Last Thursday evening, I attended a reception at the home of Jim and Joanne Gallagher, highlighting the work of Catholic Charities. Jim is the former chairman of the board of Catholic Charities.

During the evening, I addressed the group, along with the current chairman of the board, Kevin MacKenzie, and with Catholic Charities' president, Debbie Rambo.

It was a wonderful evening and we are so grateful to Jim and Joanne for hosting this wonderful evening.

Chaldean Catholic community

On Friday, I met at the cathedral with Father Selwan Taponi, a Chaldean priest from Detroit who comes once a month to celebrate Mass with the Chaldean Catholic community in Boston.

Also with us was Sermed Ashouri, a member of the Chaldean community who is studying in our permanent diaconate program; Deacon Chris Connelly, our director of Permanent Deacon Formation; and Brother Jim Peterson.

Meeting with seminarians

That evening, I had another of my periodic meetings with a group of seminarians at the cathedral.

As usual, we began our gathering with vespers, followed by dinner and a time of discussion. These gatherings are always a wonderful opportunity to get to know the seminarians better and to hear their concerns, hopes, and aspirations. I always find them a very life-giving and enjoyable experience.

Permanent deacons

On Saturday, our permanent deacons held their annual convocation at St. Elizabeth Parish in Milton. During the day, they heard keynote talks by Deacon William Ditewig, a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Washington who is the former director of the USCCB's Secretariat for the Diaconate.

I joined them mid-day to celebrate Mass for them.

During the Mass, we celebrated the Rite of Candidacy for 13 new permanent deacon candidates. It was quite a joy that, just one week after ordaining our latest class of permanent deacons for the archdiocese, we were welcoming another class as candidates for ordination.

Catholic Appeal Appreciation Mass

On Sunday, I went to St. Malachy Church in Burlington to celebrate our annual Catholic Appeal Appreciation Mass. This Mass is an opportunity for us to thank those who worked so hard over the past year to make our annual Appeal a success.

We began our gathering with a Mass followed by a reception, during which I addressed the gathering along with the pastor, Father Jim Mahoney.

As I always like to say, the Catholic Appeal is the lifeblood of our archdiocese, without which so many ministries and good works of the Church would not be possible. We are so grateful to all of those who do so much to ensure the ongoing success of the Catholic Appeal.

Redemptoris Mater Seminary

Later that day, I went to our Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Brookline to celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit. This is the third of our three seminaries I have visited to celebrate the Mass as a way to begin the academic year, asking for the assistance of the Holy Spirit in all our endeavors.

We had a lovely Mass together in the chapel, followed by a dinner with the seminarians.

Missionaries of Charity

On Monday, I went to visit the Missionaries of Charity at their house in Dorchester. We celebrated Mass together, and afterwards the sisters made me a lovely breakfast.

The sisters had remembered how I told them that, in the Virgin Islands, the sisters would always make me a breakfast of curry and roti, and so that is what they served me. It certainly brought back wonderful memories! I have to say, I am very grateful that the sisters did not make the curry too spicy. I told them that sometimes I'd be having that breakfast in the Virgin Islands at 6 o'clock in the morning and the curry was so hot, the smoke would be coming out of my ears!

During my visit, the sisters also showed me the new playground equipment that they have installed, which I know will be put to great use by the children served by their many programs.