St. Joseph’s quiet strength focus of virtual summit

Deacon Steve Greco, founder of the California-based Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry, hopes the upcoming St. Joseph Summit 2021 being held virtually Sept. 30-Oct. 3 will energize the church.


Themed “Our Spiritual Father: Pilgrimage to the Heart of St. Joseph,” the conference will have 40-plus speakers over three days concentrating on families, healing and spiritual warfare with a particular focus on men as spiritual heads in their families. There will be live healing sessions each day.

“For me, it’s the role today of St. Joseph as it relates to being a spiritual leader as a father, as a man, a husband, head of a family – and to the obedience he had to God,” Deacon Greco said. “He had three dreams, and he didn’t question it. He followed right away.”

Among the local speakers will be Archbishop Gregory Aymond; Divine Mercy Parish Deacon Larry Oney, who will speak on “A Man for All Seasons”; and former Catholic Charismatic Renewal of New Orleans’ liaison Patti Mansfield, who will discuss her relationship with St. Joseph.

Other speakers include New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Boston Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, Catholic evangelist and author Dr.  Scott Hahn and Fathers Robert Spitzer and Donald Calloway.

“I think (the summit will be) very transformative, very timely,” Deacon Greco said. “And, in galvanizing the church in the Year of St. Joseph, it’s the largest St. Joseph conference in the world. There’s such a need to try to understand St. Joseph in our spiritual walk and spirituality.”

Ministry to evangelize
Deacon Greco, who serves at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in the Diocese of Orange in southern California, said the summit is his response to the pandemic for him to galvanize “an army of people under (St. Joseph’s) spiritual fatherhood.”

Because St. Joseph isn’t described in detail in the Bible – really only known through his reaction to his dreams –  Deacon Greco doesn’t believe Catholics truly understand the importance of his intercession, his role as a spiritual father, the “terror of demons” and head of the Holy Family so needed today when there is a dearth of such leaders in society. 

“If you think about St. Joseph, we (see the virtues of) obedience, courage, fortitude and perseverance,” Deacon Greco said. “From that first dream, he married Mary and then he had the dream to leave and flee to Egypt.

“You have to realize that these dreams came to him – they didn’t come to the Blessed Mother. As the head of the family, he immediately said, ‘We have to pack and go to Egypt.’ He took charge. He led. We need men to lead their families spiritually.”

Deacon Oney added, “We have to build up men in the church to do their part.” Deacon Oney’s address on St. Joseph being a man for all seasons covers all of these roles.

St. Joseph played a dual role in Jesus’ life. He was his spiritual father, who taught him holy Scripture, as evidenced by Jesus preaching in the temple at age 12 to the church elders, and he also taught him the carpenter’s trade.

“Where did he learn that?” Deacon Greco asked. “Obviously, from his father (God), but he also learned this from his father here on earth (St. Joseph). There are lots of lessons here we can learn from St. Joseph.”

The summit will unpack these lessons.

“We want to energize the church,” Deacon Greco said. “In this day and age, when there are so many challenges for families, for men, for marriages, we want people to come back to the church and get excited about their faith, and get excited about being Catholic. Everything we are doing with the St. Joseph Summit and Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry is about this energizing. ... God is really energizing the church in a big way, and we need it now more than ever.”

Registration is free, but there’s a $49.99 premium passport available which allows a person the rights to download all the talks at their leisure for lifetime usage. Church parishes and ministries can license the content for $300 and get a code to unpack the conference as an extension of their ministry. Visit www.saintjosephsummit.com; also, www.spiritfilledhearts.org.

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