Sex Assault On Mepham Student

Sound familiar? This is the school made famous when young men were raped and tortured by football players Ken Carney, Tom Diasparra, and Phil Sofia. There were others who stood around and cheered but they were not prosecuted. The media hype intensified until the students and town turned on their football heros (it took awhile) but we haven't heard much since.

SANTO SUBITO???

Sainthood Process for Pope John Paul II Opened

"For Thomas Suozzi, being Catholic is an important part of who he is. So is being a politician. Tuesday, he sought to find a way to be both on abortion and was solidly endorsed by his bishop."

From Newsday: Reactions to Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi's abortion proposal

Pro

"In a rare show of support from a high-ranking church official for a Catholic politician who backs abortion rights, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre Tuesday lauded Suozzi's "courageous and positive" step."

"Johanna Cervellino, education chairman of the Long Island Coalition for Life, a nonsectarian group based in Ronkonkoma, called the plan "very positive. Many women don't know the alternatives."

Con

"It sounds like something an anti-choice public official would say," said Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice New York. After reviewing the text, she said Suozzi had "almost apologetically buried" his position on abortion rights."

Newsday has stated in each article that Suozzi supports abortion rights, but he has mostly expressed his opinion that abortion is legal and will continue to be that way. The pro-life movement, through marches, pickets, education, technology, and real assistance to women in need, has succeeded enough to effect change in the political climate. The rise of pro-life clinics, homes for pregnant women, and safe-haven laws have all made inroads in the fight against abortion. Pro-lifers should be politically smart enough to show support for anyone or anything that will continue this trend.

Suozzi enters abortion debate

"Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi this morning said he wanted to bring together "intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate and religious people" on both sides of the abortion debate by spending $1 million a year for three years on homes for single mothers, programs to encourage adoption, and education to prevent unplanned pregnancies."

Text of Suozzi's Speech

Suozzi mentions Patricia Shea and Momma's House and how he helped this pro-life group, as mentioned on this blog. Suozzi is clearly in a difficult position as a Democrat who must tow the party line on abortion. His stance on pushing abortion alternatives does predate the current Hillary Clinton-led push to the middle that Democrats have adopted since the election.

Statement from Bishop Murphy on Suozzi’s plan to reduce abortions

"Over the weekend, the Catholic League website was hacked, apparently by Islamic extremists."

Great Mother's Day post at E-Pression by new mother, Zorak.

Theological Question of the Day:

I am a Mets fan, and therefore a Yankees hater. I am enjoying the current dismal performance of those darn pinstriped millionaires. The team owner, George Steinbrenner, known as "The Boss" among other four letter words, owns Bellamy Road, a favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. Is it wrong for me to want this horse to lose just because of its semi-relationship to the New York Yankees?

Great post from a Sean, who grew up in Massapequa and may be someone I know from childhood-

"I'm a bad Catholic, not because the Catholic Church is wrong. It's because I don't follow their teachings, and if I don't like it, I can find a church that will be nicer to me."

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi will propose spending $3 million to reduce abortions. When Suozzi was mayor of Glen Cove he did assist Momma's House and is on their honorary board of trustees.

Look at what Newsday is reporting -

That image on an underpass some believed looked like Our Lady of Guadalupe was covered by someone with black shoe polish and a swastika. The state highway department considered that to be graffiti so they covered it with brown paint. People somehow removed the paint and the image is now back, intact.

The editor of the Jesuit magazine America is quitting, perhaps due to revelations of complaints filed in Rome.

Fr. Gommar DePauw, RIP

Fr. DePauw was the first Catholic priest to establish an independent chapel to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass. The Ave Maria chapel in Westbury was established in 1968. Mel Gibson worshiped there once. He sounded like a priest way ahead of his time, may he rest in peace.

Twenty-first Annual

SPIRITUALITY CONVOCATION

Date: May 21, 2005 9:00AM - 4:00 PM

Place: Auditorium of Archbishop Stepinac High School
950 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY 10605

The Archdiocese of New York will have Fr. Benedict Groeschel speaking on The Eucharist and The Legacy of John Paul II!! As if that is not enough they will also have Dr. Scott Hahn speaking on The Lamb's Supper!!

