Fifth Sunday of Lent March 26 2023 This weekend March 25th 26th the Church celebrates the Fifth Sunday of Lent This weekend was formerly known as Passion Sunday marked with the reading of the Passion narrative and the next two weeks as Passiontide as we turn our focus totally on the passion and death of Christ For this reason both our crucifixes and statues remain veiled from this weekend on until Easter Sunday The past four weeks seems to have been but a preparation for the intense grief of the Church during these next two At this point in the Gospel men are in search of Jesus and are bent on His death Before our twelve days are over they will lay hands upon Him We will be called to follow Him up the hill of Calvary to see His last breath and witness the stone placed against the sepulchre Yet we are not simply asked to show compassion and shed tears for our Redeemer but to learn from the lesions that are being taught to us in His Passion and Death After our Masses last weekend I heard from multiple visitors to our parish commenting on the amazing number of young children that were present at Mass Many parishes do not currently share this same blessing that we are seeing at our parish right here and now Over the past four months weve had the great joy of celebrating five baptisms for our parish and have at least four more scheduled in the weeks to come This is of course something to rejoice about The presence of our littlest parishioners at Mass is a beautiful and incarnate reminder that our parish is growing and the Faith continues to be spread from generation to generation As the old adage says parish that isn't crying is dying To all of our parents and grandparents bringing little ones to Mass each weekend Thank You Know of our profound gratitude and support for you and the seriousness with which you are undertaking the passing on of the Faith to our future generations As our parish continues to grow we need to be always thinking of the future that lies ahead This includes my own discernment as pastor of our parish Over this past year given the several additional ministries for our diocese that I've been assigned I've had to recognize certain limitations in my own ministry here At the prompting of our Parish Council and following discussions with our Finance Council we are now in the planning stages to grow our parish staff with the addition of a new part time position This new position will both serve to promote parish development and act as a direct resource to the pastor Essentially it will serve as an engagement director for our parish to promote and assist with various events both big and small throughout the year Currently a significant amount of both event planning and logistics falls first to either Michelle in the Parish Office or myself With our desire to focus on continuing growth and outreach this current approach is not sustainable in the long term This new position will help centralize the planning of our several major parish gatherings Parish Picnic All Saints Day Christmas Brunch the Easter Egg Hunt and Totus Tuus organize volunteer activities and allow for the planning and starting up of smaller events and gatherings Bible Studies Youth Group events etc This will also help to ensure that our events will not be reliant on the pastor and will be sustainable in the years to come In your kindness please offer a prayer for the development of this position as the Parish Council and myself work with our diocesan Human Resources department to prepare a full description of this position Parish Penance Service Wednesday March 29th As a general reminder we will have our Lenten Parish Penance Service this Wednesday March 29th from 6:00PM to 7:00PM We will be joined by Fr Stephen Colchin Fr Dave Ruppert and Fr Jonathan Agbedo as additional confessors for the evening If you haven't yet had the opportunity to make use of this Sacrament this Lenten season I encourage you to do so In the words of Pope Francis Confession heals the heart and leaves us with inner peace MASS INTENTIONS Saturday March 25 8:00am Special Intention 400 4:45pm Confession 4:35pm Rosary 5:00pm George Mangen Sunday March 26 Fifth Sunday of Lent 7:10am Rosary 7:30am Parish Family 9:40am Rosary 10:00am Marj Sanders Monday March 27 No Public Mass Tuesday March 28 700 8:00am Adoration 8:00am Jane Witwer 8:30am Confession Wednesday March 29 600 7:00pm Adoration 600 6:45pm Confession 7:00pm Lugene Gene Keys Thursday March 30 8:00am Mary Ann Flowers Friday March 31 8:30am Tom Thompson Saturday April 1 8:00am Special Intention 400 4:45pm Confession 4:35pm Rosary 5:00pm Allen Mangen Sunday April 2 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord 7:10am Rosary 7:30am Our Parish Family 9:40am Rosary 10:00am Bruce and Diane Holland Family Becky Biberstein Michael Green Frances Carr Tom Richhart Carol Leitner Pat Pfeifer Troy Cook Bobbie and Cheryl Jackson Bonnie Burns John Houlihan Kimberly Abney Sydnee Bradburn Leanne Lee Dr Doug Phillips Jeff Tillman and Margaret Pogue MASS READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday