Living the Word of Christ Together Pastor: Deacons: Office Administrator: Rectory Phone: Office Phone: Fax: e-mail: website: Father Bruce Riebe Bill Fredrick, Robert Kirschner Michele Wiltshire 440-526-1818 440-526-0016 440-526-6464 stjoebyz@sbcglobal.net www.stjoebyz.com January 22: Infamous Anniversary Monday marks the 45th Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which established a woman s constitutional right to an abortion and made unconstitutional most state efforts to regulate abortion practices. The ruling rested on incredibly shaky legal reasoning, as the seven justices in the majority manufactured a mysterious right to privacy, discovered in the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment, to establish a woman s right to choose abortion. In addition, in the majority opinion, Justice Harry Blackmun found that the word person, as used in the 14th Amendment, does not include the unborn, plausibly the most flawed legal argument since the dehumanizing decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford. Perhaps the Court would not have been so determined to uphold Roe if it had more seriously considered the fundamental flaws in that original decision. One prominent abortionist involved in the case, Bernard Nathanson, later admitted that he and fellow abortion proponents in the medical field cooperated to falsify statistics on the number of illegal abortions and maternal deaths in the decades preceding Roe. When Nathanson later realized the horror of abortion and quit the practice, he explained publicly how he and other key individuals used the false information to convince the Court that legalizing abortion would be safer than allowing it to continue illegally. A significant yet little acknowledged fact about Roe is that Jane Roe (a name created to protect the identity of plaintiff Norma McCorvey in her suit against Texas abortion ban) became intensely pro-life later in life and now works full time as a pro-life activist. Though it wasn t until the mid 1990 s that McCorvey experienced a conversion on this issue, she has since said that her role in the landmark court case was the biggest mistake of her life. She also stated that she had been persuaded by her attorneys to make her case more convincing by lying and saying that she had been raped. What s more, Sandra Cano, the plaintiff in Roe, said in a 2006 interview that she was used in that case without her knowledge and only later learned that her personal information had been wielded to score a judicial victory for the abortion-rights movement. Finally, very few Americans are aware that Blackmun fabricated the so-called trimester framework in an attempt to justify early abortion as less consequential than abortion later in pregnancy. Although today we speak of trimesters as if they re settled medical facts, they were invented by Blackmun and not based on a medical understanding of pregnancy or fetal development. Even aside from these fundamental weaknesses, the details of how the case played out in court are often obscured by the pro-abortion rights movement. If more Americans were aware of these little-known facts, more might oppose Roe and give credence to arguments in favor of unborn life.
January 21, 2018 Glory to Jesus Christ! Liturgy Schedule Monday January 22 8:00 a.m. Poor Souls/Aborted Babies by Bogomir Kuhar Tuesday January 23 8:00 a.m. Macik Family by Betty Macik 7:00 p.m. Moleben Service for the Unborn Wednesday January 24 No Liturgy Thursday January 25 8:00 a.m. Dale Helsel by Mary Jo Keshock Friday January 26 8:00 a.m. Paul Trksak by Bob Karges Saturday January 27 4:00 p.m. Intention of the Parishioners Sunday January 28 10:30 a.m. George Martinek by Family Altar Servers Lectors Greeters January 27 4:00 p.m. S. Lupia & C. DeCapua G. Huntz D. & S. LaFleur January 28 10:30 a.m. B. Hotaling, G. Karaffa, S. Katrenich H. Oros & J. Klinkovsky B. Kirschner & M. Kirschner Live today as you will wish you had lived when you stand before God. I want to thank everyone living in cities included in this year s house blessing rotation for allowing me into your homes. I realize the schedule is imposed so I appreciate the accommodations that certainly were made. The altar set-ups and participation were superb. It wasn t the best of years in terms of weather, but I managed to keep to the schedule. (Thanks for doing your best with sidewalks and driveways.) One interesting tidbit happened on the first day of the route. Many years ago, a friend of Ann defreese gave her some water from the Jordan River. She pulled out the jar with it and said I could add some to the sprinkler. This year everyone truly received a Jordan Blessing! Next year I ll visit parishioners in cities west of I-77. (Last year Fr. Jan and I journeyed to the outlying areas.) Vigil Candle Cost Increase Just a reminder, that due to increasing costs for candles, the donation to light a seven-day vigil candle is now $3.00. (The first increase in over 25 years.) Bishop Milan will be meeting with all the priests of the Diocese for prayer and business on Wednesday and Thursday this week at the Cathedral in Parma. Financial Reports Next weekend the 2017 Financial Report should be available in the vestibule. It will include your individual donations as well as a statistical re-cap. Make sure to pick yours up. Orleans Avenue Liturgy DVD At last weekend s Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, an edited version of the final Divine Liturgy from the Church on Orleans Avenue (Easter of 1980) was shown. It included interviews with parishioners as they left the building for the last time. A number of folks in attendance wanted to borrow the video and quite a few others, when they heard of it, also had the desire to see it. Additional copies are going to be made. If you d like one, contact Father. A donation to the St. Joseph Outreach is suggested.
