Hello and welcome,

As I do each year, I am posting my blog a bit earlier than normal for Holy Week, before we begin the Triduum.

I want to begin this week saying that the recent events in Belgium, causing the deaths of more than 30 innocent people, are a great source of sorrow for all of us. We pray that the sectarian violence and terrorism will be overcome by people working together to find a more just way to settle their differences than trying to terrorize innocent populations. In response to these terrible attacks, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, sent a letter of support to Archbishop Josef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussel that I would like to share with you here:

Your Excellency:

May God bless you and your people during this Holy Week!

Approaching Good Friday, seeing the news from your brave and beautiful city deepens our own meditation on the Cross. Please be assured of my prayers and unwavering fraternal support. The Church throughout the United States feels this senseless act of violence as a tragedy in our own family.

Of course, the terror of the Crucifixion is overcome by the hope of the Resurrection. Through unity, courage and comforting of the victims, the people of Belgium remind me of the Apostles comforted by the Risen Lord. In the face of unspeakable violence, they refused to allow fear to be their final witness.

God so loved the world that He sent his only Son. Seeing our violent rejection of that love, God could have easily withdrawn from the world. Instead, Jesus overcame death to offer us salvation. So too let us respond to hate with love and reject the extremists who would see us abandon our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Today, I thank God for the powerful witness of your people in the face of terror. My prayers are with you as their shepherd.

Fraternally yours in the Lord,

Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, DD

– – –

Friday night, I had another of my periodic meetings with a group of seminarians. This time, I met with seminarians in the second year of pre-theology.

As we always do, we prayed Vespers together and then had our dinner and opportunity for conversation. I spoke to the seminarians about their experiences and plans for the summer. These meetings are always a very lively exchange and something I look forward to.

– – –

Saturday, I went to Gloucester for the Vigil Mass of Palm Sunday.

We had the Mass at St. Ann’s Church, which is a beautiful church. Father Achadinha is the pastor there, and he is helped by the former pastor Father Ron Gariboldi.

In my homily, I gave a short reflection in Italian and Portuguese for the Italian and Portuguese parishioners but otherwise, we celebrated the Mass in English.

Children of the parish brought forth their Lenten Campaign Cans for the Saint Vincent de Paul Society

 

While I was in Gloucester, I also went to visit the Portuguese church there, Our Lady of Good Voyage, which has nautical themes throughout the church – the loaves and the fishes around the tabernacle, the statue of Our Lady of Good Voyage and the boats around the church.

– – –

On Sunday, I went to St. Tarcisius Parish in Framingham for their celebration of Palm Sunday.

The Mass was a beautiful and lively celebration, as it always is with the Brazilians. We began with the blessing of the palms in the gymnasium and then walked in procession to the church.

The Scalibrinian Fathers have developed a wonderful ministry there. It was, of course, originally an Italian parish and is now virtually an entirely Brazilian community. In fact, Father Volmar Scaravelli, the pastor there, is himself from Brazil.

You will notice in the photo above how elaborate the palms were that we  carried in the procession. Every year, they are created for us by Sal DiDomenico of Flowers by Sal in Cambridge. I am always so impressed by how elaborately woven they are. Sal can take a palm branch and make it look as if you are carrying the whole tree!

– – –

Also on Sunday, I attended the wake of Father James Fahey in Georgetown. I was able to greet his family and participate in the wake service.

Afterwards I visited for a time with the pastor there, Father Richard Burton, who was very close to Father Fahey.

– – –

Later that afternoon, back at the Cathedral, I greeted a group of Hispanic youth from four different parishes led by Father Gabino Macias and Father Michael Nolan, who made a pilgrimage to venerate the relic of the True Cross.

I gave a brief talk and we sang some hymns together before I gave them my blessing.

– – –

On Tuesday, before the Chrism Mass, I had a chance to meet with Father Joseph Twal of the Latin Patriarchate, who was in town for a visit and came to greet me.

He brought me the gift of this chalice with the Jerusalem Cross.

– – –

Then was of course the Chrism Mass, which is really one of the great celebrations of the year. At the Mass, we bless the oils that are used in parishes, chapels and other ministries throughout the year for baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, and the anointing of the sick.

We had a wonderful Mass, which we began with a procession through the Holy Door of Mercy.

We were so grateful that Metropolitan Methodios of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston was once again able to be with us this year.

He addressed all the priests before the Mass, speaking about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. As I mentioned at the Mass, I’m very happy that Metropolitan Methodios and myself have been named the chairmen of the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue. We look forward to having our first meeting at their retreat house in New Hampshire in the near future.

We were also very happy to be joined by a number of students from our local Catholic schools and some of the music was by students from St. Paul’s Choir School in Cambridge.

We are very grateful to Judy Haglof in my office and Mother Olga and her community, and all the volunteers for all their hard work in helping to distribute the holy oils after Mass.

It is also a day on which we celebrate the gift of the priesthood and we renew our priestly vows. So, it is attended by as many priests and bishops as are able to attend. In fact, in most places, the Chrism Mass is celebrated on Holy Thursday, but obviously that is a very busy day in the parishes. So, in Boston, we have moved the celebration to Tuesday of Holy Week to allow more priests to attend and do so in a more relaxed manner, knowing they don’t have to hurry back to the parish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE96CpPm2ZA

As we do every year, we had a luncheon following the Mass with the priests in the gymnasium of Cathedral High School as a way of continuing the day of fraternity.

I was very happy that Father Paul Hurley, who is Chief of Chaplains for the U.S. Army, was able to be with us for the Chrism Mass. It was first time I was able to see him since he was installed, and I was very happy to be able to congratulate him personally.

During the Mass, I was also happy to announce that Msgr. Paul Russell, who is from Boston, has been named Papal Nuncio to Turkey, which is a very difficult assignment. He was the Head of Mission for the Apostolic Delegation in Taiwan, which was also a very demanding post, given the delicate relations between mainland China and the Taiwanese. We are looking forward to his ordination which will come closer to the summer.

– – –

Yesterday, we had our celebration of Tenebrae at the Cathedral.

Liturgical books suggest that there be a public recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours at the Cathedral during Holy Week, and one of the principal ways we do this is with the celebration of Tenebrae on Spy Wednesday.

This year, the homilist was Father Paul Helfrich, from the Brotherhood of Hope. Father Paul is a spiritual director at Pope St. John XXIII Seminary, and he is a fine priest who has done a lot of ministry with university students in the archdiocese.

His homily was a beautiful reflection on the darkness of Tenebrae, a service in which we extinguish the candles of the Tenebrae hearse as well as the lights in the cathedral, leaving only one candle lit in a pitch-dark church. Father Paul reminded us that, even when the darkness grows, when our lives are touched by suffering and pain, the light of Christ remains. God’s light cannot be extinguished, it leads us through the suffering and gives us hope.

It is a beautiful way of preparing to celebrate the Easter Triduum, the holiest time of the year.

Until next week,

Cardinal Seán