Traditional Catholics on Long Island

There is yet more talk of the Pope giving more freedom to Catholic priests to celebrate the traditional (Tridentine) Mass. Amy Welborn is looking to define the terms correctly as the media can be unreliable when reporting on such 'inside stuff' in the Church. Here on Long Island, if priests were given the ability to celebrate the traditional Mass I am sure there would be a couple of (probably younger) priests who would jump at the chance but only a couple. Most Catholics approve of the changes in the Mass and simply want more reverence and dignity, as well as a return to tradition in hymns, sermons, architecture, and devotions. As a service to Long Island Catholics, let me point out some facts about the traditional latin Mass here on Long Island. (Note: I have attended the traditional latin Mass perhaps a couple of dozen times, but most Sundays attend a local parish and assist at a "Novus Ordo" Mass.)

The Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 11 am at St. Pius X Chapel in Uniondale. This is located at 1220 Front St. in Uniondale, right off Merrick Avenue. Booklets are provided that have all the prayers of the Mass in Latin and English so you can follow along. The first and third Sundays of the month are low Masses and the second and fourth Sundays are high (sung) Masses. After the low Masses there are some refreshments served in the cafeteria next to the chapel. Most of the Masses are offered by Fr. James Pereda, although other priests have filled in for him on occasion. The only priests that I know have celebrated the traditional Mass on Long Island are Fr. Pereda, Fr. Robert Hewes, Msgr. George Graham and Fr. Steven Scarmozzino. The Mass at St. Pius X Chapel is the only approved traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. There are chapels and independent Catholic priests who celebrate the Mass but this is the only Mass approved by the Diocese. I hope that the Mass will be moved to a parish some day so that more people may be exposed to it, and those who wish to have traditional baptisms, weddings and funerals may do so. A traditional parish with both traditional and Novus Ordo Masses would be great, ala St. John Cantius in Chicago.

The fact is, Long Island is steeped in history when it comes to traditionalism. Fr. Gommar DePauw was probably the first Catholic priest in the country or world to start a traditionalist movement, even before Vatican II was over. He started the Ave Maria Chapel in Westbury for traditional Catholics. He died in 2005 and I don't know if there is a Mass at the chapel today.

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), the organization started by Archbishop Lefebvre, has a chapel in Farmingville called St. Michael the Archangel, which opened in 1983. In fact, the original headquarters of the SSPX in America was in Oyster Bay Cove.

The priest who led things there, Fr. Clarence Kelly, was expelled from the SSPX and founded the SSPV, which is now headquarted in Oyster Bay Cove.

There are also a couple of independent priests who offer the traditional Mass around the island as well. Again, the only Diocese of Rockville Centre-approved traditional Mass is the one at the St. Pius Chapel in Uniondale. There used to be one held in Cutchogue also when the traditional Mass was only twice a month, but I am not sure if that Mass is still there. My hope for the traditional Mass would be:

• The Diocese of Rockville Centre allows this Mass to be moved to a parish, where it would part of the regular Mass schedule on Sunday.

• The Diocese also allow traditional Sacraments for those who desire them.

• Those who wish to attend a "Novus Ordo" Mass with chant propers, some latin prayers and a traditional atmosphere have a place to do this.

• The Vatican and SSPX work to some sort of reconciliation, such as the proposed personal prelature idea.

• The so-called Reform of the Reform continue so Catholics can pray the "Novus Ordo" Mass in a more traditional way.

UPDATE 10/23/06: Per the comments, the traditional Latin Mass is also offered on the first Sunday of the month at Sacred Heart Church, Main Rd in Cutchogue

Lazyboy's Rest Stop

The above link is a great find of mine: an anti-Catholic treasure! Here is the author's description of Catholicism, which all of us can instantly recognize:

"Roman Catholicism is a religion of dominance. It maintains control over its one billion subjects through a system of promises and threats. Those who adhere closely to the multitude of rules governing every aspect of religious belief and practice are rewarded with the favor of the RCC ruling class, dispensed in the form of grace, doled out as one gives a treat to a well-trained pet. Failure to live according to Rome's stringent and ever transmuting laws can result in sanctions ranging from repeating a few canned prayers through denial of admission to the church's sacraments to confiscation of property, torture and death, depending upon the severity of the failure and the degree of temporal power enjoyed by the RCC.

It astonishes me that anyone under submission to the Romish potentate would fail to diligently strive to learn all the rules and ways of the RCC so that he might avoid running afoul of her judicial process. "

Welcome to the 300 millionth American! Or perhaps I should say Bienvenido!