Pasta Dinner The annual Pasta Dinner sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary is set for February 11. Serving will be from 11:30-1:30. The menu includes pasta & meat balls, tossed salad, bread & butter, ice cream, coffee/tea/iced tea. Tickets are $10 for ages eleven and over. ($4 for ages 4-10.) Carry-out, gluten free and vegan options will be available. Make plans to enjoy your Sunday lunch at St. Joe s while supporting the good works of the Auxiliary. See any member for tickets. The Week Ahead The Men s Fellowship and Book Group will meet on Monday, 7:00, in the Education Center. The Building Commission will meet on Thursday at 6:00. Sandwich making will take place on Saturday, 9:30, in the Education Center. Your Weekly Offering January 14, 2018 Sunday: Student Envelopes: Cash: Candles: Holy Days: Horizons: Initial Envelope Donation: Total: $2,488.00 21.00 32.45 318.00 50.00 217.00 55.00 $3,181.45 Have you remembered St. Joseph Church in your Will and/or Trust? Stewardship Appeal Fifty eight donors have contributed a total of $17,485.00! Pro-Life Service at St. Joe s A Pro-Life Moleben Prayer Service will be celebrated by Deacon Bill on January 23 starting with a rosary at 7:00 p.m. ByzanTEEN Gathering Since Father Jan s transfer In November our ByzanTEEN Youth Program has been at a standstill. We are ready to roll once again! We would like all teens to gather after liturgy in the hall on January 28 for a brief information gathering session. Deacon Robert, Maia Matyas and Mark Hritz will assume the leadership roles. This is open to all teens (13-18). Doors open at 5:30 for Saturday s Night at the Races. The buffet will be available from 6-8. Post-time is 7:00.
PARISH INFORMATION Roe V. Wade Movie in the Making Actor and producer Nick Loeb is joining with pro-life leaders in the production of Roe v. Wade, described as the first movie ever about the true story of the controversial Supreme Court case that created a right to abortion though no such right ever existed in the Constitution Pro-life leader Dr. Alveda King, who heads Civil Rights for the Unborn, a division of Priests for Life, is serving as an executive producer of the movie. Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight is attached to play a Supreme Court Justice in the film, says the fundraising site. No one s ever done this movie before, Loeb told Breitbart News in an interview. Planned Parenthood is a major theme throughout our film. The movie opens up with the founder of Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger giving a speech at a KKK rally, talking about how we should reduce the black population in America. Loeb explained that Planned Parenthood and abortion advocacy organization NARAL were behind the effort to find a young girl Norma McCorvey, who eventually became Roe about whom they could manufacture a case to bring before the Supreme Court. McCorvey ultimately became a pro-life advocate. The movie s Indiegogo crowdfunding site states: Hollywood only wants you to hear their version of the story in fact, there are three movies in development that take a pro-abortion stance. But, you shouldn t be surprised. Hollywood has always had an agenda to influence Americans to accept abortion, even if they have to re-write history to do it. The producers note that ten percent of the net proceeds of the film will be donated to prolife organizations. The crowdfunding site, however, has been blocked by Facebook, as has been the sharing of the site by followers. ACTIVITY CENTER & HALL RESERVATIONS: 440-526-0016 PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: 440-526-6464 (24 hours) CONFESSIONS: One half hour before liturgies for fifteen minutes and by request MEN S CLUB: 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. LADIES AUXILIARY: 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. A-OK CLUB: 2nd Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. COFFEE SOCIAL: Every Sunday after liturgy EASTERN CATHOLIC FORMATION (ECF) CLASSES: Sundays 9:00 a.m. 10:20 a.m. BULLETIN INFORMATION DEADLINE: Tuesday noon