The purpose of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is to ease the suffering of fellow human beings in an effort to fulfill  the two great Commandments: Love God and Love Your Neighbor.

The Society is not just an "Emergency food and other material needs" dispenser. Where we can, we attempt to help those in need with both material and spiritual assistance. We try to help people look at solutions to solving their own problems while we give them temporary assistance.

All of our funding comes from the donation from our parishioners. The food collected in the barrels at the back of the Church is also given to us to distribute to needy families.

No work of charity is foreign to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Our conference at St. Joseph's reaching out beyond our parish boundaries in giving assistance to those in need. For more information contact Florence Skerba, St. Vincent de Paul President

The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by Fr. Michael J. McGivney, a curate at St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Fr. McGivney formed the Knights to promote fraternal fellowship amongst Catholic men and to date it has grown to become the largest Catholic men's organization in the world.

St. Joseph's Council was formed in 1990 by a group of about 30 men with the blessing of our Charter Chaplain, Fr. Joseph O'Hare. Having just celebrated our 10th Anniversary, we have become the largest and most active council in our area. We have an average of about 200 members in our parish, many of whom are active in other programs and ministries. We range in age from 18 years old to men in their 90's. We have men who are students, doctors, production workers lawyers, salesmen and our priests. We are first and foremost, Catholic gentlemen.

The St. Joseph's Council is also a family organization and we have monthly dinners and socials that are geared to include the families. last year, our council was awarded the Star Council Award for the third time.

Last year, St. Joseph's Council of the Knights of Columbus gave almost $15,000. to support such programs as RCIA, Youth, Vacation Bible Retreats, Mentally Handicapped Children and more. We also paid for and collected donations from area business to build the fountain, monument to Human Life and garden in the Mediation Garden by the Parish Office.

If you are a Catholic gentleman, 18 years or older, you should consider membership in the Knights of Columbus. The Knights offer their members affordable life insurance and other benefits. If you would like to serve your parish and share in the brotherhood and fun, then you should join the Knights of Columbus. For more information contact Rick Dinubilo (527-3757), Past Grand Knight Membership Director

A year ago, St. Joseph's Book Store and Gift Shop became a reality beginning in one small room. And thanks to your support, it has already expanded into another room. If you haven't visited us yet, the entrance is on the east side of the Old Rectory by the statue of the Sacred Heart in the Meditation Garden. You will see our blue banner flying!

We have wonderful books, Bibles, videos, Rosaries and other gift items for all ages. The Book Store also stocks items for the liturgical seasons within the Church and for children receiving sacraments.

The mission of St. Joseph's Book Store and Gift Shop is to provide an opportunity for all those in the parish to obtain, at a reasonable price, items to help them continue their growth in our Catholic faith. We have 35 volunteers who serve as staff after the weekend Masses. If you are interested in volunteering, please call Pam at 524-3757.

"The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship…Jesus waits for us in this Sacrament of Love."
Pope John Paul II, Dominicae Cenae

As our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II has told us:
"Our communal worship at Mass must be together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration in order that our love may be complete."

The Goals of Perpetual Adoration

We come before Jesus with all our hopes, desires and needs. He is the one who cares for us, who invites us into His presence:

"Come to Me, all you who labor and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you." (Matthew 11:28)

"Cast all your cares and anxieties on Him for He cares about you."
(1 Peter 5:7)

During the course of each Holy Hour we come

• To offer our love and reverence for the Holy Eucharist—the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

• To give honor, glory, praise and thanksgiving to God.

• To ask for God's mercy, to make reparation for sins and console Him for the neglect He suffers from us.

• To pray for vocations to the Priesthood and religious life.

• To pray for our own spiritual and temporal needs and for the needs of those who cannot spend time in Adoration or who have asked us to pray for them.

• To deepen our personal friendship with Jesus Christ.

• To grow in our devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the first to bear his real presence in the world.

"The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment your spend with Jesus will deepen you union with him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth."
Mother Teresa of Calcutta 

St. Joseph's welcomes you to visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel anytime, 24 hours a day. The Blessed Sacrament is reposed just before the 8:00am Mass on Sunday morning and exposed again following the 7:30pm Mass on Sunday. If you have any questions about Perpetual Adoration or would like to commit to an hour each week, please call the Coordinators, David & Monica Wood at 527-4920.