I watched the 60 Minutes piece last night on the Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a stripper. The piece made it hard to believe they were guilty, and it sounded like the stipper was making the story up. One of the players is quoted in Newsday:

"I was naive, I was young, I was sheltered," he said. "And I made a terrible judgment. In five months, I've learned more than I did in 22 years about life."

Basically those life lessons should be: 1) don't ever host or attend a party with strippers. 2) If you are a rich, white guy in a college or university, understand that there will be many people who will hate you for that. All college educated people should be very careful in dealing with people, and realize a degree will automatically make you hated by many people. 3) Don't ever get into altercations in bars, as two of the accused did in the past. 4) If you are on a sports team, understand that sometimes the "group" will act with a group mentality, and avoid this at all costs. 5) Don't ever underestimate the shallowness of politicans, including DAs.

After almost 4 years of blogging, I have changed the name of the blog from Gen X Revert to A Long Island Catholic. I started blogging about my return to the Church but have said pretty much all I have to say about that. I would like to use this space to write more about what goes on within the Diocese of Rockville Centre. I will also be adding more local links as well.

Of interest to Long Island Catholics:

The Catholic Underground is coming to Long Island.

Saturday, October 21, 2006, from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

St. Thomas the Apostle Mission Chapel in West Hempstead (Hempstead Avenue and Nassau Boulevard)

"A Catholic Underground evening has two components: prayer and performance. Prayer is in the context of Eucharistic Adoration. The prayers performed include Vespers (evening prayer), Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and Compline (night prayer), which ends the night. The performance element includes coffee and conversation among participants after Eucharistic Adoration, which then leads into performances that are meant to showcase different methods for new evangelization."

The Long Island Catholic story on the veneration of the heart of St. John Vianney is here.

I went to venerate the heart of St. John Marie Vianney today at Cure of Ars Church in Merrick. I waited for about 30 minutes on a long line that wrapped around the front and side of the Church. Someone then said they were closing the doors and a Mass would begin and veneration would stop for about 90 minutes. I decided to go to the Mass but the Church was filled, so I watched it on a large screen in an adjacent auditorium. There was also a large white tent set up that was also filled. Since I waited in front of the Church for the procession, I was able to take a couple of pictures and venerate the heart in front of the Church instead of inside.

Click on the pics to enlarge.


The pictures above do not really show how many people were there since the line wrapped around bushes and the side of the Church. The crowd was huge!
Bishop DiMarzio from Brooklyn was the principal celebrant. The Bishop of Ars, France who brought the heart here concelebrated. In his homily, Bishop DeMarzio asked everyone to pray for two intentions, that holiness be increased in priests and that the use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation be increased amoung the laity. He quoted St. John Vianney as saying he only gave out small penances and would perform the rest of the penance himself on behalf of the sinner.


Fr. Mangano, the pastor of Cure of Ars.





The Catholic Heart website created for the occasion

Cure of Ars parish website

Fr. Charles and Laurie Mangano Music website

St. John Marie Baptist Vianney info

A local pastor lists 27 things to do to "get more out of Mass". I can agree with all but #12 is something I have never understood and I have heard it many times:

"12. During the readings, look at the reader; don’t use a missalette unless you have a problem with your hearing."

I try to read the readings before Mass but I also follow along while they are proclaimed for a couple of reasons. Although the lectors are quite good at the parish I currently attend, in my old parish they made an awful lot of mistakes, sometimes changing the whole meaning of a sentence. I can also really understand and follow the reading when I read along, it would not be the same if I just listened. I will continue to read along for this reason, and don't understand why some people make such a big deal out of this.

Today's Newsday article on the heart of St. John Vianney being venerated at Cure of Ars Church in Merrick. Today is for parishioners only, tommorrow is for clergy, so Tuesday or Wednesday I will try to make it there.

I just found a website for St. Pius X High School in Uniondale. This was the prep seminary school in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, closed in 1984. The nice website advises:

"With approximately 100 in the total freshman class each year (and a mere 300 in the entire student body) only about 2000 students in total ever attended St Pius in its 20-year history. Only about 1200 managed to make it from freshman year to graduation."

"With the closing of St Pius in 1984, alumni were placed on the endangered species list. For this reason any loss over the years is taken that much more to heart. On 9/11 three were taken from our small ranks."

The site mentions about 60 alumni gathered for a reunion last year which is a great percentage considering how many total graduates there are. Since my Catholic High School, Chaminade, has a huge and active alumni base, I am always aware of how cool it is to have a connection to so many other people. When a school is unique and tough to get through, it creates a bond between graduates that stretches across generations. I like to see reunions of students from Catholic schools that have closed and am glad to see the St. Pius X reunion will be held at Kellenberg, so the men can see good Catholic education continuing on Long Island.

