Facility News

March 24, 2025

No More Muddy Tires and Shoes – The gravel and dirt parking area on the east side of Saint Joseph’s Workshop has been paved. This work puts the finishing touch on the Carriage House renovation and was completed with generous parishioner donations to the Carriage House Renovation Project.

March 20, 2025

Temporary Sandbag Replacement – The sandbags at the parking lot entry to the church have been replaced with a temporary asphalt berm. The berm is a wide, low “speed bump” intended to divert rainwater from the parking lot away from the entrance ramp. We are testing how well the asphalt berm works before installing a permanent solution. The temporary berm extends through accessible parking spaces, but these parking spaces can still be used. Please be patient (and careful when walking over the berms) while we evaluate how best to keep rainwater away from the church.

March 14, 2025

Final Finish to Wedding Feast of the Lamb Painting – Michael Corsini, the artist who created our painting, returned to apply a finish coat of varnish. Varnish is applied to oil paintings to protect the artwork, enhance color saturation, and create a more unified and even finish by providing a protective layer against environmental damage, dust, and dirt. The oil paint needed to cure for six months before applying varnish.

February 14-15, 2025

The California Missions Foundation 42nd annual conference was held in Saint Joseph parish hall this weekend. The 150 attendees enjoyed a tour of the Mission church and our renewed Mission Museum and a performance by our Mission Orchestra, conducted by Director of Music Ministries Ron McKean. The foundation provides financial support for the 21 California Missions. Grants to the parish from the foundation have helped fund replacing the leaking rain gutters at the Museum and the recent conservation of the historic Baptismal Font and oil paintings in the Mission church.

February 2, 2025

New You Are Here Maps – “Way finding” maps have been installed around the parish campus to help visitors locate our outdoor Stations of the Cross, Sleeping Saint Josephs, Saint Joseph’s Workshop, the Parish Office, and other buildings and gathering areas. Many thanks to Ann Nguyen and Eliza Kertayasa, our volunteer artists and graphic designers. Their skill and artistry continue to shape the visual identity of St. Joseph Catholic Church/Mission San José, Diocesan Shrine of St. Joseph, enriching the experience of parishioners and visitors. Their latest work, these beautifully designed “You Are Here” maps, offer an easy to use guide complete with landmarks, descriptions, and pathways that lead pilgrims and visitors through our campus. Thank you, Eliza and Ann!

December 17, 2024

The Saints are back! – Earlier this fall the historic Baptismal Font and six historic oil paintings from the Mission Church were sent to the Preservation Arts Studio in Oakland for archival cleaning and treatment. The Baptismal Font and paintings are from the original 1809 Adobe Church. The paintings depict St. Francis, a Carmelite Scene, St. Anthony, St. Margaret, St. James, and the Holy Family. The work was funded by grants from the California Missions Foundation and the Committee for the Preservation of Mission San Jose, with additional funding by the parish.

Many thanks to members of the parish’s Vietnamese Community for decorating the St. Joseph Dream Garden with an outdoor nativity scene, decorated and lighted Christmas trees, flowers, and wreaths and lights on the railings around the church for Christmas. Everyone passing by on Mission Blvd is reminded that Christ is the reason for the Christmas season.

December 14-15, 2024

Two Grand Re-Openings! – On December 14-15, 2024, after every weekend Mass we celebrated the completion and re-opening of our reimagined Mission Museum and the renovated Carriage House / St. Joseph’s Workshop after five months of dedicated effort and unwavering support from our parish community. Our deepest thanks to the skilled contractors and craftsmen, many of them parishioners who donated their time, talents, and treasure to these renovations. Their artistry and professionalism have brought our parish vision for these projects to life.

November 24, 2024

A New Home for the Mission’s Historic Silver – The processional silver crucifix and candlestick holders dating back to the original 1809 Adobe Church have been a beautiful sight to behold at each year’s Founder’s Mass celebration. A big “Thank You” to Tobias Lee, BSA Troop 120, for building our new display case housing our precious silver. This was his Eagle Scout project with the support of his family and fellow scouts. You can see Tobias’ superb workmanship in the reimagined museum’s vestment display room adjacent to the Saint Joseph Chapel of Healing.

November 17, 2024

New hymnals and missals – We have added the St. Michael Hymnal to our pews. And we will add the St. Ignatius Pew Missal on December 1 at the beginning of the new liturgical year. These resources will help us engage more deeply with the liturgy. The St. Ignatius Missal provides the Sunday and Holy Day readings and responsorial songs, Entrance and Communion antiphons for Sundays of the entire liturgical year. The St. Michael Hymnal contains timeless hymns and chants that will elevate our worship. Together, these books will enrich our Mass experience and help us lift our voices and hearts in reverent song and prayer. They also reduce our need to print single use, multipage worship aids every week.

November 9, 2024

Many Thanks to Our Museum Cleaning Volunteers! – Over fifty parishioners donated their Saturday morning to thoroughly clean the museum interior. They joined Father Anthony in a tour of the renovated exhibit rooms, enjoyed coffee and donuts, and then set to work dusting, polishing furniture and display cabinets, washing glass shelving and windows, and vacuuming and mopping the floors. Now that the interior construction work and exhibit rearrangements have been completed, it was time to clean up before the final museum renewal changes are completed. Our volunteers enjoyed a pizza lunch with Father Anthony to celebrate a job well done.

November 6, 2024

Return of the Grand Piano! – Our grand piano has been beautifully refurbished, restoring its elegance and enhancing the richness of our liturgies and celebrations. The piano was returned to St. Joseph Church today. This cherished instrument brings new depth to our worship and strengthens our music ministry, uniting us all in faith and joy. Thank you to our generous donor for furthering our mission and the power of sacred music, allowing us to continue making music that moves hearts and souls! The Yamaha Clavinova piano will be moved to the renovated Carriage House.

October 27, 2024

New Stained Glass window of St. Carlo Acutis – St. Joseph Church has a beautiful new stained glass window in the vesting room on the Mission Blvd side of the church behind the adoration chapel. The window was made for us by the Conrad Pickel Studio in Florida, the same studio that made the twelve worship space windows commissioned by the parish in 2023 for our church renovation. The window depicts St. Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) who will be canonized by Pope Francis in 2025. Carlo was an Italian youth and is the first “millennial” to be canonized. Carlo had a great love for the Holy Eucharist, attending daily Mass and fervently believing in the Lord’s presence. His passion for the Holy Eucharist led him to collect and share Eucharistic miracles worldwide on a website he created. Our altar contains a relic of St. Carlo Acutis.

October 20, 2024

Carriage House Update – Repair and renovation of the Carriage House is progressing. The building’s new siding has been painted, the exterior staircase has been rebuilt, and new replacement windows are in place. Next we will replace the old uneven dirt and concrete floor, replace termite and dry rot damaged interior posts and columns, and build new exterior doors. See the Carriage House Renovation page for more progress pictures.

October 13, 2024

Progress on new air conditioning and heating for St Joseph church – Workers have removed the old gas furnace and ventilation fans from the equipment space above the St Vincent de Paul storage room in the back of the church building and installed our new air conditioning and heating equipment in the same space. The contractor accessed the equipment from outside the building using a temporary opening (pictured). The church has two sets of heating and ventilation equipment. The second equipment area is located above the sacristy. A second old gas furnace and ventilation fans will be removed and replaced with new equipment in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, the contractor continues to work on new ducts, electrical, and piping above the ceilings on both sides of the church. When finished, the church and hall will be heated and cooled with energy-efficient electric heat pumps.

October 6, 2024

Do you notice something missing from the Mission church? – Daily and Sunday Mass attendees will notice a few things missing from the Mission Church. The parish has removed the Baptismal Font and six gold-framed paintings from the walls. They are from the original 1809 Mission church and are being evaluated by an experienced art conservator as part of an overall art conservation plan. The evaluation is being funded by the Committee for the Restoration of the Mission San Jose. The removed items will be returned after the evaluation is completed. Cleaning and treatment recommendations will be paid for as funding becomes available from anticipated grants from the California Missions Foundation and contributions from donors who have pledged their financial support.

