St. Joseph Parish 

February 28, 2021
Fr. Tom's Letter
The Year of St. Joseph-Apostolic Letter of Pop Francis
Ash Wednesday Pics
Music Class at SJS
Ed Choice Flyer

February 21, 2021
Fr. Tom's Letter
Annual Financial Report
First Reconciliation Pics 1
First Reconciliation Pics 2
March Calendar
Pastoral Letter on Life Issues from Bishop Brennan

 February 14, 2021
Fr. Tom's Letter
The Year of St. Joseph-Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis
SJS Religion Bee Insert
SJS Leadership Team Insert
SJS Students as Saints
The Holy Season of Lent

February 7, 2021
Fr. Tom's Letter
Exponent Insert
SJS Students Dresses as Saints
4th Grade Engineers

January 31, 2021
Fr, Tom's Letter
Sixth Grade Play Pictures
Art Class Pictures
Coloring Page

Minister's Schedule:

November/December
Click Here

January/February
Click Here

 

Please Keep in Your Thoughts and Prayers The Ill of the Parish:

Barb Seli, Dr. Dennis McCluskey, Anne Luli, Jamie McKinley Taylor, Michael Anthony, Cecilia Woodward, Martha (Wohlwend) Harris, Paul North, Charlie Wise, Fred Pero, Theresa Long, Linda Shaw, Geri DiBona, Tony and Helen Franjesh, Jane Evans Kober, Ralph Herman, Gladys Hilgert, Melissa Charba, Cork Greiner, Bernie White, Susan Andrews, Janelle Albertoni, Gloria Rodenbucher, Roger Klodt, Baby Charlie Richardson, Shirley Laubert, Vicki Newnham, Doreen Knapp Riley, Jeff Helmling, Josephine Demboski, Mary Lou Wise, Grace Klein, Mike Graening, Dolores Hermann, Paula Hermann, Anne Fedorovich, twins Karlie & Chloe Espositio and Bob Waples.

Passed into the Lord's Hands:  
Ray Knapp

The Holy Season of Lent

A reminder during the Holy Season of Lent that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the days when adults (age 21 – 60) abstain from meat and limit themselves to one full meal a day. Of course, all Fridays of Lent are prescribed meatless meals.

Lenten Opportunities for Reconciliation

Again, due to COVID ongoing restrictions, there will be no The Light is On opportunity for confession, nor will there be a Deanery wide Communal Penance Service.

HOWEVER…St. Joseph will hold their Lenten Communal Penance Service on the Tuesday of Holy Week, March 30th, at 7:00 pm.
 

Attention Parents of First Communicants

Next Sunday, March 7, there will be a mandatory meeting of all First Communicants and parents at 9:15 am. Parents will meet with Fr. Tom in the church as they did for the first Reconciliation meeting, and children will meet with Mrs. Bragg in her classroom.

There will also be Jesus Day, Friday, March 19th at St. Joseph School. The school day begins at 8:00 am and ends at 2:30 pm.
 

Notice for Confirmandi, Parents, & Sponsors

The last Confirmandi meeting before the March 19th Confirmation will be Saturday, March 13th, at 10:30 A.M. in the church. Parents and sponsors should be present for this final meeting. Also, if you have not given your Confirmation name (Saint’s name) and sponsor to the rectory office, please do so. Thank you.

Prayer for Spiritual Communion

Pope Francis told people on March 15, "United to Christ we are never alone, but instead form one body of which he is the head. It is a union that is nourished with prayer and also with spiritual communion in the Eucharist, a practice that is recommended when it isn't possible to receive the sacrament." The idea of "spiritual Communion" is part of Catholic tradition. We invite Jesus into ourselves when receiving the actual sacrament isn't possible.

"My Jesus, I believe you are really here in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you more than anything in the world, and I hunger to receive you. But since I cannot receive Communion at this moment, feed my soul at least spiritually. I unite myself to you now as I do when I actually receive you."

Offertory Envelopes are Here

There are additional tables at the back of the church with your church offertory envelopes on them. They are arranged categorically, by the envelope company, not necessarily alphabetically.

There are name labels on the top of the boxes. Please pick yours up as soon as possible. If you have joined the ranks of the on-line contributors and do not want to receive envelopes any longer, please call the office and let us know. Also, if you do not have envelopes and would like to receive some, please notify the office and we will get a box of envelopes for you.

Rice Bowls

A reminder that there are Rice Bowls at the back of the church. As stated last week, the Rice Bowl Campaign coincides with the Bishop’s Appeal, and in our parish, the Rice Bowls have become a way for the children of the parish to partake in the Annual Bishop’s Appeal. St. Joseph School children have received Rice Bowls in their classrooms. If our child wants to participate in giving to others through the Rice Bowl Campaign, please pick up one or two Rice Bowls from the back of the church. Thank you for your generosity.

Diocese of Youngstown Annual Bishop’s Appeal 2021

This week our parish will be joining parishes throughout the Diocese of Youngstown in asking every Catholic family to support the 2021 Annual Bishop’s Appeal. The Appeal is the primary funding source for Catholic Charities in the six counties of our diocese. Especially as we continue to weather the effects of the pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of needy persons coming to Catholic Charities for help, and they depend on our support of the Bishop’s Appeal.

The Bishop’s Appeal also helps to support our diocesan ministries including seminarian formation and the Office of Vocations, the Office of Catholic Schools, Religious Education, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, and the Catholic Television Network of Youngstown (CTNY).

Our parish was given an Appeal goal of $35,100 to contribute towards the Diocesan Goal of $4 million. Bishop Bonnar is counting on our support of the 2021 Bishop’s Appeal to reach our goal.

Thank you to those members of our parish who responded early to the Bishop’s Appeal and have made their commitment. Please be aware that if you made a gift to last year’s Bishop’s Appeal, you should receive your letter from Bishop Bonnar near the end of February. If you did not make a gift last year, you should receive a letter from Bishop Bonnar at the beginning of March. Please prayerfully consider how you can best respond when asked to make a commitment next weekend. Envelopes can be found at the back of the church. Thank you.

Advance Notice for Cemetery Décor Removal

We are hopefully in the last weeks of winter, meaning spring will soon be here. As soon as the weather is permitting the cemetery crew will begin to clean up the cemetery from the winter weather. If there is any decoration you have placed on a loved one’s gravesite and you wish to keep it, or it holds sentimental value to you, please remove it by March 28th. Anything left on the sites after this date will be discarded. Thank you.

Food Shelf News

The Randolph Suffield Atwater Food Shelf is growing! The Food Shelf has existed since 1970 and has been on the St. Joseph's campus for 35 years. We need to vacate the current location because of the children’s playground safety. We plan to build on the east side of the Knights of Columbus Hall. We have started a fundraising campaign with a goal of $125,000. We are asking for donations to help us reach this goal. Thank you for your consideration!

Piano Lessons 

Yuliana Kvinta, St. Joseph’s Music Director, is now offering piano lessons here at our parish. Yuliana is a highly skilled educator, state-certified, with over 20 years of teaching experience. She holds a Bachelor's degree and a Master’s degree in Music Education, studied piano performance and instruction along with choral directing and vocal performance. Contact Yuliana at 234- 716- 3287 or email at ykvinta@gmail.com.

Lead Testing of Water

Recently our water consultant, Don Macko, completed testing of our water in three places in the school and two places in the rectory. In all locations, the level was less than 2 milligrams per liter. The threshold is 15 milligrams per liter. This is a public notice that we have undergone lead testing, and we are well below the levels for safety. Click here for more information.