Cardinal Seán's Blog

This week, I’ve asked Bishop John Dooher, our South Regional Bishop, to write on our important bicentennial faith formation initiative: ARISE Together in Christ.

However, before I share Bishop Dooher’s reflection with you, I would like to make note of one event.

As many of you may know, the long awaited move of our central administrative offices has finally arrived.

Last week, in preparation for the move and as a way of saying goodbye to Brighton, a place that has been so important to many over the years, we have celebrated a closing Mass at St. John’s Seminary. The cross from the Brighton chapel was taken to the Pastoral Center’s temporary chapel, which we are using until the permanent chapel is completed.

Today was the first day that most of our employees reported to the new Pastoral Center in Braintree for orientation, training and unpacking. Our plan is to have all our offices up and running by Monday.

Our Vicar General, Father Richard Erikson, celebrated daily Mass and many of the staff were present.

Afterwards, I added a few word of welcome and then spent some time chatting with everyone in our new dining facility, Elena’s Cafe.

We are, of course, very grateful to Tom Flatley whose generosity and love for the Church made it possible for us to have this wonderful new venue.

The new Pastoral Center will allow us to bring together all of our offices — the education office, the tribunal, the Propagation of the Faith and all the other administrative offices in a wonderful new facility that has many meeting rooms and classrooms, and plenty of parking.

The move is certainly a monumental task and we are very grateful for the work of Kevin Kiley and so many others who have been involved in the logistics of the move.

Kevin Kiley

Moving the entire operation of this archdiocese is a rather daunting task, but they have taken to it with great energy.

It is my hope that the new Pastoral Center will enhance our ability to serve the parishes and the people of the archdiocese with greater efficiency. It will also allow the different offices of the archdiocese to work in closer collaboration with their focus on the priorities of our mission: to spread the faith, to promote family life, and the gospel of life. In a word, to serve our parishes.

With that, I give you Bishop Dooher:

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These are special days for the Church in Boston. This past April 8th marked the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the diocese of Boston by Pope Pius VII. Cardinal Seán has called us to a year of looking back in thanksgiving and looking forward with renewed faith, hope and love as we move through the “Arise Together in Christ” Program. For the greater part of a year we have been coming together to form a renewed community of laity and priesthood which will reach out to the alienated Catholic, and to evangelize ourselves and our communities.

“Arise in Christ” is three-year parish-centered process of spiritual renewal and evangelization that enables us to deepen our faith, develop a closer relationship with Christ, to grow as a faith community that reaches out in service.

There is a natural connection between celebrating our history and entering into a time of spiritual renewal. One looks to the past, recognizing what courage, faith and determination was required to sink the roots of the Church so deeply in this new world. The other tries to reinvigorate that same faith, courage and determination to continue the mission of the Church in our time with all the complexities and challenges that make up our culture today. Our present and future is rooted in our history and the great legacy of faith which empowers us still. Yet I think many recognize that there is a need or hunger in us as individuals, parishes and as an archdiocese for that something more that only comes with deeper faith, hope, love and prayer. We need to arise, to come alive in Christ; to a new sense of discipleship, of being called to by God, empowered by the Spirit. “Arise in Christ” is a spiritual renewal prepared particularly for our Archdiocese.

Early in the development stages Cardinal Seán appointed Mrs. MaryAnn McLaughlin of the Office for Worship and Spiritual Life as director of the Arise effort and me as the Episcopal Liaison.

MaryAnn leads and ARISE training session

MaryAnn is well known and trusted by laity, religious and priests for her work in parish Missions, Retreats and Spiritual Direction. I was so very pleased that she would accept this responsibility. Also, I have been so impressed with the staff of Renew International who has worked with such dedication in preparing this program. They have listened to our needs, our hopes and dreams for renewal. They have directed listening sessions, Internet surveys, presented informational sessions and with their direction we have launched the program with training for those who will implement “Arise in Christ” in the local parish.

There have been workshops held in the regions of the archdiocese for reaching out to parishioners, for training of Liturgy teams, evangelization strategies, everything needed to assist the parish teams. Between 1,400 and 1,600 lay people have attended these workshops. This alone is a great testimony to the hunger and dedication of our laity.

