A message from the administrator

November 14, 2004

Dear Parishioners & Friends of Saint Joseph Church,

Today we celebrate the founding of St. Joseph Parish 149 years ago in 1855. This is the second big liturgical and social event during my time as your Parochial Administrator. The first big liturgical event was the orchestra Mass celebrated on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity and the first big social event was the picnic/cookout in August. Both of these events went very well as I am certain today's combination liturgical & social event will also!

Six and a half months have now passed since I have become your administrator. I am pleased with the progress that has been made and the smooth transition that has taken place from having a full-time pastor to being a part of a cluster. I hope you are also satisfied. Of course changes have been made but they have all proved to be survivable. The parish is still here! Of course there will be future challenges that we must face but today's celebration should give us strength for what lies ahead.
Our parish church has already survived 149 years! That means it survived the Civil War, the two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Riots, and the church closings of the late 1980s. Our parish didn't collapse when its schools closed or when it was challenged to adapt to the mandates of the Second Vatican Council. We are even now surviving the priest shortage in the church and of course there is the perpetual burden of caring for a century old building like ours! Really by most odds you would expect St. Joseph's to have been gone long ago. And yet we are still here striving to serve God and the Catholic Church Universal by being a particularly special place to worship and serve God.
One aspect of parish life here that makes St. Joseph so special is our celebration of the sacred liturgy. Great care is taken to ensure that every Mass celebrated on our altars reflects our deep faith in Christ Jesus' presence in the Holy Eucharist. The arrangement of the sanctuary and its decoration and the decorum of the ministers at the altar make it very clear that we take the sacred liturgy very seriously at St. Joseph. And of course the music at our worship sets it apart from almost every other parish in the archdiocese. So much time and energy is devoted to preparing only the best. Today's Mass with orchestra accompaniment is a perfect example of the artistry we offer to God and at the same time are so enriched by as we worship at St. Joseph Church.

This important aspect of our heritage is without a doubt what has kept our parish alive and open when many others all around us have been closed. But this treasure is not something to be taken for granted or to be selfishly hoarded to ourselves. In order to maintain such a highly developed music program the generosity of every parishioner is necessary. Without fund raising that is particularly directed to the music program it will be impossible to continue offering these orchestralå Masses. Next weekend's wine tasting fund raiser is an excellent and very creative example of what is necessary.

It is also of the utmost importance that each parishioner do everything he or she can to bring new people into our church. Exposing your Catholic friends and family members to the worship of our church by inviting them to Mass here is the first step to getting much needed new parishioners.
This great treasure of St. Joseph Catholic Church has been entrusted to each one of us. It has been passed down to us through 149 years from generation to generation. They all did their best to preserve the church and keep it alive and strong. Now the responsibility falls to this generation. Please take this responsibility seriously and honor the memory of those who came before by cherishing St. Joseph Parish as much as they did!

Reverend Mark A. Borkowski
Parochial Administrator

FrmarkB@aol.com