Voice of the Faithful has a Long Island chapter in case anyone cares. I occasionally check out their website to see if there is anything of interest. The minutes of their November 15th regional meeting (held at a Universalist Unitarian place) had an interesting sentence that caught my eye. The guest speaker was a writer named Thomas Cahill who wrote "Mysteries of the Middle Ages The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe". The minutes list some good things he says about the Middle Ages and I am glad to read that yet another author is attempting to correct the record of this age as the "dark ages". I don't know if the minutes accurately reflect what he said but the VOTF minute taker records:

"With regard to the structure of our Church, he reminded us that Jesus did not ordain anyone. It is safe to assume that neither did He envision the pyramidal organization as we have today. " [emphasis mine]

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

This is good.

Islamists kicked out of Mogadishu

This is even better.

About 4,000 people, mostly militants, have died in 2006, the bloodiest period in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

This is the best news so far.

Let's hope the New Year will see American troops leave Iraq, where they are not needed, and moved to Afghanistan and Pakistan where they are very much needed. I hope 2007 will be the year when we finally see real progress in the war on terror. Remember to follow all the news by reading Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch. And consider buying the new book from Robert Spencer:

The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion

Unruly Passenger Slaps Federal Air Marshal

"A US Airways passenger faced charges of interfering with a flight crew Thursday after he apparently unknowingly slapped an undercover federal air marshal, said an official familiar with the case.
The man, who'd been drinking liquor, threw a mid-air temper tantrum Wednesday night after attendants refused to serve him any more alcohol during his flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport to Fort Myers, Florida, the official said. "

People this pathetic should be banned from flying any airlines, put in jail for a year, and fined very heavily. After 9/11, there should be mandatory prison terms for unruly flight behavior.

Since this blog sometimes focuses on Long Island stuff having nothing to do with Catholicism, I suppose posting about the Rosie O'Donnell VS. Donald Trump battle is in order. After all, Rosie is from Commack and Donald hails from Lattington. Their hometowns are approx. 30 miles apart physically but economically, the two towns are light years apart. The battling between them is doing nothing to enhance Long Islanders' reputation, although I am not sure people think of Trump as a Long Islander. I don't care for either one of them so let's hope the battle ends soon, as it is annoying.

I went to Mass last night at St. Martin of Tours in Amityville. I have been attending the 8 PM Christmas Eve Mass there for a few years. It is a well kept secret of the Diocese of Rockville Centre as it happens to have some of the best music on Long Island. At 7 PM a choir came out and sang some Christmas carols. Then at 7:30 the choir is joined by an orchestra and plays another 30 minutes of songs. At 8 PM, the Mass begins and the choir and orchestra play the music throughout the Mass. It is all done very well, although at times the music is a bit drawn out, a bit too dramatic. I wish I knew music because I would love to post what settings were used. The Gloria and Agnus Dei were both in latin. The orchestra sounded great, and the Church is always beautiful, even more so at Chistmas time. The closing hymn was the Alleluia Chorus!! I would encourage Long Islanders to go at least once to this Mass.

Merry Christmas!!