August 2006
Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations

PRAYER REQUEST
Quentin and Gerthugh Clark are both in the Oakpointe Villa Nursing Home, 18901 Meyers at 7 Mile Rd. Their room telephone is 313-573-4820. Quentin had major surgery due to a blockage in the colon and will recover slowly due to his diabetes. Gerthugh fell at home and the door had to be broken down to get to her. They are both in good spirits but have asked for prayers. They will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary on August 25th. They were married here at Saint Joseph Church and this year is the first time that they have ever missed our annual picnic in all those 55 years. Quentin ushers at the 10:30 Mass, was head of our St. Vincent de Paul Society for 50 years and was head of the Usher’s Club until just recently. He and Gerthugh have worked on nearly every project that has ever occurred here in the last 55 years. This was our first picnic in memory that Quentin wasn’t grilling Brats. Please keep them in prayer. They are precious to this parish.

SAVE THE DATE!
The parish will hold a dinner to mark the end of its 150th anniversary year.
It will take place on Sunday, November 5, 2006, at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren. The exact time has not been established yet, and tickets will go on sale later, but please mark the date on your calendar, so that you won't miss the event.

Get involved in the Parish Council!
All parishioners are welcome to attend the meetings and participate in the governance of the parish. You can download the minutes from the last meeting here.

REGISTRATION
If you have been attending St. Joseph Parish but have not registered as a parishioner, please consider joining us! You can download a registration form here. Once you have completed it, please drop it into the collection basket at Mass, or send it to the address at the top of the sheet.

Don't forget Daily Mass!
Fr. Mark has reinstated daily Mass in our cluster. Mass is held Monday and Tuesday in Latin, and Wednesday in English at St. Joseph's at 12:10 p.m. Thursday noon Mass is at St. Josaphat's, and Fridays at Sweetest Heart of Mary, also at noon. Take the time for midday worship!

We desperately need more advertisers for our church bulletin! At the present time we are down to one patron. We need 13 to pay for our printing. Suburban parishes are subsidizing the bulletins for St. Joseph & Sweetest Heart of Mary but will not continue to do so much longer. We will soon have a combined bulletin for our cluster. One unit of advertising 1 x 2 1/2 inches is $332.47 per year. A half unit 1/2 x 2 1/2 is $202.54. Please contact the parish office if you know of anyone who will advertise with us

WE STILL NEED USHERS!
Mike Singelyn is the interim captain of the ushers' club. Men and women who are able to usher at our regular Sunday Masses and the monthly German Mass are asked to call Mike at 313-885-5333 to volunteer their services.

Choral Mass schedule

The choir is currently on summer break.
A new season is tentatively set to begin on September 10.
Details on the new season will appear on News page and the Music Schedule page.

New choir members -- trained or not -- are very welcome!

News: August 27, 2006
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

August 28th, the Feast of Saint Augustine.
One of the Patrons of our church, he is depicted in the window behind the high altar as the figure dressed in red. The son of a pagan father and a Catholic mother, he led a life not unlike many of our young people today. He lived with his girl friend and had a son, Adeodatus. His father, Patricius, converted to the Catholic Faith shortly before death. Augustine was well educated, and although born in Africa, he moved to Italy to teach at Milan. His mother and son joined him there along with several friends. He became acquainted with the preaching of Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan and underwent the great experience of conversion. In 387 at the age of 33, he and his son were baptized by Saint Ambrose. They boarded ship for Africa to return home. His mother, Monica, who had prayed all of her life for his and his father’s conversion, died on the way. In 391 he was persuaded to become a priest and was consecrated Bishop in 395. He co-founded a community of nuns along with his sister, based on the “Rule of St. Augustine” as it became known. His writings are recognized by Western Christians as the richest of any Christian teacher after Saint Paul.

RELICS are objects associated with saints. First-class relics are bodies or parts of bodies. Second-class relics can be clothing or an article used by a saint. The Shroud of Turin is considered to be a second-class relic. Third-class relics consist of any object touched to a first-class relic. Here at Saint Joseph’s we are privileged to have a combined relic of tiny fragments of clothing from both Our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph. These relics are offered for veneration every Wednesday after the Perpetual Novena to Saint Joseph. Since 1856 we also have had relics of the Passion in a single reliquary containing a fragment of the true cross, a chip from the pillar of the scourging, a fragment of the sponge, a fragment from the crown of thorns, and a fragment of the scourge. Our relics have papers of authenticity from the Vatican. The relics of the Passion are offered for veneration on Good Friday and on the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross.