I learned about this from St. Blog's commentator KH, who will be there representin' The Montfort Academy, an all-boys Catholic high school in Westchester.

My parish has really decorated the sanctuary this Easter with more plants and flowers than ever before. The funny thing is that right in back of the altar, in the center is an arrangement of big plants with flowers all around them. The tabernacle is to the right, as it has been since our Church was renovated. These flowers and plants with candles on either side are now the focus of attention. This arrangement has taken the place of a high altar and tabernacle, it even looks to me like a high altar or how a high altar would be decorated for Easter. Our parish sometimes puts wreaths on the walls down the center of the Church, or in Advent, banners with the “O Antiphons”. These wreaths and banners are placed between the stained glass windows kind of where statues or icons of saints would be. I once walked into a parish where the two alcoves on either side of the back wall of the sanctuary had potted plants on a shelf. These alcoves were obviously built for Mary and Joseph and it was jarring to see the plants because my mind immediately pictured Mary and Joseph. I think what happens here is that Catholics have a notion of how a Church should be setup and are decorating them in an “old-fashioned” way perhaps without even realizing it. Something tells people (probably ladies of the parish) that the main focus should be in the back center of the altar and that something should be on either side, and something should be on the walls down the center of the Church. Even though our Churches have been renovated and changed, our minds still point us to the traditional arrangements. I know my mind is telling me the tabernacle should be in the center at the back of the sanctuary on a high altar, with Mary and Joseph on either side, and saints on the walls. I wonder if the people doing the decorating think like me, or if they just do this subconsciously?

Help send Aristotle the Recovering Choir Director to World Youth Day!

cantemusdomino.net
Donate to the Juventutem/ WYD 2005 Fund Drive

Beaten Priest Prays for Attackers

THE AMAZING REVERT

I just found two posts from September 2003 that had predictions by me - both of which were amazingly accurate. The first prediction was about the Passion of the Christ movie - click here to be amazed! The second was about Pope John Paul II and I am glad I wrote my thoughts because they came absolutely true. The post is here but I will quote myself -

"Wouldn't it be great if the Pope announced he could no longer travel but invited people to visit him in Rome. And after so many years of giving so much to people, we could then visit the Pope by the millions. Imagine millions of people streaming into Vatican City, setting all kinds of records, to pay tribute to John Paul the Great. "

-Gen X Revert (September 13th, 2003)

Thomas Woods has a new book out - How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. I have heard this Long Islander speak twice and have enjoyed his writings. His output is simply amazing. He once mentioned he was working on a book about persecution of the Church from the French Revolution to present, which I am looking forward to reading. I asked him when we can expect this to come out but it sounded like other projects were taking priority, so I will buy a few of his books and wait.

Reality TV in monastery changes five lives forever

An amazing story via Angry Twins. I always thought that monasteries should have a program for college age students to live as monks while attending college. The students would do better in college due to the disciplined lifestyle, the monastery would be given workers and some fresh blood, and vocations might follow. For students that don't become monks, they would take some great lessons with them throughout life. Portsmouth Abbey has an intern program that looks good.

Sodakmonk has been shut down, apparently Father felt some readers were offended by some posts. I appreciated Sodakmonk's humor and sarcasm, just as I like the Angry Twins. Hopefully we will see more writing of this monk in the future.

Missing Bride May Still Face Charges

She had better be charged - she caused lots of pain and misery by lying! Filing a false police report is a crime and it should be prosecuted. What kind of a person puts their family through the misery of thinking she was dead for 4 days? You want to cut the stress of your upcoming wedding? Cut the guest list down from 600 and the number of bridesmaids down from 14 to 2. Geez!

"Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0" at Happy Catholic.

There has been some discussion around St. Blog's about the removal of 3 nuns from campus ministry in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. What it all boils down to is the desire to reach out to college age Catholics and make campus ministry part of the New Evangelization and the "dynamic orthodoxy" idea. This is a good thing, but it raises some important questions.

First, many have asked whether it is beyond the ability of younger people - peer ministers - to handle the tricky challenges of campus ministry. This is a good question and hopefully the program will be handled well. I believe a campus minister should be introducing students to orthodoxy, not working primarily as guidance counselors or "values clarification facilitators". Campus ministers should work for the Church and serve Catholic students first and foremost. They are not there to be psychologists but to assist students in developing a love for the Church and her teachings. Peer ministers can do this, but some guidance from more experienced people is needed and this program has that.

