From the Pastor's Desk
Dear Parishioners and friends of St. Joseph,
I pray this week has been a truly blessed one for each of you.
Today is the feast of St. John Paul II. He is one of my favourite saints of our Church and lived among our time. He taught us to love God and to be open to the idea of offering our sufferings to God for the salvation of many. May he intercede for us as we grow in our relationship with God.
In this weekend's scriptures, Jesus reminds us to be humble in prayer. We also should not compare ourselves to others, rather we all must follow the commandments, make daily holy choices and pick up our daily crosses and follow Jesus. May we pray for each other so that we all grow in holiness.
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We continue to lift Fr. Steve in our prayers.
Fr. Steve has asked that you kindly NOT reach out to him via phone calls or email messages. He thanks you for your prayers, however let us all respect his wishes for respecting his personal privacy. I do not expect him to return to St. Joseph until at least January 2023. In the interim, Fr. Bill will again assist me in meeting your pastoral and spiritual needs.
Thank you in advance for your prayers and respect of privacy.
Thank you to all those parishioners who have already dropped off their GET WELL cards. For those who have not yet done so, please drop them in the box in the vestibule of the church or bring it to the parish office. Don't forget to add your spiritual bouquet of prayers in the card and let Fr. Steve know how you are praying for him!
Thank you for continuing to pray for our beloved Fr. Steve!
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As we approach the month of November, we especially remember those who have died from our families, friends and parish family. It is important that we remember them at Mass and pray to God for their eternal repose.
I encourage each of you to take an envelope from the foyer of the Church and place the names of your loved ones who have died, even those from many years ago, so they will be remembered at Mass each day in the month of November. Please then also place your donation in the envelope and return it to the office. Please note that the Diocesan offering for just one Mass is $10, please allow your offering to be appropriate since there will be over 40 Masses offered for our loved ones. Please return the names BEFORE October 29th to the parish office.
I will also be hosting the Parish All Souls Mass on Sunday November 6 @ 6:30pm and have invited all parishioners who have lost a loved one in the past year to attend. You are also welcome to attend this Mass as we lift our loved ones to Almighty God.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen.
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Please pray for me on Friday October 28th, as I turn 40 years old. I have been blessed by God to be placed in this great community of faith. Thank you for your prayers and support as I ask God to continue to gift me with the joy of serving Him as a priest and as your pastor. God bless you all.
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Once again a reminder regarding protocols for receiving Holy Communion and the like:
As I announced last week, at my request, after meeting with Bishop Bergie, I am pleased to announce that throughout the Diocese, we are now able to relax more COVID protocols that had been in place for many months. This of course will also affect us here at St. Joseph. Effective immediately, myself and the ministers of Holy Communion are no longer required to mask when distributing communion. For those who wish to wear the mask while at Mass, you may do so.
For those who wish, you may once again receive Jesus in Holy Communion on the hand or on the tongue. In the coming weeks, we will also return to hold the Offertory and collection during its proper place at Mass and will once again also have a procession of gifts (ciboria, wine, water) at Mass.
This is great news!
Once again, I invite you all back to Mass in PERSON. Sacramental communion is essential.
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GOD's PLAYBOOK podcast continues to launch DAILY.
I pray that each of you will use this podcast to enhance your faith and especially recommend it to your family and friends to bring them back to faith, especially the weekly attendance at Mass. This podcast will answer tough questions about faith, give the reasons why we believe what we believe and also broaden our prospective on God and His daily will for our lives.
Andrew Natale and I continue to promote World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. Our pilgrimage will be from July 27- August 6th, 2023. I will be leading our Diocesan group and encourage ALL young people of the parish, aged 18-35 to consider joining us. We will be staying with families in the Diocese of Fatima, visit the shrine and also experience the many youth activities and faith programs. This is a great way to deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ and experience the Church on a global level. Join Pope Francis along with young people from all over the world in this amazing experience of God.
If interested, contact the parish office and speak to Andrew or myself.
I once again encourage each of you to attend our Evening of Reconciliation and discussion regarding building better relationships of healing and accompaniment with our Indigenous brothers and sisters on October 25th. I thank Rose Scott and Carolyn Pietrangeli for spearheading this important evening.
Please see below for more details.
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Please continue to bring in your new socks to give to those who are most in need in our community as our CWL hosts our SOCKTOBER drive. New socks can be left in the bins in the vestibule or brought to the parish office during the week. Thank you for your generosity.
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If you are in the parish NFL Survivor pool, remember that your team pick for the week needs to be chosen in your account before 1pm on Sunday.
Week 6 knocked 13 people out of the pool and only 4 teams remain! Good luck to you all in Week 7!
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Let us continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. They deserve and rely on our prayers and support. Let us ask the Lord of peace to bring peace to the people of Ukraine, Russia and throughout the world. Once again, I include this Prayer for Ukraine.
PRAYER FOR UKRAINE
Almighty God, through Jesus' divine name and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we humbly ask for your mercy to obtain peace in the land of Ukraine. May all the people of that country, especially children and the elderly, remain safe from danger. Please do not let chaos and war reign in the land of Ukraine, but only a forever peace that comes from You. Amen.
Be assured of my prayers and I humbly ask for yours.
God loves you and so do I.
Mary, Mother of the Church - pray for us
St. Joseph - pray for us
God bless,
Fr. Rico
The RCIA team and I have begun our parish RCIA program for this year. This program invites those who have never been baptized into the Catholic Church, those baptized in different faiths, those who are Catholic and have not yet received all of their sacraments, or those who are Catholic who would like to learn the WHY we believe what we believe. I encourage each of you to consider joining RCIA, or recommending it to family, friends and neighbours. We meet Wednesday evenings at 7:00pm in the Gathering Room. Please pray for for the RCIA team as we guide souls to come to know Jesus Christ.
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A Message from Fr. Bill
You are invited: Each Wednesday night the RCIA (an instruction in the Catholic faith for the unbaptized, for those of other faiths who wish to learn about the Catholic Church) meet. As baptized Catholics, sometimes we might have questions re: the Catholic Church. As the members of the RCIA team are here every Wednesday night, you are invited to come with your questions at 7:30pm to the St. Joachim Room and to hear a short presentation re: the RCIA topic of the night, and to bring your questions.
This week the topics is PLACES IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. If you would like to understand more about the Mass, please join us Wednesday night at 7:30pm.