September 29, 2024

What are these chairs doing in the parking lot? – The old folding chairs and tables from the parish hall were moved to the Carriage House for storage and use when needed for outdoor events in the Gathering Area, parking lots, and Holy Family Picnic Area. The chairs have been moved outside temporarily while our contractors build a new floor to replace the old uneven dirt and concrete floor inside the carriage house.

September 15, 2024

The Carriage House has a new roof – Next will be completion of the new siding, rebuilding the exterior porches and stairs, and installing new windows and doors. When the exterior repairs are completed in October, the Carriage House will be painted white to match our other parish campus buildings. The new roof color was chosen to be similar to the Mission clay tile on the church and school.

August 20, 2024

Air conditioning for the church and parish hall will be completed this fall – Unfortunately, this is too late to provide relief from the summer heat. Air conditioning is part of the church renovation project and was planned for completion in June. Our contractors experienced unforeseen delays obtaining our new air conditioning equipment. The equipment has finally arrived and is at a warehouse in Hayward. Work will begin this month to remove the old ductwork above the ceilings and install new, larger ventilation ducts, coolant piping and electrical. This requires cutting through some concrete partitions above the ceilings. Work will be noisy at times but limited to Mondays through Fridays during the day. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause and ask everyone for continued understanding and patience.

August 10, 2024

Parish Campus Clean Up Day – Thanks to all who joined us on Saturday for our annual parish clean up day! We had over 100+ clean up day volunteers who generously shared their time and talent for our parish. Thank you also to the Men’s Ministry for providing a delicious BBQ lunch for our volunteers.

Parishioners trimmed and weeded our parish grounds including the Mission cemetery and Mission patio, trimmed the roses, pressure washed the St Joseph Dream Garden patio in front of the church, washed all of our outdoor statues including the Stations of the Cross and sleeping St Joseph monument, and removed no longer needed items from the carriage house and parish storage building., completely filling up a 30 cubic yard trash dumpster.

August 6, 2024

Carriage House Repairs Continue – This week the old roof shingles were removed along with termite and dry rot damaged wood on the sides of the building. The exterior stairs and parts of both second level porches were also removed because they were too damaged to repair. They will be rebuilt with new wood. When repairs are completed the building will be reroofed and have new siding, windows, doors, and will be repainted to look like new!. Click here to see our weekly progress.

New Trash Enclosure – Our recycling (white), yard and green waste (green), and landfill (blue) dumpsters have a new home behind the carriage house. The new dumpster area has a concrete pad and gravel access ramp with curbs and openings for drainage when it rains. The new dumpster area is enclosed on three sides with a redwood fence to visually screen the dumpsters from view. Moving the dumpsters to this new location also opens access to overflow event parking on the grass field along St Joseph Terrace between the carriage house and former rectory (now the home of our faith formation and music ministry offices and parish conference rooms.

August 4, 2024

Have you noticed we have a new addition to our Lady of Fatima Garden corner outside our main church? Through his talent and tools, Anhquan Pham offered to build our parish’s two benches for visitors and devotees to our Blessed Mother. He did this as part of his Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout service project and chose to dedicate his project to St. Joseph Church of Fremont. The Eagle Scout project allows Boy Scouts to demonstrate their leadership skills by organizing a community-benefiting project. This significant effort is the final step in their leadership training and is required to earn the Eagle Scout rank.

Anhquan, an 11^th grader at Mission San Jose High School, belongs to Troop 610, primarily consisting of Catholic members, sponsored by Our Lady of La Vang Parish in San Jose. The project completion taught him the importance of perseverance, teamwork, and giving back to the community. He would like to encourage the other youths, too, saying, “Don’t be afraid to take on big challenges. Believe in your abilities, work hard, and remember that you can make a positive impact on the community. Keep pushing forward, and you’ll achieve more than you ever thought possible.”

Anhquan also donated to the parish the money left over from his fundraising ($130). He would like to thank his parents for their help with the fundraising event, his Scoutmaster for his guidance, Troop 610 scouts for their support, and Fr. Anthony for endorsing his project. Thank you, too, Eagle Scout Anhquan!

July 28, 2024

Where did all the windows go? – As part of the exterior repairs to the Carriage House the windows have been removed and the openings covered with plywood. The old windows were delivered to the company that will build new wood framed windows to fit the exact dimensions of the openings.

July 24-25, 2024

The church parking lot looks like new – The parking lot looks like new has been seal coated and re-striped. The parking lot surfaced was cleaned and then cracks and other damages were sealed with two coats of water-based liquid asphalt emulsion. Doing this every five to seven years will prolong the life of the asphalt indefinitely. After a day to dry new parking space lines, the cross walk from the school and other markings were repainted by the contractor.

July 17-19, 2024

Goodbye Termites! – The Carriage House was tented for termite abatement, the first step in the exterior repairs of the building. The building is also being treated for subterranean termites. The next steps will be temporary removal of windows for measurement, roof demolition and roof replacement. Please observe the contractor’s safety barriers and avoid parking near the Carriage House until the repair project is completed. This is the last building scheduled for termite treatment. The rectory, museum, ministry houses, school, and church have been tented and treated over the last several years.

July 14, 2024

Kindergarten Window Replacement – The windows on the Kindergarten building are being replaced. The old windows had begun leaking on windy rainy days.

June 30, 2024

Carriage House Repairs Approved – The diocese has approved repairs to the exterior of the Carriage House. Work begins in August with termite tenting. Completion is expected by November. The building has not been repainted or reroofed for over 30 years and shows evidence of areas of dry rot and mold, deteriorated exterior windows and doors and roof damage. The exterior staircase is falling apart. At project completion the building will be watertight and secure and the building’s exterior will be restored without altering its exterior configuration. This project is being funded as part of the parish master plan using available repurposed capital campaign dollars. Stay tuned for for updates.

June 22, 2024

Mission Museum Renewal – At the June 22 annual parish update meeting Father Anthony unveiled an exciting vision for a renewed Mission San Jose museum with a new welcoming center for visitors, reimagined exhibit spaces, and a restored St Joseph Healing Chapel. Work will occur over the next six months by a large team of volunteers and experts. The project will be funded through new donations.

May 27, 2024

Our Wedding Feast of the Lamb painting is here – Members of the parish staff, pastoral leadership team, our church renovation contractor, and other parishioners donated their Memorial Day holiday to help Father Anthony and artist Michael Corsini (in the blue shirt) install the completed painting on the back wall of the church. Michael will return on June 8 and 9 for our celebration of the 227th anniversary of the Mission’s founding and will speak after all weekend masses about the painting.

May 21, 2024

Our new painting is on its way – Each of the five 10 feet wide by seven feet tall panels of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb painting were loaded onto a truck today in Pennsylvania for their journey to our church. Each panel is braced inside a specially constructed crate secured to heavy duty shipping pallets. They are braced for balance and strength. The weight of each palette is 2500 lbs. The painting panels are braced and the crates must remain vertical to prevent the oil painting from contacting the sides of the crates.

May 13, 2024

Work on The Wedding Feast of the Lamb has been completed – Artist Michael Corsini has completed six months of work on our new oil painting The Wedding Feast of the Lamb. This magnificent fifty foot wide and seven foot tall painting will be mounted on the back wall of the worship space, replacing the temporary copy on the back wall of an early mockup of the painting. The painting will be blessed at the noon Mass on June 9th during our parish celebration of the 227th anniversary of the founding of Mission San Jose.

May 2, 2024

Mission Street entry doors – The temporary entry doors on the Mission Blvd side of the church have been replaced with new glass doors. These doors were purchased as part of last year’s church renovation but were delayed by the manufacturer. The temporary glass entrance doors, loaned to us at no cost, will be returned to the supplier’s inventory.

April 26, 2024

The Heart of a Happy Family: Jesus at the Center – Our new, life-sized statue of the Holy Family was dedicated on May 1, 2024 in honor of St. Joseph the Worker and the Holy Family. The smaller statue of the Holy Family that temporarily occupied the stone pedestal outside the parking lot entrance to the church has returned to its original place in the Holy Family Picnic Area.

Cast in bronze and six feet tall, the statue beautifully captures the intimacy and happiness of the Holy Family. Joseph is in his 30s, masculine, lean, and broad-shouldered with a carpenter’s strong hands. He is wearing his leather apron and tools. Mary is in her 20s, a beautiful, smiling young woman who holds hands with Joseph. Jesus is shown 7 or 8 years old and wraps his arms tightly around Joseph. They show us Jesus as the heart of their home and family relationship, and how we too can have peace and contentment in our families when we keep Jesus at the center of our relationships.

