Everyone who cares about the Church is encouraged to participate in the Synod. Pope Francis wants to hear from those who feel marginalized or hurt by their Catholic experience, as well as from those who have found joy and mercy in the Church. During the synodal sessions, we will listen to each other and invite the Holy Spirit to open our hearts to feel the love, joy and pain of those whose experience is different from our own. Catholics throughout the world will be discerning the same questions. St. Joseph the Worker is offering four productive listening sessions for our Parish where together, we will listen to the Holy Spirit, share what is on our hearts and most importantly, listen to each other. We encourage our parishioners to attend a session if you are able. Click on this announcement to learn more.

Be A Hero! Save A Life!
SJW is hosting a Blood Drive on Sunday, March 20th at Sacred Heart Hall.
Since the pandemic, blood donations have been reduced to a historically low level. Now that the Covid infection numbers are going down please consider signing up to donate now!

The Blood Bank is strongly encouraging registering before the session. Complete information on how to signup can be found on this flyer.

The parish has planned a number of events and opportunities to worship during this Lenten Season. Complete details may be found at this link.

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will take preliminary steps to ease COVID restrictions in schools and parishes while remaining committed to protecting everyone’s health and safety.
Beginning in parishes on Saturday, February 26 and in diocesan elementary and high schools on Monday, February 28, masks will not be required, except in limited circumstances.
Complete details can be found here.

Join us on Sunday, March 13, 2022 in the Sacred Heart Hall for the St. Joseph the Worker BINGO! Doors open at Noon (food available for purchase) and Bingo will start at 1PM. Cost is $20.00... extra boards and specials sold separately. Join us for an afternoon of fun. All proceeds will benefit our Parish.

We encourage participants to wear masks and physical distancing will be in place. If you have any questions, please contact Peggy Cox at 412-736-3507.

This Lent, St. Joseph The Worker Parish is sponsoring a Fish Fry and Bake Sale. Starting on Ash Wednesday, March 2nd and running through Good Friday on April 15th, the Fish Fry will take place in Keane Hall on the St. Maurice campus. In order to keep everyone as safe as possible, we will be offering Take Out options only this year (no eat in dining).
We are in need of many volunteers to make our Fish Fry a success. Volunteers are needed for all areas and all abilities.
Please go to: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0a4caaac2fa1fb6-stjoseph to view the Volunteer Opportunities, days and times and select the days you are able to help. Or scan this code with your phone.

The Fish Fry is a wonderful way to bring people together.... building community, helping others, sharing blessings... all in God's service. Thank You!

Members of St. Joseph the Worker Parish's Service & Outreach Committee recently spent two days counting and documenting over 500 inventory items at the soon-to-open Refuge for Women Emergency House.

Read More ...

This weekend, in anticipation of the Feast Day of St. Blaise, our Clergy Team and our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion will be blessing throats. At the conclusion of Mass, we ask those who would like to receive, to come forward and receive the Blessing of St. Blaise. The Clergy will also be blessing throats at the 8AM Mass at Madonna del Castello Church and at 9AM Mass at Word of God on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

Thank you to all who contributed to the Christmas flower fund. Please take some time to review our contribution list. THANK YOU for making our churches look so beautiful this Christmas season!

Begining Monday, January 17th and continuing through Monday, January 31st, the Parish is holding a drive for our refugee friends from Casa San Jose living in that Madonna rectory. We are hoping to collect various household items and toiletries for them to use each day. A complete list of item needed can be found here.

Please bring your items to the Churches and place them in the bins marked Casa San Jose.

Following Bishop Zubik's directive, all St. Joseph the Worker ministries.meetings and outside organizations will reschedule in person meetings for the month of January or offer them virtually via Zoom. Masses, Adoration, Confessions and funerals will all be held in person in our Churches. All members of our Clergy and Lay ministers MUST wear masks.
Zoom is free for individuals and will allow folks to schedule meetings for less than 55 minutes per session. This is an effective tool for virtual meetings. Visit www.zoom.us for more information.
RCIA will be offered via Zoom each week. Religious Education is going virtual and Youth Group will be meeting virtually, too. Pastoral Council and Service and Outreach are meeting via Zoom next week.
It is our hope that the Covid numbers will decrease and we will again be able to meet in person starting in February.

