MARCH 5th First Sunday of Lent

SECURING OUR FUTURE – St. Joseph Capital Campaign Total pledged $243,938.00 Received as of 3/2/17 $193,990.50

At the beginning of this Lenten season we hear proclaimed the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. He responds to the first temptation by saying that one does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. The season of Lent invites us to consider how we nourish our hearts, how we act as stewards of the Word of God entrusted to us. A good reflection for the week: What do we live on?

What keeps us going? Could it be possessions, prestige, the need to be in control, the need for security, addictions? Or the fervent desire to listen to God’s word? Questions of the Week In what area of my life have I not trusted God’s providential care for me? How can I change that this Lent, even while making myself a living sign for someone else of God’s care?

We extend a warm welcome to

all who attend our church!

Parish Information P.O. Box 606, 400 S. Lane, Palmyra, MO 63461

Our website: www.stjoepalmyra.org Our FB page: facebook.com/StJosephCatholicChurchPalmyraMO/

Rev. Alexius Ekka, Canonical Administrator/Pastor pastor@stjoepalmyra.org Rev. Alex Ekka 573-769-3247

Robert Leake, Deacon deacon@stjoepalmyra.org Deacon Bob Leake 573-248-7640

Cheryl Hirner, Secretary office@stjoepalmyra.org Cheryl 217-779-2593

Office Hours Monday – Thursday, 8 am - Noon and 1:00 - 4:00pm Office 769-3270 Kitchen 769-4702 Rectory 769-3247

For marriage preparation contact Father at least six months in advance

Judy Trower, Parish Council President jtrower@centurytel.net

Elizabeth Bradley, Altar Society President (573) 769-2972

David Hastings, Knights of Columbus Grand Knight dhastings53@yahoo.com

March 10th – 7pm – Live Stations of the Cross March 12th 11 to 1pm – Altar Society Smorgasbord March 26th – KC Breakfast for St. Anns March 31st – Cookie Day at Maple Lawn

Mass Intentions Confessions are Saturday at 5pm,

Sunday at 7 & 10 am Or anytime by appointment

Tue 8:00am Lois Whiston +

Fri 8:00am Cathy Bishel +

Sat 5:30pm Carl & Marie Rupp +

Sun 7:30am Parishioners of St. Joseph +

Sun 10:30am Justin DeHaan +

There will be no Mass Wednesday or Thursday, Fr. Alex will be in Jefferson City Parish Support Weekly envelopes $5067, Loose money $548, Children envelopes $7.65, Overseas $75,

CSA 2017 So far, Saint Joseph Parish, Palmyra has raised $13,064.00 of your parish goal of $15,000.00, with a total of 71 parishioners participating. Thank you to all who have donated!

Message from Rev. Joseph S. Corel, Rev Greg Meystrik and Sr. Kathleen Wegman, SSND

The June 10, 2015 edition of The Catholic Missourian, contained an affirming message from Bishop Gaydos regarding the 2010 Pastoral Plan, Christ’s call … Our response and four additional pages highlighting the opportunities and challenges the four priorities of Faith, Family, Reaching Out and Planning offered parishes and the diocesan staff, and the creative ways in which the actions supporting these priorities were carried out. In our 2015-16 review of all that was accomplished it became quite clear that there are still myriad ways we can deepen our response related to these four priorities. Consequently, as a way of continuing to revitalize parish life and assess viability of parishes, we have invited parish leadership to assess how they have responded to Christ’s call these past five years and reflect on ways to deepen parish response going forward. We ask for your prayers and assure you that we will communicate appropriately as the processes unfolds.

Thanks to your generosity we donated 74 cans of fruit to the Palmyra Food

Pantry in February! For March, we'll be collecting men's and women's deodorant, if you wish to help us with this service project. Thanks! The Youth

Group and Social Committee If you wish to help us out, please bring your items

and put them in the clothes basket in the vestibule of the church. Thanks for

helping us feed the hungry - one of the Corporal Works of Mercy!

LENTEN OPPORTUNITIES We have two wonderful studies during this Lenten season to increase our faith and enjoy some fellowship. You also have access to a series on the FORMED website Forgiven: The Transforming Power of Confession.

