From the magazine of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, Catholic Transcript, we learn that Father Joshua Wilbur had always wanted to be a music teacher and bring the joy of music to students. He realized his dream following graduation from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, and found himself in an elementary school classroom.
In a third-person bio he wrote for the Archdiocese of Hartford, he said, “It had finally happened; he had his own music classroom with his own name outside the door. His work of helping children discover music didn’t feel like a job, it felt like a way of life. Everything was going perfectly, or so he thought. After a few years of teaching, deep in the back of his mind, there was something saying to him ‘this isn’t it… there’s more.’”
He remembered a roommate he had while at the University of Hartford, a Catholic who had exposed this Baptist from Goshen to the Catholic faith. Josh enrolled in an RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program and was confirmed at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford by Archbishop Henry J. Mansell.
While teaching music at St. Thomas the Apostle School in West Hartford, Josh befriended many of the priests and sisters there. “That kind of gave me a little idea in the back of my head. What is it that they do? Something about it seemed really attractive,” he said.
When asked about his encounter with the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Father Josh explained, “I met Sister Rosanne Mensik while teaching at St. Thomas the Apostle School. We quickly struck up a friendship, and she eventually introduced me to her two sisters, Sisters Ilona Mensik and Francis Mensik. I visited Villa Notre Dame in Wilton and found myself coming back regularly to spend time with the sisters for some prayer and social time. I still feel connected with the sisters in prayer even though I can't make it down as often as I'd like!”
Josh entered St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Mass., where he studied for six years, finishing in May. He was assigned to St. Louis de Montfort Parish, formerly St. Thomas of Villanova, in Goshen, where he celebrated his first Mass on June 24, the day after ordination.
“My best friend will be vesting me, a priest named Father Joseph Sanderson. He’s at Christ the King-St. Anthony Parish in Burlington, Vermont.”
“My favorite Gospel story is when Christ hears that Lazarus has died, and he was a friend of his. In the famous line, ‘Jesus wept’ (Jn 11:35), it just shows the humanity of Jesus and how he really understands everything that we go through. He experienced everything that we experience, being both human and divine.”
“I want to be a parish priest - I want to be the merciful, compassionate presence of Christ to people in my ministry, just to help people and remind them that even when they don’t feel that God is around them that somehow God will work through me. I pray that that spirit will be open and approachable to people. The simple word for my ministry is joy. I just want to convey joy, the joy of Christ, just spread the joy of the Gospel.”
Father Wilbur plays the clarinet, saxophone and flute, among other instruments. He looks forward to working with parish music directors and hopes to be patient enough to “have a little restraint and let them do their thing.”
He added, “When music is done well in liturgy, it just brings the liturgy to a much higher spot. As St. Augustine said, ‘When you sing, you pray twice.’ I really hope to bring my musical talent to my ministry.”
On Sunday, June 24, 2018 Rev. Joshua Wilbur celebrated his First Mass at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, in Goshen, Connecticut. Seven sisters and three associates attended his ordination celebration.
Father Josh has been an SSND Associate since 2010, when he made his first covenant with the School Sisters of Notre Dame, promising to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ in the spirit of Blessed Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger to bring all into oneness with God and assist others to grow into the fullness of their potential.
