Due to an issue with the recycler, can collection tomorrow at OLPH has been cancelled. We will reschedule soon. Thank you!

We’re doing our Fish Fry Fryday every Friday during Lent and the 3rd one happens tomorrow, Friday March 5th from 4:30pm to 7pm.

Price is ONLY $6 per meal that includes 3 fish fillets, cole slaw, potato salad, and hush puppies. All made from scratch!

We’ll also have home made Potato Soup and Corn Chowder at only $3 for a 16oz cup!

Swing by 7615 Lee Highway and we’ll package your meal and bring it to your car while observing the current health guidelines.

Thanks to everyone who came by last Fryday, the event was a success, we sold out very early due to what we felt might be low turnout.

So we’re making a few changes for this Fryday!

This week’s Lentin Fish Fry will officially open at 5pm however we will not turn anyone away earlier if that meets your schedule better. We’ll stay open until 7:30pm to accommodate hungry parishioners after they leave Stations of the Cross at St. Stephen. We’ve ordered double the food this week and have a different soup, so we’re guaranteed to have plenty! Here’s the info:

Price is ONLY $6 per meal that includes 3 fish fillets, cole slaw, potato salad, and hush puppies. All made from scratch!

We’ll also have home made Corn Chowder soup at only $3 for a 16oz cup!

Swing by 7615 Lee Highway and we’ll package your meal and bring it to your car while observing the current health guidelines.

Please call the hall at 899-9989 or Craig Bodnar at 314-7447 if you’d like to pre-order your meal, we’ll have it ready for you when you arrive and deliver to your vehicle.

Cash preferred but checks and credit cards will be accepted.

We’re giving it a shot this year despite the current challenges. Come on by the hall this Fryday from 4pm to 7pm and help keep Holy Family Council 6099 in business and supporting our charities.

Price is ONLY $6 per meal that includes 3 fish fillets, cole slaw, potato salad, and hush puppies. All made from scratch!

We’ll also have home made Potato Soup at only $3 for a 16oz cup!

Swing by 7615 Lee Highway and we’ll package your meal and bring it to your car while observing the current health guidelines.

If you pre-ordered a pork loin, you can pick them up from our hall located at 7615 Lee Hwy. between 12pm and 4pm today!

Please help us make this one a success and fill some dire needs!

Yes, we’re still conducting our annual pork loin sale this year! While a bit different, we encourage you to participate in one of our biggest, and particularly this year, one of our few fund raisers to support our Pro-Life efforts here locally. See the info below and please reserve your Pork Loin well in advance!

This coming Saturday, the Tennessee Knights of Columbus will be hosting a virtual retreat that is open to all, men, women, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. This is a fantastic slate of presenters and there is no fee.

Holy Family Council 6099 will be hosting a sattelite location at our hall located at 7615 Lee Hwy., Chattanooga, TN. All are welcome. We will be adhering to all current CDC guidelines including social distancing and mask requirements.

If you wish to register for the virtual broadcast you can do so here. Or, you may attend the in-person event at our hall.

Every year we are each required to submit our service hours. The annual survey is below for you to download. If you’re tech savvy you can fill it out online, save it, and send it to Victor Williams. Or, you can print it out, fill it out and drop it by the hall or mail it into the hall. Thank you!

Merry Christmas to ALL from #6099! Christmas Day Mass times for St. Stephen are 9am & 11am.

Mike recently took the initiative to arrange for funding and designed and built a wheelchair ramp at the home of a Brother Knight in need. Having a tangible effect, local, boots on the ground, working from Faith to help another, it’s what being a Knight is all about. Great work Mike!

With the support of his family, Mike has served as our Community Director for many years and is a crusader for Veterans causes and those efforts that have a direct impact in our Parish and Community. Mike has headed 6099’s Wheelchair Mission that last year resulted in a container load of wheelchairs being distributed to Veterans in the Chattanooga area. Thank you Mike for all you do!

Holy Family Council would like to congratulate OLPH 8th Grader, Melina Stafford for submitting the winning essay for this year’s contest. Melina’s essay was thoughtful, well written, and is a testament to the Power of Prayer. A very fitting reminder in these difficult times to not only pray for our own needs, but for the needs of others. With permission, and without further ado, please read Melina’s essay:

“The Strength of Prayer”

There are so many controversial things happening in the world every day. Now more than ever, people need to trust in God. So many people are affected by Covid-19 and many have died. I had to trust in God to make sure my great grandmother was okay. Many people in my family were worried about her. Trusting in God has really helped us through these times.

I had been concerned about my great grandmother for a while before the Covid-19 pandemic came along. It started when she moved from her beautiful home in Jacksonville to a nursing facility in Orlando. We understood it was “the beginning of the end,” and we thought she would like it at the nursing facility, but she did not. She was the only one without a walker or wheelchair and she felt different from everybody else. She always called us, telling us to come visit, and complaining to us how lonely she was. We never knew the conditions would get worse.

Every one of us was shocked when Covid-19 made its way to the United States. We knew nursing homes were greatly affected. We were concerned for our great grandmother’s health and well-being. Calls from her came more often. She said she had never felt so isolated. The residents were confined to their rooms with no one to talk to and nothing to do. They could barely leave.

Residents of the nursing home could not travel anywhere because of Covid-19. To make things worse, nobody was allowed to visit this nursing home. My grandmother said it was like jail. Everyone in my family felt awful for her. About a month into quarantine, my family decided to watch virtual church for the first time. The Homily was about the strength of prayer. It was about how prayer is stronger than we think and how it actually works. That got me thinking about my great grandmother. l called her that day and she was so happy to get a call from me.

I asked her how she was doing and she told me more about her life at the nursing home. I told her she should try praying about her situation.

Two weeks later, she called, saying she had made a friend. Although they could not get anywhere near each other, they talked on the phone. I was very happy for her. We were relieved she made a friend. My grandmother started to call less often, which we supposed was a good thing. Finally, when she did, we talked about her life back at the nursing home. She had become a part of a friend group. They met up every day outside to call each other. She said the nursing home was better than she thought.

I continued to pray that the residents of the nursing home would get more freedom, so that they can talk in person. l was very glad my grandmother had made friends, but it was difficult for her not to see them. That month, she called with great news. She told us that she was now allowed to meet with other residents outside as long as they were socially distanced. She had seven people in her friend group, and she loved seeing them. Throughout the spring, the conditions only got better. The nursing home started allowing a few visitors at a time, so in July, we scheduled an appointment to come visit. We got to meet up with her and her friends. They were doing great. After about an hour, we had to leave, and as we were leaving, my grandmother stopped me. She thanked me. She said she probably would still be sitting in her room every day, watching TV, and sitting by herself with no one to talk to, if she hadn’t taken my advice to pray.

All in all, prayer does work. It helped my family through truly difficult times. If we can trust God with our problems and difficult situations, He will help us. My great grandmother was having a very bad time at the nursing home. She had no friends, and on top of that, she had to be quarantined. After we prayed, it helped change her life. She made friends she could talk to, and she could finally go outside to talk to them. So, whenever we, or someone we know, is going through a hard time, we should say a prayer. It might just change someone’s life.