Office casts a wider net for vocations

"Fathers Fitzgerald, Gerald Cestare and Irinel Racos have been assigned as full-time high school chaplains, with the additional title of associate vocation director. Each will also work with college campus ministry. They join Father Brian Barr, who has served as diocesan vocation director since 2007. Fathers Barr, Fitzgerald and Racos will also reside together to form a “vocations community.”

This is interesting - I wonder if they will live at a school or a parish?

Cablevision Adds Full Time EWTN Channel

This is great news - anyone who has IO Cablevision can now get EWTN full time on channel 135. It will be a pleasure to once again see Bookmark, The World Over, The Journey Home, EWTN Live, etc.. Although Telecare occasionally showed EWTN, mostly at night, it will be great to have this Catholic programming in prime time.

Speaking of EWTN, the blog at on the EWTN site: Joan's Rome, has an interesting post about the cleaning of St. Peter's Square. Check out the before and after pictures of the columns and statues.

Four men eager to serve as priests of Rockville Centre Diocese

Today Bishop Murphy will ordain 3 men to the priesthood for the DRVC (another will be ordained later this month). The Long Island Catholic has profiles of each on their website:

Deacon Michael Bartholomew

Deacon Janusz Mocarski

Deacon Harold Noviello

Deacon Gregory Rannazzisi


Also another Long Islander, Brian Dunkle, will be ordained today for the Jesuits.

God Bless!

Christa House in West Babylon is closing

From Newsday:

"Christa House, the West Babylon hospice founded to give poor AIDS patients shelter and companionship in their final days, is closing down after more than a decade of ministering to the dying and indigent."

Housed on the grounds of Our Lady of Grace Parish, Christa House opened in 1998 and was the first AIDS facility on Catholic Church property on Long Island. Its founders - a small group of nuns and laywomen headed by Sister Patricia Ryan and Long Beach nurse Jean Prochilo - wanted to provide poor AIDS patients with a family environment where they would not die alone or in pain.

The home's mission broadened later to include other terminally ill people, including some with health insurance.

"I can't give you any of the details," Prochilo said of the shutdown. "But 569 people, before they died, they knew they were loved, cherished, that their lives had meaning and [they] were able to die in peace, safety and dignity."

Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said he did not know when or why the nonprofit home would close. Christa House is not directly affiliated with the diocese, he said."We're sorry that it's closing its doors, because it has been a very vital ministry," Dolan said. "We are looking to see what can be done to continue the mission of Christa House through some arrangement with Catholic Health Services."


Although the original intent was to provide a hospice for people with AIDS, they began taking in anyone needing hospice service soon after opening. I know there is a real need for hospice around here so people do not have to travel far to visit loved ones so hopefully something can be worked out with Catholic Health Services.

Msgr. DeGrocco and Msgr. McNamara do a tag team on Reverence at Mass in The Long Island Catholic. My comments are in red and emphasis in bold, following the Fr. Z. protocol.



DeGrocco: Coffee cups, water bottles,bathrooms and ritual behavior

"If it seems our liturgical celebrations are lacking a sense of the holy and transcendent, the problem is not with the rite itself; it is with the way we are enacting the rite. [I agree but some traditionalist Catholics disagree - they say some of the changes in the Rite itself are the problem] Of course, there is no excuse for a poorly enacted ritual on the part of the liturgical ministers [seen it], and any one or a combination of a careless presider [seen it], a poor leader of song [heard it] banal or unsingable music [is there any other type of Church music?], ill-trained altar servers [seen it], or a reader’s incomprehensible proclamation of the Word of God [heard it, including mistakes that changed the entire meaning of a sentence which is why I always read the missalette] will have deleterious effects on the sense of reverence and transcendence that should be part of liturgical celebrations. But even when all those aspects of the ritual are done well [generally the case at the parish I now attend], there is still something more required, and that is the proper ritual behavior of the assembly, of each and every person present who makes up the Body of Christ gathered together to enter into mystery."

