Evening Prayer During Advent Vespers (Evening Prayer) will take place in Church on December 10, and December 17th from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. All parishioners are invited to this public prayer as a way of celebrating this seasonal time of expectation and preparing us for the joyful coming of our Lord, Jesus. Vespers is one of the prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours – the public prayer of the Church for praising God and sanctifying the day. Please join us as we give thanks for the blessings of the day! All Catholics are called to this prayer.
This Year marks our 36th annual Saint Joseph Giving Tree. Our parish has made a longtime commitment of helping the less fortunate by providing local charities and organizations with Christmas gifts when they otherwise would have little hope of a gift to open on Christmas morning. Throug your participation in the 2019 Giving Tree, Saint Joseph Parish will be supplying Christmas gifts to the following organizations. The tree is in the narthex along with the bins to collect the tagged gifts. Please buy the item, wrap it (unless denoted DO NOT WRAP on tag), securely TAPE the tag to the
present and return to your charity’s bin the week of December 7/8. All items must have a tag to ensure it is delivered to the proper charity. Tags are recycled the following year whenever possible. Please don’t hesitate to contact meor Jan Redmann with any questions: Kara Nachtrab (419-356-4441, knachtrab@gmail.com) or Jan Redmann (419-843-5321).
Saint Joseph Parish Christmas Schedule Masses Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24: 4:30 p.m., *6:30 p.m., 8:30 p.m. *6:20 p.m. – Children’s Living Nativity Christmas, Wednesday, December 25: Midnight, 10:00 a.m., Noon.
Christmas Memorial Flower Envelopes are in the pews this weekend, December 7th and 8th. Please return to the collection basket or the Parish Office by December 9th, so the memorial of your loved one can be included in the December 21/22 Bulletin.
Memory Tree The Christmas Memory Tree will once again be outside the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Please feel free to add the name of your loved one, who has passed on to God’s Kingdom, to a paper ornament and hang
it on the tree. They will be remembered by all throughout the Christmas Season. You may take the ornament home to hang on your tree at anytime if you wish.
Bethlehem Wood Carving December 7th and 8th Bethlehem Wood Carving will be offering religious articles for sale in our Narthex after all the Masses this weekend. These religious items, made of olive wood, are hand-crafted by Catholic Christians in the Holy Land. Proceeds from the sale will help to support these families who represent only 2% of the population in Bethlehem. Tables will be in the narthex after Masses.
January 23-25 – March for Life, Washington, D.C. – Join College Students
and Young Adults! Do you believe every human person should have the right to life? Then join us on the 2020 College Student and Young Adult Trip to the March for Life in Washington, D.C.! Buses will leave Thursday January 23, at 2:00 p.m. from Saint Thomas More, in Bowling Green, OH. We’ll spend Thursday and Friday night at The Marriott, in downtown Washington, D.C. We will leave at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 25. Only $139.00 for college students and $219.00 for adults! Payment due December 14, 2019. Pay by check or credit card. Email Peter Range for more info at prange@toledodiocese.org, 419-214-4933.
Christmas Outreach Adopt a Family Our Christmas Adopt a Family is in the final stretch! We still have 16 families in need. We will be working diligently through December 15 to place all our families. Please consider helping a family in need. To adopt, please contact Laurie Foster at (419) 460-1702 or lcmr59@bex.net. Call, text, or email. Thank you to all the parishioners who have already adopted a family. Gift drop-off started December 1st between 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the East Campus of Saint Joseph School (in the Meeting Rooms to the left). God Bless You All!
December 14-15, 2019 – Next week is sign-up for anyone interested in helping with our monthly parish food donation to the Helping Hands of Saint Louis Soup Kitchen. Tables will be in the back and front of church with lists of various items that are needed. Please sign up to make a pasta dish or to provide other food items or supplies. The drop-off point for these items will be on the East Campus off Ravine Road on Wednesday, December 18 between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. If you would like to help but can’t make this drop-off time frame, please contact Larry or Deb Gaster at 419-460-7386. If you would like to contribute to this outreach program, please make your check payable to Saint Joseph Social Outreach.
Youth Group – SERVICE SATURDAY for Grades 6, 7 & 8. December 14, 2019
The Toledo NWO Food Bank serves food pantries and day care centers that feed the hungry throughout the Northwestern Ohio Region. *Parent drivers
needed, 9:00 a.m. *To sign up, go to signupgenius.com and after clicking the search icon, (by sign up creator’s email) type in the box: jsupina@ stjoesylvania.org and sign up for Service Saturday, December 14, 2019.
The Catholic parishes of Our Lady of Lourdes – Toledo, Saint Joseph – Sylvania, and Saint Richard – Swanton are pleased to announce a new ministry that will bring hope and healing to those who have experienced the pain and loneliness of a broken marriage. The 12-week series, Surviving Divorce, will begin January 6, 2020 and will continue every Monday through March. We will meet at Saint Joseph Church in January, Saint Richard Church in February and Our Lady of Lourdes in March. Each session features one of twelve video presentations that will cover relevant topics. This program is for the newly separated and divorced as well as those still struggling with issues years later; it will help find answers to questions, restore hope, and begin authentic healing. Watch the bulletin for more information in the coming weeks. For questions, contact Joanne Denyer at 419-885-5791 or jdenyer@stjoesylvania.org.
