Friday (4/26), I attended the wake of Judge Joseph Nolan, a retired justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, at St. Joseph's Church in Belmont. He was the long-time president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of the Archdiocese of Boston and throughout his life he has been very active in many Church activities. He was a great lover of the Latin liturgy, and every time he saw me, he greeted me with the Latin phrase "Nos cum prole pia." And my response would be, "benedicat Virgo Maria." This was a favorite blessing of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, a Capuchin Doctor of the Church. I am sure that Judge Joseph Nolan was the only lay person in Massachusetts who knew that!

Confirmations in Norwood

Saturday (4/27) I went to St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Norwood to celebrate confirmations. It was a very large confirmation class, in two groups. One of the first confirmations I ever did in Boston was almost 30 years ago at St. Catherine's, when I was still Bishop of the West Indies. They still have very large religious education classes and a wonderful Catholic school. It was a delight to be able to celebrate confirmations there.

Msgr. Garrity is now the pastor there and he is assisted by the retired pastor, Msgr. Paul Ryan, and they make a great team. Father Tony Luongo is also assigned there; however, he was unable to be at the confirmations because his mother's funeral also took place on Saturday morning and at the confirmation Masses we offered prayers for him. Msgr. Garrity, who did such an extraordinary job at St. Mary's in Lynn, is very focused on promoting Catholic education in Norwood and we are very grateful that it is one of our larger schools, a very important center for Catholic education.

Spanish Mass in Somerville

Saturday (4/28), I went to St. Benedict's in Somerville to celebrate their Spanish Mass. Father Oscar Martin is the pastor there and he is doing an excellent job. It was very encouraging to see how vibrant the parish is, with such great enthusiasm and many young people. During the Mass we welcomed a new priest, Father Adriano Albino de Castro, who is from the Archdiocese of Brasilia in Brazil and has just arrived. He will be working with the Portuguese speaking community in the archdiocese.

Reception at the Laboure Center

On Wednesday (5/1) I attended the Catholic Charities reception for the Laboure Center where Bob Sheridan was honored. He is the former president of SBLI and is very generous in supporting many causes including several Catholic organizations such as Laboure Center. They do wonderful work at the Laboure Center. A whole panoply of activities are carried on there, providing services for families, children and new immigrants.

Meeting with Religious Superiors

Thursday (5/2), I was happy to host our annual gathering of the superiors of men's religious orders in the archdiocese here at the Pastoral Center. There were presentations by Father Paul Soper and Sister Pat Boyle from the Pastoral Planning Office. As we did with the women religious superiors last week, we spoke to them about the pastoral planning process and evangelization efforts, and asked for their input and ideas.