Second, I am all for the introduction of dynamic orthodoxy and am glad to see a new crop of JPII priests, nuns, and laypeople taking their place in the Church. I am doubly glad to see this new crop edge out the tired, old dissenters that have been running things for a few decades. However, how do we as a Church go about this and still remain a loving community of Christians? I would have no problem with kicking Fr. Richard McBrien to the curb - literally. But in cases such as these nuns, who despite my opinion about their work, are genuinely hurt that their work is "not appreciated" in the Church, how can we do what we must do without causing pain? How do we show people we must take a new direction without upsetting some people? I am convinced the priest in charge of campus ministry, Fr. Brian Barr is doing the right thing, especially after reading the quote about the one nun "keeping an open mind when speaking to students about abortion, etc..". And yet, the story will be written up time and again as "Diocese boots 3 elderly, sweet ladies in the butt". This brings up the whole question about how to run a Church as a professional entity while still remaining a loving family of believers. I do hold the Church to a higher standard when it comes to employee relations, benefits, and work environment, after all, we must practice what we preach. But how do you accomplish the critical work of evangelization in a Diocese that for 30 years has been a wasteland of heterodoxy? Can we Catholics really just have an attitude of "you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette" or do we have an obligation to find a better way? In this particular instance, I am completely happy with what has been done, and think the critics are way off base, but it does raise issues I think are important for our Church. Even as we see the "reform of the reform" and the leaderships change after many years, we must figure out how to recapture the idea of Church as community of people who truly love one another. This is not a "conservative" or "liberal" thing but one that all Catholics should be working on together.

One of our Catholic brothers has been attacked - Luis Ochoa, community activist and Eucharistic minister at St. Therese of Lisieux was attacked in a case of road rage. Story from Newsday.

"Dynamic orthodoxy" coming to Long Island

Monday evening we had a standing room only crowd at Faith on Tap to hear Bill Donohue speak on anti-Catholicism in the United States. He gave plenty of behind the scenes stuff on the talks and interviews he has been doing for the past month. His talk was well received and some people could not be let in because there was no more room. A similar thing happened at St. Kilian's in Farmingdale on Saturday:

"Scott Hahn, a Presbyterian minister turned Catholic author and lecturer, addressed 700 Long Islanders at St. Kilian's Church in Farmingdale, Saturday April 23. It was his first local appearance."

"The event organizers, the parish's adult faith formation committee, sold out and had to disappoint approximately 100 people because of the demand to to attend the lectures."

School Bus Flips Over In Queens; None of 44 Children on Board Seriously Injured

The school bus was returning kids from St. Christopher's in Baldwin where my sister used to teach. Fortunately all the kids had minor cuts and bruises. Deo Gratias.

Even for anti-Catholic Newsday publishing this letter to the editor by Thomas K. Lloyd of Massapequa represents a new low. The single most bigoted thing I think I have ever read -

"Actually, Opus Dei is worse than the portrayal in the fictional book "The DaVinci Code." It affects us locally because both our bishop and our district attorney have been mixed up in this organization, which reminds me of the SS and other fanatical groups."


Worse than a bunch of albino assassins? The SS??

Vatican City - Immediately after the imposition of the Pallium, Pope Benedict XVI turned to Cardinal Kaspar and said, "It's on now B!". He then donned a pair of sunglasses while George Thorogood's Bad to the Bone was played on loudspeakers. The Pope then announced 456 excommunications and ordered 715 priests and nuns to "see him pronto". Although entirely in latin, it was believed the list included Richard McBrien, Joan Chittister, and Hans Kung. There was some murmuring when Pope Benedict announced the first person to be made a bishop would be Christopher Blosser of Queens, NY.

Did anyone else see this today or was I dreaming?

Catholicism and Bruce Springsteen, The Simpsons, and Pro Wrestling all at Open Book

We have Bill Donohue coming to speak at Faith on Tap!

Papal Election Brings End to Worldwide Unsupervised-Catholic Sin Binge

Funny stuff from The Onion again.

I should have mentioned earlier that the Therese movie is now showing in Babylon and Franklin Square.

