Twenty years ago, I attended the installation of our new Archbishop in Boston, Seán Patrick O'Malley, OFM, Cap. And sat next to my former pastor and seminary professor of homiletics, Father Gerard L. Dorgan, and listened carefully to the homily. I was 13 years ordained and a canon lawyer in the chancery struggling mightily, along with the whole Archdiocese of Boston, with the abuse crisis and very much in need of wisdom and hope. I shall never forget the one line in that magnificent homily that moved my soul and spoke to my heart. He said to the victims of abuse:

"The healing of our Church is inexorably bound up to your own healing -- you are the wounds in the Body of Christ."

I knew then that we had the right shepherd to lead us through our darkest times, focusing on the catastrophic wounds of those abused by priests and hierarchy and our own desperate need for healing. At the end of the homily, Father Dorgan turned to me in joy and said, "Now that is a homily!"

On that day, where the new Archbishop focused on carrying the cross, he himself was called from the crowd like Simon of Cyrene to pick up the burden of the Archdiocese of Boston. Soon after, he spoke to us about having to eat "those powder milk biscuits" to take on his task. This seemed to some of us a non-sequitur, but the reference was a telling one as to how he was feeling. The reference comes from a quote from Garrison Keillor whose radio program, "A Prairie Home Companion" was,

"Brought to you by those powder milk biscuits made from whole wheat that give shy people the strength to get up and do what needs to be done. You know there are times when one must do it, and you never know until you come right to the brink and see what you got to do."

This is how he came to us 20 years ago. A shy man fortifying himself for the task by embracing the cross and calling on his mother Mary to stand by his side.

Over those 20 years, he faced the abuse crisis head on both here in Boston on a local level and, when called upon by Pope Francis, he has done so on an international level. Cardinal Seán continues those efforts of reconciliation and healing with the same urgency as when he began. He also came into an archdiocese with enormous debts. The Central Ministries of the Archdiocese, the hospital system, and the Clergy Benefits and Health Insurance were all in serious financial trouble. He took up the thankless, yet necessary, task of paring down our parishes to better serve our people and prepare for the future. Learning from the painful lessons of the "ripping off the bandage" approach, he developed the still difficult but gentler approach of "Disciples in Mission."

Through a network of generous benefactors and the People of God, he brought vision and direction to what seemed an impossible challenge. He has breathed new life into our historical Cathedral with both a physical and structural renewal and an imaginative and pastoral outreach.

His pastoral leadership and constant advocacy for our vocation department and seminaries has led to the ordination of over 130 priests for the Archdiocese. He continued and extended the Neo-Catechumenal Way and created an order of religious sisters as signs to encourage all Catholics to be disciples of evangelization. He has been a strong spokesperson for the Gospel of Life and faced down those who advocate for physician assisted suicide. He reorganized the Central Administration of the archdiocese to focus first on being of service to the parishes and programs of the archdiocese.

His leadership style has been to listen with compassion to the pain of many, the fears, and the hopes of so many in his diverse flock. He has proven an effective leader through the crises of the Marathon Bombing, Covid, gun-violence, racial unrest, immigration intolerance, housing issues, and the crisis of faith both locally and nationally. Through these, he has spoken when it was popular and when not. With his incredible facility in many languages, he has been a loud clear voice for the dignity of every person. He has seen all the things to be done and has carried our cross fortified, I guess, by powder milk biscuits, but more importantly fortified by God through his deep relationship with Him in prayer.

Cardinal Seán's episcopal motto is "Quodcumque dixerit facite" translated, "Do whatever he tells you." It comes from the Gospel of John about the wedding feast at Cana where Mary speaks to the stewards to bring about the miracle of the water turned to wine. Those stewards guided by Jesus' mother Mary, are in a crisis; the wine has run out. They have no idea why they are filling the jars with water except they have heard the powerful instructions of Mary and then of Jesus. Because they place their faith in them, God rewarded all at the feast. Cardinal Seán had no idea what his time in Boston would bring, yet he placed his faith in God through the intercession of Mary and Saint Francis and all the saints and he has done what had to be done.

Sometime in the future, he will lay this burden down unto another; however, here on the twentieth anniversary of his time among us, he carries it still, looking forward, knowing like Simon of Cyrene that although he gives his strength to Christ, it is Christ who leads, it is Christ who saves, it is Christ whose wounds proclaim the depths of love.



BISHOP MARK O'CONNELL IS AUXILIARY BISHOP OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON, AND VICAR GENERAL AND MODERATOR OF THE CURIA.