There is great confidence knowing that the Renew Team will be with us in every step of this journey.

I invite the readers of this blog to reflect on our present day spiritual needs in the context of one small but very important parts of our history. Those most keenly aware of the history of the Church in America tell us that there were two founding’s of the Church in New England. The first founding was in the missionary work of French priests ministering to French settlers from Canada and especially to Native Americans. This was a challenging time! Catholics and particularly priests were looked upon with great suspicion. On June 17, 1700 a law was passes by the Massachusetts house that stated that after September 10th of that same year “….no priest could be legally present as a priest in Massachusetts territory”. The punishment was perpetual imprisonment and if escaped and recaptured, death. (The History of the Archdiocese of Boston by Lord, Sexton and Harrington, Sheed and Ward, 1944.) But the work of evangelization continued and the presence of Catholics grew.

Some 92 years later a new seed fell on the good ground of New England in the person of Rev. Francis Anthony Matignon who would labor with great zeal until his death in 1818.

Father Matignon

Father Matignon, the first diocesan priest of New England, was 39 years old. He was a man of great holiness and humility. He was a zealous evangelizer, a healer, community builder, one who was able to dispel the prejudice that had marked much of the earlier history of New England.

Father Matignon had been a student at the Sorbonne and received a Doctorate in Sacred Scripture. He taught at the prestigious theological college at Navarre where he was confessor to students of that institution and students from other schools. One of the latter was a young man by the name of John Cheverus, later his coworker and first bishop of the Diocese of Boston. This was a time great upheaval in France. The French Revolutionary Government required a particular oath allegiance from clergy.

Bishop Cheverus

Theological schools were closed and like many others, Father Matignon for reasons of conscience fled his native land. A few years later he would challenge the young Father Cheverus to join him in evangelizing this new world whose Catholic population was slowly but steadily growing. Together these two dedicated priests covered all of New England. By their holy example, they softened the anti-Catholicism of many and strengthened the faith life of the growing immigrant Catholic communities.

Father Matignon died on September 19, 1818 on the 40th anniversary of his ordination and was first buried in the Old Granary Burial Ground in Boston. Soon after his remains were transferred to the newly acquired plot which became St. Augustine Cemetery in South Boston. The white marble slab is now in the wall of the cemetery chapel. There we read a few lines of a lengthy newspaper article written by the Protestant editor:

“Far from the sepulcher of his fathers, rests the ashes of the good and great Doctor Matignon; but his grave is not as among strangers for it was watered by the tears of an affectionate flock, and his memory is cherished by all who value learning, honour genius or love devotion”

As a young priest stationed at St. Augustine parish, I first read these words in 1974 and put them to memory. In some way through our efforts of renewal, which is the “Arise in Christ” Program, we continue to cherish the memory of all those who have gone before us in building up the Body of Christ, which is the Archdiocese. They may be our parents, friends, grandparents, those faithful family members and parishioners, religious and priests who brought us to Christ. We cherish them all as we renew our Church.

All in the Archdiocese are invited to come together as a renewed community of laity and clergy, to welcome back those who may have distanced themselves from the Church and to spread the good new of Jesus Christ by our daily lives. This is an opportunity for us renew our faith lives, to renew and energize our parishes together.

Hundreds of parishioners across the archdiocese have been meeting to discuss the program, to make suggestions for its content. At this time more that half of the parishes in the archdiocese have been actively working together in the training sessions for reaching out, liturgy training and leadership training all across the archdiocese.

What do I hope for in this process? For myself, for our parishes, for our people; I hope for a greater sense of being called to remember and continue the mission of Jesus Christ as he proclaimed it in Luke’s Gospel. Standing in the synagogue of his home town of Nazareth and reading from the from the scroll of Isaiah; Jesus proclaimed his mission: to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, recovery to the blind, freedom for the oppressed, to proclaim a time acceptable to the Lord. The mission of Jesus is the mission of the Church, is the mission of all who are baptized in his name.

It is a call, the call to holiness, to be lived out in all sorts of ways: married and single, parents and children, neighbors, co-workers, parishioners, citizens as individuals and as communities. Sometimes when we come face to face with the stark reality of what the call from God entails we might want to run away. Sometimes my first thoughts are:
What?…… Who? …….Who, me? ……Why?…….Why me?

