Congrats to our Parish Priest!

Saying that 'Yes' as Mary did...

It was on this day, The Annunciation Day, when Mary said 'Yes' to God and ever since, her life has been magnified and that is first hand evidence of what happens to one who answers the call of God.
You see, God calls each and every one of us and all we have to do is answer that call. However, we have also been given free will and it us up to us to decide which choice will be made. It is often like a tug of war that takes place with our spiritual beings because God wants us and the world also wants us. Mary answered the call from God through the Angel Gabriel with an answer with any limits or restrictions and look at what that one simple answer has done to her life, not only made her the mother of our Lord, but our mother as well and the Queen of all heavenly natures including saints.
My pray for you all is that you allow your hearts to be silenced from the things of the world and listen to the voice of God as he is calling us to do HIS will. May we all be obedient as Mary was.
Mother Mary, pray for us!

--B. Durham, 2015

Happy Feast Day!

Happy Feast Day Dear Parishioners and Friends! As we celebrate our Patronal Feast Day on this day, we would like to remind everyone that Mass is celebrated this evening at 6.30PM at St. Joseph R.C. Church. We pray for the intercession of St. Joseph to inspire all to be more obedient to the call of God as he was and may his life continue to be an example for the community members. St. Joseph, pray for us!

Also, Trinity TV will air an encore presentation of the Feast Day from Sunday March 15th at 6PM this evening! 

Happy Birthday Your Grace!

Happy Birthday to our dear Archbishop, Joseph Harris! May the Good Lord bless you and keep you, May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he uncover his face to you and grant you his peace. As you continue to do the work of the Lord, we wish you all that is righteous.

Parish Feast Day Recap and Photos

On Sunday March 15th, 2015, history was made for the St. Joseph community since we had two (2) reasons to celebrate! Not only did we celebrate our Patronal Feast of St. Joseph but it was also the launch of our 200th Bicentennial Celebrations which will be a year-long event and will end with our annual Parish Christmas Dinner that will have a different twist this year.
This was the third year hosting the grand Patronal Feast Day so like the other years, it began with a procession with the St. Joseph statue which led to the First Capital Park where Mass was celebrated with Archbishop Joseph Harris serving as the Chief Celebrant and Bishop Robert Llanos, Msgr. Cuthbert Alexander (Parish Priest), Fr. Donnie McMahon (Past Parish Priest) and Fr. Hugh Joyeau all serving as concelebrants.
During his homily, His Grace began by thanking God for the 200 years of the church and for giving thanks for the lives of the saints, namely St. Joseph. He also took the opportunity to mention some 'sons of the the St. Joseph soil' which included Bishop Charles, Fr. Hugh Joyeau and many religious sisters who have taken the task of evangelizing the town of St. Joseph.
He continued on by saying that 'anniversaries are not only to look back but to look forward, especially for evangelizing'. He described St. Joseph as someone who was full of mercy and compassion and who did whatever it took to protect his wife, Mary. 'Being a man of faith', he continued, 'he was faithful and obedient to the will of God' and the challenge was then given to us to be like our patron Saint in that we are called to be trustworthy as St. Joseph was.
Our parish was then considered to be the 'Great Grandfather' of all the parish of our Archdiocese and that the people of St. Joseph must be known as 'compassionate people who give all their due'.  In closing, he instructed the community that 'by our lives, we must be a difference in this country and indeed, it will make a difference in our country''.
As the mass continued on, the official launch of our Bicentennial took place towards the end of Mass where the chairperson of the Bicentennial Committee, Carol-Ann Villafana gave an official opening statement and presented to the community the distinguished committee members who will be working for this year ahead. The members include: Brent Durham, Sean Julien, Michael Hill, Carol-Ann Villafana, Joanne Deoraj, Vernon Khelawan, Karen Ramlogan, Sr. Sandra Xavier, Jeffrey Supersad and Msgr. Cuthbert Alexander. To mark the official opening of our year-long celebrations, 200 balloons were released into the air as a sign of The Opening!
Following Mass, the community enjoyed a bring and share picnic and live entertainment from the community schools and parang Bands which included Nuestra Cosa and Flores.
The day turned out to be a wonderful and fun-filled day and it served as a great start for a fantastic year ahead! We look forward to all the support which you will show towards all our upcoming activities! On behalf of the steering committee, we would like to thank all those involved in the liturgy and, of course, all those who contributed their time, talent and treasure towards our event yesterday! Thank You!!!
Commemorative mugs and t-shirts/polos will be on sale throughout the year so please support in whatever way you can, especially since these can be used as great souvenirs to send to family members abroad!
Check our our photos from the feast day HERE and please remember that our parish lenten retreat continues from Monday March 16th until Wednesday March 18th at 6.30PM in the St. Joseph R.C. Church featuring Fr. Dwight Merrick as the re

-- B. Durham, 2015

Commencing our Bicentennial Celebrations....

