speak for about 15 minutes about a topic that interests him and is related to our Faith, followed by a discussion of the topic. It will meet every Monday, starting this Monday, at 7:30pm in McGuire Hall, and will conclude at 8:30. It’s open to everyone so I hope to see you there.

This Wednesday, February 14th, is Ash Wednesday. Now’s the time to start praying about how to live out this year’s Lenten Season—how to grow through penance, fasting, and almsgiving. There is a lot of grace during Lent, so prepare now to reap all the graces of the Lenten Season. We’ll have Ash Wednesday masses at St. Joseph’s at 8am, 12:10pm, 5pm, and 7pm.

This Friday our Winter Thomistic Institute series begins! We’ll have three speakers three Fridays in a row. This Friday will be Professor Brad Gregory, an historian at Notre Dame. He wrote an influential book on the Reformation and he’ll share his insights with us. It’s entitled “The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Led to a Secular Modernity.”

This Friday is Candlemas, also known as the Presentation of the Lord. It’s called Candlemas because there is a special blessing of candles at the beginning and then a procession. We’re continuing the tradition started last year and holding this special candle blessing and procession at the 7pm Friday evening Candlemas celebration.

You’ve likely noticed the new paintings in the Church! Lucy Rahner, a St. Joseph parishioner, has been working on these paintings for the past two years. I’m excited to finally have them completed and in place! Lucy also painted the saints border in McGuire Hall. This Friday, 1/26, at 7pm, Lucy will give a presentation on the paintings in the church. There will be a gathering in the parish hall afterwards. Please join us and learn more about the artwork at St. Joseph’s. 

During Mass there are some prayers that the priest says quietly, spoken only to God, often while other things are happening. These prayers are often quite lovely, and I wanted to share the text of one that is prayed during the Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”). While everyone else is singing or reciting the Agnus Dei, the priest says quietly to Our Lord, present in the Eucharist:

Have a blessed Epiphany! Today we the revelation of God made Incarnate, made man. It’s an astounding thing when considered: that God, who is the primal cause of everything, who created the cosmos and holds it in existence at every moment, took a human nature to Himself and entered into our history.

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior! Into the darkness of this fallen world the light of God has entered and offered salvation to each of us. Born today a mere baby, the King of Kings has come to save us from the tyranny of Satan and from death itself. Everything is different today because of one child born in the backwaters of the Roman Empire. That child would reclaim humanity for God and lead all who would follow Him to eternal life in heaven. We celebrate that today hope is born in a manger: darkness and despair no longer define our world. The Son of God has become man. 

We have only one week of Advent left because Christmas is next Monday. Make sure to intensify your spiritual preparations for our Lord’s coming this Christmas—there’s still a lot of grace for us who await Christ’s coming.