Dear St. Joseph’s parishioners and guests,
This weekend we share another celebration – the 10th anniversary of the Enshrinement of the Holy Relics of Blessed Vasyl. How quickly the years have slipped by – many of us fondly recall that special day when we processed through the streets from St. Vlad’s and Olga’s with these holy relics and reverently enshrined them here in St. Joseph’s. How blessed we are! Let us all deepen our devotion to this holy man of God!
And with what pleasure and gratitude we can all warmly reflect upon our 60th Anniversary celebration this past weekend! 100’s of hours of work by many dedicated parishioners who volunteered their precious time and energy ensured the success of such a memorable event and for them, we give heartfelt thanks and ask our gracious Lord to bless each and everyone of them. Thank you, thank you and definitely ‘diakyu’!
Friday evening’s “Wine and Pizza” definitely had a warm and homey ambience as so many of you viewed the memorable photo displays depicting 60 years of St. Joseph’s history. (Again, thank you to Andrea, Janice and Nicolette for your professional work!) We were pleased that many former parishioners returned to share this evening and to renew old acquaintances. The most popular visitor (and with good reason!) was Father Joseph Denischuk CSsR (91 years young!), the founder of our parish. He was delighted to be welcomed home so lovingly! All enjoyed the friendly family feeling – with plenty of wine and pizza, the music provided by the band SICH, the well-prepared speech by Peter Washchyshyn and the hosting by the Parish Council and the K. of C.
Incredibly, the Saturday celebration even surpassed the Friday evening! Yes, it was most memorable to experience the prayerful and joyful atmosphere with the eight Redemptorist Bishops and the numerous priests concelebrating the Divine Liturgy of Thanksgiving. And so very many of you, dear parishioners, packed St. Joseph’s Church as it has not been in years! God bless you all! Wasn’t the “pig roast”, the “big white tent” the “warm weather and the “Ukrainian music” of the Fraser Boys Band and the “excitement” of our 60th celebration a most spiritual and smashing success! Again, a special thank you to all the hard-working dedicated parishioners who worked behind the scenes and during all the events! It is impossible to mention each of you by name!
And now we are sufficiently ready to return to a full pastoral program – the many diverse meetings of our Organizations, the adult religious educational programs and especially the commencement of our important Catechism
program for our precious children. Please register them now.
May the good Lord shine lovingly on us all! Amen!