On October 11, 1967, Most Reverend Hugh Donohue, Bishop of Stockton, established St. Joseph's, the third Catholic Church in Modesto, and appointed Fr. Anthony McManus as her first pastor. In those days, Oakdale Road was on the outskirts of Modesto, vastly different from the busy street with shops, businesses, homes, apartments and schools that we know today. Fr. McManus wrote a letter to the 200 families that were his new parish in 1967 inviting them to a meeting at Our Lady of Fatima Hall for the purpose of "meeting as many of you as possible and discussing plans as far as we can for the new parish. At the present, nothing is built." However, under the protection of St. Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus and the patron saint of carpenters and builders, "nothing is built" would not remain true for long. Many meetings and planning sessions took place in an effort to bring the dream of a vibrant, active parish to life. The first challenge to be met was to find a temporary place to offer Mass. The answer to prayers came when Fr. McManus received an invitation to have Masses at Pappy's Pizza Parlor further south on Oakdale Road. From the spring of 1968 through January 1970, St. Joseph's parishioners grew into a close community filled with the Spirit amid the trappings of a pizza parlor whose windows became stained glass and whose bandstand became an altar.

After extensive planning, ground breaking ceremonies for the parish's first building, a circular multi-purpose room, where held on June 21, 1969. After Fr. McManus prayed for the future of the new parish and her people, he blessed the ground to be broken, sprinkling Holy Water upon it.

But, as the Pastoral Council president tried to get the point of the chrome-plated ceremonial shovel into the ground, the hardpan refused to give way. Fr. McManus simply poured a little more Holy Water on the ground, the earth gave way and the flurry of building and growth that has been part of our history began. The ever-growing community gathered for their first Mass at 1813 Oakdale Road on Christmas Eve 1969 - a double vigil to await the birth of the Christ child and the symbolic birth of the new parish. A joyful dedication ceremony, scheduled for April 19, 1970 became a time of mourning when Fr. McManus suddenly became ill and died on April 20, 1970 at the age of 47.

Bishop Merlin Guilfoyle then appointed Fr. Cornelius DeGroot as St. Joseph's new pastor. The parish continued to flourish with Mass attendance climbing to 700. The first Parish Festival took place in June 1971. Fr. DeGroot had a gift for woodworking and carpentry. Parishioners remember him offering the 8:00am Mass on weekdays, greeting them after Mass and then putting on his carpentry apron to start work on what is now the Old Rectory. The rectory was completed in 1973 and still contains furniture designed and built by Fr. DeGroot for the parish named in honor of St. Joseph, the carpenter.

On September 1, 1975, Bishop Guilfoyle appointed Fr. Joseph O'Hare, a young Irish Priest, as the new pastor of St. Joseph's. For 25 years Fr. O'Hare encouraged his parishioners in building the foundations of their parish community and witnessing a time of amazing growth in the physical plant of the parish but more importantly in the spirituality of her people. While Fr. O'Hare introduced programs of spiritual development such as Genesis II, he also began his assault on the parish debt of $295,000.00. He wrote to his parishioners, "it hangs about our neck like an anchor, frustrating every attempt to expand our parish to meet the needs of the rapidly rising tide of incoming Catholic families." The Pastoral Council, now enriched in its' understanding of the Church, began to work more closely with Fr. O'Hare to address the needs of the parish. Shortly thereafter, St. Joseph's Parish Offertory Program came into being. Foremost among the needs in 1977 was a Parish Hall for large meetings and social gatherings and a classroom building for the Religious Education program and smaller meetings so that the present multi-purpose building could be transformed into a truly sacred place to worship God. Fr. O'Hare wrote to his parishioners, "What we need is a real house of liturgical worship with stained glass, an altar, pews with kneelers, space for a choir and a cry-room for infants. It is essential to impress our youth and children with the solemnity of Christian worship and its vast difference from recreation."

St. Joseph's has been the site of many wonderful building projects coupled with the establishment of many beautiful ministries and devotions. In 1981, the parish began "Families for Prayer", in 1982 work on the hall and classroom building began. In 1983 Parish Renewal was introduced and in 1985, work to redesign the multi-purpose building into a beautiful church was underway. In 1986 the new church was blessed and dedicated by Bishop Donald Montrose. In 1988, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was opened for Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. In 1991, a new Rectory was built and the Old Rectory used for additional meeting space and for prayer groups. In 1991, the Renew program began in our parish and by 1992, hundreds of parishioners were involved in this spiritual awakening, meeting in homes to pray and share their faith. In 1993, a beautiful shrine honoring Our Lady of Grace was dedicated and our parish celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday for the first time that year. In 1998, work on a new complex to house all the parish offices under one roof began.

