Remembering Bishop Harrington as mentor and friend

BY THERESE BOUCHER 

 SPECIAL TO THE CFP  

 March 23 marks the 25th anniversary of Bishop Timothy J. Harrington’s death on Palm Sunday. Newspapers were filled with tributes and stories about his loving care for the poor. And rightly so. But our story is a personal one. For my husband, John, and I, Bishop Harrington was a guide and a mentor in the field of lay ministry.  

I met him as a college student when I answered a call for volunteers to work with troubled teens. The notice led me to the home for troubled men on Sycamore Street, just a few days before Timothy Harrington was appointed auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Worcester on April 2, 1968. (His ordination as bishop came three months later on July 2, 1968.)  

The man who answered the door on Sycamore Street said, “He’s in the back. Look for a door with a curtain.” So, I wandered off with visions of the Wizard of Oz. Knocked on the door jamb. And was greeted with, “Harrington here. Come in and meet a Sister from Catholic Charities.”  

John and I met the bishop together when he was pastor of St. John Parish and we were hoping to relocate charismatic prayer meetings from the College of the Holy Cross into a parish. We shared our vision of prayer, charisms, and service. Bishop Harrington nodded. Then something clicked. His comment was, “I had a professor in the seminary who talked about the Holy Spirit all the time.”  

When we asked Bishop Harrington to tell us more, he shared an event from his early priesthood. It seems he had rushed to the hospital to anoint a dying baby. When he arrived at her crib, the nurse said, “Don’t bother, Father. She died five minutes ago.” But that didn’t make any difference to the young priest. He laid both hands on her cold, little body. And as he prayed, the child’s flesh slowly became warm. And a little cry was heard. Our response to his story was, “Praise God!” The bishop sighed with relief. Finally, someone understood his experience. At the end of our conversation, he stood, shook our hands and said, “Let the Holy Spirit loose!” 

After approval from the bishops to move the prayer group, over the years a few members took on several projects at St. John’s. The first was visiting people in the neighborhood with, “Hi. We are from St. John (Church). Would you like to talk about the pope and the sacraments?” 

Next came providing guitar music at daily Masses, offering Bible studies, plus children’s classes, and weekly folk Masses at the juvenile detention center. This last ministry led to a close bond between us and the bishop. What struck us most were his down-to-earth, but very inspiring, homilies.  

Bishop Harrington would pick up the small crucifix on the make-shift altar and talk about Jesus, as the best friend and savior of every person there.After Mass we three would talk in his rectory sitting room. During one visit, John shared his excitement about a job interview at Green Island Neighborhood Center. “You got a good suit coat, John?” he asked, as he walked over to his closet. “Here, try this one!”  

In October of 1970 it was Bishop Harrington who officiated at our wedding and invited a few clergy to join him at the altar. When he put his hands on our heads, half a dozen canker sores in my mouth melted away. What a joyous experience! Bishop Harrington had also rented us a car for our honeymoon, but had second thoughts when he realized that his secretary had lied about John’s age. “Here. Take my car instead.” Then he whispered, “Just don’t park it at any hotel in Worcester County.”  

His support to us as a young couple living in a third-floor apartment did not stop there. The bishop gave our first baby a large crate of newly invented disposable diapers called Pampers. But his knees were too bad to climb the stairs, so he shouted from his car, “Hey, Boucher! Get down here before I excommunicate you!” Neither one of us could stop laughing. 

Over time, John and I both studied for master’s degrees in religious education, while John worked in several parishes in the diocese, with the bishop as his confessor and spiritual director. The impending arrival of baby number four in 1980 led us to look at our spiritual heroes. Bishop Harrington’s friendship and guidance came to mind. And so, this child was named “Timothy.” Later still, when our son turned 2, it became necessary to move out of state. Then the relationship with our friend and mentor was carried on through letters and Christmas cards.  

When Bishop Harrington died in March 1997, I wrote a prayer and placed it with his photo on my desk.  

“Bishop Timothy, you loved the poor and those most in need of our Savior’s mercy. Help me consecrate my troubles, my hopes, my heart, and my whole life to the loving embrace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Pray with me and for me when I am unable to lift my voice to God. Then I know Jesus will bless, sustain, and empower me to love through your prayers. Amen.”  

– John and Therese Boucher have spoken and published widely about reaching inactive Catholics. They are co-authors of Praying for Our Adult Sons and Daughters, Sharing the Faith You Love, Mending Broken Relationships, Building Strong Ones, and Christmas Carol Festival: A New Way to Reach Inactive Catholics.