St. Joseph Catholic Church
Served by the Blessed Sacrament Congregation!
Served by the Blessed Sacrament Congregation!
With St. Joseph
as our patron
we offer our gift of self
for the greater glory
of God.
St. Joseph Church
Mission Statement
excerpt
Aloha E Komo Mai!
Whether you are visiting or just moved to Hilo, our St. Joseph family welcomes and invites you to join with us and together grow our faith in God.
Refer below for Mass, Confession, and Prayer Times.
Advent Confession Schedule:
Thursdays: Dec. 11 & 18
11-12 noon
Fridays: Dec 12 & 19
4-5pm
Saturdays: Dec 13 & 20
10am and 3-4pm
Advent Recollection/Adoration:
Dec. 14
10:30-11:30am
Simbang Gabi:
Dec. 15-19th @ 6pm
Dec 205pm
Dec 21 6pm
Dec 22 & 23 6pm
Christmas Eve Masses:
6pm
9pm
12 midnight
Christmas Day Masses:
7am
9am
11:45am
Saturday
7:00 am
Vigil
5:00 pm
Sunday
7:00 am, 9:00 am
11:45 am, 6:00 pm
Weekdays
M- F:
6:00 am
& 12:15 pm
Legal Holidays
7:00 am
Saturdays
10:00 am - 11:00 am
or by appointment
*Please note: Confession schedule does not apply during some liturgical seasons.
Join us daily in the
Mornings:
Immediately following
the 6:00 am Morning Mass.
Afternoons:
Weekdays & Sundays
at 4:00 pm
Saturdays
at 3:00 pm
Come join our Novena devotions Tuesday, at St. Joseph Church 6:00p.m. (evening)
Come join us every Tuesday praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Rosary, Consecration and Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Sunday Eucharistic Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament
Please plan to join us
December 14 at 10:30 am
at St. Joseph Church, Hilo
3rd Sunday of Advent (Year A)
Today is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. But the Church does not ask us to rejoice because everything in life is perfect. She asks us to rejoice because the Lord is near, and His nearness changes everything—even when life is heavy.
In the Gospel, we meet an unexpected John the Baptist in prison, confused and discouraged. He sends his disciples to ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
And this is comforting for us. Because there are times when we too cry out: “Lord, are you really here?” “Are you listening?” “Have you forgotten me?” John’s question is the question of every believer whose faith is being tested.
But Jesus does not rebuke John. He does not say, “How could you doubt?” Instead, He says gently: “Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind see. The lame walk. The deaf hear. The poor receive the Good News.” Jesus’ message is this: “John, God is working—even in ways you cannot see from your prison cell.” And that is His message to us on Gaudete Sunday. Sometimes God’s work in our lives is not dramatic. It is slow, quiet, hidden— like healing wounds we don’t notice yet, softening hearts, preparing us for something deeper. Advent joy is not loud excitement.
It is calm confidence in God’s presence even when life feels unfinished. Isaiah’s vision of “The desert and the parched land will exult.” tells us: that Joy is not the absence of struggle; joy is the presence of God in the middle of it. and St. James in the 2nd reading reminds us to rejoice not because everything is solved, but because God is already at work beneath the soil like a farmer waiting for the rain to water the land.
Gaudete Sunday teaches us that Christian joy is not a feeling; it is an act of faith. We rejoice not because life is perfect, but because God is near.
Lord, as we celebrate this Christmas season, we remember those we love who are no longer with us. Thank You for the gift of their lives and the joy they brought. We trust in Your promise of eternal life and find hope in knowing that one day, we will be reunited in Your heavenly embrace. Amen.
Envelopes are available now.
New to the parish or need to update your registration download our
SJ Registration Form print, fill-out and return. Mahalo!
Arrangements for Mass Intentions need to be done through the front office. We want to ensure that we are listing your prayer requests exactly as you would like it. Mahalo!
21. Marriage Matters
–because it prepares children
for their vocation.
“Children should be so educated that as adults they can follow their vocation, including a religious one, and choose their state of life.”
Second Vatican Council
Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World), 52
(Infants to children 7 years of age)
Welina ‘oe! Welcome Families!
Congratulations on the birth of your child and your decision to have your child baptized in the Catholic Church. We welcome you and your child as well as your godparents to our parish. Please call the rectory office to sign up for the next Baptism Preparation Class.
(808) 935-1465.
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Pope Leo XIV asks everyone to pray the rosary for peace.
. . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . . . . .
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole Cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.
Amen.
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“Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces
of God’s creation,
made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost
reverence and respect.”
USCCB Respect Life flyer quoting Pope Francis’“Day for Life Greeting”
© 2013 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
“When we meet Jesus in the Eucharist, this encounter has the power to change us.
The Eucharist has the power to transform the depths of our hearts and the heart of our culture.
United to the power of his Eucharistic Presence, may we work to ensure that each person has life—and has it in abundance.”
USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities Respect Life Reflection:
“I Came So That They Might Have Life”
“Through the Incarnation and birth of Christ,
God reveals to us the dignity of all human life.
Human life, as a gift of God, is sacred and inviolable.
The Son of God has united himself with every human being and desires for us to share eternal life
with him…
Each of us is made in the image and likeness of God, and we reflect his glory in the world.”
USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities
“The Gospel of Life: A Brief Summary”
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
Those who receive Communion may receive either in the hand or on the tongue, and the decision should be that of the individual receiving, not of the person distributing Communion.
If Communion is received in the hand, the hands should first of all be clean. If one is right handed the left hand should rest upon the right. The host will then be laid in the palm of the left hand and then taken by the right hand to the mouth. If one is left-handed this is reversed. It is not appropriate to reach out with the fingers and take the host from the person distributing.