In the midst of life’s worries and challenges, our bronze statue of the Holy Family stands as a beacon of joy and happiness. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph all share a radiant smile, their faces aglow with love and contentment. Despite the weight of their responsibilities – Joseph’s work, Mary’s maternal cares, and Jesus’ mission to save the world – they choose to rejoice in each other’s company, united in their love for God. This beautiful statue, “The Heart of a Happy Family,” is a testament to the power of faith and family. Designed and created by our pastor Father Anthony Le and and sculptor Debra McLaughlin of InDweller Artistic of Ontario, Canada, it was made possible through the generosity of our parishioners. It serves as a reminder that our happiness and eternal life depend on having Jesus at the heart of all things.

In his remarks at the statue’s May 1, 2024 dedication, Father Le said “As we gaze upon this lovely statue, we are invited to come to church with our worries and joys, knowing we are welcomed by the Holy Family of God. Let us celebrate the Lord of heaven and earth, and find peace in the knowledge that Jesus is at the center of our lives, binding us together in love and happiness. May this beautiful work of art inspire us to prioritize our relationships, our faith, and our joy, and may we always remember that Jesus is the heart of a happy family.”

April 7, 2024

Parish Hall Flat Screen TVs – Our Chinese Community parishioners have donated two large flat screen televisions for the parish hall. They will be used for presentations in the parish hall and to live stream Holy Mass from the church when additional seating is needed.

March 28, 2024

Have You Noticed? – At the ends of our new pews there are recessed metal nailheads in the same shape as those nailing Jesus to the crucifix above the tabernacle. As we begin the Holy Triduum, the three days that changed the world over two thousand years ago, these nailheads and the red and white floor tiles (representing blood and water from the side of Jesus) are meant to be a constant reminder of how Jesus sacrificed himself to save us.

March 3, 2024

Our new votive candle stands have arrived – Made from wood with carved images on their surfaces, they were donated by a generous parish family. The candle stand on the left shows Mary with Christ Child and the stand on the right shows the Crucifixion. In our Catholic tradition we light votive candles in prayer. The light reminds us of Christ. With the light of faith, we petition our Lord in prayer (or a saint for intercession.) Candle light shows a special reverence and represents our desire to remain present to the Lord in prayer even though we may leave and go about our daily business.

February 18, 2024

The sandbags are temporary! – The parish has placed sandbags at the top of the ramps from the parking lot to the church’s entry vestibule. parking lot runoff during heavy rainstorms can overwhelm the drains at the bottom the ramps, resulting in rainwater collecting on the floor of the entry vestibule. The sandbags will be removed after the end of the rainy season. Please watch your steps and we apologize for the inconvenience. The parish facilities team is working on a permanent drainage solution.

February 5, 2024

Foundation repair completed – Repairs to the foundation under the museum building are complete and the green construction fence has been removed. Still to come is some minor landscaping and repairs to cracked sections of the whitewashed mud plaster exterior covering of the original adobe brick walls. Please see the Museum Repair Project page for more information on the repair project and next steps.

January 7, 2024

New Signs Completed – St Joseph Parish has a large new monument sign at the parking lot entrance and exit from Mission Boulevard. The sign features a tall wood cross and identifies the parish, school, mission, and St Joseph shrine to all who pass by. The school’s new video sign is adjacent to the drop off and pick up lane and features a high definition video screen for school news and announcements. Both signs use white stucco, mission clay tile, and stone to echo the Mission’s building materials and help unify the appearance of our campus.

December 23, 2023

Bishop Barber dedicates our renovated parish church – Our Diocesan Bishop Michael Barber, SJ, assisted by our pastor, Fr Antony Le, our pastor emeritus, Msgr Manuel Simas, former associate pastors of our parish and other priests from around the diocese, consecrated our new altar and rededicated our newly renovated parish church.

December 17, 2023

Outdoor Nativity – Members of the parish’s Vietnamese community created this year’s outdoor Nativity scene in the St Joseph Dream Garden. The Nativity is lighted at night and visible to passersby on Mission Blvd. Our parishioners also hung festive market lights around the eaves of the church.

December 9, 2023

Our Church Renovation is nearing completion – Like the Advent Season we are now experiencing, in just a few weeks the waiting for Christmas and project completion will be over! The workers are busy completing their tasks and soon will be cleaning up the construction dust in time for the renovated church and hall for the dedication on December 23rd.

December 2, 2023

Museum repair update – Soil cement injection is compete and concrete grade beam construction is underway at the Mission museum. This project will be completed in January 2024. Please see the Museum Repair Project page for more information.

November 12, 2023

Our new pews have arrived – The pews for our renovated church have been installed. The church’s old pews were taken apart and the wood cut and refinished to cover the columns and horizontal concrete beams in the church.

November 8, 2023

St Joseph Terrace improvement – This past week we also installed concrete curbs on the side of the dividing island in the middle of St. Joseph Terrace without curbs. This will help to keep soil from washing into the road after heavy rains.

November 5, 2023

Our new church windows have arrived – 12 new stained glass windows for the windows on each side of our renovated church are now in place. The windows were made for us by a studio in Florida.These new windows depict St Mary Magdalene, St Francis of Assisi, St Claire of Assisi, St Dominic, Blessed Augustus Tolton, St Lorenzo Ruiz, Vietnamese Martyrs, Chinese Martyrs, Joseph from the Old Testament, St Kateri Tekakwitha, St Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and St Gianna Beretta Molla.

October 30, 2023

Our old parish and school signs are being replaced – The new school sign under construction next to the student drop off and pick up lane will have a large video screen funded with proceeds from last year’s St Joseph School golf tournament. The new parish sign under construction on Mission Blvd (shown at right) is being funded with donations to the parish beautification fund.

October 22, 2023

New Benches in the Mission Patio Garden – After Mass this weekend in the Mission church, step out into the Patio Garden and admire our new benches. The parish is grateful for the attractive benches which are a generous legacy gift from the Women of St. Joseph. We also would like to thank the Men’s Ministry for assembling and installing them. The new benches will be enjoyed by parishioners, visitors and school children for years to come.

October 15, 2023

Our Parish Statue of St. Joseph the Worker has a New Roof – A roof of mission clay tile has replaced the old asphalt shingles over our outdoor statue of St. Joseph. The old roof was wearing out. With its new roof and white paint the shelter matches the appearance of our other campus buildings along Mission Boulevard. Our outdoor St. Joseph statue was blessed by Diocese of Oakland Bishop Michael Barber, S.J. as part of the parish’s rededication to St. Joseph on March 19, 2021.

October 9, 2023

Aches have been added to the beginning and end of our outdoor Stations of the Cross pathway – The Latin inscription above the entry arch means “Way of the Cross” and the inscription above the arch at the end of the path means “Go In Peace.”

September 30, 2023

Message in Stone – “Eagle-eyed” parishioners will have noticed a recently completed parish volunteer landscaping project along the Mission Boulevard frontage of our church. The project was a great fellowship opportunity, and proclaims to passersby an important message about what we believe as Catholics. What is this message? Hint: the Holy Family plays a role. Want another hint? See Philippians 4:5-7.

September 25, 2023

Church Renovation Progress – The new dividing wall between the church and hall has been framed. There are actually two walls,, spaced 30 inches apart. The space in between will help to prevent sound from the hall from being audible in the church, and vice versa. The wall will house speakers for our new digital organ.

What’s Happening in the Parking Lot? – Paving has been removed from several parking spaces at the south end of the parish hall. A 5 to 6 foot high masonry wall covered with stucco and painted to match the church is being built to surround new air conditioning and heating equipment. When the new equipment is fully operational sometime in 2024, we will no longer burn natural gas to heat the building. Heat pumps will electrically heat and air condition the church and hall. The two ADA parking spaces will be replaced closer to the new accessible entrance from the parking lot on the east side of the building.

This is the new entry walkway into the church and hall being constructed on the east side of the building. The old stairs at the entrance have been removed. Parishioners will enter the building from the parking lot on this gently sloping walkway.

