St. Joseph Parish
Proudly serving the West End, Beacon Hill, North Station and
Government Center Communities of Boston since 1862.
Surgeon, Scientist, Entrepreneur, Husband and Father. Ronald G. Tompkins, MD, ScD, of Boston passed away unexpectedly on January 17, 2022.
Ron is survived by his wife Denise of thirty-seven years, his children, Megan and her husband Adam, Ryan and his fiancé Meredith, Caitlin, his first grandchild, Noelle, and many beloved nieces, nephews and extended family. Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Horace and Ruby, and his brothers, Victor, Norman and Stanley.
Visitation will be held at St. Joseph’s Church in the West End on Saturday, January 22nd from 10am to 12pm followed by a funeral mass at noon.** In lieu of flowers, donations in Ron’s memory may be made to the Open Medicine Foundation. Your donation will continue Ron's legacy by supporting research at the Ronald G. Tompkins ME/CFS Collaboration at the Harvard Affiliated Hospitals. READ FULL OBITUARY
RONALD G. TOMPKINS
**Ronald's funeral service was live-streamed and may now be watched here below, or at a future date by using this specific web address(https://www.facebook.com/stjosephwestend/videos/348371236876722).
Mass Schedule
Sunday: 9:00 am (LIVE-STREAMED) and 4:00 pm
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 12:10 pm
The Holy Rosary will be prayed after the Wednesday Mass.
Confessions will be heard 15 minutes prior to each Mass or at anytime by appointment.
(LIVE-STREAMED Masses may be watched LIVE on our Facebook Page
or at anytime following the Mass here on our Website.)
-If at all possible, we ask that you please log in to the below link and register ahead of time.
We appreciate this as it will greatly help us to best plan for each of our services.
https://parishreservations.com/josephboston
Online Giving is available at St. Joseph Parish
SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME- 9 am Mass, January 16, 2022
Guidelines for Public Mass at St. Joseph
We urge continued caution and care in sanitary safeguards.
- Masks are required.
-- If you do not have a mask, we will provide you with one.
-There is signage and directional arrows designating entrances/exits and directions to walk up or down aisles, to encourage social distancing. In addition, pews are marked off to further encourage appropriate distancing for people who are not in the same household.
- We will give instructions during Mass for safe methods for receiving the Eucharist.
We also wish to stress that:
- if you are sick;
- part of a vulnerable population;
- or if you feel any hesitation or fear at all, please remain home for now.
- We will continue to live stream our Mass as we have been, posting on Facebook and our website. Join us in prayer in our live stream, continue to pray at home, and feel free to call us if you are in need of anything - even just a conversation or contact!
Message from Fr Joe:
Each winter as the year begins anew, we can each begin anew. In fact, every day we can begin anew. The additional blessing is at any point on any given day we can begin anew. To stop, pause and breathe can always be a good practice!
After the 4:00pm Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord Sunday mass I witnessed a beautiful activation of faith into service. Over a dozen young adults, a family, and the rest of us dedecorated our church from Christmas. The crescendo of decorating takes hours over the weeks of Advent. It was a joy to see us all (physically distancing) making quick work of the necessary tasks. Within 1/2 hour most was done! How true the statement many hands make quick the work.
Thank you one and all.
So also is it true that many hearts make smoother the care. Let us pray with hearts and hands into these weeks for those great needs around us be tended to and the Gospel message come alive.
We now are in our liturgical season - winter ordinary time. From the first week until the eighth and March 2nd Ash Wednesday. The season began with the Gospel at the wedding at Cana. The miracle Jesus accomplished was of course converting water into wine, but also converted the hearts and minds of his disciples who were just coming to an understanding of this man they called Teacher and Messiah. The wedding reception at Cana is the first recorded meal with his disciples. At their last meal Jesus used water from similar jars to wash the wash his disciples’ feet as a model of service and changed wine into his blood.
These next weeks, Luke inspires us to encounter Jesus and the gospel message. Teaching the faith is the theme of the first chapters of Luke. That 1st century AD message is still significant today. For today, Jesus' message of bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty, healing and forgiveness is pertinent.
For our faith formation of the gospel message we are now engaged in PROJECT NAZARETH: FAITH BEGINS AT HOME (click this link to gain access). Not just for kids but an aide to us all.
This week is the annual week for Christian Unity, Feb. 11th is Our Lady of Lourdes World Day for the sick, Feb. 7th - the first Monday of the month- we provide a meal, Feb. 13th is Souper Bowl Sundae and of course Feb. 14th is Valentine Day. Each of these are times when our parish extends prayers and resources for the gospel message to be activated in our community. Come join in the Christian action!
In Jesus, the ordinary is changed into something new, something greater, something glorious. May our own continual conversion through the workings of the Lord guide us these challenging and fragile times.
In the midst of the winter ordinary time weeks of gospels we shall hear again the beatitudes. My favorite beatitude is from our very own front office Sr Eleanor Clancy: “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape!” Sr Eleanor & our parish office can be reached most Mon, Wed and or Fri 10am-12pm or you can always leave voice or emails.
