Hello and welcome!
Each year, we hold a retreat for college-aged men discerning a vocation to the priesthood, and this year, our gathering was held on Saturday at St. Mary’s in Waltham. It was, of course, our Vocations Office that organized this, and we are so grateful to Father Eric Cadin and Father Michael Zimmerman for all their efforts in bringing this together.
During my visit, I celebrated Mass for them and was able to meet individually with some of the young men. Afterward, we had a nice meal together.
It’s always a wonderful experience and, at the same time, a very important one for these young men in their process of learning more about the priesthood. It’s an opportunity for them to hear witness talks by many of the seminarians and interact with seminarians and priests. We are very grateful to Father Michael Nolan for all the parish’s hospitality and Dante from Vinotta’s Restaurant in Waltham that provided the wonderful meal.
Sunday, I went to St. Paul’s Church in Cambridge to celebrate a Mass for the Harvard University Catholic Community.
Afterward, there was a reception in the Catholic Center, and I had a chance to meet a number of the students and professors.
We are very grateful to Father Bill Kelly, Father Patrick Fiorillo and Father George Salzmann, who are working in the parish and with the ministry to the Harvard University community.
Monday morning, we had a Zoom meeting with Father Joseph O’Keefe, the provincial of the Jesuits’ USA East Province. 
Once a year, the provincial is in contact with the bishops of the various dioceses where their men serve. And, of course, we have a very large Jesuit presence in Boston, with Boston College, the retreat house, retirement home, formation center and many other ministries.
Later that day, I went to South Boston Catholic Academy to attend a reception for supporters of the school’s expansion campaign. The enrollment in the school has increased, so there is a need to expand capacity and, at the same time, it is an opportunity to enhance the school’s facilities. We are so grateful to the principal, Helen Civian, and the pastor, Father Bob Casey, for all their wonderful work.
During our visit, we were all treated to a tour of the newly renovated convent, which is now becoming part of the school.
Hanging on the wall, they had this lovely image of Christ, but this picture of elephants also caught my eye.
There weren’t any elephants in my Catholic school growing up!
Tuesday morning, we had a virtual meeting of the Catholic University of American Trusteeship Committee. Catholic University is the bishops’ university in the United States. So, I’m very happy to serve on that board. It is the very institution where I studied and taught, and I have been involved with the Board of Trustees for many years.
This is a time of transition for the university, as President Garvey is winding down his tenure, and the search committee is working to present candidates for the presidency.
That afternoon, I went to visit with residents of Cote Village in Mattapan, a mixed-income and affordable housing development project of our Planning Office for Urban Affairs. We met a number of residents who are moving into these beautiful new apartments.
The wonderful work that the planning office does in providing housing for families is extraordinary, and this is such an important ministry of the archdiocese. I’m sure we are all aware that there is a terrible housing shortage, particularly for working-class families.
As I always like to point out, whenever we create one of these developments, the number of applicants is always many times greater than the number of units available. In this case, I believe there were about 5,000 applicants for about 150 units. This just shows how great the need is.
The location of this development in Mattapan means that people are able to live closer to their places of employment. This is often very important for working-class people who may not have a car to be able to get to work every day without spending hours on public transportation.
Wednesday was, of course, Ash Wednesday, and I celebrated the 7 p.m. Spanish Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
We had a much larger turnout than I was expecting. It was a bigger crowd than for Sunday Mass. Of course, Ash Wednesday is a striking symbol in our faith as we begin these 40 days of Lent. Our Catholic people find great meaning in this, and that’s why so many of them come to receive the ashes.
Our priests also reported that great numbers came to the parishes for ashes. Ash Wednesday is a moment when many people reconnect with their faith. So, this is a great sign of hope since, after the pandemic, participation has been down.
Wednesday morning, we had a virtual meeting with the moderators of the different committees of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
We continue to plan our next plenary session and also to discuss how a new office will be created to work with the commission to promote a culture of safeguarding in the Roman Curia.
Thursday, we had a meeting of the Presbyteral Council. We discussed a number of issues, including upcoming events such as the Chrism Mass, the presbyteral convocation and the Eucharistic Congress in June.
Over the years, I have published four books in Portugal, and recently, one of those books has been translated into English.
I shared that book with my priests as we begin this season of Lent to remind all of us that, as priests, we are not only called to serve the spiritual needs of our flock during Lent but also to spend more time in our own personal prayer and spiritual reading and reflection. I hope that this volume will be a humble contribution to our priests’ spiritual reading.
Until next week,
Cardinal Seán