Baptism: Please contact the parish office to schedule a time and date. A pre-baptism class is required. No baptisms during Advent and Lent.

Matrimony: By appointment six months in advance.

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA): Please call the rectory office at 724-981-3232.

Prayer Line: For intentions, please call 724-962-5996.

PARISHIONER PRE-REGISTRATION FORM

NAME____________________________

STREET_________________________

CITY & ZIP________________________

PHONE_________________ E-Mail_________________________

New Member Address Change Update Info

Place completed form in today’s collection basket or drop it off in the church office.

Rev. Thomas J. Whitman, Pastor Director of Religious Ed: Sr. Sandy Pedone, H.M.

Parish Secretary: Lori Vasconi Financial Secretary: Carol Koch

Music Director: Nancy Rehner

Maintenance: Brad Goodall

Office Hours Monday - Friday,

8:30 AM to 4:30 PM (closed 12:30-1:30 PM)

Mass Schedule Saturday Vigil - 5:15 PM

Sunday - 8:30 & 11:00 AM Weekday: M, T, Th, Fri - 8:00 AM

Wed. - 12:10 PM (Check weekly bulletin for changes.)

Confessions Saturday: 4:00 - 4:30 PM or by request.

Religious Education Program Sundays, 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM

CCD Grades K-10 at Case Avenue Elem. School, Grade 11 in the church annex.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Every Wednesday after the 12:10 PM Mass in

the Mother’s Chapel.

Shenango Valley Catholic School System

Mr. William Lyon, Principal, Kennedy Catholic Middle and High Schools:

724-346-5531 Mrs. Heidi Patterson, Principal,

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2018

FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHRIST’S JOURNEY TO THE CROSS. You are invited to join us each

Wednesday during Lent at 6:00pm for...

Immediately following Stations of the Cross, please join us for fellowship

and soup in the Guild Hall.

PASTOR’S COLUMN PARISH CENSUS: Please return your parish census form! March 15 is the deadline to return your form. Those who have not returned a form will be taken off the parish roster. I am really surprised that this census has taken so long. We started this in September 2017 and now five months later we still have 522 families that have not returned a census form out of the 1275 families we have registered. Thank you to the 753 fami-lies who have taken the time to fill out the form. My apologies to those who filled the form out twice but somehow the form never made it to the parish office to be recorded. Thank you for being understanding. One way we might all encourage others to return their census forms is to ask our family members and friends if they have completed their parish census. Sometimes a reminder from someone they know will encourage them to complete it. CATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL: So far in our Catholic Services Appeal we have 141 pledges for $54,260. Our assessment goal for the diocese is $73,000. Last year we exceeded our goal thanks to the 270 generous families and individuals who made a pledge or a one-time contribution to this appeal. That was an increase of 60 more families or individuals who participated in the appeal. We will be using the money we collect over our goal this year to again seal the parking lot, update some computer hardware in the parish of-fice, and address some issues with lighting in the church. I also want to stress some of the ways the Catholic Services Appeal supports us locally: Just some of the ways from the last year - $20,000 grant was given to Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools from the Catho-lic Foundation, ongoing support of the great work being done at the Prince of Peace Center, and the diocese was able to fund the MyParishApp program that enables us to access information and communicate parish wide through our cell phones. And those are just some of the services that are provided to our parish or our community on a daily basis. We are inviting every parish family to make some gift or pledge to this campaign. We are grateful to those who continue to make the Catholic Services Appeal a priority because it is through your generous gifts that we are able to keep St. Joseph Parish moving forward. May God continue to reward you for your gener-osity and your thoughtfulness. Pledge envelopes will be in the pews for the next several weeks. Please make your checks payable to St. Joseph Church. LENTEN PENANCE SERVICES: The local penance services are spread out over the next several weeks. St. Michael, Greenville – Sunday, March 11 at 12:30pm; Beloved Disciple, Grove City– Sunday, March 11 at 2:00pm; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mercer – Sunday, March 11 at 4:00pm; St. Joseph, Sharon – Thursday, March 15 at 7:00pm; Good Shepherd, West Middlesex, Monday, March 19 at 6:30pm; and Notre Dame, Her-mitage – Wednesday, March 21 at 6:30pm. TWO JOB OPENINGS: St. Rose and St. Mary Cemeteries are looking to hire a part-time maintenance per-son. For a job description and more information contact Fr. Tom Whitman at St. Joseph Church 724-981-3232 or office@stjosephs-sharon.org.fice@stjosephs-sharon.org. St. Joseph Parish is also looking for a person to coordinate the music ministry for the parish. Nancy Rehner, our current coordinator, is looking to retire in the near future and we are looking for someone to re-place her. Interested persons should contact Fr. Whitman and submit a resume. WEAR RED FOR PALM SUNDAY: As has been our parish tradition, we are inviting everyone to wear red for Palm Sunday (two weeks from today). REFLECTION ON THE READINGS: There is always a confusion on these last three Sundays of Lent. We are currently in year B of the three year cycle of Sunday readings and those are the readings we have been using this year. But the readings from year A are often printed alongside the readings from the other years (B or C) because the year A readings can be used in any year. The year A readings tell the great stories of the Woman at the Well, the Man Born Blind and the Raising of Lazarus. There are some great themes in the readings of Year B as well - this week’s readings remind us of the always faithful love of God for us – a story we can never hear enough.

