As director of the Spanish-language choirs at Holy Infancy Parish in Bethlehem, Osvaldo Jorge knows that music can have a very strong influence on how people connect with their faith.
After all, it happened to him.
“I wasn’t always the most active Catholic,” he admits. But after he got involved in the music ministry, first at his previous parish in Brooklyn, and now at Holy Infancy, he found that music “can really catch someone’s attention, and can inspire their spirituality.”
Jorge retired to Bethlehem after 30 years as Director of Finance and Accounting for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York. He took the volunteer post with the choirs at the request of Father Andy Gehringer, pastor of Holy Infancy.
He also directs the Multicultural Choir, a group that sings in the parish’s three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese. Jorge is fluent in English and Spanish, but admits to needing a little help as he learns Portuguese.
Jorge also works part time in the office at Holy Infancy School, he directs the parish’s funeral choir, and he sings in Encuentro Matrimonial, a Diocese-wide couples choir.
It turns out that like many people who choose to give back after they retire, Jorge is busier than he ever expected to be. “Working for the Church makes an impact,” he says. “It’s a calling, really.”
“Because We Are Catholic” tells the stories of how the people of the Diocese of Allentown make a difference in the lives of others, bringing the Light of Christ to each other and to our community.
