Church is collecting stuffed animals to distribute to migrant kids for Christmas.  The kids come with their parents to the free migrant store at the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church to get clothes and other needed items.  Please drop off the stuffed animals on the weekends of Dec 2-3, Dec 9-10, and Dec 16-17 in the tall fabric box in the back of the church.  Thank you for your support.   Any questions please email Kathleen Pereira.

It is the time once again to plan the Christmas Eve Children’s Pageant at St. Joseph’s to be held Friday, December 24th at 4pm, just before the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass for children at 4:30pm. Please contact Kelly Hanlon to let us know if your child is interested in taking part in the Christmas pageant.  We have roles for all ages – our smallest parishioners are needed to play stable animals, and our older kids are needed to help behind the scenes with cues, costumes, and music.  A script as well as costumes are provided (and homemade costumes are also welcomed!) Rehearsals will be begin on December 3^rd at 9:30am.

Join us on Gaudete Sunday, December 17^th at 4pm, for our annual Lessons & Carols service.  This hour-long service contains nine Scripture readings, or lessons, which recount the fall of humanity, the promise of a Messiah, the birth of Jesus, and the commission to preach the good news.  Each Scripture lesson is followed by a sung carol or choral motet, and by a prayer.  Come let the familiarity of these powerful readings bring you comfort, and the beauty of these beloved carols bring you peace, as we all eagerly anticipate the birth of our Savior at Christmas.  Make this an annual tradition for you and for your family in this season of Advent!

We need at least 4 volunteers to assist with cooking, serving, and cleaning at this event. We are happy to sign off on volunteer hours for high students seeking to complete the 100 mandatory volunteering hours for graduation.

Christmas Eve

December 24^th

Christmas Day

December 25^th – 10:30 a.m.

Weekday Masses

December 26^th -29^th at 8:00 a.m.

Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God

December 31^st – Vigil Mass at 5:30 p.m.

January 1^st – 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., and 12:10 noon

Reminders:

December 26^th through 29^th we will have one Mass at 8 a.m. The rectory will be closed on December 25^th and January 1^st, and open by appointment only from the 26^th to the 29^th  

St. Joseph’s is organizing a parish-wide Day of Service to perform works of charity and mercy on Saturday, October 21.  We had 125 volunteers for the parish’s last Day of Service prior to the COVID pandemic.  We’re pushing to match that number this year, so please click on the link at the bottom of this page to volunteer. 

If your schedule will not permit you to participate in the Service Day, please consider donating to the Poor Box at the back of the church to fund the meal and snack bags described in the charity projects below.

There will be work for volunteers of all ages and abilities, including young children and the mobility restricted.  Students will have the opportunity to fulfill community service obligations too.

We will do our best to assign you to a project that fits your interests.  Volunteers should expect an email during the week of October 16 confirming your project assignment from your project leader.

The Day of Service will begin with coffee at 9 AM in the parish center.  Guest speaker Brian Rhude will follow with his presentation, “The Eucharist and Accompaniment” at 9:30 AM in the church to prepare volunteers spiritually for the day’s tasks.  At 10:30 AM, in the church, volunteers will congregate into work teams and immediately proceed to assigned projects.  A group prayer specially composed for the Day of Service will conclude the day’s activities at each respective worksite at approximately 1 PM.

Projects, subject to change, include:

• Preparing lunch bags for a non-profit that serves meals to the needy. (Child and mobility restricted friendly)
• Preparing snack-and-go bags for a non-profit who delivers them to children in hospital. (Child and mobility restricted friendly)
• Painting St. Joseph’s wrought iron perimeter fence.
• Pulling and cleaning windows at Madonna House.
• Gardening and yard work at Madonna House and the parish grounds.
• Picking up trash and cleaning up the Anacostia River Trail’s West Bank path.
• Performing yard and other light outdoor work at the homes of infirm/elderly parishioners and neighbors.
  • (Click on the Request Service link at the bottom of this page to sign up a parishioner in need, please include yourself if you need help too.)

The St. Joseph’s Men’s group will continue to meet on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month at 7AM in the Parish Center where we will discuss a particular Saint’s virtues and how they apply in today’s world. Our motto?  No homework, just manly fellowship!  May 5th is the next meeting.  Note the time change from 6:45 to 7 O’Clock.

St Joseph’s is starting a new group for mothers of young children and expecting mothers. If one or more of your children is small enough that they make it difficult to participate in regular parish events, this is the group for you. As we plan our first activities, we want to hear more about the needs of the young mothers of the parish. Email Emily at emily.karrs@gmail.com if you are interested in hearing more about this new group or sharing your thoughts on what you would like it to entail.

Our parish has not had a children’s choir in many years, and St. Joseph’s is blessed to hear the voices of our young Catholics in song during Mass.  We are grateful to these children and their families for their dedication, and we look forward to hearing them again soon!

These ten young men and women have been meeting every other week since the beginning of the school year. They sang at St. Matthew’s Cathedral for the annual Pueri Cantores Festival on March 4^th, and they sung for their first Sunday Mass here on March 19^th.

Young singers take the stage at Pueri Cantores choral festival and Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral – Catholic Standard

Children in Grades 4-12

Please consider a place for them in the newly forming St. Joseph’s Children’s Choir. Our music director, Maria Balducci, knows very well the challenges of family schedules, with four young children of her own. But she is eager to share her love of the Catholic faith and the liturgy with the young of this parish, and sacred music is an amazing way to draw them in. They will learn techniques of singing, Latin pronunciation and translations, how to read Gregorian chant as well as modern notation, important chants, hymns, and motets of our great heritage of music. Before long, they’ll be teaching their parents!  If you have any questions or schedule concerns email Maria or talk with her after any weekend Mass.

St. Joseph’s is blessed with a historic and beautiful 1891 Hook and Hastings mechanical action organ.  It is a beautiful instrument to look at in the upper rear of our church, and it has a noble sound as it supports the music made in our church.  However, there is a need for our organ to receive some serious work to keep it both functional and protected for the future.  While it continues to chug along with much coaxing and quick fixes, our music director Maria Balducci has made some good progress on understanding the work needed, finding the best organ builders and restorers, and beginning to receive potential bids.

The well-respected company of David E Wallace & Co. LLC Pipe Organ Builders made a visit from their workshop in Gorham, Maine.  David and his son Nick were thrilled that our Hook & Hastings is an original, unaltered model. Their company specializes in historic pipe organs and they understand both the financial and historic value of this organ.  They have given us a proposal for a full restoration of the organ, in which the entire organ (pipes, console, woodwork) would be removed and taken to Maine and worked on for approximately a year (a smaller, temporary organ would be placed in the front of the church) .  The organ would be brought back to St. Joseph’s in full splendor, even with the original working hand pump!

A second visit was made by Scot Huntington of S.L. Huntington & Co. Pipe Organ Builders from Stonington, Connecticut.  Scot’s company is also well-known for caring for historic pipe organs.  We are awaiting a proposal from his company that will detail renovations to the organ as currently needed, a lesser project than a full restoration, though still with the need to remove much of the organ for an extended period of time.
All of this information, along with a third bid, will be discussed with our current organ tuner, several organists in the area, as well as our parish and financial council here at St. Joseph’s.  Any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Maria Balducci who will be eager to discuss this project.  More information to come!