BY SAL GIARRATANI
BLUE LIVES
MATTER RALLY
This past weekend on Saturday, I was at the steps of the Statehouse at the Blue Lives Matter rally organized by WRKO›s talk show host Jeff Kauhner A large crowd assembled on Beacon Street up to the gates of the Statehouse to listen to Kuhner and other guests talk about our beleagued police officers across the nation under fire by Black Lives Matter radicals attacking law enforcement as racist murderers. This rhetoric has led to several attacks on police officers across the nation some fatal.
Once again, the media was nowhere to be found. I guess there was nothing to see up at the Statehouse. You can bet if a handful of opponents showed up, the media would have highlighted their presence.
It was a great rally and there were a number of retired police officers like myself there to led support to our police officers under liberal fire and sadly actual fire these days.
HE IS STILL FATHER JOY
As I read my church bulletin before last Sunday›s Mass, I noticed that full page advertisement from the Clergy Health and Retirement Trust trying to raise monies for the care and well being of our Boston priests.
The photo showed a photo of Father William Joy surrounded by young students from his St. Angela›s parish school in Mattapan Square.
Back in the late 70s when I was a parishioner at St. Mary›s here in Charlestown, Father Joy was one of the parish›s three priests.
His personality like his name was joyful. He was very up, youthful and engaging. To me that is the picture I have of him.
Today, over in Mattapan he is pastoring a very large Haitian Catholic parish. Parishioners see in him a joyful and engaged older priest.
When too often Catholics have suffered through some awful times with priestly predators in our midst, Father Joy reminds us all that there are some really great priests out there who do the right thing.
St. Angela›s is a joy-filled parish today, just as I remembered St. Mary›s being back when Father Joy was here.
He has always been there serving the Church and the people of that church.