~Prayer for an End to the Sin of Racism in Our Land~ Pope Francis exhorts us with these words: “My friends, we cannot turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion of any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” (Message to the U.S. June 3, 2020) And so we pray: God of Heaven and Earth, you created the one human family and endowed each person with great dignity. Aid us, we pray, in overcoming the sin of racism. Grant us your grace in eliminating this blight from our hearts, our communities, our social and civil institutions. Fill our hearts with love for you and our neighbor so that we may work with you in healing our land from racial injustice. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Several years ago Carey Landry wrote a song called “I Believe in the Sun.” It contained the verses of a poem written during World War II by a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp. I thought how appropriate these words are as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. “I believe in the sun even when it isn’t shining. I believe in love even when there’s no one there. And I believe in God even when He is silent.” Hope grows out of faith. We believe that even when things seem hopeless, God will ultimately get us through it all and will lead us to the joy that will never end. I pray this Easter will bring you closer to the heart of Christ and I pray whatever darkness is around you at this time will not rob you of your peace and joy. He is Risen, Alleluia! ~Fr. Terry

We have many new opportunities as we observe this Lenten season and look forward to the grace of our salvation through our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are able to attend Mass both in person and online, receive drive-thru ashes, communion and palms, and we welcome back Saturday evening Masses. Although we have been presented with a variety of different challenges this year and our gatherings with family and parishioners have been limited, perhaps this Lent could be the most meaningful one for us if we can take this past year's challenges as an opportunity for spiritual growth. Now is the time to: Fast from criticism and feast on gratitude Fast from anger and feast on peace. Fast from resentment and feast on contentment. Fast from fear and feast on faith. Amid all of life’s uncertainties we know that our God walks with us on our journey through life. Let us be resolved to make this a holy season by our prayers of trust and works of mercy. ~Fr. Terry

We welcome Aaron VanDanacker at he starts his first day with SJCC on February 1. He is excited to serve our community, coordinating liturgy and music, while coaching all musicians at SJCC with the goal of uplifting the community in song. Aaron loves collaborating with the multitude of joyous volunteers who make beautiful liturgy possible each week. After attending the University of St. Thomas, Aaron has enjoyed a career of teaching middle school choir, serving in ministry, and most recently serving as the Interim Artistic Director of the St. John's Boys' Choir at St. John's University. In his free time, he stays active in the music scene by performing with musical theatre and jazz groups as a singer, pianist and conductor. Aaron lives in New Hope with his 6.5 pound dog, Reese. Please welcome Aaron to our Catholic family!

This Advent I have come to appreciate the theme of waiting: Waiting for Christmas, waiting for healing, waiting for the pandemic to end, waiting for times to gather again. This time of waiting has given us an opportunity to reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation (God’s Word becoming flesh). In becoming one of us, Christ showed us our sublime dignity. The incarnate God seeks us out! He sought us as the lover seeking the beloved. Jesus speaks of this searching out as the finding of the lost sheep. He seeks us out as “The Hound of Heaven” to use the image of Francis Thompson’s poem. In becoming one of us Jesus loved with a human heart and acted with a human will. In doing so, he taught us the value of truth, how to choose the good, and how to love our neighbor with forgiveness and compassion. My people, how Blessed we are. Merry Christmas. Fr. Terry Rassmussen Hound of Heaven Poem: http://www.houndofheaven.com/poem

Words From Father Terry: This year as we celebrate the Feast of Thanksgiving, we will likely have fewer people gathered around the table. The pandemic has caused us to do things differently this year. He words “thank you” can still be a part of our Thanksgiving holiday. This year, more than ever we need to put on an attitude of gratitude, especially when we may find many reasons not to be grateful. The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will influence our relationships, our jobs, and our prayer life. There are many things that we cannot change, but we can decide to find reasons for gratitude despite all the negatives. This Thanksgiving I hope we as a community of faith will continue to live in gratitude to God and in gratitude for family and friends. I am grateful for all of you, and so I say, “Thank you.”

Archbishop Hebda today shared his gratitude for our commitment in following safety protocols instituted by the Archdiocese and public health officials. In light of the increasing pandemic numbers, he has requested that all non-sacramental gatherings be paused, postponed or moved virtually. St. Joseph's will contact those groups affected. This will not impact the offering of in-person and online liturgies at the Parish Center as listed on this page. View the Archbishop's video address: https://youtu.be/CywjU-82YGM

On Saturday, November 7, 2020, Archbishop Hebda presided at our 4:30p Mass and lead our Catholic Community in worship! After Mass, Archbishop Hebda greeted parishioners, participated in Q&A session with St. Joseph's lay leadership, and blessed pavers for the new columbarium at the Historic Little Church! Click the picture to watch the Mass and see pictures!

Words From Father Terry: As we stand at this moment in history, give us the wisdom to discern clearly right from wrong. May our elected officials reflect the teachings of Jesus and show concern for all people regardless of race or religion. May we as a country not let our political differences prevent us from living out Christ's great commandment of love. Amen.

