Olympus to leave LI, take 840 jobs

I worked for this company once, when serial killer Joel Rifkin was there as a temp. Although I am sorry for the many good people who will lose their jobs, there were some people who, if they are still there, might consider this an important lesson in life. But they probably won't.

Total as of April 5th, 2004: $332,148,696

The Passion of The Christ is now the 10th most successful movie in US history. Some are saying it will get an extra bump during Holy Week, and I know I am planning on seeing it again during that time.

To the mattresses

This new blog by a convert looks promising - it combines two of my favorite things: Catholicism and Godfatherism. I found it via Come On, Get Lively.

letters to a young Catholic (The Art of Mentoring) by George Weigel

I am almost done reading this book and I should have taken notes because there are many great thoughts in it that could be blogged. Weigel takes the reader on a tour of the Catholic world and he is a fascinating tour guide.

Faith on Tap

Last night was another Faith on Tap event, with the speaker, Dr. Joseph Varacalli speaking on "Catholic Political Impotence". His energetic talk focused on what we in the Church need to do to have the influence we should in this country. Dr. Varacalli is the author of a great book -Bright Promise, Failed Community: Catholics and the American Public Order. He is the co-founder of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists based at Franciscan University, and is a Board of Directors member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. He is an orthodox Catholic who has successfully accomplished good things and is not afraid to speak his mind. The love he has for the Church came through very clearly in the talk.

The Weight of the Mass: A Tale of Faith by Josephine Nobisso


The author of this book (and several other children's books) will be in Massapequa on Saturday. Any locals might want to go to Faith and Reason Catholic Shop at 742 N. Broadway for the booksigning. She will be there from 11 am to 12 pm.

Brothers share message of forgiveness

"One brother was abused by a priest when he was a child; the other is a priest who asked himself how he could continue to wear his Roman collar when he learned of his brother’s traumatic experience."

The presentation Mr. Nohs does on the Shroud of Turin is excellent, although when I saw it he did not discuss his abuse by a priest. I believe the article describes the first time he has ever spoken of this. More info on the Shroud presentation can be found at The Holy Face of Jesus.

Total as of March 28th, 2004: $315,020,000

ONE MONTH AFTER “THE PASSION”: BODY COUNT—ZERO

"Last summer, Boston University professor Paula Fredriksen predicted, with no uncertainty, that ‘when violence breaks out’ (following the opening of ‘The Passion of the Christ’) Mel Gibson will have some explaining to do."

The movie now has the chance to enter the top 10 domestic grossing movies of all time!

Do you think Mary Boys, Bill Cork, Paula Fredickson or Abraham Foxman, etc.. will admit that The Passion of The Christ has not killed any Jews but has caused people to confess to crimes???? Don't hold your breath, these are the type of people that never allow facts to get in the way of their stupid opinions.

Robber turns himself in after watching film

Christ movie moves Texan to murder confession

Updated: Johnny Olsen, a notorious convicted killer and neo-Nazi, has confessed to two bombings in Oslo in the 90s. Olsen, 41, decided to purge his guilty conscience after viewing Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion of the Christ, newspaper Dagbladet reports.

You know, after seeing stories like these, and hearing a few stories of people being positively influenced by the movie, I wonder why so many were so against this movie. You really have to wonder what drove these people to so vehemently blast both the movie and Mel Gibson. I also am wondering whether Mel Gibson's traditionalism is a wake up call to the Church.