Change of Mass Times for Sunday A Very Important Message from our pastor, Father Umberg
Dear St. Joseph Parishioners,
As most of you are aware (I hope), St. Joseph Parish will join a family of parishes with Our Lady of Visitation and St. Jude beginning July 1, 2022. I have been assigned to be pastor of a different family of parishes, beginning at that time. Therefore, I will be leaving St. Joseph Parish on June 30th. Father Don Siciliano will become the new pastor, effective July 1st.
Over the next five years, the three parishes in the family of parishes, will become one parish. When this finally happens, it may well be that St. Joseph will continue to have at least one Sunday Mass. This new family of parishes has been assigned a pastor and two other priests (these assisting priests are known as “vicars”). However, to continue the present Mass schedule, it would require these two vicars (and one of these could be assigned somewhere else at any time); it also depends on help from retired priests (which may or may not be here in the near future).
We have been asked (so have Our Lady of Visitation and St. Jude parishes) to prune our Mass schedule before July 1, 2022. This request came from the dean of the St. Lawrence Deanery. The priests who serve as deans throughout the Archdiocese have been asked to do this by the leaders of the Beacons of Light initiative. This pruning of the Mass schedule was to be done in consultation with the incoming pastors, who were to coordinate these schedules among the parishes which will form the new families. We decided to implement this new weekend Mass schedule one month before I leave as pastor of St. Joseph.
Therefore, the new weekend Mass and confessions schedule for St. Joseph Parish, beginning June 5, 2022, will be:
SATURDAY CONFESSIONS 2:00 PM MASS 3:00 PM
SUNDAY MASS 9:30 AM
I know this may come as a shock to many of you. I know that this change will be disruptive to all of your regular Saturday/Sunday Mass routines, which often involve meals and social events. With effort on your part, I believe that you will be able to develop new routines that make the worship of the Lord and the reception of Christ’s Body and Blood a central part of your life. I also realize that this new Mass schedule may simply not work for some of you, and you will have to attend Mass at some other parish. I am sorry. However, I know that this change is inevitable and would be coming at some point in the near future, with or without my cooperation. It is my hope and prayer that you will understand this change and that you will continue to practice your Catholic faith with constancy and commitment. Be assured of my prayers. Let us enjoy the next six weekends of the Easter season with our good old full Mass schedule!