October 10, 2023

FALL FESTIVAL!

We are glad to invite you all my brothers and sisters of the Parish and also the friends and devotees of St. Joseph. This coming Sunday, October 15th from 1-5 P.M., we are having our fall festival gathering at St. Joseph Parish, 710 South 19th St. Corpus Christi, TX 78405.

There will be live bands, various vendors, games, and a lot of Foods. These include, MENUDO, TACOS, TURKEY LEGS, FILIPINO FOODS like chicken adobo, eggrolls, with rice, funnel cakes and many others.

Bring and invite your family and friends to be part of this annual Festival at St. Joseph Parish Church.

Before the conclusion of the event, the Raffle ticket winners will be drawn.

See you there!!!

Fr. ogie Rosalinas, SOLT
Pastor

April 4, 2023

Season of Lent and Easter: Events to Remember

The Lord is risen, Alleluia!

We had great celebrations in the past 40 days of Lenten season which started on Ash Wednesday and of the Easter Season. The Holy Week and Easter Triduum were fully attended. St. Joseph’s Church parishioners came together to celebrate the Paschal mystery of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection. The weekly stations of the cross, the Palm Sunday, the Good Friday liturgical activities which include the Seven last Words of Jesus on the Cross, the Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday, and also the Divine Mercy Sunday were great days for all of us in the parish to remember Jesus’ redemption of all of us. An opportunity of being together after the Pandemic, worshipping and praising as one people of God.

We rejoiced as a Parish family for the newly Baptized members of the parish, a great blessing for them as they received for the very first time the Body and Blood of Christ and also the gifts of the Holy Spirit during their confirmation.

This coming April 26th, there are 15 young people who undergone their faith formation for two years, and will be Confirmed by Bishop Michael William Mulvey, DD, the Bishop of Corpus Christi
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Let us pray for them all as they start their journey of faith guided by the Holy Spirit and the Church.

May God Bless you all!

Fr. Ogie Rosalinas, SOLT

N.B. I also want to tell you, how grateful I am for this year’s Easter Egg hunting activity hosted by the Altar Servers. Many families with their children enjoyed so much this event.

Christmas Message: December 25, 2022

Dear Parishioners:

It is always a blessing that each one of us is here to welcome and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. All Christians around the world are happy for the coming of this season, which is the season of Faith, Hope, Joy, and Love. It remains the ultimate opportunity for all to remember that God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son to redeem each one of us. God sent his son, Jesus, to bring salvation to us all. And by doing so, he had given us the chance to change our ways and to start all over again in our relationship with Him and with other people. He continuously calls out to us for change and renewal. He shared to us the grace necessary so that we could bring his Good news to everyone. It was through baptism, that we received the mandate of his mission to spread the joys of knowing Him and the Good news.

After a couple of years of the pandemic and other circumstances during which time our worship to God in person had stopped, and when once it was okay, the parish started celebrating the liturgies of the mass in person again. Parishioners welcomed and participated in the celebration of the Holy Mass and other Sacraments.

The celebration of the Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Confession specifically, is back inside the Church building. Formation of the Religious Education of our young people, CCD, Confirmation classes and the RCIA and Youth Group has been going on in the Formation Center of our parish. Just recently, they had a Retreat and attended the Advent Mission Reflection. I was happy to see that a good number of parishioners were in attendance. It was a beautiful, and grace-filled encounter with the Lord. And within it, were the talks presented on returning to the Holy Eucharist. The retreat concluded with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the opportunity for personal healing through the sacrament of Confession.

Our God has given us a multitude of blessings in this year of 2022 amongst joys and sadness. We experienced sadness, because members of our parish, who were normally regularly active in their volunteerism at St. Joseph, became seriously ill. Their normal practice in serving God through their parish ministries halted; their absence deeply felt. For those volunteers, who have already returned to our Creator, we have joy in knowing that they are now truly, spiritually close to our God. And as such, they will continue to serve St. Joseph Parish through their prayers for all of us.

Part of the joys that we can tell were the successful activities that involved our people, including the different gatherings that parishioners attended. For instance, the faithful gathered for the monthly Adoration of the Lord from 6-9pm and the processions of the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast day of Corpus Christi, and during the Feast of Christ the King. Also attended were the celebration of the monthly First Friday gathering of the Devotion to the Alliance of the Two hearts of Jesus and Mary, which includes Confession, the celebration of the Mass and the Office of Readings. In addition are the Marian celebrations, such as the Birth and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Rosary, and her Immaculate Conception. We celebrated the Our Lady of Fatima, and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe recently. Throughout the year, parishioners and the Blue Army mostly attend these events.

Of course, we cannot forget the fund-raising activities actively supported by volunteers, sponsors, and the parishioners of our Parish: our Annual Fish Fry and Fall Festival. They were both remarkably successful this year. We are incredibly grateful for the support you gave to these events this year. We continue to pray that these activities will continue to prosper and that they receive your continual support.

It is important to add that volunteers will always be a precious asset to our parish; in all aspects of our parish life. Either by helping out in the Liturgical Services such as becoming Lectors, Extra Ordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist, Ushers, Choir members, or in other activities; volunteers do make the difference. Devoted volunteers regularly undertake the Maintenance of the Parish Beautification and the cleanliness of the parish, the Church, and its surroundings. Yet despite these gifts of selflessness, we still need more volunteers to serve St. Joseph’s by raising funds for the parish and in other ways.

Through the intercession of our patron, Saint Joseph, let us celebrate the coming of Our Lord Jesus into our hearts this Christmas with a new spirit and filled with hope for the Season of Christmas and the forthcoming New Year 2023.

