Holy Mass is OPEN at St.Joseph’s Church in Hanover

 

4:00pm 

6:30pm (Spanish)

———————————-

8:00am

10:00am

12:00 noon (Spanish)

‼️Covid 19 Precautions:

🌟Please arrive  no earlier than half an hour before mass

🌟Please wear a mask, enter main door only

🌟Please allow the USHER TO SEAT YOU; do not seat yourself

🌟Please remove your mask for communion and pls do not wear gloves if u are receiving in the hand

🌟Please be patient and understanding if you are not admitted into Holy Mass; as we do have a limited capacity; IF YOU ARE NOT ADMITTED due to full capacity In the church, you may be directed by the Ushers to Social Hall (based on social hall capacity). We will have overflow live-stream projected in social hall. And priest will come to social hall with holy communion.

 Newly ordained Deacon Carlos Pichardo assists at his first Mass as Deacon. Here, Deacon Carlos preaches on the Good News of God’s mercy to the largely Hispanic congregation at the noon Mass.

Please know you are all in the prayers of the priests and deacons here at St. Joseph Parish.  Like your home, our parish expenses continue during this difficult time.  Since some people are not coming to church on a regular basis due to the virus, we have seen a great reduction in giving.  We need your support now more than ever.  You may drop off your contributions at the parish office, under the door is fine.  However, now is a great time to register for “Parish Giving”.  Please see below and register for on line giving.  Thank you for your continued support. 

 

St. Joseph Parish has enlisted Parish Giving to provide its members with the opportunity to use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) as an alternative method for giving. 

 

Click on Parish Giving logo above to register for the program.

 

Parish Giving allows participants to donate a recurring contribution that is automatically transferred from your checking or savings account, or even credit card, on a monthly basis, and you select your own billing date. This Program can be utilized for your Sunday contributions, as well as any Holy Day Collection and all diocesan collections.

 

The use of EFT is not only time saving and convenient for you, but also allows our Parish to realize a more consistent level of support. By signing up for Parish Giving, you will know that you are doing your part to support the Parish even at times you are not able to be physically present to celebrate with the Parish Community.

 

Novena for Protection in Time of Pandemic

 

Select the above link for the prayer

 

2020 Diocesan Annual Campaign

Update as of September 1, 2020

Saint Joseph Parish, Hanover

 

 

Parish Goal for 2020           $195,500.00
Total Paid                             $140,782.69
Over (under) goal in cash     ($54,717.31)
Total Pledged:                        $30,500.00
Outstanding Pledges:             $12,368.00
% toward goal cash rec'd        72.01%
Average Gift:                            $316.37
Number of Donors:                   335
Registered Households:           2,087
Percentage of Participation:      16.05%

 

 

 

 

As I know many of you are aware, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg filed for c

In support of this effort, I have asked your Pastor (Parochial Vicar) to read this letter to all of you this weekend and again in September to ensure that we reach as many survivors as possible before the claims filing deadline. The claims filing deadline is November 13, 2020. Claims can be made confidentially. Information on how to submit a claim has been posted at every church and school within the Diocese. We have also made this information available on the Diocese's webpage and the webpage maintained by the Diocese's claims and balloting agent, Epiq Restructuring, at https://dm.epiq11.com/case/rcdh/info. Additionally, information will also be published at least twice in your parish's weekly bulletin and you can ask any priest within our Diocese for more information as well. I ask that you please share this information with your family and friends who are not here today. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Please be assured of my continuing prayers and I ask that you please keep me as well as all of the priests, deacons, and consecrated religious of our Diocese in your prayers as well.

Sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer

 

 

 

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania In re: Roman Catholic Diocese of            Harrisburg Case No. 1:20-bk-00599 (HWV)

Claims Notice for Victims of Sexual Abuse and Others with Claims Against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania In re: Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg Case No. 1:20-bk-00599 (HWV) If you were sexually abused by any person connected with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, a Roman Catholic parish or Roman Catholic school within the geographical area of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, or have any claim against  the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, you must file a claim by November 13, 2020. 