In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation

"It was full of cats, and when he went out, they all ran to him. They knew him and loved him. He stood there, petting some and talking to them, for quite a long time. He visited the cats whenever he visited the church. His love for cats is quite famous."

Reaction to the election of Pope Benedict XVI -

"what I and many other liberal Catholics are smelling with this election are the rotting corpses of Africa's children who have been given a fresh death sentence with this conservative stitch-up."

This was in the comments of a post on Dr. Blosser's blog . I would suggest the commentator switch to decaf.

Someone came here searching for "hans kung fan club"???? You'd better watch yourself, haven't you been reading all the news about our new Pope? Between the Grand Inquisitor Pope and Opus Dei you might want to hide out where they can't find you.

PS - I don't think there is a Hans Kung Fan Club, sorry.

I am certainly getting a lot of hits here for "laying the smackdown on heresy since 1981". That of course is the slogan of the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club.

Long Island Media cover Ratzinger, I mean, Pope Benedict XVI

"If there was shock on some people's faces, even as most rejoiced, that's because Ratzinger's conservatism has alienated some Catholics."

Can you guess which Long Island newspaper had a news story that included that line? Feel free to take 2 guesses and I will give a hint - it wasn't The Long Island Press.

Ignatius Press has a problem! How to handle the crush of orders they are receiving since they are the primary publisher of Cardinal Ratzinger's (now Pope Benedict XVI) books in English. This is wonderful to see - for those who are not familiar with this incredible publishing company - check it out. It was founded by Fr. Fessio, a Jesuit priest who studied under Ratzinger. He is an orthodox Jesuit and has not been treated very well by the order. He is currently working on creating Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida.

Habemus Papam

For most people of my age or younger we have known no other Pope. And the Pope we knew was one of the few to be known as "the Great". The past two weeks have been simply amazing to witness in the Church. The sickness, the vigil, the death, and funeral of Pope John Paul the Great are a blur of incredible and beautiful images one after the other. For me, the election of Cardinal Ratzinger does not yet seem real - it is hard to digest. I was 8 when Pope John Paul II was elected. I know Cardinal Ratzinger as Ratzinger, not as Pope Benedict XVI, so this will take some getting used to. (I even have a beer stein with his picture on it)

I was just able to catch a few minutes of television this evening and saw Mark Shea and Kathy Shaidle on MSNBC. They were great - Kathy was asked about ordination of women and said she "wished those who discussed this would stop fighting the battles of the 70's and 80's and do what they always want the Church to do - move into the 21st Century!" . Just a few minutes ago I was able to watch the replay of the events on EWTN starting with the white smoke and now the first blessing of the new Pope. The drama was great. When Ratzinger's name was said, Fr. Neuhaus and Raymond Arroyo were obviously delighted -I heard Neuhaus exclaim "Oh my God" kind of in the background... and sounding like he broke up -he was not heard from for a few minutes. Two more images -

This is what I imagine some Catholics felt when seeing Ratzinger elected -

But as someone mentioned on another blog, it is not time to gloat, it is time to pray - for any Catholics dismayed at Pope Benedict's election, and for the Pope himself.

And -

Thanks to Christopher Blosser for all the work he has done over the past few years with The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club. His intelligence, humor, and insight have introduced many of us Catholics to this great Churchman. His site is currently a living testimony to Yogi Berra's saying -"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded".

( I was just able to get on the site now after a few tries)

Guess which Catholic figure this is about:

"In 1993 he won the feature of the year award from the Black Journalist Association for a series he wrote and produced on Malcolm X"


4/18/05 -- The answer was given by John M in comments -

Raymond Arroyo!

The only place I found this was here. I tried to verify it but couldn't find any other mention of it. It was surprising to me because I didn't know he was a reporter before EWTN and I associate him with that network so much I find it hard to picture him doing general news. I was also surprised to see he was a graduate of NYU.