September 22, 2023

Museum Repair Update – Plywood protection for the adobe walls and windows and noise insulation have been installed behind the green safety and security fence. Most of the major construction equipment has been delivered and staged. The specialized drilling equipment needed for our project is in high demand. Work at other locations has delayed its arrival at our location until now. Scaffolding for the drilling rig has been built. This will be followed by testing to ensure everything is functioning properly. Please visit the Museum Repair Project page for more information.

September 11, 2023

Painting the Path – The borders of the pathway for our Stations of the Cross have been painted red to symbolize Christ’s passion and blood. The pathway begins near the St Joseph shrine and ends near the rectory. Each station is lighted at night. Benches are located opposite each station along the pathway. Our new outdoor Stations of the Cross were blessed and dedicated during a parish celebration on September 15th.

September 5, 2023

Our New Outdoor Stations of the Cross Arrive – Parish volunteers help Father Anthony unload the truck and over the next two days installed all 15 stations along the already completed pathway. Station 15 at the end of the pathway portrays the Resurrection.

August 28, 2023

Gathering Area Maintenance – The gravel lot across St Joseph Terrace from the church and next to the Holy Family Picnic Area has been improved. Additional gravel was added to smooth out uneven areas and the gravel was covered with asphalt. We now have an all-weather gathering area for outdoor liturgies and for people visiting the Holy Family Picnic Area, our St Joseph Shrine and sleeping St Joseph monument, and our new outdoor Stations of the Cross. The gathering area can also be used for occasional overflow parking. It does not have painted parking spaces, so please be careful if you park there to not block other vehicles.

August 20, 2023

Water and Power for our St Joseph Shrine – A landscape irrigation pipe and low voltage electrical conduit has been installed between the Carriage House and our St Joseph shrine for future use ahead of the gathering area maintenance project. This will enable us to beautify the plantings around the shrine, improve lighting, and eliminate watering by hand for the plants around the shrine and the oleanders planted along our property frontage with Mission Blvd.

August 7, 2023

Museum Repairs Will begin Soon – Our project to repair the rock retaining wall and soil foundation along part of our Old Mission San Jose Museum building is about to begun. We will be installing security fencing, plywood protection, and portable toilets on the premises during the week of August 7th, and construction work will begin in September. We do not expect public access to the Museum or the adjoining Centennial Plaza to be blocked or interrupted at any time during the project. For more information, please visit the Museum Repair Project page under “Facilities” on the parish website.

July 17, 2023

Final Phase of Tree Trimming – The last section of brush clearing and palm tree trimming has been completed along the creek on the north side of the parish campus. This work reduces wildfire risk, improves access, and improves the appearance of our grounds.

July 9, 2023

Church Renovation Progress – Demolition of the old restrooms and other interior preparation work began the week of June 26. The old pews have been taken apart and the wood will be sawn and refinished for use in the new interior of our worship space. Our old kitchen stoves and other equipment have been donated to the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Grace in Aptos. Please pray for the success of our project and the safety of the workers.

July 3, 2023

Renovation of Ministry House 1 Completed – The second of our two Ministry Houses has been renovated. Ministry House 2 was renovated last year. Both buildings were showing their age and needed significant maintenance. Our renovated Ministry Houses have been modernized with new floors, windows, roofs, interior finishes, heating and air conditioning to provide comfortable and functional spaces for our parish staff.

June 25, 2023

Outdoor Stations of the Cross – Work has started on our parish’s Stations of the Cross outdoor meditation path. A wheelchair and walker accessible, four foot wide concrete sidewalk has been completed, along with pedestals for the 14 stations and a 15^th station for the risen Christ. The walk will be illuminated at night. Landscaping and installation of the donated stations will be finished over the summer. Keep an eye on our progress!

June 18, 2023

Church Renovation Project Begins June 26 – Work to renovate our church and hall begins Monday, June 26. The church and hall will be closed until work is completed in December. All masses and Eucharistic adoration will move to the Mission church until the project is completed. When the church and hall reopen in December we will have a beautifully updated worship space with exterior stained glass windows and new floors, pews, baptismal font, and organ. The old restrooms will be replaced with larger, fully accessible restrooms and the kitchen will be renovated. The wall separating the worship space and hall will be replaced with a soundproof wall. The building entrances will have enclosed entry vestibules. More information can be found on the Facilities page of the parish website.

Pavement Painting – The faded stop lines, directional arrows, and other pavement markings in the parking lot and on St Joseph Terrace will be repainted on Monday June 19. Please observe temporary barriers set up by the painting contractor to avoid driving across wet paint.

May 28, 2023

St Joseph Terrace Paving Repairs – Damaged areas of St Joseph Terrace near the parking lot entrance were recently replaced and repaved on May 15. The repaving will prevent further damage and was funded from the parish’s maintenance budget. The asphalt pathways behind the Mission church and between the school and the Dominican Sisters were also seal-coated to extend the life of the pavements.

May 21, 2023

Have You Stopped to Smell the Roses? – The roses around our church are in full bloom! Take some time before or after Mass to enjoy them! Roses are a Catholic symbol for Mary, who because of her vital role in God’s plan to redeem the fallen world, is associated with the original purity and beauty of the roses in the Garden of Eden.

And have you noticed the beautiful plantings around our statues of Saint Michael the Archangel and Our Lady of Fatima? They have been “adopted” by several parishioners who keep them beautiful!

May 14, 2023

New Stained Glass Windows – Work is underway at the artist’s studio in Florida on twelve new stained glass windows for the side windows in the church as part of this year’s church renovation project. Pictured is the completed window for St. Tekawitha. Click here to view illustrations of all twelve windows.

May 7, 2023

Caring for Our Trees – The beautiful Chinese Elm trees bordering the Mission cemetery and church parking lot have been trimmed to reduce the weight of the tree limbs and open up their canopies. This work will help prevent breakage and promote healthy tree growth. Several large, heavy tree limbs broke last year, blocking the pathway from the parking lot to the Mission Church side entry.

April 16, 2023

Church Renovation Update – Our church renovation project design drawings have been submitted to the City of Fremont for building permit approval. If all goes well work will begin by the end of June. Now we pray for a successful outcome! For more information and to see renderings of our renovated church interior please visit the Church Renovation Project page.

April 9, 2023

Preventing Water Intrusion at the School – St Joseph School has installed rain gutters on part of the school roof and connected the downspout to a storm drain. This will reduce rainwater accumulation behind the school. Also, a second sump pump has been installed and debris and roots have been removed from the existing underground sump pump drains behind the school. This work will help prevent future water damage to the school.

March 24, 2023

Improved Accessibility to St Joseph Cemetery – The parish has installed handrails along the stairs at the Felipe Common entrance into St Joseph Cemetery. We recently became aware of concerns from several parishioners that it was difficult for them to visit the graves of loved ones because these stairs didn’t have handrails. The parish’s St Joseph Cemetery is located on Mission Blvd about a mile south of the main parish campus.

March 18, 2023

Sleeping Saint Joseph Monument Dedicated – Bishop Michael Barber dedicated our Sleeping Saint Joseph monument following Mass and the conclusion of our first annual Saint Joseph Conference. Over 800 parishioners and visitors participated. Click here for more information about our Sleeping Saint Joseph monument.

March 12, 2023

Redirecting Storm Water – Asphalt curbs have been added on the downhill side of the pathway that separates the school playgrounds and future sports field from the Dominican Sisters campus. This will prevent storm water during heavy rains from flooding the playground areas and back side of the school. The Dominican Sisters are sharing in the cost of this work.

February 19, 2023

New Outdoor Banners – Have you noticed? Inspirational banners with religious images, Bible verses and words from saints are displayed from light poles around the parish campus. They remind us that the parish and school grounds are holy places. Take some time to walk around and see them all.

January 22, 2023

Termite Removal – No, the circus didn’t come to town! The rectory, rectory garage, and Ministry House 1 were tented for termite fumigation this month. Two to three days of repairs for minor wood damage in the rectory will occur next month. Termite damage to Ministry House 1 will be repaired later this year when Ministry House 1 is renovated. Over the last two years we have treated all parish and school buildings for termites except for the Mission church. Let’s pray we won’t have any more of these unwelcome visitors!