There is a painting by the late sixteenth century painter, Caravaggio which hangs in the Church of St. Louis de France in Rome.

The painting entitled “The Call of Matthew” depicts Matthew the tax collector, dressed in the style of Caravaggio’s time, leaning over the counting house table. Beside him is a figure also leaning over the table with one hand reaching towards the many coins waiting to be counted. Among other characters is a teenager who is dressed in the finest clothing of closing days of the sixteenth century, looking very self satisfied and perhaps a bit bored. At the door standing in the garments of first century Judea is Jesus and behind him Peter. Jesus is pointing at Matthew with is finger like that of the Creator reaching to Adam in the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Looking back at Matthew you are aware that, while he is looking a Jesus standing in the doorway, he has one hand protecting the coins from the figure reaching towards the table, the other points to himself. There is an expression on Matthew’s face expressing disbelief that can only be understood as: “Who, me?”

My hope is that as Matthew left all to follow Christ, that we may hear the call in this time of remembering and ARISE in Christ.

Hello and welcome back!

At the time of my last post I was in the midst of my trip to Quebec City to participate in the 49th International Congress on the Eucharist.

By last Friday we had just concluded the pre-congress symposium at which I gave an address. In case you missed my last week’s post, you can read the text of my talk here.

On Saturday, we went to have Mass at the motherhouse of the St. Jeanne d’Arc Sisters, the Sisters of St. Joan of Arc.

 

There are 106 nuns living at the motherhouse and the Mass was concelebrated by a number of missionaries, including a bishop from Santo Domingo. After the Mass, we had lunch with the sisters.

The sisters worked for many, many years in the archbishop’s residence and in the chancery in Boston. Cardinal Richard Cushing was a great supporter and benefactor of the community. They also worked in St. Anselm’s Abbey in Manchester, N.H.

They were also with me for 10 years in Fall River, so I was very happy to be able to go and celebrate Mass (in French, of course) for their community. They live very contemplative lives, praying for priests, for the Church. They offer daily holy hours for priests, and I used to enjoy being a part of their holy hour every Thursday night at 11 p.m.

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The following day was the opening of the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City. Quebec is a walled city and is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, and the Eucharistic Congress is part of those celebrations. The events are taking place at the Colisée Pepsi.

We stayed in the Château Frontenac, which is a very historic hotel in the old city and located near the cathedral. Many of the great “glitterati” of the 20th century stayed in that hotel.

Château Frontenac

As a matter of fact, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt met there and planned the Normandy invasion in that hotel, and there is a monument to that in the hotel today.

At the opening ceremony there were a number of talks. First of all, the Cardinal Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, gave an address and welcomed everyone.

Cardinal Ouellett

During the ceremony, they brought in large figures representing the different saints from Quebec. I suppose you could describe them as something like big puppets.

There have been so many saints in the history of Quebec, beginning with the first bishop, Blessed François Montmorency de Laval., whom the university where the congress was held was named after.

I was very impressed by the individuals from the government who spoke at the opening ceremony with such eloquence about the Church with obvious affection and respect. First to speak was the mayor of Quebec City, Régis Labeaume, and the Quebec Minister of International Relations and Francophone Affairs,  Monique Gagnon-Tramble gave a beautiful address bringing in much of the history of the Church and the contribution that the Church has made. Then, the Minister of Canadian Heritage Josée Verner spoke beautifully about the faith, and he said the most multicultural group in Canada is the Catholic Church.

The conference’s papal legate was Cardinal Jozef Tomko from Slovakia. He recently retired from his post as President of International Eucharistic Congresses. He did a wonderful job representing the Holy Father.

Cardinal Tomko

He was a very good choice to send because of his great involvement in the Catholic missions. For many years he had been the Prefect of Evangelization of Peoples at the Holy See. In fact, Quebec — like Ireland and Belgium — has been a region that sent huge numbers of missionaries throughout the world.

The cardinal presided and preached at the opening liturgy, at which time he said to Cardinal of Paris, “I’m 84, not 23.” The Paris cardinal’s name is André Vingt-Trois, and “vingt-trois” in French means 23. And, of course, Cardinal Tomko is 84.