One more quote from the site:

"As a prep seminary St Pius was producing a disappointing number of priests, certainly a factor in determining the school closure. But St Pius never disappointed in producing good people. Good guys. Christi simus non nostri."

Nicely put. Perhaps a graduate can translate the latin phrase?

Paul Rusesabagina, the real life hero at the center of the film Hotel Rwanda gave a lecture at Molloy College in Rockville Centre.

Of interest to Long Island Catholics, and others:

Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 11:30 AM

Nassau Community College

Dr. Alveda King, niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will lecture on "Keeping the Dream Alive". The lecture is at the Multipurpose Room of the College Center Building. The lecture will argue that the civil rights and pro-life movements are intimately related. Dr. King is the Outreach Coordinator to the African American community for Priests for Life. The primary sponsor of this event is the NCC Respect Life Committee, and the NCC Center for Catholic Studies is the co-sponsor along with the NCC Catholic Club.


Saturday, October 28th, 2006 10:00 AM

Nassau Community College

Conference featuring the (very) Honorable Denis Dillon, former District Attorney of Nassau County who will speak on "The Obligations of the Catholic Politician". Mr. Dillon certainly has stood up to his obligations as a Catholic official! There will be a luncheon following the conference. I would not want to miss this for anything, but unfortunately it happens to be the day I will be going to see Les Miserables on Broadway. I have wanted to see this musical for years and never got the chance when it was running.


Both of these events are free of charge, and you don't need to reserve a seat.

The story of the Amish people reaching out to the family of the man who killed five young girls is really incredible. They are really showing Christian charity and love toward the family, and toward each other.

"I asked various Amish friends what message do you want to communicate to people around the world and they said: We want them to understand how rich and deep our friendships and family relationships can be, and while we don't have insurance and we don't enjoy many modern conveniences, we have the richest treasure in the world, and that is brotherly love," Furman said." (CNN link)

2 days, 3 teacher sex scandals on Long Island

Oct. 5th - another teacher caught with child porn, a special ed teacher named Jeffrey Burke.(News12 Long Island link)...

Oct. 4th - the story was about Michael Kelly Reiner, a teacher at a school for the gifted. (Newsday link) Police found:

"569 still images of child pornography and 68 videos on three of Reiner's nine computers that they have analyzed so far. They also found 2,000 stories on the computers that relate to sexually abusing, torturing and eating children."

The Newsday article quotes parents who are backing Reiner, saying he never committed any acts against their children!

Oct. 4th - Long Island teacher says Mom OK'd sex with her daughter

Meanwhile, child porn charges against former teacher John Mark Karr were dropped today. (Cnn link) This is a good time to point out that Carol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University here on Long Island has long been calling the situation involving teachers much worse than the sex scandals in the Catholic priesthood. It is time for a nationwide audit, like the one done in the Church, covering the past 50 years of all public schools.

Meanwhile, some good news: it looks like the John Mark Karr case has brought some badly needed pressure on the child sex trade. Cambodia is supposedly cracking down on foreigners who go there to have sex with children. (Time.com link - don't click this article if you have a weak stomach) I really believe the exposure of the Catholic priesthood's pedophile problem could have been the start of a worldwide awakening to this problem. We can all hope.

So now former congressman Mark Foley is saying he was abused as a teenager by a clergyman. This whole cycle of violence thing just goes on and on... which is why it is so good to see the Catholic Church clean up its act, or more precisely to have its act cleaned up. When we can honestly say that abuse by clergy is very rare we will no longer see huge numbers of adults with problems caused by clergy. And, as the Catholic Church scandals became so public, it has turned a light on other areas, such as schools, where abuse is also rampant. This is why I don't despair even 5 years after the whole situation became exposed, ultimately, the Church is stronger and society is way better off.

Slacker!

Now this is what is wrong with America today - inability to follow through -

"A male walked into a Bank of America branch on the Port Jefferson Station-Terryville border today shortly after 11 a.m. and handed a teller a note announcing a bank robbery. But, Suffolk police said, the man ran out before he could collect any money."

From Newsday

The Long Island Catholic is looking for an editor and has placed ads in the National Catholic Register for a few weeks now. This is a good sign, hopefully whoever gets the job will use the Register as a model for the LIC.

Work is just not cutting it these days, so I am officially seeking another job here on Long Island. I am experienced in customer service, AP/AR, supervising an office, and proficient in Word, Access, and Excel so if anyone knows of any good jobs out there please let me know, thanks.

