Special Notice!

Dear Parishioners, there will No Mass at Mt. D'or on Thursday evening. We apologize for any inconvenience caused!

Parish Pilgrimage 2013!

Parish Notices for the 5th Sunday of Easter

1. Confirmation & First Communion classes will resume next Saturday (May 4th) in the Parish Hall.
2. Calling All Women of our Parish! The Women's Ministry, Mt. D'or encourages you to come out to pray and lament for your children and even your grand children as they intercede before the Blessed Sacrament for an increase in Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life; on Sunday April 28th at 4PM in St. Jude's Chapel, Mt. D'or. All Women are Invited!!!
3. Parish Pilgrimage to Laventille! Come, Pray with us at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on Sunday May 12th. We will leave from the Parish Car Park at 1PM. We will be back around 5PM. Please provide your contact information in the Pilgrimage Book or speak to any member of the St. Vincent de Paul Group. The Cost is $25.00.

Blessings to ALL our Parishioners this week!

Special Notice!

On Friday April 26th, there will be NO Evening Mass or Eucharistic Adoration since St. Joseph Convent will be having their Graduation Mass. We apologize for any inconvenience caused! Blessings.

Upcoming Parish Activities!

As the Catholic Church progresses with its liturgical year and we draw nearer to the feast of Pentecost, we, the Parish, will be hosting various activities to help us become stronger warriors of Christ in this Year of Faith! So below is a list of some on the upcoming activities to look out for:

• Parish Pilgrimage to the Laventille Devotions on Mother's Day
• Day of Prayer for the Unity of Christians (with other Christian Denominations).
• Corpus Christi Procession (on the eve of the solemnity)
• Life in the Spirit Seminar (conducted by the Charismatic Prayer Group)

More details in the coming weeks!

CCR National Rally

 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, PLEASE CONTACT THE CHARISMATIC PRAYER GROUP MEMBERS (JENNIFER EDMUND) FOR TICKETS!

Mother Earth Day 2013

CCSJ St. Joseph/ Mt. D’Or Parish Group Recycle Bin Project: Phase 2

International Mother Earth Day (April 22, 2013

to World Environment Day (June 5, 2013)

CALL TO ACTION!!!

The Catholic Commission for Social Justice St. Joseph/Mt. D'Or Parish Group continues to promote recycling in the parish community:

Our goal is to

·       Encourage all parishioners to SORT, COLLECT and RECYCLE plastic bottles, tin cans, glass bottles and paper...

·         Place Recycle bins in all our parish church yards and schools and see a massive effort on the part of all parishioners and parish school users to practice recycling.

·         If we all pitch in we can reduce harmful waste that hurt the environment, kills wildlife, and pollutes our water and food supply...

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

1. Change your habits as a family and community

2. SORT  your trash

3. COLLECT recyclables

4. USE RECYCLE BINS

5. Volunteer and encourage others

6. Make a donation: a recycle bin or funds to help us finance this campaign.....

A Cleaner Environment starts with me and you.....

Women's Ministry, Mt.D'or

Calling All Women of the Parish! On Sunday April 28th at 4PM in St. Jude's Chapel, Mt.D'or, the Women's Ministry encourage you to come out to pray & lament for your children and even your grand children as they intercede before the Blessed Sacrament for an increase in Vocations to the Priesthood & Religious Life in St. Jude and St. Joseph. All Women are Invited!!!

Good Shepherd Sunday

This weekend the church celebrates Good Shepherd Sunday, sometimes called Vocations Sunday and it is on this day that prayers are said for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Good Shepherd Sunday always falls on the 4th Sunday of Easter and the Gospel for this weekend is taken from John chapter 10 where Jesus refers to himself as 'The Good Shepherd'. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." - John 10:11. Let us continue to pray for our priests, religious sisters, and those who serve in the religious and consecrated life that Jesus Christ himself will lead them to make the right judgements always and they may be obedient to always do his will. May our Mother Mary instill in the hearts of faithful men and women that courage to say Yes as she said Yes onto the Lord!

Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life

Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the World!

We humbly beg of you to manifest in your Church the Spirit

Whom thou didst so abundantly bestow upon they Apostles.