PLEASE PRAY FOR: Chris Pass, Kay DeBonis, Darlene Lenhart, Tony Perry, Carla Machi, Robert Holl, Joe Sinkuc and Jack Taylor.

FEATURED FOOD PANTRY ITEM “Toilet Tissue”

Next week’s featured item - toilet tissue. Please place your donation in the shopping cart located in the Gather-ing Space.

COMING FEATURED ITEMS Jelly - Bar Soap - Toothpaste

If you’d like to volunteer, please report to the church’s lower level at 8:00am on our next distribution day, Friday, March 16, 2018.

Pastor’s Column continued…

BAPTISM CLASS If you are planning to have your child baptized, a bap-tism class is required for the parents. To schedule your class, please call the church office at 724-981-3232.

WEEKEND COLLECTION - March 5, 2018 Number of Adult envelopes sent……...1,204 Number of Adult envelopes used….…. 321 Number of unused envelopes……….... 883

Sunday Offertory……..…….….…..$12,294 Budgeted Offertory……….……......$ 9,500 Surplus....……………...……...........$ 2,794

Other Collections: Ash Wednesday…………………..$ 5 Easter Flower Collection…………$ 488

The first reading gives us a brief survey of history – the Jewish people have turned away from God, not listened to the prophets, and done terrible things in the Temple. Eventually their downfall is complete when the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and take the people to Babylon in exile for 70 years! After this long and painful exile the King of Persia, Cyrus, gives his blessing for the people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their community and the Temple. It is one more story of how God works in mysterious ways – God moves Cyrus, the enemy, to do something for the good of the people of Israel, in fact, letting them go free and returning them to their homeland.

That is something rather unsettling – that God would speak to us through someone who is our enemy! And yet it is often the saints who believed that their enemies had something to teach them. So what might God be saying to us through our enemy? That might be the most important thing we ponder this Lenten season. The second reading continues the theme of the paschal mystery – the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul re-minds us today that we were dead in our sins and yet God has saved us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, not by any work of ours, but by our faith in Jesus Christ. Indeed, how important that faith is for our salvation and for the new life of resurrection that God has given to us. The gospel is probably one of the most familiar passages in sports history – John 3:16. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that we might not perish but that we might have eternal life. This passage comes in the context of a conversation Jesus is having with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, who is coming to Jesus at night (in the dark) to learn more about Jesus (the light). Nicodemus secretly comes to listen to Jesus even though he is a part of the group that is trying to put Jesus to death. What a tremendous struggle Nicodemus must have endured trying to figure out whether to listen to his friends and the teachers of the law, or to listen to Jesus. Nicodemus reminds us of how impor-tant our witness to Jesus is, because if we are silent or secret in our faith, Jesus will be killed by those who are more vocal. We all struggle with this aspect of quiet, silent witness vs. bold proclamation of our faith, may we pray for strength in our struggle and be empowered to give faithful witness alongside one another, in support of one another.

TO ALL LITURGICAL MINISTERS UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Altar Servers - Lectors - Eucharistic Ministers - Greeters: As the first quarter scheduling is coming to an end, we are preparing for the 2018 second quar-ter schedule. The second quarter schedule for 2018 will run from April 1 through June 24, 2018. If you are unavailable to serve during any of the second quarter weekends, please remember to log on to your profile at: https:secure.rotundasoftware.com/l/web-terminal/login/stjosephchurchsharon?use_username and block off the dates you will not be available to serve by FRIDAY, MARCH 16.

Are you affected by Are you affected by Are you affected by someone else’s someone else’s someone else’s addiction? addiction? addiction? NARNAR--ANON OFFERS HOPEANON OFFERS HOPE NarNar--Anon Family Groups are Anon Family Groups are a worldwide fellowship for a worldwide fellowship for those affected by someone those affected by someone else’s addiction. As a twelve else’s addiction. As a twelve step program, we offer help step program, we offer help by sharing our experiences, by sharing our experiences, strength, and hope. strength, and hope.

