This was an email we received on Saturday, March 5, 2022. I think it helps us all realize that we can be evangelizers (Good News for Others) in simple and powerful ways.
 
Subject: Fish Fry
 
My daughter and I were in search of fish last night. She had a tough day at work. We're a couple of lapsed Catholics for various reasons but we often reminisce about fish fries when she was young. I've been thinking a lot of coming back to the church because I miss "belonging" somewhere.
 
After not finding parking at one church fish fry, we opted to stop by several restaurants which also had "no room." We rolled down Sulphur Springs and saw your signs. Drive thru? Perfect! By this point, we were HANGRY and probably not fit to be in public. We were greeted by friendly, smiling people who took our order. As we waited for our order to come up, my daughter remarked that those people seemed nice....maybe we should consider going to church here?
 
Then....our order came out, delivered by three delightful, laughing, eager kids who were stumbling all over themselves to serve us. They were having fun and made us smile. My daughter remarked again...."ah yes, they make the young ones work. This is a good thing." Again, she remarked...this might be a good church. We were in a much better mood when we left and the food was great. 
 
The intention may have been to make a few dollars for the parish but honestly, I felt we had been witnessed to....with fish. A favorite quote of mine is attributed to St Francis of Assisi, "Preach the Gospel always; use words if necessary." Please tell your volunteers (especially those kids and their parents!) thank you for making a miserable evening a lot better and being great representatives for your parish. Working at fish fries is hard work—been there done that! Keep up the great work!

Thank you to Josephine Rauth, a St. Joseph parishioner, who knitted hats for the children in our Early Childhood Learning Center. They sure came in handy during our snowfalls last month. We are very appreciative of her hard work!  

Click HERE to see the rest of the pictures!

By Guilherme Menezes

Saint Joseph parish has a special meaning for my family and my own spiritual life. It is the place where we found a welcoming Catholic Brazilian community that we first met in 2019, on a Portuguese Mass, that occurs every month at the Saint Joseph church. At that time, we had just arrived in the U.S. for a temporary work assignment and after some weeks there we start missing to attend the Catholic church, which we were used to do in Brazil, by participating to the Holy Mass on Sundays, so we decided to look for a church that we could also meet a Brazilian Catholic community to build some relationship with them.
However, we found more than just a Catholic community, we came to where God was planning for us to be because He had a lot to reveal for us at that place.
When we first met people there, we had a feeling that we already knew them from somewhere and the wish to be part of that community came very strongly to our hearts. Then we began to attend the prayer group “Grupo da Misericordia” that used to meet every week to pray the Chaplet of Devine Mercy, as well as the Portuguese Mass once a month, but the mission that God was saving for us was more than this, and in 2020, when my daughter Luiza was born, we also made the decision to move permanently to the U.S. and at that same year I started serving in the Portuguese Mass in the music Ministry and my wife Marina, in the liturgic readings.
Since then, our commitment and relationship with God was increasing step by step up to the point where in 2021 God decided we would have the most revealing year, which was when we started serving to the “Filhos de Maria” charismatic prayer group, after months of online formation classes with a charismatic group in Brazil, where we have had the chance to experience the real feeling of being Jesus’s servant, which helped us to raise in His grace, building a strong and intimate relationship with God.
2021 was the year we experienced the most beautiful moments of Jesus’s grace in our life and Saint Joseph had a big part on this. The parish provided all support to my family to make three wonderful moments to come real, which was Marina’s and my Baptism in the Holy Spirit, that took place during the first Portuguese Life in the Spirit Seminar, my Confirmation and Luiza’s Baptism Sacraments.
We are very glad and proud to be part of the Saint Joseph Parish. A big gratitude feeling fills our heart, because we know that everything was just possible through Our Lord Jesus who has the power to gather the right people, in the right place and the right moment to demonstrate His love and mercy on us.

This Good News Story was submitted online after The Gift - a Life in the Spirit Experience held at St. Joseph.
 
Name: Anne Hruz, Jeff Barczewski, Fernanda Thurmond, Greg Barker
Date: 03/23/2022
You were "Good News" to me when: The Life in the Spirit Seminar, "The Gift" the last weekend in February 2022 was a very special gift to me. The ladies I was able to share a table with (Lizette, Lisa, Denise, Michelle, Teresa & Stacey) during this Friday and Saturday were filled with the Holy Spirit and on fire for our Lord. The presenters all conveyed the love of Holy Spirit and how that love had worked in their lives. I wondered initially why I was to be there and what I was being asked to do. Instead I was gifted with the Spirit of the Lord in the room, who blessed me through these others. Thanks to those who supported, sponsored and anchored this Life in the Spirit Seminar. They were Good News to me.

Submitted by: Jeff Bunten
 
 

I just wanted to express my gratitude to the parish staff & volunteers who contribute to making our church & meeting spaces an inviting place to worship!
Thank you to those who care for the lawn & gardens, clean the church & grounds, wash the linens, & decorate the worship space!
Many of you do this work without anyone knowing, except God!
Thank You!

Submitted by:  From: Kathy Craven

Thank you Julio Santiago

For the gentleman who greets us at the door during our son’s Sacramental Prep at 6:15pm.

We can’t remember his name but he was the gentleman who was always there to greet us when we dropped off and picked up our son during his sacramental preparation at 6:15pm.  His presence made us feel welcome.  We are thankful for him.

Submitted by:  Santillan family

Thank you Julie Quillo

Julie Quillo brings the joy of being a Catholic every time we encounter her.  Since Muriel went blind back in September of 2021, Julie has gone above and beyond in bringing the Spirit of Christ to those she encounters; by bringing the Eucharist to those in the “Parking Lot Mass” she is enthusiastic, cheerful, informative and an overall outstanding member of the Parish Team.  She embodies the notion of being a servant of Christ.

Submitted by:  Jim and Muriel Christman

She has been Good News to our family, especially our son Angelo, as she prepared him in the sacrament of Reconciliation and First Communion. We thank her for being an instrument of God in our son’s faith journey. Angelo learned a lot from her.

Submitted by:  Santillan family

On Easter Sunday all the handicap parking spots were filled when we arrived. My husband, Bob, left me off at the entrance and had to park on the upper parking lot. Neither of us can walk very well and friends and fellow parishioners, Rich and Joy Hunt, insisted on driving us up to our car after Mass which saved us a painful walk. Thank you.
 
Submitted by:  Lois Roderique
 
 

This is a note left in the collection basket at church and found by our money counters:
 

This is a note we received in the parish office after Holy Week:
 
I had the pleasure of going to confession at your parish while I was babysitting at my daughter’s this past Wednesday evening in Fenton.  Their whole family was going so I happily tagged along.  There, in the midst of waiting in line for confession, the youth group did a practice skit for Holy Thursday last supper and Good Friday passion.  I was very moved by it.  A powerful message with not a word spoken.  Reminds me of Jesus, how he would do that.  It made the rest of Holy Week “more” for me.  More thought-provoking, more meaningful for me.  Please thank them for me.  Thank you!
- Karen
 
 

This is an email we received after our Egg My Yard event on Easter…
 
Just wanted to let you know that the "Egg My Yard" event was, in our opinion, a great success.  We are grandparents and it was so nice to have this in place for our grandchildren.  We even let the big boys participate!  (Everyone enjoys collecting colorful eggs!)
Please let the organizers and the kid bunnies know how much we appreciated their work on a dark chilly night.