Tree Lighting Ceremony Draws Colleagues and Supporters

(L to R) John Sjoberg and Brenda Garton-Sjoberg; Sister Mary Caritas, SP; Robert Roose, M.D., President, Mercy Medical Center; the Most Rev. William Byrne, Bishop of Springfield; Philip Glynn, M.D.; and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

In advance of the tree lighting, the event included remarks by Robert Roose, M.D., MPH, President of Mercy Medical Center and Johnson Memorial Hospital; Philip Glynn, M.D., Medical Director of the Sister Caritas Cancer Center; Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno; andJohn Sjoberg and Brenda Garton-Sjoberg,Mercy supporters and longtime Gift of Light participants. TheMost Rev. William Byrne, Bishop of Springfield, was also on hand to the bless the tree. Immediately after flipping the switch to light up the tree, the gathering broke out into a holiday sing-along.

Several of the speakers referenced the late Sister Madeleine Joy, S.P., who had served as a member of the hospital’s pastoral care department. Sister Madeleine was remembered for touching the lives of hundreds of people as a spiritual counselor, through her work leading the hospital’s cancer and grief support groups, and by establishing the Gift of Light program to honor patients and their families as they manage a cancer diagnosis.

Mike Rogers, PhD, MA, STL, Mission Leader, also used the occasion to announce upcoming efforts to build on Sister Madeleine’s work by expanding cancer support groups throughout Trinity Health Of New England. According to Mike, the Sister Madeleine Joy Cancer Chaplaincy will use Teams or Zoom as a platform for support group meetings, allowing patients and their family members from all over the region to attend.