Oil City Catholic

Oil City Catholic The page for Saint Joseph Parish, a parish of the Diocese of Erie. Mass Schedule

Saturday 9:00 am - St. Joseph
Saturday 4:00 pm - St. Joseph

Joseph

Sunday 8:00 am - St. Stephen
Sunday 9:45 am - St. Joseph

Monday 8:00 am - St. Joseph
Tuesday 12:10 am - St. Joseph
Wednesday 8:00 am - St. Joseph
Thursday 12:10am - St. Joseph
Friday 8:00 am - St.

09/07/2026

This week’s installment of Wise Words From Father Festus:

BRETHREN, WE NEED EACH OTHER'S GIUDANCE AND LOVE

God appoints Ezekiel as a watchman (Ez. 33:7–9) and warns that silence in the face of danger is guilt, not kindness. Church leaders must therefore watch over the flock, guiding their conscience in love. Parents must watch over their children: when parental guidance collapses, society eventually feels the consequences, because children who grow up without boundaries often become adults who struggle with responsibility, identity, and faith. A parenting style that offers wide liberty but minimal direction can unintentionally produce young people who are socially unanchored and spiritually indifferent. Teachers support discipline but cannot shape conscience deeply because public-school law limits religious formation. This is why some families consider church schools still, in spite of rising costs, and cultural pressure causing many to close due to population decline. Still, the deeper work of conscience and belief still belongs to the family and the Church.
In the Gospel, Jesus gives a clear process for correction in love: begin privately, avoiding humiliation. Then persist patiently, and keep seeking for reconciliation.

We pray: Lord make us watchmen for one another, give us courage to speak when silence would harm, give us humility to listen when truth is spoken in love, and give us gentleness to enter one another’s lives without dominating, so that correction becomes healing and community becomes holy. Amen.
Happy Labour Holiday tomorrow. Our labours over others in love shall not be in vain!

08/30/2026

For our teenagers and young adults:

In the stage of life when the world appears to offer easy escapes — pleasure without commitment, freedom without responsibility, and choices without consequences, for example the endless entertainment that numbs the mind or substances that promise quick relief — remember that the cross you carry today shapes the adult you become tomorrow. And when life feels confusing or heavy, hear Jesus whisper: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” because His yoke does not crush you; it moulds, directs, strengthens, and teaches you how to walk toward life. Under His yoke discernment becomes useful and your real vocation shines.

08/30/2026

This weeks Wise Words From Father Festus:

Lord Jesus, You carried Your cross for our salvation. Teach us to carry the crosses You entrust to us — not with fear, not with resistance, but with trust, knowing that Your cross brings us to life. May our resistance turn into acceptance. May our acceptance turn into transformation. May our cross become our path to resurrection. So, let each and everyone of us pledge now ‘I will follow You, Lord, carrying Your cross that brings me to life’. Amen.

Giving Father Festus some extra love today as he celebrates the 17th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.
08/22/2026

Giving Father Festus some extra love today as he celebrates the 17th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

08/17/2026

Another episode of Wise Words From Father Festus:

THE FAITH OF THE CANNANITE WOMAN AND GOD'S OPENED DOOR.

Did you notice yesterday beloved one that, even though Jesus says to the Cannanite woman: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” hence naming the existing traditional boundary. She replies: “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.” She is saying: “Lord, Your mercy is too big to stay inside one circle.” And Jesus agrees: “Woman, great is your faith.” Thus the boundary falls, the circle widens, and grace flows.

On a lighter mood, I just imagined when Jesus and the woman speak of “dogs” and “scraps,” if it were to be in the current time, pet dogs don’t get scraps anymore: they get grainfree meals, vitamins and medications. They even get walk out, grooming, winter jackets, and birthday cakes and perhaps trust funds, insurance and endowments in will. Some dogs eat better than their owners for real. So, when she says, “Even the dogs eat the scraps,” we can imagine Jesus smiling, because modern dogs would say, “Scraps? Lord, warn her, we get salmon and sweet potato.” But the point remains: God’s generosity always exceeds human boundaries.