The Bible and The Virgin Mary: Journey Through Scripture by The St. Paul Center's for Biblical Study. This dynamic Bible study program is designed to help ordinary Catholics grow in their knowledge of the Scriptures while deepening their understanding of the riches of our faith. The program will run for 6 weeks, on Wednesdays from 6-7:30 starting Wednesday February 22nd. We will not meet on Ash Wednesday. Meetings will be in the hall and refreshments will be provided. Thanks to the generosity of several volunteers, there will be childcare available. Children can arrive at the hall starting at 5:45 pm. For more information contact Christie Mahsman, 573-231-6712

Lenten Book Study: There will be a Lenten Book Study using the book “Resisting Happiness” which was handed out during Christmas. The study will be held on Monday evenings beginning on February 27th at 6:30 p.m. The study will last for 6 weeks. For more information, please call Pauline Jones at 573-769-3576 or email at pjones@mtbh.org For those who want to have small groups, contact Pauline for information on where to obtain the study guide or visit DynamicCatholic.com/Best Lent Ever.

Area Penance Services The following is a list of Penance Services in our area. All services are at 7pm unless noted: March 14th – St. Clement/Bowling Green March 20th – St. Joseph/Palmyra March 21st – Holy Family/Hannibal March 31st – April 1st – From noon on Friday to Noon on Saturday

Monroe City will offer a 24hour confession opportunity. April 5th – St. Michael/Kahoka/6:30pm March 23rd – St. Joseph/Canton

Stations of the Cross Our parish will offer Live Stations on March 10th at 7pm. On March 17th,the Youth Group will lead the Stations at 7pm. We will offer Stations of the Cross at noon on March 24th, and 31st. (We are looking for individuals or groups to host the stations on these days – call the office if you are interested).

Palmyra Ministerial Lenten Study The Ministerial Alliance Lenten studies are on Wednesdays at Noon. Please remember to bring your sack lunch, the hosting church provides drinks and dessert. Following is the schedule of churches: March 8 – Park Chapel March 15 – United Pentecostal March 22 – 1st Christian March 29 – 1st Presbyterian April 5 – United Methodist

Forgiven: The Transforming Power of Confession, is the

latest addition to the Augustine Institute’s library of

sacramental preparation programs. As a FORMED

subscriber, you can access the first four sessions of this

powerful new series along with corresponding guidebooks!

FORGIVEN explores the grace and healing offered in

Confession and shows how this sacrament of mercy reveals

the depth and bounty of God’s love. By looking at God’s

revelation of his mercy in Scripture and making a step-by-

step examination of the Rite itself, FORGIVEN communicates God’s invitation to each one of us to come experience

his indescribable love in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Sunday, March 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Please spread the word and invite your family, neighbors, and friends. This is Altar Society’s largest fundraiser, and

your support is truly appreciated.

Dispensation to eat meat on St. Patrick Bishop Gaydos has asked me to

indicate to you that he will grant a dispensation to all Roman Catholics who are members of the Diocese from the Lenten observance of abstaining from meat on the Feast of St. Patrick, March 17, 2017, for this year only. This dispensation is granted for those who need it. This dispensation does not remove the obligation to maintain their works of penance during the rest of the Lenten season. Therefore, during the few days following March 17th, people are reminded to do some extra work of penance or charity in place of abstaining from meat on St. Patrick’s Day. –Fr. Alex

Here are the CCD dates for March:

Class will be held on March 5th

NO CLASS on March 12th - Come to the

Altar Society Smorgasboard!Class will be

held on March 19th

NO CLASS on March 26th - due to Spring Break

MIDDLE SCHOOL will meet Sunday, March 12th from 4 to 5:15 p.m. Please come for food, entertainment, prayer, and being with your St. Joseph family! HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH will meet Sunday, March 12th from 4 to 5:15 p.m. Please come for food, entertainment, prayer and being with your St. Joseph family! SAVE THE DATE: Youth Group will be having another family night on Friday, March 17th from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Pizza Party for Youth, Stations of the Cross, and Game Night! Please text Cathy Fohey at 573-231-6362 or email at cathyjofohey@gmail.com THANKS!

REST IN PEACE Gayle Bross, sister-in-law of Alice Schwartz, passed away on February 28. Please keep Gayle and her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Pray for one another † Jean Harrison, Greg Harrison, Dwayne & Ellen Goodwin, Becky Schmidt, Arlene &

Jim Veit, Evan Mencer, Hayden Pegus, Johnathan Bedrosian, Jean Moore Lula Little, Pat Foster, Florence Fohey, Todd Nunn, Tammy Reiff, Sandy Clink, Judy Kirby, Lucille Watters, Janet Schwartz, Clarice Fourari, Pat Murphy, Joyce Wellman, Mary Lawson, Richelle Ahern, Joan Plokinski, Fr. Ken Rosswog, OFM, Fr. Phillip Pavick, OFM, Hannah Wacker, Rita Thompson, Karen and Tom Meade

The Holy Father’s Prayer intention for March 2017 † Support for Persecuted Christians. That persecuted Christians may be

supported by the prayers and material help of the whole Church.

