Recently, Sister Bridget Haase visited to present me with a copy of her newly published book, “Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abundant Living.”

I wrote an introduction to the book in which I said that Sister Bridget has given us a valuable resource for finding the presence of God in the midst of our daily life.

In addition to sharing powerful stories of seemingly ordinary experiences, Sister directs us to take the time to ponder, reflect and be attentive to the ways the Lord is working in our lives.

The book encourages us to experience the generosity of God by learning how to live in the now, to trust the divine care and to find God everywhere.

Sister Bridget is the Spirituality Coordinator at The Boston Home, a long-term care facility for people with multiple sclerosis and other degenerative diseases.

Seminarian goes to study in Rome

This year we are sending seminarian Tom McDonald to study at The Pontifical North American College, America’s seminary in Rome. He will join Eric Bennett who is already studying there.

As is the custom, the seminarians who study at The North American are received into the ministry of candidacy to the clerical state prior to their departure to Rome.

So, on Friday we had the Mass of Candidacy at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross with Tom and his family, some of the seminarians and the rector of St. John’s, Father Arthur Kennedy.

Catholic University Board Meeting

On Monday, I went to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. I am on their Board of Trustees and this year, at the invitation of Justice Samuel Alito, the board was invited to have a dinner at the Supreme Court building.

As many times as I have been outside the Supreme Court (every year at the March for Life), it was the first time I had ever been inside. It is a very historic and beautiful building in Washington.

At the dinner they presented the President’s Medal to Bishop William Lori, who was finishing his term as the chairman of the board. Bishop Lori will be succeeded by Bishop Allen Vigneron, who is the Archbishop of Detroit and an alumnus of CUA.

Symposium on Catholic Hispanic Ministry

Then on Tuesday was the conclusion of the National Symposium on the Present and Future of Catholic Hispanic Ministry in the United States at the new Boston College facilities in Dover.

The Symposium, which gathered around sixty Church leaders, scholars and practitioners from around the country, was organized by Boston College in partnership with Loyola University and Barry University.

The chairperson was BC professor Hoffsman Ospino. Archbishop Jose Gomez from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento and Bishop Richard Garcia of Monterrey, California attended the event. Jesuit Father Allan Deck, director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the USCCB, was also a participant.

We had a vespers ceremony followed by a dinner during which I addressed the people and shared with them some of my experiences working in Hispanic ministry. I spoke about the importance of what they are doing and thanked them for their commitment to working for the Hispanics in our Church.