These past several weeks have caused many of us to look at the issue of racism in our cities, in our world, and in ourselves. Mostly we don’t think of ourselves as prejudiced against Blacks and other minorities, but then our history, our words or our thoughts betray us. While we mourn the death George Floyd and other black men who died violently, we need to listen to the voices of those who call out to us: The voices of grief and anger, the calls for justice and social change. Of course we deplore the violence that followed the death of George Floyd, but let us not let that prevent us from hearing the message of protesters. The extent of the anger in many people of color expressed itself in cities throughout the United States and world. Our nation just celebrated Its independence. The Fourth of July usually brings parades and picnics and gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy. This year was different for me. The pandemic along with the Black Lives matter protests kept me from feeling like celebrating. I grieve that the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King is only in its infancy. I grieve that the pandemic has taken so many lives and prevented close interaction with our neighbors and families. While our country may be in a time of distress and appear broken, I believe God is giving us an opportunity to be better people. Let us use this time to put into practice our better impulses. God bless and help us all. ~Fr Terry

Archbishop Hebda recorded a video message for all the elderly and those in care centers throughout our Archdiocese. This message of thanks, hope, and encouragement may be helpful for older parishioners who cannot yet return to the limited public celebration of Mass.

Special Message from Father Terry, Let us pray for all those affected by the violence in the Twin Cities these past days, for the family of George Floyd and for all those who have lost their businesses or access to food and medicine due to the fires. Please also consider financial support of those in the affected neighborhoods by organizations providing aid, through the links below: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Minneapolis: https://htlcmpls.org/donate/ Community Emergency Service Food Shelf, Minneapolis: https://www.cesmn.org/index.php/food-program/food-shelf North Star Health Collective (medics and health professionals): https://www.northstarhealthcollective.org/

Yay! As of today we have received approval from the Archdiocese, CDC and the State of MN to re-open under recommended health orders. We have done a tremendous amount of planning and preparation for the re-opening celebration of St. Joseph Catholic Community and now can finalize our safety protocols and properly educate our staff, volunteers, parishioners and visitors. We are excited to celebrate with you in a safe and welcoming return to the physical church on Sunday June 7. All information is posted on our website www.stjosephparish.com/welcome-back. We will also continue to pray with and for our community ONLINE with Masses and liturgies throughout the week. Blessings to all and stay safe!

We are so proud of all our Class of 2020 Graduating High School, College and other Program Seniors!  We know that this was not the year-end that you were so looking forward to.  St. Joseph wants to honor you for your hard work and dedication over your high school and college years.  It is truly an accomplishment and we want to celebrate YOU!  Please send us a photo (non-professional) of yourself to https://bit.ly/SJCCGradPic by May 25 that we will include in a tribute to you and all the other graduating seniors! 

Serenity Village Church located at 4100 Douglas Drive near the Crystal, MN city hall will be distributing donated commercial food today at noon-dark and weekly during this time of need. For future donation days and to offer help, please follow Jim Adams on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1461289570

All Masses at St. Joseph Catholic Community will be not be held. We have many resources and information for you online to continue to serve you - please see https://www.stjosephparish.com/preventing-respiratory-illnesses. Also see Archbishop Hebda's full announcement and other forthcoming announcements at https://www.archspm.org/category/announcements/

After the announcement of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in MN, St. Joseph and Archbishop Hebda recommended the following practices be taken when you come to church in addition to refrain from use of the holy water and baptismal fountains: "Stay home if you feel sick, suspend the sign of peace, communion from the chalice, sanitize your hands before receiving the Eucharist and refrain from holding hands during the “Our Father” part of the service." Also, he announced a change of liturgical attendance. For the latest updates at St. Joseph's see: https://www.stjosephparish.com/preventing-respiratory-illnesses

St. Joseph's Parish Director Dean Rademacher and Director of Social Justice and Volunteer Engagement Jason Wittak are featured in the 01-30-2020 Catholic Spirit publication on pages 5 and 16 respectively. They represent our community well by promoting the Synod DMI Survey and Feed My Starving Children Mobile events this month. Read all about us! https://issuu.com/thecatholicspirit/docs/tcsjan30_2020/4

Listening events are now in our area. They are open to all (what's working, what's not) and will assist Bishop Hebda to discern and establish clear pastoral priorities to promote greater unity and lead us to a more vigorous proclamation of Jesus’ good news. See www.stjosephparish.com/synod-2021 or our Facebook Events page for dates, locations and times! Your voice needs to be heard - please attend a session!

The biennial National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) held in November was made possible by caring and supportive St. Joseph parishioners who provided financial support. The attendees grew in faith and love for Jesus, which strengthened their spirits for discipleship. Thank you sponsors, we could not have done it without you! See pictures as they come in via the On The Rock webpage, under NCYC. #SJCCShares www.stjosephparish.com