In order to have my weekly bulletin letter into your hands by Saturday evening's Mass, it must be emailed to our bulletin production company in St. Louis by Wednesday morning. If that deadline is met, we can be assured that the bulletins will arrive at the Parish Office by Friday afternoon. That means that Tuesday evening usually finds me in the Parish Office preparing my remarks for you for the upcoming weekend!

This Tuesday evening finds me marveling at all the various activities at our parish. As I walked over from the priory tonight to write my bulletin letter, all kinds of folks were gathering here for one meeting or another. Before writing this letter, I had two appointments in the Parish Office with couples preparing for upcoming marriages. Brother David was in the church with the second of two Eucharistic Minister training courses for our parishioners. While that group was upstairs, Parent-Net, a gathering of Catholic school parents, was meeting downstairs in Kinzler Hall. At the same time these meetings were underway, Fr. Fergus was meeting with our Lay Carmelites in the Cook Room, while our Boy Scouts were meeting upstairs in the Herman Building. Five separate activities went forward all at the same time. It's good to know that our parish is alive and well and that our physical plant allows us to juggle a number of activities at the same time!

This weekend, as we gather for Eucharist, we are celebrating the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In today's Gospel, the holy man, Simeon, describes the Infant Jesus as "...a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." The Church has traditionally blessed candles on this day (once known as "Candlemas") in keeping with the image of Christ as the Light of the World. Furthermore, since the presentation of the Lord focuses on Jesus being brought to the temple to be consecrated to God, the Church also celebrates this feast as a special day to honor men and women religious who have consecrated their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

The February 3rd Feast of St. Blase, bishop and martyr, has long been a day where the faithful may come forward to have their throats blessed. It has been our tradition here at Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph to bless throats at the weekend Masses closest to February 3. This weekend, anyone wishing to have their throat blessed may come forward before or after the 4:00p.m. Mass, and after the 5:30p.m., 8:00a.m., and 10:30a.m. Masses.

Finally, we also honor the Boy Scouts of America at our 8:00a.m. Mass this Sunday. Immediately following Mass, the Boy Scouts will be offering a delicious Pancake Breakfast in Kinzler Hall from 9:00-11:00a.m. All parishioners are welcome to take part! I hope to see you there!