(On April 1 in the) evening, I went to St. John’s in Quincy where I met with about 20 of our recently ordained priests.

We had a Holy Hour, prayed vespers, ate dinner and then we had a discussion. I asked them for their ideas and recommendations on how we might best respond to the Holy Father’s invitation to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Priest. A lot of ideas about that came up. We were also encouraging them to consider the possibility of coming to Ars, France, for the international priests’ retreat that is being organized by the Congregation of the Clergy. Father Bill Kelly has been doing a great job promoting the retreat and encouraging our priests to attend.

New ER at St. Elizabeth’s

(The next day) we went to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center for the inauguration of the new Emergency Room.

Though I didn’t have a chance to see much of it before the ceremony, Dr. Mark Pearlmutter, the head of emergency medicine at St. Elizabeth’s, and John Holiver, the hospital’s president, were kind enough to give me a full tour as the project was nearing completion.

We’re very grateful that Margot Connell was there with her family. The new emergency facility is named for her late husband, William Connell.

Also, various areas of the new facility are named after the McGraths, the Bertuccis and the friends of Dr. Ken McDonnell -- there were so many very generous benefactors whose contributions made this emergency room possible.

They are installing a new CT scan machine -- the only emergency room in the area to have one -- that can do a brain scan or a heart scan in seconds. It allows them the ability to begin the correct procedures and medication depending on what they discover.

I remember that at the dedication ceremony they said the new machine is so fast that it will take longer to wheel a patient into the room than to perform the scan!

Israeli ambassador talk at BC Law

That evening I went to the Boston College Law School where Gabriela Shalev, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, was giving a conference. Afterward, we had a reception followed by a dinner and press conference that I took part in.

Ambassador Shalev was here to talk about her work in the United Nations and the situation in Israel. She said that the Israeli people are looking forward to the visit of the Holy Father and envision it as being an important moment in their history. She was frank in talking about some of the difficulties that Israel is facing.

During the evening I met several members of the Jewish community who had also been at the rededication of our Holocaust Memorial Menorah two weeks ago. They expressed their great delight at the outcome of that ceremony.

Many members of the Jewish community who have studied at Boston College also said how welcoming the Jesuit college was to them.

Also in this week’s blog:

Visiting with the Consul General of Guatemala for New England.

Eucharistic Congress for young adults.

Palm Sunday at St. John the Baptist Parish in Peabody.

Mass for the St. Thomas More Society at Boston College Law School.

Chrism Mass -- including the text and video of the cardinal’s homily.