St. Joseph notes anniversary, honors patron

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

The Solemnity of St. Joseph last Friday at St. Joseph Church in Worcester was a celebration for multiple reasons.
Clergy and laity rejoiced that the bishop celebrated Mass for their patron’s feast day, with members of the different ethnic communities, on the parish’s 130th anniversary.
On March 19, 1891, Father Jules Graton took on duties as pastor of the just-established St. Joseph Parish, according to parish histories. In recent decades the parish was merged with other parishes, and is now Holy Family Parish, but the building is still St. Joseph’s Church. Holy Family shares a pastor – Msgr. Robert K. Johnson – with St. Stephen Parish across the street.
March 19 this year was the final night of the community’s triduum in honor of St. Joseph. Msgr. Johnson welcomed Bishop McManus, saying the bishop is a sign of unity “with God, our Church, our diocese,” at a time when people have felt some disconnection from Church and family.
The bishop led devotions, including a “prayer in time of pandemic,” to St. Joseph, Hope of the Sick, and blessed the congregation with a relic of the saint. He preached about St. Joseph as a man who listened to what God whispered to him. Joseph’s title as a “just man” is rooted not in speech but in his faith-filled actions, the bishop said. Joseph protected Mary and Jesus and set the course of salvation for the world.
Bishop McManus called for listening to God and imploring St. Joseph’s protection in today’s difficult times.
Romulo Sousa, from Holy Family’s Brazilian community, said he and his family attended the triduum because “I made a promise to St. Joseph – we had the virus” and “we (are) so well now, no complications.”
Marie France, who helps with Holy Family’s Haitian community, said St. Joseph’s feast day is a solemnity and the celebration was “top notch,” prayerful and solemn. She noted that this year is dedicated to St. Joseph.
Deacon Alex M. Garcia, who serves at Holy Family, said they are “so blessed we have the English community … welcome” the Brazilian and Haitian communities. Through Christ, with Msgr. Johnson’s efforts, everybody came together for this Mass for the whole parish, he said.
“We all speak different languages but it’s one big family,” said Yvette Rutledge, a long-time parishioner. “We rejoice in being together. This place has it – spiritual oneness.”
Long-time parishioners “make you feel welcome and wanted and needed,” said John “Jack” Keenan, who joined the parish with his wife about seven years ago and now teaches religious education classes there.
“Tonight was impactful,” said long-time parishioner Ralph Berthiaume. “To see the bishop in our sanctuary gleaming … that was a pure gift.” He said Msgr. Johnson engages people, listens to them and “has made us feel whole.”
Theresa “Terry” Turgeon, manager of the parish’s Msgr. Ducharme Social Center, said she was “overwhelmed with gratitude” being at Friday’s Mass - “to witness all those priests here, to have the bishop here.” (Priests serving the different ethnic communities, including the Latinos at St. Stephen’s, concelebrated the Mass.)
Decades ago, Ms. Turgeon, who now praises the priests who served St. Joseph’s during difficult times, was a leader of an occupation of the church by some parishioners trying to keep the building open. It was closed for several years but reopened in 1996.
“If you’re walking through the church you can feel the spirit of the people” who helped build and foster it, said Ms. Turgeon. “You can feel the Holy Spirit. … My parents grew up here. … They both worked to raise money to build” the church.
It’s not just the building, it’s the community she has experienced there; “there’s comfort in both,” she said.
“There’s always a group of people that come in and rebuild that community … new parishioners,” Ms. Turgeon said. “I keep praying the church is going to be full someday.”