Continued 2022 Blessings
Gigaiag
God is good and I am grateful
Fr Joe
Over the coming months, Catholics from around the world will be participating in the
Synod on Synodality. What does that mean?
Here in Boston it means that we will be gathering, as parishes and as a diocese to pray
together and to invite the Holy Spirit to help us to listen deeply to one another, and we will talk together about how best to do that.
So, for instance, a parish council may get together and ask “How can we as a parish
council do a better job of letting the voices of all our parishioners be heard, even those who are not a part of an inner circle or who might be marginalized for whatever
reason?”
The archdiocese and the church around the world will be engaging in the same sort of
conversation. We pray that the Lord will open our hearts to Him and to all of our
people.
In preparation for this, we ask you to please take a few moments and complete the brief survey below:
DAYS OF GIVING & GRAND ANNUAL
In the midst of Covid 19 and our substantial decrease in financial contributions we have rallied for an anniversary Day of Giving. Our church anniversary, November 9, 1862 (160th this year, 2022). This additional fiscal effort assists us greatly in paying our bills and continuing our mission of outreach.
Still living through a pandemic and still affected by decreased offertory giving we continue to provide the Day of Giving opportunity and our Grand Annual opportunity. If you’ve been considering such a gift please take action sooner than later. If you’ve never contributed such a gift please let this 160th anniversary be the year.
We are most grateful, I am most grateful to those who have provided financial assistance over the years. Particular gratitude to those of you who have acknowledged our financial needs with a pandemic period gift and offering.
2022, our 160th anniversary we plan to acknowledge the great struggles of these past years, the generous history of our parish and the specific generosities throughout Covid 19, these fragile and challenging times.
My heartfelt gratitude for all you do with and for us.
Gigaiag
God is good and I am grateful
ANNUAL FISCAL REPORT
Gigaiag
Fr Joe
OUR LADY OF BOSTON
PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF BOSTON
Glorious Mother of God and powerful patron of all human endeavors, protect the city of Boston and all who dwell in it.
Intercede with your Divine Son to bless it’s blue bay and rising hills; to bless its ancient streets and historic monuments; to bless its newest arteries an ever-changing face.
Within its boundaries ask him to sanctify those who live and labor here; cause their works to prosper and bring happiness to those whom they love.Ask him to give guidance to all who are called to provide leadership in this community and grant them an honest intelligence and far seeing wisdom.
For our city, O Holy Mary, be a Morning Star lighting the daybreak; a Tower of Ivory guiding those who wander; House of God giving shelter to all who are troubled.
As we pass through our fair city and elsewhere be for us a Refuge of Sinners and a Comforter of the Afflicted and then our last hours, O Mary, be the Gate of Heaventhrough which we may pass to eternal life.
Intercede with your Holy Son, our Redeemer, that his Providence may watch over Bostonand its people; let his grace strengthen, guide, defend and protect it’s every venture-oldand new; and finally in all our aspirations and actions, “as He was with our fathers, so may God be with us.”
Amen
Archbishop Richard J. Cushing
December 12, 1957
PRAYER FOR OUR NATION – PRAYER FOR BOSTON
Oh God of mercy, understanding, and peace
help our beloved countryand the city of Boston:
to grow in harmony, to reject all violence
to strive for understanding.
Let each of us realize our need for you,
and our need for one another.
Let there be peace on earth:
let there be peace in our hearts;
let there be peace in our city;
let this peace begin with me.
Thirty Days’ Prayer to Saint Joseph
IN HONOR OF THE 30 YEARS HE SPENT WITH JESUS AND MARY
For Any Special Intention
Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.
Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.
I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved him to take our nature and to be born into this world.
I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world’s Redeemer in a cave.
I asked by the loveliness and power of that sacred name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.
I ask it in that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.
I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From the evil plan you had to flee with Him and his Blessed mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.
I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the Company of the Child Jesus. I asked by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you show in accepting the Divine order to impart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.
I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God.
Oh good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I Ask. (Here name your petitions or think of them.)
Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
JESUS, Mary and Joseph
“A blameless life,
St. Joseph,
May we lead ,
by your patronage
from danger freed"
_______________
St. Joseph's NIN NID outreach program and use of Livestreaming Services
were recently recognized in these Beacon Hill Times Articles:
Parish Program Offers Helping Hand To Neighbors In Need
St. Joseph's uses Technology to remove Geographic Constraints
St. Joseph Parish wishes to thank our neighbors at the WestEnd Museum, especially for the great work they did in providing us these facts about the origin of our beloved church: St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church. The West End Museum is a non profit, neighborhood museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and interpretation of the history and culture of the West End of Boston. Visit them today at : thewestendmuseum.org/.
AARPSS - Archdiocesan Addiction Recovery
Pastoral Support Services
Click this link for information and resources to assist in recovery and prevention for those struggling with the disease of addiction, and their loved ones.
Find Us Here:
St. Joseph Parish
68 William Cardinal O'Connell WayBoston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-523-4342
Office Hours: Mon. Wed. Fri 10am-12pm
