St. Joseph outreach for March

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month and so BIANJ is increasing its efforts to speak out and enhance lives. Since 1981, the Alliance has supported those affected by brain injury, and their families, as a primary source of information, education, advocacy and hope. To learn more, check out www.BIANJ.org

Brain injuries are not always visible like a broken leg or bandaged wound, but they are there all the same, affecting people in our parish, in our family and in our neighborhood, easily overlooked or forgotten. By donating 2% of your March weekly donations to BIANJ, a 501©(3) organization, we will help them reach out to children, veterans and adults who must live with a life-changing affliction.

YOUTH ENCOUNTER AT ST. JOSEPH CHURCH

MARCH 23, 9-5:30 p.m.

This encounter is an opportunity for a special time in the life of the youth. They will experience that they are not alone in their journey into adult life. They will experience being part of a vibrant, loving, and supportive parish community in which the friendship of Jesus Christ becomes a real possibility that makes sense. We look forward to providing our young parishioners a welcoming place of safety and support, where faith is deepened and spiritual lives awaken. For more information, please email Darlene Wade: dwade@stjosephmaplewood.org or call at 973-761-5933

SOME LENTEN ACTIVITIES FOR YOU!

MEND AND RENT PARTIES TEAM UP

THIS WILL ALSO BENEFIT ST. JOSEPH AND OLS FOOD PANTRIES!

USED BOOK DRIVE

Spear-Headed by the 2nd and 3rd Grade Religious Education Classes in continuation of St. Joseph Parish tradition of social justice and community outreach. Please donate your gently-used children’s books and adult novels to the needy.



Most welcome are: lightly used picture/chapter books, unused activity/coloring books, adult fiction and child-rearing books

Decorated Book Drive Drop Boxes located at:

the main entrances to St. Joseph Church on Sundays after Masses and in the St. Joseph School cafeteria during February and March

MINISTRY OF COMPASSION

St. Joseph Parish offers


Compassionate Sharing, Coffee, Conversation and Support

for those who have lost a loved one.
Come and share an hour with others
 who are on the journey toward healing

Members of the Ministry of Compassion cordially invite you to come

Sunday, March 3rd at 10:00 a.m.in the Rectory Meeting Room

CALLING ALL MUSIC MINDED YOUTH

CALLING ALL MUSIC MINDED YOUTH
Parish Youth (Grade 6 and up) are invited to help lead the music for Saturday 5:30 p.m. Masses on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each Month. Upcoming dates are March 2nd and 16th. Rehearsal is 4:45 p.m. in the church. We welcome singers and instrumentalists.


CHILDREN'S CHOIR for EASTER.

Parish children aged 6-12 are invited to participate in the children's choir for Easter. This choir will lead the music for the 9:00 a.m. Mass, Easter Sunday, March 31st. Rehearsals will be held on Saturdays in March, watch the bulletin for specific dates and times.

If interested in either group please contact our Music Director, Leslie Frost at lfrost@stjosephmaplewood.org or 973 761 5933.

TEENS COME JOIN THE LIVING STATIONS

There will be a Living Stations Meeting and Rehearsal in the church at 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on February 23, 2013. Additional practices will also be held on Saturday March 9th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday March 23, 2013 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The Living Stations of the Cross will be held on Good Friday March 29, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. This reverent portrayal will require extra hands so all teens are welcome to share their time and talent. Readers, singers, actors, and behind-the-scenes help is needed. Please contact Darlene Wade at dwade@stjosephmaplewood.org for more information.

THE LIGHT IS ON FOR YOU!

CELEBRATE THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION


On all of the Wednesdays of Lent from 7:00-8:00 p.m. beginning February 20, our church will be open for individual confession. The Church encourages all Catholics to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation each Lent. It is a celebration of forgiveness, of reunion, and of completion in Jesus Christ. The mercy of God is available to all of us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus Christ wants each of us to experience the forgiving love of God the Father.

Food Pantry Outreach Information

FOOD PANTRY OUTREACH INFORMATION


If you want to volunteer, February dates and times are as follow:

Monday, February 11th 7:00 p.m. Sort Night

Thursday, February 14th 7:00 p.m. Pack Night

Saturday, February 16th 9:45 a.m. Distribution and Delivery

Needs for February: Canned Fruit/Applesauce, Peanut Butter, Jelly, Mac-n-Cheese. PLEASE NO PASTA OR RAMEN NOODLES THIS MONTH THANK YOU!

Prayer Shawl Ministry

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY

The Prayer Shawl Ministry will be gathering on Thursday, February 7th at 12:30 p.m. in the Rectory Meeting Room. We will share prayer, patterns and stories of witness as we continue to pray for all of our recipients. If you cannot come to our meeting, but wish to knit and pray or make a donation of yarn, please call the office for more information (973-761-5933). Our needles, hands and handiwork offer comfort to those in need of solace.

From PALMS to ASHES

-the Rite of Burning of Palms for Ash Wednesday

Collection of old palms begins today until Tuesday, February 8.

To reinforce the origin and symbolism of the ashes used on Ash Wednesday, we invite all of our parishioners to gather their old palm from Palm Sunday 2012 and we will burn them together to remind us that “dust we are and to dust we shall return” on Sunday, February 9, 2013 after 5:30 pm Mass. The resulting ashes will be used on Ash Wednesday, February 13, on which Lent begins.