I decided to change my template after 2 years. I guess I picked a really stupid day to do this. Anyway, I have to add all the links and blogs, and comments.

Good info on what happens now at EWTN

John Paul II Dies at 84

Newsday continues to reap what it has sowed:

Gossip Queen at Odds with Newsday
Liz Smith Says Daily Giant Unfairly Ended Contract

The reason this anti-Catholic rag is getting rid of most of its long-time columnists is that it is still hurting from the exposure of its massive circulation fraud. Advertisers must be paid back for all the money they overpaid, lawsuits have to be defended, and on top of all this, its actual circulation has gone down. So besides Liz Smith, who I think is a good soul who always tries to be positive about people, they dumped the horrible bigot Jimmy Breslin, the great writer but "recovering" Catholic Ed Lowe, and who knows how many others. Bill Donohue has called this paper the most anti-Catholic in the nation.

I heard the report on the radio on my lunch hour that Reuters reported the Pope had died. Of course, it is now 6:24 PM and he is still alive, although near the very end. I just saw on MSNBC a live shot of St. Peter's Square where people are gathered in vigil. What an incredible end to an incredible reign.

Fr. Michael Hunt recommends the play Doubt which I heard about this morning on NPR. The play is about a New York priest who is accused of molestation and a nun who confronts him. It does sound interesting - here is Terry Teachout writing a little about the play.

Terri Schindler-Schiavo, RIP

Relief sweeps across the land
The pain and discomfort are gone
Now back to the mundane, the painless
Now back to music and tv
And forget about sickness and death

What made them so uneasy?
What made them so eager for death to come?
Was it fear that it could have been them?
Doubt about the value of their own lives?

Death brings relief to those tired of life.

The Newsday columnist Paul Vitello is as biased as they come against Catholics, Republicans, Evangelicals, etc.. So when he showed his support in the Schiavo situation I knew something was different. Today he reveals the issue hit home with him in My daughter may dance.

This was my last day of vacation - I take off Holy Week each year. I spent part of the day in the bookstore reading "Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson Is Guilty". The author is the biological sister of Peterson - his mother put two kids up for adoption and raised two kids. She met Scott about 5 years before the murder and for most of the book believed he was not guilty. The denial she had was bad, but not as bad as Peterson's mother Jackie. There are just a few chilling notes on the murderer who stayed in the author's house just before his arrest. The author notes Scott added hard core porno channels to his tv just after Laci's disappearance, he did not seem interested in the police search for her, and he became loud when seeing the police searching the bay where she was eventually found. She recounts several lies Peterson told and the partying he did while there was an ongoing search for his wife. He hit on her babysitter in a very obvious way just before his arrest. The author seems completely perplexed by Scott's evil - why would he kill his wife and his baby? why would he lie? How can someone plainly not care about his wife and baby's murder? The book is interesting because it shows on a large scale the type of thing we see in people everyday. Although most people we run into are not murderers, they do evil things that sometimes makes no sense.


I also spent part of today updating my Catholic Blog Directory - there was some discussion on Bett.net about creating an official blog directory and several people volunteered to help. I love the St. Blog's webring but many of the links are dead and there is no easy way to surf since the list is random. I like to have a list in alphabetical order and if others have technical skills I would like to see the list be able to be sorted by location and/or category also. Hopefully a directory can be made with lots of features and I will gladly hand over my list and volunteer to help keep it updated.

The sisters being removed from campus ministry are being discussed at Open Book. Years ago, even before reverting, I would read books on the Church and learn about scandalous things. I used to read about crazy stuff going on and thought things were a little better here in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Then the Suffolk County grand jury report came out and I read the whole thing and realized things here were pretty bad. McGann is dead and can't answer (to us) for what he did and didn't do here. His would-be successor Bishop Wcela wrote an article in America or Commonweal entitled "What Did I Miss?". I think his reflection was not entirely sincere though since "conservatives" had been telling him for years what was going on and he ignored them. Dr. Drolesky points out just some of the silly stuff that went on during Bishop McGann's time. My point is, things here were pretty bad and Bishop Murphy is trying to clean up McGann's Mess. The introduction of the New Evangelization to campus ministry is just a part of this. The Bishop living on the grounds of the Cathedral instead of a $950,000 house a couple of miles away from it is part of this too. Perhaps the Bishop's residence on the top floor of a parish building could have been made a little simpler, but criticism of this residence is over the top. The introduction of a weekly traditional latin Mass is also part of the cleanup, as is inviting Fr. Benedict Groeschel to speak to the priests of the Diocese. (McGann had invited Fr. Richard McBrien) Changes made at the seminary over the past few years also have helped, the number of seminarians here has doubled in the past two years. The nuns whose contracts were not renewed, the Voice of the Faithful, and many commentators of St. Blog's need to understand just how much of a mess there is to clean up. This Diocese needs evangelization and real Catholic teachings, in campus ministry, the seminary, and the parishes.

A nun in habit walks in a park and gets called a child molester. Religious should expect this but it is extra sad that nuns have to put up with this nonsense. Sr. Lorraine is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul - an excellent order.

