Hello and welcome!
This year, as part of our Advent celebrations, we had a Culture of Life Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross organized by the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Daughters of Americas and Sylvia Fernandez del Castillo, the head of our Pro-Life Office.
Of course, the great figure of Advent is Our Blessed Mother, and we had just celebrated our Lady of Guadalupe, the image that portrays Mary as a pregnant woman. So, it’s a very appropriate time to reflect on the precious gift of life and how sacred it is to us. We had also just had our celebration with Women Affirming Life, another Advent event on this important theme of promoting the sacredness of human life and our commitment to the Gospel of Life.
In my reflections, I said that one of the great contributions the Catholic Church makes to society is underscoring the sacredness of life and presenting a very coherent life ethic that takes into account the preciousness of every human life. It is our obligation to nurture life at every stage and to work to overcome the economic injustices and other factors that contribute to abortion in our society.
So, we are grateful for all the commitment of the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Daughters and so many others working to promote a culture of life in our community.
After the Mass, children from the cathedral religious ed program came to take a picture with me.
They all had wonderful costumes, but the one that I really liked was the Star of Bethlehem, which you can see in the upper left.
That evening, I went to our Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Brookline for a dinner with members of The Order of the Holy Sepulchre. The order makes such an important contribution to the life of the Church in the Holy Land, particularly during this terrible time of war. Their prayers and support are of paramount importance.
We were very happy to be able to gather to hear more about the mission of the seminary and to enjoy the seminarians singing Christmas carols and other songs.
On Monday, I was visited by Dr. John Haas, the founder of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, which had its origins here in Boston. He is the president emeritus but is still very active on the board and in supporting the work of the center.
I have known him and his family for many decades and was very happy to hear the latest reports on the work of the center.
Also that day, I was visited by Father Will Tarraza. He was in town to visit his family for Christmas and came with Brother Jim Peterson to have lunch with Msgr. O’Leary and me.
Though he is now at our Capuchin novitiate in California, he worked for quite a while in our Cathedral Parish, and the people remember him very fondly. He made quite an impression here.
That evening, we had a virtual meeting of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference.
The meetings bring together the four ordinaries of the dioceses of Massachusetts and members of their staff to discuss legislative and public policy issues of common concern.
This is the time of year when organizations gather with their employees to recognize their service and thank them for their dedication over the past year. So, on Tuesday, we had our annual Advent Mass and Gathering for our staff at the Pastoral Center.
I think the highlight of the evening for everyone is the drawing of numerous gifts and small prizes.
This year, we had a new contest in which people tried to identify the baby pictures of staff members. The ones who identified the largest number of photos won a prize.
I think mine was one of the cuter pictures!
Then, on Thursday, we had an Advent gathering for the staff at the cathedral.
It’s always a wonderful opportunity to gather with our employees and their families at this special time of year.
Finally, I’d like to leave you with my Christmas message for this year:
Wishing you all a merry and blessed Christmas,
Cardinal Seán