So, everyone knows that the Archdiocese of Boston is moving from its historic chancery grounds in Brighton, Massachusetts—having sold most of the property to Boston College—to its new Pastoral Center in Braintree. Among other things, the move lets us consolidate and go through sometimes decades of cruft that have accumulated in offices and storerooms.
Some of this material, while lacking utility for the current owner, might be just what someone else is looking for in another office, so we held a big employee “yard sale,” although it was not really a “sale” since no money was exchanged. Of course, my favorite section was the books. While there was plenty of stuff that—let’s just say I had no interest in—I did come away with a couple of nice finds.
The first was “The Grunt Padre”
by Fr. Daniel L. Mode, the story of Father Vincent Capodanno, a Maryknoll missionary-turned Navy/Marine chaplain during the Vietnam War, who gave his life and was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor. I remember hearing a lot about this book back around 2000 when it first was published so I’m glad to pick up this pristine paperback.
The second was “What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era”
by Peggy Noonan. It’s her memoir of her years working in Ronald Reagan’s White House as a speechwriter and special assistant. I’ve read her “When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan”
, her biography of Reagan, and of course I’ve long been a fan of her columns for the Wall Street Journal.
Anyway, I hope to be able to be allowed to write eventually about the new Pastoral Center and our move into that location. While it’s undeniably sad to leave behind the history and the beautiful campus in Brighton, there’s an excitement about the future and the exciting possibilities opened up by this opportunity.
Photo credit: US Navy/Marine Corps via Wikipedia Commons. Public domain.
