Leader:  Dan Mahoney

Youth Group meets Sunday night at 7:00 in the Parish Hall.  High School aged Christian students are welcome.  We have engaged in various activities during last year, such as mass at the State Cathedral, mass at Saint Mary's College, bon fires and assisted at church functions.  Many also assist with Faith Formation and are a valuable contributer to the teaching staff and students.

The Youth Group went to mass at Saint Dominic's Cathedral in San Francisco on January 14th.  Saint Dominic's Choir sang Gregorian Chants in both English and Latin.  The church itself was very large and beautiful.  We next drove to Fort Mason, on to Ghiradelli's Square, then down to one of the warf restraurants for lunch.  We then went to Pier 39 for shopping, seal and people watching and the NFL shop.  We then walked back to Ghiradelli Square for too much ice cream.  Okay, I had only two coffee's.  On the return trip one of the girls said they had not gone over the Golden Gate Bridge before, so we took the long way home and drove over the bridge.  This was the most fun trip the Youth Group has experienced to date.  We are looking at a possible camping trip/retreat, with lot's of parental support in the next few months, but until then we will be meeting on Sunday nights at 7:00 in the church hall.   By the way, I am sure this group had the Holy Spirit with us during our trip.  We arrived in San Francisco at 11:00, left around 6:00 and never paid for parking!!!

I have been asked to make public, a message I emailed the PPC after attending our Christmas Mass.  Instead, the following is my personal experience from that service that is still spiritually and emotionally moving.  
    I hope everyone in our parish is noticing the impact Father Mervin has made to our spiritual community.  The Christmas Mass was spiritually alive and encompassing of the entire Saint Joseph Community.  It was a bilingual mass that moved between English and Spanish and brought us, Saint Joseph's, spiritually united, together.  The children brought in the baby Jesus and were included in the procession.  Many children participated in the Our Father on the alter and, again, were included with our service.  Kyrie Eleison, (Lord Have Mercy) was utilized from our ancient Catholic tradition and the Choir sang a song in the official language of our Roman Catholic Church, Latin.  Carlos Zepeda, a lifelong member of our parish did many of the translations, and the choir has many participants that have moved to Rio Vista in the last few years.  The choir sounded amazing, the church was beautifully decorated and the entire service was moving  I saw this mass as a spiritual healing for our faith community.  The language barrior was gone, the children were involved, the political town issue was gone, and ancient traditions were embedded with modern traditions.  Couple this mass with the pancake breakfast that was served at all three masses last Sunday, and it is very visible our church has spiritually changed.  The Lord has blessed us and we need to recognize our current love for one another and our church. We should be very confident when we say to new additions to our parish "Welcome to Saint Joseph's."  Father Mervin, thank you.