A History Professor of mine at St. John's University was quoted in an article on the release of files from the Vatican Secret Archive. Dr. Frank Coppa is also working on a book on Pius XII

We interrupt this blog to make the following announcement: The Mets are the National League Eastern Division champions! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

I am adding Jihad Watch to the permanent links.

I was sent this article on the Pope's talk about Faith and Reason-

"Unreasonable People Will Not Keep the Pope from Reasoning"

By Mary Katharine Ham

Catholicism is a "gritty" religion according to George Weigel in the excellent "Letters to A Young Catholic". He means the intellectual, cultural and spiritual aspects of the faith are anchored by a tactile, real life center. Touching the glove of a Padre Pio, seeing the Shroud of Turin, bathing in the waters of Lourdes, these are things which can reach anyone in their heart, perhaps people that would fall asleep during a lecture on Thomistic philosophy. This is my way of introducing a pretty big thing here on Long Island -

The heart of St. John Vianney will be coming to Cure of Ars parish in Merrick, Long Island! From October 6th - 11th the incorrupt heart in a reliquary will be at the parish for veneration.

For those who just spit their coffee over the keyboard, please read the bulletin of the parish where the pastor explains why we venerate relics (PDF). Remember the amazing crowds when the relics of St. Therese of Liseux (about half her remains) came to New York? This could be as big.

LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER
Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg
Tuesday, 12 September 2006

Above links to the full text of the Pope's address that has resulted in violence in the muslim world. I believe if The Onion did a headline on this it would read "Pope Calls Violence Unreasonable, Muslims Violently Protest"

As the 5th anniversary of 9/11 passes, another significant anniversary will soon arrive. The 5th anniversary of the explosion/exposing of the priest sex scandals. It is important for Catholics to know just how widespread the corruption is in the priesthood, so keeping tabs by reading the Roman Catholic Faithful website is recommended, although not for the weak of heart. The public exposure of this massive problem of (mostly) homosexual abuse by Catholic priests all started with the release of documents relating to Fr. John Geoghan and Fr. Paul Shanley from Boston. Geoghan was later beaten to death in jail. All the info you need on Shanley can be found here. Today, it seems he is inmate # W84979 at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Massachusetts.

Diocese of Rockville Centre

An update on this diocese should be made, hopefully Newsday will do a story updating the situation soon. Most of the information Catholics get on the "scandals" has to come from secular sources as the Dioceses are just not honest and forthcoming enough. Just this week the Long Island Catholic reported a priest, Fr. William Logan would be returned to ministry because allegations could not be substantiated, but no details were given. Newsday provides the details here. The two accusations mentioned do not involve sexual acts. There have been two other accused priests returned to ministry - Fr. Brian Brinker and Fr. Michael Carroll. If the allegations against Brinker and Carroll are true, then I would not let any boys anywhere near these two and I don't see how these two priests can possibly remain in ministry.

Otherwise, the most info available can be found on Bishop Accountability right here. This page lists all the accused, except Logan. The site is good for info, but it is not totally up to date. I count 4 accused priests that have died, one that is in jail (Millar), and 1 that was defrocked according to the page. But Michael Hands, the last priest to be arrested for raping a boy, was also defrocked. Others may have died since the page has been updated. The page also lists each of the accused priests by letter from the Suffolk County Grand Jury Report, but those accused are the same accused listed by name in many cases so it is a bit confusing. Since Bishop Murphy has been here, the number of allegations of abuse has been 0, so that is good news, but there are still some priests living mostly in the St. Pius X residence in Uniondale that were accused of abuse. They have not been defrocked as far as I know, and little info is given to Catholics. The fear of "scandalizing" Catholics is what helped this crisis grow, and that fear is misguided anyway. The Diocese should offer more info to people so that this situation won't ever become as widespread again. I was an altar boy and attended Catholic schools for 16 years and never experienced anything negative in the Church. The priests I knew were all pretty good men, except for one I thought was arrogant and not so nice. I never knew an abusive priest and have known some really good ones, so it is hard to believe just how much went on in this Diocese. All Catholics should remain vigilant to help keep the priesthood holy. With so many stories of sexual abuse of children making the headlines today, all people should remain vigilant with regards to any adults in authority as well.

5th Anniversary of September 11th

May all those who perished on 9/11, and all those murdered since then rest in peace.

My list of Long Islanders killed on 9/11

Newsday's database of all 9/11 victims

Prosecutors: priest raped teen parishioner


Oops, I left out a word in the that headline - "Hindu". Between the Catholic priesthood's problems and the recent arrest of that polygamist and the surrounding media coverage, child molestation really should be wiped out of the clergy. Now, if we can do the same in the teaching profession...

