The New Life of Christ at Boston University

Confirmation Today with Cardinal Sean O'Malley (Photo by George Martell)

I gave up social media for Lent and that kind of turned into a fasting from blogging as well, for the most part.  It came as a great shock to me that the world could go on without my opinions.  At the end of Lent, just as I was ready to start posting again, I wound up with a problem with my neck that really knocked me through a loop.  It's been a tedious (and, thus far, incomplete) process getting back to normal. It meant that for Holy Week, I mostly had to take a back seat. Thankfully, friends of mine came to my rescue.  Even though I haven't posted much, I thought I'd share with you some great photos from our Holy Week and from a Confirmation Mass that Cardinal Sean did for us today.  

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from our Good Friday Service or from our Live Stations of the Cross that takes place in the middle of campus.  Because I was out of commission, two friends of mine who work in the Vocations Office covered much of the Triduum for me. Fr. Hennessey did  Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, and Fr. Eric Caden did the Good Friday Service.  Additionally, Fr. Hennessey helped me out hearing confessions on Good Friday. We both heard confessions for 90 minutes non-stop.  Additionally, five other priests helped me on Tuesday hearing confessions for two hours.  One of my great joys as a priest is introducing great Catholics to one another. So, although I was not able to lead most of the Holy Week events, it gave me a lot of joy to facilitate the encounter between our great students and these great priests.  

                                                           

Holy Thursday

Reading

Washing of the Feet

Fr. Daniel Hennessey Elevating the Host 

TheAltar of Repose

The Easter Vigil

Fr.Hennessey Blesses the Fire

Deacon Michael Wegenka, SJ  Holding the Paschal Candle

Exultet

The Epistle

I got to come off the bench for the homily and for the Baptisms and Confirmations

Catechumens Approaching the Altar

Blessing of the Easter Water

Catechumens Rejecting Satan and All His Empty Show

Professing the Catholic Faith


I Baptize You . . .

I got to Baptize seven new Christians!

The Newly Baptized Sharing the Light of Christ!

I Received this man into the Church and heard him profess that he holds and believes all that the Catholic Church teaches!

Then I got to Confirm Ten Young Men and Women!

This young man was baptized Catholic but never received any of the other Sacraments. I Confirmed Him.  The following Sunday, I saw him in the Communion Line with a huge smile on his face!

The Culmination of the Easter Vigil is the Reception of Communion by New Catholics

Our New Catholics and Their Sponsors

Our FOCUS Team

One of the things that has really amazed me about College Ministry is how organized the students are.  We had a magnificent Triduum and, in large part, that was due to the generosity of our musicians, servers, and Liturgical Committee.  They really amaze me. I am also grateful for how our Office Manager, Fran, who does EVERYTHING.  She had a box for each day, filled with whatever I needed for the Liturgy for that particular day.  Every priest needs a Fran.  And, I am grateful to Evan Kristiansen who took the majority of these photos.

There Better Be Some New Vocations From This Crew.....that's all I'm saying.

Lastly, a couple of weeks after Easter Sunday, Cardinal Sean has a Confirmation for colleges in the Boston area.  Two of our students were confirmed and a group of their friends showed up to support them.  

I am grateful this Easter that I am blessed with good priest friends who helped me out.  I am also grateful for the students and staff at the BU Catholic Center who really are beautiful examples of Christian discipleship.  I hope that you all enjoy these photos and can sense from them that something beautiful is happening in the Church.