Free Community Meal
Our next Free Community meal is on Sunday, February 24, 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in Hughes Hall. If you haven’t been to a Meal before, please join us for good food & fellowship. Our goal is to provide a nutritious meal and fellowship to those in need. This month’s effort is hosted by St. Joseph’s Garden Club and served by our 6th & 2nd grade PSR classes.

 

Our parish has been congratulated on the success during the 2018 Annual Bishop’s Appeal. We exceeded our goal and were recently rebated $1,392.25. During last year’s Appeal, 31.685% of our Active registered households participated with an average gift of $214.62 per household. Because of our continued support, thousands of individuals within our Church Family are able to receive the services and support they need.  
Thank You!

Encounter Lent ~ Share The Journey
Join our faith community—and more than 14,000 Catholic communities across the United States—in a life-changing Lenten journey of encounter with CRS Rice Bowl. Pick up your family’s CRS Rice Bowl from the Narthex beginning the weekend of March 2/3. During the 40 days of Lent, we will encounter the needs of the world. Sign up for weekly inspirational emails at https://www.crsricebowl.org. And don’t forget to download the CRS Rice Bowl app! 

Ash Wednesday, March 6th
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten journey towards Easter and eternal life. Now truly is our time to be healed and reconciled to God and to one another. The mark of ashes on our foreheads reminds us of our sinfulness and our turning back to God for forgiveness, healing and mercy. The ashes are made by the burning of palms from last year's Palm Sunday. After the priest sprinkles the ashes with holy water and incenses them, he puts them on our foreheads in the shape of a Cross to remind us of our hope, and as he does so, he says the words of Genesis 3: Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return. We make no response to these words; we simply return to our pews. After we leave the church, we leave the ashes on our foreheads until they wear off naturally from the course of the day's activities. They are a public witness to those things our society does not wish to embrace: the reality of death, and the hope of resurrection in Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Ash Wednesday Masses will be at 8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.
You are welcome to attend either service.

ORF Chairpeople Needed 

• Main Raffle Booth > Thank you to Kathy Gray who has agreed to chair our Main Ox Roast Fair Raffle Booth! Be sure to contact her if you’re willing to work a shift or two.

• Lemon Shake-Up Booth > Nicki & Marvel Wring have agreed to come back & chair this popular booth. They welcome anyone who'd like to "shake things up". Thank you to Rob & Terri Perhach who are stepping down after having chaired for several years.

• We are still in need of someone to co-chair the Tradebooths for the 2019 Ox Roast with Tony Marinelli. If you’d like to  assist in coordinating all of the outside vendors who have booths at the Fair, please contact Vicki Ferrara (330-730-2603) or Tony Marinelli (330-296-3097).

• After chairing the Hamburger/Hotdog Booth for a number of years, the Safko family is retiring (they’ll still be available to help out some).

• Kids Ox Land needs new chairs for this fun, family game booth.

If you are interested in chairing any of these booths or need more information, please contact the Parish Office (330-274-2253 or parishoffice@stjosephmantua.com). How-to info. and set-up help provided. How-to info. and set-up help provided.

Finding The Ox
For this year’s Ox Roast Fair we are starting a contest of sorts for free raffle tickets. You are encouraged to look for the stamped red Ox Roast Fair logo stamped in your printed bulletin (not the small printed logo that's always on the front cover). If you find it, you win one free Main Raffle ticket! 

2019 OX ROAST FAIR MAIN RAFFLE

First Prize:       2019 Ford EcoSport SE 4WD*
                            (provided by Kepich Ford, Garrettsville, OH)

Second Prize:  $1,500 Cash

Third Prize:  Paddle & Dine Experience for 4 (valued at $320.00)
 (provided by Breakaway Excursions, Mantua, OH )

Enjoy a 2 hour group kayak paddle on the Upper Scenic Cuyahoga River followed by an Upscale Catered Dinner served riverside with a bonfire

Tickets:  $10.00 ea., 3/$20.00, 10/$50.00, 30/$100.00
(ticket printing sponsor - Kepich Ford)

Purchase at https://connectnowgiving.parishsoft.com
(checking/savings direct withdrawal, debit & credit cards),
at area events, thru St. Joe parishioners, or during Fair 

St. Joseph Church now has a system called My Own Church for updating your family information! All users must have an account to access the ParishSOFT Family Suite website. Users who do not have an account must sign up for an account to receive login credentials (username and password). All you need to do is hit the blue "Update Your Info" button and create an account. This is how you will be able access your 2018 Contribution Statement (if you do not have computer access, please sign-up in the Narthex or contact Kathi at the Parish Office, 330-274-2253 or ktrares@stjosephmantua.com, to request one). For more details including FAQs and how to videos, click here.  Please remember to check out My Own Church soon! 

Parish Business Directory & Directory of Talents
St. Joseph Church is creating a Parish Business Directory of parishioner-owned businesses and professional services in an effort to help the parish provide economic support within our own community.  This new Business Directory is intended to be an online resource that gives current information such as contacts, links to websites and other descriptions of these businesses. In addition, we're putting together a comprehensive list of talents and services. There will also be a printed edition created as the lists develop. Click here to learn more.

ParishSOFT Giving (formerly ConnectNow Giving)
We’re pleased to announce that St. Joseph Church now provides online giving through software called ParishSOFT Giving (formerly ConnectNow Giving). This is a convenient and safe way to make a one-time or recurring donation. It replaces the WeShare Online Giving that we previously used. ParishSOFT Giving is part of our parish database. It is less expensive for the parish and contributions are automatically entered into the database (rather than the secretary printing out a report and manually entering them). Getting started is easy! - just click on the ParishSOFT Giving button (on the right hand column under Links). To learn more about this convenient way to donate to St. Joseph Church, please visit our ParishSOFT Giving webpage.