Weekly Bulletin |
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Pastor & Superintendent: Fr. Steve Major
Mass ScheduleSaturday 5:30pm; Sunday 8:00am & 10:00am. Weekdays M-F 8:20am
ConfessionsMonday-Friday. 15 minutes before all daily Masses Saturday 4:00pm - 5:25pm; Vigil of First Friday 7:00-8:00pm First Saturday 11:00am-noon.
BaptismParents are asked to attend one 60 min. baptism preparation class. Call the rectory office to schedule. At least one godparent must be a Catholic in good standing. An approval letter from the godparents’ pastor is requested.
MatrimonyContact the parish first—6 to 12 months ahead of time. The FOCCUS assessment process must be completed before a wedding date is set.
Natural Family Planning (NFP)To schedule an Introductory Session to the Creighton Model Fertility Care System of NFP, engaged or married couples may contact Jo Langley (223-3359) or Melissa Powers (228-3856).
St. Joseph Catholic School—420 N 6th Street( 3 yr. old Preschool through 5th) Office Hours 7:30am - 4:00pm Vickie Gilbert, Head Teacher ; Chastity Crotty, Secretary ($200.00 book fee per student parishioner/yr.) 223-5033.
C.C.D. Program in St. Joseph School, Grades 1-8, Wed., 6:30-7:45pm
Godparent Program—High School Youth Wed., 7:00pm
Red Raven Day Care-18 months—up. In our school building. Call the school office for information: 223-5033.
Parish Office: 612 High Street, Beatrice, NE 68310 Mon-Fri, 8:00am - 5:00pm, except Holy Days and holidays. Roddy Spangler, Secretary.
Bulletin Deadline: noon Thursday.
Attention Ladies! Grace Filled Moments, a nine week study group exploring the great call and gift of femininity to “aid humanity in not falling,” be women who bear Jesus to the world, and follow our Blessed Mother’s example, will be offered at Blessed John XXIII Center on Wednesdays, June 4-July 30th 2008 from 6:30-8:00 pm. To register, contact Terri at 328-0933, or email dvontz@neb.rr.com. SPACE is Limited! Sponsored by the Diocesan Evangelization Committee.
STEWARDSHIP THOUGHT In today’s Gospel, Jesus prays, “I glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.” Good stewards follow His example by using their time and talents for the glory of God.
Breastfeeding is actually the most widely practiced and “natural” NFP method there is. In the last decade, researchers have proven that the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) of NFP is reliable for postponing pregnancy. Using LAM guidelines, couples can enjoy up to six months of natural infertility, with only a 2% chance of pregnancy before the first cycle (all abstinence-free!). The NFP Messenger, Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Fall 2007 Locally contact: Jo Langley (223-3359)for more information. In Lincoln Natural Family Planning Creighton Model Introductory Sessions for May, 2008 are: Thursday, May 8, Monday, May 19, and Thursday, May 29 at 7pm. Pre-registration is required. Call (402) 488-2040.
SIGN UP NOW for SUMMER CCD which is scheduled for Monday, June 16 to Friday, June 20. Daily Mass will be part of each day’s class with the Sisters; it will be moved 3 hours later to 11:30am for that Monday-Friday. We need persons to assist the lay teachers and the School Sisters of Christ the King. If you are able to help, please contact Susan Cook (223-5945), or pick up and fill out a yellow volunteer sheet from the entrances of church. Also, please fill out a blue registration form for your children to attend Summer CCD. If you’d like to get either form by email, please use the rectory email address: rectory_office@yahoo.com. We had to change that address from the old stjosephbeatrice.org address due to uncontrollable email spam. Eventually the rectory and school will probably be migrated to a new domain of the Diocese of Lincoln called cdolinc.net. Until then, we are using the above address.