Call, we pray Thee, very many to They priesthood and to the religious life.

And may zeal for they Glory and the Salvation of Souls inflame those

Whom Thou hast chosen;

May they be saints in thy likeness,

And may thy Spirit strengthen them.

O Jesus,  give us priests and religious according to Thine own Heart!

 O Mary, Mother of Jesus! Obtain for fervent souls the grace to hear

And the courage to follow thy Divine Son in the path of religious perfection. 

Queen of Apostles, pray for us.

Queen of Virgins, pray for us.

Parish Notices for the 4th Sunday of Easter

1. Today, Good Shepherd Sunday is designated for World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life. To mark this event our parish will be having an Hour of Eucharistic Adoration at 5PM followed by Vespers at 6PM on Sunay April 21st. Also, to mark this occasion, the Holy Rosary will be said before our Saturday Vigil Masses for Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious and Consecrated Life. All are Invited!!!
2. Confirmation classes will resume on Saturday May 4th in the Parish Hall.
3. Saturday May 4th is the next day for Infant Baptism. Registration will take place on Monday afternoons in the Parish Office. Parents are asked to bring the child's birth paper when registering. 
4. Listening to the heart. In our parish we opened a counseling center for those who need help from a professional psychologist. Two therapist volunteered their time and strength to those in need. But the need is much greater than we expected, so we need more people who would like to offer their time to help us in this beautiful ministry. If you have the time and would like to, please contact the parish priest.
5. In order to develop our prayer life we would like to organize in the coming month two new events. An evening of prayer for the unity of Christians on May 17th together with other Christian groups and the Corpus Christi Procession on the eve of the Solemnity. If you have any comments, suggestions and, above all, you would like to offer your help, please contact Fr. Karol or Deacon Jeffrey.
6. Coordinators of all parish ministries are asked to be present on May 6th to plan the work and development of their groups for the next year.
7. Please remember that the exercise for regularizing the leases for our cemeteries will end on May 17th (less than 1 month from now). The leases that are not renewed before this date will be terminated. If your lease (on someone else you may know) is still not yet renewed, please contact the parish office as soon as possible!

Hermandad

In 1592 the Town and Parish of San Jose de Oruna was established. With the parish, the Association of the Blessed Sacrament known as Hermandad was established as well. The basic mission of this Brotherhood was to live the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and develop it within the Parish. Members of the Hermandad were also advising the Parish Priest, helping with the administration of the Parish, and took part in organizing and controlling the missions amids Amerindians. That is what we know today.

Many good and bad things happened since then. Members of the Hermandad were carrying the canopy during procession, building the local comunity but most probably were also involved in some tragic events concerning the Native Population of Trinidad. The time has now come to write the history of the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Joseph. But this little article is not about the history but about the future of the Hermandad.

We have no intention of escaping, forgetting what had happened in St. Joseph. We should not forget those good things, as well as those tragic, because a lot of good was done by the members of St. Joseph Parish (very often our ancestors), and a lot of bad things as well. We would like to heal the past. Our own past as well. We too in our past years have done a lot of good and committed many, sometimes serious sins – as individuals and as a community.

So, we would like to bring the Hermandad, the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament bring back to life. Yes, this article is to share and spread the idea of refounding the Hermandad in St. Joseph.  How we would like to release the mission and duties of the Association?

The goal of the proposesed Brotherhood: Through the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, we would like to build unity within our Society. Being in Communion with Jesus we would like to build community between people.

We know that we have done a lot of sinful things in the past. We were moved by our greed and other desires. Some of us destroyed our families or the life of others, so we would like to pray through the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, that Jesus may transform our hearts into the likeness of his own – that we may serve unity, reconciliation, building bridges between people, and bringing forgiveness. In this way we would like heal tha past (repair things destroyed by our ancestors) and building a better future … building communion.

The duties of the Brotherhood:

• Each brother shall pray for 30 minutes in the front of the Blessed Sacrament weekly.

• Brethren should prepare the Eucharistic Processions in the Parish.

• Brethren should assist the Parish Priest in maintenance of the material goods of the Parish.

• Brethren should hold regular meetings once a month, to be together, and develop ways of building community within parish and society.

