O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God Who made us, for He is the Lord our God.” Ps. 95, 6-7

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time         Year B           5^th February 2012

St Joseph’s Parish Bulletin

39 Melbourne Street, PO Box 208, Queenstown.

            www.stjosephsqueenstown.co.nz

Parish Priest                             Fr. Tony Harrison                      ph.442 8414

Parish Council                           Kevin Burdon                            ph.409 8689

St Joseph’s School                     Ms Trisch Inder                                    ph.442 8224

In the Gospel reading, when Jesus comes to the house of Simon Peter, he finds that Peter’s mother-in-law is very sick. And so he heals her. So far so good. But then look what happens. The whole town hears of her healing and rushes all their sick to Peter’s house. The house is surrounded, and so is Jesus. Now, all of a sudden, Jesus seems to have become a one-man hospital.
He is so besieged that he can’t even pray in the house. He has to head out secretly into the surrounding countryside in the dark of morning. As soon as his absence is detected, his disciples go looking for him. They aren’t happy about his having taken this time to himself to pray. “Hey,” they say when they find him, “Everybody is looking for you!” They seem to think that his urgent-care clinic should be open at all hours. But how absurd to suppose that prayer should take second-place to work! And how absurd to suppose that the mission of Jesus is to be a Doctor Without Borders!
And so maybe it isn’t hard to figure out what Jesus was praying about in the early morning in the countryside Each medical miracle Jesus does is a good thing. But good things can actually get in the way of serving God well. To serve God well, a person has to do not just any good thing others want him to do. He has to do those good things he was called to do. It may take prayer to figure out which good things to turn down and how best to turn them down. Jesus’ disciples feel that Jesus needs to hurry back to Peter’s village to keep practicing medicine. What Jesus tells them, after his prayer, is that he is leaving Peter’s village to continue his ministry—not of medicine but of preaching—in other towns. Preaching is the      purpose for which he came.
What is needed to serve God well, then, is not endless good things, but prayer first and then fidelity to those good things that fulfill the purpose to which God calls. Eleonore Stump, Professor of Philosophy, Saint Louis University

Preparation for the Sacraments

The Sacraments of Initiation (Confirmation and First Communion) will be celebrated in the parish on 2 September. Bishop Campbell will be present on this day.

Preparations will commence this term with a meeting of Parents on 21 February at 7.30 pm in the Library at St Joseph’s.

All parents wishing to have their children involved in the preparation for these sacraments are required to be present at this meeting.

First Reconciliation will be celebrated on Thursday, 29 March, at 5.30 pm. This will be an occasion for all parishioners to celebrate this sacrament in preparation for Easter.

Fr Tony.

As the New Zealand population ages, so it does in the church.  Many Christians are involved in outreach to older people in their community including in aged residential care. This course helps us to better understand our needs as we age and gives us some ideas of how those needs may be met. Selwyn Care is running Module 1 of the Certificate course in Dunedin on two Friday evenings and Saturdays in March  2^nd/3^rd and 23^rd/24^th). 

If you are interested please contact Jane at Presbytery for registration form or more information.

ST.MARY’S KAIKORAI, DUNEDIN Centenary of Church and School - Labour Weekend – 19^th – 21^st October 2012.

Please register at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Ph 03 4877853, or write to The Secretary, St Mary’s Reunion Committee, 36 Middleton Rd., Dunedin 9012

MISSIONZ – Represents the Popes Mission Societies as Fr Shannahan SM explained last Sunday. He thanks those who made a commitment to pray for and give financial support to ‘Missionz.’ A newsletter and ‘Missionz’ information will be posted out this week

Walk  By Faith – Hundreds of men and women from every walk of life, every occupation and various religious backgrounds have completed and enjoyed this course. Enrol Now! See notice board at back of Church for more details.

 Holy Souls: Please pray for those who have died recently including Simon Green and those whose anniversaries occur around now including Ray van den Boom and Les Inder. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.

First Reading: Job 7.1-4, 6-7

Great literature is the product of its times. The Book of Job reflects serious concern, after the exile, with the problem of suffering, how to reconcile the misfortunes of the righteous with the justice and love of God. The view, often found in the psalms, that suffering is the result of sin no longer satisfied seeking minds. So in a story mostly in poetic form, Job suffers while his friends try to interpret his suffering. In the reading Job’s miseries are just beginning. The book represents the pinnacle of the Wisdom literature.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 9.16-19, 22-23

From the beginning of this chapter, Paul has been defending his apostolic position almost in answer to some who may have doubted it. As God’s slave, a status often declared, he is under compulsion to preach the Gospel without personal reward. So he claims his reward from men, to be allowed to serve them for nothing. His reward lies in the blessings of the Gospel.

Gospel: Mark 1.29-39

The ministry of healing continues to demonstrate the power of Our Lord amid the needs of a suffering world. From the beginning and the end of the passage, twp compelling points emerge: “straight” ie “Immediately” is a word used more than forty times in Mark, making urgency one of the keynotes of this Gospel; the last paragraph of the reading stresses the source of Our Lord’s power. His spiritual resources needed to be replenished in communion with his Father whom he sought before the day began, in some lonely place.

Next Week’s Readings:

First Reading: Leviticus 13.1-2, 44-46

Second Reading:1 Corinthians 10.31-11.1

Gospel: Mark 1.40-45

New Zealand Catholic $3 at the back of the Church.

    Headlines from the Jan. 29 – Feb. 11, 2012 issue of NZ Catholic:

Aussie rector to head NZ seminary.

Catholics challenged to confront the secular world.

NZ bishops meet the Holy Father — twice.

Palmerston North bishop celebrates 50th jubilee.

Sunday Mass Timetable

Queenstown               Saturday Vigil 6.30pm, Sunday 9:00am

Third Sunday:            7 pm Filipino Mass

Fourth Sunday:          Mass 7 pm Mass in Portuguese.

Arrowtown:                 First, third and fifth Sundays 11.00am           

                                  Second; fourth Sundays 11.00am (Communion Service);

Garston:                     Second and fourth Sunday of the month 11. 15am,  

Glenorchy:                  Fourth Sunday of the month 4 pm

Weekday^-Mass Times: All in St. Joseph’s Church unless otherwise indicated.

Monday             9.30 am  

Tuesday            4.30 pm Arrowtown

Wednesday        9.30 am    

Thursday           9.30 am

Friday               9.30 am

 (Reconciliation 5.30 pm Saturdays)