Saturday, we had the joy of ordaining six of our seminarians as transitional deacons for the Archdiocese of Boston. These are the men who, God willing, will be ordained to the priesthood next year.

In my homily, I remarked on the great diversity of this year's diaconate class. There were four languages among the six ordinands: Italian, Portuguese, English, and Vietnamese. This is a great blessing for us.

I also reminded them that, even though they are called transitional deacons, they are actually permanent deacons, but they will also be priests.

There was great enthusiasm among the people and beautiful music reflecting the different communities represented in the ordination class.



Orthodox Easter

May 6 is Easter Sunday in the Julian calendar, which is followed by the Eastern Churches. So, on Saturday evening, I went to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral to participate in their celebration of the Easter Vigil.

Metropolitan Methodios is always so gracious in inviting me each year. They usually ask me to read a Gospel, greet the people, and share an Easter message with them.

Both the Metropolitan and I are anticipating that next year, which is the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, perhaps the Holy Father and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople will come up with a formula for a common celebration of Easter. I always say that the advantage of having both the Julian and Gregorian calendars has been to allow us to have two Easters each year. However, I think the symbolism of having a common date of Easter would be very powerful.

Of course, they gave me a beautiful Easter basket and an extra candle.

As I was leaving, I saw a number of people carrying lit candles to their cars. It is not uncommon for people to take the flames home after the flame and candles are blessed. The custom is that when you get home, you light an oil lamp in front of the icon with that flame and keep it burning all year. I think that's a very beautiful custom.



Eastern Catholics of the Ge'ez Rite

At the cathedral, we have an Ethiopian-Eritrean community that are Eastern Catholics of the Ge'ez Rite who also follow the Julian calendar. So, every year, as I return from the Orthodox celebration, I like to stop in to greet them and wish them a happy Easter.

They have a very long and beautiful Vigil that begins with a procession behind the Easter candle.



St. Anthony Parish

Sunday, I went to St. Anthony Parish in Cambridge to celebrate a Mass for their Santo Cristo Feast.

St. Anthony's was originally an Azorean parish, though it now has a large Brazilian presence. But they still celebrate as their major feast Santo Cristo, which is an image of Christ after being scourged and crowned with thorns.

In my homily, I reflected on how St. Teresa of Avila attributed her conversion to the moment that she saw the same Ecce Homo image in her convent. I noted how that was an occasion of great grace. And I told the people that we should try to look upon this image with that same faith and ask the Lord to convert our hearts so that we can be more faithful disciples of the Lord and realize how much he loves us and how he has suffered for us.