Local12/3/2021

From Cardinal Seán's blog

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Cardinal O'Malley with Father Phong Pham's mother and sister during a Mass to mark the feast of Christ the King and the feast of the Vietnamese Martyrs, Nov. 21. Pilot photo/CardinalSeansBlog.org

Thursday evening, I took part in a Zoom panel discussion on the life of Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete and presenting a new book of his works called "The Relevance of the Stars." This is a posthumous work edited by Lisa Lickona and Gregory Wolfe.

I gave the first presentation, followed by remarks by Lisa and Greg. Then, there was a very nice video of Father Albacete speaking, followed by an opportunity to ask questions.

We are so grateful to Lisa, Greg, and all of those who contributed to this project. They have done us a great service by bringing together Msgr. Albacete's writings and publishing this new book.

Father John Gallagher's funeral

On Friday, I went to St. Joseph's Church in the West End to celebrate the funeral of Father John Gallagher.

The homilist was Father Paul Dumais of the Diocese of Portland, who did a wonderful job. In his retirement, Father Gallagher had lived in Farmington, Maine, before coming to Regina Cleri. While he was in Maine, he became very involved with the parish there, and that's why he invited Father Paul to give the homily at his funeral. Father Paul had studied at St. John's Seminary. So, we all remembered him from those days, and it was good to see him back and in this role.

Thanksgiving meals

Saturday, I took part in the distribution of Thanksgiving meals both with Catholic Charities and at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

I was happy to be together with the volunteers from different groups, including Mount Alvernia Academy and Boston College, to help distribute more than 5,000 meals to those in need.

Feast of Christ the King

Sunday, the feast of Christ the King, I went to Blessed Andrew Phu Yen Parish at St. Clement Church in Somerville to celebrate a Mass to mark the feast and also the feast of the Vietnamese Martyrs, which is November 24.

Father Phong Pham is the pastor there, and it was wonderful that his mother and sister were able to come to be with us.

It was good to have such a large number of youth from the parish join us for the Mass.

They had a procession with the relics of the Vietnamese martyrs and also the statue of Christ the King. The procession was accompanied by a very loud beating of drums. (Father Pham had warned me beforehand, and I'm very glad he did!)

Capuchin conference

Monday evening, I gave a conference to a group of about 100 young Capuchin friars from throughout the Americas via Zoom. They are holding these Zoom meetings monthly in preparation for a gathering that's going to be held in Brazil in May 2022.

Father Mario Oswaldo from Brazil was our moderator.

Virtual meeting

Also, that evening, I participated in a virtual meeting for benefactors supporting Lawrence Catholic Academy in their project to build a new school building.

There was a video highlighting the work of Lawrence Catholic Academy, and the campaign chairs, Paul Lonergan and John Driscoll, also made remarks. Peter Lynch and Natalie Garcia are the committee co-chairs. We are very grateful to Father Paul O'Brien, his team, and all those working to promote this project.