Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Maybe the number one response to “How are you doing?” is “Busy!” We all say it. Anxiety is always ready to crowd in after bitterness. Here’s a reminder from the Psalms to help with that:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

t’s good to be back at the parish! Some events for you to know about:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I’ll be getting back today after completing The Hillbilly Thomists’ concert tour. It’ll be good to be back! 

This Saturday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church’s teaching on the Assumption is articulated in Pope Pius XII’s apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus. At the heart of the dogma is this: “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” (Munificentissimus Deus, 44).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings from the road. I’m out on tour with The Hillbilly Thomists. This weekend we’ll be playing in Asheville, NC, following shows in Providence, Manhattan, Bear (it’s in Delaware), Baltimore, and DC. After Asheville we’ll continue on to Greenville, Macon, Birmingham, and then finish in Nashville on August 8. I’ll be back at St. Joe’s by the evening of August 9 at the latest.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I wanted to share with you a quote that was the topic of last week’s In Vino Veritas discussion. It’s an excerpt from Robert Louis Wilken’s book The Spirit of Early Christian Thought:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

First, a word of sincere and profound gratitude to Fr. Boniface as he prepares to leave St. Joseph’s and begin his new assignment as vicar provincial for our Dominican Province of St. Joseph. The parish itself, both the beautifully maintained and ornamented church and the thriving community, is the strongest testimony to his work as pastor here these past eight years. We will be planning a special celebration for him in the near future; details to come soon.

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

I have important news to announce. I attended our Provincial Chapter in June and at the Chapter I was appointed Vicar Provincial and Socius for the Province. It's a full-time position at our Provincial headquarters, the Holy Name building, next to St. Vincent Ferrer on 65th; therefore, I’m stepping down as pastor of St. Joseph’s.

Fr. Jonah here, filling in for Fr. Boniface.

Tomorrow we celebrate the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. They’re two of my favorites. To celebrate, here are some favorite quotes of mine from their writings in the New Testament:

Fr. Jonah here, filling in for Fr. Boniface.

Tomorrow we celebrate the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. They’re two of my favorites. To celebrate, here are some favorite quotes of mine from their writings in the New Testament:

Fr. Jonah here, filling in for Fr. Boniface while he’s away, though he’ll probably be back by the time you’re reading this.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads in our parish!

Fr. Jonah here, filling in for Fr. Boniface while he’s away.

Fr. Jonah here, filling in for Fr. Boniface while he’s away.

We have a lot coming up! This Friday is our next NightFire, when the church will stay open from 8pm until 11pm. The church will be candlelit with adoration and beautiful music. This is our 10th NightFire and if you haven't been to one yet now is the time.

Have a blessed Pentecost! Today the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church, bringing life to all believers. The Holy Spirit transforms our lives, raising us up to heavenly realities and leading us to union with God. The great saints would never have been great without the graces brought to them by the Holy Spirit and the Church would never have been anything without the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through her. As Christ resurrected after His Passion, so all the spiritually dead come back to life through the Holy Spirit. We can live lives of virtue and holiness only because of the gift given us at Pentecost: the coming of God into our lives in a new way.

Soon our parish will celebrate Confirmation for the Religious Education children. Bishop Whalen will celebrate the Mass and Confirmations on Tuesday, May 26th. Please keep the children of the parish who are preparing for Confirmation in your prayers. On a related note, our Religious Education children preparing for First Communion will receive the Eucharist for the first time on Sunday, May 31st, at the 9am Mass. Please keep them in your prayers too.

This Thursday is Ascension Thursday, when we celebrate Our Lord's Ascension into heaven after His resurrection. He opens the path to eternal life with the Father for all of us. This important feast is a Holy Day of Obligation so we must all attend an Ascension Mass to celebrate. We will celebrate an Ascension Vigil Mass at 7pm on Wednesday night, 5/13, and a 12:10pm and 7pm Ascension Mass on Thursday, 5/14.

Our Thomistic Institute series continues this Friday at 7pm in McGuire Hall. This week's speaker will be Professor Karin Öberg from Harvard. Her talk is entitled: "Overcoming the Science and Religion Divide." It will be a great event so please join us!