Knights invite all to Bishop Reilly's birthday party

By William T. Clew
The Catholic Free Press
It was a good idea last year, but the timing was a little premature.
It’s an even better idea this year. The timing is right and there’s a bonus as well.
Bishop Reilly will be honored May 12 at a celebration of his 90th birthday and the 65th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.
A luncheon will begin at noon at St. John High School in Shrewsbury, followed by Mass at 4 p.m. in the chapel of Notre Dame du Lac Health Care Center on Plantation Street, where Bishop Reilly lives. The Worcester Chapter, Knights of Columbus, is host for the birthday party.
Bishop McManus will give the invocation. Scheduled speakers include Lt. Gov. Karen Polito, Knights State Deputy Paul O’Sullivan, Father Ray Introvigne and Bishop Reilly. After the luncheon there will be a raffle and an auction.
According to Charles J. Murphy, co-chairman, the luncheon also will serve as a fund-raiser for the Sisters of Notre Dame du Lac. He said donations also will be accepted throughout the summer.
“Our goal is to take care of the people who take care of the bishop,” Mr. Murphy said.
Someone in the Worcester Chapter wanted to celebrate Bishop Reilly’s 90th birthday last year, Mr. Murphy said. Good idea, bad timing.
  Bishop Reilly told them that it was a little early, because he would be 89, not 90, on May 12, 2017. So last May, friends celebrated the bishop’s 89th birthday at Notre Dame du Lac.
The idea was still a good one, so, after the party,  friends and members of the Worcester Chapter of the Knights of Columbus formed a committee to plan for the 90th this year. They also got a bonus. Bishop Reilly was ordained a priest on May 30, 1953, so this year is his 65th anniversary.
Bishop Reilly, a long-time member of the Knights of Columbus, was honored in 2015, in Mechanics Hall at a Provincial Exemplification of 4th Degree Knights of Columbus for the James A. Healy Province, which includes all the New England states.
Usually each district in the province holds its own exemplification, in which members are raised to the 4th Degree. But the ceremony in Worcester was said to be the first time all seven Knights of Columbus districts came together for an exemplification.
Bishop Reilly was honored then because he is the only man to have served as state Knights of Columbus chaplain in three states: Rhode Island, where he was born, raised and ordained; Connecticut, where he was Bishop of Norwich, and Massachusetts, where he was Bishop of Worcester.
Mr. Murphy, the former district master of the 4th Degree, said Bishop Reilly “has an amazing effect on people. He’s very special.”
Tickets for the luncheon are $45 and may be ordered at bishopreilly90.org or at bishopreilly90@gmail.com. Checks should be made payable to Bishop Reilly 90 Fund and mailed to Bishop Reilly 90 Celebration, 206 South Quinsigamond Ave., Shrewsbury, MA.
The planning committee for the birthday celebration, in addition to Mr. Murphy, includes John Litchfield, Father Paul O’Connell, Fred Davis, Tim Orr, Deacon Joseph Baniukiewicz, Chris Daniel and Herman Millet.