On Friday (12/03), we hosted an appreciation luncheon for our Elementary Schools Task Force here at the Pastoral Center. I went to greet them and express our gratitude for their work. This group was organized to study the financial situation at each of our schools and make recommendations how to improve their financial situations.

I am most appreciative of the time and professional expertise offered by John Kaneb, our co-chairs Peter Zotto and Bill Mosakowski, the entire Task Force, Jim McDonough, the Finance Office, Mary Grassa-ONeill and the Catholic School Office team. Our schools were well served by the visits, feedback, analysis and follow-up seminars. Our Catholic schools will greatly benefit from their hard work, commitment and dedicated service to the Church.

Jesuit chapel dedication

Also that day, I went to dedicate the new Chapel of the Holy Name of Jesus at the Blessed Peter Faber Jesuit Community at Boston College. Weston School of Theology recently relocated to BC, which necessitated finding housing for the students. So, they built a complex on Foster Street, and part of the complex is a new chapel. It was dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.

The Blessed Faber Jesuit community, which opened this past fall, is home to a group of 75 Jesuits from around the world. Many of them were able to join me for the dedication. The community's mission is to form priests and many of its members are students and teachers at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

I was invited to come dedicate the chapel on the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, one of St. Ignatius' closest associates in the founding of the Society of Jesus, and one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the Church. I've ordered a statue of Our Lady of Montserrat to place in the chapel because St. Ignatius, at the time of his conversion, made a pilgrimage to Montserrat and that's where he left his weapons and began religious life.

Labor Guild awards

That evening, I attended the annual Cushing-Gavin Awards Dinner, which recognizes the contributions of the archdiocese's Labor Guild. The guild is an association of union and corporate personnel, arbitrators, professors and attorneys who are dedicated to promoting strong employee relations. There were about 1,000 people at the dinner and it is always a wonderful event that recognizes those individuals who have promoted a culture of healthy worker relations.

Each year they honor one representative of labor, one from management, a mediator and labor attorney. This year's honorees included John Messervy, the Director of Capital and Facility Planning for Partners Health Care; Lou Rasetta, business manager for the International Union Operating Engineers Local 4; Nancy Peace, who won the Boyle Award for her work as an arbitrator; and attorney Burt Rosenthal.

It shows the Church's commitment to the labor union movement and collective bargaining as an important right of workers, and is an expression of the Church's social Gospel for economic justice. We're very proud of the long association of the archdiocese with the labor movement and this initiative of Cardinal Cushing. Father Ed Boyle headed the Guild for so many years and now Holy Cross Father Patrick Sullivan is doing a great job as the executive secretary and chaplain.