Thank you for visiting the St. Joseph Catholic Church website!

Here at St. Joseph Church, we promote stewardship by encouraging parishioners to acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God.  We provide opportunities through our many ministries to express our gratitude to Him by using our marvelous gifts of time, talent and financial resources to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.  This message is conveyed in the parish Vision Statement:

To develop a parish whose culture enables each person to embrace the Biblical Mandate:  "Not  to be served but to serve"  (Mark: 10:45), to love the Lord with all his/her heart, soul and being and to love others in truth, justice, and charity.

St. Joseph is a diverse parish of Catholics who are united in their Catholic beliefs.  Our desire is that all parishioners, as members of the body of Christ, will feel personally connected to the parish, thereby growing in love of God and each other.  If you are a member of the parish but have not been attending Mass, please know that you are missed and we encourage you to join us in the celebration of the Eucharist as well as other activities.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:  Current EMHCs are requried by the Diocese to undergo a refresher course to continue their mandates.  This renewed mandate would last three (3) years. Refresher courses will be offered at St. Joseph Parish (EMHCs from other parishes are also welcome).  See link for the 2013 schedule of sessions.  You need attend only one session to be renewed. Contact Deacon Tom at the Parish office (or at 632-1794) or Mike Staub 637-0371 with any questions you may have:  Please note: These sessions are only for EHMC's who already have a mandate.

FROM THE PASTOR:

The staff, parish council, numerous parishioners and I have been talking about the Mass schedule.  Hearing what people have been telling me, I am making the following changes effective June 17th, 2013.  This date was chosen since it is the day this year when newly ordained priests are assigned to parishes and other priests are reassigned.  The 6:00 p.m. Mass on Saturday will change to 5:00 p.m.  Accordingly, the Sacrament of Confession will be offered from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  There will be no 6:30 a.m. Mass on Tuesday and Thursday, no 6:30 p.m. confessions and 7:00 p.m. Mass on Wednesday.  People told me the 5:00 p.m. Mass on Saturday evening will be more convenient.  Some parishioners now go to other parishes for an earlier Saturday evening Mass.  For those who go out to eat after Mass you will have an earlier start. The Tuesday and Thursday 6:30 a.m. Masses are not well attended.  On Monday, Wednesday and Friday the Sisters of St. Joseph join us at the 6:30 a.m. Mass and it is much better attended.  For those who wish to go to the 6:30 a.m. Mass on Tuesday and Thursday, Annunciation of the BVM Parish in McSherrystown offers them.  The Wednesday evening Mass has between 4 and 10 people attending, except during Lent.  The parish does not need 3 Masses on Wednesday.  When funerals occur on a Wednesday then the parish has 4 Masses on a weekday.  So, M-W-F Mass will be at 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.; T-Th it will be 8:30 a.m.; Sat. 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.  These Mass changes will be in the bulletin for the next 4 weeks.

If you have any thoughts about Mass times on Sunday let me know.  Right now we have 4 Masses in English on Sunday, none of them full.

The Spirituality and Prayer Committee is offering an in home Bible Study.  This Bible Study explores the Sermon on the Mount and how it affects our lives by studying Mathew 5-7.  The group will meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM starting May 7th and ending June 11th.  We are also offering  a second night on Thursday evenings from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM starting May 9th and ending June 11th.   The cost of materials is $8.00.  For more information call or e-mail Bob & Chris Ullmann at 634-2059 or rullmann6@centurylink.net.

Hershey Park Tickets:  The HAMMI mission group is selling Hershey Park tickets for the 2013 Summer season. Adults tickets (ages 9-54) are available for $34, (regular price is $57.95); Junior/Senior tickets (ages 3-8, 55-69) are available for $29.00 (regular price is $36.95). Tickets can be used for any day during the 2013 season.  Contact Deacon Tom (632-1794) if you are interested in purchasing any tickets.

Corpus Christi Men's Retreat: Reservations are now being accepted for the 35th Annual Corpus Christi Men's Retreat, to be held on the campus of Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, August 2-4, 2013. Fr. Larry Richards of the Diocese of Erie, PA is the Retreat Master.  Fr. Larry is a nationally known retreat leader, and the author of 2 books: "Be a Man!" and "Surrender!"  His theme is: "We are called to show people Jesus". Cost of the Retreat is $130 ($155/single room, first come basis).  A minimum deposit of $60 must accompany your reservation form.  Contact Deacon Tom (637-5236/parish or 632-1794/home) for Retreat information or with any questions you may have.  If you are considering making this very spiritual summer men's retreat, please consider registering early, as the limit of reservations is expected to fill more quickly this year.  

After many failed attempts to find a volunteer to serve as St. Joseph Parish Webmaster, Mary Ann Williams, Parish Stewardship Coordinator, posted one more request in the October 2012 edition of J O Y full News .  Much to her delight longtime parishioner, Ray Johns, stepped up to offer his service and talent to the parish in the webmaster position.   Ray also serves the parish as Head Usher.  Ray is keeping the website current by deleting outdated news/information and entering news of upcoming events and other timely material.  Parish organizations and committees are encouraged to submit information for the website to Ray at rcjohns2@comcast.net or dropping it off to Ray’s attention at the parish administrative office, 5055 Grandview Road, Hanover.    

The picture will be sold at the live auction during the Anniversary Gala February 15, 2014. The Gala will feature a dinner, live auction and silent auction. Tickets will be on sale for $35.00 a person. We will have Corporate sponsor tables of 8 people. Here is the history of these paintings:  They were painted by an Italian artist from Philadelphia between 1877 to 1880.  His name was Lorenzo Scattaglia and he also did some work in other churches in the area. He painted a fresco in St. Joseph Church in Emmitsburg, Md.  Our old church was built between 1877 and 1880.  Mr. Scattaglia was the decorator. He also painted a picture of the "Holy Family".  Our first Pastor, Fr. Emig, commissioned Mr. Scattaglia, who was paid $600, to paint the Stations.  Our old church was built for $20,000 in 1877.  The church was dedicated in 1880, the year the building was completed.  In 1908 Mr. Scattaglia came back to Hanover for the sole purpose of doing some touch-up work in the church plus working on the Stations and many other paintings in the church.  In 1963 our church was condemned by the State for being unsafe, so we needed to have it torn down.  We moved the Altar to the gym in the school and had Mass there until we built our new church on Grandview Road.  The Stations of the Cross were saved and stored in the basement of the old rectory.  In 1977 they were donated to the State Museum of Pa. by Monsignor Robert Gribbin and Mrs. Lois Misiti.  At that time the State Curator, Mr. Donald Winer had Mr. Stan Petrilak do the restoration of all 14 Stations at a cost of $20,000.  This work was done in 1978.  In 2013 due to our upcoming 150th Anniversary, contact was made with the State Museum requesting that we have images of all the Stations.  The images were put on a CD for our parish which we received in April of this year.