Dear Friends,


My name is Joseph Beale, and I am entering my fourth year of studies in preparation to become a priest. Bishop Ruggieri has assigned me to St. John Vianney Parish for my summer pastoral experience this year and I am blessed to be with you all.

I was born in Florida but was raised in Maine as my parents moved our family to Topsham when I was two years old. I am the only child of my parents. In Spring 2022 I graduated from the University of Maine Orono with a bachelor's degree in animal and veterinary science and entered the Seminary that fall. During the school year I study at Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts.

I look forward to working with you all this summer. I hope to grow closer to the Lord together and to get to know the parish community. In the bulletin this summer, I plan to offer a series of reflections on the upcoming Sunday readings as well as any special days we have in our liturgical year. As we end the Easter season and begin the journey of “green days”, the season of Ordinary Time, we remind ourselves of the special character the structure of the liturgical year offers us. The cyclic structure of our liturgical year allows us to continually journey through the life of Our Lord.

This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity in the Church as well as Father’s Day in the United States. This past Sunday the Church celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In today’s Gospel from John, Christ reassures his disciples that they will not be left without guidance after his Ascension. The pericope that we see in this Sunday’s Gospel is taken from Jesus’s “farewell discourse.” The Son, in his farewell address, continues to reveal the Father and the Holy Spirit to us. What Christ shows us in this revelation is the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When the first Christians received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, just as we have received the Spirit at Baptism and this reception was sealed at our Confirmation, they were invited into the Trinitarian life of God. As our advocate, the Holy Spirit guides us in our daily life of prayer and in coming to know the Father and the Son. As we reflect on the Trinitarian mystery of God this week, let us remember to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in all that we do. The Spirit is truly our guide into all truth and in coming to know the Father and the Son.


God Bless,


Joseph Beale