FROM FR. STEVE MAJOR Back on Easter Monday it became official: the SCHOOL SISTERS OF CHRIST THE KING will be sending one of their own, Sister Mary Faustina to us next school year. Sister will commute from the Motherhouse on SW Pioneer Blvd. three full days a week using our parish car. The exact details of Sister's duties here at St. Joseph School haven't been worked out yet but she will teach religion in various classrooms of our K-5 school. Sister Faustina now serves as a full-time 5th grade teacher at St. Peter’s Elementary in Lincoln . It should be noted that this blessing we will receive—a Sister to teach in our school—is almost unheard of. Religious sisters are scarce in most places, but in the Diocese of Lincoln it is not so. We have growing religious orders because parents of young women allow and encourage their daughters to consider a religious vocation for themselves. Sister Faustina grew up in Milford , NE and entered the School Sisters of Christ the King eight years ago. Please offer a prayer of thanksgiving for this blessing from God. Please also prayerfully consider whether God might be calling you or your daughter/granddaughter to the religious life. You cannot find a better son-in-law than God's Son. Sister Faustina’s work here will not fill our need for a preschool teacher nor our need for a 1st grade teacher. This week I placed an ad for the PRESCHOOL POSITION on a website called nebraskaeducationjobs.com. We have already had some interest in this position and hope that we will have a large field of qualified candidates to choose from.
The CHARITY AND STEWARDSHIP APPEAL 2008 begins this weekend. If you’re new to the Diocese of Lincoln, you’re asking yourself, “what’s that?” ‘CSA’ is a diocesan-wide program that asks people to consider pledging about 1% of their income to give an amount of money over the course of a year. An average person’s pledge would be about $75.00, or a little more than a dollar each week. If all of us could do that this year, we could raise: 575 families X $75 per year $43,125.00!
I am painfully aware that this comes at a time when most people are scratching their heads wondering what their money situation will look like in the next year. For some, it’s a real cause of worry. As I mentioned back in December when we did our parish stewardship renewal, if your income goes up or down, your tithing should go up or down with it. Please figure your pledge accordingly. Remember too that one of the first principles of stewardship is to “put God first” in everything. The example I use is sharing an apple. Who would offer to their friend a mostly eaten apple with teeth marks all over it? Giving God back a portion of our time, talent and treasure first is part of the measure of our love for him. I am often asked to donate to the well-known charities who advertise on radio, TV and in newspapers; to be honest, I only give to a charity whose overhead is less than 10%. Did you know that some of the biggest charities spend more than half of what you give them just on their own salaries and the ads you see and hear? Monies can be paid in any combination of the months of July, September, November, January and March. On your pledge card you can mark down when you want a notice to come in the mail.
This year our CSA goal is $26,119.00 and everything over 60% our goal ($15,671.40) will come back to us. What happens to that first $15,671.40? This year our retreat house in Waverly will get $36,000 towards its budget. Our diocesan Pro-Life Office gets $6,000.00. Our seminary will be given $10,000 towards ongoing upkeep and maintenance. CSA is CATHOLIC—it’s “universal”. Rather than hoard God’s blessings to ourselves, we share them and receive credit for that from God. We help to carry on Christ’s earthly mission of preaching, teaching and sanctifying. At the kickoff meeting here a couple of weeks ago I made my own CSA pledge and increased it substantially from last year, knowing that others might not be able to do so. We will all have the chance today and in the following weekends. Let’s try to wrap up the pledging by Memorial Day. Totals will be published here in the weeks to come.
The use society hopes to make of biomedical science must constantly be measured against robust and firm ethical standards. … Foremost among these is the dignity of human life, for under no circumstances may a human being be manipulated or treated as a mere instrument for experimentation. Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See, Oct. 11, 2007
On Memorial Day weekend we will celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. I would like to organize a PROCESSION WITH THE BLESSED SACRAMENT immediately after the 10:00am Mass that Sunday, May 25th. I would like our Knights of Columbus, especially the 4th Degree members, to serve as an honor guard. First Communicants and this year’s Confirmandi are invited to take a special place in the procession. Everyone else who can be here could also participate, including your non-Catholic friends and neighbors. So what’s a Eucharistic procession? It’s a most uniquely Catholic phenomenon that you sometimes see even in movies. The Holy Eucharist is placed in a container called a “monstrance” that displays the Sacred Host for adoration. To others it looks strange indeed to kneel before an altar the way some used to kneel before kings and queens, yet that’s just what we’re doing: kneeling before the King of Kings, Christ Jesus. If you would like to help organize the procession, please contact Fr. Major at the rectory office: 223-2923.