March 27 Lenten Weekday Dn (131)915-1719 3033 62 or 1341c 62 Jn 81 11 Tuesday March 28 Lenten Weekday Nm 214 9 Jn 821 30 Wednesday March 29 Lenten Weekday Dn 214 2091 9295 Jn 831 42 Thursday March 30 Lenten Weekday Gn 173 9 Jn 851 59 Friday March 31 Lenten Weekday Jer 2010 13 Jn 1031 42 Saturday April 1 Lenten Weekday Ez 3721 28 Jn 1145 56 Sunday April 2 Palm Sunday of the Pas sion of the Lord Mt 211 11 Is 504 7 Phil 26 11 Mt 2614 2766 or 2711 54 Fr David PARISH CALENDAR Sat Mar 25 Confession 4 4:45pm Mass 5:00pm Sun Mar 26 Mass 7:30am Mass 10:00am Sun Mar 26 NO Religious Ed Classes Spring Break Tues Mar 28 Adoration 7 8:00am Mass 8:00am Confession 8:30am Tues Mar 28 Children's Choir Practice 5:30pm Parish Conference Room Wed Mar 29 Adoration Lenten Penance Service 600 7:00pm Mass 7:00pm Thurs Mar 30 Catholicism Explained RCIA Program 5:30pm in the Parish Social Hall Fri Mar 31 Knights of Columbus Council 7555 Lenten Fish Fry Drive Thru Only 400 to 7:00pm Fri Mar 31 Stations of the Cross 7:00pm Sat Apr 1 Mass 8:00am Confession 8:30am Sat Apr 1 Confession 4 4:45pm Mass 5:00pm Sun Apr 2 Mass 7:30am Sun Apr 2 Religious Class 830 9:45am Sun Apr 2 Palm Sunday Procession and Mass 10:00am Weekend of April 12 2023 Palm Sunday 500 Teresa Smith 730 Donna Geisel 1000 Martia Crawfis 500 Stacey Coulardot Michelle Paxton 730 2 volunteers please 1000 Bruce Holland and 1 volunteers please 500 Volunteers 730 Volunteers 1000 Volunteers 500 AlexAudrey Mechling Isaiah Bedwell 730 3 volunteers please 1000 3 volunteers please Thurifer Charlie Andrews St Joseph Parish Finance Report for the Weekend of March 1819 Adult Envelopes 160200 Loose 42800 RepairRainy Day Fund 35897 Votive Candles 8075 Easter Flowers 27400 Sanders Memorial Donation 1000 Reimb GIRLs Night Out 4383 Total 279755 Our weekly budget is 511640 We are 251573 behind our budget for the month of March St Vincent de Paul Fund 106400 Your gifts to St Joseph Parish are greatly appreciated Thank you WELCOME CHILD OF GOD Through water and the word Frances Bernadette daughter of Colin and Lauren Andrews became a child of God and was sealed as Christ's own forever through Baptism on March 19 2023 by Fr David Violi SHROUD OF TURIN PRESENTATION Join us on Sunday April 2nd at 11:30am in the Social Hall for a presentation on the Shroud of Turin the burial cloth of Jesus Refreshments will be served Wedding Banns III Becca Schlumbohm and Stephen Vanderkolk We pray for those preparing for Holy Matrimony Lenten Penance Service Wednesday March 29 600 to 7:00PM THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST Join us on Monday April 3rd at 7pm in the Parish Gym for a free showing of The Passion of the Christ TRAINED MINISTERS ARE NEEDED FOR HOLY WEEK AND EASTER MASSES Trained ministers and servers are needed for Holy Week and Easter Masses Please sign up on the sheet in the narthex if you are able to help with any of the Masses We specifically are in need of two trained lector's for Palm Sunday Mass at 730 and one trained lector for the 10:00am Mass Thank you Joan Phelps Parishioner MA NCC LMHC LCAC CADAC ICAC CCDP Licensed Mental Health Counselor Individual Marriage Family Counseling Addictions Counseling SpiritualPastoral Counseling Career AssessmentCounseling (260)824-9353 604 Greenbriar Drive Bluffton IN 46714 2155 Main St (260)824-9643 Interurban Park Bluffton IN 46714 Dan Geimer GemologistGIA www.daniels-jewelers.net Dan Jane Geimer Parishioners GORDON ASSOCIATES PC Attorneys Dan Gordon Tony Crowell Michelle Adler Matt Hayes and Brigitte Washburn (260)824-9377 Dan Gordon Parishioner Matt Hayes Parishioner at St Vincent de Paul FAIRWAY FLOOR COVERING Residential and Commercial 1503 Lancaster St Bluffton Charles Thompson (260)824-3049 Open Monday Friday 8a 5p Kris Thompson (260)820-2333 Kent Thompson (260)307-6584 Bekkee Thompson (260)273-6354 Kris Thompson Parishioner The Grover Company Property Management Fully Licensed and Insured (260)820-0638 Bret Grover It's a child not a choice Abortion does not make you un pregnant it makes you the mother of a dead child 3320 East State Road 124 Bluffton IN 46714 (260)824-3852 Douglas Cale Mitch Harnish Sam Haiflich Parishioner St Aloysius Parish Yoder IN 116 Dustman Road Bluffton (260)824-4263 Monday Wednesday Thursday 9am 5pm 109 Huntington St Montpelier (765)209-4614 Tuesday 10am 4pm Taking New Patients Emergency Exams Available (260)824-2442 (260)824-8101 Knights of Columbus Father Aloysius Phillips Council 7555 Colin Andrews Tel (260)824-4049 Fax (260)827-5099 candrewsandrewsandcrell.com www.andrewsandcrell.com Bluffton 116 Main St Bluffton IN 46714 Fort Wayne 7617 Jefferson Blvd Suite Fort Wayne IN 46804 Parishioner Everything rustic primitive and country for your home Visit the bereavement shop for ceme tery saddles vases lanterns wind chimes throws stepping stones and other bereavement items Hours Friday Saturday 10am to 4pm Or by appointment (260)273-0222 Thursday's 3pm 8pm Friday's 3pm 8pm Saturday's Noon 8pm See us on Facebook Instagram The Herr Family Parishioners dash90wines.com