My heartfelt thanks to everyone for all your kind words, wishes, prayers and gifts as I move on to my new assignment. As I tried to convey at my farewell Masses, your support over the past year and a half has meant the world to me as I returned to ministry after my sabbatical. You have inspired me and renewed my confidence to return to being a pastor once again.  A special thanks to everyone responsible for planning and executing my farewell receptions at each parish. Everything was delicious and fantastic. An additional word of thanks also to the Knights of Columbus for your incredible assistance loading up my POD for my move and for all your hard work helping me on my moving day.  And in particular, thanks for the spectacular and memorable send-off party complete with axe-throwing and Jambalaya!!! You guys are the best! More thank-yous will be forthcoming once I get myself unpacked, and find the box with all the cards!!! In the meantime, once again know of my gratitude for your love and support. May this season of preparation for Christmas bring you great blessing as we rejoice in the coming of our Savior.     Sincerely yours in Christ, Fr. Joe Ruggieri

St. Joseph Church will present a Live Nativity on Saturday, December 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. Come out and enjoy a live reenactment that really makes the first Christmas come alive. Donations of cash or non-perishable items for the local food cupboard will be kindly accepted. Volunteers to serve as actors, greeters, carolers are needed. Live animals would also be a wonderful addition to our event. To volunteer or for more information, please contact Kathy Paroff (616-723-3091 or [email protected]).

Our annual Advent tradition of the Giving Tree begins November 19. Coordinated by Marcy Fleming, this community outreach provides those in need with a little brighter Christmas (this may be the only gifts they receive). As in the past the “wish lists” were obtained from Catholic Charities of Portage County. We have 50 families with 173 individuals for which to provide gifts (feel free to take more than one!). To participate, please select a tag (remember to sign the list), shop, and return your wrapped gifts to the Narthex with the tag securely attached and visible by Sunday, December 10. Gifts should not exceed $25 per person (includes gift cards). Assembling of the family gift bags will take place on Monday, December 11. To volunteer to help with this project or for more info., please contact Marcy ([email protected], 330-274-2253, or 205-401-8548).

To commemorate our special 100th anniversary year we've purchased a Parish Keepsake Ornament to give to each registered active family. The opportunity to order extras for gifts is also available. Parishioners should look for an envelope with your name on it in the Narthex. If ornaments are not picked up by December 10th, we will make them available for orders. Thank you.

St. Joseph Cares will be holding their next Free Clothing & Diaper Giveaway for the greater Crestwood area on Saturday, December 9. This ministry providing free clothing to families in need will hold their event from 9 a.m. to Noon in a downstairs classroom in the school building. You do not need to be a resident, there is no limit, and no questions are asked. 2024 GIVEAWAYS: Feb. 10, May 11, Aug. 10, Nov. 9

Thank you to everyone who has generously supported the Annual Diocesan Appeal, not only with your own personal commitment, but in encouraging members of our parishes to do the same. As of November 16th, the diocese has reached the 88% mark ($3,525,310), with 28 parishes meeting and surpassing their goal. St. Joseph Parish is at 97.2% of our goal of $34,500.00 with 121 households committing $33,533.00. Even though there are only 45 days left in this calendar year, it is never too late for someone to make a gift to the Annual Diocesan Appeal. https://doy.org/appeal/

St. Joseph’s will host a Red Cross Blood Drive on Monday, December 18, Noon to 6 p.m. in Hughes Hall. Community members are urged to come out and roll up a sleeve. Visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS to learn more.

Email accounts continue to have issues with hackers that pop up every few months. Messages that look like they’re coming from Fr. Francis Katrinak and Fr. Chris Luoni (and other diocesan clergy) have recently come through to several people. If you receive a suspicious email or text that looks like it’s from them, please do not respond and report it as phishing and/or mark it as spam, and then delete it. Please pay close attention to the email address or number it’s coming from (you’ll notice it’s not from their @youngstowndiocese.org emails). In fact, our priests won’t send out emails or texts making requests but rather will communicate with a phone call or in person. Thank you for helping to deter these fraudulent attacks. For information on how to recognize and avoid phishing scams, go to https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams.

St. Joseph’s Maintenance & Grounds Ministry, formed in December of 2018, includes a special group of volunteers who are responsible for the care and maintenance of the physical facilities and the grounds of our parish. This group of dedicated men and women are looking for several more people to join the team. To learn more about this labor of love ministry, visit ttps://stjosephmantua.com/maintenance-grounds-ministry.

The Parish Community of St. Joseph is a very busy place with dozens of groups using the facilities year round. Please check with the Parish Office to confirm a date whenever you are planning a meeting, event, fundraiser, etc. Don’t assume that a space or date is available before you check the master calendar through the Parish Office staff (330-274-2253 or [email protected]). They should always know what is going on throughout the buildings and on the grounds not only for organizational purposes but also for safety and security concerns. For Hughes Hall rental information, please contact Debbie Kruis (330-221-0272). We also take pride in accurately publicizing the many activities in the bulletin and on the parish website and Facebook pages. We appreciate your assistance in help to keep the parish running smoothly and efficiently by following good rules of communication:  clear, concise, complete, correct, and courteous.

An easy way to generate some funds for parish improvements was started in 2018 through recycling aluminum cans. Collect your clean cans in plastic bags, crushing if possible, and deposit in the designated box in it's NEW LOCATION near the dumpster on the northeast corner of the school building. Thank you for participating in this effort!

To be a registered member of a parish is to have a sense of belonging to a family. Registration is important when it comes to requesting the Sacraments or becoming involved in the life of the parish family. Please do not take for granted that you are registered just because you attend Mass here. Are you on our database? Do your receive envelopes? If not, you are most likely not registered as an active parishioner. Each family member, 21 years of age or older, should be registered separately (parents–encourage adult children to register if they still consider themselves members). If you’d like to become an active registered member of the parish, please contact the Parish Office (330-274-2253 or [email protected]). Also, if you move, change your phone number, would like to add your e-mail address, or have any other family changes, please let us know. We would like everyone at St. Joe’s to feel welcome as a part of our parish community family. Thank you for helping us keep up-to-date.

Our Children's Liturgy of the Word program will not take place while we are under the COVID- 19 Pandemic restrictions.