'Mob Mass' to fill pews at St. Joseph's, Troy

By KATHLEEN LAMANNA- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

St. Joseph's parish in Troy is going to be mobbed at 4 p.m. on Sept. 12.

Rev. James Sidoti, O.Carm., administrator of St. Joseph's, has scheduled the parish to be the site for the Albany Diocese's first-ever "mob Mass." Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard will celebrate the liturgy.

The concept of a mob Mass is simple, said Father Sidoti: Invite people to come to a specific Mass at a parish they don't frequent. The Mass itself is ordinary; the turnout is extraordinary.

Father Sidoti read about the mob Mass movement in an email from a friend. The movement began in Buffalo in 2013 as an attempt to save churches with a small income and an even smaller number of people in the pews; it has since spread to major cities like Detroit, Philadelphia and Cleveland.

Father Sidoti thinks parishes here have "got to put ourselves out there," too.

"We want people to come see what's going on" in our churches, he said. "It's an opportunity -- not to fill in the pews or to make money, but to evangelize like the pope wants us to."

Pope Francis has stated that Catholics should share their faith "with enthusiasm and vitality," and that "an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral." Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger is also an enthusiastic proponent of evangelization, suggesting that Catholics invite fallen-away faithful to Mass -- even by offering to buy them breakfast afterward.

"The Catholic Church is all about the community," said Father Sidoti. "We have a wonderful building and would like to get people to come see things."

St. Joseph's Church was built in 1847 and features gothic architecture and a grand organ, as well as one of the largest collections of signed Tiffany windows in existence -- more than 40.

"It's remarkable," boasted the parish's administrative assistant, Theresa St. Germain. "Any church should be seen and should be shared, [but] we have something special with the Tiffany windows."

St. Joseph's, which is home to about 600 families, has been publicizing the event extensively on social media outlets, inviting everyone to the 4 p.m. Mass on Sept. 12. The parish isn't looking to "pull anybody from their home parish," Ms. St. Germain noted; "but if someone was taking a break from their church life, they would be more than welcome" to attend St. Joseph's more regularly.

The mob Mass is "about letting people see what's out there," she continued. "There's so much in the Diocese; people should be able to see it."

For more information, call the parish office at (518) 274-6720.[[In-content Ad]]