Pictured Above: Dr. Jim O’Connell of Boston Health Care for the Homeless is a renowned and inspirational leader in care of the sick and the poor.

With Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta filling the chapel of Weston, Massachusetts’s Regis College, Very Rev. Brian Kiely, ChM, celebrated Mass on the Feast of Blessed Gerard, offering a poignant and particularly affecting homily focused on the true needs and desires of those we seek to serve rather than what we may think they need. Joining Order of Malta members at the Mass was Dr. Jim O’Connell, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless (BHCH) and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. O’Connell is well remembered by many for traveling as a member of the American Association’s Medical Team on the Lourdes Pilgrimage many times.

Pictured Above: Very Rev. Brian Kiely, ChM, celebrates the Blessed Gerard Mass at Regis College before the Boston Area Annual Dinner. 

After Mass, Boston Area Chair Thomas E. Driscoll, KM, welcomed the Boston Area membership and Dr. O’Connell to the Area’s Annual Dinner. Boston Area Communications and Membership Co-Chair Edward J. Delaney, KM, then invited Dr. O’Connell to share his experiences as a “street doctor,” ministering to the homeless in Boston over the past 40 years. Dr. O’Connell was engaging and inspirational as he imparted something of what drives his long service with this population. He truly demonstrates the same spirit of care for the sick and the poor which is at the heart of our Order.

Pictured Above: Dr. Jim O’Connell speaks to Boston Area members, including Area Chair Tommy Driscoll and Ginny Meskell, at left.

Dr. O’Connell’s acclaimed, recent book Stories from the Shadows: Reflections of a Street Doctor is available directly from BHCH. (https://www.bhchp.org/stories-shadows). Many from the Boston Area look forward to reading the book in the coming weeks. Boston Area Hospitaller Christopher Carter Lee, KM, has frequently encouraged participants in the bi-weekly Boston Malta Walks to read Dr. O’Connell’s work for its inspirational accounts of street ministry and stirring reflections about homeless community members and friends Dr. O’Connell has encountered over the years.

All of the Knights and Dames of the Boston Area were honored to welcome Dr. O’Connell and learn about his life’s calling to serve those who are the most sick and the most poor for a very powerful Feast of Blessed Gerard.