DO THE BOW

Catholics on Long Island have suffered for 35 years with regard to poor Liturgies. One thing I learned from attending the traditional Latin Mass is that by genuflecting during the Incarnational lines in the Creed, ("by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man") it really emphasizes just how important this belief is to Christians. The Church changed this from genuflecting to bowing with the Missal of Paul VI and I think this was a positive change. While bowing still forces us to do something with our bodies that emphasize this phrase, it is less noisy and distracting. The problem is, most people don't do the bow! All Catholics should start bowing during these lines and tell me if it makes a difference when they are saying this prayer.

n.b. Twice a year, on Christmas and Easter (Correction in comments, Christmas and Annunciation) we genuflect rather than bow. This makes it even more special and appropriate. The problem there is, I have almost never been to a parish where this was done, although one year our pastor told us the Church invites us to genuflect during the part of the Creed, and then he forgot to do it so no one else did.

Telecare, the television network of the Diocese of Rockville Centre is now offered nationally. The programs are available through CIPTV (Internet Protocol TV) and you pay $12.95 a month for a box that connects to your tv and internet connection. I would not recommend paying for Telecare's programming though. They advertise it as Catholic, but most of it is not at all Catholic. It is pretty lame actually, but most importantly nothing like EWTN as far as orthodoxy and evangelism is concerned. This IPTV sounds like a great idea for EWTN however. I am sure Long Islanders will be willing to pay for EWTN since it is not available on Cablevision. EWTN is worth paying for, but Telecare is not.

"With the warmest of personal regards and with every good wish for the Holiday Season"

Taking a page from Diogenes, this polite and politically correct closing is from a letter:

A) From President Bush to supporters in December 2005

B) From a school principal to parents of students in December 1990

C) From a Catholic Bishop to local civic leaders in December 1985

D) From a Catholic Bishop to a Catholic priest in December 1976





If you answered D, then you realize just how bad the Church leadership was even then. This was the closing of a letter sent by Archbishop Cousins of Milwaukee to a priest in California asking him to give a job to a Fr. Widera, who was a molester of boys. I guess the Archbishop couldn't say "Christmas" since the priest might have been offended?

Wheelie Catholic is a blog written by Ruth, who is a disability advocate and often writes about accessibility issues in the Church.

Robert T. Miller has been posting at First Things. He was a classmate of mine in high school.

Hey! We got tree new bishops in Brooklyn over here! You got a problem with dat?

The local Marianists celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Province of Meribah. They accepted one man into their aspiracy program and two men renewed their first profession of vows. Apparently Augustin Cardinal Meyer, O.S.B. was very helpful in the establishment of this province, which was formed from the New York province of Marianists.

Everything makes sense now!

I just saw Office Space for the first time.

"Six of 11 Egyptian students who failed to show up for classes after entering the United States are in federal custody, the FBI said Thursday."

Michelle Malkin posts the pictures of all of them.

Perhaps related, perhaps not, the arrests of the 24 plotters in England is good news, and should remind people that we are at war against muslim terrorists.

Former Newsday publisher pleads guilty in child porn case

No comment. Except to say that child porn, child abuse, and hypocrisy ain't just found in our Catholic Church.

The FCC has approved the transfer of WLIE to Relevant Radio! I love listening to various radio shows, from comedy to news to talk and Relevant Radio will mean we Catholic Nerds will have a Long Island station to listen to. I heard they will be providing some local content in addition to the national stuff, but I would love to have that confirmed.

Mass on EWTN


Father Jan Larson has written an article criticizing the Masses on EWTN. He says the priests looked too serious and somber. The article is so bad it almost hurts, the author is clueless. The only thing he gets correct is this line:

"The liturgy, in effect, is unlike anything that Catholics experience in the vast majority of Catholic parish churches"

Thank God for EWTN! The things you read in Diocesan papers can be truly unbelievable. Although it is not online yet, there was a letter published recently in the Long Island Catholic bemoaning the impending return of "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa". The writer sounded like he wouldn't be able to return to Mass when this happends and that the Church went "beyond this type of stuff".

Hellooooo?

I haven't been able to get on this blog for a week. Or any other blogger blogs..

Why has there been absolute silence about the Mepham High School rapists?? Does anyone remember how violent these crimes were? Where are these criminals now and why don't we hear any sort of updates from the media? Obviously people don't need to intrude on the victims privacy but I wish we would hear if the rapists have served their time or if they are in our neighborhood.

Ignatius Press is not selling anymore Charlotte Church merchandise. Based on her comments about September 11th and New Yorkers I would say they are 5 years late.

