Monthly Archives: January 2012

Marriage Preparation in English begins Tuesday February 28^th at 6:30pm in the parish center room #1. These sessions are seven weeks long and are based on Church teaching and Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.  The sessions will finish on April 10^th. Our Marriage Prep is for all couples planning to get married at St. Joseph’s or at other parishes. All couples planning to get married at St. Joseph’s are required to attend. Please call the parish office to schedule an initial meeting with Fr. Todd and to sign up for the class contact Rolando Moreno at the parish office as well (503) 581-1623.

If you would like to know more about the stained glass windows of St. Joseph Church, you can download the pamphlet by Woody Tiernan here:

The Windows of St. Joseph Catholic Church

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today we come to the end of the Christmas season with the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord.  The word “Epiphany” comes from the Greek epifania, which means a “manifestation” or a revelation” of God to humanity.  It is the feast of the Glory of the Father in and through the birth of the Baby Jesus, but it’s not simply a celebration of the birth of a child, rather it is the revelation of God becoming man in the Baby Jesus.  This is the first event in the Father’s plan to restore all humanity, and in fact all creation to communion with Himself through His direct intervention.  We are, one can say, now “caught up” in this descent of God to us in the Word becoming Flesh and dwelling among us and led in the movement of raising up, forgiving, restoring and returning humanity to God the Father.  This is the Mystery that is revealed to us, but far from a spectacular event that overwhelms us, God enacts His love and manifests it to us in the silent Infant born into total poverty in an ordinary, unremarkable way to relates to all of our everyday lives.

Read the rest of this entry…

This week is National Vocation Awareness Week – be sure to check out the Archdiocese of Portland Vocation page http://www.archdpdxvocations.org/Vocations/Home.html and the USCCB website http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/national-vocation-awareness-week.cfm for cool resources

Catholic Question of the Week: Can you name three different religious orders and their founders?

Upcoming Events:                                                                                              Sunday January 15^th                                                                                                                                                                                                                *3:30pm parent meeting for all parents with youth in the 11:30am Spanish Faith Formation classes                                                                           Monday January 16^th                                                                             *Annual Salem-Keizer Vicariate Winter Trip                                         Sunday January 22^nd                                                                                                                                                                                                                 *High School Theology of the Body Retreat forms due                            Friday January 27^th                                                                                     *Blazers Game – permission slips DUE FRIDAY JANUARY 13^th!!                          Sunday January 29^th                                                                    *Informational meeting for summer events 4pm in the youth room

 Loads of fun in store for the coming months – be sure to check the bulletin and website for information and feel free to contact me as well.

And it’s official – we have a Facebook Page – Follow the Link and Like us!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=625396040&ref=name#!/pages/St-Joseph-Salem-OR-Youth-Ministry/225591507503806

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Church says farewell to the old year and rings in the new year with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Along with Mary, we too “ponder all these things” within our hearts: the events of this past year, Our Lord’s presence within these, our life of faith, our struggles with sin and the challenges we continue to face in a world all too filled with violence, blindness to the violations against value and dignity of human life, a mindset that encourages us to sleepwalk through life and passively accept things as they are instead of reflecting on how things can be from God’s point of view.

To be human means to be thoughtful, reflective, considerate and sensitive. Mary the Mother of God is all these things to the point of perfection – she is the Mother of God and the Mother of new humanity which we call baptismal grace. Not only Jesus, but we too are truly her children. And we are such, not by any effort on our part, but simply because her grace is also ours. This means each of us, our families and our communities can live out our authentic and renewed humanity as we enter the new year.

The Christmas narrative today proclaims that “when eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was names Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” The angelic giving of the Holy Infant’s name now enters into history and the realm of the human by Mary. His name is his identity, just as our baptismal names are our identities united to Jesus. The new year gives us the opportunity to renew our identity with the Christ Child – how easy it is for us to dismiss God when we think he is too distant or aloof from our life. How impatient and impetuous we are in this regard. But Mary lived only to give birth to and welcome the Messiah. The peace, silence and solitude came from saying “yes” to the angel’s announcement. Nothing less could give her joy, for she lived without a shred of compromise or vanity. She surrendered herself fully to God’s word. We too can be untied to Mary’s “yes” but we can only discover it in the silence, solitude and peace of Christmas.

Let us pray as we being the new year, 2012:

Lord Jesus, empty us of ourselves. Rid us of our willfulness, our sinfulness, our pride. May we never be seduced by the false ideas of the world. May the truth of your birth be our glory. Let our lives be governed by your holy peace. May we live hidden in you as once you were hidden in the womb of your mother. Amen.