"Perhaps an inability to “get something out of Mass” results from a lack of proper behavior that would allow us to fully enter into it in the first place. When we bring Starbucks coffee cups and vitamin water bottles into church we make going into Mass the same as going anywhere else. By behaving the same way in church as we do elsewhere in terms of our bodily posture, our conversational volume, and even in the way we dress, are we expressing a subtle message about our fear of letting that time and that space truly be something different where we will encounter the holy? Do we deliberately try to tone down or tame the transcendent because we are afraid of it: because we are afraid we might really be transformed, afraid that a real demand might be made on us in terms of changing our life to live in greater conformity with Christ?" [YES! oh wait, those were rhetorical questions]

Ding, McNamara enters the ring: The proper focus of worship is Jesus Christ

"In a recent article in Time magazine on using Twitter at Sunday worship, the writer said, “If worship is about creating community, Twitter is an undeniably useful tool.”Twitter may be a useful tool, but worship is not about creating community." [This should be stamped on Catholic foreheads, perhaps on Ash Wed.] The creation of community is the result of our worship of God. We have become so preoccupied with ourselves in our culture that we are turned inward in a blinding prison. If we cannot see beyond ourselves, we cannot worship God. If we do not appreciate that our true home is in heaven, we will expect this life to be all there is, and we will be disappointed. One of the most critical obstacles to faith today is our preoccupation with ourselves and our lack of appreciation and anticipation of life with God forever.The irreverent and all too prevalent talking in Church is a further symptom of this, as is the complaint that I don’t get anything out of going to Church.

Here are other snips from this article which is really good so it should be read entirely:

"The proper focus of worship is not community or feeling good. Worship is not entertainment."

"The proper focus of worship for us as Christians is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the center of our community, and Jesus is the center of our worship."

"The centrality of Christ also has implications for the priest at Mass. ..... If he inserts his personality too much into the Mass, he becomes a distraction. This is also true when telling jokes and bantering about baseball scores is a regular shtick. "

Solemn High Mass at St. Matthew's in Dix Hills

Fr. Brian Austin, FSSP, recently ordained, came to Dix Hills to offer a Solemn High Mass yesterdcay. The deacon and sub-deacon were from the FSSP and the pastor of St. Matthews Fr. John McCartney preached the homily. The blog DRVC Catholic has some pictures and video clips are at the blog DRVC Catholic.

Charges: West Babylon woman had sex with student, 14

The headline in Newsday neglects to include the word "teacher". This is the latest of many stories of teachers being caught abusing children. Since 2002, all Catholics should be hyper-sensitive to anyone abusing teens and put as much focus on the schools as was put on the Church.

Jon & Kate Plus 8

My wife and I watched the season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8 and it was just painful to watch. The first couple of seasons of the show were really funny, interesting and kind of inspiring and now, it just should end. They need to have a normal life and get on with their parenting and forget the show, the fame and the money. Just end it.

Youth and the Future of the Pro-Life Movement

I completely forgot to blog about the Pro-Life Youth Conference held at Nassau Community College yesterday. Leticia posted the panel topics and speakers at Causa Nostrae Laetitia.

Four arrested in plot to bomb NYC targets

From MSNBC:

"NEW YORK - The FBI arrested four men Wednesday in what authorities called a plot to detonate a bomb outside a Jewish temple and to shoot military planes with guided missiles."

"The men, described as Black Muslims, had planned to detonate a car with plastic explosives outside a temple in the Bronx neighborhood of Riverdale and to shoot military planes at the New York Air National Guard base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh with Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles, authorities said.
The defendants planned to "destroy a synagogue and a Jewish community center with C-4 plastic explosives," Acting U.S. Attorney Lev L. Dassin said. "

"Two years ago, two Muslims pleaded guilty to plotting to attack synagogues in Los Angeles. But officials said that they knew of no connection between those arrests and this latest plot in New York. "

Bishop Murphy ordained 9 men as deacons (permanent) this past weekend.

I sent June Cleaver After a Six-Pack to Andrea to add to the Catholic Blog Directory.

Men's conference draws over eight hundred

"By Pete Sheehan

HICKSVILLE — Bishop William Murphy looked out at several hundred men filling the auditorium for the diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference last Saturday and exclaimed: “If you could only see what I see.

