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Our St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry has been blessed with receiving a $2500 Grant from the Annual Catholic Appeal. This grant will help us to provide not only food but also items such as toilet tissue, kleenex, toothpaste and hand soap; items that cannot be bought even if our Neighbors in Need receive food stamps. Thank you to all St. Joseph parish families who support the Annual Catholic Appeal. Your support has helped to bless many programs and ministries in the St. Louis Archdiocese. Below are a few pictures of our food pantry. If you would like to get involved with our St. Vincent de Paul ministry, please call 636-779-5616

Please see the infographic on the impact our parish had on the Beyond Sunday 2023 Campaign through the Roman Catholic Foundation. Your support goes along way!

Good News Stories Thank you to the many volunteers who helped renovate Fr. Mathew’s house. It had not been renovated in quite some time as you can see in the before pictures below! Come on over to Fr. Mathew’s house today (508 St. Joseph Lane) to take a look at the renovations during the Open House after the 8am, 11am and 1pm Masses and enjoy some refreshments.

Our ARIZE kickoff event was a hit! We had over 30 kids show up for food, fun and fellowship. See the ad below for our upcoming events and plan to attend. All teens (middle school and high school) are welcome!! Bring a friend!…(they don’t need to be from St. Joe). See bulletin for photos.

Good News Stories A third-place float, soccer players in uniform, and a priest on a motorcycle...what better way to EVANGELIZE the residents of Manchester during Manchester Homecoming?! The Academy of St. Louis joined us in the parade. Our St. Joe taco and information booth was a hit...one customer asked if we were a restaurant! Thank you to Ericka Estrada and her family for preparing the delicious ingredients for our tacos. Our Belong, Believe, Become T-shirts are for sale at the Ambassador Station and in the Parish Office and will be sold during Sausage Supper. If you volunteer during the Sausage Supper you will get one for free!

Our ECLC Pre-K students had a tour of the church getting ready for their first Mass of the year on Sept. 7th at 8:30am with Bishop Rivituso! Julie Quillo took the children around the church explaining and naming all the articles that are used during Mass and for the celebration of the sacraments. They also talked about the various statues in our church. They saw the sacristy, the priests vestments and chalices and got up close and personal with the altar. Our Pre-K students will attend Mass monthly. Do you know what it means when the red candle by the tabernacle is burning? If not, ask one of our Pre-K kiddos!

All who gathered at the 2023 Celebration of Life were witnesses of the incredible work being done across the Nation to renew a culture in support of life: young adult missionaries spreading the Gospel, pregnancy centers like Thrive Women's Healthcare supporting women and children, courageous mothers who choose life and dedicated volunteers from area parishes celebrating life. The Celebration was incredibly successful (more attendees and volunteers, more money raised, more energy and excitement) due to this union and as missionary Stephen Tony said, "Life is worth fighting for and it's our job to keep showing up, no matter how many times we get knocked down." So far this year, we've raised over $234,000 for pregnancy resource centers like Thrive and maternity homes across the country! From the bottom of my heart and all those at Biking for Babies, thank you to all the volunteers from St. Joe, the Knights of Columbus & Ladies Auxiliary, St. Joe ARIZE Youth Ministry and Christ Prince of Peace for all of your support! A few additional thank you’s of our own: Jim Lyon smoked over 200 pounds of pork for the event and our Knights of Columbus helped with additional food, served the dinner and helped clean up. Parishioner and ECLC employee, Emily Lyon, made 100 pies to sell at the event and all proceeds went to Biking for Babies! Parishioners made and donated an abundance of desserts! Pat Cromien won the 50-50 raffle and donated his winnings back to Biking for Babies! Volunteers from St. Joe and Christ Prince of Peace helped put on this amazing event!

GOOD NEWS STORY: Thank you to everyone who made Msgr. Blood’s 70th Birthday such a special celebration and for offering your many well wishes and blessings. A special thanks to our Hispanic community for their donations and hard work to make this a great party.

Fr. Fredrick Mwangi Kooro, a Kenyan missionary priest, spoke at St Joe in July 2021 to raise funds for his parish, St Josephine Bakhita in Nairobi.  Parishioner Dave Coyne gave him a cross make from bloodwood and pine to take home with him.  Last summer Fr. Fred contacted Dave and asked him to make 300 crosses.  Fr. Fred’s plan was going to bless the homes of each of his 300 parishioners and ask them to buy a cross.  The money would be used to build a school for the parishioners' children.  Just as Dave was finishing making the last of the crosses to ship to Nairobi, Fr. Fred reached out again and asked for another 150 crosses!!  More people had heard about his plan to build a school and were joining his congregation and wanted to buy a cross to help pay for the school.  Thank you, Dave, for this amazing outreach!

Compliments to our Early Childhood Learning Center, especially Ms. Mimi Fitzgerald and Ms. Jamie Morrison Cathy Noyes, the Director of our ECLC, received a wonderful compliment regarding our ECLC and staff members from Gail Wulff from United 4 Children. She has been meeting with a few of our students to help with behavior and emotional needs.  Cathy, I wanted to take a moment to comment on my observations in your Frog classroom. I have visited the classroom several times. I am impressed by some of the strategies Ms. Mimi utilizes to help the children grow and learn. She clearly has taken the time to build relationships with each of them. We find that is the foundation of all learning. Children need to feel safe and loved. She provides very clear expectations and connects with each child. I love how she engages them during transitions, like singing songs as they walk down the hall. I have loved exploring your program. The sensory area developed by Ms. Jamie is a wonderful way to help kids get their bodies ready to learn. I appreciate how St. Joseph Manchester ECLC has been trying to implement strategies to help all children be successful. - Gail 

GOOD NEWS STORY: Congratulations to Emily Lyon! Emily is a graduate of St. Joseph School, The Academy of St. Louis and now is a full-time teacher’s aide in our ECLC. Emily participated in the Miss Amazing competition at Lindbergh High School last weekend and WON! Miss Amazing is a national self-esteem movement for girls and women with disabilities. She was crowned Missouri Miss Amazing Teen. Emily will now move on to the national competition in August!

The Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for the repose of the soul of Jo Ann Thomas, wife of Richard, on Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 10:00 am. Msgr. Frank Blood is the celebrant; Fr. Santen will con-celebrate. Family and friends will be received in the Parish Center from 9:00 am until the time of the Mass. A luncheon will immediately follow the Mass in the Parish Center. Interment is at Jefferson Barracks later in the day. The family is being served by Newcomer Funeral Home.

The Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for the repose of the soul of long time parishioner Jo Ann Paplanus on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 10:00 am. Msgr. Frank Blood is the celebrant. Family and friends will be received at the Funeral Home on Monday, February 6, 2023 from 4:00 – 8:00 pm. A luncheon will follow the burial in the Parish Center. Interment is at Holy Cross Cemetery. The family is being served by Schrader Funeral Home.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated for the repose of the soul of Patrick Hardy, son of Mary and Ken Hardy, on Monday, February 6, 2023 at 11:00 am. Fr. Thomas Santen is the celebrant. A luncheon will follow the Mass in the Parish Center. Family and friends will be received at the Funeral Home on Sunday, February 5, 2023 from 3:00 – 8:00 pm. The family is being served by Schrader Funeral Home.