Saturday, April 03, 2010

Empty Tabernacle on Holy Thursday

When I attended Mass on Holy Thursday at St. Joseph's in Babylon, I was very surprised to see the tabernacle was empty, doors wide open, and the sanctuary lamp out. This was apparently correct. I believe this is the first time I have ever seen the tabernacle empty before Holy Thursday Mass - I have always seen it done after the Mass. Speaking of Liturgical stuff, I have yet to see veiled statues, does anyone know of any parish on Long Island that veils its statues for Holy Week?

Friday, April 02, 2010

2010 Men's Conference - April 24th, 2010

at Holy Trinity High School, Hicksville, NY


The 2nd Men's Conference will be held with "Catholic Guy" Host Lino Rulli as the emcee. This year the cost of the ticket does not include lunch, which is a shame because the lunch last year was delicious.
Triduum

Holy Thursday - I attended the Holy Thursday Mass at St. Joseph's in Babylon last night. Overall it would a good Liturgy in both Spanish and English. I like the way they alternated the two languages, first reading read in English but printed in Spanish in the booklet, second reading was the opposite. The priest gave his homily in both languages and the opening and post communion prayers were read in both. Their Good Friday service will also be bilingual, but I think it is unfortunate that they will have two separate Easter Vigils - 1 in the Church in English and 1 in a parish hall in Spanish. I think the Vigil should be the 1 Liturgy for all parishioners, however they can work that out.

Good Friday - Today I was unable to attend Good Friday service but I just tuned into it on Telecare. This is about the third time recently that I have turned on Telecare and heard beautiful chant from St. Agnes .

Easter Vigil - I am unsure what parish to attend this year, I would like to go to a parish I have not been to yet.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Why Do We Bother?

RosemarieDRE writes about complaints:

"In the last month, I have had complaints about catechists teaching that abortion is murder; complaints that we expect the children AND their families to actually attend mass; complaints that we are rigid (WHAT does that even mean?)...."

Click here to read the rest, and please pray for all DRE's and CCD teachers on Long Island.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Our Lady of Lourdes School in Massapequa Park is closing in June due to very low enrollment.

This follows the closing of Corpus Christi school in Mineola. I am a big fan of Catholic schools, but it is simply too expensive to run as many schools as the Diocese currently has. The remaining schools need to be financially secure and thoroughly Catholic, or they should be closed as well. I do not like the idea of Catholic schools existing only for the wealthy but that has been the case for awhile now. If the schools are financially secure, then the schools can be available for all Catholics, especially with the Tommorrow's Hope Foundation helping out. There are three ways Catholics can focus on Catholic education:

1) Educating their children in the faith at home - obviously parents are the primary teachers of the faith.

2) Concentrating on Religious Education in the parishes. The overwhelming majority of young Catholics are educated in CCD programs - not Catholic schools. CCD needs to be more professional, more orthodox and more widely used especially at the high school level.

3) The remaining schools need to focus on passing on the faith to the young, rather than just providing an option for private schooling to wealthy Long Islanders. Lay Catholics on Long Island might start an orthodox Catholic school, perhaps using the Montessori model, in order to foster a truly Catholic environment.