It's February, and our Carmelite community is once again (as always?) on the move! This past week, Brother David attended a meeting of our Carmelite Parish Commission in Teaneck, NJ. This is one of the many important commissions that our provincial Carmelite administration has established. The Parish Commission helps to link together Carmelite priests and brothers ministering in our various parishes in New Jersey, Florida, Ontario, Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, Arizona, and California. Through the sharing of ideas, we work at making our parishes distinctly "Carmelite" in character. I'm sure Brother David brings a wealth of experience to this commission. Hopefully, he has returned home with some new creative ideas for us, as well.

Fr. Fergus left us this past Tuesday for a month's vacation with his brother, Fr. Bernard Lickteig, O.Carm., in Texas and Arizona. Fr. Fergus flew to Houston this past week and will be driving on to Phoenix with his brother and nephew, where he hopes to vacation for about three weeks with friends and Carmelites in Arizona. We wish Fr. Fergus an enjoyable stay in the sunny south, and look forward to his return in early March!

I will also be away from the parish February 14-18 for a meeting of our Carmelite Hispanic Commission in Washington, D.C. (Fr. Eric Albertson will be presiding at our Masses in the parish next weekend while I am out of town.) I have been appointed the liaison from our Carmelite Provincial Council to the Hispanic Commission. With the growing number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the American Church, the Carmelites have worked hard at inviting Hispanic vocations into our community to help us in our Spanish- speaking ministries in Peru, Mexico, and throughout the United States.

This weekend, after the 4:00p.m. and 5:30p.m. Masses, we will be having our barbeque beef take-out sack suppers available for you from Kinzler Hall. These are always a hit on the night before the St. Joseph Parish Bazaar, and just as good a deal in the middle of the winter! All proceeds go to the parish!

The weekend of February 22-23, we will be celebrating the Sacrament of the Sick at all our weekend Masses at St. Joseph and Immaculate Conception. This is an opportunity for the sick of any age (who have made their First Communion), as well as those who are elderly, chronically ill, or facing surgery in the near future, to be anointed. The anointing will take place in the context of our regular weekend Masses. This allows our entire parish community to acknowledge and pray for our brothers and sisters who are carrying the cross of ill health. The sick are a great Christian witness to our community and we need to be a witness of support for them. Let us continue to pray for healing for all our sick parishioners mentioned in our weekly parish bulletin!