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Volume 1, Number 7
As of right now, in accordance with directives from the Archdiocese, all public Masses continue to be suspended.
 
The 10am Sunday Mass from St. Joseph Church is being livestreamed on Facebook and on our website. Instructions are provided below.

St. Joseph Church will be open on Sunday from 11am to noon for private prayer.  The church will not be open during the livestream of the Mass.


Father Harrison will continue to hear Confessions on Saturdays from 4pm to 4:45pm at Presentation BVM Church, Cheltenham.

The chapel at Presentation will be open daily from 8am until 7pm for private prayer.  Should the chapel become too crowded, the church will be open for the same hours.
10AM SUNDAY MASS FROM ST. JOE'S IS BEING LIVESTREAMED!
We began livestreaming the 10am Sunday Mass last Sunday and we appreciate all the positive comments that we received. We believe that you will hear an improvement in the quality of the audio this coming Sunday! If you do not have Facebook, then you can easily view the livestream directly from our website (link below).

The livestream will be able each Sunday via:
and
CHURCH OPEN 11AM TO NOON ON SUNDAYS
St. Joseph Church will be open on Sunday from 11am to noon for private prayer.  The church will not be open before or during the livestream of the Mass.
A BRIEF RECAP OF SOME PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS:
  • Since we couldn't physically distribute Rejoice and Be Glad (also known at St. Joe's as the "Little Booklet") of daily reading reflections for the Easter season (through May 31), you can access the "little booklet" here. You can also pick up a copy at St. Joe's on Sunday mornings when the Church is open for prayer between 11am and noon.
  • Our parish now offers Online Giving here. Be sure to select the correct St. Joseph in the dropdown menu! OR you can continue to drop your offering envelope in the mail slot at the Parish Center entrance along Waters Rd.
  • Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez's 11am Sunday Mass at the Cathedral will continue to be live streamed at archphila.org. Recordings will be available at this link
  • The Archdiocese's Online Rosary Campaign for an End to the Coronavirus  continues every night at 6pm (Spanish) and 8pm (English).  For more information and a link to tune in each night:
A MESSAGE FROM FATHER HARRISON
I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.
(Psalm 27 - Psalm for the Seventh Sunday of Easter)
 
During this bleak time of the pandemic these words may seem hollow.  Where can we actually see the good things of the Lord?  When will we be able to do everything just as we had done in the very recent past?  How will we be able to live as before?  We are continually confronted by the problems created by one of God’s smallest creature – a virus.  And we, the best of all creatures, are confounded by the workings of this minute organism.  Where are those good things?  Are they just the promise of heaven, whenever we may arrive there?  Do we have to “tough it out” here in order to receive the reward hereafter?
 
When Philip asked Jesus to let the apostles see the Father, He questioned Philip, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and still you do not understand?  If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”  Have we been with Jesus all this time (the whole of our lives for most of us) and still we cannot see the good things of the Lord?  They are all there, in that same living person, Jesus.
 
Jesus is everything to us, quite literally.  In Him do we find the image of God, the love, mercy and understanding of God, not as coming from a philosopher or an academic paper, but from God, Himself!  He has described the kind of world that He wants for us, not merely as a possibility but as a project to be completed – by us!  Look beyond the evils of the day and ask what is needed here or there.  You will find that the answer lies in the descriptive words of Jesus - love your neighbor as yourself.  The answer to our present problems is not simply in a vaccine for the virus - as significant as that may be - but rather in the strong, vibrant faith of the individual follower of Jesus – us.  We carry around in our hearts the answer to the problems of mankind.  When the virus has diminished, there will still be hunger, hatred, prejudice, inequality, etc.
 
Do we really want the good things of the Lord – here, on earth?  Then we must open our eyes and recognize the answer before us: we must be peace in the midst of war; we must be love in the face of violence; we must be hope in the face of despair; we must be self-sacrifice for the oppressed; we must be home for the homeless!
 
