St. Joseph R.C. Church

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Welcome to St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church

Our Saturday @ 5:30PM Mass can be viewed weekly via livestream by clicking on the link to the right: YouTube: Parish Livestream

e are a Roman Catholic community of believers in Jesus Christ in Lincoln Park and surrounding areas, located in the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. Our Bishop is Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney. Please feel free to visit the pages of our Parish site, learn about who we are as a community of faith and the services our parish provides. If you are thinking about moving to the Lincoln Park area, we cordially invite you to make St. Joseph's your parish.

The Thirteen Sunday in Ordinary Time: June 26, 2022

trinity2021 As adults, we can claim to have seen a lot in our lives. We are experienced in some of the rough parts of life. We have had promises broken, been betrayed and have had our share of disillusionment. Our instinct for survival fights fiercely against any threat to our identity and our existence. We can easily become frustrated, cynical and totally self-absorbed. Yet there is a trusting child within each of us - one who is willing to put his/her life into the hands of the one who walked the road to Jerusalem, to trust him and to follow wherever he would lead.

The call to discipleship comes in the ordinariness of our lives along the road. Like Elisha it comes while we are "plowing" - busy about our day's work: teaching a class, waiting on tables, straightening our desk, turning on the computer, answering the phone, sitting at the reception desk, tending to our children. In one way or another the invitation to "Follow Him" comes every day. It is very present-tense and it suggests that we pause, stop to listen for a moment and wonder how we can respond.

The call to discipleship is immediate. There is no turning back. On the face of it, this idea sounds unnatural, almost suicidal. But as we watch Jesus live it out in His own choices and actions, we begin to understand. He put His will, His gifts, His very life at the service of His Father. He trusted the love and providence of His Father. Step by step, He began to experience how His Father's love turned evil into good, and dying into living. Every time He chose the Father's will instead of His own, He was freer, richer, more complete as a man. Every time He put aside His own desires to serve others, He became more fully alive, more fully a part of everyone else.

It is this kind of unselfish love that propels people into lives of service and ministry, into marriage and family, into priesthood and religious life. It is this kind of commitment to the Lord that is put to the test by the trials of life - sickness, failure, natural disasters, the death of our loved ones. We get to understand what "dying to self" means when our patience is tried to the breaking point by a rebellious teenager, or an irresponsible spouse, or the death of a loved one. We are asked to give up our own lives in favor of a parent suffering with alzheimers, or a victim of AIDS, or someone close to us who is being destroyed by drugs or alcohol.

The disciple is not surprised, or angered, or lost in despair when this happens. To walk in the footsteps of the Master means to put aside self, willingly, generously, and with absolute trust. It means giving without measuring the cost. It means putting our hands to the plow and not looking back.

This is not a part-time job. It is not something we do only on Sunday at church and occasionally doing a few good deeds during the week. Taking up the cross isn't a part-time practice we do on Good Friday, or when we are feeling strong and resilient. Nor is sacrifice in Jesus' name something reserved for some specially selected martyrs whose names are inscribed on Christian monuments. Instead, Jesus says losing our lives for his sake must be daily. It's not a part-time religion - it's a full-time following! Taking up the cross is part and parcel of the lives of all who follow him.

St. Paul tells us: "For freedom, Christ has set us free." Freedom from death and sin. Freedom to Love. Freedom to live. What we know to be absolutely true is that our response to Jesus' invitation involves us for the long haul and it will require sacrifice. We also know that his call and our faithfulness to it is totally liberating. It gives us vision, focuses our energies and opens us to give ourselves generously and freely to the kingdom which Christ came to proclaim.

https://www.ecatholicism.org/index.php/11-lectionary-cycle-c/121-13th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-hands-to-the-plow

Parish News

Summer Parish Office Hours
The Parish Office is on summer hours. Office hours are Monday to Thursday 9 AM – 3 PM, closed on Fridays.
Patriotic Rosary on July 4
Our Country is going through a difficult time and prayers are needed now more than ever. Who better to ask for intervention than Our Lady? St. Joseph's is going to begin a monthly Patriotic Rosary to be recited the first Monday of each month
after the 7:00 PM Mass beginning Monday, June 6, 2022. All are encouraged to attend.

This month, St. Joseph's Patriotic Rosary will be on Monday, July 4th following the 9 AM Mass. All are encouraged to attend. What a wonderful way to begin your 4th of July!
Year of the Eucharist
In honor of the Year of the Eucharist, we are happy to announce that we are expanding our hours of Adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament.

Thanks to you we now have guardians for all 16 hours of Adoration. But now we need two substitutes for each
hour. Sign up sheets are in the back of church. We will begin our weekly Adoration this Tuesday, March 1st and every Tuesday after the 8:00 AM Mass until midnight. Jesus, our Friend, waits for our visits.

St. Maximilian Kolbe made frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)
R.C.I.A., the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is a process for anyone wishing to know more about the Roman Catholic Faith and the reception of the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation). By our baptism, each of us is called to share the good news. Each of us may know someone who, if asked, would consider becoming a Catholic. The invitation needs to be extended.

As a member of the faith family, have you extended the invitation? If you want to become a Catholic or know someone who may be interested in becoming a Catholic, please come to the Parish Center room 6 for classes on Sundays at 11 AM or call the office at
973.696.4411.
Religious Education Program
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION INFORMATION FOR GRADES K-8

GRADES K-6

Registration forms for the 2022-2023 CCD school year will be sent out via email in June. If you do not receive it or if your email address has changed since last year’s registration (which would have been last summer), please be sure to email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your new email address.

Registration forms will be available on the back tables in church and in our Parish Center.

First Holy Communion – Children are required to complete 1 st grade of Religious Education before they can enter into the 2 nd grade of our program for First Holy Communion.

Registration for new students will also be taking place. Our program begins with Kindergarten and continues through Grade 6. If you have a child in Kindergarten only, the registration fee is $30. A copy of their baptismal certificate is required for each new child registered. Families must be registered members of the parish when registering for the program.

CONFIRMATION PROGRAM GRADES 7-8

Confirmation Registration Forms will be
sent out via email in August.

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For more information, please call 973.696.4411 x12.
Polish Masses to Be Celebrated at St. Joseph's on the Third Saturday of Each Month
Polish Masses are now being celebrated at St. Josephs on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 7 PM.
Parish Registration
If you are new to the parish or have not previously registered in the parish, please do so by calling the office at 973.696.4411 x 101 for a registration form. Also, if you are not receiving collection envelopes, we can arrange to have them sent them to you.
First Friday Benediction
Please join us for our regular First Friday services with a monthly Eucharistic Holy Hour from 7 to 8 PM, featuring Exposition of the

Blessed Sacrament, Adoration, and Benediction, provided by our Deacons. Please note that Mass will only be available in the morning at 8 AM.
Visiting the Sick and Shut-Ins
If you have a famly member or know of someone who is in the hospital or homebound and they would like to receive Holy Communion, please call Sr. Ellen at (973) 696-4411, etx. 3.

Because of privacy laws, the hospital does not contact us when a parishioner is admitted and therefore, we have no way of knowing. Notifying us will enable us to visit our parishioners and bring them the sacraments.
Parish Email List: Great Way to Stay Informed!
If you would like to be added to the parish email list or to update your email address with us, to receive notifications of funerals and parish events, please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let us know. As of now, we have over 500 people on our email list. What a resourceful way to keep up to date on our parish happenings! Thank you.