Saturday, November 14, 2009

This is not from The Onion, this is real:


Eliot Spitzer Speaks At Harvard Ethics Forum

"The man whose career ended in scandal was in town on Thursday talking about ethics. Former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, who was driven from office by a prostitution scandal, isn't talking about his ethical issues, rather ethics in government and business."

Friday, November 13, 2009

Anti-Catholic bigot Tony Alamo was sentenced to 175 years on sex charges.

"CNN) -- Evangelist Tony Alamo is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison after an Arkansas judge sentenced him to 175 years Friday on charges that included taking minors across state lines for sex, according to prosecutors.

A jury convicted Alamo in July on 10 federal counts covering offenses that spanned 11 years and dated back to 1994, according to documents from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas."

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Three dioceses, three seminaries, one priesthood

Bishop Murphy's column in this week's Long Island Catholic discusses the possible merger of the 2 seminaries in our area: Immaculate Conception in Huntington and St. Joseph in Dunwoodie. He advises that the apostolic visitation of diocesan seminaries that occurred about 5 years ago (following the priest sex scandals) suggested that there were too many major seminaries. This is a function of the steep decline in vocations that occurred since the 1960's. Although people continue to deny reality, the Church in America was at its height up until the 1950's and it has been in decline in many ways since then. Seminaries back then were full and actually had to turn men away, while today the huge buildings are too big for the number of seminarians. Dioceses have to spend large amounts of money on maintaining buildings meant to house hundreds of men while only a fraction of that number reside in them. So it makes sense to try to figure out a more efficient way of doing things. Bishop Murphy makes clear in his article that merging the 2 seminaries is only one option out of many that are being considered. Bishop Murphy, Bishop DiMarzio of the Diocese of Brooklyn and Archbishop Timothy Dolan are working to try to figure out how to have the two major seminaries and the College Seminary in Douglaston collaborate in forming priests for the 3 dioceses. I hope that whatever is done, it will benefit seminarians and young men discerning a vocation. I think an actual merger of the 2 major seminaries could work well and help make better use of the vast facilities. The formation of deacons and lay people that is done at seminaries would also have to be considered.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Relic of St. Mary Magdalene

Relics of St. Mary Magdalene have been venerated in the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon, France since the second century. One of these relics, a piece of the tibia, can be venerated in the Main Chapel of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington. Members of the public are invited to participate in any or all of the above events in the Main Chapel of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception.

When: Thursday, November 12th from 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

The schedule for the day is as follows:
9:00 a.m - 11:30 a.m. -Veneration
11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Mass
1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. - Veneration
3:00 p.m. - Catechesis, Msgr. Richard Henning (Professor of Sacred Scripture, Seminary of the Immaculate Conception) - “St. Mary Magdalene in the New Testament”
5:00 p.m. - Catechesis, Msgr. Charles Fink (Director of Spiritual Formation, Seminary of the Immaculate Conception) - “Veneration of Relics in the Catholic Tradition”
7:30 p.m - Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Eucharistic Adoration
8:30 p.m. - Catechesis, Fr. Romeric, O.P. (Superior of the Dominican Fathers, Frejus-Toulon) - “The Tradition of Veneration of St. Mary Magdalene”
9:30 p.m. Night Prayer and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

Where: Main Chapel of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception
440 West Neck Road
Huntington, New York 11743

Sunday, November 08, 2009


Men In Black







The above picture shows most of the brothers and priests of the Marianist Province of Meribah, which is dedicated to Catholic education within the Diocese of Rockville Centre. They run Chaminade High School, Kellenberg High School, and St. Martin De Porres Marianist. The picture was lifted from their vocations blog, Into The Deep.