Immaculée Ilibagiza: Catholic witness

This Long Islander's book tells her story of getting out of Rwanda and gets an excellent review from Bishop Murphy. It is also reviewed in the latest edition of The National Catholic Register.

"Beloved monsignor killed by drunk driver"

Amid scandal, church shuts sports program

Newsday reports on a strange situation at St. Matthew's in Dix Hills. The athletic program was closed by the pastor due to some sort of financial irregularities. The Diocese of Rockville Centre audited the program last fall, and now the Suffolk County DA has opened a criminal investigation. The pastor, Fr. John McCartney, is new to the parish, arriving there just 2 weeks ago to replace Msgr. McDonald, who is now the rector of the seminary. Fr. McCartney came from St. James in Seaford, not the parish mentioned in the article. This story is missing many details but brings up some interesting points:

First -

"We went from being a church with an athletic program to being athletic program with a church," said McCartney, adding that the program had become so big that to some people it was more important than the church."

This is rampant in the Church today, particularly in Catholic schools and in suburban parishes. Many people are cultural Catholics and the extracurricular activities become more important than the important stuff. When you see people in Church reading the parish bulletin instead of the day's readings or praying, you know something ain't right!

Secondly, I can't help but wonder if the Church is becoming more quick to call in the law as a result of the priest sex scandals, or if the Church acts quicker in matters of money, as opposed to matters involving children. I hope it is the former but fear it is the latter.

Third, this is the third time (that I am aware of) that the Diocese has done audits that turn up problems right after a change in leadership. First, Telecare, the local television station had a new leader installed and then an audit found a worker had set up an outside company to maintain the grounds, and the work was paid for but not done. Then, Holy Family parish in Hicksville gets a new pastor, and an audit found two long time employees using parish money for personal expenses.

Overall, it seems the problems are being discovered and dealt with the proper way. I just wonder why it sometimes takes so long to find this stuff out. The lingering issue is the first one though - nothing can be more important than the faith.

The National Catholic Register interviewed Msgr. James McDonald, the new rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception here on Long Island. The previous rector left due to stress and there have been quite a few good changes made to our seminary over the past 5 years. This one probably caused a few heads to explode though.

"Msgr. McDonald, 64, has never taught in a seminary and holds no advanced degrees in theology. But Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy said he tapped the long-time pastor because Msgr. McDonald holds “a doctorate in priesthood,” and is “an extraordinary mentor and leader of the men,” as demonstrated by his tireless recruitment of vocations. "

Some people have asked me to post wedding pictures so here are some:

The priest who once told a seminary class "I can't wait for Mother Angelica to die" has taken a leave of absence and gone away from Long Island. He obviously was a very troubled soul and perhaps correctly recognized this. He might not believe this but I am praying for him.

"We were able to borrow this video camera from the St. Louis Office of Youth Ministry"

Finally, a Youth Ministry put to good use.

I always liked The King of Glory, perhaps we should have this type of liturgical dance for our Nuptial Mass?

From You Duped Me Lord.

Another day on Long Island:

Cannibal killer seeks release from maximum security facility

The wedding was beautiful, many thanks to our priest. The homily was well received, many people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, mentioned how nice the ceremony was. A friend of the family who was pastor of a local Church stopped in to ask if he could concelebrate, which blew me and the presider away. The Litany of the Saints was sung just before the vows, asking all the saints to bless us and our marraige. There were a couple of glitches, but nothing huge. The organist played Here Comes the Bride, although we had mentioned we did not want that song played, and the cake at the reception was the incorrect one. The important thing is that we were married before God, and all seemed to have a good time at the reception.

Some good news here - the last edition of the Long Island Catholic had an article by Dr. Janet Smith and mentioned that her column is a new edition to the paper.

I am back from the honeymoon, actually have been back since Sunday. I am getting the new place ready now and starting work on setting up our home. The wedding Mass was beautiful, the reception was nice, and the honeymoon cruise to the Southern Caribbean was great. I think I will love being married. More later.