Our Bicentennial Celebrations will commence this Sunday with our Parish Feast Day celebrating St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. Remember to bring a friend!

Let God guide you this Lent - pt 1

As we are in the third week of our Lenten journey, we have been reminded of how great of Lord really is. Over the past three weeks, we have heard in our weekend readings about the great temptations and struggles which Jesus faced while he was in the desert. We also heard about his glorious transfiguration. Now many people often wonder why, during such a solemn time in the church's calendar, we read about a glorious event such as the Transfiguration and more so, why on the second Sunday of Lent. You see, we start our Lenten readings off on the first Sunday of Lent talking about how Jesus retreated into the wilderness and denied himself of his usual lifestyle for 40 days and nights. This is the first lesson for us to take note of, that we will have, in our Spiritual journeys, a dry period in which we must deny ourselves of all that we are accustom to and enter into deep prayer and reflection as Christ did. We will have moments of temptation but we must keep in mind, that in the same way Jesus was tempted by Satan, he resisted it no matter what and we must be like him and do the very same. This is what self-denial is about and when we come out of it, we come out much stronger.
The second Sunday of Lent shifts gears in the Gospel reading since we read about the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. This reading is fitting to be part of the Lenten reflections since it reminds us that no matter how dry and dull our journey might be at that moment, there is always something glorious to look forward to. By Jesus being transfigured before his few disciples, he was showing them the 'Magnified and Glorified Christ'. We too will have our moments of 'Spiritual Euphoria', also known as our 'Personal Transfiguration' but in order for us to experience such great spiritual heights, we must persevere in the desert moments.
The third Sunday of Lent talks about anger in which Jesus displayed when he saw that his father's house was being used as a market place. In order for us to understand the relevance of Jesus' actions, we must come to realize what actually took place in the temple area and these included animal sacrifice, selling animals to worshipers and many other disrespectful acts. It was at this event when Jesus cleansed the temple which prompted the arrest and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus made reference that 'the temple must be destroyed and in three days will be rebuilt' but to his disciples, they thought it was the physical structure but Jesus later explained them that it was his body in which he was referring to. At that moment, Jesus instituted the idea that temple worship, that is the worship of the physical structure, would no longer be necessary since the temple in which we must hold in highest regard is the temple of Jesus Christ, that is, his actual body. This Lent, we are called to transition our minds in such a way that Jesus remains the center of our lives and our minds.
Brothers and sisters, as we continue on this Lenten journey, may the next few weeks of Lent give us that hope knowing that in the midst of our dryness, we can look forward to something greater.

God be praised,

B. Durham

Urgent Notice

URGENT NOTICE:

We have been announcing for weeks that Polos Shirts and T-Shirts for the Parish Feast Day/ Launch of the Bicentennial Year will be available as of this weekend. However, some issues concerning the printing of these jerseys arose and it will not be ready until Thursday March 12th. As such, in order for us to accommodate those who wish to purchase jerseys to wear them next Sunday for the feast day celebrations, Marjorie Valere and Karen Ramlogan will be selling the jerseys in the parish Hall from 10AM to 4PM on Thursday March 12th. The prices remain unchanged. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Parish Notices

1. Our parish penitential service will be held on Friday March 27th at 6.30PM at St. Joseph R.C. Church. Please avail yourselves to this most redeeming opportunity with the Lord. 
2. On Thursday March 19th, there will be Holy Mass at 6.30 PM in honour of our Patronal Feast, St. Joseph. This will be held at St. Joseph R.C. Church. 
3. The Fraternity of the Charismatic Priests will join Msgr. Cutherbert Alexander on Tuesday March 10th at 6.30 PM for a Mass with a healing service. Please make every effort to come out. 
4. Our parish Lenten retreat is coming up. This takes place on Monday 16th March to Wednesday 18th March at 6.30 PM each evening. Fr. Mark Owen will facilitate our retreat this year and the theme comes from 2 Cor 12: 9, "My grace is sufficient for you". 
5. Bicentennial Polos and T-Shirts will be on sale as of this weekend at the mass. The prices are as follows:Polos: $100.00, T-Shirt: $60.00. Polo Shirts and T-Shirts along with other memorabilia will be on sale at the park on Sunday March 15th.