Cardinal Timothy Dolan was the sixth and concluding speaker in St. Lawrence O’Toole parish‘s “Shepherds Speak” series, with a lecture followed by Eucharistic Adoration on Monday, September 23.

About 250 people packed into the Brewster church for the cardinal’s presentation. “Shepherds Speak” began in September 2023, with a talk by Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, the archdiocesan vicar for clergy. The series also incorporated “enhanced” Eucharistic Adoration, which included music and some singing. Knights of Columbus from Council 1450 participated in the event, seating guests and acting as ushers.

Father Richard Gill, the pastor of St. Lawrence O’Toole-Sacred Heart Parish, introduced Cardinal Dolan, who in turn praised the Brewster priest.

“Do you know you’ve got a good thing going here? You’re a real icon and a paradigm for a lot of other parishes with all the good work, all the initiatives you have. You’ve got a good shepherd in Father Gill,” Cardinal Dolan said.

In his talk, Cardinal Dolan focused on Isaiah 30:15: “In quiet and in confidence shall be your strength.” “There is nothing better to do to invest in all the activity that goes on here in the name of the Lord Jesus providentially than Eucharistic Adoration,” he said.

Cardinal Dolan recalled the time that his parents spent together each day when his father returned home from work, and his mother was preparing dinner. “Very often, we wouldn’t hear them say anything. They were just there together, savoring one another’s company. That is what sustained their marriage. That is what made them such good parents,” he said, comparing it to time spent in Eucharistic Adoration. “We are simply in the company of the love of our life.”

“Silence and quiet are a very powerful prayer,” Cardinal Dolan said, before telling one final, personal story. While working at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C., in 1990, he assisted with a call between St. John Paul II (then Pope John Paul II) and President George Bush. The U.S. president was calling the pope to inform him directly that the United States planned to invade Iraq. “The pope was stone silent. He would not say a thing. He answered the president’s news, which he was against, with silence.” Cardinal Dolan said that President Bush was unsure if the line had gone dead, as he heard no response from the pope. Then Archbishop Pio Laghi, later Cardinal Laghi, then the pro-nuncio to the United States told President Bush, “I assure you that the Holy Father heard you, and his response was silence.”

Cardinal Dolan’s remarks were then followed by Eucharistic Adoration and a reception in the church hall.

Before he arrived at St. Lawrence O’Toole, Cardinal Dolan visited and blessed nearby Gianna’s House, which opened in May 2023 to provide support and resources to unexpectedly pregnant mothers and mothers with newborns.