Last Thursday, I went to St. Catherine of Siena in Norwood for a Mass with the parish school. They have a wonderful parish community, led by Father Stephen Donohoe, and a thriving school, under the leadership of Principal Beth Tanner.

It's always a joy to visit our Catholic schools, and it was a beautiful celebration.

I told the young people at the Mass that I came to St. Catherine's for the first time around 1985, also drawn there by young people -- I was celebrating confirmations when I was bishop in the Virgin Islands. It was then, as it still is today, a vibrant and wonderful faith community.

Catholic education is one of the key ministries of the Archdiocese of Boston, and we are grateful to all of those who do so much to support our schools -- the pastors, teachers, board members, students and their families.

Sisters of St. Joseph

On Saturday, I went to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brighton to celebrate a Mass for their patron saint in this special Year of St. Joseph.

The sisters have a beautiful musical program. I told them that the Daughters of St. Paul have to watch out, because the Sisters of St. Joseph are going to be making the next hit record!

The Sisters of St. Joseph have been such an important part of the life of the Church in Boston, and they are one of the principal reasons we have such a strong Catholic school system. Today, the sisters continue to be involved in the archdiocese in our parishes and in their outreach to women who have been victims of human trafficking. In our own Central Ministries, Sister Marian Batho's work with the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council and Sister Pat Boyle's work with Pastoral Planning are just two more examples of how important the Sisters of St. Joseph are for our archdiocese.

Hispanic Youth Encuentro

In the evening, I went to the Madonna Queen Shrine in East Boston for a Hispanic Youth Encuentro.

It was gratifying to see so many young people gathered to celebrate their faith, and I gave them a talk and a blessing.

It was good to see how, after not being able to bring the youth together last year because of the pandemic, Sister Elsa and all those working in Hispanic ministry prepared this beautiful convocation this year.

Virtual convocation

Wednesday afternoon, we held a virtual convocation for the priests of the archdiocese. Originally, we had considered holding it in person. However, because of ongoing concerns related to the pandemic, it was deemed better not to bring all the priests together in one place.

During our gathering, we heard a report on the work that Bishop Robert Reed and Father Paul Soper are doing in preparation for the Synod on Sodality. We also heard from Father John MacInnis on a pilgrimage for priests that he is organizing next year following the footsteps of St. Paul. We are very grateful to Father MacInnis for organizing this.

We reflected on some of our past pilgrimages for priests to the Holy Land, Ars, and Malta. Those former experiences were very enriching, and I am hopeful that this will be a similar opportunity to bring together a good number of our priests.

We concluded with a conference that I gave on the spiritual life of priests and the importance of prayer in our lives.

It was a rather brief gathering, but it was an opportunity to bring the priests together and connect with them. Many of the priests told me afterward how much they appreciated having the convocation, and we look forward to our planned in-person convocation in May 2022.