Deadline for announcements in the bulletin is Wednesday at 3pm

Please pray for those with birthdays this week:

Faye Dames .. .. . .. .. March 6 Joe Barnes . .. .. . .. .. March 6 Matthew Richardson .. March 6 Jay Conoyer .. .. . .. .. March 8 Jean Buckman .. . .. .. March 9 Samuel Wilson .. . .. .. March 9

Gretchan Hudson .. . .. March 9 Alex Bross .. . .. .. . .. March 9 Carolyn Foster .. .. . .. March 10 Trent Schroeder .. . .. March 10 Shannon DeHaan .. . .. March 10

Gretchen Neisen .. . .. March 11 Judy Trower . .. .. . .. March 12 Debra Bock . .. .. .. . .. March 12 Traci Kline . .. .. .. . .. March 12 Hunter Baggett . .. . .. March 12

RESISTING HAPPINESS

– By Matthew Kelly

God wants us to be happy even more than we want to be happy ourselves. When we resist happiness, we resist God and the very-best-version-of-ourselves.

March 4-5, 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is once again time for us to enter into the spiritual self-discipline of holy Lent. The thought of self-

discipline can leave us feeling gloomy, especially if we see it as punishment. However, Jesus directs his disciples

not to appear gloomy as they engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. He instead invites us to look forward to

the blessings that accompany our acts of penance and charity.

The key blessing we seek each Lent is the ability to root out sin from our lives. Sin causes us to turn our

gaze inward, looking only at ourselves. The discipline of Lent helps us to look outside of ourselves, to recognize

what a treasure we possess in our relationship with Christ, with our family, and with those around us. They are all

a gift from God, for which we need to be thankful, so that we will never take them for granted.

Therefore, let us pray for one another, that sin will not blind us to the call and the example of the Word of

God during this Lenten season. Only He can show us the path leading to true peace.

With prayerful wishes for a blessed Lent, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend John R. Gaydos

Bishop of Jefferson City

St. Joseph Parish Council Minutes for February 21, 2017

Deacon Bob led with opening prayer. Roll call was answered by the following present: David Baxter, Steve Bland,

Tammy Browning, Diane DeHaan, David Hastings, Ed Hess, Susan Lantz, Stephen Lawrence, Derek O’Brien, Judy Trower, Father Alex and Father Penn. Two members were absent. The financial Report was General Checking $170,788.53, St. Joseph Fund $12,880.68, Savings deposited with the Diocese $75,977.27, Capital Campaign and Building Fund $42,687.14. Reports Worship and Spiritual Development Committee – Steve Lawrence, Susan Lantz, Diane DeHaan, Pauline Jones and Susan Chambers There were 29 parishioners that attended adoration on February 3 and 5 open spots left for adoration on March 3. Christian Education Committee – David Baxter, Amy Massman, Annie Jones, Luke Mahsman, Kevin DeHaan and Randy Dodd Committee formulated a job description for a Part-Time Director of Youth Ministry and a Part-Time Director of Religious Education. Social Concerns Committee - Judy Trower, Ed Hess, Tammy Browning, Cathy Fohey, Pam Hess, Kathy Bent, Linda Reeves, Cheryl Hirner, Joyce Hess, Andrea Barnes and Brenda Bland Social Concerns Committee and the youth group have join together to assist the food pantry. This month they are asking for canned fruit. Building & Grounds Committee – David Hastings, Steve Bland, Derek O’Brien, Dale Gervais, Jim Veit, John Hess, Deacon Robert Leake, Joe Jones, Herb Schwartz, Jim Lowe, John Fohey and Adam Jones The committee has recommended the purchase of a new AC Unit and Thermostat upstairs at the rectory . They are also recommending the purchase of paint for the youth director’s office, paint and a rug for the youth group room, repaint the hallway in the hall, three heat exchangers and soap dispensers for the kitchen and restrooms in the hall. Hannibal Deanery Pastoral Council – Judy Trower, Susan Lantz, Luke Mahsman and Joe Jones Committee met January 21, 2017 and discussed the involvement of the youth in the parish and how the youth feel they are welcomed. Old Business

New roof within the next two weeks on the hall. Church directories will be passed out at mass next week to all who had pictures taken last spring. A list will be kept

for anyone who did not participate but would like to purchase a directory. Sample of descriptions for Part-Time Youth Director and Part-Time Religious Education Director were submitted for

review.

New Business A book will be selected for an Easter gift for Parishioners. All members of the Parish Council are to be at the Holy Thursday Service for the foot washing ceremony. Father Alex closed with prayer. The next meeting will be March 28, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Tammy Browning Recording Secretary