The Parish Is Reading …. Again!

Again, this Easter St. Joseph Parish will be gifting each family with a free book!  Last year’s distribution of “Rediscovering Catholicism” was a great success. We heard many great comments and thank-you’s for the book.  The discussion groups were well attended and brought parishioners together for fellowship and fun.  These books are being provided by the funds raised at the Lenten Soup Suppers and by a generous parishioner donation.  This year’s book will be “A Father Who Keeps His Promises” by Scott Hahn. After Easter, we will be starting our discussion groups again for parishioners to gather together to discuss this book.  There are many ways for you to sign up for these groups.

1.     Go to the link on the St. Joseph Parish Website. www.StJosephMcPherson.com

2.     Click on the link:  http://www2.mysignup.com/st_joseph_book_study

3.     Sign up on the sheets in the Vestibule.

4.     Call the Parish office at 241-0821.

It is our hope that this program will strengthen our faith in Christ and the fellowship of our parish. We invite you to join us and your fellow parishioners in this adventure. We are certain that God will be found anew by those who participate. May God continue to bless us with all that we need, and more.

A book review and biography of the author are below.

The eloquent teachings of Scott Hahn have moved thousands of Catholic Christians to a more vital expression of their faith. In “A Father Who Keeps His Promises”, the popular Catholic apologist explores the covenant love God reveals to us in the Scriptures, and explains how God patiently reaches out to us--despite our faults and shortcoming--to restore us into relationship with his divine Family. Join Hahn as he follows the high adventure of God's plan for the ages, beginning with Adam and Eve and continuing down through the generations to the coming of Christ and the birth of the Church. You'll discover how the patient love of the Father revealed in the Bible is the same persistent love he has for you.

By focusing on our status as part of the family of God, he shows how the broken human family is made whole in Christ. This book helps readers understand the deep personal love God bears for his people and the plan that he has to bring them into an intimate family relationship.

"A Father Who Keeps his Promises" is an excellent book for some one who wants to dive into scripture study for the first time, and for the more experienced scripture reader, who might want to broaden their scope of analysis. It analyzes the theme of the covenant between God and his people throughout the history of the Bible, beginning with Adam and ending with Jesus. The book is worth its price for Hahn's interpretation of the culpability of Eve and Adam alone.

Obviously this is a lot of territory and time to cover. The book is an emphasis on themes, and does not analyze every minute detail or story behind the writing, or provide information about the writers. People searching for critical commentaries on the evolution of scripture as it was written should look elsewhere.

This book analyses how God progressively created covenants between himself and with an individual, then with families, then with a nation and finally with the world. It is a never-ending cyclical story of love, commitment, reproach, forgiveness, and redemption. The book preaches love and hope.

Due to space constraints, everything in the Bible is not covered in thorough detail, but only the dominant main characters. However, nuances of the stories that involve the main characters are examined to significant depths, as well as typologies are occasionally stressed, to connect threads of thought in the New Testament or later parts of the Old Testament that are introduced, or prefigured in the Old Testament.

Hahn includes excerpts from the essential passages to which he refers, so it is not necessary to have a Bible to grasp the main points of the text, but a Bible is an excellent reference to further investigate the nuances that Hahn highlights. I have been reading the Bible for years, but have been greatly enriched by Hahn's insight; particularly with the story of the fall from Eden and the trickery of Jacob over Esau.

Biography

Dr. Scott Hahn was born in 1957, and has been married to Kimberly since 1979. An exceptionally popular speaker and teacher, Dr. Hahn has delivered numerous talks nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics related to Scripture and the Catholic faith. Hundreds of these talks have been produced on audio and videotapes by St. Joseph Communications. His talks have been effective in helping thousands of Protestants and fallen away Catholics to (re)embrace the Catholic faith.

He is currently a Professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught since 1990, and is the founder and director of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology. In 2005, he was appointed as the Pope Benedict XVI Chair of Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Scott received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a triple-major in Theology, Philosophy and Economics from Grove City College, Pennsylvania, in 1979, his Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1982, and his Ph.D. in Biblical Theology from Marquette University in 1995. Scott has ten years of youth and pastoral ministry experience in Protestant congregations (in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas and Virginia) and is a former Professor of Theology at Chesapeake Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1982 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia. He entered the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, 1986.

Everyone is welcome to join Father Birket in a bible study on the book of St. Mark.  The class will meet on Tuesday evenings during Lent beginning February 28 from 7 to 8 p.m in the Parish Hall.  Please bring your bible with you.

SENIOR STEWARDSHIP AWARD: All graduating St. Joseph Parish students are eligible for this award.  If you are interested, please download a copy of the application that is found at bottom of this page on the right hand corner or you can stop by the office to pick up an application.  Applications will need to be completed and returned to the church office by April 6th.  Thank you!!

St. Joseph Parish invited all parish members to participate in a Stewardship Fair on Sunday, January 8.  Parish members we encouraged to sign a large banner reading "We Are Family" that was designed by the St. Joseph School Sixth grade class.  This was to promote the idea that all parish members are a part of our family and families work together for the benefit of all members.  Everyone than filed into the Parish Hall where they updated their registration forms.  They were then invited to browse displays hosted by the various organizations of the parish.  These displays explained the mission and activities of the organizations.  Participating parish members were given a chance to win one of three gift certificates given away in a drawing and were treated to cookies and punch.  This Stewardship fair is part of a month long Stewardship campaign designed to bring awareness to the act of giving time, talent and treasure to the parish. To view more pictures go to the multimedia tab, click St. Joseph and the album titled Stewardship fair.

THEY

“They cleaned up the park.” “They put out fresh bread.” “They fixed the elevator.” Behind every “they” is a real person, who expended effort to do something in our world. Whether a woman, man, or young person, “they” may have been discontented and miserable, or happy and fulfilled, when they helped to produce a warm jacket, a box of cereal, or a bottle of shampoo. Look at any ordinary object and consider how many people it took to make it. A pencil began as a tree someone planted. Someone else cut the tree down; others hauled it away and more cut it to size, added the lead and eraser, packaged it, shipped it, and put it on the store shelves. “They” are constantly busy, millions of “them,” ensuring that we have the things we need, from the electricity that powers our homes to the food we buy at the grocery store. “They” may never get a proper thank-you, because there is no real opportunity for us to say it directly. But even when we open our eyes to the multitude of “theys” in our lives, we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg. Every “they” is ultimately a smaller version of God. God is not the farmer harvesting the wheat or rice that will eventually find its way to our tables. Instead, God is the provider of the soil, the sun, and the rainfall that make sure the seedlings grow into a delicious, nutritious food. God made the farmer, and keeps his heart beating to perform his daily tasks. God is the essential “behind the scenes” person, the real presence behind every “they.” God is behind everything in the entire universe. And when we finally find God, our lives become transformed with true gratitude.

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Living Stewardship Now:  Offer simple words of thanks to anyone who does a service for you.  Nothing is too unimportant to acknowledge.  No one is unimportant enough to be overlooked.