January 8, 2023

Water Damage From Winter Storms – Water from recent winter storms flooded floors and damaged walls in the school’s administrative offices and “Milk Room” building. Classrooms were not affected. Most of the repair cost is being covered by the Diocese’s insurance. A restoration company provided by the Diocese has removed damaged flooring and wall base and drilled ventilation holes at the bottom of the walls to dry spaces behind the walls using portable dehumidifiers and fans. Repairs will be made after the causes of the water intrusion are corrected.

December 18, 2022

Saint Joseph Dream Murals – Murals depicting the four dreams of Saint Joseph are being painted on the four sides of our Sleeping Saint Joseph monument in the Holy Family picnic area. In the Gospel of Matthew, God speaks to Joseph in dreams. In the first dream, Joseph is told to continue with his plan to marry Mary after he learns she has become pregnant with Jesus. Putting his faith in God, Joseph took Mary as his wife. After the birth of Jesus, in a second dream Joseph is warned to flee with his family to Egypt. He took the Holy Family on a perilous journey to an unknown country despite the anxiety he must have felt. Joseph went because he trusted God. In the third dream, Joseph is told it was time to return to Israel, and in the fourth dream to bring the Holy Family to Nazareth in Galilee instead of returning to Judea.

December 11, 2022

Unwanted Christmas Visitors – ‘Twas a few nights before Christmas and all through the house, something was stirring, but it wasn’t a mouse. While Father Manny, Max the Beagle, and Father Anthony were nestled all snug in their beds, termites were busy over their heads. Yikes! An inspection has found termites and areas of dry rot in the parts of the rectory and rectory garage. The main church and hall, school and museum were tented for termites in 2021. The rectory and rectory garage will be tented and repaired in 2023.

November 6, 2022

New Gate at the Mission Blvd Sidewalk Entrance to Gathering Area – The gate will be open whenever the Mission Blvd doors to the church are unlocked for Mass. When the gate is closed it will help to discourage vandalism. The gate can also be closed to prevent children running off into the street when we have events in our new gathering space. At the heart of the gate is a cross painted red, representing the passion of Christ whose blood pours out for the salvation of the world. The center of the gate has the shape of a boat which traditionally symbolizes the Church. There are twelve oars radiating from the boat to the sides of the gate. They represent the twelve apostles. 11 of the oars are painted red for the 11 who died as martyrs for the faith. The white oar represents Saint John, who is the only one who died a natural death. Together they move the Church (all of us) forward, rowing the boat on the ocean of life. The waves at the bottom of the gate represent our world, where the Church exists and evangelizes. It recalls the scene when Jesus was in the boat as a storm approached. With Jesus in our boat, we are safe from storms, and as His Church we will continue to move forward in our mission to bring souls to Christ.

October 30, 2022

Gathering Area Nearing Completion – Our new gathering area on the Mission Blvd side of the church is nearing completion! The paving and new accessible walkways to the St Joseph Terrace side of the church, to the parking lot at the back of the church, and to a ramp from the front of the church to the gathering are in place. Railings and statues have been installed. Remaining work includes benches, lighting, and some additional landscaping. This project is being funded with donations from generous parishioners.

October 17, 2022

Sleeping Saint Joseph – The largest Sleeping Saint Joseph in the United States is now part of our Holy Family Picnic Area. Sleeping St Joseph is located across the gravel parking lot from our St Joseph shrine, which was rededicated in 2021.

You may notice we’ve also added shade umbrellas to some of our new picnic tables. We now have 22 tables for parish gatherings and family picnics. The Sleeping St Joseph and Holy family Picnic Area were funded with donations from generous parishioners.

October 2, 2022

Cleaning Up Our Future Sports Field Site – Our landscaping team continues to work on cleaning up our campus. Recently they have been trimming trees and removing overgrown brush from our property behind the Ministry Houses and school. This cleanup will reduce the risk of from wildfire and helps us to envision what our future sports field could become as part of the parish master plan.

September 25, 2022

Holy Family Picnic Area Expands! – Thanks to an additional donation from several generous parishioners, more picnic tables have been added to our popular Holy Family Picnic Area. The new tables were assembled by the Men’s Club, and families from our Chinese community spent a fun afternoon applying waterproofing to the new tables. Thank you everyone!

September 18, 2022

St Joseph Dream Garden Construction Continues – Last weekend paving for the north half of our new St Joseph Dream Garden was completed and work has begun to prepare the south half. Still to come is completion of the retaining walls, seating, lighting, and railings. The two new crape myrtle trees in the foreground were donated by a parishioner.

September 4, 2022

New Playground Completion – The school’s new playground is opening this month! Final work installing the rubber base was completed last week and we are awaiting the final inspection. Our new playground meets the latest California safety standards, including the resilient playground surface to minimize the chance of injury from falls. This project was managed by retired former school principal Kelly Mendoza and was funded by school parents, school savings, and a generous foundation grant.

August 21, 2022

New St Joseph Gathering Area – We’re sure you’ve noticed the re-landscaping work between the front of our church and Mission Blvd sidewalk. The ivy and grass have been removed and the ground has been leveled. Retaining walls with railings will be constructed on the upper and lower sides of the newly leveled area. Pavers will be installed with benches for parishioners to enjoy before and after Mass under the shade from our trees. Please observe the safety tape and avoid entering the construction areas. This project is being funded by generous members of the parish.

August 14, 2022

Beautifying St Joseph Terrace – Our landscaping team has been hard at work clearing the brush and old fencing between the palm trees in the median of St Joseph Terrace. Oleanders have now been planted between the palms that will bloom with red flowers next year.

July 17, 2022

School Projects Completed During Summer Vacation – Saint Joseph School has completed two projects while its students are on summer vacation. The new playground is nearing completion with installation of the playground equipment. And the school’s outdoor hallway has been repainted. The painting project was paid for by a recent school fundraiser. The playground was funded by generous donations from school parents, a foundation grant, and school savings.

July 10, 2022

Landscape Cleanup Continues – The work begun at last month’s Spring Cleaning Day is continuing along the creek on the north side of St Joseph Terrace. Trees are being trimmed and dead branches, overgrown shrubs and other debris is being cleared and removed. This work will improve wildfire safety and create a parklike environment for parishioners to enjoy.

June 26, 2022

Where have all the dumpsters gone? – Have you wondered where the dumpsters went that used to take up parking spaces under the trees by the entrance to the school’s parking lot? They were relocated earlier this year to the new gravel parking lot on the other side of St Joseph Terrace. But with the opening of the Holy Family Picnic Area, it was time for them to move again. On June 20^th they were moved to their new resting place on the other side of the Carriage House.

June 12, 2022

Newly Remodeled Parish Office in Ministry House 2 – Our Parish Secretary, Sandra Hernandez, greets guests at the front door of newly remodeled Ministry House 2 while Parish Business Manager, Gina Mehta, enjoys a quiet back room to keep parish finances current. They are very happy in their new home.

May 29, 2022

Mission Chandeliers Cleaned and Restored – Thanks to a generous donation from a parishioner, all the chandeliers in the Mission church have cleaned by a chandelier cleaning company. Each chandelier was removed from the ceiling, completely disassembled, all the strands and crystal pieces cleaned in an ultrasonic bath, reassembled, and rehung. Each chandelier took a day to clean. What a wonderful gift to the parish as we prepare to celebrate the 225^th anniversary of the founding of the Mission!

May 15, 2022

Caring for Our Trees – Work began last week to remove dead branches from 58 palm trees around the parish campus. Please avoid areas where tree trimmers are working. This work was included in this year’s parish operating budget. The parish has also hired a professional arborist to assess all our trees.

The continued drought has stressed many of our trees. A large sycamore fell near the creek earlier this year and was removed. Portions of the tree’s trunk were saved and provide rustic seating in our new Holy Family picnic area.

Limbs from a Chinese elm next to the Mission church cemetery recently broke and were removed. Several large trees near the Ministry Houses with overextended limbs have also been trimmed. And two olive trees have been planted to replace old olive trees that died.

May 8, 2022

Holy Family Picnic Area – Our new Holy Family picnic area has been completed! Please enjoy it after Mass and anytime you visit the parish grounds.