Nar-Anon support meetings are held at the Church of the Beloved Disciple, 1310 S. Center St. Ext., Grove City, PA on Wednesdays at 6:00pm. For more infor-mation, please call Mikey at 724-748-6700.

WEEKDAY-HOSPITAL SUNDAY, March 18 Mar. 13 - P. Radasevich SRHS - G. Pacsi Mar. 14 - P. Emery Nugent - D. Ranelli Mar. 15 - P. Heldorfer Clepper - P. Emery

Mass Intentions

+Indicates Mass Time Monday, March 12–Is 65: 17-21 / Jn 4: 43-54 +8:00 Joseph Wiesen (Family)

Tuesday, March 13–Ez 47: 1-9, 12 / Jn 5: 1-16 +8:00 Rosemary Colt (Lori Tumpak)

Wednesday, March 14-Is 49: 8-15 / Jn 5: 17-30 +12:10 Valeria Taylor (Ann Guster) *2:30 West Hill Ministries *6:00 Stations and Soup

Thursday, March 15-Ex 32: 7-14 / Jn 5: 31-47 +8:00 Living and Deceased Members of the Parish *2:30 West Hill Ministries *6:00 RCIA *7:00 Penance Service-St. Joseph Church

Friday, March 16–Wis 2: 1a, 12-22 / Jn 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30 +8:00 Helen Galicia (Paul and Jan Baker)

Saturday, March 17-Jer 31:31-24 / Heb 5: 7-9 / Jn 12: 20-33

Fifth Sunday of Lent Women’s Guild Bake Sale After Mass +5:15 Bob Wiesen (Family)

Sunday, March 18-Jer 31:31-24 / Heb 5: 7-9 / Jn 12: 20-33

Fifth Sunday of Lent Women’s Guild Bake Sale After Masses +8:30 Alma Petrini (Tom O’Mahony)

*9:30 1st Communion Parent Meeting-Annex +11:00 Mary Billen (Nancy Rehner)

Ministry Schedule for March 17/18 LECTOR J. Bonomo

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS

E. Anderson, D. Ranelli, K. Bonomo, J. Walsh, T. H. Cole, M. Sakony, S. Messina

ALTAR SERVERS N. Alexander, N. Jordan, M. Jordan, A. Jordan

GREETERS GS: S. & R. Axtell Fr: J. Bello

LECTOR S. Cleary

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS

J. Mausser, P. Miller, S. Missory, C. Necastro, S. Swogger, P. Emery, M. Christman

ALTAR SERVERS P. Haroldson, V. Haroldson, S. Pass, N. Schupp

GREETERS GS: Volunteer

LECTOR G. Beshero

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS

M. Smith, G. Smith, J. Kaibas, M. Goodwin, J. Grandy, Dr. D’Amore, D. D’Amore, L. Dach, M. B. Jones, A. U’Halie, P. Piccirilli

ALTAR SERVERS I. Bianco, H. Duffy, C. Duffy, J. Izenas

GREETERS GS: R. & T. Rookey Fr: J. Hoffman, M. A. Smith CL: C. Krochka

Saturday, March 17,

2018

Vigil 5:15 PM

Mass

Sunday, March 18,

2018

8:30 AM Mass

Sunday, March 18,

2018

11:00 AM Mass

Today’s bulletin insert has all the upcoming details!

Sunday, March 25 after 11:00 Mass (Bad weather make up date is March 31.)

Women’s Guild

EASTER Bread Bake Sale The Women’s Guild Easter Bake Sale is

NEXT weekend, March 17 & 18 after all Masses. Items for sale include their famous

Easter bread, raisin bread,

cinnamon rolls and a variety of

baked goods.

Holy Week Is Fast Approaching! ~~ Sign Ups ~~

Holy Week will be here in just a few short weeks! To prepare for the upcoming Holy Day week, sign-up sheets are available for Holy Thursday Dinner and liturgical ministers.

HOLY THURSDAY DINNER

Please sign your family’s name and number attending on ONE of the sign-up sheets located at each exit. St. Joseph will provide the entrée, dessert and drinks and below is an assigned dish based on the family’s first letter of their last name. Please be sure to bring your dish in a disposable container and will serve at least eight (8) people.

A-G Pasta or Potato Dish H-N Vegetable Dish O-Z Salad Dish

HOLY WEEK LITURGICAL MINISTERS Eucharistic Ministers * Altar Servers * Lectors * Greeters

Located in the Gathering Space are sign-up sheets for Holy Thursday Mass, Easter Vigil Mass and both Masses on Easter Sunday. Please sign your name to the Mass you will be attending and can serve. There are no online sign ups for these Masses.

Holy Week Mass schedule is as follows: Holy Thursday-7:00pm Easter Vigil-8:30pm

Easter Sunday 8:30 & 11:00am