Sister Marie-Paul Jaston, who has been living consecrated life for many years, has requested to become a diocesan hermit. So, she worked with our delegate for religious, Sister Germana Santos, to prepare for this. Her profession was last Friday, becoming the fifth diocesan hermit in the Archdiocese of Boston.

We were so pleased to be able to preside at this important event in her life.



Respect Life Mass

Sunday morning, we had our annual Respect Life Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The Mass. State Council Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, and our Pro-Life Office sponsor this Mass each year, and I was happy to celebrate with them.

Of course, we had a number of Knights serving as the color guard.

In my homily, I spoke about discipleship being a costly grace and how, in the Gospel reading, Christ holds up a child, saying that they should receive the children as they receive him. The Church is telling us today to embrace the child and find room at the table of life for everyone.



Special Mass

Then, that afternoon, I went to the Pastoral Center to celebrate a special Mass for the 100th anniversary of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master.

The chapel was standing room only, full of friends and collaborators of the Sisters from throughout the archdiocese.

We were delighted to see how many priests came. I think there were about 60 priests and several bishops present for the Mass. It was a beautiful tribute to the Sisters. I teased the Sisters, saying, "I wonder who is celebrating the Masses in the parishes because all the priests are here. It's all your fault!"

The great turnout was just an indication of how beloved the Sisters are and what an impact they have made through their ministries. Their life is one of Eucharistic adoration, promoting the liturgical arts and caring for priests at Regina Cleri. They have also worked at several offices in the Pastoral Center.

At the conclusion of Mass, we heard lovely remarks from their provincial, Sister Catherine. She resides in New Zealand but was originally from Ireland.

The Sisters are such a gift to our archdiocese, and we are happy that so many turned out to celebrate their centenary with them.



Funeral of Bishop Basil Losten

Immediately after the Mass, I left for Upstate New York to attend the funeral of Bishop Basil Losten on Monday at St. Andrew Church in a town named Campbell Hall.

Bishop Basil was the Eparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, which encompasses New York and New England. He was a bishop for over 50 years, so we served a long time together.

He was very active in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and had a larger-than-life personality. Everyone knew Bishop Basil. He really helped us Latin Rite bishops be aware and conscious of the presence of the Eastern Rite Catholics in our country. (Many don't know this, but the Ukrainian Greek Catholics are the largest Eastern Rite branch of the Catholic Church.) Because of our long association, I thought it was important to be present for his funeral Mass.