This Week's Message
from Fr. Amesse
January 5, 2025

St. Joseph the Worker is mentor for us during the first full month of the Holy Year.  He is a man of faith.  He is that just man who cares for the Holy Family.  St. Joseph provided for Mary and Jesus through concrete actions.  He says not one word in the Gospels.  His actions speak as clear as a whistle.   

Whenever the angel addressed Joseph in dreams, he did what was asked.  “Take Mary for your wife.”  “Take the child and His Mother to Egypt for Herod is evil.  He wants to kill the new born baby.”  St. Joseph acted, not as a slave, but as a father and husband who loved the Holy Family. 

Can we do the same?  In different ways?  Angels will not speak to us in our dreams.  The Word of God however does tell us how we should live.  We are able to receive special graces here at the Shrine.  God wants us to imitate St. Joseph the Worker.  He consoled and cared for his wife and foster child. 

Whom does God ask us to care for?  The Word of God guides us.  Can I suggest a tool rooted in God’s Word?  The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.  The book in the Gift Shop can teach us to dive into this devotion.  This prayer can be a good help for us to console Jesus and Mary in the people God places in our lives. The 10 Commandments were carved on two tablets of stone.  Can we place them gently in a spot in our heart?  This will make the sentiments of justice and solidarity, which reside in the Lord’s heart, take root in us.  God created us.  He created us to “till the earth."  By work and prayer, we do so.   

We till the earth by living well our daily duties, worshipping our Lord and Savior.  Disobedience to God means hiding from His loving countenance and seeking to control one’s life and action in the world.  The Holy Year inspires us to allow God to take control of our lives and let Him act in our world.  

I remember you at Mass.

Ephiphany Chalk Home Blessing Kits
20+C+M+B+25

We will be making available Epiphany Home Blessing Kits. All will be invited to bring home some blessed chalk which which to inscribe a blessing above your home's entry door. Tis week's bulletin includes an insert explaining how to carry-out this blessing.

End of Christmas Sale!
January 13-18

Visit our Giftshop/Bookstore for our end of Christmas sale!
All Christmas merchandise will be 25% percent off.

The store hours are Monday to Saturday 9-5

First Fridays at the Shrine
Next First Friday, January 3

Immediately following the 8:00 am Mass, we will pray the Rosary with reflections written by the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen.

Immediately after the Noon Mass to 5:15 we will have Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Please keep First Fridays fervent here at the Shrine by spending some time with our Lord. 

Legion of Mary
at the Shrine

Meetings are held in the downstairs Conference Hall each week after the Sunday 12:00 noon Mass.

The Legion of Mary is a Marian movement founded in Ireland in the 1920’s. It is currently the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis’ January
Prayer Intention

Let us pray for migrants, refugees and those affected by war, that their right to an education, which is necessary to build a better world, might always be respected.

Words of wisdom from the letters St. Eugene de Mazoned, founder of the Oblates of Mary  Immaculate and the patron saint of dysfunctional families: 

“Let us learn to appreciate the part of the Lord has allotted to us...We have to count only on God.”

—-St. Eugene to Fr. Courtès Letter 1841

St. Joseph
Most Just
Pray for us!

Full Litany of St. Joseph

Praying with the Stained Glass Windows of
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

Part I - The 100 Year+ Windows Series
Part II - The St. Joseph Windows

May 27, 2024 - End of 40 Hours of Devotion Eucharistic Procession

Self-Guided Tour
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

Ring the Bells of the Shrine

Everyday of the year, the “Bells of St. Joseph” ring-out God’s praise for all to hear!

Our Carillon can play Special Hymns of your choice any day of the year. At your request, our chimes will ring in honor of loved ones for the entire community to hear and prayerfully remember.Your offering of $20.00 will be greatly appreciated and will assist us in maintaining the Shrine and its ministries. Thank You!

Bell-ringing selections may be reserved for specific days & times throughout the year(s) in the Shrine Gift Shop/Bookstore.

St. Eugene de Mazenod’s Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother

 O Lord, Almighty God, you endowed the Blessed Virgin Mary with the fullness of every gift and grace. By allowing her heart to be pierced with the deepest sorrow, you crowned her merit and placed her at the head of countless legions of martyrs who, for love of your Son Jesus Christ, have shed their blood. Through the painful martyrdom endured by this gentle Mother seeing her beloved Son dying as a Victim because of his love for us, grant us the grace to bear with fortitude the disappointments and setbacks in our life, and not to fear torment or death itself, when we are called to confess our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Confession

Mon - Friday
10:00 am - noon
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm

Saturday 
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

First Wednesday of the month

Eucharistic Adoration

The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration on -

Saturday after the noon Mass until the 4:00 pm Mass
First Fridays after the noon Mass until the 5:30 pm Mass