Fr. Kevin Schmittgens, Pastor
June 8-9, 2013
Saturday:
5:00 p.m.
Sunday:
8:00 & 10:00 a.m.
(636) 583-2806
Web: www.stjosephneier.com
Email: kevin.schmittgens@borgia.com
Chris: cbstjoe@yhti.net
Rev. Kev’s Cell Phone (314) 960-4745
Rev. Kev’s Thoughts: “Wise and Otherwise”
“If I could have been, what I could have been I could have been something.” As I have
been mentioning over the past few weeks, I will be in a musical next week in Washington.
(At the new stage at the Washington Fairgrounds next to Lion’s Lake.) The show is called
Working, and it based on a book by Studs Terkel in which he interviewed various people
about their lines of work. Many of the stories are funny. Some of them are sad. More than
a few are rather poignant. I gave a homily a few weeks back about the housewife and her
take on how the world sees her work. I actually play two characters. One is a middle aged
press agent, who seems real bitter about the world, bitter about his job. It is a sad character
to play. My other character (as I have joked about) is Joe, a retiree. Everyone tells me that
Joe’s song is sad, but I really do not see it that way. I have inhabited Joe for a while and I
find him to be very optimistic, very upbeat, a bit wistful, yet stays positive. He is someone I
would like to know and (dare I say it) have a beer with. I have met characters like Joe a lot
over the course of my career and I usually get along pretty well with them. Right before
intermission, there is a song called If I Could Have Been. It might quite possibly be the
saddest song in the show. It is about missed opportunities, and the feelings of regret that
most of us feel, (at least in part) as we grow older. The dreams and aspirations that we had
are often waylaid by life. Yet my character counterbalances that regret. Life, according to
Joe, is to be lived, whether you are visiting your wife’s grave, or playing poker, or taking a
walk down memory lane, or singing the old songs that made you happy in your life. As Joe
says: “Daydreaming don’t do you no good.” I agree. I think that is why one needs a good
spiritual grounding, for without it we forget what we are truly about and that, in God, all of
our dreams and aspirations, no matter how unfulfilled, find meaning and hope.
The show runs Thursday, June 13th, Friday, June 14th, and Saturday June 15th at 7 pm.
Tickets are $10 for adults and you can see me after Mass if you would like to purchase
some. I think you will enjoy it, if not just for watching me try to dance…
Quick Inspiration: “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his
punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” -Oscar Wilde
Excerpts from Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson
Spend a Moment Every Day, Thinking of Someone to Love Earlier in this book, the author
introduced the idea of spending a moment each day thinking of someone to thank. Another
excellent source of gratitude and inner peace is to spend a moment, every day, thinking of
someone to love. Remember the old saying: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. The love
equivalent might read: thinking of someone to love each day keeps your resentment away.
Once you make the conscious decision to spend a moment each morning thinking of
someone to love, your attention will be redirected toward the positive, not only toward that
one person, but in general throughout the day. This does not mean that one will not get
irritated anymore, but it will happen much less frequently.
Holy Humor:
Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it alive and moving!
A Bit of Useless Information:
When the Tasaday tribe were discovered in the Philippine Islands they were found to have
no known enemies, no weapons of war, no words in their language for hate, war or dislike.
They neither hunt nor cultivate.
.
100 Simple Secrets of Happy
# 85 It Will Be a Family of the World It may be comforting to think of your family’s
world as including only what happens in your home, but that would be highly unrealistic.
Every family lives with and responds to the kinds of images they are exposed to on
television and in movies, the music they listen to, and what they read. Who we are and what
we are supposed to do are questions we wrestle with while we see, hear, and think about
others. Don’t compete with the media, but help your family use it wisely. Because there will
probably never be a music video about the joys of cleaning up your room or eating peas, you
will need to balance your family’s media consumption with positive messages that conform
to your views. Researchers find that nearly all children have been influenced by various
kinds of media exposure with regard to body images, social comparisons, and acceptable
behaviors.
Neighboring Activities
Saturday, June 8th Movie Night at IC Pavilion Expelled! Comedian Ben Stein’s
thought-provoking expose’ of assault on faith and the free expression of ideas
Movie starts at 8:45 pm, ending about 10:30 pm
Bring chairs and refreshments
Free! And all are welcome.
Sunday, June 16th
Father’s Day Breakfast at Union K of C, serving 8 – 11:30 am
THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE – ACCORDING TO GOD (Q & A to follow)
In response to the USCCB’s Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage and Religious Liberty, Dr. Ed
Hogan, Director of Paul VI Institute and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology,
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary will be presenting a talk Monday, June 17, 7-8:30 p.m. at St.
Francis Borgia High School, 1000 Borgia Dr., Washington, 63090. All are invited to this free
event. For more information, contact the Office of Laity & Family Life at 314-792-7180.
PRO-LIFE NEWS:
More than 55 million babies have been killed due to abortion. That is almost 18% of our entire
population and equal to the entire population of the middle of our country and almost the entire
population of New York and California. ECAMRL will be going to Planned Parenthood on Thursday,
June 13, to pray for the eradication of abortion in our nation and for the closing of the abortion mill in
St. Louis. We will leave from the 14th street parking lot (next to the Bank of Washington) at 8:45 a.m.
and pray from 10-noon and return about 1:15 p.m. You do not have to be a member of ECAMRL to
come and pray. Call Bill Gegg at 283-5030 if you would like to go; free transportation.
St. Joseph News & Events
We are in the process of updating our parish records. If you had…. A change in
address; no longer have a landline; new cell numbers, please email the office at
cbstjoe@yhti.net with the changes. Thank you for your assistance. Chris
The Dinner Auction Committee has begun planning for the 2013 event. All
parishioners who are donating this year are asked to give a brief
description of the item or items to be donated so that preliminary
descriptions can be forwarded to the auctioneer to be published on his
website and we can begin formulation of this year's catalog. Thanks to
all who have donated in the past and who continue to support our efforts.
FANCY STAND ITEMS NEEDED FOR THIS YEARS HOMECOMING.
PLEASE CALL WITH ANY QUESTIONS. ERICA 636.584.4297
Ladies Sodality looking for gently used Books and/or Costume Jewelry for re-sale at this year’s
Homecoming. Will have drop off box in back of church. Please call with any questions. Erica
636.584.4297