The picnic area has 12 tables. 12 symbolizes God’s power and authority. There were 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament (can you name all 12?). By Jesus’ passion and resurrection in the New Testament the 12 scattered tribes are brought back together, and Israel (we, God’s people) are restored to completeness as God’s family. Christ called 12 apostles (can you name them?) to bear witness to what He did and to spread the good news of the gospel to the entire world.

The picnic tables are located in four groups. Viewed from above, each area forms a letter of the alphabet. Can you identify the word they spell?

May 1, 2022

Family Picnic Area and Ministry House 2 Projects – Our new parish family picnic area is nearing completion. Located under the trees by the carriage house, the family picnic area will have picnic tables and more!

Repairs to Ministry House 2 on St Joseph Terrace are also nearing completion. Ministry House 2 will become the temporary home of the parish office when it moves from the carriage house later this month. Watch for an open house announcement in an upcoming bulletin!

April 24, 2022

Our Roses Bloom for Easter – The roses we planted last year around our church are in full bloom! The rose is a Catholic symbol for Mary, Queen of heaven and earth. Mary is also known as the “mystic rose” or the “rose without thorns” because of her role as the mother of Jesus Christ, the world’s savior. Before sin entered the world and corrupted it, tradition says the Garden of Eden featured roses with no thorns. Because of Mary’s vital role in God’s plan to redeem the fallen world, Mary is associated with the original purity and beauty of the roses God originally designed for the Garden of Eden.

Praying the rosary, which means “crown of roses,” is a spiritual bouquet to Mary. In our Catholic tradition, all roses symbolize God’s love at work in the world, but different colors of roses also symbolize different spiritual concepts. White roses represent purity and holiness. Red roses symbolize passion and sacrifice. Yellow roses mean wisdom and joy, pink roses gratitude and peace, and lavender roses wonder, awe, and change for the better. All five rose colors surround our church.

April 17, 2022

Pathway Repaved – The pathway behind the Mission church from the church parking lot to Dominican Field behind the museum was repaved on April 7th. The old pathway was rough, uneven, and starting to break up in places. We now have a smooth, eight foot wide walkway just in time for our 225^th anniversary Founder’s Day weekend activities June 11 and 12.

April 10, 2022

New Ambo for the Church – A few weeks ago, we received a new Ambo (lectern) for the church. It was handcrafted by the same woodworker who made all the wood candle holders in the church, including the large Easter candle stand. Our new Ambo features three carved angels, one on each side. The angels represent God’s word being proclaimed. Each angel is mounted on a triangle. The three sides of the triangle represent God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our old Ambo is being refinished and will have a new home in the Mission church.

Did you notice we replaced our wax candles last year when our new candle holders arrived? The new candles look like wax but have an internal oil reservoir to feed the wick. No more short, stubby, candle ends to throw away, no wax running down the sides of the candle holders or dripping on the altar linens, and we save money because we don’t need to continually buy more wax candles. The new ambo, candle holders and non-wax candles were funded by contributions to the church beautification fund.

April 3, 2022

Lighting Upgrade Project Completed – Our parking lot lights have been repaired and upgraded to energy efficient LED fixtures. The work included repairing the electrical circuit to the school parking lot lights. All the light fixtures in the church hall were repaired and six new fixtures installed. The parish hall is now much brighter for our CYO teams and parish functions. PG&E paid for the lighting upgrade project and will be paid back by keeping a share of the monthly electricity bill savings.

Separately, the parish purchased solar-powered security lights with motion detectors which have been installed in some of the trees around the church parking lot and in our new parking area across Saint Joseph Terrace from the church.

March 27, 2022

Lighting Upgrade Project Nears Completion – Work to replace fluorescent and incandescent lights with new, energy efficient LED lighting is complete in the school and kindergarten buildings, and nearing completion for the church hall, church exterior, and parking lot lights. A total of 386 light fixtures are being upgraded to LED. Our electricity consumption for these new fixtures will be 70% lower, saving us $900 every month. A PG&E energy-efficiency program is paying for our lighting upgrade. PG&E will recover its cost over time from part of the monthly savings. The pictures show some of the old light fixtures removed from the school and the new lights in one of our classrooms. Out with the old and in with the new – fiat lux!

March 20, 2022

Clean Up of the Former Rectory Site Completed – Our parish maintenance team has completed cleaning up the former rectory location. As already reported, the old basement has been filled in, the chain link fencing removed, and the overgrown vegetation removed. Ralph and Rueben have finished the clean-up with gravel to fill-in uneven spots and provide a smooth surface. With everything cleaned up it is easy to visualize our future church on this area and the grass behind it.

March 6, 2022

Blessing of new St. Mary Statue – On Sunday February 20^th Father Anthony, Deacon Lai and parishioners participated in blessing our new statue of St. Mary. St. Mary replaces one of the two statues at the north parking lot entrance that were stolen last month. St. Michael the Archangel will replace the other removed statue. Both statues will be securely attached to concrete supports and were donated by members of the parish.

February 27, 2022

Erosion Repairs Completed at St. Joseph Cemetery – Last month we shared a picture of the work being done to repair soil erosion along the Mission Boulevard frontage of St Joseph Cemetery located on Mission Blvd at Felipe Common. A leaking irrigation system and unstable soil on the slope above the sidewalk retaining walls were the source of the problem. The slope has been stabilized and burlap netting and wattles installed to keep the soil in place. Drought tolerant plants will be added later this spring.

February 20, 2022

New Gathering Area – Work will begin soon to re-landscape the area between the front of our church and the Mission Blvd sidewalk. The ivy and grass will be removed, and pavers installed to create a large new gathering area with benches for parishioners to enjoy before and after Mass under the shade from our trees. Our new gathering area will have statues of St Joseph, St Mary and Jesus that will be gently illuminated at night. This project is being planned and funded by generous members of the parish.

February 13, 2022

Missing Statues – On Monday evening January 31 the St Francis and Guardian Angel statues were taken from their pedestals at the church parking lot entrance. We are working to replace the statues and pedestals with a more vandal resistant design. Please pray for the misguided person(s) who did this damage.

Landscaping the Former Rectory Location – When the rectory was moved up the hill on St Joseph Terrace in preparation for our new parish church, temporary fencing was installed around the old rectory site to prevent accidents from the empty basement and other rubble. Thanks to the generous donation of company employees and demolition equipment by a friend of the parish, last week the overgrown shrubs were removed, the remaining walls demolished, the old basement filled in, and the site covered with soil. The old fencing will also be removed. We haven’t abandoned our plan to build our new church in this area, but until then we will have a safe and attractive area for other parish uses.

February 6, 2022

Repairs to Ministry House 2 – The parish has begun repairs to Ministry House 2. Parish staff located in Ministry House 2 have moved to Ministry House 1. The work on Ministry House 2 will take about six to eight weeks to complete, and then our parish office will move from the Carriage House to Ministry House 2. The repairs to Ministry House 2 ensure our employees and parishioners have a safe place to work and visit until the Carriage House is renovated.

Consolidating everyone from three buildings into just two will be challenging, but our parish team will make it work! Finding space for meetings and other parish activities will also be more challenging because meeting spaces in the ministry houses will now be used as office space. The “Facility Calendar” on our parish website can help. It shows all the meetings and activities scheduled each day in every parish building. It can be found on the drop down menu under “About Us” on the parish website.

January 30, 2022

Rain Gutters Replaced, Graffiti Removed and Flags Restored in Time for 225^th Anniversary – The leaking and unrepairable rain gutters on the front and back sides of the historic Old Mission San Jose Museum building have been replaced with new painted steel gutters that retain the shape and look of the replaced gutters. New downspouts have also been added where needed to ensure proper drainage. As required by the updated City of Fremont fire code, a leaf filter covering was installed over the rain gutters to prevent fire danger from flammable dry leaves. The filter covers will also avoid clogged downspouts. The parish will be receiving grants from the California Missions Foundation and the Committee for the Restoration of Mission San Jose to help defray the cost of this maintenance project.

