Reform Wellness will be hosting its NYC Advent Retreat, “An Invitation to Christ-Centered Wellness,” at St. Joseph’s. It’ll be on December 10th and starts at 9am in McGuire Hall and ends with our daily 12:10pm Mass. Here’s a description of what the retreat will be about:

“The brokenness of our humanity is never an obstacle for Christ; instead, it is an opportunity for restoration and reformation. When we empty ourselves of all that holds us back from seeking deeper relationship and healing, we create space for the Divine Healer to fill us with life in abundance. We invite you to join us for a one-day retreat to encounter the Divine Physician through the sacraments. All are welcome!”

I hope that everyone has a blessed Labor Day! It’s good to remember the nobility of labor–a dignity that was recognized within Christianity. In the ancient pagan world manual laborers were considered lesser in dignity than those wealthy enough to not have to work, such as nobles. However, Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus would have learned that trade as a child. We even have the feast day of St. Joseph the worker. That Jesus would take up manual labor reveals that it is not undignified work and that labor has a value that the ancient pagans missed. Let us not forget the dignity of all workers, even the humblest, this Labor Day.

This week classes begin again at NYU so we’ll be seeing students returning to the NYU Catholic Center and to St. Joseph’s on the weekends. It’s exciting to see the parish year get rolling again! The parish will begin filling up again and ministries will begin to come back online.

 Our summer brothers and deacon have now gone back to DC to continue their studies and we’re again a community of 5 friars. We’re in the quiet days of August, but we are preparing for the work of this upcoming parish year—restarting various ministries, such as RCIA for people entering the Church, Religious Education classes, and many others. In other words, it’s a slow news week. But there are many good things we’re looking forward to this year at St. Joseph’s!

Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (into heaven). Normally, on this solemnity there is an obligation for all Catholics to attend Mass; however, because it falls on a Monday this year there is no obligation. Therefore, our only Mass that day will be our 12:10pm daily Mass. The Catholic Center will have Mass at 5:15pm on Monday.

Our fearless leader, Fr. Boniface, is away for a couple of weeks of rest in glorious New England. This is last weekend our two younger student brothers will be with us. Brs. Raphael and Thomas will have some time with their families later this week before they return to Washington, D.C. to resume their studies. We still have another week with Fr. Bartholomew and two with Br. Brendan.

Our fearless leader, Fr. Boniface, is away for a couple of weeks of rest in glorious New England. This is last weekend our two younger student brothers will be with us. Brs. Raphael and Thomas will have some time with their families later this week before they return to Washington, D.C. to resume their studies. We still have another week with Fr. Bartholomew and two with Br. Brendan.

Our fearless leader, Fr. Boniface, is away for a couple of weeks of rest in glorious New England. This is last weekend our two younger student brothers will be with us. Brs. Raphael and Thomas will have some time with their families later this week before they return to Washington, D.C. to resume their studies. We still have another week with Fr. Bartholomew and two with Br. Brendan.

I’ll be away for quies (vacation) this Monday until Friday the 29nd. In other words, I’ll be away next Sunday, but back for the following Sunday. Fr. Clement will be in charge while I’m away. I look forward to seeing everyone again when I return.

We are in the midst of summer and things are slow at the parish. There is not much to announce, so instead I’ll use this time to restart the Mass tidbits that I was writing before the pandemic. We had finished the physical structure of the church building, so I think we left off at the beginning of the Mass.

Have a blessed 4th of July weekend! Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of our country and the patrimony that has been handed on to us. As we give thanks for the gifts of our nation that have been handed on to us, let us also give thanks for the spiritual gifts that have been handed on to us. For two thousand years the Faith has been passed from generation to generation within the Church. We know about Jesus and His teaching and the new covenant He ratified in His blood because of those who have worked, and sometimes died, to hand it on to us today. We should cultivate a spirit of gratitude for all those who went before us and have gifted us with so much. And we should make sure that we hand on what we’ve received to those who come after us.

I’m back at St. Joseph’s! We finally finished our Provincial Chapter at Providence College and now I’ve returned home. I’m glad to be back and eager to see everyone.

Corpus Christi, shorthand for The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, celebrates Jesus’s ongoing gift of himself in his presence of the Eucharist. While we primarily mark the occasion with a Mass—the celebration of the Eucharist—today is connected with the worship of the Body of Christ outside of Mass. The continuing presence of Christ in the Eucharist will become even more significant for our parish when we begin hosting a perpetual adoration chapel.

Last week, Pentecost brought the Easter Season to fiery end, but we are not ready to go back to normal just yet. Today is Trinity Sunday. Historically, Trinity Sunday was the octave (or eighth) day of Pentecost. The feast remains even though Pentecost has been cut back to single day on the new calendar. 

I hope that everyone has a blessed Pentecost! As the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles gathered together in prayer, so He still does today. As those Apostles became new men—brave and faithful—so grace still transforms us today. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into saints; let us be filled with God’s own life and find the joy and peace God wants for us. The Holy Spirit will lead us on journeys we could never imagine, as with the Apostles, but He always leads us towards salvation and fulfillment, even amidst the crosses of life. Follow the Holy Spirit and all will be well.

I hope that everyone has a blessed Memorial Day weekend! We are also celebrating the time between Ascension Thursday (last Thursday) and Pentecost, when the apostles waited for the Holy Spirit to come down upon them. In many ways that wait is like our time now: we know Christ is in heaven and we await His return.

This Thursday is Ascension Thursday, when Christ ascends to His heavenly throne. After Christ's resurrection, he spends the time from Easter until Ascension Thursday with His apostles and disciples, and on Ascension Thursday He ascends to heaven. 9 days later the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles at Pentecost and the apostles then start to spread the Gospel and build the Church. For details, read the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. 

We have a lot going on this week as our Religious Education program comes to its conclusion this year. This Tuesday evening Bishop Whalen, an auxiliary bishop for New York, will be here for our parish Confirmation Mass. He’ll be celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation for our parishioners who have been preparing for it in our Religious Education program. Next Sunday, at the 9am Mass, we’ll hold First Communion for our young parishioners who also have been preparing all year. Please keep them all in your prayers as they continue to grow in their faith and spiritual journey.

First, Fr. John Baptist Hoang OP, the chaplain at the NYU Catholic Center, has been reassigned and will be leaving in order to start as the chaplain at the University of Louisville. He’ll join the Dominican community at St. Louis Bertrand, where Fr. Pier Giorgio OP is vicar. His last Sunday at St. Joseph’s will be May 29th and we’ll hold a going away party for him after the 11:30 Mass that Sunday. 

This weekend is our annual Friars’ Appeal. This appeal raises money to support our Dominican student brothers. Student brothers are Dominicans in formation, which prepares them to minister within the Church. They are the brothers you meet every summer while they are on summer break from the Dominican House of Studies in DC, where they are educated.