Update: Sister emailed to thank me for this mention and it turns out she is a native born Long Islander!

DR. SCOTT HAHN LECTURE

This will be Dr. Hahn's first speaking engagement on Long Island. There will be 3 consecutive one-hour lectures:

Hail Holy Queen

The Lamb's Supper

Scripture Matters

Reception and refreshments to follow

Saint Kilian R.C. Church
485 Conklin Street
Farmingdale, NY 11735

Tickets are $10 for parishioners, $15 for non-parishioners
Respond by March 31st
Call 516-249-0127

For any locals reading this blog, check out this page for other Catholic type events happening on Long Island.

At tonight's Faith on Tap we had John Zmirak speak and he was excellent. (I asked him why he doesn't update his blog more often, he said he uses it to post stuff he has already been paid to write - writing for free was not for him. Now I know why he went to Yale and I didn't) His talk was on movies and popular culture and the Catholic Church. He made the point that Barbara Nicolosi has made - that art should be good and not just simplistic, pious dreck. He also recommended some films (The Third Miracle, Sweet Nothing) and authors (Percy, Mauriac). He was funny and an exciting speaker. At the end of his talk, he read this great article to us -

"I Am Michael Schiavo"

LI landmark in right-to-die battle

Chaminade's court battle 25 years ago was one of the nation’s first; it set a precedent that still stands today

I am glad to see this article and Newsday did a good job reporting the facts. The Brother Fox case was an important one - when Gov. Pataki signed a law regarding family-rights in these cases, he invited Fr. Eichner to attend the signing ceremony. Equally important to note is that Fr. Eichner recognizes that the Schiavo case is "quite different" from the Fox case. He is quoted as saying "Let her parents take care of her. It's an iffy case, and in those situations you always go on the side of life." It is also important to note that Dennis Dillon is one of the most Pro-Life Catholics in public office in the United States, and the Eichner Vs. Dillon case was a case of a great Catholic hero vs. another great Catholic hero. For more details on the Brother Fox case see here.

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends, standing with me in this holy light,
join me in asking God for mercy,
that he may give his unworthy minister
grace to sing his Easter praises.

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God,
the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin
to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night when first you saved our fathers:
you freed the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night when the pillar of fire
destroyed the darkness of sin!

This is the night when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin
and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night when Jesus Christ
broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave
you gave away your Son.

O happy fault,
O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God
to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night
dispels all evil, washes guilt away,
restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace, and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the morning Star which never sets find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

I started this blog because I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts on being a "revert" to the Catholic Church. I had pretty good experiences growing up Catholic and wanted to make that known, since so many people seem to have a problem with Catholicism and/or the Church. I never thought this little corner of the internet would see me rolling in freebies. Well, actually there have only been two, but it was nice to be noticed. The first was an invitation to a free screening of the movie Millions by Fox Searchlight. The film features a young Catholic school boy who finds money and wants to spend it by helping people. During the film he has conversations with various saints. Here is the review at Decent Films. The film is by Danny Boyle who did Trainspotting and it looks good. The opportunity to view a film before it opens, a film that has Catholic things running through it, in Manhattan, for free was too good to ignore. The weather was not cooperative however and I didn't get to attend. I would like to see this film though and perhaps I will see it within the next week.

The other thing I received was a copy of Swimming with Scapulars: True Confessions of a Young Catholic by Matthew Lickona. It is a memoir by a tradition-minded Catholic. He works as a wine reviewer, has four children and attended Thomas Aquinas College. The book is good and I think many young Catholics would recognize themselves in the book. There are a few surprises, including an encounter with a pervert priest that did not manage to shake Lickona's faith. Check out the author's website which (surprise!) includes a blog.

Nice to see a couple of things in this culture that present Catholicism in a positive light. Now I am thinking of starting a blog about wine or food to see if I get any freebies....

No humanity in starvation

This is a strong editorial by Cathy Cleaver Ruse of the USCCB printed in Newsday.

And here is a succinct and powerful piece from a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal that never mentions Terri Schiavo by name.

"The drama which we recall this Holy Week is being lived out today – and everyone is present in the praetorium. Let us pray that this time God protects the innocent from injustice and strengthens those in authority so that by the grace of God, Pilate’s choice may not be repeated."

A STATEMENT FROM BISHOP WILLIAM MURPHY

Catholic moral teaching and Terry Schiavo

Nun won't turn the other cheek in firing

"Riordan said she always kept an open mind when she counseled students of all religions and many nonbelievers on tough issues such as abortion, gay rights and premarital sex.
The nun fears her replacements will be less available to students and that the young clerics' more conservative views could turn troubled students away."

In the Long Island Catholic the story is presented as an attempt to make campus ministry part of the New Evangelization. Fr. Brian Barr talks of "dynamic Catholicism and dynamic orthodoxy" being a goal so this all sounds good.

I missed the Jews and The Church conference this weekend due to a death in the family, but Karen Hanley points me to some pictures at the With Issue blog.