My dear friends, the readings today call us to two truths.
First, no one is unfit or excluded by birth, tribe, background, or past. Isaiah says God welcomes all who honor Him. The Gospel shows Jesus praising a woman from outside the old covenant circle, showing us that God’s mercy is tied to faith, humility, persistence, reverence, and trust rather than to tribe and origin. Paul says God’s mercy is for all.
Second, those inside must not resist when God widens the circle. The disciples said, “Send her away,” but Jesus said, “Great is your faith.” Whenever God opens the door wider — to new people, new situations, new paths, new arrangements, new ways of gathering — we must not say, “Send it away.” We must say, “Lord, let Your mercy be for all.”

Fr. Festus prays for you!

08/16/2026

This is the letter that was read at all masses this weekend regarding the St. Stephen Church building. Please continue to pray for our church leaders as this has been a very difficult decision and has taken a lot of time, prayer and patience.

Sunday, August 16, 2026
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear St. Joseph Parish family,

As we are with Jesus in these stormy and difficult times for our parish and community, please let me encourage all of us to keep our eyes fixed on our LORD and God and continue to pray like St. Peter, “LORD, save me.” This is also the prayer of this courageous woman of faith in the Gospel today. Jesus has continued to reach out His saving hand to me these days, and He will do so for all of us if we let Him. This, for sure, continues to require of us a deep faith and trust in our loving God and in His generous care for all of us.

This is another poignant reminder to all of us that our Church is truly the people of God and the Body of Christ that gather, independent of the building we gather in. We are called to have the faith of the people of Israel who first gathered to worship God present in the Ark of the Covenant in a meeting tent that moved with them on pilgrimage to the Promised Land from place to place. We are also called to be united in charity like the first Christians of the Acts of the Apostles who had no stable church buildings but gathered on the LORD’s Day in different houses. Yes, our sacred buildings are a tremendous blessing and a gift, but the building alone is not the Church. We are all reminded in these days the Truth of the Scriptures, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the City which is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

I need to make this very difficult announcement today that it has been decided by me, your pastor, our parish leadership, and our Bishop and Diocese that the St. Stephen Church building will be torn down and the lot cleared for a hopeful future sale of the vacant lot. This past Monday both our Pastoral and Finance Councils met and after some very ardent prayer and emotional discussion members of both councils unanimously counseled me and consented to this decision to tear down the St. Stephen’s Church building. Both councils also unanimously consented to taking a loan from the Diocese to cover the cost of the demolition which will be repaid in large part with the hopeful sale of the lot.

I hope you all know that every one of us from the Bishop, our council members, and myself have not taken this decision lightly. It has burdened us all, and, speaking for myself, has filled me with much heartache and sadness. Even through the heartache and sadness though I am confident that this is the correct decision that will allow our parish and community to really heal and, please God, after the time of mourning and grief, truly come together as one Catholic community of faith, hope, and love here in Oil City at St. Joseph Parish.

So many have expressed the sentiment that this church is where I was baptized or where I received my first Holy Communion, or where I was married. Praise God for these sacred moments and these holy memories. This cannot and will not ever take these moments and memories away. We now encounter God, worship Him, and receive His abundant love and mercy in this building, and more importantly, this community of faith which is now called to come together even more.

The timeline for the demolition and clearing of the land is still being finalized, but it will be within the next four to eight weeks. In the meantime, the parish is working quickly and safely to remove and preserve all the sacred patrimony that we can from St. Stephen Church such as the stained-glass windows and statues. Although it is very hard for me to go through this with you, I am truly blessed to be with you through this as your spiritual father and your pastor. As I said in my last letter, I do encourage you to please refrain from receiving and contributing to all of the often negative, unkind, and caustic commentary on Facebook and social media. Please reach out to me, Fr. Festus, Deacon Kevin, and to your brothers and sisters in our parish to mourn with, to support each other, and, most importantly to pray with.

Again, I hope you know how much I love and care for you all! I am there with you in the boat praying for the grace to remain focused on Jesus with my eyes, heart, and soul fixed on Him. I pray that in these coming days and weeks the LORD may say of us what he said about the courageous woman of the Gospel today, “Great is your faith!”

