Dear parishioners,
As part of the jubilee year of St. Joseph that Pope Francis announced last year, many people across the country have undertaken some spiritual exercises to foster their devotion to this great saint. Of course, we have been reciting the litany of St. Joseph every weekend after the rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. Many people across the country have also made a point to make a consecration to St. Joseph, following the step-by-step program laid out in Fr. Donald Calloway’s book, Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.
As a way of making this relatively new act of devotion available to our parish during the remainder of this jubilee year, we have purchased about 75 copies of Fr. Calloway’s book. If you are interested in owning one, simply stop by the parish office to pick one up or give us a call and we will find a way to get one to you. There is no cost to you- we are giving them away for free. So, please come and pick one up to grow in your devotion to St. Joseph! The books are easy to follow and contain thirty-three days’ worth of prayers and readings, some of which are done each day of the thirty-three days. At the end of these days of prayer, one prays a prayer to consecrate oneself or one’s intention to St. Joseph’s protection. Special thanks to the Paulding Knights of Columbus for purchasing the majority of the books!
While we still have a few months left in this year of St. Joseph, I would like to encourage everyone in our parish to consider making this consecration. To that end, the Paulding Knights of Columbus have offered to lead a prayer and discussion group for anyone interested in making this consecration to St. Joseph. The group will meet on Sundays at 1:00 at the Paulding KofC Hall and will follow the prayers and discussion topics presented in Fr. Calloway’s book. The first meeting will be today at 1:00, and this will serve as an introduction to what the consecration is and how to go about the prescribed readings and prayers in Fr. Calloway’s book. The goal is for each person making the consecration to do the readings and prayers at their own convenience, starting this Thursday, Sept. 30, with the discussion group happening every Sunday. Following this schedule, we can make the consecration together on Nov. 1, All Saints Day. Of course, no one is required to follow this timeline, and anyone is certainly welcome to do the consecration in whatever time frame works best for them.
On another note pertaining to the Paulding KofC, it is time once again to start up the Fall Fish Fry events at the Paulding KofC Hall. The dates for these are Friday, October 1, 8, and 15. They are planning have meals available at lunch (11:00 – 1:00) and supper (4:00 – 7:00). As of now, they are planning to have dine-in and carry-out options. Please stop by for a good meal and to support the Knights and their charitable work!
Blessings to you all!
Fr. Ammanniti
