September 25th, 2022

twenty-sixth Sunday in ordinary time

by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P.

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

I’m sure you’ve noticed how long the Mass announcements at have become! The reason is that many of our new ministries founded since the opening of McGuire Hall are now restarting after the summer. There are many ministries that are open to parishioners and it may be difficult to remember what they all are or what they do. The best place to explore the options is our parish webpage, which contains information on every ministry and contact information if you’re interested in joining. I’d encourage everyone to consider joining a group—it’s a great way to meet fellow parishioners and to grow in your faith, as well as build up community here.

There are more ministries that will be starting soon. An exciting one is a Thomistic Institute chapter at St. Joseph’s starting next month. The Thomistic Institute promotes the Catholic faith in our contemporary world through intellectual formation. (www.thomisticinstitute.org) Usually chapters are at universities (there’s a NYU chapter), but because of our unique location the Thomistic Institute is hosting a chapter at St. Joseph’s to serve NYC. Parishioners are running our chapter, and we’re going to host three lectures this Fall and three more this Winter or Spring. There will be more information to come as we finalize the plans. I’m excited to have an intellectual apostolate at St. Joseph’s again—our parish has a long history of intellectual engagement and it’s great to restore that tradition. 

Also, on the Thomistic website there are many videos of previous talks, including the short Aquinas 101 videos that are a great introduction to theology.

We are also always in need of readers and ushers at Mass, as well as servers for Mass. If you’re interested in helping at our liturgies, talk with Br. Paul. 

We are also always in need for more catechists for our children’s religious education program; if you’re interested in being a catechist, please contact Nicole, our parish Director of Religious Education (her contact information is on the webpage).

If there’s a ministry you wish we had here but doesn’t yet exist, speak with me about starting that ministry here. These ministries start and thrive because of the parishioners who run them.

Mass Tidbit:

The penitential act ends with the priest saying: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life,” to which everyone responds “Amen.” Here the priest sums up the whole point of the penitential act, asking God to forgive us and to lead us to our deepest desire: everlasting life with God. 

The people’s response, ‘Amen,’ is something we say often during prayers and liturgies. ‘Amen’ is a Hebrew word that means ‘so be it’ or ‘it is true.’ It is used throughout Scripture, usually after a doxology (statement of belief), a prayer, blessing, or as an affirmation of what has just been said or done. In the book of Revelation (Rev 3:14), Christ is called the “Amen” because He is the realization of all God’s promises to humanity, the final Word that states God’s love for us.

God Bless,
Fr. Boniface