The Amityville Horror

There is a new movie out that will once again exploit this real life tragedy. The actual story of what happened when Ronald DeFeo murdered his entire family can be found at The Amityville Murders website, done by an author of a book about the Amityville thing. Since this is a Catholic blog I will point out the Catholic Church and The Hoax section. The priest involved in this story "dropped out of sight" according to my diocese in a 2002 letter to the author. That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence in the way the Diocese tracked priests in the 1970's and 1980's but there it is. One thing about this story - please don't come to Amityville to gawk at the house as people have done in the past. The house doesn't have those weird windows anymore, the address was changed, and no one has ever reported any weird things going on since the book and movie came out the first time. Amityville is a nice little town and doesn't need more traffic. Thanks.

Where's the Media Outrage?

"In the fourth sordid case involving city teachers this week, a Queens English instructor is under investigation for having sex with two female students, the Daily News has learned."


Throughout 2002 the papers splashed stories about priestly pedophilia on the front pages, relentlessly. This was not a bad thing and really helped to purge our Church. But why is there no equal sense of outrage at the teacher pedophilia scandal? Where are the calls for a national survey to investigate how many cases of teacher abuse has occured in schools from 1950-today?? I am seriously asking this question because I think if people were exposed to the same relentless media stories on teachers as they were on priests there would be a true purge of this problem.

I was watching Aaron Brown on CNN last night which was all about the conclave - I think Brown is smart and has done a decent job covering the Pope's sickness and death. One report showed a screenshot of The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club and I was delighted to see this. Unfortunately the report was on the push for Cardinals to become Pope and people might have gotten the impression the Fan Club was a site pushing for this. Christopher Blosser has done a great job with this intelligent and humorous site and now has directed the press to the FAQ to help dispel this notion. Be sure to check out the Links Page though because it is top notch, not to mention the blog. It has been wonderful to hear the praises for the "Panzerkardinal" and his excellent homily in the media. The Fan Club has probably become more well known in the past week than it has been since it started in 2000. This is great, but if there is a run on Cardinal Ratzinger Beer Steins, don't bother trying to buy mine - no matter how high the price you will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.

I don't see it online but the headline of today's two Newsday reports from Rome was:

PAPAL CHOICE MAY TURN BACK THE CLOCK

This was over an article on how JPII centralized power in the Church and how the next Papacy will change this. Part of this is true - JPII's stature, intellect, and sheer force caused Rome to be more the focus of attention than it sometimes is meant to be. Of course since the Church was falling apart over the past 30 years a strong Papacy is just what we needed. The other "report" was about how Opus Dei may influence the election of the next Pope and how weird and secretive, rich and scary this group is. Of course mention is made of the use of mortification of the flesh. Sometimes I think Newsday should just change its name to the Anti-Papist Times.

Fixing what's broken


"Campus ministry is broken, Father Brian Barr says, and he’s determined to fix it. "

Run for your lives! The John Paul II priests are exhibiting signs of piety!!

Rally Supports 3 Fired Nuns

These 3 nuns did not have their contracts renewed because the Diocese is trying to inject the New Evangelization into the campus ministry. It is unfortunate that people do not understand the mess this diocese and the Church has been in for 30 years and what needs to be done to turn things around. I don't like the idea of anyone losing their job, but these 3 nuns will not be out on the street - one of the sisters belongs to the Dominicans of Amityville. They just put up their mansion in the Hamptons for sale at $25 million. As far as the sisters feeling unappreciated in the Church, I have a suggestion:

Check out these sisters!

And these sisters!

And these sisters!

And these sisters!

These sisters are very appreciated in the Church and their communities are growing. Perhaps the fired sisters should learn from this.

Good Priest - Bad Priest

Guide to Chinese Food at Angry Twins

Public Editor coming for Newsday

"Speaking at a meeting of the Long Island Association, Timothy P. Knight said it was critical for Newsday to create the position of ombudsman or reader's representative. "

"But sources said a leading candidate is editorial writer Bob Keeler, a veteran Newsday journalist who wrote a book about the paper's history. In 1996, he won the Pulitzer Prize for stories about a Catholic parish in Westbury."

Newsday is still suffering from the fallout from its massive circulation fraud. Having lost most of its longtime columnists and editor, the paper is still trying to repair the damage to its prestige. This paper, which has a monopoly on Long Island, has a pretty obvious liberal bias and an ombudsman would be a good move. More importantly for this blog's concerns, the paper is simply one of the most anti-Catholic in the nation. Hopefully an ombudsman would help remedy this. But if Keeler is chosen, then this will amount to placing a tissue on the top of a huge pile of horse manure. Keeler is a member of the paper's editorial board and a longtime employee. The ombudsman should be from the outside and neutral. As far as the anti-Catholicism of the paper, Keeler is a Voice of the Faithful-Call to Action-National Catholic Reporter type of Catholic so I doubt he would change anything.

