The Holy Name Society of St Joseph Parish...

The Holy Name Society of St Joseph Parish, raises funds for charitable causes within the parish, the dioceses and the local parish community.

Every year at Thanksgiving we try to provide a turkey and all the fixings for the poor families among us.

Many of you are familiar with this story of God's love for the poor, but even if you have heard it before it bears repeating.

Twelve years ago, Mother Seraphina [Mother Superior, Rose Garden Home Mission in Covington, KY] called a couple of weeks before thanksgiving and asked if the Holy Name could provide turkeys for the thanksgiving give away. I told her I would do my best and asked her how many she needed. She stated that she had 400 families on her list, so she was hoping for 400.

I said WOW 400!, OK let me see what I can do.

I called some good friends, and we gathered enough money to purchase the turkeys. As you might guess, Mother received many more requests for turkeys during the two weeks between when she called me and the give-away. She told them that the list is closed but if they would come by at 3pm the day of the give-away then they could have whatever was left over.

On the day of the giveaway the group of us who bought the turkeys were there to help pass them out. As people came through the line, they were checked off Mother's list, given a bag of groceries and a coupon. The person with the coupon would give it to us and we would give them a turkey.

We started handing out turkeys at 11am. 12pm came and went, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm came and went and we still had turkeys left. At around 4:30pm the last person came through the line, and they got the last turkey.

Everyone who came through the line got a turkey!

The next day Mother called and asked me how many turkeys we handed out. I told her that we had purchased 400 so I am assuming 400.

She stated, "You gave out 623 turkeys".

Bottom line is that God has a huge love for the poor and he allowed us to participate in his gifts! What a blessed experience to be able to witness God's direct intervention into our world in such a tangible and profound way.

It changed my life!

Thanks, and God bless you!

Joe Bessler
Holy Name Society, St Joseph Parish
Thanksgiving 2024

Note: Mother Seraphina Marie, Mother Superior, Franciscan Daughters of Mary, Rose Garden Home Mission, Covington, Kentucky. The Rose Garden Mission provides services to low-income families in the Northern Kentucky region.

P.S. Many people in contemporary society believe that "Miracles" are just quaint little stories from biblical times and certainly have nothing to do with our modern day lives of instant messaging, smart phones and air travel that let's us travel the world in just a matter of hours.

For most people, Miracles do not happen today.

Here is proof that God is still involved in subtle ways with our daily lives using this modern-day version of the "Loaves & Fishes" story to help feed those in need.

Please get involved and help.

The Holy Name embraces Catholics from all walks of life and membership is open to all men of the St. Joseph Parish over the age of eighteen.