 For more Diocesan information, visit: https://www.hbgdiocese.org or https://dm.epiq11.com/RCDH

 For U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania information, visit: http://www.pamb.uscourts.gov/

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brief list of resources for the Holy Rosary (you may know of others):

1. A simple guide on "how to pray": http://www.kofc.org/en/resources/cis/devotionals/4772.pdf
2. Apostolic Letter of St John Paul II on the Rosary: http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html

3. Meditations from St John Paul II Society: https://www.stjohnpaul.org/rosary-meditations/
4. Meditations by Archbishop Fulton Sheen: https://traditionalcatholicprayers.com/2019/11/14/fulton-sheens-meditations-on-the-15-mysteries-of-the-rosary/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During this challenging time, many of the faithful may be unable to attend Mass.  Magnificat is honored to provide complimentary access to our online version to help people pray from home.  

 

English: http://magnificat.com/free

Spanish: http://magnificat.com/gratis  

 

Also, Formed is now available on Roku devices.

 

 

One is an Act of Spiritual Communion:  https://www.hbgdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Spiritual-Communion.pdf

 

The second is a Sunday Prayer at Home:  https://www.hbgdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Sunday-Prayer-at-Home.pdf

 

 

Prayer to Our Lady Imploring Her Protection

O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope.
We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith.
You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need.
We are certain that you will provide, so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee, joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us:
He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.
We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.
Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.

 

Information concerning a prayer app.

 

We know this is an incredibly busy and challenging time. With dioceses across the country (and world) suspending the celebration of the Mass, we can only imagine the stress that you and your parishioners are experiencing. 

I wanted to pass along a note from our friends at Hallow. They've been scrambling to figure out how they can best support you and your parishioners.

As a quick introduction - Hallow is a Catholic prayer and meditation app that guides users in deepening their relationship with Christ through audio-guided contemplative prayer & meditation sessions. It launched in Dec-2018 and as of now have over 150,000 downloads in over 50 countries, 750,000 prayers completed, and are now the #1 Catholic app in the US.  

The app comes recommended by a number of Bishops, priests, families, and teachers across the country (see endorsements below).  You can see a video walk through of the app here.  

 

  

Advocacy for People with Disabilities

 

The Diocese of Harrisburg is committed to working toward full participation of people with disabilities and their families in all aspects of the life of the Church.  The Diocesan Office of Ministry for People with Disabilities initiated the Parish Advocacy Program in 2007 to enable parishes to better respond to the gifts and needs of their parishioners with disabilities. 

 

Fran Stringer has been appointed by Monsignor Lyons to serve as our Parish Advocate.  A Parish Advocate works with the pastor and also the Office of Ministry with People with Disabilities in the diocese.   This person strives to assist parishioners with disabilities to become full participants in the life of the church – spiritually, physically and socially. 

 

If you or someone you know is limited in participation at St. Joseph Parish and this could be improved by special accommodations please let Fran know how we might work with you to remove roadblocks to full inclusion in our parish life.  She can be reached by calling the Parish Office at 637-5236.   Please leave your name, contact information and the most convenient time for a call back.  

 

22^nd Week OT Year A 2020                                             Deacon Tim Shultis

          Last month, by a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction to the Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley church, who challenged the Nevada Governor’s COVID-19 Order limiting worship services to no more than 50 people, but which had no such strict limits on large secular gatherings like at casinos. While the 5-member majority did not file an opinion explaining their vote, the four dissenting Justices did.

Justice Alito, one of the dissenters, wrote: The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, [or] to feed tokens into a slot machine.

Justice Gorsuch wrote: In Nevada, it seems, it is better to be in  entertainment than religion.  Maybe that is nothing new.  But, the First Amendment prohibits such obvious discrimination against the exercise of religion.  The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges. But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.

 

In light of the decision, Calvary Chapel did the next best thing.  It decided to hold their church service not in their church building, but in a casino, where under the Governor’s order, they were not limited to 50 people, but 50% of the maximum occupancy of the casino (in other words, thousands of people).  They have since been fined by the Governor, who, seemingly without any awareness, publicly expressed his outrage at the church’s defiance, calling the church’s actions callous and dangerous.  

