Jose Alejo Gonzalez/Saint Raphael Catholic Parish/Raleigh, NC

As a new Pastoral Council member, Jose is most looking forward to the positive effect that the Pastoral Council will have on our community at Saint Raphael. He's looking forward to showing how our parish is a united community through his work on the Council. He wants our parishioners to know that Saint Raphael is a community where they can find support and empathy and that the church has a warm welcome for everyone.

This is Jose's second time serving on the Pastoral Council. He also served in 2009.

Jose has worked in the gutter installation business for more than 25 years, and opened his own business in Raleigh in 2011. His business is a family business, with his wife and six children all helping to run the business.

Jose likes to be involved in many things here at Saint Raphael and in the Diocese. When asked about his service to our parish and Diocese, he says, "I'm very flexible and help out wherever I am needed." In addition to serving on the Pastoral Council, he also serves as a Eucharistic Minister, Lector, and Catechist. He's also participated in the Living Stations of the Cross for 5-6 years. In the Diocese he helped coordinate and served as an usher at the Emmaus Retreat at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral

Jose and his wife renewed their wedding vows in 2019, after 25 years of marriage. He, his wife, and their six children are a tight knit family. In addition to running the gutter business together, they enjoy having cookouts and going out for ice cream at La Michoacan.

Something that you may not know about Jose is that he's also a dancer. He is from Santiago Azajo, Michoacan, Mexico. In his hometown, there is a traditional folk dance that is performed called La Danza de Los Viejitos, or the Dance of the Old Men. Every July, townspeople offer this dance to God and their town’s patron, Santiago Apostle. Jose has formed a group here in NC that comes together each year and performs this dance at cultural gatherings to show his town’s respect and appreciation for all that God has done for us.