St.Joseph's Catholic Church

I’d like to share a story with you which I read about Joseph the tailor. He was a very good tailor and always kept busy. Because of this he did not have the time to work on his own clothes. He wore an overcoat to work each day. His wife hated that coat.

One day, while working, he looked down and saw that the edge of his coat had become frayed. There were holes at the bottom. He said to his wife, “Look, my coat is ruined. She thought that this was the opportunity to get him to throw it away. But, he refused, saying, “After all, I am a tailor” And he took it off and he cut and he snipped, he stitched and he sewed, and he made himself a little jacket.

As time went on, there was a rip in the jacket. He said to his wife, “Look, my favorite jacket is ruined.” Get rid of it, she said. But, again he refused because he was a tailor. And, with some work, he was able to make a fine vest for himself.

One day he ripped his vest and saw that it was ruined. Again, his wife wanted him to throw it away, but, being a good tailor, he cut it up and made a fine scarf for himself.

But as time went on, the scarf became frayed. Please throw it away his wife told him but instead he stitched and sewed and made a nice tie for himself. After awhile, the tie became soiled and ruined. This time he used what he could and made a handkerchief.

When the handkerchief was beyond use, instead of throwing it away, as his wife advised, he made a button out of it and used it on his suspenders. And then one day he lost it. His wife was a happy woman on that day. At last, she told him that he could not make something out of nothing.

But the tailor said that he wasn’t only a good tailor but a good storyteller as well. He took a pencil and wrote down this story which proves that you can make something out of nothing.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus took three ordinary fishermen, Peter, James and John and made something out of them. They could have remained fishermen and made a decent living from their work. But, Jesus made them into fishers of men and women, people they would bring the wonderful news about Jesus, forgiveness of their sins, and the hope of real salvation and eternal life.

And God can take us, with all of our fears, doubts and inadequacies, and make of us fishers of men and women. The Church not only exists for our benefit, but, it also exist to reach out to those who have yet to embrace the message of Jesus and the love and hope that it can bring to them. The way we live as a Christian Community is an important witness to the truth of Jesus and the Gospel message of forgiveness, love and peace. As Jesus said to them, he says to us: “Don’t be afraid.” Don’t be afraid to let the joy, love and peace which Jesus brings to our lives, shine forth in your lives.

NOTICES

Lourdes Collection: As has been customary in recent years there will be collection next Sunday in support of the Oblate Fathers annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. Fr. Peter Clucas, who will be speaking at all the Masses organises the young adult group from Britain and Ireland, helping to care for the sick and elderly during the pilgrimage. Fr. Peter’s website for the work of the young people is www.oblateyouthservice.com and he can be contacted at peter@oblateyouthservice.com .

Meeting of Lectors: Regular meetings for the lectors of the parish will begin on Feb. 15 th at 8 P.M. The meeting will provide the opportunity for prayer, to share your insights about the Scriptures and to continue to develop the skills necessary to fulfil this important ministry in the Church. All lectors are encouraged to attend.

Meeting of Eucharistic Ministers : Feb. 12 th, there will be a meeting for all Special Ministers of the Eucharist. It will begin at 8:00 P.M and will include prayer, and opportunity to discuss the role of the Eucharistic Minister, with input on the Liturgy, focusing on Ash Wednesday, please make plans to attend this important meeting.

Parish Council Meeting: Monday 5 Feb at 8pm in the hall.

Youth Assembly: St. Patrick’s Province of the Passionist Congregation is organising a Youth Assembly on the week-end of 6 th – 8 th July. It is open to all young people, between the ages of 18 and 35 who attend our churches in Ireland, Scotland and Paris. It will be taking place just outside Dublin. While it will be partially concerned with preparations for World Youth Day in Sydney next year, it is open to people who may not necessarily be intending to go to Sydney. For further information please contact Fr. Pat, or leave your contact details in the Parish office.

Parish Retreat: A number of people have made enquiries about the possibility of organising a parish retreat. This is clearly something that we would be very happy to facilitate. In order to estimate what amount of support there would be for such an idea, we are proposing Saturday, March 24 th, as a possible date. It would presumably be a simple affair – maybe 10 o’clock ‘til 4 – people bring own lunch, church supply beverage – etc. If you would be interested in participating in such a retreat please let one of the priests know as soon as possible.

Hall Monitors needed during the 9.30-10.30 and 11-12.00 CCD classes. We have a shortage of volunteers for this very important job. No experience necessary. All you need to do is be present in the CCD corridor (chair provided). Please contact John Brook at 01-30-53-04-33 or john.brook@wanadoo.fr

Gospel Group (3 - 4 yr olds) during the 11am mass. This is not simply a child-minding service, but is a way of introducing children to the faith. It is open to any 3 or 4-year-old children and is available for free. A new program, suited to their age has recently been introduced..

Volunteers Needed: As usual, quite a few people left our Parish over the Christmas/New Year period to return to their native lands or take up assignments elsewhere. And, as usual, we find ourselves short of participants in various ministries. At the moment our greatest needs seem to be for Eucharistic Ministers and Altar Servers. Altar Servers should be between the ages of approximately 8 and sixteen, male or female. Eucharistic Ministers, male or female should be between the ages of 16 and mind-your-own-business. If you would like to serve your parish in either of these capacities, then please contact one of the priests for further information.

RCIA, Bible Study, Marriage Course: Have their usual meetings this week.

Mission Lunch Soup Kitchen: Volunteers Needed . Volunteers please note the change. Due to the February, school holiday, St.Joseph's will not be running the mission lunch on the 26th. We will, however, run the 1st Friday in March, which is March 2nd. New volunteers are needed, please contact Loraine for further information. 01 34 80 11 10, or lorainesd@wanadoo.fr Thanks to the extra volunteers who turned up for the January Lunch.

New Prayer Group: February 10th, from 4:30-6pm, a new prayer group is starting and will meet on a monthly basis on the 2nd Saturday of each month. We will meet in one of the meeting rooms downstairs, next to the church. It’s open to English speaking men and women, who are willing to listen and share their ideas about the teachings of Jesus. There will be a 3-part format: 1. Some sharing; 2. discussion of Sunday's gospel reading; 3. a topic being presented by one of the group members. If you have any questions, please contact Janet Sitzmann at 06.13.13.48.56 or you can email me at jsitzmann@hotmail.com . I look forward to seeing you there. No registration is required.

	The English-Speaking Catholic Church of Paris
			Ministered by The Passionists since 1863
	St. Joseph's Catholic Church
	50 Avenue Hoche Paris 75008 France Tel : 33 (0)1 42 27 28 56 Official web-site: www.stjoeparis.org Email : info@stjoeparis.org