June
Month of The Sacred Heart
Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations

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 17.
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: June 25, 2006
TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Fireworks Day
The cities of Detroit and Windsor will celebrate the annual Freedom Festival fireworks show this Wednesday, June 28th. A good place for an unobstructed view of the show is on the grounds of Sweetest Heart of Mary Church. Our Bishop Plagens Council of the Knights of Columbus will once again provide grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, pop and chips to add to the festivities. Invite your friends and family to enjoy this once-a-year spectacular event. You will be in a very safe environment and beat any downtown traffic after the show . Please bring your own lawn chairs or blankets. Come as early as 6:00 pm to enjoy the eats. And remember to stop in the church and offer a prayer for our troops overseas!

Catholic Services Appeal
Report as of June 16, 2006
Amount Pledged……………….$10,574.00
Amount Paid……………………$7,574.00
Number of donors………………...…….62
Required goal………………….$10,951.00
We are $372.00 short of reaching our goal. Last year we went over our goal by $4,881.00 which was returned to the parish for our many needed projects. Can we do it again? If anyone has lost their CSA card and would like to donate, just put your check into a plain envelope with your name and CSA on the outside and we can take care of the rest. Many thanks.

Update on the blood drive sponsored by our Knights of Columbus Council. Our blood bank drew 33 donors from which 29 pints of blood were drawn. Some folks had too high of blood pressure or trouble with finding a vein, but all in all it was an excellent blood drive. Mrs. Johnson, from the Red Cross, who attended our Knights of Columbus meeting in May with information and words of encouragement, was very pleased with the generous response of all our donors. Special thanks to Mike Kapusniak who chaired this event and to the many people who volunteered to donate blood.

Acronym - a word formed from the initial letters of a series of words. The picture of a fish became an early secret symbol of Christians. Our Lord’s title “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” was very popular among early Christians who spoke Greek. In the Greek language the title would read: Iesous Christos Theou Yos Soter. If you take the first letter from each of these Greek words, it spells ichthys, the Greek word for fish. Thus a symbol for Our Lord.

News: June 18, 2006
THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST

Where was the bulletin?
Some or all of the bulletin bundles last week contained neither the St. Joseph bulletin nor Fr. Ward's article for the week. If you would like to read the article Fr. Ward mentioned on the Corpus Christi procession, click here.

From the St. Joseph Musical Society
A big thank you to all the people who joined us for a delightful Detroit River cruise to benefit the St. Joseph music program. Special thanks to the Knights of Columbus who underwrote the cost of the lunch, Midtown Café for the delicious food and Diamond Jack River Tours and the crew for excellent service.

Wedding Coordinators Needed
One of the many volunteer jobs here at Saint Joseph is that of Wedding Coordinators. This job entails opening the church and supervising the wedding rehearsal the evening before a wedding and again on the day of the wedding, being present to open the church and coordinate with the wedding party and florists etc. The present Wedding Coordinators are Mike and Barb Singelyn. We are in need of alternate Wedding Coordinators for the times that Mike and Barb may not be available. Anyone who would like to volunteer for alternate can call the Singelyns at 313 885-5333 or see Mike after the 10:30 Mass where he ushers every Sunday.

Catholic Services Appeal
Report as of June 2, 2006
Amount Pledged……………….$10,134.00
Amount Paid……………………$7,134.00
Number of donors………………...…….58
Required goal………………….$10,951.00
We lack $817.00 of our goal. Last year we went over our goal by $4,881.00 which was returned to the parish for our many needed projects. Lets do it again! If anyone has lost their CSA card and would like to donate, just put your check into a plain envelope with your name and CSA on the outside and we can take care of the rest. Many thanks.

June, the month of the Sacred Heart
In 1925 Pope Pius XI ordered an annual public consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“Most Sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Your altar. We are Yours, and Yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with Thee, behold, each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy most Sacred Heart. Many, indeed, have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee; grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger. Be Thou King of those whom heresy holds in error or discord keeps aloof; call them back to the harbor of truth and the unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one fold and one Shepherd. Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry; Praise to the divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor forever, Amen.”

