On Sunday, November 5th, Deacon Matthew Morelli will be preaching his first homily at our 10:30 am Mass here at SJA.  A light reception will follow in the cafeteria.  Please plan to come and congratulate Deacon Matt as we celebrate his ordination.
 

Holy Day Reminder! Tomorrow, November 1st is All Saint's Day, a Holy Day of Obligation.
Masses will be celebrated at: 6:45am, 9:00am, 7:00pm.
The Vigil Mass will be celebrated tonight, October 31st at 6:00pm.

A message from our Youth Coordinator...

Every year, I'm blown away by the generosity of the people of St. Joan of Arc.  Last week Life Teen had our annual clothing drive to support the ministries and missions of Harrisburg.  We collected over 140 bags of clothes and that was awesome.  
 
The weekend and the week that follows is always a rush, physically and emotionally.  Parishioners don't get to see the teens work really hard sorting the clothes and bagging them up to get them ready for delivery.  Teens don't get to see the fruit of that labor as I deliver the needed items to the Catholic Worker House, Silence of Mary, Downtown Daily Bread, Shalom House, and Shining Light.  
 
A couple of these places, it's a drop and go with little to no interaction with anyone.  With Downtown Daily Bread and Shining Light, I was able to sit and talk with 10 gentleman and 4 women who would be getting these much needed warm clothes and coats.  They were eternally grateful. Being able to sit and talk with these men put a face on why we have this clothing drive every year.  With that I thank you for your continued support of this yearly event.  Without you this wouldn't be possible. I pray for God's peace and grace to all.
 
Pax,
John

Next Sunday at the 10:30 Mass, Matthew Morelli will preach his first homily as a deacon of the Church. It is wonderful to have Matthew as part of our parish. I encourage you to come and hear him and then gather in the school cafeteria immediately after Mass for a light reception. May we have many more vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life from our parish!

The former parish office space (we still need a name  for it!) has been painted and new carpet installed.  We will begin to use this space by mid-November for parish ministries and organizations. The rooms will be:

• Our Lady of Grace: Formerly the large room  of the parish secretary (Accommodates: 15 - 20) 
• Saint Michael: Formerly the Pastor’s Office (Accommodates: 8 - 10)
• Saint Catherine: Formerly the Parochial Vicar’s Office (Accommodates: 8 - 10)
• Saint Margaret: Formerly the Work Room (Accommodates: 8 - 10)
• Our Lady of Fatima:  Formerly the Parish Manager’s Office  (Accommodates: 4 - 6)
• Our Lady of Lourdes: Formerly the Finance Manager’s Office  (Accommodates: 4 - 6)
• Our Lady of Guadalupe: Formerly the Director of Communication’s Office (Accommodates: 4 - 6)   

When you are booking rooms, keep the number of  people in your group in mind.  We won’t know what to do with all this new space!  (Only kidding… I know we will!)

Father Al
 
*Note: Room information can be found on our parish website under the parish menu by selecting “Facilities & Scheduling”.

I am very pleased to announce we have a new Director of Music here at Saint Joan of Arc. Mike Davis will take this position in mid-November. He was a long-time music teacher in the Hershey School District and Director of Music at Saint Joseph Parish in Mechanicsburg. He is excited about working here in Hershey and I know that he will add so much to our music ministry. Welcome aboard, Mike!

I want to thank in a very special way Kit Ryan and Mary Catherine Tierney who have been so generous with their time and talent during this transition period. They have been wonderful. I also want to thank the choir for being patient…and faithful…to the music ministry here at the parish during this time. There are transitions in life and we always need fidelity and patience to get through them!

God bless you and let’s all look forward to making beautiful music here at Saint Joan’s for the glory of God!

Father Al

Before Winter hits let’s clean out those closets and donate to those in need.  Our Youth Ministry Group, LifeTeen, will be collecting clothes before and after all the masses this weekend to serve the missions of Harrisburg. Over the last few our collections have surpassed each prior year... help us keep up this exciting trend!

DROP OFF INFORMATION:

St. Joan of Arc Church - Drop off in Cafeteria (Located inside the front school doors)
Saturday, October 21st - 4:30pm to 6:30pm
Sunday, October 22nd - 7:00am to 7:00pm

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Father Al's weekly message from this past Sunday:

This weekend at the noon Mass we are kicking off our celebration of the 90th Anniversary of Saint Joan of Arc Parochial School. Ninety years is quite a milestone in any lifetime but ninety years for a Catholic School is quite an accomplishment. I was reading the initial letter from our first pastor, Father Phelan, to the bishop at the time, Bishop Philip McDevitt, asking for permission to build a Catholic school here in Hershey. He gives all the reasons why it would be advantageous and then comes to the point of his letter: May we please borrow $4000 to build the school! $4000!!! To build a school!!! Ah, those were the days!

Our school has had an illustrious history with thousands of alumni coming through our doors. This year we have 352 students in Pre-school through 8th grade. For the entire ninety years we have had the privilege of having the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy as teachers and principals in our school. What a blessing! Our school has taught the Catholic Faith year in and year out for 90 years. What a special privilege to bring the love and mercy and teaching of Jesus Christ to the children of our parish! Ad Multos Annos! To many more years!

Father Al

*Reminder: Father Al's message is posted each week on our parish blog (parish website - www.stjoanhershey.org)