The Rogito of Pope John Paul II placed in his coffin can be read at EWTN.

It begins: "In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on April 2 of the year of the Lord 2005, at 9:37 p.m., as Saturday was coming to an end, and we had already entered the day of the Lord, octave of Easter and Sunday of Divine Mercy, the beloved pastor of the Church, John Paul II, passed from this world to the Father. The whole Church, in prayer, accompanied him in his passing."

UPDATE: They had this on Cultural Catholic but took it down, so I linked to EWTN instead.

"The German-born cardinal choked with emotion. "Santo! Santo!" the crowd responded, waving banners reading "Santo Subito - Immediate Sainthood."

Did cigar-boy Bill Clinton really say this about the Pope?

"He's like all of us - he may have a mixed legacy"

If so, then mark your calendars because this may be the stupidest thing ever said by a human being.

John Paul the Great

"Italy appealed to pilgrims to stay away from central Rome on Wednesday, saying it was already saturated with millions of faithful desperate to see Pope John Paul's body ahead of Friday's funeral. "


This is beautiful to see. Now remind me again, who is this Hans Kung? Who is this Richard McBrien? Charles Curran?

John Paul the Great
I have heard people call him John Paul the Great for years now. This article discusses this title and notes correctly that it is not an official designation, but a popular one. I think it would be great for the next Pope, or some other official, to wait until World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne to ask the crowds of young people if they wish for John Paul II to be forever know as "The Great". Let the "official" decision be made by the people so close to this Pope.

This article focuses on reflections on the Pope from a few young religious from the Province of Meribah (Marianists) on Long Island. This community runs Chaminade and Kellenberg High Schools. Mentioned are Brothers Stephen Ries 20, Ryan Sheehan 27, and Daniel Griffin 20.

CNBC's money guy Laurence Kudlow has a blog and has a post on Pope John Paul II that is beautiful. In the post, Kudlow talks about his 1997 conversion to the Catholic Church - it is well worth a read.

POPE JOHN PAUL II 264th Pontiff - October 16, 1978 to April 2, 2005


Summary of his life can be found on Cultural Catholic.

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.

I spent part of my lunch hour listening to an interview of Gene Wilder on NPR. Wilder had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, which is what my Dad had when he died. Wilder was lucky as he was able to get treatment with stem cells. He carefully pointed out they were not embryonic stem cells though, they were his own. His blood was taken through a hose, stem cells were taken out, and then the blood pumped back into him. Just another example of the usefulness of adult stem cells.

The next sessions of Faith on Tap will feature John Zmirak of Godspy (March) and Bill Donohue from the Catholic League (April). I think these will be our best talks yet:

Think Colin Powell had to do this?

I don't think this is true -

According to Newsday, Fr. Tom Hartman built Telecare into the "nation's largest producer of original Catholic television programming". I would think that would be EWTN. Much of what is on Telecare, the Diocese of Rockville Centre's television station, is not specifically Catholic. For example, weatherman Dr. Frank Field hosts a health show. There is a show on Judaism and one on Islam. There are several community and values based shows that you can find on other stations. They also show local high school sports and usually have EWTN programming overnight. If you check out the "about Telecare" link on the station's website, it does not mention "Catholic" at all, just "ecumenical programming".

K Lo at Chaminade and no one told me?

A "virtuous pagan" looks at the priesthood

The author, daughter of a Catholic priest, interviews the daughter of a man who applied to become an Episcopal priest. I found this via Crowhill.net and found the interview interesting. The one thing that amazed me though was the sense of incredulity from the person being interviewed that any "religious" people would actually be normal. I have read this in other places, usually written by people who sound like they have never left the island of Manhattan. This type of bigotry is so common today but it always stuns me.