AMAZING

I am so grateful to Catholic Match (formerly St. Raphael's), the site where I met my fiancee. I can't believe that I found a nice, sweet woman and fell in love. I am so lucky in so many ways. This blog was started so I could speak of my good experiences in the Church, my journey back to the Church and my thoughts on the Church today. I never meant for it to be a place to speak of my personal life and I could never really speak about some of the experiences I have had on my journey through life. Let's just say I am been through hell. It is quite amazing to look back and see what I had to go through to get to this place. And now some music from Aerosmith:


I kept the right ones out
And let the wrong ones in
Had an angel of mercy
To see me through all my sins
There were times in my life
When i was goin' insane
Tryin' to walk through the pain

When i lost my grip
And i hit the floor
Yeah, i thought i could leave
But couldn't get out the door
I was so sick n' tired Of livin' a lie
I was wishing that i would die

[Chorus]
It's amazing
With the blink of an eye
You finally see the light
It's amazing
That when the moment arrives
You know you'll be alright
It's amazing
And i'm saying a prayer
For the desperate hearts tonight

That one last shot's a permanent vacation
And a how high can you fly with broken wings
Life's a journey - not a destination
And i just can't tell just what tomorrow brings

You have to learn to crawl
Before you learn to walk
But i just couldn't listen
To all that righteous talk
I was out on the street
Just tryin' to survive
Scratchin' to stay alive
[Chorus]

Desperate hearts, desperate hearts


"to all of you people out there
Wherever you are - remember:
The light at the end of the tunnel
May be you - goodnight"


That about says it. And now I will be busy with wedding stuff so probably won't be blogging for awhile.

St. Raphael...pray for us

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions...pray for us

Saint Servulus...pray for us

St. Martin of Tours...pray for us

The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are involved with a great charity:

Light of the World Charities

"The organization regularly sends surgical teams to third world countries to help meet the medical needs of the poor. In addition, the organization has brought individuals to the United States to have medical and surgical procedures performed. "

St. William the Abbot...pray for us.

St. Therese of Lisieux...pray for us

Congrats to Domenico at Bettnet.com on the birth of his daughter Isabella Marie!

With two weeks to go I am going to start preparing....

St. Paul...pray for us

Catholic investigates stripper at party, hazing

"If the evidence demonstrates that any of our current students willingly participated in these activities, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken,'' athletic director Michael Allen said in a statement."

I wonder if confession will be mentioned?

With all my anti-dumb jock comments on this blog, I think it should be pointed out I am against jocks acting dumb, not against jocks per se. I am watching Mike Sweeney from the Kansas City Royals on EWTN right now and he seems like a classic good guy jock. There are many women and men that are jocks, and good people. I just think there is something wrong with our culture where jocks are treated like royalty even if they are royal screw-ups. Hopefully, this attitude will change and I believe that sites like badjocks.com can help.

Please visit MikeSweeney.org

Link Removed after some consideration

Catholic University Women's Lacrosse Team Initiation Party 2006

This site combines two of my favorite things to point out to people: Dumb Jocks and Fake Catholic Schools. From Badjocks.com, this site shows the initiation of dumb jocks at a supposedly Catholic University. These "women" hired a male stripper and acted like, well, dumb jocks with no brains, no taste, no dignity. In other words, typical dumb jocks and typical "Catholic" University students.

Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry has converted to Catholicism.

This reminds of a story Msgr. Lisante told during a homily one Sunday. He was a pro-life leader in the Diocese and was working an event with Terry. Randall asked Msgr. Lisante to lead the group of Christians in prayer, but requested it "not be too Catholic". Lisante said he began right away with "Hail Mary full of grace...."

Diocese of Rockville Centre Using Debut of “The Da Vinci Code” Movie as a Teachable Moment

My parish in Seaford is mentioned, and I will try to attend the film showing there - "The Da Vinci Deception: Fact vs. Fiction".

Via Whispers in the Loggia

Sirius Radio is going to have a Catholic Channel! This is good, although you never know how these things will work out. I am more excited to hear that Relevant Radio is coming to Long Island. A source told me there will be some local programming (think they will want a Gen X Show??). I have always enjoyed radio shows, especially when sitting in traffic, or when going to bed at night. Catholic radio could be good especially with interesting talk shows and interviews.

Should I comment on Pat McDonough's column in Newsday about The DaVinci Code?

"Perfect timing for 'The Da Vinci Code'
Post-crisis Catholics, questioning celibacy and marginalization of women by the church, will flock to theaters

No, I will just link to much better articles by Amy Welborn.

BOGO Wines

I read about this company in the National Catholic Register and have just ordered some wine now. I will let readers know how the wine is but the reviews look good. For each case of BOGO wine sold, the company donates money to adult stem cell research. The Thomas Hartman Foundation For Parkinson's Research is one of the organizations supported. BOGO stands for Buy One Give One, and the wine is sold in twin packs.

5/10/06 Update: I have become an affiliate to help advertise this wine.

David Blaine didn't make the world's record for holding his breath underwater. However, I believe he still holds the world record for most annoying human being.