Beginning in 1987, Fr. O'Hare suffered a series of illnesses that gradually increased in severity. In 1999, he became very ill while on a visit to his native Ireland. Bishop Stephen Blaire sent Fr. Joseph Illo, the Diocesan Vocations Director, to St. Joseph's as a temporary administrator to care for the parish until Fr. O'Hare was well enough to return. St. Joseph's bloomed under Fr. Illo's care. When Fr. O'Hare returned earlier that year, he decided to retire and remain in residence as our Pastor Emeritus. Bishop Blaire appointed Fr. Illo as our new pastor on June 1, 2000.

In the spirit of St. Joseph, Fr. Illo, too, is a builder both physically and spiritually. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel underwent expansion and renovation. There will be increased seating to allow more people the opportunity to come before the Lord in quiet prayer and meditation and a beautiful stained glass rose window will enhance this sacred space. To make the area outside the church more inviting, an Italian fountain, three shade arbors and benches were installed. This will give our parish family a place to gather before and after Masses to enjoy each other's company.

With the work and dedication of St. Joseph's Knights of Columbus, a meditation garden and Monument to the Unborn was completed. This is a quiet place to pray and remember the unborn. It represents our commitment o the sacredness of life from conception to natural death. In this meditation garden, we have a life size marble statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a gift to our parish from St. Joseph's Roma 2000 World Youth Day Pilgrims. This garden and Monument to Human Life was blessed and dedicated on December 8, 2000, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, by Bishop Stephen Blaire.

On November 23, 2000, Thanksgiving Day, St. Joseph's parish community learned the sad news that Fr. O'Hare had passed away earlier that morning in Ireland. Once again, the parish went into mourning for a beloved Priest who was more than a pastor, but also a friend and brother. Fr. Illo represented our parish community at Fr. O'Hare's funeral Vigil and Mass in his home of Knockainey, County Limerick. On November 29th and 30th, St. Joseph's remembered Fr. O'Hare in a prayer service and memorial Mass with Bishop Blaire presiding. Although he is not with us physically, Fr. O'Hare's sense of compassion, humor, faith and strength remain in the hearts of the parishioners he served for 25 years.

St. Joseph's has grown from 200 families in 1967 to 3,600 families in 2000. We are a parish community united in faith, hope and love living as the Body of Christ.

"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of the one Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:4-6,12-13

St. Joseph's in Vladivostok, Russia

In 1917, near the small town of Fatima in Portugal, our Most Holy Mother appeared to three young shepherd children. In one of her messages, the Virgin Mary told the children that as soon as Russia was converted to Christianity, the world would follow. She knew the importance of the repercussions of such a mission. In 1917, the three shepherd children did not know what or who " Russia" was. But years later, two wonderful men, Fr. Myron Effing and Fr. Dan Maurer, did know and decided to answer the call of our dear Lady.

After much work, these two Priests have brought many people closer to God, and due to their efforts, they are planning to open a brand new parish in Vladivostock, Russia. That is important to us here in Modesto, because this new parish, also named "St. Joseph's" is to become our sister parish thanks to the creativity and leadership of our pastor, Fr. Joseph Illo.

That is correct, brothers and sisters, all of us here at St. Joseph's have been chosen to become an instrument of our most Holy Mother Mary to bring the people of Russia closer to God. Each and every one of us has become a missionary. Our parish has broken the boundaries of Modesto to reach the farthest points of the earth.

That is the good news. The bad news is that there is much work to be done. Our brothers and sisters in Russia have many needs. First and foremost, they need our prayers. If you are reading this article, please stop and say a quick prayer for all the new Catholics in Vladivostock. They are suffering from persecution and ridicule as well as from a lack of many basic necessities such as medications, shelter and most of all - hope; hope in God, hope in the people around them and hope in themselves.

Second, the mission in Russia has many material needs! They need pretty much everything we take for granted from clothing and blankets, money and medications, to computers, sewing machines and scanners. If you have any item you feel would be of benefit to them, please do not discard those items! Soon we will be collecting them for distribution.

Third, if you are interested in becoming directly involved in the Sister Parish project, please call Roberto Gutierrez at 537-6176. The need is endless.

