St. Joseph Catholic Church

Welcome

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.

Saturdays
10:00 am - 11:00 am
or by appointment

*Please note: Confession schedule does not apply during some liturgical seasons.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Begins
Monday-Thursdays
at 11am
Fridays & Sundays at 4:00pm
Saturdays at 3:00pm

Come Pray the Liturgy of the Hours

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

Mother of Perpetual Help Prayer Group

Novena Devotions
Tuesday, 6:00 p.m.
St. Joseph Church

Come join us every Tuesday praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Rosary, Consecration and Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – 2026 - Year A.

To love God

When Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves, we may sometimes wonder: How can God command us to love? Can someone really force us to love someone? After all, love is a feeling. We cannot always control what we feel.

But perhaps we misunderstand what Jesus means when He commands us to love. God does not command us merely to feel love; He invites us to make love the direction of our lives. And to love God with all our being does not mean that we have to be perfect to be able to do so, It means that we continually offer our imperfect selves to a perfect God. And this is made possible by God loving us first unconditionally – loving us even in our weakness and imperfections.

Thus, to love God with all our heart means that in the midst of fear and doubt, we continue to turn to Him. To love God with all our soul means that we are ready to entrust our whole life to Him with all its joys and failures. To love God with all our mind means that we allow our thoughts and decisions to be guided by His truth and wisdom. And the true measure of our love for God is when we choose to be a channel of this love for others.

When love becomes our direction, our failures become opportunities to begin again, our ordinary actions become offerings to God, and our relationships become places where His presence can be experienced.

Every October, the Catholic Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, with the first Sunday of October designated as Respect Life Sunday. As CathoThis year’s theme, “Mary, Mother of Life,” reflects on Our Lady’s distinguished role as mother of all the living. We ask her intercession in helping us to recognize the gift of human life, even when that gift is unexpected or calls us to make sacrifices.cs, we are called to welcome, care for, and protect God’s gift of human life, with special concern for those who are most vulnerable. Respect Life Sunday and Respect Life Month offer opportunities to highlight this precious gift through prayer, reflection, advocacy and service.

This year’s theme, “Mary, Mother of Life,” reflects on Our Lady’s distinguished role as mother of all the living. We ask her intercession in helping us to recognize the gift of human life, even when that gift is unexpected or calls us to make sacrifices.

On the occasion of the Year of Saint Francis, which runs until January 2027, the Apostolic Penitentiary grants a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the intentions of the Holy Father), also applicable in the form of suffrage for the souls in Purgatory

1) to members: - of the Franciscan Families of the First, Second and Third Orders Regular and Secular;
- of Institutes of Consecrated Life, Societies of Apostolic Life and public or private associations of the faithful, male and female, who observe the Rule of Saint Francis or are inspired by his spirituality or perpetuate his charism in any form;

From a human point of view, this seems careless. An experienced farmer would avoid wasting seed on places where it could never grow. But that is precisely the point. God is not stingy with His grace. He is extravagant with His love.

2) to all the faithful without distinction
who, with a heart detached from sin, participate in the Year of Saint Francis by visiting, in the form of a pilgrimage, any Franciscan conventual church or place of worship anywhere in the world dedicated to Saint Francis or connected to him for any reason, and there devoutly follow the Jubilee rites or spend at least a reasonable period of time in pious meditation and raise prayers to God so that, following the example of Saint Francis, feelings of Christian charity towards their neighbors and authentic vows of harmony and peace among peoples may spring forth in their hearts, concluding with the Our Father, the Creed and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Clare and all the Saints of the Franciscan Family.

The elderly, the sick and those who take care of them, and all those who are unable to leave their homes for serious reasons may also obtain a Plenary Indulgence, provided they detach themselves from any sin and intend to fulfil the three usual conditions as soon as possible, if they unite themselves spiritually to the jubilee celebrations of the Year of Saint Francis, offering to the Merciful God their prayers, the pains or sufferings of their lives.

The designated pilgrimage sites by Bishop Larry Silva in the Diocese of Honolulu are: Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa (Honolulu), St. Francis Church (Kalaupapa), Holy Trinity Church (Kuliouou), St. Rita Church (Nanakuli), Immaculate Conception Church (Lihue), Christ the King Church (Kahului), St. Damien Church (Kaunakakai), Sacred Hearts (Lanai), St. Michael the Archangel Church (Kailua-Kona), and St. Joseph Church (Hilo).

Blessed Sacrament Discernment Clergy
Consecrated Life & Vocations
Vocations Article

Pray for Vocations

Almighty and eternal God, in your unfailing love you provide ministers for your Church. We pray for those whom you call to serve the Church as priests.

Inspire in them a generous response. Grant them courage and vision to serve your people May their lives and service call your people to respond to the presence of your Spirit among us that, faithful to the Gospel and hope of Jesus the Christ, we may: announce glad tidings to the poor proclaim liberty to captives, set prisoners free and renew the face of the earth.

The 200th Anniversary of Catholicism in Hawaii is a year-long celebration (July 2026 – July 2027) marking the day the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary arrived in Honolulu. This anniversary year is not only remembrance — it is an invitation: designed to honor the past 200 years of faith, strengthen the present community across every island, and inspire what comes next.

Are You Registered?

New to the parish or need to update your registration download our SJ Registration Form print, fill-out and return. Mahalo!

Mass Intentions

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!

Office: 808 935-1465

Monday - Friday:
9am to 1pm

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Pope Leo XIV asks everyone to pray the rosary for peace.

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Prayer for Married Couples

Heavenly Father,

We thank You for the gift of marriage and the love that unites us.

Bless us with patience, kindness, and understanding in all we do.

Help us to forgive quickly, speak gently, and serve one another with joy.

May our home be filled with peace, our hearts with faith, and our lives with the light of Your presence.

Guide us to grow together in holiness,so that our love reflects the love of Christ for His Church.

Through Christ our Lord,
Amen.

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

THE PROPER WAY TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION

You may either receive Holy Communion on your tongue or in the hand as allowed in the United States by decision of the American Bishops.

If one is receiving in the hand the following is normative: upon approaching the minister of the Host extend the hands in the middle of the chest. The left hand is extended, with the right hand under the left in support (left handed persons may wish to place the left hand under the right). In essence, a throne is formed in the sign of an X-cross to receive the Sacred Host. The response of “Amen” is given to the proclamation “The Body of Christ,” and the Host is received. The individual should then step to the side and receive the Host carefully and reverently in front of the altar before returning to your seat. It is unseemly to “pop” the Host into the mouth as one walks away. Remember “Who” you are receiving!

Please note that it is never acceptable to put out only one hand due to the danger of dropping the host. Those who do not have the easy use of both hands (or whose hands are not perfectly clean for whatever reason) should receive on the tongue.

“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”

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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”