The graffiti damage from last November on the walls of the Old Mission Church and Museum buildings has also been fully removed thanks to the combined efforts of kind donors, Saint Joseph Men’s Club volunteers, and our own parish maintenance staff. The temporary wall covers were removed, and Men’s Club volunteers supplied the elbow grease, paint remover, and power-washing to clean the southwest corner of the Church. Diligent paint research led to the purchase of required paint to prime and spot paint over the graffiti without damaging the historic adobe walls of the Museum. And for the finishing touch, a Men’s Club volunteer researched and ordered replacements for the broken flag poles at the front of the Museum, while generous donors funded the purchase of all new flags!

January 23, 2022

School Playground Progress – The temporary construction fence has been removed from the school’s playground area, marking the completion of the first phase of our school’s playground replacement project. The next step is installing new playground equipment. Unfortunately, the equipment supplier is experiencing supply chain delays so it will be several months before our new playground equipment arrives. These pictures show the completed playground area retaining walls, stairs, and railings. The contractor also replaced the wood retaining wall behind the school’s outdoor basketball backboards. The wood retaining wall had deteriorated from dry rot and was at the end of its useful life. The new concrete retaining wall won’t need replacing.

January 9, 2022

Termite Tenting Completed for St Joseph School – Our parish school was treated for termites the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The church and museum were also treated for termites last year. We have completed professional inspections of the buildings to document areas of damage requiring repair, and we are pleased that we caught the termites before they did much damage.

Repairing Erosion Damage at St Joseph Cemetery – Work to repair soil erosion along the Mission Boulevard frontage of St Joseph Cemetery was completed last week. A leaking irrigation system and unstable soil on the slope above the sidewalk retaining walls was the source of the problem. This second parish cemetery was created in the 1880’s and is located about a mile south of the parish on Mission Boulevard at Felipe Common. Drought tolerant plants will be added to help stabilize the slope later this spring.

January 2, 2022

Church Lighting Upgrade Completed – New LED ceiling lights have been installed in the ceiling of the church. As with the LED spotlights illuminating the Stations of the Cross, which were installed in November, the new ceiling lights use above-the-ceiling electrical conduits provided when the church was built in 1965, but not used until now. Many thanks to our volunteer parishioner electricians who donated their time and talents to complete the lighting upgrades to our church in time for our Christmas celebrations.

December 19, 2021

New Stairway Completed for School – As part of the St Joseph School playground replacement project, we now have an outdoor stairway connecting the kindergarten behind the school to the school and playground. School principal Patti Calton celebrates the completed stairs.

LED Lighting Upgrade – The parish and school have received $103,000 from PG&E to replace older fluorescent light fixtures with new energy efficient lighting. The new fixtures to be installed in the school, kindergarten, ministry houses and rectory garage will look the same, but they’ll be 70% more energy efficient. Our outdoor parking lot lights will also be upgraded. This project will save electricity and help us reduce our carbon footprint by 15%.

You may have noticed a shipping container (only one, not a stack like this photo!) near the parish office. EverWatt, our lighting replacement contractor, is using it to store equipment. The container will be removed at the end of the project. Work in the school will occur outside school hours. The contractor’s employees are vaccinated and will wear mouth and nose masks indoors.

December 12, 2021

Lighting the Exterior of our Church – Just in time for St. Nicholas Day December 6^th, a joyful band of parishioners came together Friday evening December 3^rd to hang Christmas lights from the eaves of the church and the trees at the north parking lot entrance. Our thanks to them for beautifully preparing the outside of the church for the Advent and Christmas seasons!

November 29, 2021

New Rain Gutters for Museum – The deteriorated and leaking rain gutters on the museum building have been replaced with new steel gutters painted to match the building. All the downspouts have been repaired and new downspouts added where needed. Leaf covers have also been installed on the gutters to prevent future clogs from leaves and pine needles. These repairs will prevent damage to the adobe walls from leaks and overflows. The cost of this work is $37,000. We have made a grant request to the California Missions Foundation to fund part of the cost and to the Committee for the Restoration of Mission San Jose.

November 14, 2021

Roof Repair Update – Recent rainy weather has delayed completion of repairs. The church and museum roofs are complete, and our contractor resumed work this week on the school and rectory roofs. The damaged and leaking rain gutters on the museum building will be replaced this month.

November 7, 2021

November 5, 2021 Vandalism – The Mission church and museum were defaced with red spray paint around 3 a.m. Friday morning November 5, and our statue of St Serra was covered in red paint. The statue of St Dominic at the Dominicans Sisters motherhouse was also covered in red paint and the sisters experienced other damage. According to the Fremont police Mission Dolores in San Francisco was also vandalized.

Parish Facilities Team member Gary Dorighi, parish maintenance staff and volunteers were able to remove the paint covering both statues using a pressure washer and scrub brushes. We are contacting professional painters for assistance with cleaning the spray-painted adobe walls because we don’t want to damage the walls. A police report was filed, and police are reviewing security camera footage.

New Lighting for Stations of the Cross – Our new stations of the cross in the church shine brightly with new ceiling-mounted LED spotlights. The new LED fixtures use conduit and junction boxes installed in the ceiling when the building was constructed in 1965 but until now never used. Members of the parish’s Vietnamese community donated the fixtures and wiring and installed these new lights as a gift to the parish.

Adoration Chapel Dedicated – The former crying room in the church has become our beautiful Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. The Chapel was blessed at 10 am Mass on October 31. The Chapel is open for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Thursdays adoration is in the Mission Church from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. All are invited to sign up for adoration times using the parish website.

October 24, 2021

Roofers at Work – Repairs to our roofs on the church, school, rectory, and museum were completed last week. 249 broken roof tiles were replaced, and another 40 slipped and misaligned tiles were corrected. 25 linear feet of ridge line mortar was replaced and 21 roof penetrations for vents were re-flashed. This important work to protect our buildings from water damage cost $22,600 and was funded from our parish, museum and school maintenance budgets.

School Playground Construction Continues – What’s happening behind the green fence? Our old playground equipment has been removed and set aside for metal recycling. New concrete retaining walls and an access ramp are being constructed. Next steps include placing drainage rock on top of the prepared soil surface and installing a new underground electrical conduit to two light poles on the south side of the school parking lot to replace the existing sixty year old electrical connection to these lights that no longer works.

October 17, 2021

New Carpet and Wood Flooring in the Sacristy and Church – All the old, worn carpet in the church has been replaced. The new carpet is deep red to match the covering of our refurbished kneelers. Red reminds us of Jesus’ Eucharistic sacrifice which we celebrate at every Mass. Portions of the sacristy are now covered in high grade, low maintenance, wood grain patterned vinyl planks that match the golden oak color of our pews. Gold is the color that represents heaven! The new carpet and flooring are gifts to the parish from generous parishioners. And the carpet and flooring contractors deeply discounted their prices as gifts to us. We are blessed!

Eucharistic Adoration Chapel Completed – The conversion of the church’s crying room into our new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel has been completed with new chairs, carpet, tabernacle, and statuary. Adoration is a sign of devotion to and worship of Jesus Christ, who is present in body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearance of the consecrated host which will be on display. The chapel is available for quiet contemplation and adoration throughout the day and evening when the church is open. We are grateful for the generous donors who funded this project.

Roof Work Begins Monday – Work to repair missing, damaged, and misaligned tiles on the roofs on the church, museum, rectory, and school roofs begins October 18^th. Our roofing contractor will be onsite starting at 7:30 am Monday through Friday. Roof tiles are heavy! Please take extra care near these buildings and avoid contractor vehicles, ladders, and equipment. Work is expected to take about a week to complete.

October 10, 2021

Carpet Replaced in the Church – Thanks to some generous donors, this week the old grey carpet in the church was replaced. It was showing its age, damaged in places, and could no longer be cleaned or repaired. Even the Holy Spirit said it was time for replacement when hot coals accidently fell and burned the carpet on Pentecost Sunday! Enjoy our new carpeting and sacristy flooring at Mass this weekend!

October 3, 2021

Have you seen St Francis lately? Mr. Ruben Martinez has been beautifying the St Joseph Terrace entrance to our parking lot. St Francis now has grass, flowers, and lighting in his area. Please enjoy the new scenery.

September 26, 2021

Renovated Kneelers – Thanks to a very generous donation from one of our parishioners, the kneelers in the church were recently repaired and recovered. As part of the recovering work the old padding was replaced with new, softer padding. The parish and our knees are thankful for this gift!

