Thursday, December 05, 2013

10 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘The Sound of Music’ and the Real-Life Maria von Trapp

"Tonight, NBC will broadcast The Sound of Music Live!, which is exactly what it sounds like: a live production of the classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical. Starring Carrie Underwood as Maria von Trapp, the nun who forsakes her religious calling to marry the man she loves so they can tour the world with their brood of singing children, the production is the first live television event of its kind in decades. The Sound of Music is a beloved family classic, but there’s quite a lot you may not know about the musical, the wildly popular film based upon it, and the real-life Maria von Trapp."

Read the rest    - this live event is being done from the former Grumman plant in Bethpage, Long Island.  This is where thousands of Long Islanders once worked, including those that built the lunar module that landed on the moon.  

Monday, December 02, 2013

When Santa Punched a Heretic in the Face: 13 Memes on St. Nicholas

"Listers, St. Nicholas was born in AD 270 and became the Bishop of Myra in Lycia (modern day Turkey). He died on December 6, 343 leaving a legacy that would grow into a strong and multifaceted cult. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of “Saint Nikolaos”. Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas, he is also known as De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas) or simply as De Sint (The Saint). His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints. The actual feast day of St. Nicholas is December 6th."


Read the rest at St. Peter's List

Sunday, December 01, 2013

Interesting Event in Massapequa

Who is The Venerable Father Anthony Vincent Gallo?

Tuesday, December 3, 2013
7:00–9:00 pm

St. Rose of Lima, Massapequa
Rectory Meeting Room

Presenters:  Bill Gallo, Nephew of Fr. Gallo
Michael Gallo, Grand Nephew of Fr. Gallo

Please call the rectory
to register – 798.4992
Coffee, tea, and Italian pastries
and cookies will be served.


Bill and Michael Gallo are among the three generations of nephews, nieces, grand nephews, grand
nieces, great-grand nephews and great-grand nieces of Father Gallo who live in Nassau County.
Their faith-filled and interesting presentation will provide a close-up and personal account of the
modern process by which a person may be declared a saint of the Catholic Church.
Father Gallo lived a life of physical and mental suffering dedicated to and joined with Christ’s
Paschal Mystery. He truly exercised the theological and moral virtues to the heroic degree as
proclaimed in the decree issued by Pope John Paul II on April 19, 1990, whereby Father Gallo
was declared “Venerable.”
All are welcome to attend the Gallos’ presentation, particularly parents and their school-age
children. 


For more information about Father Gallo, please visit www.fathergallo.com

St. Anthony’s relics coming to New York

From the Long Island Catholic:

"In 1263, St. Bonaventure discovered the remains of Saint Anthony of Padua. Now, to mark the 750th anniversary of this event the Franciscan Friars are touring with relics from the popular saint and invite all to join them at St. Catherine of Sienna Church, Franklin Square, on December 14.  The relics will be available for veneration on Dec. 14 from 3 to 9:30 p.m.  Vigil Masses will be celebrated at 5 and 8 p.m. with veneration before and after each Mass.  St. Catherine of Sienna is located at 33 New Hyde Park Rd., Franklin Square.

The relics of St. Anthony will also be available for veneration in Queens on Thurrsday, December 12th at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, 110-06 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills,  with Mass at 12:05 p.m., as well as other stops at churches in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx starting December 7. The complete schedule is available here."

With all this traveling around, I hope the relics don't get lost! Then what would you do?

Prepare the Way for the Comings of the Lord: Why We Celebrate Advent

Deacon Keith Fournier on Advent:

"In and through our liturgical seasons of the Church we are invited to mark our life journey on the road between the first and the final coming of the Lord by commemorating the great events of the Christian faith. In so doing, we can more fully incorporate them into our daily lives and build a Christian culture infused with their beauty. We also bear witness to the Truth of the Gospel as we manifest the beauty of its promise to a world waiting to be born anew.  
 
As Christians, we believe that all time is a gift, given by God. There is no such thing as profane time for a Christian. Time has been transformed by the Paschal mystery; the Incarnation, Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Coming Return of Jesus Christ. The Eternal One entered into human history. As a result, time has been forever changed, and so have we. Christ has come, Christ is coming and Christ will come Again!"

Six Tips To Help You Evangelize Lapsed Catholics

Ryan Eggenberger is a young convert to Catholicism and he presents some tips (six) on evangelizing lapsed Catholics:

"The story begins on a plane, as I have found myself spending many hours there recently. I think the Lord has been putting specific people in front of me because He knows that I’ll end up talking to them and hopefully convincing them to go back to confession. And I always ask for such opportunities which He seems to grant. That seems to happen, a lot! Praise God.

Last week, though, another opportunity seemed to present itself. A woman sat next to me – a tall, Australian woman – who was wearing a cowboy hat. I had to make a comment on the hat, because 1) she was the only person wearing a cowboy hat on the plane; and, 2) who wears cowboy hats on a plane? and, 3) I’m heading to Australia at the end of the month for CNMC13. So we’re practically best friends.

Clearly, this woman was interesting to me and has a personality that I wanted to know more about. I opened with a comment on the hat – “What a great hat!”

So we started with small chat. By takeoff though, only five minutes later while still taxi-ing, we dove right in. She inquired about the picture on a book I *by chance* had in my lap, face-up, pointed in a direction she could easily see. The book was Gaitley’s 33 Days to Morning Glory."