St. Joseph the Worker was established in 1955.[/caption]
Name of Church St. Joseph the Worker
Address 2310 SE 148th Avenue, Portland OR 97233
Phone number (503) 761-8710
Website www.stjosephtheworkerpdx.org
Mass times Saturday vigil, 5 pm; Sunday 8:30 am, 11 am, 1:30 pm (Spanish), 4 pm (2nd and 4th Sundays, Zomi/Myanmar). Tuesday – Friday, 12:15 pm. Saturday, 7:45 am (first Saturdays).
Confessions Saturday, 3-4:30 pm; Wednesday, 6-7 pm.
Names of priests Father Niall O’Riordan, OJSS. Father is from Ireland and worked as a veterinarian before entering the seminary (among his patients was famous Irish thoroughbred racehorse Galileo who recovered from an ailment after treatment by Father Niall and a blessing by a priest). He entered the seminary of Work of Jesus the High Priest (OJSS), a worldwide missionary religious community, in Rome in 2010 and was ordained a priest in 2017. He met Archbishop Sample of Portland during the Covid lockdowns of 2020, and his community now staffs three parishes in the archdiocese. He has been pastor of St. Joseph the Worker since 2023. He is pious and soft-spoken.
School No, the parish school closed in 1975.
Parish activities and groups Weekday adoration (see the website for times), religious education and confirmation classes, Knights of Columbus, Pro-life ministry, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Helping Hands ministry, youth ministry.
Music The parish has three choirs as well as cantors.
Parking There is ample parking around the church.
Additional observations St. Joseph the Worker is a parish of the Archdiocese of Portland established in 1955.
Looks like a repurposed multi-use space.
Whoa! Galileo (1998-2021) was a very, very famous, champion Irish thoroughbred racehorse– exactly like Secretariat! OMG!! Gallileo won the 2001 Irish Derby by four lengths– and was a huge racehorse champion of Ireland and Great Britain. You can find him on Wikipedia and YouTube. His grandsire was the famous Northern Dancer. He sired many extremely successful offspring– all of them racing champions, also. What an extraordinarily fabulous career this priest had in his veterinarian days– would love to hear any of his sermons that include stories of Gallileo and other wonderful thoroughbred racehorses! Or just any horse– maybe a wonderful story of Divine intervention, through prayer, in which a poor horse’s life was miraculously saved, etc. Or a wonderful conversion story, involving horses. I bet he has a wonderful time, with the Blessing of the Animals, on St. Francis’ Feast Day!
There are some beautiful Irish myths involving horses. One is about a beautiful white mare carrying a beautiful girl with long red hair– the daughter of the king of a mythical land of eternal youth and happiness, called Tir Na Nog. In that land, everyone is happy, no one ages, there is no illness, no stress, no wars, all is well and there is eternal happiness. It is like a paradise. Long ago, listered to one older Irish priest in particular, who explained all about these Tir Na Nog myths. In some stories, Niamh, the beautiful red- haired damsel, will ride across the sea to Ireland, and take a mortal human back to Tir Na Nog with her– but the mortal human can never return to Ireland, or they will instantly grow old, get sick and die. To be taken away to Tir Na Nog is like a death, and then entering Paradise. The Irish priest who told these stories had lost his beloved father as a young boy. Forever after, he longed to hear his older siblings tell him stories all about his father, and he longed to see and talk with him. Now, as he was getting old, I wondered if perhaps someday, God would grant his heartfelt wish, to see his father– in Heaven, of course, not Tir Na Nog. These myths are sometimes mixed with Christian concepts and saints, like St. Patrick. So, if you go to Ireland, and go walking by the sea, perhaps at sunset, maybe you will see the red-haired princess, Niamh, flashing across the sea, like a ghost-rider, seemingly out of nowhere, on her dazzling white mare– perhaps in search of a mortal human to take back with her, to Tir Na Nog! (In the Irish language, they spell “Tir Na Nog” in their own way, but I have no idea how to do that, in our English language and alphabet, etc., on a computer or device.) St. Joseph, and St. Michael the Archangel are said to come for our Catholic or Christian souls, at the hour of death. Not really sure about that, but it is a comfort.
