PORT ST. LUCIE | Just as St. Joseph, the carpenter, was quiet and humble, the goal of the new St. Joseph Mission Ministry of Holy Family Parish in Port St. Lucie is to provide relief and aid with hands-on service and unabashed humility to the parish community and beyond.
“The St. Joseph Mission here at Holy Family is to do it quietly and to follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph, to humbly pray and serve the people of God in the name of the church,” said Father Tri Pham, pastor.
He explained the goal of the mission is to “reach out to all people of all ages and families who are struggling with mobility, or to help them with anything they need help with here in the community and internationally without discrimination.”
Members of the Knights of Columbus at Holy Family are at the helm of the ministry in keeping with their “principles of charity, unity and fraternity.” The Knights continue to care for those in need.
The leaders are Howard Postel, Joseph Prestianni, Roberto Anduray with his wife, Diana Matute Anduray, parish maintenance supervisor Carlos Garcia and RCIA coordinator Bonnie Lay. They have been able to work on a couple of projects since the ministry’s formation, all with the help of volunteers.
Diana said she was born in Honduras and as a youth was “active in missionary work with the Misioneros de Esperanza, or the Missionaries of Hope, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras,” who help those in need.
In August, Diana, Lay and Postel went to Honduras for three days of missionary work, helping rebuild a church named Our Lady of Suyapa, located in the community of Miramar, which was devastated in 2020 by Hurricanes Eta and Iota.
Postel said, “We went to Honduras because of Diana, and after that Father Tri asked us to start St. Joseph’s Mission. He then asked me to find out about getting a shipping container to ship to Jamaica.”
Lay said her mission was “to bring education, faith development, health and wellness. They only have a priest once a month or so and, through Father Tri, we gave them a chalice, a ciborium, veils and chalice palls.” The Ryan Center for Young Children ministry donated their “biggest Jesus” (see accompanying story).
Since the Honduras trip, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with flooding and wind damage, and it became a priority for the parish ministry. Father Pham said, “Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica, and part of my mission at Holy Family is we will deliver a container to Jamaica, specifically to the Montego Bay Diocese, because we have been helping them for the last couple of years.”
An international rosary for Jamaica was prayed Nov. 22 at Holy Family’s Mary grotto in five different languages. Port St. Lucie Police Officer Ben Gaspar prayed the rosary with children and parishioners. A special banner for Jamaica’s recovery was painted by a local art teacher with the help of her young students.
For information on the St. Joseph Mission Ministry, email Matute at dimatute@gmail.com. To help in Jamaica’s recovery, call 772-335-2385.
