How Much Does A Prayer Weigh?
Author Unknown
Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face,
walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a
most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries.
She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they
had seven children and they needed food.
John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store.
Visualizing the family needs, she said: "Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can."
John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not have a charge account at his store.
Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The
customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for
her family.
The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have a grocery list?"
Louise replied, "Yes sir"
"O.K." he said, "put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you
that amount in groceries."
Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of
paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her
head still bowed.
The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scales went down and stayed
down.
The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, "I can't believe
it."
The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The
scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would
hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust.
Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was
not a grocery list. It was a prayer which said: "Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in
your hands."
The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in
stunned silence. Louise thanked him and left the store. The customer
handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said, "It was worth every
penny of it."
It was some time later that the grocer discovered the scales were
broken; therefore, only God knows how much a prayer weighs.
+Dear Parents,
February 8, 2016
Can you believe that Lent begins this week? Our school liturgy on Ash Wednesday is at 10:15 a.m.
Everyone is welcome to join us for our Mass and for the distribution of ashes. If you cannot attend our
school mass, ashes will be distributed at our parish masses and prayer services. The times for Masses
are 7:00 am, 9:00 am, 10:15 am (School Mass), and 7:30 pm. The prayer services will be at 12:05 pm
and 5:30 pm. We hope you can begin your Lenten season with St. Joseph Parish at one of these
celebrations.
During Lent, we are asked to pray, fast and give alms. During
all of the masses this weekend, members of St. Joseph
Parish shared how important and significant their prayer
time in Adoration in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel has
been in their lives. We are asked to think about spending
time each week in prayer in Adoration as well. Father Rossi
shared how some young people were going to the Chapel
last week around 9:00 pm to pray. One of our Kindergarten
students goes to the Adoration Chapel with her mom at
least once a week on her way to school.
As our reflection this week shows us, the woman knows the power of prayer. We might not know how
much prayer weighs, but we will surely feel the weight on our shoulders lifted when we spend time in
prayer. So, I join our priests in inviting you to consider devoting time in Adoration beginning this Lent. I
know it will make a difference in all of our lives!
Have a great week! God bless you!
Sister Catherine Irene, IHM
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Looking Ahead:
February 10
Ash Wednesday: School Mass at 10:15 a.m.
February 12
Archdiocesan Honors’ Band Concert at Carroll H.S.
February 15
Presidents’ Day: SCHOOL HOLIDAY
February 16
Stations of the Cross, Gr. 5 – 8 at 2:00 p.m.
School Advisory Council Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
February 18
HOT LUNCH ORDERS ARE DUE TODAY: Please return forms to school
Parish Council Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
February 23
Terra Nova begins with In-View Testing for Grades 3 – 7
Stations of the Cross, Gr. 1 – 4 at 2:00 p.m.
February 27
Confirmation Retreat for Grade 6
February 29 – March 4
Terra Nova testing for Grades K to 7
March 1
Stations of the Cross, Grades 5 – 8
March 4
Grade 8 Retreat
March 11
Second Trimester ends
March 12
Green and White Gala: Please see next page
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Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Scogna on the birth of their daughter,
Genevieve Elisabeth Scogna on Saturday, February 6, at 6:02 p.m. She
weighed in at 8.5 lbs. and was 20.5 inches long! Mrs. Scogna and Baby
Genevieve (and new Dad, too) are doing well!
Let us continue to pray for Mrs. Scogna and her family!
May God bless them and always!
The Administration, Faculty and Staff, and Students of St. Joseph school want to
thank our Home and School Board for all that they did to make Catholic Schools
Week so wonderful for all of us. We truly celebrated our entire community,
beginning with the beautiful liturgy and Open House, to the Volunteer and
Faculty Appreciation Day, and concluding with the Student Appreciation Day and
Family Night with The Brain Show! WE ARE TRULY GRATEFUL AND WE THANK
YOU A BUNCH!!!
Announcing our 2016 Science Fair Winners: We congratulate the students who achieved top honors
at the St. Joseph School Science Fair last week. The following students will now go on to the Dr. Lucy
Balian Rorke-Adams Chester County Science Fair on March 7, 2016:
1st Place
Grade 6
Olivia Sussman
Grade 7
Michael Loughlin
Grade 8
Ryan Bernier
2nd Place
Sean Whitaker
Lila Ceribelli, Emma Shields
and Reaghan Stewart
Sydney Morisoli
3rd Place
Gabriel Nichols and
Zachary Schultz
Kyle Hill, Ryan Gray, and
Tristan Ireland
Owen Kowalewski
Honorable
Mention
Nicholas Romano,
Luke Miller, and
Cameron Marcum
Daniel McCormick
Daniel Ward
Elizabeth Lamb
Molly Mullin
The following students will now go on to the Dr. Joan Salk Chester County Science Fair on March 8,
2016:
Grade 4
Grade 5
st
1 Place
Hannah Lamb
Joseph Heffern
2nd Place
Sarah Rogelstad
Paul Gill
3rd Place
Amelia Nichols and
Jeffery Bucklin
Emma Zahner
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Re-Registration: I just want to clarify a few things about Re-Registration. All of the forms for reregistration may be found on our website at http://stjosephrc.org/school/admissions/registration.
Once you receive an email to enroll in SMART, you will then be able to pay your deposit. The $200
deposit will be paid immediately to SMART. For families who will have a child in Pre-K and in Grades
K to 8, you will pay two distinct deposits – one for Pre-K and one for Grades K to 8. (As in the past, the
Pre-K tuition is separate from K -8.) Finally, for all of our current Pre-K families, you might not have
received an email from SMART yet. We must send in the information to them first. You should hear
from SMART shortly. If you have any questions, please either contact Customer Service in SMART or
you may contact me directly. Thank you
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SMART AID – Applications for Financial Aid for the 2016-2017 School Year:
DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED!
If you did not submit your SMART AID applications yet, please do so now. Applications for Financial Aid
are available online. Families can access the application at www.smartaidforparents.com . This is a new
company processing the Archdiocesan applications for aid. Since this is a new program, ALL applicants
are NEW applicants for BLOCS. Directions are at: http://stjosephrc.org/school/admissions/financial-aid/.
Please, if you have any questions, please come to see me and perhaps we can work on the application
together.
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