"I was amazed when the bishop of Indianapolis said, "Of course the church messes up. We have to mess up or else we would have to believe the Inquisition was a good thing." I had thought that the church, any church, was an absolutist organization, and it's not. Religion is constantly evolving, and I think that's a cool thing about it. Not all of them, and the ones that's aren't are either favored for that or in trouble for that, but there's a tremendous diversity. I was surprised at how open and thoughtful and considerate people were, because I had this idea that they were fanatics, and fanatics don't change their opinions. I don't think anyone said anything that shocked me in a negative way. I don't think anybody said anything hateful. " [emphasis mine]

Can you imagine someone being shocked, shocked! that the "religious" people are not wacko fanatics?? They were found to be nice!

Amy Welborn put out a call for her computer fund and the goal was exceeded in just 7 hours. This was her first bleg for donations and I am glad to see people support her blog. She does great work with Open Book and deserves better than a 1998 Gateway and a dial-up.

This is great news-

The Passion Recut - starts tommorrow! The movie has been edited to be a little less gory which is great!

Newsday's Dick Ryan

After admitting to massive fraud that included inflating their circulation to increase advertisement rates, one would think Newsday would wise up. This opinion piece proves they will not. First, I neglected to blog something that struck me as weird - a couple of weeks ago I noticed a little news blurb on the Long Island Voice of the Faithful's upcoming convention. The thing that was weird was that it seemed like a straight advertisement for the event, complete with phone numbers, cost, etc.. I knew the paper supports VOF so I dismissed it as typical Newsday garbage, but then the other day there was yet another news blurb on the event, again reading as if it was written by a VOF staffer. These were in the news section not the advertisement section. Now Newsday is giving this event prime advertisement space as Dick Ryan promotes this "convention" on the op-ed page.

The title screams that Bishop Murphy is "silent" and yet he has been speaking about the problems in this Diocese from when he first got here. Dick claims VOF should invite the Bishop to this conference. He amazingly claims "Murphy is not very good at public appearances". I have seen the Bishop speak several times now and he comes across as very warm, friendly and funny. When he speaks he also comes across as very intelligent and honest. Dick claims that there was a "pre-Vatican II commandment to "pray, pay and obey". This is nonsense although that attitude might have existed in some Irish families like Dick's. Dick also wants to hear from the Bishop about the "shrinking number of priests and vocations"? Is Dick deaf? The Bishop has been talking vocations and the priest shortage since day one. In fact, Dick should know the number of seminarians here has doubled in the past two years - mostly due to some good changes in the seminary. Dick claims Bishop Murphy "remains aloof, out of sight and, yes, out of touch"? I have personally seen the Bishop at least four times at events and at each one he goes out of his way to personally greet everyone he can and listen and talk to them. He seems to be everywhere in the Diocese and I don't see how he is at all out of touch. He has been working hard to clean up the mess left behind by Bishop McGann. Dick seems to think if people don't pay attention to VOF or show up at their little meetings at the local Unitarian hall, then they are out of sight or aloof. That is crazy. I care very much about the Church on Long Island but I don't care at all about VOF. My advice to my fellow Catholics here is: don't be a Dick. And check out The Long Island Press, where an excellent letter to the editor defends Bishop Murphy. Although the Long Island Press is new and not perfect, at least you can trust its balance more than Newsday. As well as its circulation figures!

This conference sounds great -


Jews and the Church

The Role of Judaism in Salvation History
A two-day Catholic conference in New York City

Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20, 2005

The speakers include Roy Schoeman, Ronda Chervin, Fr. Joseph Koterski, S.J., and David Moss and they are honoring the wonderful Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand. Plus there will be live Klezmer music which I have always enjoyed.

Hat tip to St. Blog's "flame-haired" commentator KH!

Diocesan Day of Reconciliation

"On this second day of Holy Week, each of the 133 churches in the diocese will have priests available to hear confessions from 3 p.m. until 9 p.m. This day is in addition to the regularly scheduled days and times the sacrament is available at each parish. "

This is the 6th year the Diocese has done this and it is an excellent idea. Anyone can stop in at any parish after work, or after dinner. It makes it easy for people to get there and to confess to a priest that does not know you from Adam.