“There are men from all parishes of the diocese and all different backgrounds,” Bishop Murphy said. At the sight of so many men so serious about their faith, the bishop noted, “I get pumped.”

The congregation at the closing Mass in the auditorium of Holy Trinity Diocesan High School here roared in response with their own enthusiasm for the daylong conference. More than 800 men attended the conference, which had the theme “You Have What It Takes.”


The above link is to the Long Island Catholic article on the Catholic Men's Conference I attended. The huge turnout is an indication that just this sort of thing was needed in this Diocese. I look forward to next year's event and hope they can line up some good speakers again.

Catholic Men's Conference

The Catholic Men's Conference was very good. It was very well organized and very well attended. There must have beeen 700 men there or more. The speakers were all good, Msgr. Lisante was probably the standout. Fr. Joseph Fitzgerald was the emcee and Bishop Libasci welcomed us men. Brother Louis Leonelli, CFR led off speaking of his conversion experience from pagan to Catholic. He will be ordained in two weeks for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. There was a short video from Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the basketball coach at Duke. This video was made possible thanks to Fr. Fitzgerald meeting Coach K at the Olympics - Fr. Fitzgerald was on the USA Olympic European Handball team. Then it was time for another basketball coach, Lou Carnesecca, the legendary coach from St. John's to give a short talk that was well received. Msgr. Lisante gave the best talk, although I had a bit of it before at Faith on Tap. He spoke on the beauty of sex and how men needed to eliminate porn and extra-marital affairs from their lives. Mark Bavaro, former NY Giant, was surprisingly good and very honest in describing his faith as not quite as on fire as it was in his earlier years. He was there to promote his new book, Rough and Tumble which is a novel. The Detective Stephen McDonald gave a moving talk on forgiveness and led us all in a decade of the Rosary. Throughout the day there was Eucharistic Adoration, Confessions, and vendors at various tables selling some good stuff. I bought The Virtue Driven Life by Fr. Benedict Groeschel from a table run by the excellent Daughters of St. Paul. I did not stay for the Mass offered by Bishop Murphy but overall it was a great day. I am glad to see it was a successful event as this is something that is obviously needed in the Church. Unfortunately I brought a camera with almost dead batteries so any pictures I took of the speakers came out too dark. If anyone who attended has any pictures I could post please send them. At least I can post these pictures of the Orange County Choppers Custom Pope John Paul II Tribute Motorcycle -

I will be at the Catholic Men's Ministry Conference on Saturday. It is going to be a beautiful day, around 82 degrees so hopefully the conference will be good so I don't feel like I wasted a great day indoors. When I first checked out their website there were over 700 tickets available and now there are 100 so it seems like it will be well attended.

Website: Catholic Men's Ministry

CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS TRULY RISEN!

HAPPY EASTER!

I went to Confession yesterday - there was a traffic jam in the parking lot! I had to wait on 1 of the two lines for a little while, and while there each of the two priests were relieved by another priest. This Diocesan wide day of Confession is a great idea and is quite popular. You can hardly spit without hitting a Catholic Church here on Long Island so it is very convenient. It also helps knowing you can walk into any parish anywhere and go anonymously. I am glad to see the Diocese of Brooklyn is on board also.

I wish everyone a prayerful and peaceful Holy Week.

Diocesan Wide Day of Reconciliation

All parishes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre will have confessions heard from 3 - 9 PM tomorrow. This tradition has been going on here for several years and is a good idea. Apparently the Diocese of Brooklyn will also be taking part, as I discovered via The Deacon's Bench who links to this website - SoulWow!

Catholicism and Economics:
Democratic Socialism, Democratic Capitalist, and Distributist Options With a Peschian Response.

I attended the first part of this great conference at the Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies today. As the picture below attests, it was a good turnout for which I am happy. Professor Varacalli always does an excellent job with these events and they are well worth the time and all Catholics in the area should try to attend.

I had to leave early and took this picture on my way out the door. It shows Michael Novak at the podium during the discussion period.