What do you think about Hermandad? Would you like that Hermandad would be brought back to life? Do you have any suggestions how Hermandad should operate? Would you like to enter this Brotherhood?

World Day of Prayer for Vocations!

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS -

This weekend, Good Shepherd Sunday, has been designated as World Day of Prayer for Vocations. To mark this event our parish will be having an Hour of Eucharistic Adoration and Vespers on Sunday 21st April beginning at 5PM. The celebrant and preacher will be Fr. Dwight Black OP. Several religious and seminarians in priestly formation will be present for this liturgy.
Also to mark this occasion the Holy Rosary will be said before our Saturday Vigil Masses for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious & Consecrated Life.
ALL ARE INVITED!

Condolences

The Parish of St. Joseph/ Mt. D'or extends sincere condolences to the family and friends of Rose Ramkissoon a.k.a. Miss Rose and Rosie.  Rose was the housekeeper to former priests like Fr Donie Mac Mohan and successive priests.  A religious and devoted person whose hard work did not limit her to her day to day duties, but she also gave of herself at all the functions held in the parish.  She was an oblate at Mount St Benedict and even there she was active with the preparations for the various functions and fund raising events.  May she find eternal rest in Heaven with Jesus.

UPDATE: Funeral for the late Rose Ramkissoon will take place on Thursday Morning (18th April) at 11am in St. Joseph R.C. Church. 

Parish Notices for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

1. On Saturday 20th of April there will be a meeting for all parents of the confirmation candidates at 10AM in the Church. Confirmation classes will resume on Saturday the 4th of May.
2. Saturday the 4th of May is the next day for Infant Baptisms. Registration takes place on Monday afternoons in the Parish office at 5PM. Parents are asked to bring the child's birth paper when registering.
3. A Reminder that the Parish Pastoral Council meeting will be held tomorrow- Monday the 15th April at 6pm. Members of the parish community are encouraged to participate by letting members of the council know of your concerns. This can also be done via Private Messages on the Facebook Page or via the parish email.
4. On Sunday 14th of April at 12 Noon, Trinity TV Cable Channel 10 will be airing an edited verion of the St. Joseph Feast Day Mass.

In Retrospection....

On Monday night at the Suburban Vicariate Confirmation, Archbishop Joseph Harris challenged the Confirmation Candidates and others present to come to church 'not to receive but to give because in giving, you will receive'. He stated that each person has a 'hidden talent' and he urged them to use that talent to build up the church whether it is through art (creating banners for the church), song (joining the choir) or even through academic expertise (managing the parish's website). All these are numerous ways of giving back to the church and becoming a fond member of the household.

It is unfortunate that many people, both adults and young adults believe that after they receive the Sacrament of Confirmation it is their departure ticket from church. If you have that mindset, please change. After receiving all the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, First Communion & Confirmation) we are now considered to be living a 'Life in the Spirit'; Which means, on that day when the Bishop says 'Receive the Holy Spirit', we are no longer the same; that same Holy Spirit must become the Core factor of our lives. The Holy Spirit now becomes a 'best friend'.

So as you will realize, there is actually a life after Confirmation, that means you now have added responsibilities. So when people 'exit' the church after they take off that nice white shirt and black pants or that nice white dress, they are depriving themselves from doing God's work. Our main responsibility is to be witnesses of God's truth! God tells us in his word, "I have appointed you sentry to the nations" - Ezek 3:16. What is a sentry? A sentry is a guard, watchman, a solider and God is telling us, not asking us, to be that guard, but yet many retire from that job before even making an attempt.

As mentioned earlier, it is in giving that we receive and when we give God our all, we receive so much more because God's blessings does not come in 5-fold or 10-fold, it comes in 100-fold. "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" - 2 Cor. 9:8. So why do we treat God so badly? Why do we allow His kingdom to fall apart bit by bit when there is something we can do about it? Let us not just say that we are Catholics but let us act like we are Catholics! When we make that promise to God, sure we will experience some hardships but He promises that "My yoke is easy and my burden light" - Matt. 11:30.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us take up that mantle that God has given us and let him reign in our lives by making the gosepl become a practice not just a story! To God be the Glory!