Old St. Joseph's Church - Philadelphia's Jesuit Parish

Many thanks to Joe Casey and the 25 or so parishioners (too many to name) who helped with the set up, serving, and clean up during the St. Joseph's Day dinner last Saturday. Many of these folks spent the better part of that afternoon and evening taking care of the rest of us so that we could enjoy ourselves. And as he has done so often in the past, Joe organized the event and did yeoman's work from beginning to end.

We thank very much the local businesses that provided food and beverage for our St. Joseph's Day dinner last Saturday: the new Union Gourmet Market and Cafe at 11th and Locust (website at www.uniongourmetmarket.com), owned by parishioners Theresa Fera and Felix Maietta (roast beef, mashed potatoes, and string beans); Positano Coast (pasta); Termini Brothers Bakery (St. Joseph's cakes); and Moore Brothers, owned by parishioner Greg Moore (two cases of wine). We encourage parishioners to show their appreciation to these local businesses who have supported OSJ so generously.

Old St. Joseph's Gay & Lesbian Spirituality Group meets on the 2nd Friday of everymonth at 7:30PM in Barbelin Hall. The next meeting will be held on April 11, 2008. For more information, please contact the parish office at 215.923.1733.

Don't miss our annual Easter Egg Hunt! Who? Children--young and not so young. When? Easter Sunday after the 9:30 Mass. Where? Courtyard on the Walnut Street side. What? Bring a bag or basket of items for our Outreach Program and a bag for the Easter eggs. Please bring plastic eggs stuffed with treats to the rectory before Easter Sunday. We need hundreds of eggs. To help with the Hunt, please contact Sister Mary Small at the rectory: 215.923.1733 or msmall@oldstjoseph.org.

As part of our 275th Anniversary, OSJ continues its six-part Lecture Series entitled Formation of Conscience: Moral Decision-Making in Everyday Life with Part V on Thursday, April 10, 2008 with Violence and Peacemaking. The speaker will be Rev. Thomas Massaro, S.J. and he will cover everyday issues such as verbal and physical abuse in our relationships, societal expressions of violence, and the practice of nonviolence. Dr. Darlene Weaver will be present to moderate the lecture. This series will run through May of 2008. Lectures will begin at 7PM in Barbelin Hall with light refreshments served beforehand at 6:30PM. For a complete listing of past and future lectures in this series, please see the bulletin boards in the church entryways or click the link below.

The Children's Liturgy of the Word has returned to the 9:30 Mass. Children, between 4 & 10 years of age are encouraged to leave the Assembly after the Opening Prayer with adult teachers for readings and instruction on the Bible more suited to their age. The children will return to the Assembly following the homily. Please contact Dawn Sena for more information at the parish office at 215.923.1733.

Walking God's Paths: A Jewish-Christian dialogue program produced by Boston College Center for Christian-Jewish Learning for the National Council of Synagogues and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This series is designed to encourage the development of Jewish-Christian relations and understanding within an environment of trust and mutual respect. Each of the six sessions contains a 15 minute video in which clergy and academics discuss Jewish-Christian dialogue; brief discussion as an entire group, and in-depth dialogue in small groups of approximately 10 persons. The sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 7-9PM: The next session will take place on 3/26/98 at Old Pine Presbyterian: Metaphors for a Unique Relationship; 4/9/08 at Old St. Joseph's: Mending Relationships, Mending the World; For further info and to view a sample video, go to www.bc.edu and type “Walking God's Paths” into the search box. All are welcome and encouraged to participate in this ecumenical effort. For an easy to read flyer of the series, click on the link below.

In response to the request of several parishioners and the desire of the Archdiocese that parishes promote Eucharistic adoration, we are offering the opportunity for Eucharistic adoration each Saturday after the 12:05 pm Mass until 1:30 pm. We began this practice on the first Saturday of Lent and continue it indefinitely as long as there is manifest interest. We encourage persons who are drawn to this form of prayer, which has a long tradition in the Church, to take advantage of this opportunity. If you plan to attend on a regular basis, please contact OSJ parishioner Vickie Travaline via the rectory office 215.923.1733 and we'll forward your message to her concerning your interest.

Old St. Joseph's Spirituality Committee continues its four part series on key meditations from St. Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. Held on Saturday mornings in the 3rd floor rectory Library from 9:00AM (gathering) to 11:30AM, it is a time for conversation, group and individual prayer, reflection and sharing. The final part of this four-part series will will take place on Saturday, April 12, 2008. If you have any questions and/or are interested in attending please call Pat Di Lauro at 215.923.1733 or contact her at dilaurop@oldstjoseph.org. Note that space is limited.

The Centering Prayer Group began meeting again on Monday evening, January 21st, 2008 at 6:30 PM. This year, the group is reading Thomas Merton's "New Seeds of Contemplation." If you feel called to a contemplative style of prayer please join us. the group meets once a month, and the first hour is discussion and faith sharing, followed by Mass with a twenty-minute period of meditative prayer after Holy Communion. For more information about the group, contact Frank Banecker at the parish office. Information about centering prayer can be found at www.centeringprayer.com. The Centering Prayer Group generally meets on the 3rd Monday night of each month.

This is the site for Contemplative Outreach, a national organization devoted to promoting Centering Prayer.

