I want to begin this week by noting that on Holy Thursday (4/2) Tom Shields, a great friend to the archdiocese and a personal friend of mine, passed to eternal life, joining his beloved wife Mary. ...We are very grateful for all that he meant to us and all the help that he provided, particularly for children in need of a good education.

Triduum celebration

On Good Friday (4/3) there are two groups that make a Way of the Cross procession through Boston, and they conclude their procession at the cathedral where I greet them and give them my blessing. In the morning, we had the group of the Way of the Cross for Life. And then later, I greeted the group from Communion and Liberation. ...Also during the day, at the cathedral we have the living Stations of the Cross through the streets of the South End around the cathedral. In some years, we've done it at night, but I think it makes a great impression in the neighborhood doing it in the middle of the day. I'm always very impressed with the job they do with the costumes and the makeup. And at the end, they even reenact the crucifixion in the cathedral. Then, at 3:00, I celebrated the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion during which we venerate the cross. Father Bryan Parrish gave a very beautiful reflection after the Passion was sung in a very moving way by three members of the choir. We are very blessed to have a relic of the true Cross of Christ in our cathedral, which we always use for the veneration. We were very happy to be joined by over 60 members of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre who took part in the ceremony. In the evening, we had the liturgy of Good Friday in Spanish, at which I celebrated and preached.

On Holy Saturday I went to visit the Memores Domini at their house in Cambridge. We are very blessed to have a group of consecrated laymen from the movement of Communion and Liberation in our archdiocese. Then, that night, we of course had the Easter Vigil, which always begins with the Blessing of the Fire. Normally, that takes place outside, but because it was so windy, this year we did it in the vestibule of the Cathedral. Father Jonathan Gaspar sang the Exulted and did just a beautiful job. We are very lucky to have him assist with that every year. This, once again, was a bilingual celebration and the cathedral choir and the Spanish choir sang very beautifully for us. One of the great highlights of Easter Vigil is the welcoming of the new members of our faith. This year there were 13 people received into the Church at the cathedral.

Rite of incardination for Father Brenneville

On Tuesday (4/7), at the Bethany Chapel here in the Pastoral Center I was very pleased to celebrate the rite of incardination for Father Garcia Brenneville at the noontime Mass. Father Brenneville has come to us with the blessing of the archbishop of Port-au-Prince to be a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, where he has worked for many years and where much of his family lives. In fact, many members of his family were able to join us for the Mass, including his parents and brothers and sisters along with several priests and Bishops Kennedy and Dooher.