Following the Bishop's directive and out of an abundance of caution for everyone's safety, Bingo slated for Sunday, January 16th at Sacred Heart Church Hall has been cancelled. Please check the SJW bulletin for the date of our February Bingo.

READ ON FOR CANCELLED EVENTS AND CLOSURES
A member of our office staff has been exposed to Covid-19. Please read on to hear about sudden cancellations and closures.

On Sunday, November 21, Father Frank and Father Daniel , assisted by Deacon Herb, celebrated a wonderful Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Maurice for our whole Parish in honor of the amazing work that everyone has done for our sister Parish, the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ghana, Africa. Through the generosity and prayerful support of our parishioners and friends, we have been able to do amazing things for our brothers and sisters. At this Mass, Father Daniel presented Father Frank with a beautiful plaque that the people of Sacred Heart created to thank us for our kindness and generosity. Father Frank will add the plaque to a place of honor in our Parish. We are called to give our time, our talents and our treasures to help others. Our Sister Parish is a perfect example of how we can come together in a positive way to help others. Celebrating Christ the King Sunday, we are reminded of the wonderful things that can be accomplished with God.

Thanks to the generosity of the parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, the Knights of Columbus were able to collect over 1500 pairs of socks to the Red Door/ St. Faustina's Gate. The photo shows our Knight, Dave Price and Red Door/ St. Faustina's Gate Coordinator, Sarah with a truck load of your kindness. Socks are the #1 most requested item from folks in homeless shelters. Although socks may be an item that we overlook each day, they are integral to a person's warmth and good health. Your invaluable help and generosity with these socks is greatly appreciated. Let's keep all of our friends at the Red Door and all those who are homeless in our prayers this Thanksgiving and always. God Bless You All!

Orders are now being accepted for wreaths and garlands. MAIL IN ORDERS by Friday, November 26, 2021 for PICK UP – Saturday, December 4, 2021. Complete details can be found in the flyer by clicking here.

We invite our parishioners to sign up to light the Advent Wreath at all the Masses during Advent. There is a sign up sheet at the entrance to each of our Churches where families, individuals and friends can sign up for a week to light the Advent Wreath. When you are at Mass this week or next weekend, please take a moment to sign up to light the Advent wreath and make this an annual tradition for you and your family!

One of the important tasks of the Parish's Step4Ward Leadership Team was to come together to create a new Vision Statement for our Parish. This task, at first glance may seem very easy to create, however it was not. We wanted to recognize our strong past traditions while also honoring our hopes for a bright future. After much discussion, collaboration and prayer, the team created the following Vision Statement for St. Joseph the Worker Parish:
"St. Joseph the Worker Parish is a welcoming, vibrant Catholic Community uniting people to God and each other through prayerful, sacred liturgy, dynamic, strong ministries and loving, generous outreach. Inspired by our patron saint, we embrace our hard working, diverse region by honoring our traditions and forming holy and committed disciples of Jesus Christ."
It is our hope that the bright future we will all create together will meet and exceed this vision statement with God's help.

Mass Intentions are now being scheduled for 2022. The request form can be downloaded here or obtained in the regular Sunday bulletin. Requests can be returned in the regular offertory collection or mailed to the parish center at:
2001 Ardmore Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15221.
Questions? Please call Susan 412-271-6606.

Amen to Action is set to resume this year. The program’s goal is to pack 1 million meals for those in need. The format is a little different than in year’s past. Instead of being at the convention center, the packing of meals is to take place at various locations on various dates. Our parish is signed up to pack meals at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in the east end of Pittsburgh on Saturday, November 13, 2021 from 8:30 AM until Noon. Please contact the parish office if you would like to participate. This is a wonderful way to put your faith into action this holiday season!