The conference started out with the traditional huge feast featuring various heroes, salads, several trays of baked ziti and cake. The Center for Catholic Studies always feeds the mind and body! I purchased 3 books after stuffing my face: Business As A Calling by Michael Novak, Economics for Helen by Hilaire Belloc, and The Catholic Milieu by Thomas Storck. I was able to get two of these books signed by the authors. (Mr. Belloc was unable to attend, although he was definitely there in spirit.) After the lunch we all headed downstairs and heard brief tributes to 3 Catholic scholars who have recently passed away:

Cardinal Avery Dulles (tribute by Msgr. Robert Batule)
Msgr. Michael Wrenn (tribute by Msgr. George P. Graham)
Fr. Richard John Neuhuas (tribute by Michael Novak)

Then the 3 speakers gave their presentations on the 3 economic options based on Catholic Social Thought -

Dr. Charles M.A. Clark began by noting the irony that he taught at the nation's largest Catholic University and yet it was a secular community college that had a great Center for Catholic Studies. Dr. Clark pointed out how Catholic Social Thought is not economic theory but moral theology. He contrasted Catholic Social Thought (necessarily social) with neoclassical economics (individualistic) and cautioned that self-interest (greed) as the ultimate value eats away at public virtue. A great point he made in my opinion, is that capitalism works in Europe and America because it is able to take advantage of the self-control and value systems which come from the Christian culture that nurtured these areas for centuries. Once that Christian culture is gone, and it is going, watch out....

Next up was Michael Novak who spoke of wealth being created by the minds of people. It was the ideas and the American value of invention and entrepreneurship that grows wealth. He pointed out the positive value of capitalism as lifting so many people up from poverty in just a couple hundred years.

Last to speak was Thomas Storck who gave a very interesting presentation on Distributism. This system was the creation of Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton who based their ideas on Rerum Novarum. In a nutshell, distributism means property is distributed to as many people as possible. It focuses on small businesses and advocates large entities being employee owned. Belloc pointed out the danger of making money from things other than actually producing or working. This increases interest in the wealth itself and decreases interest in the product or work itself.

All of the presentations had some interesting points. I was unable to stay for the discussion period and the final statements as well as the response of Dr. Stephen Krason on solidarism. Even though I only witnessed the first part of the program, it gave me plenty to think about. After I got home, I noticed on The ChesterBelloc Mandate blog that several people from The Society for Distributism were attending so I missed the opportunity to meet them. Well, hopefully I will have the chance at another event. The Society may post the video of the talks on their website which would be awesome. It would be great to have a transcript of the talks and debates. Even though I only heard the opening parts, it was a lot to digest.

I hope nobody minds if I post these pictures I took:

Michael Novak speaking with a retired economics professor I met - George Frost, Dr. Clark is on the left

Thomas Storck speaking with conference attendees during the coffee break

REMINDER -

Catholicism and Economics:
Democratic Socialist, Democratic Capitalist, and Distributist Options

When: Saturday, April 4th, 2009.

Where: College Center Building of Nassau Community College, Garden City, N.Y.

Who: All are invited, free of any charge, but registration is required.

What: A conference on the topic of the compatibility of the Catholic vision with three economic systems: "democratic socialism," "democratic capitalism," and "distributism." The conference features scholarly presentations, intellectual exchanges, and summary statements on the three systems and a final reflection on the conference from the perspective of Heinrich Pesch and Solidarism.

All attendees must register with Nassau Community College, Office of Lifelong Learning, One Education Drive, Garden City, New York, 11530 (phone 1-516-572-7472). A parking permit will be mailed to you. Attendees should be aware that failure to display a permit on the inside window ledge of your vehicle or otherwise parking illegally could result in a parking ticket being issued to you.

Program

11:30 A.M. Luncheon

12:30 P.M. Tributes to the Catholic scholarship of the late Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., of Fordham University by Monsignor Robert Batule of Immaculate Conception Seminary and of the late Monsignor Michael Wrenn of Dunwoodie Seminary by Monsignor George P. Graham, President, NY Metropolitan Chapter of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists.

