During his public prayer of the Regina caeli in St. Peter Square on May 11, Pope Leo asked for renewed prayers for vocations, especially to the priesthood and consecrated life. He said: "Let us ask our heavenly Father to assist us in living in service to one another, each according to his or her state of life, shepherds after his own heart (cf. Jer 3:15) capable of helping one another to walk in love and truth." Beginning July 2, on every first Wednesday of the month, the Holy Hour following the evening Mass at St. Joseph will have a focus of prayer for vocations. Every Wednesday, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at 6 p.m. and Mass is at 6:30 p.m. followed by Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 8 p.m.

Each Thursday throughout the year, Portage North OCIA meets for those interested in learning about faith, who Jesus is, and/or may be interested in becoming Catholic. The Inquiry period has started again for OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults). This is the time to start- especially for someone who is not yet baptized or has little to no catechesis and might be. Come and see! For more information, please contact Angela Daczko at [email protected] or call/text 216-272-1506.

As we gather with family and friends this 4th of July to celebrate our nation’s independence, be sure to say a prayer for the millions throughout the world who have never tasted the freedoms that we enjoy in America, especially the freedom to practice our faith publicly. May you and your family have a safe and fun-filled holiday this week. FYI—no morning Mass at St. Joseph Church July 4th.

Bishop Bonnar extends his heartfelt gratitude for the prayers and contributions of our diocese's faithful supporters. As of June 20th, 109 families have pledged $34,365.00 toward our parish goal of $33,400.00 (102.89%). If you haven’t yet made a pledge or gift to the 2025 Annual Diocesan Appeal, you may still do so. Brochures with information on giving are available in the Narthex. Make your gift by completing a pledge card in Appeal envelope or by using the QR code to give online at doy.org/appeal. For more information, visit doy.org/appeal.

The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown announces the third pastoral letter written by the Most Rev. David J. Bonnar, Bishop of Youngstown entitled, “Take Heart! Do Not Lose Heart! Behold the Sacred Heart!”. This Pastoral Letter is inspired by Pope Francis’ last encyclical entitled Dilexit Nos (“He loved us”). Bishop Bonnar wrote a reflection on the encyclical for America Magazine in January 2025 entitled, "The human heart and the Sacred Heart: What Pope Francis can teach us about a holy devotion."

Email accounts continue to have issues with hackers that pop up every few months. Messages that look like they’re coming from our pastors 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, Mantua, Knights of Columbus Council #3766 have donated 25 round, plastic tables for use in St. Joseph Church’s Hughes Hall. They replace the wooden tables that have been used for many years. An additional rack has also been added so that all the round tables can be stored safely. Thank you Knights! Pictured: Ed Zwolinski & Jerry Kuzmiak (past & new Grand Knights)

Did You Hear? . . . St. Joseph's Ox Roast Fair has been featured on The Catholic Echo Podcast Episode 83: Where are some Parish Festivals this summer? On this episode of The Catholic Echo Podcast from the Diocese of Youngstown, brought to you by the Annual Diocesan Appeal, Collin Vogt checks out some Parish festivals in the Diocese of Youngstown this summer. Guests include Debbie Kruis from St. Joseph in Mantua and Scott Schulick from The Basilica of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Every week we send out a parish newsletter through Flocknote. If you are not receiving it via email or text and would like to, please contact the Office of St. Joseph & St. Ambrose Parishes (330-274-2253 or [email protected]) with your email address and/or cell number.

As fields are plowed and crops are sown for this year’s growing season, the Church offers a blessing of fields to anyone who would like one. If you would like to arrange for one of our priests or deacons to visit your farm or field for a blessing, please contact the Office of St. Joseph & St. Ambrose Parishes (330-274-2253) at your earliest convenience.⁣

In 2025, were once again hosting a 300 Club fundraiser for St. Joseph Parish. We will have 300 tickets for sale at $100.00 each (you may pay $10/month). They will be sold starting in December, 2024, and running until November 1, 2025. We will have a fantastic dinner at St. Nicholas Banquet Center, 755 S. Cleveland Ave. (Suffield Twp.), Mogadore, Ohio 44260, on Saturday, October 18, 6 to 11 p.m., where you will have a one in 300 chance of walking away with $7,500.00. Join us for an evening of fun at this beautiful banquet center and delicious food. Tickets are available for purchase by contacting Debbie Kruis (330-221-0272) or Mary Ann Feddor (330-842-0505). Good luck!

The advertisers that appear on our back page each week allow us to have the bulletin published at no cost to the parishes of St. Joseph and St. Ambrose! Won’t you help us fill our ad page? To learn more about advertising in our bulletin, please contact our ad representative, Victoria O’Donnell, at 413-815-1477 or [email protected].

The Lottery Raffle parish fundraiser follows the Ohio Lottery's 3-Digit evening drawing only. Each ticket is $5.00 and is good for the entire month (you may purchase the same number for multiple months). Only 1,000 tickets will be sold numbered #000 - #999 each month. Winning tickets are worth $50.00 (payouts mailed weekly). Proceeds to help with our church improvements and are currently being earmarked for our Parish Renovation Fund which finances future projects. For every five Lottery Raffle tickets you buy in any given month, you will get one random number given to you which is also good for that month. TICKETS MAY ONLY BE OBTAINED BY CONTACTING Deb Kruis (330-221-0272) or Mary Ann Feddor (330-842-0505) via text or phone call. If you provide your name, address, phone number and ticket # you'd like to purchase, arrangements can be made to pull those for you.

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 Office of St. Joseph & St. Ambrose (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.

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. 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.

Diocesan Virtus Compliance and background checks are not just for those working with children anymore. Any adult who is an altar server or anyone bringing communion to or visiting the homebound, needs to be Virtus compliant. Training is done online at your convenience. Please contact Jennifer Berczik (330-274-2253- T,W,TH) to find out how to get started.

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