Lenten Mission

Forever Changed
A Life Touched by God –
St. Joseph

3 Fridays
March 5th, 12th & 19th - 7:00pm
 

Join us in person at the church or on Facebook Live for one, two or all three evenings. Learn how we can all follow the example of our Spiritual Father St. Joseph in walking closer to our Lord.

Please use the registration forms below to register for in-person attendance.

Agenda and speaker biographies are included below as well.

Please pre-register for each evening so we know how many people to expect.

Friday, March 5th - 7:00pm - Welcoming the Will of God
Friday, March 12th - 7:00pm - Faith in the Midst of Hardships
Friday, March 19th - 7:00pm - With a Father's Heart

March 5th - Welcoming the Will of God

Fr. Steven M. LaBaire, Pastor at Our Lady of Good Council, West Boylston
Father Steven M. LaBaire, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Worcester, has also been named pastor of St. Stephen Parish in Worcester, effective July 1, 2017. He was born April 8, 1961 in Worcester, the son of Philip M. and Jacqueline M. (Fleurant) LaBaire. He graduated from Tahanto Regional High School, Boylston. He earned his bachelor’s degree in religious studies, cum laude, from Assumption College. He earned his master’s degree in theology while completing his priestly studies at the Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Timothy J. Harrington on June 6, 1987 in St. Paul Cathedral. Following ordination he served as associate pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Worcester and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster, before being named associate pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough on June 29, 1992. Father LaBaire was named pastor of St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge on June 30, 2007. He was appointed pastor of Holy Family Parish, Worcester, effective July 6, 2013. And on May 24, 2019, Father LaBaire succeeded retiring priest Father Thirburse F. Millott as pastor of Our Lady of Good Council in West Boylston.

 

March 12th - Faith in the Midst of Hardships

Fr. Dennis O’Brien, Minister to Priests, Diocese of Worcester

Father Dennis O’Brien was born on June 17, 1951, in Whitinsville, son of William and Rita (Ducharme) O’Brien. He attended St. Patrick’s School in Whitinsville and graduated from St. Mary’s Central Catholic High School in Milford in 1969. He studied for the priesthood at St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, Conn., St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, and the North American College, Rome. While in Rome, Father O’Brien studied at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where he received his bachelor’s degree in sacred theology in 1976. He completed his deacon-internship at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, West Boylston, and was ordained by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan on June 18, 1977, in St. Paul Cathedral. Following ordination, he was assigned for the summer to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Hopedale. He then returned to Rome for graduate studies at the Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical Gregorian University. He received his Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1978 and returned to Sacred Heart Parish as associate pastor. In July 1981, he was assigned to the faculty of St. Bernard’s Central Catholic High School, Fitchburg. In 1983, he was named to the faculty of Holy Name Central Catholic High School, Worcester. He received his master’s degree in administration and supervision from Boston College in 1985 and was appointed headmaster of Holy Name on July 11, 1986. In 1993 he entered the novitiate of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance at St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer. Over the years, he spent more than four years with the Trappist community. In 1996, Father O’Brien was appointed the first director of the Father James Fitton House for Priestly Formation in Leicester and taught in the diocesan Permanent Diaconate Program. He has served as associate pastor of St. Leo’s Parish, Leominster, St. Mary’s Parish, Shrewsbury, and Saint Joseph’s Parish, Fitchburg. On June 25, 2005, he was named pastor of St. Theresa the Little Flower Parish in Harvard and a year later he was appointed pastor of Saint Francis Xavier Parish in Bolton as well. After the two parishes were merged in December 2008, he became the first pastor of the newly formed Holy Trinity Parish. He was named pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster on June 30, 2012. Father O’Brien is the Dean of Deanery X, which includes Leominster, Fitchburg and Lunenburg, and is chairman of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council.  He has been an Associate of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary since 1984.

 

March 19th - With a Father’s Heart

Monsignor James Moroney, Presider and Preacher at the Eucharist in the Feast Day of St. Joseph

Msgr. James P. Moroney was born, Jan. 5, 1953, in Worcester, the son of James E. and Marguerite Mary (O’Leary) Moroney. He graduated from Millbury elementary and high schools. He attended St. Mary Seminary, Baltimore, and graduated from Holy Cross College in 1976, receiving a bachelor of arts degree. He prepared for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome and earned his bachelor of sacred theology degree, cum laude, from the Pontifical Gregorian University there. While in Rome he also attended the Pontifical Liturgy Institute at Saint Anselmo’s and was a weekend chaplain to the families of the U.S.S. Albany in Gaeta, Italy. From 1978 to 1980 he worked for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy in Rome. He was ordained a priest  on June 28, 1980, by Bishop Flanagan in St. Paul Cathedral. He served as temporary associate pastor of St. Paul Cathedral, Worcester, and Our Lady of Good Counsel, West Boylston. He was associate pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Webster, and St. Leo Parish, Leominster. He attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from which he was granted a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 1981. He also served as associate pastor of St. Mary and Our Lady of the Rosary Parishes in Spencer and, in January, 1993, was  assigned temporary administrator there. He was named pastor on June 4, 1993. On Jan. 1, 1994, the parishes were combined and he was appointed pastor of the newly formed Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish. Since Jan. 14, 1996, Msgr. Moroney has served on the Secretariat for the Liturgy of the United States Conference Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC. He was appointed its director in September, 1996. From 1996 to 1998 he staffed the task group for the final revisions  of the Lectionary for Mass. Later he served as editor of the Lectionary. He also has served as editor for the Book of the Gospels, Rites of Ordination of a Bishop, of Priests and of Deacons; the Lectionary for Masses with Children, Adaptions to the General Instructions of the Roman Missal and the Order of Mass, the Cremation Appendix to the Order of Christian Funerals and many other publications. In 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed him as a consultor for the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He is the fourth American liturgist to be appointed to this post since  the Second Vatican Council. He was reappointed to a five-year term in the post by Pope John Paul II in 2005. On July 19, 2001, the Holy Father appointed him as an advisor to the Vox Clara Committee, which advises the Holy See on English translations of liturgical texts such as the new  Roman missal. On Dec. 7, 2001, he was named a Chaplain to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, with the title monsignor. He returned  to the Worcester Diocese in February, 2008, and was named temporary administrator of St. Theresa’s Parish in Blackstone. On July 1, 2008 he was named rectory of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Worcester.