My wife, Ana, and I are blessed and honored to be part of such a wonderful project. This never-ending adventure will give us the opportunity to change many lives for the better. In Russia, disease abortion and corruption are rampant. They need our help now more than ever. Let's unify ourselves and answer the call of our Lady of Fatima. In a way, she was talking to us...! ~~Roberto Gutierrez Sister Parish Coordinator

Of all the ministries restored to the laity by the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, perhaps one of the most important is that of the Lector. The lector is entrusted with the crucial task of making the word of God come alive during Mass by proclaiming it for our Christian assembly. Such a proclamation can touch and move the whole assemble, serving as an instrument of God's grace.

Jesus is God's word personified, but God's word is also spoken through others. God has spoken in the past through lectors as they proclaim God's word as communicated through the individuals who composed the scriptures.

The lector is not giving a history lesson or telling a story but proclaiming the movement of God throughout history for the benefit of our congregation. The process of reading the scriptures does include some teaching perhaps, but more importantly the lector stands in a dual role of teacher and disciple. The lector stands before our community as a believer.

The challenge for all lectors is to let the power of the word loose, to proclaim in such a way that the power inherent in God's word is revealed. The basic requirement for such a proclamation is a clear expectation on both the parts of the lectors and the hearers. This implies the belief and trust that the proclamation of the word matters, and when truly proclaimed and truly heard, this word will change things. As in the experience of Holy Communion, when we meet Christ through bread and wine, in the Liturgy of the Word, we meet Christ through the proclamation of the scriptures.

The lector ministry of St. Joseph's parish appreciates the awesome responsibility of our calling. We look forward to the increased participation of all our assembly during our Holy Mass. Careful preparation and prayer by the lector combined with active listening by each member of our assembly during the liturgy will go a long way as we pursue a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

~~Peter Herrmann, Lector Ministry

St. Joseph's Bereavement Ministry reaches out to those who are recently bereaved. Once the Parish Office has been notified of a death in our parish family, the Bereavement Ministry goes to work. "Prayerful Petitioners" pray for deceased person by name, daily for at least a month. During the very busy and upsetting time between the death of a loved one and the funeral, the volunteers of "Martha's Meals" contact the family and bring a meal to the home. If help is needed with a post-funeral reception, the Bereavement Ministry tries to offer assistance when possible. In the weeks following the funeral, trained consolation listeners visit the grieving family to offer support. At St. Joseph's we also have a "Widows/Widowers" Group that offers support to those who are grieving the loss of a spouse. The Bereavement Ministry is just one of the many Works of Mercy that we can do for each other, in the name of Jesus Christ. All our helpers are volunteers and volunteers are always welcome. If you would like to help in any of the areas of this beautiful ministry, please call Christi Wharton at 527-1479. If you are interested in the Widows/Widowers group, please call Shirley Spitulski at 541-3945 or Judith Garcia at 527-2003.

St. Joseph's Rosary Makers meet each Wednesday at 7:00pm in the CCD Center. We gather for prayer and Rosary-making. You don't need any experience with making Rosaries - we will be happy to teach you. We also repair broken Rosaries! Beads from old Rosaries are always needed.

The Rosaries we make are used either for the Missions or in the Ministry to the Prisons. This is a fun and prayerful way to do something lovely for our Blessed Mother and Jesus. If you would like to join us, just drop by on Wednesday or call Lotus Vele at 567-1041. New members are always welcome!

In order to Baptize a child, parents need to attend one class. Please contact the Parish office at (209) 551-4973 for dates and times. An application packet is also available in the Parish office.

Qualifications to serve as a Sponsor (Godparent) at Baptism.

The role of the sponsor Godparent is, "together with the parents, to present an infant at baptism, and...help the baptized to lead a Christian life in harmony with baptism, and to fulfill faithfully the obligations connected with it." (Canon 872).

Thus, the Church has established the following norms governing the qualifications needed to be a sponsor or Godparent.

The sponsor (Godparent) must:

• Be at least sixteen (16) years of age
• "be a Catholic who has been Confirmed and has already received the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist and leads a life in harmony with the faith and role to be undertaken:"
• "not be bound by any canonical penalty..."
• Be living a life in Communion with the Church.
• "not be the father of the mother of the one to be baptized." (Canon 874)

Only one Godfather and/or one Godmother can be baptismal sponsors (Canon 873), but additional Catholic persons may act as witnesses at the Baptism. In addition, "a baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial community may not be admitted except as a witness to baptism and together with a Catholic sponsor." (Canon 874.2)