To do this we must not be distracted. We must stay focused on Jesus!.
URGENT! CONTACT GOVERNOR WOLF TO URGE HIM NOT TO DIVERT FUNDING MEANT FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS!
Governor Wolf and the PA Department of Education are looking to take most of the funding that Congress wants distributed equitably in COVID-19 relief to ALL schools in PA and across the country. 
 
Pennsylvania received $471 million in funding from Washington. But Pennsylvania Catholic Conference Education Director Sean McAleer says “the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) created its own set of rules to distribute that money that blatantly ignores federal guidance. The end result significantly lowers the amounts to be given to Catholic and nonpublic school students.”
 
McAleer broke down the disparity this way: “the Wolf Administration is calling for roughly $19 million to go to Catholic and nonpublic schools students, while Washington is calling for $66 million. The Wolf administration is misappropriating some $47 million in federal funds and harming families who have chosen to send their children to Catholic and nonpublic schools.

We ask you to take a moment to contact Governor Wolf urging him to please follow federal guidelines for disbursement of educational funds in Pennsylvania.  All families need the continued choice to select the highest quality, values-based, safest academic environments for their children.  Please click this link to send your message to Governor Wolf and his administration today.

We encourage you to share the Voter Voice link with your family, friends, community and across all social media.  We need your voice to ensure that all families in the greater Philadelphia area receive their intended assistance.
NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS BEGINS TODAY

The novena in honor of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Our Lord Himself when He sent His apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost.  It is still the only novena officially prescribed by the Church.  Addressed to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Christian.

This novena begins on the day after the Solemnity of the Ascension, Friday of the 6th Week of Easter, and continues through Pentecost Sunday.  Click here for the novena prayers.

The novena will also be prayed each night at the end of the 8pm Online Rosary. There will also be an extended Pentecost Vigil at the Cathedral imploring the end of the pandemic. The Pentecost Vigil will be livestreamed on Saturday, May 30 at 8pm at this link,

This Monday is Memorial Day.  We remember the many brave men and women who have given their lives throughout the history of our great nation – those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect us from harm and to protect the freedoms we enjoy every day.
MAY SHE REST IN PEACE!
Please pray for the soul of Marianne Gerngross Quinn, St. Joseph School Class of 1972, who died on May 11, 2020.  A celebration of Marianne's life will be held at a later date.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.
May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
MANNA SUNDAY FOOD DRIVE
Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (NDS) is hosting its annual Manna Sunday Food Drive (Sunday, May 17 - Monday, June 1) to help provide nourishment to our neighbors in need. The collection of non-perishable items, which normally takes place at parishes and schools, has been moved online due to COVID-19 restrictions.

For more information and to make a monetary donation online, please read this CatholicPhilly.com article.
 
Don't have FORMED? It's easy to get a free account:
  1. Visit FORMED.org
  2. Click Sign Up.
  3. Select “I Belong to a Parish or Organization”.
  4. Enter “19012” and Select “Presentation BVM”
  5. Enter your email – and you’re in!  No more codes or passwords!
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THE WEEK
To access the daily scripture readings that are being used at Mass, click here.
TRADITIONAL PRINTED PARISH BULLETIN STILL AVAILABLE
Thanks to our faithful parish bulletin publisher, John Patrick Publishing Company, we are still publishing a weekly online version of our printed parish bulletin.  Looks just like the paper copy that you know and love!  You can access it here or by clicking the Bulletin+ logo on the right hand side of our website. And, be sure to read the back page and support our loyal advertisers that make our weekly bulletin possible - they need our support now more than ever.
OTHER SPIRITUAL RESOURCES
So as to cut down on the length of our email updates, we now have a page on our website devoted to the various spiritual resources that are available to you during the pandemic.  We will be updating the page on a regular basis so please refer to it often.
For an archive of previous e-Bulletins from St. Joe's, click here.
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7631 Waters Rd., Cheltenham, PA 19012, USA

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