Yours always in Christ’s peace,

Fr. Dan Hoffman
Pastor

Join us Saturday August 15 at 8:30am for Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Bring your h...
08/11/2026

Join us Saturday August 15 at 8:30am for Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Bring your herbs and flowers to have them blessed after Mass!
"In Poland, the Feast of the Assumption is also called Matka Boska Zielna – Blessed Mother of the Herbs, or Our Lady of the Herbs. The Blessed Mother is seen as the patron and keeper of the earth and all of its abundance.

In keeping with the ancient tradition of Poland, many Polish parishes will hold a blessing of herbs and flowers on the Feast of the Assumption.

On this special feast day, every village housewife brought a bouquet of herbs, flowers and grain that was collected from her own garden, the fields and orchards.
She gathered dill, mint, rosemary, southernwood, parsley, hyssop, lovage, and comfrey – whatever she had growing in her garden. Many plants were named after the Blessed Mother. For instance, mullein, called dziewanna in Polish, was known as the braids of the Blessed Mother. And the wild herb St. John’s Wort was called the bells of the Blessed Mother. Since this time coincided with the time of the harvest, it was also the custom to take a few spikes of various grains including wheat, rye and oats.
After the blessing, the flowers and herbs were taken home and tucked behind holy pictures to protect the home against fire and lightening. Some farmers crumbled some of the blessed flowers into their seed bags in the belief that it would assure a good harvest. Some of the herbs were used in folk medicine to cure a cough or a cold.
This is a custom that was once prevalent throughout Polonia, brought to this country by our Polish ancestors." - Sophie Knab

Let's keep this beautiful, ancient Polish custom alive.

Below is some background to the actual 'Blessing of the Herbs, Flowers and Fruits'.

To say the parish picnic with our friends at St. Titus was a success is an understatement! Chairs and tables were full ...
08/09/2026

To say the parish picnic with our friends at St. Titus was a success is an understatement! Chairs and tables were full but that didn’t stop the fun! We had over 130 people!

08/09/2026

In case you missed mass this weekend, this is a letter that was read from Father Dan regarding the St. Stephen church building. Please pray for Father Dan, finance council and pastoral council while they work through some very hard decisions.

Dear parish family,

As you are all aware by now the situation downtown with the St. Stephen’s Church building and property has rapidly escalated over the course of this past week. Last Sunday, August 2nd, the city deemed the area unsafe because of the one tower and the potential leaning stones on it. This precipitated the closing of State St. until the area was deemed safe for passengers and pedestrians again. Because of this I and the parish had to make the quick and necessary decision to do whatever was necessary with that tower to take care of the issue. Unfortunately, that meant that the tower had to come down. It was the only way to ensure safety for all parties. We were all hoping for a different path forward regarding the building, but its poor condition and concerns for public safety have forced us to take the actions we have.

During the demolition of the tower Klapec did the best they could, but unfortunately, it was so brittle and unstable that many stones came down on the roof thus making some holes in the roof and on the front steps destroying much of them too. It is heartbreaking all around that we are all in this position and I have been heartsick and sad all week because of this! We are working with a few contractors to salvage the remaining liturgical and sacred objects such as the organ, the stained-glass windows, statues, and crucifix and non-sacred objects from the church as quickly, and more importantly, safely as possible.

Please note, no final decisions have been made about the building and property. We are meeting as Pastoral and Finance Councils on Monday to discuss the path forward. Also, I have been in constant communication with Bishop Persico and Fr. Nicholas Rouch, the Vicar General, about this. When we are ready to make a final decision, this will be communicated as promptly and efficiently as possible to the parish and parishioners first. I would advise you to please not engage in all the negativity and caustic comments on Facebook and social media surrounding this situation.

Finally, I ask you to please pray for me and for all advising me in making decisions for this very difficult and challenging time in our parish’s and community’s life. I love you all very much and I am grateful for all the prayers, encouragement, and support that so many of you have offered and continue to offer. May the peace of Christ continue to guide and bless our way.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Dan Hoffman
Pastor

It was the place to be on Monday night! The Community Back to School event was a huge success! The turnout was more th...
08/05/2026

It was the place to be on Monday night! The Community Back to School event was a huge success! The turnout was more than anyone could have ever imagined. The kids all received school supplies, made bookmarks, got glitter tattoos, ate hot dogs and cotton candy, played “Ask Father Dan anything” and received blessings from him also.

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35 Pearl Avenue
Oil City, PA
16301

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