As I concluded last week, we were still in the midst of the first National Eucharistic Congress in many decades, which was a great success. It brought together many thousands of people from all over the country to celebrate our Catholic faith in the sacrament of the Eucharist. I was very edified by the enthusiasm and faith that was witnessed to by the many thousands of people who gathered for all the activities of the Congress.

We are very proud of the fact that our own Mother Olga Yaqob was one of the keynote speakers.

There is now a great deal of enthusiasm for the idea of having these Eucharistic Congresses at regular intervals to be able to focus Catholics on the centrality of the Eucharist in our faith life. That will be something the bishops' conference will be discussing further, but I think it's a wonderful idea, and we certainly got off to a good start with this Eucharistic Congress.

I was at the International Eucharistic Congress that we celebrated in Philadelphia in 1976 as part of the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations. But the last National Eucharistic Congress in the United States was back in the 1940s. So, it's been a very long time, and we are so grateful to Bishop Cozzens and all the people who worked so hard to make this Congress such a great success. [ . . .]



First Vows

On the way back from Indianapolis, I passed through Pittsburgh to be present for the ceremony where Brothers Charles Cascino, Ben Duphiney, and Jack Gianetti, three of our Capuchin novices who have completed their novitiate, made their first vows.

I was very happy to be able to be with them.



Pastor installation service

From Pittsburgh, I returned to Boston for the installation of Father Marcos Enrique as the new pastor of St. Mark's Parish in Dorchester.

The celebration there was very enthusiastic. The parishioners all know Father Marcos very well, as he's worked there for a long time.

The Sunday readings had the theme of the Good Shepherd, which I thought was so appropriate for the installation of a new pastor. I also pointed out the fact that they have a Good Shepherd window over the high altar in St. Mark's.



Passing of Jack Connors

Tuesday, we were very saddened to hear of the passing of Jack Connors. Jack discovered recently that he had a very serious diagnosis that progressed rapidly. His death was very precipitous, but I was able to visit him in the hospital.

Certainly, he was one of the great larger-than-life figures in the community, a man who supported many different charities and did so much for our Catholic schools. Literally, thousands of our inner-city youth are receiving good Catholic education because of the efforts of Jack Connors.