Welcome to the Churches of St. Joseph - Our Lady of Fatima - Holy Family

From the Pastor's Desk

Dear Parishioners,

I hope you are well. I should be back this Friday the 29^th (probably very late). I look forward to seeing you. I will continue to pray for you while I am away. A reminder that Sunday the 24th is the first meeting for the Consecration to St. Joseph at 6:30 PM. Meetings will be held in the social hall. These meetings will continue on Sundays at 6:30 PM until the consecration day on the Solemnity of All Souls, November 2nd.

Recently I was at a meeting with Bishop Daniel where he talked about the pastoral letter and seeking healing hope and joy in Jesus Christ. This has been a constant drumbeat which he has been sharing with us. The initial focus of his initiative has been to allow healing to happen in our people and in our Diocese. There has been some talk of creating opportunities to allow people to continue to encounter the Lord’s healing.

There are lots of things happening in our mission field (our mission field is our parish cluster… some mission fields are multiple clusters). I am so grateful for all the wonderful things which our parishioners are doing… both in the parish and in the broader community. I can see the Lord working.

To Bishop Daniel’s point… there is always a need for healing… and that’s just part of living in community. We always need to keep experiencing the healing. Sometimes it is helpful to talk about the healing we’ve experienced, and to create particular forums or avenues for people to experience healing and to share about it. I think one area I’ve seen this happening is in the praise and worship nights that we have had. I haven’t had much chance to process with people, but it does seem to me people are meeting the Lord through adoration and praise and worship and confessions. I also see this with the Men of St. Joseph and the Community table… these are just a few of the new things which seem to be coming from the Holy Spirit which have risen up as of late and are bringing opportunities for encounters with the Lord.

I know we’ve seen some priests and many people struggling as of late… but I’m sort of seeing a trend that I was reflecting on at that same meeting with Bishop Daniel (we were discussing priest health/moral etc.). The trend is coming out of covid and the time when we didn’t have a bishop, there was a lot of anger and a lot of heaviness and a feeling of being stuck in a dark place. These are my words for what I saw in my brothers… in the people of God, and even in my own heart at times. The image that comes to mind is a festering wound… one that is infected and hasn’t been treated.

Now with a bit of separation, with a leader (Bishop Daniel), and some direction… I feel like the wound is still there, but it is getting treated… we are in a much better place. We are in the healing process. I think perhaps the break down we are seeing in many of the priests is just a microcosm of where we are all at. And what I am seeing is that the priests are being given a chance to deal with their hurts or struggles and are getting help (if they want it) and that is a good thing. We are taking steps to address the pain and to bring healing, so that we can move into the hope of what God wants to do. I hope that we can see this not only in the priests but also in the people of God and the broader community as a whole. It’s good to have something to hope in (Jesus). I know we have always had that, but sometimes we get into a funk and its hard to see… hard to have hope… and we sort of turn inwards.

So, what I’m trying to say, is we still need to keep looking for opportunities to bring healing to the body of Christ, and I am seeing that happen. We also need to keep having hope in what God is doing and will do, and I feel like we are beginning to see people come back into the hope rather then merely feeling stuck in the pain. This is my hope… and I pray that we can all continue to cooperate with what God is doing in our midst.

In Christ,
-Fr. Eli

Weekly Homilies

2023 St. Joseph's Building Fundraiser Gala Video

by Sammy LeMieur

Message from Bishop Daniel for United Catholic Appeal

ONLINE GIVING
OUR LADY OF FATIMA, GARRISON

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WEEKLY BULLETIN

Bulletins are available at weekend Masses or access the digital version. Call the office if you wish to have it emailed to you or fill out this online form. 

Click here to access this week's and past bulletins.

ST. JOSEPH MESSENGER

September/October - Volume 4 Issue 5

July/August - Volume 4 Issue 4

May/June - Volume 4 Issue 3

March/April - Volume 4 Issue 2

Past Issues

PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES:

Eucharistic Adoration
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is 7 a.m. Monday through 7 a.m Friday. The Adoration Chapel is in the old St. Joseph school building in Crosby.  Enter through the side door.

Prayer Line Ministry
If you would like part of the Parish Prayer Line ministry or make a prayer request, send an email to: [email protected] 

DIVINE MERCY INFORMATION:

Prayers for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy (Click Here)

Video and Audio of the Divine Mercy Chaplet (Click Here)

Special Indulgence granted by Vatican for Divine Mercy

The Special Graces of Divine Mercy and the Indulgence (clarification) 

Divine Mercy Talk (Fr. Michael Gaitley)