Congratulations to Fr. Bill Schmidt, Granted Senior Priest/Retirement Status

If you have been worshipping with us for more than four years, you will remember that before Fr. Lambert joined us we had Fr. Bill Schmidt, who served St. Martha Parish and St. Mary Parish with love, faith, and dedication for over six years. He came here at a time when both parishes had experienced several changes of pastor over a short period of time, and he made it a priority to bring some stability to the priestly ministry and leadership for our parishioners. Modeling Christ’s sacrificial love for you, after a total of 20 years in the role of pastor (in Stoneham and then here), Fr. Bill proposed a swap of roles so that the two of us could stay here (otherwise, in a short time I would have been made a pastor somewhere else). This allowed Fr. Bill and I to stay with you four more years, and gave me an in-house mentor as I took on the role of pastor for the first time. He left our parishes in the spring of 2019, taking some time to focus on his health before serving in parishes in Hudson and Winthrop until this summer.

Cardinal Seán has now granted Fr. Bill Schmidt, Senior Priest/Retirement status after 46 years of faithful service to Christ and the People of God! Our collaborative parishes offered our congratulations in the special section of the Pilot newspaper last week, and that congratulations with two beautiful pictures is also displayed on our website. We never completely “retire” from priesthood, but it is nice to have fewer responsibilities and more freedom to do the ministry we like to do. Fr. Bill has moved to St. Thomas Aquinas Rectory in Nahant MA. We all wish Father Bill health and lasting joy as he continues to live and celebrate Masses among parishes north of Boston in an area he has served for most of his years of priesthood.

In closing, it is fitting that we have a special second collection this weekend in support of the Clergy Health & Retirement Trust, which is the funding for the pension and healthcare for Fr. Bill and over 200 other Senior Priests of our archdiocese. It also complements the health insurance of all active or disabled diocesan priests of Boston in good standing, providing support and programs for our physical, mental, and spiritual health and wellbeing. You can learn more at clergytrust.org about how your support of the Clergy Health and Retirement Trust cares for the priests who have cared for us. I contribute, and I hope you will too.