Are you 16 to 25 years old? Have you been looking for a way to gather socially and interact with other Catholics about your faith? Why not come to a newly forming Young Adult Group for St. Joseph and St. Ambrose parishioners! Ally Sabol, a Walsh College student, is organizing a Young Adult Ministry Group and encourages you to come see what it’s all about. They’ll be meeting several times throughout the summer in the courtyard behind St. Joseph’s Parish Center. Join in on Sundays, May 29, June 12, June 26 and August 7 starting at 7 p.m. Questions? Please contact Ally Sabol at 330-807-8701.

Do you have an hour to help save a life? As a proud Premier Blood Partner with the Red Cross, we know that just that short amount of time donating blood can mean a lifetime to a patient battling illness or injury. Roll up a sleeve and join us in giving back to the community. St. Joseph’s will host a Blood Drive on Monday, June 13, 1 to 6 p.m. Visit www.redcrossblood.org today to schedule your appointment to give to an upcoming blood drive!

Donations of clean, wearable condition clothing for all ages are welcome on Clothing Drive Weekends before and after Mass times (5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. Sunday). Held two weekends prior to the giveaway weekends, Clothing Drives will be May 21/22 & 28/29, September 24/25 & October 1/2, and November 26/27 & December 3/4 (call the Parish Office if you'd like to drop off during the week). Please have all clothes folded and bagged. Accessories items (shoes, belts, purses, etc.) and bedding will also be accepted (no pillows or furniture). Place in the All-Purpose Room (look for sign) on designated weekends ONLY. All clothes will be removed that weekend. Donations of large black plastic garbage bags that tie and plastic hangers are also needed. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Lynn Kelley (330-990-8912 or lynnkelley3@gmail.com). St. Joseph Cares will be holding a Free Clothing Giveaway for the greater Crestwood area four times this year. A collaborative effort of area churches providing free clothing to families in need, the events will be held from 9 a.m. to Noon at St. Joseph Church’s Hughes Hall (11045 St. Joseph Blvd., Mantua). You do not need to be a resident, there is no limit, and no questions are asked. Upcoming 2022 Free Clothing Giveaways are June 4, October 8, and December 10.

The Annual Bishop’s Appeal is now the Annual Diocesan Appeal with a new theme: One in Hope, One in Mission. This new name will help us focus on the good work of our diocesan community, centered in the hope and mission of Jesus Christ. The causes the Appeal supports remain the same: to provide resources for Catholic Charities efforts within our diocese and to strengthen the faith of all parishioners through our many diocesan ministries. THANK YOU to all who made a commitment to the 2022 Annual Diocesan Appeal. As of May 19, 99 St. Joseph Parish household families have collectively committed $28,831.00 toward our parish’s goal of $35,600.00. If you have not yet made your commitment, please do so by sending your response to the Parish Office or the Diocese or by visiting https://doy.org/appeal/.

For the second year in a row, St. Joseph Church, through St. Joseph Cares, is partnering with Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Aurora and participating in their annual “Day of Service”. There are multiple projects happening on a single day across Aurora and for the second year in Mantua. This year the Mantua project is to clean up the yard of our long time parishioner Ethelyn Fitzsimmons (107 years young!). However, there are many other projects you can sign up for. Please use the link below and find a project where you can give back for this one day. The Day of Service is Saturday, June 4, and starts at 8:15 a.m. with a blessing under the bell tower at OLPH in Aurora. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080d45adad2ca5f85-ourlady1

The weekend of June 4/5 parishes in the Diocese of Youngstown will hold the annual Church At Home combined collection. This three-in-one collection supports the national and local work of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Catholic Communications Campaign, and the Catholic University of America/Newman Campus Ministries collection for the ministries of the Church At Home.

The month of May is a special time for us Catholics to pay homage to our Blessed Mother Mary. The month of May as a Marian month was further affirmed by Mary’s first apparition at Fatima (May 13, 1917). Members of the Sisterhood of St. Joseph will gather the second Monday in May to pray the Rosary together beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the church (their regular meeting follows). All are welcome to join them Monday, May 9.

Catholic Charities will hold its annual First Step for Change campaign from Mother’s Day through Father’s Day, honoring the faith, humility and love it takes to raise a child, and recognizing that many parents lack adequate financial resources their children. Funds raised through this campaign assist low-income pregnant women and families with food, formula, clothing, diapers and other items essential to a child’s health, safety and well-being. Each family interested in participating in First Step for Change is asked to pick up a First Step Packet after Mass. Take it home, learn more about the program, complete the participation card, and return it to our parish by June 30. All money collected by our parish will help to meet local needs. Thank you.

On Sunday, May 8, the First Communion Class will be participating in a May Crowning at the 9 a.m. Mass. Communicants are to wear their First Communion clothes and bring a bouquet of fresh flowers for Mary’s altar. Please arrive by 8:45 a.m. to practice the procession and May Crowning.

We wish to welcome Marcy Fleming as our new Office Assistant! Marcy was born and raised south of Boston. She graduated from Bryant University with a BS in Business Administration. After getting married in 1996, her husband Don and children took an opportunity to move to Birmingham, Alabama and stayed for 12 years. While in Alabama, Marcy converted to Catholicism and has continued to learn about her faith. Marcy worked in both the PSR Office as Assistant DRE and helped in the Parish Office of the large parish. Her husband's job opportunity took them to Northeast Ohio, where they settled in Akron for three years and then moved to Mantua this past October (2021). They have two children attending college. Marcy and Don stay busy volunteering with the any group helping the homeless or food insecure. Her hobbies include hiking with her two dogs, cycling, gardening, watching Notre Dame football, and attending almost anything with “festival” in the name. She looks forward to getting to know her new community of St. Joseph Parish.  

