Dear Parishioners:

This coming Wednesday we celebrate the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955.

While this is a recent feast, the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a longer history. In a constantly necessary effort to keep Jesus from being removed from ordinary human life, the Church has from the beginning proudly emphasized that Jesus was a carpenter, obviously trained by Joseph in both the satisfactions and the drudgery of that vocation. Humanity is like God not only in thinking and loving, but also in creating. Whether we make a table or a cathedral, we are called to bear fruit with our hands and mind, for the building up of the Body of Christ.

In Brothers of Men, René Voillaume of the Little Brothers of Jesus speaks about ordinary work and holiness: “Now this holiness (of Jesus) became a reality in the most ordinary circumstances of life, those of word, of the family and the social life of a village, and this is an emphatic affirmation of the fact that the most obscure and humdrum human activities are entirely compatible with the perfection of the Son of God...in relation to this mystery, involves the conviction that the evangelical holiness proper to a child of God is possible in the ordinary circumstances of someone who is poor and obliged to work for his living.”

Let us especially give thanks for all those who labor for us, let us give thanks for the gifts that we have been given and let the example of Saint Joseph guide us in the works of our lives. On a final note, thank you to all of you who labor for us here at Annunziata and for the fruits of your labor which we all have been blessed to receive.

Lastly, I would like to personally thank Mr. Nicholas Samsel and Mr. Daniel Mauro for all the great contributions and care they have given our parish these past nine months. This is their last weekend here at Ste Genevive du Bois and the Church of the Annunziata as they return to their Diocese to be ordained Transitional Deacons this May. It has been a joy to have them with us and on behalf of our community may our prayers and wishes go with them. Blessings and Godspeed for both men!

Reminder: Our ACA campaign began last week please consider a gift to the needy of our Archdiocese. As I mentioned, I would love to see 100% participation in this campaign, it would say so much to our care for our community.

Easter Blessings!

Msgr. John Shamleffer