On Monday (10/17), I was at St. Mary's Junior-Senior High School in Lynn where the Mosakowski Family Foundation had made a very substantial donation to this school and five others in the North Shore area: St. Jeanne d'Arc in Lowell, St. Ann in Gloucester, St. John the Baptist in Peabody, St. Pius V in Lynn, and Sacred Heart in Lynn. At a reception, a number of people spoke on the occasion and of course I was very pleased to see Jane and Bill Mosakowski. Bill Mosakowski participated in a group that I had asked to visit all of our primary schools in the diocese, to develop an assessment of their financial situations. Bill offered his staff to help with this report, which is very, very valuable to all of our pastors and principals. Bill was so enthralled with what's happening in many of the schools that he decided to make this $1.2 million donation for St. Mary's and the other schools in the region. I was able to meet a large group of students who had also received scholarships from the foundation and they gave us a very wonderful greeting. Back in June, the Mosakowski Family Foundation created the Msgr. Garrity Scholarship at St. Mary's, with a gift of $1 million, and I was happy to see some of those funds already at work through these students.

Knights of Malta Mass

Each year we have a Mass and dinner for the Knights of Malta. This year it was held on the feast of the North American Martyrs (10/19). The event was held at Emmanuel College and, as always, Sheila Feitelberg and Jim O'Connor did a great job organizing the event. The Knights make a great contribution to the life of the Church, particularly in their work on behalf of the poor and the sick.