November 6th, 2022
thirty-second Sunday in ordinary time
by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P.
Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,
The ministries in our new parish hall are really taking off! There is so much going on that we can no longer announce everything for each upcoming week at Mass—the announcements would be far too long! In lieu of long announcements every week at mass, we’ll instead post upcoming events for the week in the poster stand in the middle of the narthex. Upcoming events will also be included in the bulletin and on the website. We will still announce at Mass new or special events. I hope to see you at some of the ministries here!
We are continuing our migration to our new giving system, GivingFire. The transition is going well. If you have yet to use the new giving system I encourage you to do so. By the end of the year we will no longer be using the older giving systems (WeShare, FaithStreet, or envelopes). If you need help navigating this change please call our parish office and we’d be happy to help you.
Mass Tidbit
The First and Second Readings at Mass are from the Old Testament or the New Testament, outside of the Gospels. Daily Masses have one first reading, while Sunday Masses and other high feast days have both an Old and a New Testament reading. For Sundays and high feast days the readings are coordinated with each other and the Gospel; however, for daily Masses the first reading and the Gospel reading run through cycles that are not coordinated. That means that for daily Masses the First Reading and the Gospel may be about entirely different subjects.
The primary purpose of Scripture is to be read at Mass—when the early Church had to decide what should be included in the New Testament, a major criterion was whether a book was read during the Masses in various dioceses. They were determining which books were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and so they considered books written by Apostles, read in the Churches, and in continuity with other books of the New Testament (which mattered for books of uncertain authorship, such as the Letter to the Hebrews). The Holy Spirit guided the Church’s process of determining the Canon (ie: contents) for the New Testament, and the Holy Spirit works in a special way when we hear the Scriptures proclaimed in the Mass.
God Bless,
Fr. Boniface
