St. Joseph and Sons: May 2015

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Saint Joseph and Sons, Stewards of the Carpenter Update from the Leadership Team

"We restore, maintain and enhance facilities to worship, learn and live our Christian faith."

We have had a busy Spring with 3 projects;

We have completed the plaster wall and painting restoration at St James Parish in Rockford.

The project took over 100 man hours to complete. The walls are now free of any cracks and voids.

Thanks to all who participated.

We also assisted St. James Parish Belvidere with installation of plants and shrubs for their new church landscaping project. The grounds look great and there were many St. James parishioners assisting.

The “Joe’s” provided over 50 man hours of assistance.

We are completing the Mary Garden at the Poor Clares in Rockford. Weather has hampered our completing date but we should have it finished by the end of May. The Sisters are thrilled that they will have a formal outdoor sanctuary to honor Mother Mary during the months of May and October.

Please help us to get more followers on FB. Ask your FB friends to follow us so we can continue to let people know of the work that we are doing within the Rockford Diocese.

Thank You Letter from St. Stan's

Poor Clares Project Update

The Poor Clares Mary Garden project has seen a lot of progress from the Joes as of late. The trellis is almost complete, cement is almost complete, and the Mary statue has been cleaned and is ready to be put back in place. Check out some of the new pictures from the project! There will be another update when everything is complete.

BEFORE CLEANING

AFTER CLEANING

The sisters asked for help on a special project. Replicating their spoon that they use for all of their meals. Each sister is given a spoon and uses it for life. They each have a symbol carved in the spoon that represents that it belongs to that particular sister. Not an easy task!

Friday, May 1, 2015

May "Thought of the Month"

You can not put straight in others what is warped in yourself.

St. Athanasius

Spiritual Corner

Relationship - Identity - Mission.

St. Joseph was hard worker who knew who he was and who he was called to be by God. He understood his relationship with God, which informed him of his identity, which in turn allowed him to see his mission. This is the order through which we all have to understand our lives: Relationship – Identity – Mission. The most important and fundamental key to who each of us is, is the fact that God has revealed Himself to us so that we might be in relationship with Himself. This relationship becomes a reality for each of us through our baptism, through which we become sons and daughters of God.

Very often we are faced with the temptation that the world offers us, which is to see things in the opposite order. The world looks at our Mission (all that we do, and whether or not we’re successful in our undertakings) and says that our identity is created by what we do. This then of course affects our relationships. What this leads to frequently is our doubting ourselves when things go wrong and when we can’t provide in the way that we would expect. Or to doing good simply for the sake of desiring to be notice and accepted. Had Joseph fallen into this trap, it certainly would have been difficult for him to have continued to be the humble man who quietly loved, served, and provided for his family.

All of the Joes are called to come and serve as Sons of God who serve humbly out of a desire to carry out their mission from God. We do not serve for the sake of building ourselves up, nor as a tool to create our identity. We all need to continue to delight in our relationship with God and to serve from a desire to spread the love of God so that many others can come to know their worth that comes from their own relationship with God.

Father Keith Romke

A Worker’s Prayer
St. Joseph, example for all those who work to support themselves and their families, obtain for me the grace to labor with thankfulness and joy. Grant that I may consider my daily endeavors as opportunities to use and develop the gifts of nature and grace I received from God. In the workplace may I mirror your virtues of integrity, moderation, patience, and inner peace, treating my co-workers with kindness and respect. May all I do and say lead others to the Lord and bring honor to God’s name.

Amen

Pages