Alright I'll play too:

10 things I have done that my reader's probably haven't-

10. Been quoted in a book on Catholic young people
9. Been teased by Fr. Mitch Pacwa about my Long Island (Lawn Guyland) accent
8. Fainted while serving Mass – right at the Kiss of Peace
7. Drank Rolling Rock and shot pool in a Monastery
6. Got completely lost hiking in the woods, along with my entire Boy Scout troop
5. Been offered drugs in the hallway of a former Episcopal Church (Limelight Club)
4. Delivered a Pennysaver (free paper) to Jerry Seinfeld
3. Helped Fr. Benedict Groeschel unload stuff from his car twice
2. Accidently made Congressman Peter King spill coffee all over his hand
1. Had lunch a few times with a serial killer (Joel Rifkin)

I finally read that article on "52 Funniest Things About The Upcoming Death of the Pope" from some NY paper I have never heard of before. I guess it was supposed to be funny but it was not funny at all, just really stupid and not even worth getting outraged over. For a decent satirical look at the current situation in Rome check out: Cocky Pope Hopeful Ready to Make Some Changes Around Vatican

These two obviously forgot their catechism

"Two former employees of Holy Family Parish and School in Hicksville are accused of taking more than a half-million dollars by giving themselves unauthorized paychecks and ringing up charges on the parish's credit card, police said Friday.

Joseph Cavaco, of Wading River, and Anthony Fusaro, of Hampton Bays, both 61, were arrested on charges of grand larceny."

The article does not mention it, but the pastor Msgr. Robert Batule had just recently arrived at this parish in October 2004. This parish is not a wealthy one and could use that $500,000 to beautify their Church, which is the single most bizarre one I have ever seen. It looks like a renovated barn with a bunch of doors down one side, and the sanctuary in the corner of an "L". Msgr. Batule is a pleasant, orthodox priest and this parish is lucky to have him as their pastor. It is good to see the Diocese doing its job and auditing the parishes for stuff like this.

More snow!!

My girlfriend: "I'm sick of this weather! I wanna go someplace where there is no weather"

Me: "I believe that would be the moon honey"

My girlfriend: "Perfect! "

Long Island Woman Murdered For Not Getting An Abortion

"She had a love for life and even more love for children," Napolitano said. "We believe it was this love of life, of her refusal to get an abortion, that compelled her killer ... " to murder her."

Remember President Bush at Ground Zero on top of the crushed fire truck speaking on a bullhorn? The workers couldn't hear him at all and one of them shouted out "We can't hear you George", prompting the famous "I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us...real soon") This article is about Bob Beckwith, the retired firefighter standing with Bush -

The Firefighter Seen 'Round the World

This post at Heart, Strength, Mind links to an article saying a new galaxy was discovered. So I click on the link and read:

"Astronomers have discovered an invisible galaxy that could be the first of many that will help unravel one of the universe's greatest mysteries.
The object appears to be made mostly of "dark matter" material of an unknown nature that can't be seen. "

This is why history and literature were my best subjects and not science. How can anyone discover something invisible? How did they find this sucker and how can we prove someone didn't just make this up, you know to impress a boyfriend or girlfriend?

"I just discovered a galaxy honey"
"Really, where?"
"Oh, you can't see it"

These astronomers are the same people who named a planet Uranus and then tried to change the pronounciation to avoid embarassing questions like - how many rings does Uranus have? Can we really trust them?

Update: I just discovered a planet made of dark matter. Now I just have to come up with a name...

Pregnant Woman Shot to Death by Baby's Father

"A Long Island man shot and killed his brother's ex-wife to keep her from revealing she was pregnant with his child, a law enforcement official said Thursday."

In 1996 a local group called Friends of EWTN invited Mother Angelica to Long Island and over 3,000 EWTN supporters showed up. The group is now hosting an event on Saturday April 2nd that will feature talks by EWTN host Fr. Mitch Pacwa and Fr. Walter Quinn from Priests for Life. This will take place at Kellenberg High School and include:

8:30 am - 9:30 am Pick up breakfast and registration
9:30 am - 12:15 pm 3 conferences + Mass of the day
Lunch & time to visit with Fr. Pacwa & Fr. Quinn

$25 donation per person includes breakfast, lunch and conferences

I intend to go to this event so if any locals are interested please let me know. I can provide the information as to how to register.

New blog by a priest affiliated with Opus Dei: The Truth Will Make You Free