Parish prizes good Joe

At Nativity/St. Mary's parish in Stuyvesant Falls, Joseph P. Conte has been the unofficial resident greeter for nearly 30 years.

Since he was 14, he has been welcoming visitors, parishioners and even new pastors to the Columbia County parish. He is now 43.

"Joey is one of the best parish ministers I've ever seen. He's a loving, caring man and a mainstay in this parish," said Rev. Frank O'Connor, pastor. (He is also pastor of Holy Family parish in Stottville.)

At home

Mr. Conte considers his parish -- the only one he has ever known -- as his home.

Because of disabilities, he is unable to work full-time and lives with his parents. However, he occasionally serves as a volunteer law clerk at the Columbia County District Attorney's office in Hudson.

"I love that work," he told The Evangelist, "and would jump at the chance to go back there. I did research. I am detail-oriented, so it was very good for me."

Favorite priest

Mr. Conte credits his parish involvement to Rev. John Krivickas, pastor of St. Mary's in 1976.

"They were all pretty nice guys," Mr. Conte said of the priests who have served there, but Father Krivickas, a native of Lithuania who died in 1987, was one of his favorites.

"When he came to our parish, I was in my teens," he recalled. "At first, he had a hard time being understood because of his Lithuanian accent. I told him not to worry about it, that parishioners were used to me and they also had a hard time understanding me. I told him I would help him out."

Mr. Conte, who had a speech impediment during his childhood and teen years, served as a translator of sorts, helping parishioners understand the priest and vice versa.

Ministries

Father Krivickas eventually asked Mr. Conte to be an altar server. The 14-year old agreed, so he is also celebrating 30 years as an altar server.

That role led him into others over the years, including serving on the pastoral council, the parish building committee, various fundraisers and the cemetery office. He also meets with a group of parishioners for a weekly Bible study program.

From the beginning, he said, he thoroughly enjoyed serving.

"I always liked the feeling I got while I helped on the altar," he explained. "I felt that it was an honor to be an altar server -- just being there with the priest and able in a small way to help him as he celebrated Mass. I also knew that I was helping out the Church. I still love it as much as I did then, maybe even more. It is a part of me now."

'Holy Chipmunk'

Mr. Conte loves to tell stories about serving Mass.

"Once, we had an outdoor Mass at St. Mary's," he related. "It was a very windy day. Before the service began, the pastor took me aside and warned me to be on the lookout for flying hosts because he was afraid that the wind would pick them up.

"Sure enough, during the Consecration, the hosts began to fly out of their holder. I scrambled to catch each one. Not knowing what else to do with them and afraid they would fall to the ground, I kept stuffing them into my mouth. We managed to save most of them, and Communion went on without a hitch.

"After Mass, Father started referring to me as the 'Holy Chipmunk' because he said I looked like I was trying to swallow all the hosts."

(Over the years, Joseph Conte has welcomed and served ten pastors. "Each one has been a little different, with their own personality," he said. "I have learned something from each one, and it has been great fun.")

(12/8/05) [[In-content Ad]]