Do you listen to MP3 sound files while you work out or commute to work? Want something different? Check out http://podcast.catholicexchange.com for Mark Shea’s daily, 3 minute long, FREE program about things Catholic. In the last couple of weeks he did a series on the Sacrament of Confirmation and he is talking about the other sacraments as well. The Internet can be a great resource for our Catholic faith, but be sure you are using a really Catholic source. The best way to do that is to start from a diocesan website like our own www.DioceseofLincoln.com and follow links from them. Our parish website has Catholic links as well. We’ll try to give that website a thorough update this summer. One of the things I want to get done is to put old bulletins on the web page so anyone can look back at previous issues...like to help with that? Contact us by phone: 223-2923 or email: rectory_office@yahoo.com.
Last week I got a box of free “Catholic Devotional” booklets in the mail. They’re the little blue booklets in each pew that many of you use to pray {or if you’re teething, to chew]. I’d like to get the covers of these LAMINATED with plastic so they’ll last longer. Please contact the rectory office if you’re interested in doing this for about 100 copies of the booklet.
SPEAKING OF UPDATES...a couple of projects are planned for our school this summer: a new gym floor; new paint for the east “green” stairs; new floor tile for the art room, and technology training for our teachers and staff. Teachers are being offered classes in software and online resources by the Diocesan Technology Office and there’s a new online library program being offered to our schools that we’re going to try to join up with; that would allow us to check books in and out of our school library with infrared bar code readers like you see in stores. All of this is provided by the same generous anonymous benefactor who has given so much computer hardware, infrastructure and software programming to our schools. Please offer a prayer for his/their intentions. ~ ~ ~ “A November 1994 Reader Digest article by Mary Cunningham Agee reported that 91% of women surveyed in post-abortion interviews stated that they would have carried their child to term if the support had been there. Items most frequently mentioned were help with medical bills, ability to continue in her career or education, and most importantly, understanding from family, friends, and the father of the child.” from Priests for Life Website: priestsforlife.org
It’s up to us to be that support – so that women won’t feel that abortion is their only choice. There is a pregnancy resource center right here in Beatrice. Support the center by donating or volunteering! Pregnancy Resource Center of Beatrice — 800 Ella Street, Suite A - Beatrice 68310 — (402) 228-6411
UPCOMING EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Sunday, May 4: World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Monday, May 5, 7:00pm: Altar Society Meeting in the Parish Center. 7:30pm: Bible Study Group meets in school.
Wednesday, May 7, 6:30pm: CCD (Grades 1-8) meets. 8:00pm: Book Group meets at the home of Connie Hatfield, 1505 Summit St.
Friday, May 9, 1:00pm: Over 55 Club Potluck in Parish Center. Bring a friend.
~.~.~ Monday, May 12, 7:00pm: Education Committee Meeting.
Monday, May 12, 7:00pm: 7:30pm: Bible Study Group meets in school.
Tuesday, May 13, 7am-8pm: Parish Center will be used for Primary Polling. 7:30pm: Knights of Columbus meet.
Wednesday, May 14, 6:30pm: CCD (Grades 1-8) meets. (Last Class)
Tuesday, May 15, 7:30pm: Circle #7 meets at the home of Margaret Graff, 6960 W State Hwy 4.
Sunday, May 18, 8:00am: Senior Mass followed by a breakfast for the graduates and their families. Feed My Sheep Sunday, bring items for the Community Pantry.
Monday, May 19, 7:00pm: Parish Council Meeting.
~.~.~ Tuesday, May 20, 11:45am: Early dismissal for St. Joseph Students. LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! 7:30pm: Circle #6 meets at the home of Ginny Reimer, 1605 S 3rd St.
Sunday, May 25: Catholic Relief Services Sunday. Bring donations for the “Wishing Well” |