I knew Cardinal Tomko from when I was bishop in the West Indies. He named me visitator for some of the seminaries in the area. It was wonderful to see him.

Later there was a sort of cultural show by Gen Rosso, a performing arts group  from the Focolare youth.

After which the Gospel books were brought in, carried in on the Ark of the Covenant. In order to prepare for the congress, the ark had been circulated through all the dioceses of Canada at different youth rallies and so forth.

The Mass was concelebrated by 40 cardinals, 106 bishops and assisted by 12,000 people in the coliseum.

At the end of Mass there was a ceremony wherein a number of cardinals received the Blessed Sacrament to take to seven churches to be used for perpetual adoration during the week. Then, a huge wooden monstrance was placed on top of the ark and carried out by priests.

I told Cardinal Ouellet how moved I was at that sight because it reminded me of that passage in the Old Testament when the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant, and when their feet touched the Red Sea, the waters parted.

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At the conference the following day, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington D.C. gave the first talk.

The second talk was given by Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche Communities. His father had been the governor general of Canada, and Jean Vanier represents those wonderful Catholic Quebecois families who were so dedicated to the mission of the Church. He gave a beautiful testimony about Christ’s presence among the poor.

Jean Vanier

The talk reminded me of Sen. Sam Brownback’s address to our lawyers at the Red Mass here in Boston last year. He said that 90 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome while in the womb are being aborted. Jean is a man who has dedicated his entire life to serving, living with and forming community with adults with Down syndrome. He said he enjoys their friendship and sees Christ in them. People were very moved by his words.

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Then, I returned to Boston and on Wednesday I met with Father George Agger, SVD, a missionary in Montserrat, which is a beautiful little island in the West Indies.

Father Agger came to thank me for the pews and other church furnishings that we are sending from Boston to Montserrat where two of the three churches were destroyed by volcanic eruptions there.

In fact, volcanic activity is very intense in the island. Recently, they evacuated the entire area for awhile, and now about 5,000 people have gone back. I was very happy that we were able to use some of our religious patrimony to support the Catholics of Montserrat.

An aerial view of Montserrat.
You can see the Soufrière Hills Volcano showing some activity

When I was bishop in the West Indies, we would often have meetings there on Montserrat. It was one of my favorite islands for many reasons. Historically, it is the island where many of the Irish indentured servants and slaves settled. They intermarried with the freed African slaves, so most of the people on the island are black with Irish names.  The national flag and coat of arms of Montserrat depicts a woman holding cross and an Irish harp and other flags you see flying everywhere have a big shamrock. They also have a St. Patrick’s Church.

 

Montserrat is one of those unspoiled islands with a lovely sense of community. There is little to no crime, and the people are so friendly. If you go down the street, everyone will wave to you from the houses.

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Also on Wednesday, we had a meeting in Dracut about the charism of the diocesan priesthood. Father John MacInnis, Father Joe Fagan and Father Bob Blaney and I all gave reflections, and then we had a table discussion. It was very interesting, particularly talking about the charism and spirituality of diocesan priests. There was a wonderful cross-section of priests of all ages from throughout the diocese present. I am very grateful to Father Bob Connors for organizing this.

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I attended the first meeting of the newly formed Religious Education Committee that will be studying the different books and materials that are being used in the schools and in religious education programs in the diocese as well as family religious education. We hope that through looking at all of this, we will be able to determine what programs and texts have been the most effective in communicating the faith. It is an ambitious undertaking, but we have a wonderful group of people assembled to work on this task.

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And finally, I want to make mention of an event that took place earlier this month but I had been waiting for some photos to arrive. 

On Sunday, June 8, I went to Lakeville for a Mass at Sts. Martha and Mary Parish, where they were celebrating their 50th anniversary.

It is a lovely spot right across the street from one of the lakes. Father Francis Daley, the pastor there, is doing a wonderful job.

The parish has an outstanding choir, which parishioners are very proud of. I was absolutely amazed by them. The music was magnificent.

Congratulations to Father Daley and the parish as they mark this important milestone!

Until next week, blessings to you all,

Cardinal Seán