Fr. Ogie Rosalinas, SOLT
Pastor

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CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2020 

     The world was thrust into a multitude of situations for which   nobody was ready in early 2020.  Despite our attentiveness, our alertness; our deeply rooted faith and innate sense of belief that we can conquer and overcome life’s struggles; we were not prepared.

     2020 has forced us all to experience Life altering - worldwide events.  The Covid-19 pandemic did not stop the various natural calamities like hurricanes, typhoons, earth quakes, and flooding; all of which destroy life and properties, from occurring.  Many peoples have lost their businesses; their jobs due to the pandemic or because of a natural calamity.  In several instances, people lost family members, homes, and their sense of security through a combination of the pandemic and calamities.   Our daily routines were affected by  these events.  Altered with the force of lightening, were the usual ways that we were doing everything.  Be it our work, our businesses, vacations, education and even our worship - all of it changed. 

     The Church was closed in the early part of this year because of the Pandemic. At this present time, coming to Church now is very different from the way it was before. You cannot come to Church without wearing your face mask.  Social distancing is now a household word. Inside the Church it is a newly learned habit.  No longer can sit in your favorite pew where you were so accustomed to sitting.  Even for us as clergy, we have to put on our face mask when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist.  Sometimes, it is hard to pronounce well the prayers and words of the Liturgy. But it is necessary. We to do it for our own personal health yes, but especially for the health of others.  We should be grateful that our Bishop for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Bishop Michael Mulvey, made the decree to re-open the Church for the Mass. Allowing everyone to return to Worship and joyfully receive Our Lord in person was welcomed. We missed also, some of our brothers and sisters, acquaintances, and friends whom we were accustomed to seeing at the same Mass time. Now however, we might not see them because they may just be staying home. Perhaps they are ill, or even maybe have already returned to our Creator because of the Covid-19 virus.

     At this time, the Advent and Christmas seasons serve to remind us of the love of God for us. We are reminded of His invitation for us to change our ways; for the Lord is about to come.  In the liturgical readings of Advent, St. John the Baptist said, “repent for the kingdom of God is near at hand.” 

     We have to remember that the Lord is a Gift of our salvation.  He gave His life to save us.  Our preparation for this coming Christmas is not just to remind us of His first coming; but also of His second coming where we will face Him as our judge. In the Gospel according to St. Luke, Chapter 21:36, it says, “Be alert at all times. Pray so that you have the power to escape everything that is about to happen and to stand in front of the Son of Man.” 

     It is important to follow the guidance of the Church liturgy in our preparation for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. We are guided by the symbols of the four candles in the Advent wreath.  Purposely, the color of three candles are purple. This liturgical color signifies prayer, fasting and sacrifice. These candles, that we light at the beginning of each new week of the Advent season, have themes connected with them.  They remind us of the Hope of the coming savior, the Love of our God who gave His son to lighten our burdens in life and for whom we will rejoice in gladness. For the birth of His Son is a gift of peace given on earth, and for the goodwill of all men.  Rejoice!

     The manner in which we prepare for the coming of Christ depends on the way we relate to Him in our daily life; in prayer and in our acts of charity.  The deeper our communion with Him in prayer, the more intense we are become when making acts of charity to others; especially for the ones in greater need. This is the spirit that Christ wants from each one of us; to love one another as He loves us.  Today, people in our world are in crisis and they are in need of love and help.  It is indeed an opportune time for us to do God’s will.  Pray for and Help those in need.   

                                                Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

                                                        Fr. Ogie Rosalinas, SOLT  -  Pastor

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December 12, 2020

Blessings to you my dear Parishioners on this day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

We had a blessed and devoted celebration on the feast day of our Blessed Mother, the Mother of the Americas and of the whole world. We started with the recitation of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary Guadalupano at 5:30am followed by the Mass and Mananita.

Everybody was invited for a sip of a cup of chocolate/coffee and Donuts afterwards. I would like to thank all those who were involved in the preparation of this event.

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December 8, 2020

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We, at St. Joseph had a vigil Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament last night for our Parish youth . This evening, we will celebrate a High Mass for our Blessed Mother to be attended by most of the parishioners.

The Blue Army, a group of women devotees of Mary will do their Consecration to Jesus through Mary, after 33 days of their preparation. This will be witnessed by their families, relatives and friends and by our parishioners.

Fr. Ogie Rosalinas, SOLT
Pastor

April 28, 2021

Dear Parishioners,

We are grateful to God for the beautiful celebration of the feast day of our Patron saint, St. Joseph the husband of Mary, last March 19th. Most Rev. Wm. Michael Mulvey, the Bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi was the Main celebrant in the celebration of the Holy Mass. We also are happy that Our Dean here in our Deanery, Very Rev. Fr. Pete Elizardo was also in this celebration and helped as the emcee of the Liturgy. Some priests and Religious of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) were present together with our parishioners.

It was also in this Holy Mass that 50 persons did their Consecration to St. Joseph after 33 days of their preparations. Our team at our parish help them in this preparations.

It is a great blessing that the statue of St. Joseph which we were waiting for sometime, finally arrived and is installed now at the front of the Church. Let us pray through his intercession that during this year of St. Joseph, we all receive God’s protection and good health and be spared from any sickness, as we pray for the end of this pandemic.

As a final note, I would like to thank Bishop Mulvey for declaring that St. Joseph Church of Corpus Christi is chosen as one of the Pilgrim Churches in the Diocese of Corpus Christi during this year of St. Joseph.

Everybody is welcome to visit St. Joseph pilgrim Church and attain a plenary indulgence.

Fr. Ogie