Last week, I left for Denver to visit with family and friends and to confirm my nephew, who has the same name as me, Seán.

The confirmation was held in his parish, Ave Maria Parish in Parker, a town outside of Denver.

One person who attended was Msgr. Tony McDaid, who was the pastor there when my nephews were growing up. My family's been very involved in the life of the parish. Some of my relatives have taught in the parish school. Also, my sister-in-law made the stained-glass windows for the church.

It's a lovely parish. I suppose the most interesting thing is that nearby there's a big herd of buffalo. Not many parishes have that!

It was fun to be there and see some of my nephews and their families.



Capuchin friars and relatives

Father Kevin O'Leary traveled with me, and we stayed with the Capuchin friars at St. Francis Friary with Father Simeon Gallagher and his community. While we were there, two novices who just finished their novitiate made their vows in the chapel of the Capuchin Poor Clares nearby.

On Sunday, I had Mass at Annunciation Parish, which is run by the Capuchins. It's a wonderful inner-city school that the parish runs. There, I met Meg Reidy, a long-lost cousin of mine who is teaching at the parish school. I had never met her before. Her grandfather and my great-uncle were brothers. That's what the Irish call "shirttail relatives."

She had been part of the teacher corps of Notre Dame.

Her boyfriend, who is from Peru, was with her. He had been in a seminary in Peru.

At the Mass, they had the Aztec dancers.

It was a very nice visit to Denver. I had not been there to see my family in several years because of the pandemic. The bishops' meeting and the Knights of Columbus meetings that were supposed to take place in Denver were cancelled, so it had been several years since I last visited. It was wonderful to see all the friars and my relatives there.



Msgr. Kieran Harrington

On Wednesday, Msgr. Kieran Harrington visited me. He is from the Diocese of Brooklyn and is in charge of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. He is working on reorganizing their work.

Of course, the work of the Pontifical Mission Societies is very important.

It's a very challenging time to be doing this work, but he's very determined to make the work of the mission societies not just about raising money -- or, as he says, being a tax collector -- but about mission animation and helping our Catholic people to have a greater understanding of our call to be a missionary Church and help spread the Gospel throughout the whole world. He has a lot of very good ideas, and he wanted to share those with me and discuss what directions the Pontifical Mission Societies of the United States need to take going forward.

Here in Boston, we are so grateful to the wonderful people we have working in our office. Father Jerry Osterman is the director and, of course, the director of programs is Maureen Heil. She does such great work. Historically, the Archdiocese of Boston, since the days of Cardinal Cushing, has been one of the leading dioceses supporting the Propagation of the Faith.