‘Go 2 St. Joe’

CLIFTON  As the Universal Church arrives at the “halfway” mark in this special year designated to St. Joseph, the Diocese of Paterson will celebrate the second half of the Year of St. Joseph with a diocesan-wide pilgrimage. This special pilgrimage will kick off on June 6, the Feast of Corpus Christi, and it will end on Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. With the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), Pope Francis proclaimed a Year of St. Joseph, which began on the Feast of the Im­mac­ulate Conception on Dec. 8, 2020.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney wrote in his column about the Year of St. Joseph, “With his announcement of a Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis has invited us to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pius IX’s proclamation of St. Joseph as the Patron of the Catholic Church. He offers us this year, in our parishes, our Diocese of Paterson and the universal Church, to draw closer to the one who loved Jesus ‘with a father’s heart.’”

Eleven sites around the Diocese, whose patron is St. Joseph or the Holy Family, will be pilgrimage stops. To complete the St. Joseph pilgrimage, pilgrims are asked to visit at least seven sites during the six-month duration of the pilgrimage. The site locations are: St. Joseph Church, Lincoln Park; St. Joseph Church, Mendham; St. Joseph Church, Newton; St. Joseph Church, Passaic; St. Joseph Church, Paterson; St. Joseph Church, West Milford; Shrine of St. Joseph, Stirling; St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, Paterson; St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly, Totowa; Holy Family Church, Florham Park, and Holy Family Chapel at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity, Convent Station.

The diocesan Office for Evangelization at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison is coordinating the pilgrimage and its website will have complete information, updates, and addresses for each of the locations. Also on the website, pilgrims who participate in the pilgrimage can print a commemorative passport, created by Allison Gildea, a member of the young adult ministry at St. Paul’s. As a passport “stamp,” at each of the designated sites, there will be a question that can only be answered when the pilgrimage location is visited. Due to the nature of the healthcare facilities included in the pilgrimage such as St. Joseph’s Medical Center or St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly, those sites are considered “drive-by” locations. Those who participate on the St. Joseph pilgrimage around the Diocese are encouraged to share their photos on social media using the #go2stjoe, which was inspired by the Latin phrase, Ite ad Ioseph.

Trinitarian Father Dennis Berry, director of the Shrine of St. Joseph, is looking forward to welcoming pilgrims at the Stirling shrine. “I think pilgrimage is a magnificent way to honor St. Joseph particularly,” he said. “When you think about it, most of what we know of St. Joseph shows him ‘on the move,’ in a sense, on ‘pilgrimage.’ The journey to Bethlehem, the flight to Egypt, the cautious return to Israel and Nazareth, the pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple and the subsequent frantic search for Jesus. Joseph’s life, like ours, often was not an open road but rather a following, day by day, the will of God as it revealed itself in the events and circumstances of his life. Pilgrimage can remind us of this fact.”

On Dec. 8, when the Year of St. Joseph concludes, the Diocese is planning to celebrate a final Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson with Bishop Sweeney as the main celebrant.

In the first half of the year, the Diocese marked the special year mainly with a Consecration to St. Joseph, which culminated on his feast day March 19. Consecration to St. Joseph can happen at any time and future recommended consecration dates are the Feast of Our Lady of Knock, Aug. 17 and All Saints Day, Nov. 1. Two books that are recommended to make the consecration are “Consecra­tion to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” by Father Donald Calloway, and “30 Day Consecration to St. Joseph” from the Shrine of St. Joseph. In addition, Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli wrote the book, “A Novena to St. Joseph,” which offers Scriptural reflections on St. Joseph.

To encourage devotion during the Year of St. Joseph, the diocesan Facebook page has been offering brief weekly reflections based on Pope Francis’ pastoral letter, Patris Corde.

As the shrine prepares to welcome pilgrims, Father Berry said, “The Shrine, by its very nature and definition, is meant in the mind of the Church to be a place of welcome and peace for God’s beloved people. We are so blessed to be able to welcome our sisters and brothers of the Diocese to their home and our home here at St. Joseph’s Shrine.”