News: August 20, 2006
TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

The Parish Council will meet tomorrow, August 21st at 7:00 pm in the Social Hall.

Maria Liebesbund, Legion of Mary
The Saint Joseph Chapter of the Legion of Mary meets every Monday at 5:30 pm in our Social Hall for a devotional meeting. Legion members help our priests by visiting the sick, bringing Holy Communion, offering prayers and also helping to spread the Gospel. Legion members have gone door to door throughout our parish extending the message of God’s love to all within our boundaries and inviting them to participate in the fullness of Christ’s Church. Visitors are always welcome to participate in the Legion’s weekly meetings. During our picnic, Legion of Mary members were stationed in the back of the Social Hall to encourage parishioners and guests to participate in the works of the Legion. Anyone who would like more information on the Legion can contact Terrence Klink at 313 582-0823.

SACRAMENTALS: Holy Objects that have been blessed, such as ashes, bells, candles, crucifixes, holy water, images, incense, medals, oils, palms, rosaries, and scapulars. The Church recognizes the use of sacramentals as extending and radiating the sacraments. This includes the use of blessed oil by a lay person. The purpose would normally be for healing and protection, and the method, a simple signing of the cross on the forehead or appropriate part of the body using the oil. Blessed oil has always been available to the laity here at Saint Joseph Church. Our Saint Joseph oil comes from Saint Joseph Oratory in Montreal, Canada. It is blessed and burned there before the altar of Saint Joseph in lamps, for a short time and then bottled by the brothers for distribution. An offering of $3 per bottle covers the cost of bottling the oil and shipping it to us from Montreal. See an altar server or Patrick Degens if you want a bottle of Saint Joseph oil.

News: August 13, 2006
NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Special thanks to Carpathia Club members for the following:
Anna Hammer - German Potato Salad.
M/M Zoller - German Sauerkraut & 3 Bean Salad.
Teresa Novak - Apfelkuchen.
From the parish:
Craig & Susan Larson - Beer and Wine.
William and Carol Potrykus - Bratwurst and Frankfurters.
Virginia Pulcer - Hamburgers and buns.
Tony Isaacs - ice cream.
Thanks also to all of our volunteers! Without you there would
have been no picnic.

Here is the final tally from our picnic:
Food & beverage sales………..$1,409.78
Silent auction & ornaments…...$ 257.35
50/50 raffle…………………….$ 154.00
Total ..........................................$1,821.13
Although our attendance this year was considerably
less than in previous years, we managed to make a
profit similar to last year’s picnic because of donations of
food and cash. Last year our profit was $1,809. All who attended
this year, claimed it was our best picnic ever!

Pray for Our Soldiers and for Peace
Temperatures in Iraq often go above 120 degrees. Our service men and women are serving our country in deplorable conditions all over the world. Can we ease their burden? Our Lady at Fatima asked for daily prayers of the Rosary to bring peace to the world. For every soldier who dies in this war there are dozens seriously injured. Many return home without limbs. We can sustain them by our prayers.

August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Devotion to her Immaculate Heart on the first Saturdays of five successive months originated in the revelations of Mary at Fatima. Mary revealed that she desired frequent praying of the Rosary and penance done for sinners. She promised the conversion of Russia and peace for mankind if her wishes were followed. She desired that Catholics receive communion in reparation for sin on the first Saturday of each month. In May of 1982, Pope John Paul II, in union with all the bishops of the world, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

MYSTICAL ROSE
Legend says that before it became a flower of earth, the rose grew thornless in paradise. Only after Adam sinned did it take on thorns to remind mankind of the sin committed, and the fall from grace. The fragrance and beauty remain as a reminder of the splendor of paradise. It continues to be a classic symbol of Mary, the new Eve, the rose without thorns.

Zooming in from Outer Space
If you have the free program Google Earth on your computer, and you enter the street address of our church -- 1828 Jay St, Detroit, MI -- the software will fly you over Michigan, zoom down to Detroit and show you a perfect satellite image of St. Joseph's. How cool! To download Google Earth and see for yourself, go to http://earth.google.com.

In the charity of your prayers, remember the sick

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