The outpouring of love showered on Father Joseph Breighner at a July 12 event honoring his more than five decades as a Catholic Review columnist was overwhelming. More than 300 people converged on St. Joseph in Fullerton to thank Father Joe for his many years of wit and wisdom as he retires his popular column. Father Joe was so gracious in greeting every single person and sharing memories and laughs. I was honored to be among several speakers invited to give a tribute to Father Joe. Here’s what I said…
Even though he officially stepped down from active ministry 10 years ago, Father Joseph Breighner never really quit working. That was obvious to me when I was assigned to write the story for the Catholic Review about Father Joe’s retirement in 2013.
I thought it would be easy to get an appointment with a man approaching his 70s who had already been retired for more than a month.
But Father Joe’s daily schedule remained so jammed-packed that he only had a 20-minute sliver of time to meet before he was off to minister somewhere else.
Back then, the much-loved columnist was still writing commentary for the Catholic Review every other week, providing pastoral counseling several times a week, leading spiritual retreats and celebrating Mass at Villa Assumpta, Notre Dame of Maryland University and Church of the Annunciation in Rosedale.
And that’s what he called his “reduced” workload.
During our conversation, Father Joe told me he viewed his life as a ministry.
“It’s a blessing,” he said.
I can think of no other columnist in the religious or secular press who has been writing a sustained column as long as Father Joe. His byline first appeared in the Catholic Review more than 50 years ago when he was still a seminarian.
How do you come up with thousands of column ideas over the course of half a century even as you are devoting your life to so many other ministries – including an immensely popular radio show that reached audiences across the country?
In his best-selling book, a compilation of his most-popular Catholic Review columns called “A Year of Wit, Wisdom & Warmth,” Father Joe explained that he truly thought it was through divine inspiration.
“Years ago,” he wrote, “when I first began my ministry, I always had the sense that, when I began writing, something else was happening, and someone else was taking over. Ideas began to flow that didn’t seem to come from me. Thoughts materialized that I had not formulated. Insights occurred that seemed to come from outside myself. It was then that I realized that I felt closest to God when I was writing.”
Father Joe’s love for his communications ministry has been obvious over these many decades. So was the love his audience always had for him — as is so evident in the incredible crowd gathered here today to honor Father Joe.
I’d like to close by repeating a prayer Father Joe offered on the very first episode of his radio show in 1975. It applies to him today:
“O God, be with us on all the roads of life.
Be both guide and protector on our journey.
Help us never to be too busy to stop to lend another a helping hand.
Help us never to be too serious to take time to smile and share laughter.
And help us, Lord, as we watch the dust rising from a country road, to remember, that while our origin is from the dust, our destiny is in the stars with you.”
Father Joe, thank you for your many years of inspiration, humor, wit and wisdom.
Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
Check out this tribute to Father Joe by Rita Buettner: Thank you, Father Joe
View more photos from the Father Joe Breighner tribute on the Catholic Review’s Smugmug page here.
Read some of Father Joe's columns below
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