September 19, 2021

Goodbye termites! The parish church and mission museum building were tented and fumigated for termites Monday through Wednesday of this past week after termites were discovered in both buildings. The cost is $25,000 and will be paid from the parish maintenance budget, which is supported by the weekly offertory. The next step will be detailed building inspections to identify any wood damage needing repair.

AUGUST 29, 2021

New retaining wall outside sacristy completed – Volunteers Ruben Martinez and Ramiro Trujillo have completed a beautiful retaining wall around the Birds of Paradise and olive tree outside the choir room/sacristy door on the St Joseph Terrace side of the church. Thank you Ruben and Ramiro!

August 15, 2021

New School Playground Coming Soon! – Work began this week on the new playground for our school. The current play area is too costly to maintain and no longer safe for our children to use. Our contractor has fenced off the work area and begun demolition of the old playground. The area will be re-graded, and a new retaining wall constructed prior to installation of new playground equipment later this year. For your safety, please watch for construction vehicles, follow all posted safety notices, and avoid the contractor’s work areas. This project is being funded by generous contributions from school families, a foundation grant, and school savings. Our special thanks to Kelly Mendoza, our former (now retired) school principal, for leading this project for our school.

August 8, 2021

New flooring and lighting – The church sacristy has new flooring and lighting thanks to the generous contribution of six parishioners who provided the materials and donated their time and skilled labor to install them. They’ve asked to remain anonymous, but their love of God and our church speaks loudly! The linoleum that ran the length of the sacristy has been replaced with Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT). The “sea salt hickory” LVT looks like planks of wood and is tougher than the old linoleum. The old light fixtures have been replaced with new, energy-efficient LED lighting. Our parishioners’ work brightens the room and updates the sacristy.

August 1, 2021

Beautification Continues – Meet Ruben Martinez who maintains our parish grounds and Ramiro Trujillo. They pulled out all those old junipers along the church building, installed a water system and planted the roses. Currently they are building a beautiful retaining wall around the Birds of Paradise and olive tree outside the choir room/sacristy door. Thank you Ruben and Ramiro!

July 18, 2021

Notice Anything New In These Pictures? – New kneelers have been added for the comfort of those attending mass in our Mission church! Many thanks to the generous donor who also thoughtfully included repairing the kneelers that need attention in our main church. We are blessed to have so many benefactors at St. Joseph / Mission San Jose.

July 11, 2021

Mission Wall Repair – Time has taken its toll on our Old Mission Museum. Dating back to 1809, much of the building has been repaired, repainted, and seismically retrofitted. However, some of the walls of original adobe construction need repair. Proposals from general contractors have been solicited to investigate and recommend a repair solution for the stone and dirt-filled foundation at the southwest end of the Mission Museum building.

June 27, 2021

Let There Be Light Outside! – The old lights outside of the kitchen and St. Vincent de Paul were ancient, dirty and brown giving off not enough yellow light to work with when events were held at night. Now, thanks to our benevolent electrical donor, the lighting is a clean, bright white light that will add to the safety for all who park there.

June 20, 2021

Let There Be Light! – Have you noticed how much better you can see the celebrant and servers on the altar? And if you sit in the alcove on the left side of the church, you can read the worship aide easier now too. All that light is thanks to a most generous electrician who has donated his time to purchase and install LED lighting. We now have energy efficient and cost effective lighting in the sanctuary as well as all the recessed lights in the side alcoves where the choir sings.

June 13, 2021

Kneelers To Be Repaired – Our church was built in 1965—the kneelers are 56 years old. They have served us well over the years. But they are coming apart (1), corners are gone and there is cracking along the edges (2). Maybe you have noticed that the padding is hardening beneath our knees. Repairs and maintenance on the hardware will be made in the near future for our comfort and safety while praying.

June 6, 2021

Guardian Angel: Pray for Us – A guardian angel is assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. Pope Francis noted that oftentimes, we have the feeling that “I should do this, this is not right, be careful.” This is the voice of our guardian angel. God said: ‘I send an angel before you, to guard you, to accompany you on the way, so you will not make a mistake’.

May 30, 2021

Saint Francis of Assisi – Recently a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi was installed at the driveway entrance welcoming everyone to our parish community. Saint Francis abandoned a life of luxury after hearing God call him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. The statue of Francis is a reminder to us of a man who devoted his life to our Lord through solitude, prayer, helping the poor and taking care of all of God’s creation. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment and a model to those who honor God first, serve the poor and care for all creation.

May 23, 2021

Roses for Mary – Why are there roses in place of the ancient junipers? On Mother’s Day, Fr. Anthony introduced the new roses and why the colors were chosen in relation to Jesus’s mother, Mary. Purple tells of Mary’s anticipation of conceiving the blessed child; white is for Mary’s purity; pink stands for her joy; red is for her sorrow and the intense love she has for us; and gold represents her crown in heaven.

May 16, 2021

Mission Patio Garden Olive Tree Work – The historic Mission Patio Garden olive trees were trimmed back in collaboration with the Dominican Sisters’ campus-wide olive tree-trimming project. Many of these trees date back to the 19th Century, and the oil from their fruit was a source of chrism used for the Sacraments. More recently, the Sisters harvest the olives each fall to produce Mission San Jose olive oil for sale at their Christmas Boutique each year.

April 25, 2021

Stations and Holy Images –

Thank you to those who contributed for our new 14 Stations of the Cross, the Pictures of the life of St. Joseph and the Saints, and the images of the Divine Mercy and Our Lady of Guadalupe with our new Votive Candles. Your offerings have helped us beautify our Parish and make our Catholic devotions ever more present to all who enter.

April 18, 2021

New Stations of the Cross – We now have added new Stations of the Cross to St. Joseph Church. The previous stations we had were needing a definite upgrade and so now we have new Stations to help the devotional practices of many in our parish. Pictured to the left is Fr. Anthony and Ralph Martinez as they prepped, measured, and hung our Stations in their new placement on the walls of St. Joseph Church.

April 11, 2021

Bushes removed from Church Grounds – In our continuing effort to beautify our grounds, we have begun the process of removing the bushes from the school side of the church. This has the added benefit of being able to better see oncoming cars as we enter and exit the parking lot from St Joseph Terrace.

April 4, 2021

Mission Oak Trees Pruned – Work to spruce up our Old Mission continues with the pruning of oak trees facing Mission Blvd. The long overdue ‘haircut’ provides more light and better visibility from the porch area.

March 28, 2021

New Candles and Holders – We now have new candles surrounding the Tabernacle and Ambo. These candles help bring more beauty and direct our attention to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle and the Proclamation of the Word during Mass. Our thanks go to those who helped prepare and craft the candle holders. Your generous donations and help express the love we all have for Christ.

March 21, 2021

Old Mission Facilities Update – The Old Mission Gift Shop and Museum have been closed for a year. While sad for school kids and visitors, the closure has provided an opportunity to catch up on some needed restoration. Here is a list of some projects that have been completed or are in progress.

Mission Patio Garden Wall Repair – Over the years, the plaster on the adobe wall suffered significant damage. Recently, with Committee for the Restoration of Mission San Jose funding, we were able to repair the wall to its original splendor.

Replace Dead Olive Tree – Even the Old Mission’s historic olive trees don’t live forever. We recently replaced one of them with a beautiful new tree funded mainly through personal donations. The beautiful olive wood was sold to local woodcarvers to defray some of the cost.

Repair West Mission Museum Wall – Time has taken its toll on our Old Mission Museum. Dating back to 1809, much of the building has been repaired, repainted, and seismically retrofitted. However, some of the walls of the original adobe construction need repair. The project is being organized into small and manageable work packages for individual contractor proposals and funding.

March 14, 2021

Moving the Crucifix – Our Church has already undergone multiple efforts to beautify and focus our worship. We began with the moving of the crucifix to above the tabernacle. Details on this are explained by Fr. Anthony on our website at this link.

March 7, 2021

St. Joseph the Worker Beautification Project – Our own maintenance person, Ralph Martinez, has begun the process of painting, cleaning, and adding lights to our outdoor St. Joseph the Worker statue enclosure, which will be rededicated to St. Joseph on March 19th.

Carriage House – We also have cleaned and organized the Carriage House garage and thank all of those who have helped.