May 7, 2009

By Rick Winterson

This is the final term at Gate of Heaven School.  A Mass of Thanksgiving for all the school has done will be celebrated at noon on Saturday, May 16, in Gate of Heaven Church.  School Principal Sr. Patricia McCarthy reminisces about herself and the school.

by Rick Winterson

In talking with Sr. Patricia McCarthy, C.S.J. (Congregation of St. Joseph), who is known to everyone as “Sister Pat”, the quiet faith she possesses immediately becomes evident.  She speaks about “being open to God’s will” and “listening to what He is saying to you” as readily as we might mention how the weather or the news is affecting us.

The most obvious question one can ask her is, “What’s next?”  She has only a partial answer at this time.  Her sole issues now are immediate.  Naturally, these have to do with her responsibilities – and concerns – about the Gate of Heaven School’s students, their families, the school’s teachers, and the future of Catholic education in South Boston.

Later this summer, after a brief pause in July, Sister Pat will travel to a hermitage on the Hudson River, where she’ll go on an extended retreat.  There she’ll take an indefinite period to recollect, collect her thoughts, and wait for a new direction.  She has set no time deadline for this next important step in her life, but she’s completely confident she’ll find a new road somewhere in Catholic education.

Sister Pat is the daughter of Mary (Coleman) and Jeremiah “Jerry” McCarthy, who was a police officer for 47 years at District 14, Brighton-Allston.  Mary went back to work at the phone company when all the kids grew up.

Sister Pat is the second of their five children.  Her older sister, Jacquelyn, is also a C.S.J. sister, the administrator of the Health Care Center at Bethany in Framingham.  Her younger brother, Michael, is retired from United Airlines.  He has two children and two grandchildren.  Her sister Alannah is a bookkeeper at Supreme Industrial Products.  Kathleen (Cody) teaches fifth grade at Sacred Heart in Roslindale; she has three children, one grandchild, and another on the way.

Sister Pat began school at St. Gabriel’s in Brighton and graduated from Mount St. Joseph.  After that, she worked for two years at a library subscription agency before joining the Sisters of St. Joseph.  Her vocation had early roots.  From the second grade on, she had always “wanted to do something for others”.  In her own words, “I operate from a reflective point of view.  I’m not concerned about what I’ll do next – God will direct me.”

Condensing an entire career into a few words is difficult, but Sister Pat’s professional life includes a stint at St. Joseph’s in Lynn, a time at Sacred Heart in Bradford, and two assignments to St. John’s in Winthrop, the second as its Principal.  She obtained three degrees along the way – a BA in History (Regis), an MA in Pastoral Counseling (Emmanuel), and an MS in Education Administration (Lesley).  She’s also a working member of numerous boards and agencies in the education fields.

She experienced her first extended retreat at the cloistered Mother of God Monastery in Springfield.  “Time apart is one of my desires”, she claims.  She made Mass cards to help support her stay, but spent most of her time there in reading, study, and prayer.

In 1991, Sister Pat came to Gate of Heaven School as its Assistant Principal, and became its Principal in 1993.  She taught, mentored, and occasionally disciplined some 500 students every year.  Gate of Heaven School was a key outpost of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the other having been St. Thomas in Jamaica Plain. 

She fondly recalls the Gate of Heaven “legacy” of five generations of students – thousands of them over the years.  According to Sister Pat, “You can go anywhere in the world and run into someone who went to Gate of Heaven School.”  In fact, the noontime Mass of Thanksgiving on Saturday, May 16, will be concelebrated by priests who are alumni of Gate of Heaven.  Make it a point to reserve that date and render your thanks for the Gate of Heaven School.  As part of her own personal Thanksgiving, Sister Pat states, “I wouldn’t be what I am today, if it weren’t for the Gate of Heaven School.”

That brief pause before Sister Pat goes on her extended retreat in August is to answer a summons to jury duty in July.  Her prime concern between now and then, after doing what she can to see to the futures of the students, their families, and her teachers, is that Catholic education will survive in South Boston.  “It’s my hope and my prayer,” she says.  Then, she’ll begin her retreat and await God’s directions.

 I Remember Gatey.