News: June 11, 2006
FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

Where was the bulletin?
Some or all of the bulletin bundles this week contained neither the St. Joseph bulletin nor Fr. Ward's article for the week. If you would like to read the article Fr. Ward mentioned on the Corpus Christi procession, click here.

Our Cluster family of St. Joseph, Sweetest Heart of Mary and St. Josaphat rejoice with Nicholas Dey who made his First Holy Communion on Pentecost Sunday at the noon Mass. Nicholas is the youngest of the Altar Servers at St. Joseph Church. Congratulations, Nick!

Has anyone noticed the repairs in progress on our steeple? Some of the damage there stems from a bolt of lightning that blew a huge hole in the steeple about 5 years ago and an accompanying wind that actually blew the steeple off Sacred Heart Church a half mile away. Our insurance will cover a part of these repairs but there are numerous problems due to the age of the steeple that cannot be attributed to so-called “acts of God”. At the present time, our share of the repairs is unknown but could add up into the thousands of dollars. Much work remains to be done. Our operating account is down to a low of $7,221. This is the lowest that the account has been since Fr. Mark became our administrator.

Catholic Services Appeal
Report as of June 2, 2006
Amount Pledged………………..$8,869.00
Amount Paid……………………$6,269.00
Number of donors………………...…….49
Required goal………………….$10,951.00
Last year’s goal was met by 76 donors (36% of our parishioners) . We are $2,082.00 short of reaching our goal. Since we became a cluster, we were able to hire a full time custodian here at St. Joseph because we no longer had to pay a full pastor’s salary. Now with Fr. Paul Ward serving the cluster, a part of his salary is provided by the Archdiocese from contributions to the Catholic Services Appeal. This is one way that the collection directly benefits our cluster and our parish.

Alphonso Villarruel has passed away at age 14 from cancer. He was one of Sister Judie Ann’s patients. Remember his family in prayer. His father and one sister also have cancer.

News: June 4, 2006
PENTECOST SUNDAY

A Cluster Blood Drive is scheduled here in our Social Hall from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Sunday, June 11. We need at least 60 people to sign up in order for the Red Cross to come out. As of May 17th, the blood supply for Metropolitan Detroit had fallen to less than a one (1) day supply. Simply stated, people die for lack of blood! Give the gift of life. Sign up sheets are available throughout the cluster after all Masses. Requirements: No tattoo in the last 12 months, must be 17 yrs old, must weigh at least 110 lbs, ear and body piercing acceptable if done with sterile needles and studs, cannot be pregnant, cannot be undergoing cancer treatments, cannot be at risk of the HIV virus, or have spent considerable time in other countries where mad cow disease or malaria exists.

Catholic Services Appeal
Report as of May 26, 2006
Amount Pledged………………..$8,464.00
Amount Paid……………………$5,909.00
Number of donors………………...…….43
Required goal………………….$10,951.00
So far out of 219 registered parishioners, we have a total of 43 donors. Last year’s goal was met by 76 donors (36% of our parishioners) and we went over our goal by $4,881.00. Last year’s collection brought in more money for St. Joseph Church than any of our fund raising activities throughout the year.

BAKE SALE TODAY!
Free coffee and juice. Come and join us in the Social Hall.

Motor City Makeover update!
Keeping Detroit Beautiful! Special thanks to all who volunteered for our annual planting of flowers and cleaning of trash from the surrounding area of our church and especially those who donated the plants, mulch and lunch. In alphabetical order: Nolan Brown, Celeste Burtka, Jack Day, Patrick & Dorothy Degens, John & Gertrude Dunne, Ross Fazio, Sharon, Rick, Remy and Peter Fromm, Tonette Houseman, Bruce Jonasz, Maria Kane, Justin & Leslie Karr, John Lange, Craig Larson, Mary Jo Lipon, Matthew McGuire, Tom Neil, Carol & Joseph Potrykus, Ginny Pulcer, Kathy Stevens, Fr. Paul Ward and Evelyn Wojtkowiak. City Hall promises a day of recognition at Belle Isle for all who participated. We hope this means a cook-out with the mayor. Our volunteers numbered 25.

In the charity of your prayers, remember the sick

New stories in Patrick's History Corner

More thoughts posted on the Meditations page

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