The Old St. Joseph's Historic Preservation Corporation has published a newletter entitled Notes from the Alley. Please go to the "History" section of the website and click on the link to read the newsletter.OSJ Family Picnic - Sunday

Hands across the River: As part of our 275th Anniversary celebration, the Social Justice Committee is sponsoring a community service project to benefit Holy Name School in North Camden on Saturdays June 21 & 28, 2008. We need 30 volunteers to help us paint 9 classrooms. Professional painter and OSJ parishioner, Brendan Flanagan, has kindly donated his time and expertise to coordinate the painting. We will gather at OSJ at 8AM and travel together to Camden in SJU buses, returning to OSJ by 4PM. A pick up lunch will be provided. In this anniversary year, let us honor those parishioners who have preceded us in service with service of our own. For more information, please contact David Roarty: droarty@bayada.com or 215-880-5432; 215-546-9231.

Our Outreach Lunch Program to the Homeless is now open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Please consider the following contributions to our program: men's tee shirts (L & XL), briefs & boxers (M thru XXL), socks, deodorant, shaving cream and razors. And we are in constant need of plastic grocery bags for our Carewalk program. As always, we thank you for your generosity and support.

Donations of Food and Other Items for the Homeless: One of the basic goals of the liturgical reforms accomplished by Vatican II was to restore many of the earliest liturgical practices that had been abandoned over the centuries. For instance, the Council restoredthe procession of gifts of bread and wine to the altar during the Offertory.

The origin of this procession is the ancient Jewish tradition of collecting and distributing bread to the poor on the eve of the Sabbath. The early Christian community carried on this tradition by collecting food and other items for the poor and presenting them to the priest along with the bread and wine used in their Eucharistic celebrations. The OSJ Liturgy Committee has recommended that we re-establish this practice of including gifts for the poor in our Offertory procession of bread and wine at Mass. Accordingly, there will be a basket in the back of Church before each Mass.

When you come to Mass, we encourage you to bring with you non-perishable foodstuffs and other items of use to the homeless. Members of the Assembly will bringthese items to the priest along with the gifts of bread and wine and your financial gifts during the procession of the gifts. The items will be distributed to the homeless. The following food donations for use in our Carewalk bag lunches are suggested: mayonnaise, sip drinks & snack packets.

We hope that this simple gesture will remind us of our communion with the poor and will make our participation in Eucharist more meaningful.

SOCIAL JUSTICE & OUTREACH

The Old St Joseph's Committee for the Children of the Gesu School: If you would liketo volunteer for this outreach, please contact Chuck Capaldi, Chair, at the parish office at 215.923.1733 for more information.

We are looking for volunteers who are willing to make pastoral visits to the Catholic patients at Pennsylvania Hospital during the week, offering them Eucharist, prayers, and support. Whatever time commitment you can give is greatly appreciated. If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please contact Fr. Mark at the parish offices.

Ministry to Shut-Ins. If you or any person you know is unable to join our parishcommunity at Sunday Eucharist because of a disability, illness, or other circumstance and you would like a lay parishioner to bring the Eucharist to you or your acquaintance in your home or place of care, please contact the parish office at 215.923.1733.

Eucharistic Ministry to the Patients at Pennsylvania Hospital: We at OSJ are committed to providing regular pastoral care to the patients at Pennsylvania Hospital, regardless of their parish. While the priests of the parish respond to emergency calls, we depend primarily on our parish volunteers to provide much of the ordinary, day-to-day care. If you are interested in serving as a Eucharistic Minister to the hospital patients either during the week or on Sunday mornings, please contact Fr. Mark or Sr. Mary Small at the parish office at 215.923.1733.

Parish Lending Library: Parishioners who have an interest in reading in the fields of religion will be pleased to know that Old St. Joseph’s now has a Lending Library for parishioners’ use located on the 3rd floor of the rectory, easily accessible during regular business hours (9:30AM - 4:30PM weekdays; 9:30AM - 2PM weekends) by elevator afternotifying the receptionist. Withdrawal requires a proper sign-out of each book. Books are due one month from the sign-out date. Reference books may not be removed. Any donation of books in religion to this collection would be gratefully accepted. The core of the collection is the former Jesuit House Library. We hope that this resource will be well used and an asset to the Education and Faith Formation effort of the parish.

We have new hymnals! We recently purchased 250 hard-cover copies of Ritual Song , by GIA publications, Inc. To help defray the cost of the hymnals ($14.00 each) we will beaccepting donations in memory of or as gifts from parishioners and friends of OSJ. If you are interested, hymnal donation envelopes are in the back of the church. Please place your hymnal donation envelope in the offertory baskets or drop it off at the rectory office. Thank you.

Parking at OSJ: We have relaxed street parking during all Sunday Masses at OSJ. If you do not have a parking notice, you can pick one up in the pamphlet rack in the courtyard church vestibule. The notices, which state exactly where you can park, should be placed on your dashboard. We are aware of the limited size of our parking lot, and we certainly don't want to discourage you from using the lot to its fullest potential, even if that means occasionally parking in a way that blocks others. However, if you do block another car with your own, please move your car immediately after Mass or a parish event so as not to inconvenience others. Under no circumstances is anyone to park in any of the clearly marked private lots that line Willings Alley – you will be towed!

SECURITY ALERT! Over the past several months there have been numerous burglaries in the city and townships involving offenders posing as utility workers. It is important to ask for identification from anyone claiming to be a utility worker who may come to your house requesting access. Authentic utility workers will have their trucks in view on site. If you have experienced no utility malfunction, call the utility company before allowing anyone entrance to your home.