St. Joseph the Worker

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker:

 Welcome to the month of May!  Spring is springing out there—yeah!  Trees are green, grass needs to be mowed, birds and butterflies are visible, flowers are showing their colors again.  Life is all around us as we continue to celebrate THE life given to us in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Speaking of life—how fortunate we are at SJW parish to have such GREAT young people.  And some of them are going to Kansas City this July on Catholic Heart Work Camp for days of service, faith, and celebration.  This experience truly touches the hearts of those who go.  They avail themselves to be Christ’s helpers to people and places who need assistance in some way.  These teens meet other teens from the area and other states, and through their interaction are able to see their peers practicing their faith and sharing the love of Jesus with them.  Special thanks to the adult chaperones who will attend CHWC.

To help with the overall cost of sending our young people to CHWC, we have the Chicken Dinner this Sunday, May 4^th.  This event enables our students to attend, and assists the parish by raising some monies to offset the total expenditure.  Hopefully, you have purchased a ticket for this dinner.  Hopefully, you will bid on the available baskets that have some really nice items in them.  Anything you are able to do concerning this fundraiser will be appreciated very much.  Let’s support our young people through this and in anything they do.  Again, we are very enriched to have their presence in our parish.

This coming Saturday, May 10^th, we will welcome Indigo Rowe into our Catholic Church and into our parish.  He will become a full member of our faith.  He has been preparing over the last months for his initiation, and all here at SJW are proud of him.  He is a 5^th grader, which shows that it does not matter one’s age to become Catholic.  The Lord loved children and young people so very much.  I am very happy for Indigo, and I congratulate him on behalf of all in our parish.

These two events—the CHWC Chicken Dinner and the Initiation of Indigo—can have us reflect on our faith.  How do we treat our young people in our parish and families?  Do we learn from them to once again have their enthusiasm as we live our daily lives?  Do we reflect on the value of our own baptism, and how we can live that out in today’s world?  Do we pray for those studying our faith?  When is the last time you thanked a young person for their witness to the faith or spoke a kind word to them?

Let us, no matter what age we are, be aware of the presence of God working through those around us, especially young people.  As they say: “From the mouth of babes.”  The Lord shares Himself, regardless of age. 

Again, thanks to our CHWC youth and to Indigo for being young and vibrant Catholics in 2025!

Your “Once Young” Pastor, Father Joe

P.S.  A huge “Thank You” to Fr. Rick Weltin for covering my role last weekend as I attended the Midwest Miniature Bottle Club Show in St. Louis.