1 P.M. Presentations. Exchanges, and Summary Statements-

Democratic Socialism - Charles M.A. Clark of St. John's University
Democratic Capitalism - Michael Novak of the American Enterprise Institute
Distributism - Thomas Storck of the Society for Distributism
Final Reflection - Stephen Krason of Franciscan University from the perspective of Heinrich Pesch ("Solidarism").

Conference concludes by 4:30 P.M.

I plan to attend and to see if the 'Democratic Capitalism' option includes much discussion of Libertarianism.

From the Long Island Catholic:

Watch your language

"My advice to my pro-life friends is the same advice my mother offered to me as a child: Watch your language. Calling people “baby killers” or the “anti-Christ” probably isn’t going to persuade them of the rightness of our position. Instead, it makes them less likely to listen and weakens our credibility as pro-life ambassadors. Be conscious of your words. Are they angry, vindictive, mean-spirited? Remember that if you send them out in an e-mail they will travel quickly all over the globe and reach people you don’t even know. Is this the face you want others to see? "



This column by Kathleen Gallagher points out some of the weird and discouraging things I have read within the Catholic blogosphere over the past year. I have enjoyed reading and commenting and blogging for over 6 years now but temporarily lost almost all interest due to the incessant political commentary that made me wonder about St. Blog's. I have read on Catholic blogs that Barack Obama is a "terrorist", a "baby killer", and a "communist". I have seen him imagined as another Hitler and another Castro and even the Anti-Christ. I think this Column hits the nail on the head. If I, a pro-life, orthodox Catholic who is very much a Catholic blogosphere 'fan' am weirded out by the shrill tone of the writing, how do you think others with different outlooks perceive the writing?

Diocese Announces First Catholic Men’s Conference


"ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. 19 March 19, 2009 (Solemnity of St. Joseph) – The Diocese of Rockville Centre announced today an exciting new initiative in its 51-year history, a day-long prayerful gathering of men: The Catholic Men’s Conference. The purpose of the Men’s Conference is to gather Catholic men together for an opportunity to reinforce to them, that the Lord recognizes each of these men, his good and faithful servants in whom he is well pleased.

Held on Saturday, April 25th, 2009, men from across Long Island are invited to Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, Hicksville, NY for a day of prayer, motivational speakers, fellowship and receipt of the Sacraments"

"Guest speakers featured include Brother Louis Leonelli, CFR, Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, with his inspiring story of conversion; former St. John’s University Basketball Coach, Lou Carnesecca; New York Police Department Detective Steven McDonald, with his experience of forgiveness; retired New York Giants’ All-Star tight end, Mark Bavaro and Msgr. Jim Lisante, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Massapequa Park. The Most Reverend William Murphy, Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre will celebrate Mass at 4:30 p.m."

This sounds like a good thing, the conference has a website here.

Bishop Guglielmone

I got home from the gym and caught just the end of the Mass on Telecare at which Msgr. Guglielmone was ordained and installed as Bishop of Charleston, SC. The Mass was live streamed over the internet on the Diocese of Charleston's website. There was a 'Benedictine' arrangement on the Altar (6 candles and a crucifix in the middle), so called because Pope Benedict started this recently as a way to bring about 'interior ad orientem'. There was some beautiful sounding chants while the new Bishop walked around and blessed those within the Cathedral. Too bad I did not see the ordination.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan to NY?

The rumor is once again being spread that Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, who had to clean up the mess left behind by disgraced Archbishop Rembert Weakland, will be the next Archbishop of NY. He was long considered a candidate for NY and he may need to clean up a bit of a mess in NY also, although nothing to do with payoffs to gay loves as in Weakland's case. Cardinal Egan was never popular with his priests or his employees who saw him as a 'Dr. House' type, with little social skills. He was sent to NY because his administrative skills, something the great Cardinal O'Connor did not possess, were sorely needed. So now it appears the time is right for Dolan, who is a very warm and caring guy and would probably help the morale of priests in NY.

2/23/09 UPDATE: it is official now

Beautiful Churches on Long Island (2/21/09 update - scroll down)

I have mentioned before that the Church I was married in - St. Martin of Tours in Amityville - is one of the most beautiful Churches in the DRVC. I keep meaning to take some pictures of the Church and post them to show why I believe this.
I would like to know if anyone else knows of beautiful parish Churches on Long Island. Please let me know!

