This Friday our Winter Thomistic Institute series begins! We’ll have three speakers three Fridays in a row. This Friday will be Professor Brad Gregory, an historian at Notre Dame. He wrote an influential book on the Reformation and he’ll share his insights with us. It’s entitled “The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Led to a Secular Modernity.”

This Friday is Candlemas, also known as the Presentation of the Lord. It’s called Candlemas because there is a special blessing of candles at the beginning and then a procession. We’re continuing the tradition started last year and holding this special candle blessing and procession at the 7pm Friday evening Candlemas celebration.

You’ve likely noticed the new paintings in the Church! Lucy Rahner, a St. Joseph parishioner, has been working on these paintings for the past two years. I’m excited to finally have them completed and in place! Lucy also painted the saints border in McGuire Hall. This Friday, 1/26, at 7pm, Lucy will give a presentation on the paintings in the church. There will be a gathering in the parish hall afterwards. Please join us and learn more about the artwork at St. Joseph’s. 

During Mass there are some prayers that the priest says quietly, spoken only to God, often while other things are happening. These prayers are often quite lovely, and I wanted to share the text of one that is prayed during the Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”). While everyone else is singing or reciting the Agnus Dei, the priest says quietly to Our Lord, present in the Eucharist:

Have a blessed Epiphany! Today we the revelation of God made Incarnate, made man. It’s an astounding thing when considered: that God, who is the primal cause of everything, who created the cosmos and holds it in existence at every moment, took a human nature to Himself and entered into our history.

Merry Christmas! Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior! Into the darkness of this fallen world the light of God has entered and offered salvation to each of us. Born today a mere baby, the King of Kings has come to save us from the tyranny of Satan and from death itself. Everything is different today because of one child born in the backwaters of the Roman Empire. That child would reclaim humanity for God and lead all who would follow Him to eternal life in heaven. We celebrate that today hope is born in a manger: darkness and despair no longer define our world. The Son of God has become man. 

We have only one week of Advent left because Christmas is next Monday. Make sure to intensify your spiritual preparations for our Lord’s coming this Christmas—there’s still a lot of grace for us who await Christ’s coming. 

This year Christmas is on a Monday. On the Saturday just before Christmas we’ll have our normal 5:30pm Vigil Mass for the 4th Sunday of Advent. On Sunday, Christmas Eve, we’ll have our normal 9am and 11:30am Masses for the 4th Sunday of Advent, and that Sunday evening we’ll have a 5pm Christmas Vigil Mass and a 10pm Christmas Night Mass. On Christmas day, Monday, we’ll have a 9am Christmas Morning Mass and a 11:30am Christmas Day Mass. 

We are coming to the end of the liturgical calendar—next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent is the time when we await the coming of Christ at Christmas, reliving that period before the Incarnation when humanity still awaited the coming of salvation.

We are coming to the end of the liturgical calendar—next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent is the time when we await the coming of Christ at Christmas, reliving that period before the Incarnation when humanity still awaited the coming of salvation.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving this week! This season is always busy, but make sure to give thanks to God for all the blessing He has given this year. If the year has been good to you, then make sure to give thanks to God for all those good things that came your way. If the year has been difficult, also make sure to give thanks to God for helping you through those difficulties. Gratitude is essential to happiness—those who fall into resentment and anger never achieve inner peace or joy but rather are consumed by their resentment. So let us find the joy and peace of gratitude and thanksgiving this Thursday. 

This Wednesday we’re celebrating the NYC Gold Mass at St. Joseph’s for the first time. It celebrates those working in the sciences. The Mass will be at 7pm and will be followed by a talk by Fr. Ambrose Little OP entitled “Demonstration and Certainty in Thomistic Philosophy of Nature.” Please come and invite all those you know in the sciences. 

This Tuesday we celebrate All Dominican Saints and on Wednesday All Dominican Souls. Dominicans always celebrate these feasts a week after All Saints and All Souls Days. It’s good to pray for those we’ve loved who’ve passed on and you can always have a Mass offered for your loved ones. Just contact the parish office to have a Mass offered. It’s a great way to help those we’ve loved.

This week we celebrate All Saint's Day! This November 1st we celebrate all the saints God has raised to glory. They are proof of God’s work in our world—evidence that God will act in our lives to bring us the holiness, joy, and peace all hearts desire. Their victory is Christ’s victory, which is offered to all of us.

This Friday we have the final talk of our three Fall Thomistic Institute talks. Dr. Bronwen McShea will talk about “Forgotten Lay Patronesses of the Church.” She’ll share some really great stories about fascinating women in Church history. It will be in McGuire Hall and the doors open at 6:00pm, the talk starts at 6:30 pm. It’ll be a great talk!

This Friday, 10/120, we have the second of our three Fall Thomistic Institute talks. Dr. Joe Zalot will talk about “Deciding to Die Well.” We’ll all face death at some point and we have to deal with it throughout our lives. This talk will help prepare us for how to handle it well when that cross comes our way. The talk will be held in McGuire Hall and the doors open at 6:30pm and the talk starts at 7pm. It should be a great talk!

This Friday, 10/13, we have the first of our three Fall Thomistic Institute talks. Dr. Michael Root will talk about “Purgatory: Good News for Most of Us.” It will be in McGuire Hall and the doors open at 6:30pm, the talk starts at 7pm. It should be a great talk!

This Saturday, 10/14, ArtHouse2B will host a Catholic art exhibit at St. Joseph’s. the doors open at 7pm and the exhibit will be in McGuire Hall. I’m hoping that St. Joseph’s can become a hub of the Catholic art scene in NYC and this event is an effort in that direction.

We stand between two feast days related to angels: last Friday was the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael and this Monday is the memorial for Guardian Angels. We don’t often think of angels anymore, but they do play an important role in our lives. God created angels as pure spiritual beings, meaning that they don’t have physical bodies. But they are powerful: more powerful and intelligent than humans. They see God directly and can intercede with God for us. They also carry out God’s will, acting as intermediaries between God and men. Thus St. Gabriel played an important role during the Annunciation, when he spoke with Mary and announced God’s will that Mary become the mother of His Son, Jesus. 

Fr. Jonah and I are planning a lot of new and exciting ministries for this year. We’re working on a homeless outreach program, an evening evangelization ministry, a catechetical ministry run by the friars to help people go deeper in the Faith, new music and art ministries, and many others that we hope to start up throughout this year. We’ll make sure to publicize them as they start so you’ll be able to take part. Many of our already established ministries have restarted as well so make sure to stay abreast of all the great things happening in your community at St. Joseph’s!

September is always an exciting month as people return to the city and St. Joe’s fills up again. Welcome back to everyone who’s been away! We’re planning a lot of new and exciting things for this year so make sure to stay abreast of what’s happening here either through the bulletin or signing up for our weekly Flocknote email (you can do so on our website). Also, make sure to check out our new perpetual adoration chapel!