Tir Na Nog means “Land of the Young,” and was a mythical, enchanted island, an extremely beautiful earthly paradise, an other-worldly, supernatural realm, off the west coast of Ireland, where everyone was eternally young, healthy, and beautiful, with no illnesses or calamities, very peaceful, completely happy. It was home to the last band of Celtic gods and goddesses that supposedly ruled Ireland, who were called the “Tuatha de Dannan.” Many famous Irish people, including Ven. Fr. Patrick Peyton, have noted the rich, ancient Celtic myths, tales, poems, songs and story-telling, of the Irish people. They still cherish and cultivate their Irish language, and children can learn it in school. Before the modern era, some Irish people could not speak a word of English. The Irish have a rich treasure of holy saints and learned monks, dating back to the era of St. Patrick, the “Apostle of Ireland,” in the 5th century A.D. Poor St. Patrick would surely be appalled at his beloved, post-Conciliar, very secularized (“re-paganized?”) country today, and would work tirelessly to re-Christianize it. Get rid of the Satanic modern (pagan) evils of abortion, gay “marriage,” rock bands, drugs, sexual sins, clerical sex abuse– and much more. He would drive Satan and his devils completely out of his beloved Ireland, just as he drove all the snakes out of Ireland, when he converted his beloved country to Christianity.
I would much prefer to hear Celtic stories, songs, poems, and tales of Ireland— or of England, Scotland, Wales, etc.– told or sung by a performer, nice group– or even a priest– of solid Christian morality. I do not like to see modern, rebellious, anti-Christian, liberal, smart-aleck performers or groups, who lead sinful lives, involved in this. Makes me sick. It is especially offensive, for families and children. No, rainbows, unicorns, etc., are not of the sick, deviant “gay” culture. Such beautiful symbols are innocent, and belong to children.
Good grief, clutter galore in that “space” flowers all over the place, candles everywhere, chairs, podiums, how about one high altar, six candlesticks, central tabernacle, central crucifix, communion rail and most important the TLM, there all fixed! and no dinner table, vulgar tounges for the Mass only the Officical Lingua Franca of the Church LATIN.
Excuse me but who are you to dictate how a Catholic sanctuary should look like?
And you complain about those many candles and flowers? They’re not for you; they’re for God: for His praise and glory.
Excuse, me, but how are you to dictate, how someone, should comment?
God bless you, Romulus! The Catholic Faith is now nearly lost in Europe, including Ireland and the UK. And lost in the USA, too. Even worse– mortal sins abound, tragically– including sexual sins, clerical sex abuse– gay “marriage,” and worst of all– abortion. The poor Catholic laymen, raising families, can’t do much, but pray, pray, pray– as always. And find maybe one faithful Catholic local parish church with a good priest– the form of Mass is less important. Many of us were deeply shocked at the first Novus Ordo Mass, the first Sunday in April, 1969, at my beautiful parish church. We expected better. And how do you raise kids in this “new Church?” I decided to daily say a little prayer for the eventual return of the beautiful, timeless old Latin Mass and Sacraments to my parish church– but on that day, I figured it would be beyond my lifetime, if it ever happenned. The New Mass just wasn’t good enough. And here we were– “all grown up, and nowhere to go!” I confided to my Mom, “this is truly just like the Fall of the Roman Empire, in the Church and in our society! It will only get worse, from here. We are living in the “latter days,” I guess. Soon, there will be nothing left. And we have no control over it. It is a great loss. Do you think the great Saints who appeared at the end of the Roman Empire, likewise felt a great loss? Even though Christianity was finally accepted by Rome?” The Catholic Church has had some poor leadership and some tragic failures, all through the centuries– they stumble badly at times, fall down, weild their typical, sbusive clerical authority anyway, and go on and on. Same old thing. Clerical abuse, one way or the other… Can’t do anything about it, just live your life as a good practicing Catholic– a good Christian, a good follower of the Lord. All by yourself, quietly, with your spouse and kids, in your family home, the “Domestic Church.” Stick with a few, good like-minded, sincerely devout practicing-Catholic families. Shun the evils and corruptions of the world. Just like Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child, Jesus. They had a rough time, too.