12/14 UPDATE - moved to top, From the comments we have:

St. Kilian's, Farmingdale (yes!)
St. Patrick's Bay Shore
St. Aloysius, Great Neck
St. Agnes, Rockville Centre


I have not been to St. Patrick's or St. Aloysius so I will have to check them out. St. Agnes, I am not sure of, the outside is beautiful, but the inside is kinda plain?

12/21 UPDATE from the comments -

Infant Jesus, Port Jefferson
St. Patrick's, Glen Cove (the oldest parish in the DRVC)
St. Ignatius, Hicksville
Cure of Ars, Merrick
St. Isidore, Riverhead
St. Joseph's, Garden City
Sacred Hearts Jesus and Mary, Southampton

I would also add St. Therese of Liseux in Montauk and St. Raphael's in East Meadow, which are both newer Churches.

2/21/09 Update -

I have been to Mass at St. Patrick's in Bay Shore, and it does have a very nice sanctuary. Unfortunately, the sanctuary is not used as they have moved the altar to almost the middle of the Church, I suppose in an effort to allow more people to see the priest. (This actually doesn't work at least from I sat, it was hard to see the priest and the lector). I went to an evening Mass so it was dark and I would have liked to see the Church with sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows in the high dome in the center of the Church. The Church is similiar to St. Joseph's in Babylon and has a very old feel to it.

I also attended a lecture at St. Joseph's in Garden City and peeked into the Church before the lecture started. It was very beautiful with a big baldachino (?) over the altar. I will have to get there for Mass some day.

Michael Dubriel, RIP

I recently starting using Facebook and have many Catholic bloggers as friends there. I logged on last night and immediately saw notice of Michael's death. He was Amy Welborn's husband and collapsed at the gym. This is a big tragedy for Amy and her children. She has asked for people to buy his books, particularly The How-To Book of The Mass.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed,through the mercy of God,rest in peace. Amen.

The Episcopal Church

2008 was the year that the situation in the Episcopal church finally reached a boiling point. Episcopalians have been in decline for decades especially starting in the 1970’s when they began to ordain women as priests. With the creation Gene Robinson, a man who left his wife for another man, as bishop of New Hampshire, the church really began to unravel. For some years now, groups of Anglo-Episcopalians have been separating from the official Episcopal organization in the US, but now entire dioceses have officially announced their separation: Forth Worth, Pittsburgh and Quincy.

Perhaps the most severe break was in Pittsburgh: “Approximately 27 congregations, or about 40% of the Pittsburgh Diocese prior to the October separation, remain active in the life of the Episcopal Church.”

It is important for Catholics to keep an eye on this since many Episcopalians, including some clergy have come into the Catholic Church where they should be welcomed home. Also, the movement within the Episcopal church can provide a glimpse of what will happen, and has happened within the Catholic Church if certain ideas take hold. The ordination of women is sometimes seen as inevitable and somehow ‘liberating’ to women. Forgetting the faulty theology for a minute, the ordination of women is also seen as the solution to the vocations crisis. Here is where the situation of the Episcopalians is instructive. The ordination of women in the Episcopal Church has not increased the membership in the church nor has it meant an overflow of clergy. The ordination of actively gay men has not helped either. In fact, Episcopalians are hemorrhaging members as the number of defections within the US grows.

For examples close to home, the Episcopal church in Levittown closed down some years ago and one congregation in Queens completely left the Diocese. The two churches around my childhood hometown of Massapequa do not have resident priests.

The reactions of Episcopalians to the situation (denial) is also instructive and I believe mirrors the reactions of many Catholics, particularly religious, to the loss of active Mass going members in the Catholic Church. One thing many Catholics and Episcopalians share is absolute denial of the negative effects of straying from the path of orthodoxy. As the number of both Church going Catholics and the number of religious declined incredibly from 1960-1980, there were and are many Catholics who say anything but the truth: orthodox theology, teaching, and living attracts people, heterodoxy and giving in to whatever is popular at the time does not attract worshipping,