May 18, 2012


Dear St. Joseph Parishioners,


Greetings and peace. May fills our calendars with a series of important moments: First Communions, Mothers’ Day, Confirmations, baptisms and now graduations. It appears that all of those schools Like Muskogee Public who have outdoor ceremonies will do just fine this year. To me, it sounds like a gamble with the unknown of Oklahoma spring weather.
1.      The Feast of the Ascension teaches us how the Risen Lord continues to transform and change humanity even as he himself enjoys fullness of life with the Father and Spirit. We too are made for that life and our personal (and social) conversion is how the kingdom stretches our reality into a new and more perfect world. Plus, how often do we get to hear about snake-handling? Talk about a circus. I have all our Masses this weekend: Saturday at 5pm and Sunday 8 and 10:30am in English and 121:30pm in Spanish.  Remember beginning May 27 our Summer schedule is in effect: Saturday unchanged; Sunday 9:30am English, 12noon Spanish—through Labor Day. 
2.      Congratulations to our many graduates: Muskogee High School, Bishop Kelley, Hilldale and Ft. Gibson; our St. Joseph School's is Tuesday.  Graduation is a graced time to be grateful for all those who helped us achieve our goals and points us forward to the journey still to follow. 2012 High School Graduates and their families will be honored with a breakfast Sunday morning at 9:15am in the Parish Hall. Again (and always), we are grateful to our Knights of Columbus #962 for serving as our extraordinary cooks. Someday, they may even get their own cooking show!
3.      Carolyn Zerwas, a former parishioner of St. Joseph, has died in Houston, Texas. Her husband of more than 60 years, Ralph, was buried from St. Joseph on April 21. Carolyn’s Rosary will be Tuesday at 7pm Foster-Petering here in Muskogee and her Funeral Mass Wednesday (5/23) at 12noon. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.
4.      Congratulations as well to the Weeden (Minerva and Christian's grandson Christopher) and Garcia families who celebrate baptisms this weekend. This continues an Easter-long trend of multiple baptisms each weekend.
5.      St. Joseph School concludes a stellar school year with graduation on Tuesday (5/22): Kindergarten at 11:30am and 8^th Grade at 6pm—both in the Parish Hall.  Enrollment has begun for 2012-13 and we would love for your child--and your friends’ children too--to join us. Contact Sandy for more information and a tour.
6.      School Mass will be Wednesday at 9:45am (5/23), followed by an awards assembly. Please note that the Wednesday morning Mass will resume with the start of classes in August 2012.
7.      Wednesday evening (5/23) the 7pm Mass in Spanish will be a “Misa de Sanacion” with Fr. Leonardo. 
8.      Our parish Staff is back at full strength with the return of Mary our secretary and Jimmy our Youth Minister/DRE.
9.      Jimmy and our Youth are completing all the details for a summer work mission in Memphis, Tennessee. We’ll partner with our friends from St. Benedict in Broken Arrow. 2 curiosities: our 10 youth and 2 adult chaperones (Ms. Patty and Stephanie Allison) are all young ladies and there are no plans to visit Graceland. Go figure. It would be like a generation of young ladies traveling to Liverpool and not walking across Abbey Road.
10.  St. Joseph Parishioner  and BKHS student (and recently confirmed Kirstie Wilburn) and her BK Girls Soccer 6A Champion teammates learned that they have been ranked #1 in the USA—by whoever compiles such rankings, yes, it is unofficial but it is still amazing.
Tonight, I’ll join a number of Tulsa priests and our Bishop, as well as Fr. O’Brien (President) and Fr. Kerry Wakulich (Chaplain) of Bishop Kelley for the Baccaluerate Mass. Congratulations to our Genevieve Humphrey and her family.  Big congratulations as well to all our St. Joseph parishioners who graduate tonight and tomorrow at all our area high schools. We are proud of each and every one of you.
May God bless you and all you love (and all you should)
 
Fr. Mike
St. Joseph Church and School 

St. Joseph Catholic Church
321 N. Virginia
Muskogee, OK 74403

We are located 1 block west of York Street and 1 Block North of Okmulgee Street
(Behind Walgreens)


Mass Times

Saturday, Vigil Mass	5:00 p.m.
Sunday Mass, (English)	8:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m.
Sunday Mass, (Vietnamese)	1st & 3rd Sundays of the month (Marian Chapel) 10:30 a.m.
Sunday Mass, (Spanish)	12:30 p.m.
Weekdays	8:15 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday 7:00 a.m. Wednesday- Communion Service 7:00 p.m. Wednesday- Spanish