November is a special time for remembering our loved ones who have gone to their final reward.  It also signals that the liturgical year is drawing to a close.  Before we say goodbye to St. Matthew, though, his Gospel has a few last lessons for us about the finality of all things.  Matthew Chapter 25 has been called the gospel in miniature.  We hear about the wise and foolish virgins, the responsible and unreliable servants, and the celebrated sheep and goats.  Choose your camp wisely, for in these divisions, eternity lies in the balance.  These apocalyptic scenarios should tip off the assembly that we are approaching the season of the eschaton, more cheerfully known as Advent. 
Time is short.  Thanksgiving is near.  The Co-chairs of our Parish Outreach Committee – Millie Berry and Nancy Sweeney – are collecting non-perishable food items and donations to help assemble Thanksgiving baskets for those in the local community who could use some help.  Collection baskets and canisters are near the entrances to the church building.  Thank you for your customary generosity.  Betty Webster  and Gloria Morin are also members of the Parish Outreach Committee.
Speaking of generosity, thanks to all our parishioners who contribute so generously to keep our Parish going – through online giving or envelopes – especially during these challenging, unstable times.  In a couple of weeks, a concise statement will be shared in the bulletin, showing the good news about the “stable” financial status of the parish.  Thanks to the members of the Parish Finance Council for keeping us fiscally healthy:  Chris Thompson, Fred Mehrmann, Marty Nastasia, Margaret Sweeney, as well as Mike Cummings, our newest member!
A wonderful donation of time and talent is worthy of mention here.  Tom Ortowski power washed the church edifice last week.  Prayer means everything to Tom, so please say a prayer of thanksgiving for his special gift of brightening our façade. 
Finally, I will be away on retreat next week.  Please welcome Fr. Gerry Bertin, who will be joining us for liturgies on Thursday, Friday, and Masses on the weekend.
Peace,
Fr. John Mahoney

God knows that taking care of yourself — body, mind, and soul — has never been more essential!
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has assembled working guidelines encompassing both medical expertise and liturgical norms for each bishop to consider as he issues directives to his pastors and their flocks during this time of pandemic.  I hope you will join me in thanking Mike Iarocci, Chair of the Building & Grounds Committee, as well as Paula King, Annie Anderson, and Fred Mehrmann, members of the Safe Environment Committee, who have assumed leadership roles in the parish’s fight against COVID-19 as it relates to St. Joseph’s property.  Thanks, too, to our wonderful ushers and other volunteers who have joined the effort to engage precautionary measures that protect the faithful while in the church building.
The air filtration systems and ducts are monitored and cleaned periodically to ensure that the church’s air quality is as pure as possible.  Our ushers and volunteers are engaged actively in observing sanitization protocols, by ensuring that mask-wearing requirements are enforced, by disinfecting the pews and all high-touch surfaces after each Mass, by ensuring that the pump bottles of hand sanitizer are filled and placed strategically for easy access by our worshippers, and by following contact-tracing measures (i.e., taking temperatures and completing screening questionnaires) prior to each Mass of any ministers (myself included) who will come into contact with other members of the community during our liturgies.
In short, we love you and we care about you!  We want you to be healthy — body, mind, and soul.  Stay healthy, and God bless you!
Fr. John Mahoney
P.S.  The week of November 1 is National Vocations Awareness week.  Please pray for vocations to priesthood and religious life!

Centered in the living presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we, the Parishioners of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church … serve our loving God and one another through worship, witness, and works of charity.

These words, taken from the Parish’s mission statement, constitute a commitment by the St. Joseph’s faith community that squares with this weekend’s Gospel message to love God and to love neighbor. To that end, the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) has been meeting and deliberating over recent months about how to fulfill most effectively the greatest commandments of the law identified by Jesus. Church Law prescribes that every parish should have a stably constituted PPC to assist the pastor in his leadership role of planning and organizing the spiritual and temporal gifts brought by the parishioners. Although our reorganization of the St. Joseph’s PPC is still a work in progress, I am happy to announce the following appointments to some of the principal chairs:

Chair of the Parish Pastoral Council: Paula King
Chair of the Building & Grounds Committee: Mike Iarocci
Chair of the Liturgy Committee: Colette Crowley
Co-chairs of the Faith Formation Committee: Paula King and Annie Anderson
Chair of the Peace & Social Justice Committee: Peter Eisenhauer

I am ever grateful that these parishioners have agreed to help guide the parish under the auspices of the Holy Spirit and in accordance with the St. Joseph’s Parish Mission Statement. Please pray for the PPC members as we continue our reorganization, and, of course, please let us know if we can be helpful in any way.

With prayerful best wishes,
Fr. John Mahoney