 

It’s difficult to understand the Governor’s action.  Even if you could make the public health argument between gatherings of people at church versus gatherings of people in casinos (which you can’t), it is impossible to make the argument to prosecute people of faith for lawfully gathering at a casino to worship.  The only explanation is a hostile prejudice against religion and people of faith. 

 

I don’t know why, but I am always shocked when I see or hear things like this.  I shouldn’t be.  I know first-hand that God is continuously under attack in the world in which we live. And, Justice Gorsuch is right—this is nothing new.  God, and the people of God, have been under attack since the Garden of Eden. 

 

Consider Jeremiah from our first reading.  Jeremiah, an otherwise gentle and kind-hearted man, was called by God to deliver an impossible message—that his own people’s moral decline and political degeneration would cause the destruction of Judah, Jerusalem and the Temple.  He spoke the truth about God.  And, for that, Jeremiah was rejected by his people, tried and convicted, put into stocks for a time, and then forced to flee.  After 7 years as a fugitive he was captured and was thrown into a cold, wet well. 

 

Consider St. Paul, a son of Israel, who as a Pharisee assumed a leading role in the persecution of the early Christians.  “Still breathing threats and murder against the disciples” he set out for Damascus where, on the way, his life would forever change.  After his conversion, he was sent by God to preach among the Gentiles, and was ultimately arrested by the Roman authorities, imprisoned, and beheaded. 

 

Consider all of the Saints and Martyrs of the Church who followed God’s call, who spoke or acted boldly and were rewarded not with wealth, prestige, or power, but with difficulty, rejection, and, in some cases, death.  But, in their difficulties, in their privation, and even in their deaths, they all shared a common trait--remarkable joy and complete fulfillment. Even in his difficulties Jeremiah describes God as a fire burning in his heart, unable to be quenched. 

 

Fast forward to today.  Even though there is nothing new under the sun, there is no denying that we live in an increasingly secular society which is increasingly hostile to religion and to the values that the Gospel teach. This secularization leads Governors (who by the way take an oath to uphold the Constitution) to deny the right of worship to the people they are elected to serve, but uphold the right to play Texas hold ‘em in casinos.  But, what is worse is that this secularization even leads us to grow fearful and silent and in the words of St. Paul, “…to conform ourselves to this age”.     

 

Years ago, in speaking about culture’s growing hostility and violence toward religion,  the late Cardinal Francis George famously said:  " I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

 

Cardinal George’s quote is not a call to defeat.  It is a call to fight.  And, it is not limited to bishops.  It is a call to everyone who loves the Lord and takes seriously the call to Christian discipleship, who takes seriously the words of Jesus in an increasingly dangerous world:  Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.  Jesus’ words were true 2000 years ago, they are true today and will continue to be true to the end of time.

While Cardinal George’s statement is often quoted, what is not quoted is his final hopeful statement about the bishop who follows the martyred bishop.  He said: 'His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the Church has done so often in human history.'

We can be certain of this.  In good times and in bad times God sustains the world through the Church and through the one person who has overcome and rescued history itself.  We who take up our cross and follow Him are on the right side of God and of history. Those who lie about Him and the Church, those who persecute Him and the Church, and those who harass His followers bring nothing new to history, but merely retell an old story.  They are on the wrong side of the only history that ever finally matters.  It’s time to take up our cross in the world and get back to His work. 

 

We are starting a new column from SJS alumni giving testimonials about how attending St. Joseph school has impacted them.

Why Saint Joseph’s school worked for me:

-Loved wearing uniforms because I didn’t have to figure out what to wear each day. (It also taught me appropriate attire for appropriate settings)

-Learned not only academics but the work ethic and critical thinking necessary to be successful

-Enjoyed community atmosphere where I felt safe and loved by peers and faculty 

-Respect, responsibility and discipline were an integral part of the learning experience 

-basketball program was competitive, fun and coached very well

Andy Redding 

Saint Joseph graduate 1998

Delone Catholic graduate 2002

Penn state BS finance 2006

Current occupation- Business owner