Bishop-elect Joseph Williams, right, receives applause from Archbishop Bernard Hebda, left, and the congregation about being named an auxiliary bishop for the Archdioese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Dec. 10 during Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.  DAVE HRBACEK  |  THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

With his parents and other family members in the front pew, Bishop-elect Joseph Williams concelebrated morning Mass Dec. 10 at the Cathedral of St. Paul, just hours after the 5 a.m. announcement of his appointment as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.  

“My brothers and sisters, I am so delighted that you are here this morning on the feast of Our Lady of Loreto as we welcome your new auxiliary bishop, Bishop-elect Joseph Williams,” said Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who presided at the 7:30 a.m. Mass.  

“You are the very first to see him with a pectoral cross and a zuchetto,” the archbishop said.  

It also was the first time his parents, Dr. Gary and Mary Williams, had seen their son since receiving a call from him at 5:20 a.m. at their home in Stillwater, about 20 miles northeast of St. Paul. Several of his eight siblings, their spouses and children also attended the Mass.  

Bishop-elect Joseph Williams hugs his mother, Mary, after Mass Dec. 10 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn. Earlier that morning, the Vatican announced his appointment as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

“Praise be to Jesus Christ,” said Mary Williams, when asked on her way into the cathedral what her initial response was to her son’s appointment. “He’s a gift to the Church. I thought of that when he was ordained as a priest, and I still feel that today.” 

Gary Williams said he told his son on the telephone, “They selected a good man.” When his son was growing up, Williams said, “I told people he didn’t need parents. He was a good kid.” 

In his homily, Archbishop Hebda said he had visited the Williams family at their home. “I know it’s a graced place that has enabled, really, all of their children in that large family to say yes to our Lord,” 

Among his nieces and nephews at the Mass were sisters Elizabeth and Rose Droske and their cousin, Mari O’Malley, all parishioners of St. Michael in Stillwater, as are their grandparents. Surprised and excited at the news their mothers — both sisters of the bishop-elect — shared with them early that morning, the nieces said their uncle is good with people.  

Elizabeth, 14, said her uncle is “loving, gentle, patient.” Rose added that he’s someone who can “meet the needs of everyone and work with all different kinds of people.” 

 “He’s very good with people,” confirmed Mari, 17, “definitely very easygoing and just easy to talk to.” 

The archbishop noted that the feast day officially closed a special jubilee year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patroness of pilots and air passengers. The Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Loreto, Italy, is a place of pilgrimage that includes a beautiful church built around the purported house of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Nazareth, the same home of Mary’s childhood. 

Mary might well have said, in that same house, her “yes” to the Lord, agreeing to be the mother of Jesus, Archbishop Hebda said. 

Standing in the house, “You can imagine Mary with her broom. You can imagine Mary cooking for the Holy Family. You can imagine Mary teaching Jesus his prayers,” the archbishop said. 

“It’s a place that celebrates Our Lady’s presence in everyday life, but it’s also a place that encourages us to recognize that indeed, God gives us grace in the midst of everyday lives,” he said. 

“Today we commend Bishop-elect Joseph’s ministry to the maternal care of Our Lady under the title of Our Lady of Loreto,” he said. “May she always draw Bishop-elect Williams to the priestly heart of her son. We ask indeed that she bless our archdiocese as we begin this new chapter in our history.”