After several years of planning and several months of design work on paper, the project of expansion and renovation at St. Joseph's is about to enter the visible phase of on site work.  On Tuesday, February 23, the job site trailer was delivered and placed in the parking lot south of the school.  The same week, a new procedure for picking up students after school was implemented.  (Thank you to all drivers for your patience in engaging in the new format!)  On Monday, March 1, the LAW Company will be on site with excavation equipment to be grading and foundation work in the former playground area and in what will become the site of the new activity center and wing of classrooms.

Heading up the work for the LAW Company will be job superintendent Terry Winn.  Terry brings with him a wealth of experience in overseeing jobs that take place in church and school environments.  In construction planning meetings, he has made it evident that the safety and well-being of persons who will be near the construction work, namely school children, faculty and staff, comes first.  Terry will become a familiar face around St. Joseph's as the fifteen month project gets off the ground.

The following is what may be expected to occur in this first week of construction activity:

Monday, the earthwork in the new classroom and activity room area west of the current school will commence. This will continue for the next couple of weeks. Also, on Monday, the foundation plates for the precast walls will be delivered.

On Wednesday, March 3, the construction perimeter fencing will begin to be erected, and that work should be completed on Thursday. We will not be fencing off The area around the site of the new adoration chapel and bell tower will not be fenced off until after the ground breaking ceremony on Sunday, March 7.  Thursday and Friday will see the delivery of foundation rebar.

From this point on, for the most part, Terry will be on site full time.  If you cross paths with him, or other members of the LAW Company construction crew, extend a greeting and warm hospitality.

As many of you know, fourteen students from St. Joseph's CYO traveled to Washington D.C. to attend the March for Life.  We left on Tuesday, January 19th and returned home on Sunday, January 24th.  We would like to share our wonderful experience with the parishioners at St.Joseph's.  By clicking on the link below, you can take a walk through the journey of our CYO students.  Thank you so much for your prayers in the effort to win the war against abortion and to protect life at all stages!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stjosephcyo/

Donate via phone: 1-877-HELP-CRS or text RELIEF to 30644

Donate online: www.crs.org

Write a check: Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore MD

21203-7090; memo: Haiti Earthquake

Write a check locally: Catholic Diocese of Wichita, c /o Mission Office, 424 N.

Broadway, Wichita KS 67202; memo: Haiti Earthquake

WASHINGTON—The Church mourns the terrible suffering of the people of Haiti, and parishes across the country are urged to take up a special collection the weekend of January 16-17 for the humanitarian efforts of the U.S. bishops and Catholic Relief Service (CRS) in Haiti, according to a January 13 letter to Catholic bishops of the United States from Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York.

St. Joseph's will support the bishop's relief effort by taking up a second collection as requested.  Any later donations to the relief effort may be sent to the parish office, so that it can be included and forwarded to the diocese.

Why Jesus was Baptized...

From a sermon by Saint Maximus of Turin, bishop

The Gospel tells us that the Lord went to the Jordan River to be baptized and that he wished to consecrate himself in the river by signs from heaven.

Reason demands that this feast of the Lord's baptism, which I think could be called the feast of his birthday, should follow soon after the Lord's birthday, during the same season, even though many years intervened between the two events.

At Christmas he was born a man; today he is reborn sacramentally. Then he was born from the Virgin; today he is born in mystery. When he was born a man, his mother Mary held him close to her heart; when he is born in mystery, God the Father embraces him with his voice when he says: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: listen to him. The mother caresses the tender baby on her lap; the Father serves his Son by his loving testimony. The mother holds the child for the Magi to adore; the Father reveals that his Son is to be worshiped by all the nations.

That is why the Lord Jesus went to the river for baptism, that is why he wanted his holy body to be washed with Jordan's water.

Someone might ask, "Why would a holy man desire baptism?" Listen to the answer: Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by his cleansing to purify the waters which he touched. For the consecration of Christ involves a more significant consecration of the water.

For when the Savior is washed, all water for our baptism is made clean, purified at its source for the dispensing of baptismal grace to the people of the future ages.  Christ is the first to be baptized, then, so that Christians will follow after him with confidence.