Along with millions of others, I used to listen to Paul Harvey’s radio broadcast daily, at noon. Here is part of an exceptionally good broadcast, from 1965, “If I Were the Devil.” It is very famous. I had read and heard of some very smart people who were predicting the fall of America, Western Civilization, and even Christianity– and the Catholic Chirch. I could hardly believe it. Must this happen? Who can stop it? Even Bishop Sheen could not stop it. He and many others, could only comment on current happenings in the Church and in society. I knew that we had been losing our great artistic and cultural traditions and geniuses, as well as Christianity and our religious faith, in Europe and America, since the late 19th century. Religious leaders, both Catholic and Protestant, questioned the Bible. The rise of Modern Science was a huge accomplishment. But truthfully, Western Civilization was ready to fall apart. All through the 20th century, our society became less and less religious, and more and more secularized– and skeptical of God and religion– and finally– skeptical of morality, deeply shattered by great corruption, evils and sins. Yet, I knew from history, that such things were common occurrences at times, all through history. How different was a corrupt Biblical ruler and his people, from a corrupt modern one, and his people? And wasn’t the apostasy, growing disrespect for God and for society, skepticism of Christian Morality, and evil and sins of th 1960s– similar to all other times in history, when these things occured? But no, it seemed that this time, our current era was really on a collision course to the death of our great civilization, culture, religion and morality, and– just like the popular books and prophecies of a few very smart, famous people– a “great wasteland” of human corruption, evil and sin loomed, menacingly. The Devil was very busy, at the very moment when worship of God and obedience to Him, and morality and decency were ignorantly questioned. Of course, the Devil looms greatly, in the heights of a society’s success at materialism– and easy, lazy pleasures, pushing the limits straight into corruption, lawlessness and sin. And our society had done just that– and discarded God, religion and morality. One of the very worst things a society can do, is to destroy Traditional, Biblically-based Marriage, before God (in the church– church weddings, before God) and the sacred role of the wife and mother in the home. She is absolutely sacred– and indispensable. Without her, your culture and civilization will collapse. She is the mother of the family, a mother of children of a society, the loving wife who runs the family home, the loving, devoted nurturer who cares for your basic needs, and she is the guardian of religious faith, morality and Virtue, and of arranging the social calendar, too– in the home and in society. (Typically, men do not go to church as much as women do, and are less interested in religion, morality, and domestic and social niceties. The young wife typically helps her new, young husband with all of that.) Feminism is a horror, invented by sick lesbians and mixed-up, unbalanced, overly-intellectual-focused (and self-focused, less social) women, who may not have vocations to marriage and to motherhood, in the first place! So– don’t get married, then! And leave good, normal women alone! Respect us! And yes, women should be treated fairly, the same as men– good social training, and enacting good laws, can accomplish that. Well, here is a link to the famous Paul Harvey broadcast of 1965:
https://youtu.be/S9NoQHgjM_0?si=Q-BYU3-w5BABmE3q
Paul Harvey’s beloved wife, Lynne, whom he called “Angel,” was the director, writer, editor and producer of her husband’s famous radio program. She was the first producer ever inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. “Angel” Harvey is credited with coming up with many programming innovations and trademarks, for her husband’s radio show. She came up with the concept of including news features and a humorous “kicker,” along with hard-news broadcasts, which became a Paul Harvey trademark. She also developed her husband’s famous feature, “The Rest of the Story.” “Angel” Harvey influenced the development of broadcast news, both on radio and television, including introducing the concept of a late-night, 10pm news broadcast, in the late 1940s, to reach a larger audience. She also created a TV show, “Dilemma,” which became a prototype of the TV talk-show genre. Paul Harvey spoke of how much his wife, “Angel,” meant to hin, when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, on Nov. 9, 2005. He said, “This is the highest honor I have received, since 60-some years ago, when Angel said “I do.”” The Harveys met when they both worked at a radio station in his wife’s hometown of St. Louis, MO, and were married in 1940. Paul Harvey (1918-2009) and his wife, “Angel,” (1916-2008) were beloved by millions of Americans. They belonged to several different small, Protestant churches, throughout their lives, and were close friends with Billy Graham.
I must say, thst there is just one bad thing about Paul Harvey– he supported abortion, and the ERA– and for that, shame on him! But I and millions of others had been listening to his broadcasts for too many years, when he made those boo-boos, in the 1970s– and really liked that radio show. Darn! Not sure– but unlike Ronald Reagan, I don’t think that I ever heard that Paul Harvey ever changed his views. He said, in one broadcast, that abortion should be a personal decision between a woman and her doctor and her God– and for the government — and himself, Paul Harvey– to stay out of it. Shame on him for failing to defend God’s beloved little children! But the rest of his work was really good.
The guy doing the “down votes” on this website is obviously a minion of Satan.
Maybe it’s a woman?
Hey Jon, like you I may comment how I feel and would NEVER tell you otherwise this is still The United States of America. So you make your comments and I mine. We may not agree on alot however it is my right and your to argree or to not agree.