We are getting ready to begin lawn mowing and grounds crew tasks. We could use some more volunteers. For mowing chores, the property is divided up into zones so each person is only responsible for sections. If you’d like to become involved or need more info., please contact Greg. We are looking into repainting the Parish Center. The current green has run its course. The last time it was painted was back in 1996!   We started a table and chairs ministry. Ed Zwolinski and Stan Carlisle have agreed to take on the project. For any chairs and table that are broken, please place them under the stairs across the boiler/maintenance room. They will monitor that area. They’ve also agreed to maintain the tables and chairs in the Ox Barn. Having noticed a few issues with the pews in the church, we are looking into working on them throughout the year.   The floors are getting their yearly buff. Please be mindful of areas closed off while they work on them.   We are looking into getting the flat roof repaired. The roof over the kitchen and hall was under warranty but has expired.   Thank you all who have been lending a hand to make this ministry a success. Maintenance & Grounds Ministry Greg D’Aurelio (330-569-4614 or gdaurelio@live.com)

First Communion is on Sunday, May 1, at the 9 a.m. Mass. All First Communicants and their families are to arrive by 8:30 a.m. and gather in the All-Purpose Room.

Limited trade booth space is available for the entire three days of the Fair, July 15, 16, 17. The standard 10’ x 10’ booth rental fee is $350.00. A large booth, measuring 10’ x 20’, is also available for $450.00. Each booth is a lighted, open-sided booth with a canopy style cover (this is not an individual free-standing tent). St. Joseph’s will supply one 8’ table and two folding chairs. Trade booths which require special lighting and/or require the use of a vehicle are $550.00. Reserve your spot early & receive a discount! For further information and an agreement form, please visit https://stjosephmantua.com/ox-boothscontact or contact the Parish Office (330-274-2253 or parishoffice@stjosephmantua.com).

Bishop Bonnar has invited everyone to consider making a donation to provide humanitarian and spiritual assistance to the people of Ukraine and the region, through the U.S. Bishops’ Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. Visit https://doy.org/Ukraine/ to learn more. In addition, eCatholic websites will match donations made through their partners at Catholic Extension.

Be a part of this year's 5K Run/Walk or 1M Fun Walk at St. Joseph's Annual Ox Roast Fair!!! Race will take place on Saturday morning of the fair rain or shine. Registration is at 7 a.m. in front of the church and the race begins at 8 a.m. Out and back course begins at St. Joe's, heads down St. Joseph Blvd. to Pioneer Trail, onto Bowen Rd. to St. Rt. 82 and back to the church (Fun Walk takes place on church grounds). Spectators are welcome. Awards will be given to the top three overall and the top three in the following age groups: 11 and under, 12-15, 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60 and over. Features include water stops, timers, t-shirts (first 150 registrations), and refreshments. Pre-registration fee is $25.00 by July 16, 2022. Race day registration is $30.00. Registration forms are available in the church Narthex, by visiting https://stjosephmantua.com/ox-fun-rides-games-events-music or sign up on the website of the race coordinator, Run the Land (runsignup.com/Race/OH/Mantua/RunoftheOx).

The Diocese of Youngstown has issued revised Guidance and Directives for Sunday/Weekday Liturgies - March 2022, in light of new recommendations from the CDC, State of Ohio and the declining number of COVID cases. In brief summary, all practices, with the exception of offering the Precious Blood to the faithful, can returned to normal use returning our Sunday worship to a style that promotes the full, active, and conscious participation of all in attendance. To view the details, please visit https://doy.org/covid-19-guidelines/.

Did you know that there’s a group of parishioners who gather at Jake's Restaurant after Sunday's 9 a.m. Mass? It's been dubbed the St. Joseph's Breakfast Club and anyone is welcome to join them. St. Joseph's Breakfast Club recently pitched in donations to purchase chairs for Hughes Hall. With these replacements and the repair work being done by K of C Grand Knight, Ed Zwolinski, it brings us back up to the appropriate number of chairs needed for our Hall. Great to see good stewardship in action!

Along with our parish website and Facebook page, the bulletin is the center of our parish communication, and we want to keep you informed. The bulletin has been available on our website at https://stjosephmantua.com/bulletins for quite some time. Thanks to our bulletin company, J.S. Paluch, you can signup to have the bulletin emailed to you by visiting https://ebulletin.jspaluch.com/#/ or by texting the word ‘BULLETIN’ to 94090. We will still receive a limited number of printed bulletins for those attending Mass and in the Parish Office. As you can see, there are plenty of ways to stay connected anytime. Stay kind, be generous, be hopeful, and God bless.

Fr. Ed’s email continues to have issues with hackers that pop up every few months. If you receive a suspicious email or text that looks like it’s from him, please do not respond and report it as phishing and/or mark it as spam. Please pay close attention to the email address or number it’s coming from (you’ll notice it’s not from estafford@stjosephmantua.com). In fact, Fr. Ed most likely won’t send out emails or texts 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.

The Fundraising Committee is starting an easy way to generate some funds for parish improvements through recycling aluminum cans. Collect your clean cans in plastic bags, crushing if possible, and deposit in the designated containers in front of the church or in the All-Purpose Room. They will be picked up every weekend after Sunday Mass. Thank you in advance for your participation. If you would like to assist in any of our fundraisers, please contact John or Debbie Kruis (330-618-3604 or 330-221-0272).