BOSTON -- In addition to celebrating Christmas Masses, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley spent Christmas Eve and Day visiting the homeless at both Pine Street Inn (left) and St. Francis House (above) in Boston. The cardinal spent time speaking with and serving them.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Cardinal O’Malley visited with the residents, staff and volunteers at the Pine Street Inn. He also joined them in serving meals to the homeless. The following day, Dec. 25, he stopped by St. Francis House to speak with the organizers, volunteers and homeless there as well.

The cardinal wrote about the trips and the importance of helping the homeless on his blog, www.cardinalseansblog.org.

“Housing is a critical problem for our people,” he said. “Many of our homeless people have jobs but are still unable to get housing. This is a very grave social problem that we all need to be concerned about and try to seek solutions.”