Deacon Oscar Dennis Alegria Sr. has been a resident on the Westbank for the past 50 plus years. He has been married to his dear lovely wife, Lilian M. Alegria, for the past 40 years. He is the father of three children: Oscar Jr., Johanna, and Lilianita, who have blessed him and his wife with seven grandchildren. At a young age, Deacon Oscar came from Honduras C.A. to the USA in 1967 and he has made his roots here in New Orleans to the present time. He attended middle school at Live Oaks Junior High, high school at Warren Easton, and, in his later years, Delgado Community College School of Nursing and graduated from Delta Community School of Business. Deacon Oscar is semi-retired and currently an employee at East Jefferson General Hospital. In the year 2000 and continuing until he entered the diaconate formation period, Oscar began serving in the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Renewal (HCCR) of New Orleans. Deacon Oscar was ordained with the class of 2018 as a Permanent Deacon for the Archdiocese of New Orleans and served at Immaculate Conception in Marrero for three years, and recently given a new assignment to serve at both communities of St Joseph and St Anthony Churches. Deacon Oscar states, "I am thankful for the warm and affectionate welcoming Father Gary and the parishioners have given me. I am so very excited to start serving and ministering as a Permanent Deacon for both communities."

A personal PA allows parishioners to use their own audio device to listen to priest/speaker/lector so that they may hear what is being said. The sound is broadcast on 72.9MHz which is a FM frequency (although not on the regular radio which is 87 to 109MHz). We have headphones at the entrances of the Church for general use along with wipes to sanitize units before and after use. Devices can also be purchased from William Sound retailers, online retailers, EBay, and the like. Some cheaper units are available for purchase from Parish Office. In general, the device allows the listener to control the volume and hear better what is being audibly conveyed. These devices are not necessarily for those whose hearing is impaired but also for those who want to hear more clearly and distinctly what is being said. The better the device and/or earphones; the better the sound quality. It is well worth the investment to get something that allows one to hear better. Our Church is like a cave with an echo. It is great for concerts and chorales but not so great for public addresses. Bad acoustics, area of seating, and other factors affect how we hear. This system will help us all out. These PA devices help eliminate a lot of the interference that comes from these negative factors. If interested in utilizing this system, speak to your Pastor, Fr. Gary.

St Joseph Church & Shrine is located in the heart of Old Towne Gretna, the municipal seat of Jefferson Parish Government. We are blessed to have a wonderful Police Department, Volunteer Fire Service, and Government here in Gretna. We honor our First Responders (Military, EMS, and Police) by our statue of St Michael the Archangel. Fr. Gary, upon being stationed here, saw a niche to honor our other First Responders in Government and the Fire Service by working on bringing in statues of St Thomas More and St Florian. St Thomas More was a judge, lawyer, and statesman. St Thomas More was Lord Chancellor, the second highest position in England from October 1529 to May 1532. He was a man loyal to his country and his Church. He refused, however, to recognize King Henry VIII's divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragorn, to remarry his mistress, Anne Bolyn, and to recognize Henry VIII as supreme head over the church in England by taking the Oath of Supremacy. Not to take the Oath was seen as treason and Sir Thomas More's silence and conscientious objection to Henry VIII's remarriage and schism made him, in the eyes of the State, a traitor. He was sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered. Henry, though in an act of “mercy”, commuted More's sentence to mere decapitation. More climbed the scaffold to be beheaded and said, “I die his Majesty's good servant, but God's first.” St Thomas More was martyred on July 6, 1535. Sir Thomas More became St Thomas More on May 19, 1935 thus becoming the Patron Saint of lawyers, judges, and public servants. He is also the Patron Saint of adopted children and difficult marriages. We blessed our new statue before the 4:00 Vigil Mass on September 11, 2021, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in honor of our First Responders, those who lost their lives and those that give their lives for us on a daily basis. St Thomas More reminds us of many things. We can conscientiously disagree with the way things are and still be good citizens. We can stand firm in our beliefs on the sanctity of marriage as God intended the Covenant to be honored. We should place our relationship with God as higher than our relationship to Government, especially when Government tries to contradict our core beliefs and inalienable human rights of life, liberty, and security of person. And we must follow our conscience (as long as it is a well informed conscience). All we have to do is to look at our world today and see how much it is in need of God's help and St Thomas More's intercession. All three branches of our Government could stand some reform. Hopefully, through our prayers to God and the intercession of St Thomas More, our Country, State, and local Governments can enact and uphold laws that are in accordance with God's Will and for the Common Good of all. The Archdiocese of New Orleans is honored to have the St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyers' Association, which is an organization of Catholic attorneys whose mission it is to promote the ideals of St. Thomas More and professionalism in the law. We now have our St Thomas More statue and Fr. Gary is working on getting St Joseph Church & Shrine a statue of St Florian so that we can also honor our Fire Service, especially the David Crockett Steam Fire Company No. 1, the oldest continuously active volunteer fire department in the USA. If you would like to donate for the St Florian Statue, please see Fr. Gary or contact the church office.

Congratulations to Ralph and Kathy Paige on their 50th Wedding Anniversary. They were married on August 28, 1971 at St Christopher Parish in San Jose, CA and they renewed their vows at St Anthony at the 5:00 pm Mass on August 28, 2021. Their daughter, Rebecca, and their grandchild, Madison, were in attendance to witness the blessed event.