December 18th, 2022
Fourth Sunday of Advent
by Fr. Boniface Endorf, O.P.
Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,
Next week is Christmas! It falls on a Sunday this year and the parish schedule for the Christmas Masses is below (and our website).
There are a number of big liturgical feasts coming, so here is a preview:
–The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God is on January 1st. It’s a holy day of obligation, but is also on a Sunday this year; therefore, we’ll have the normal Sunday Mass schedule that weekend.
–The Epiphany of the Lord is on January 8th, a Sunday. We’ll again have the special blessing of Epiphany water before the Saturday Vigil Mass (1/7 at 5pm) and we’ll give out the blessed Epiphany chalk so that you can bless your homes with it.
–The Presentation of the Lord is on February 2nd, a Thursday. This feast was traditionally known as Candlemas because there was a special blessing of candles that day. We’ll celebrate a 7pm Mass that night where we’ll start in the parish hall and bless the church candles plus any you would like to bring, and then process into the church for the rest of the Mass. Although the blessing of candles is an ancient tradition, we haven’t held it here in a long time, so it is exciting to restore this tradition.
Mass Tidbit
The Universal Prayer, or the Prayers of the Faithful, come after the creed. These represent the prayers of the parish community that we want to raise to God during the Mass. The priest introduces them, and then a lector reads the prayers, with the congregation responding to each petition with “Lord hear our prayer.” We have different prayers each week, taken from the Magnificat. The Church directs that the prayers follow a specific order:
For the needs of the Church
For public authorities and the salvation of the whole world
For those burdened by any kind of difficulty
For the local community
We add prayers for the faithful departed at the end, and also mention the person for whom that particular Mass is being offered. The priest then concludes the Prayers of the Faithful.
The Prayers of the Faithful are the final part of the Liturgy of the Word, the first part of Mass, so our next Mass Tidbit will introduce the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
God Bless,
Fr. Boniface
Christmas Mass Times:
December 24:
5:30 PM - Christmas Vigil Mass (Contemporary Choir)
10:00PM - Christmas Night Mass (Traditional Choir)
December 25:
9:00AM - Christmas Dawn Mass (Contemporary Choir)
11:30AM - Christmas Day Mass (Traditional Choir)
6:00PM - Christmas Day Mass (Traditional Choir)