Wedding Music

Entrance Hymn: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Post-Vows: Litany of Saints

Alleluia: Celtic

Offertory: Ave Maria (Schubert)

Agnus Dei: Chanted, latin

Communion: How Beautiful (Twila Paris)
Panis Angelicus (Franck)

Recessional: Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

Nothing out of the ordinary really, except perhaps the Litany. Eucharistic Prayer I will be used. There is going to be enough incense to choke a horse!

Cabbie Charged With Hate Crime

I am always saying that Long Island is a white trash heap. Here is yet another story that backs this up.

from Newsday.

Shocked I tell you! Shocked!

A Kennedy involved in a car accident?? A Kennedy getting special treatment from the police?? A Kennedy with substance abuse problems?? A Kennedy entering rehab??

If only Rose had married a good man....

Students from Kellenberg and Chaminade High Schools (of Prom-cancelling fame) went to Israel with students of the Islamic and Jewish faiths. The experience was filmed for a documentary that should be interesting.

RIP

Earl Woods, Tiger Woods' father passed away yesterday. It would seem from his son, he was a good man, a good father.

Luck of the Half-Irish

The music selections for our Nuptial Mass should be finished soon, and I will post them. We are very lucky in many ways - the priest will be great, the church is beautiful, the music at the parish is excellent, and many people who we were not sure could make it are indeed coming. No major disasters have occurred in over a year of planning. Things are going well, almost too well for me. An example or two: When I called to make the final payment on the honeymoon cruise, the travel agent told me the cruise line had cancelled our reservation because they never received the deposit. He was sure he put it on my credit card, and the cruise line never told him or us they were cancelling our cabin. It turns out the charge was approved but the cruise line never charged the card in error. I never noticed the charge was not on my credit card statements. So, my agent pushed for an upgraded cabin (same exact cabin but two decks higher) and got it for a reduced rate for his trouble. This was great. Another example was the catering hall, which is great but has a small cocktail hour room. We went there the other day for something and there was all kinds of construction going on. It turns out they are doubling the size of the cocktail hour room, improving the disabled access ramp, and paving the parking lot. It should all be done in time for our wedding. Third bit of luck - there was a Long Island wide disaster drill to be hold on our wedding day and it has been changed to another weekend.

The Voice of the Faithful of Long Island: (my responses in bold)

"We are quite sure that Jesus would be outside the cathedral with the LIVOTF members and not inside the cathedral with Bishop Murphy."


Gen X Revert is quite sure that Jesus IS inside the cathedral - that is what makes me a Catholic and not say, a protestant.


"Phyliss has the credentials but is not permitted to preach because she is a woman"

No, I can't preach either and I am a man. Only a priest can say Mass which includes giving a homily.

"I'm not sure I believe that the hierarchy is on its way out. It has much too many followers throughout the world."

Those followers are called Catholics, and we have seen many who don't believe in the hierarchy come and go.

"welcome to the newest Religious Order of the new century. Welcome Brothers and Sisters to the Religious Community of VOTF"

Is the Kool-Aid free my sister?

Diocese of Rockville Centre news -

Rev. John J. McCartney has been named pastor of St. Matthew in Dix Hills, effective the end of June. He was an associate at St. James in Seaford where I just attended Mass. This is important here because St. Matthew is the default "traditional" parish on Long Island. Fr. McCartney, who is always in a cassock, has said the parish would retain its traditional nature under his watch. The previous pastor at St. Matthew, Msgr. McDonald, is currently the rector at the seminary.

A Long Islander was recently arrested for meeting what he thought was a 13 year old girl for sex in a cemetary. This charming fellow has raped before:

"Officials say Fischer was arrested a month ago for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl and is under investigation for the rape of another 16-year-old. "

Has anyone learned anything from the Catholic priests sex abuse scandals?? More importantly will the lessons learned be applied to the society at large?

Focus on dog's owner in attack on boy

From Newsday, this story involved grandparents walking their 4 year old grandson and all were attacked by 3 vicious dogs. The 4 year old is in intensive care, and the grandfather is also in the hospital because of chest pains brought on by the attack. The dog owner has for some reason not been arrested yet, although his dog was to be kept inside or locked in a kennell after previous violent activity. Hopefully, the dog owner (Edward Kelly) will be arrested, the dogs will be put to sleep and the victims will recover quickly enough to sue this guy out of the neighborhood.

"On their inaugural show on WFNY/92.3 (Free FM) yesterday, Opie and Anthony struck a restrained note, minding their language and making nice with a Catholic advocate who played a role in keeping them off the New York airwaves for the past four years."

I heard the interview this morning on my way to work. They really were nice to Donohue who got lots of talk time on the show. He had no problem with the duo returning to "regular" radio and even slammed Howard Stern on his old station, from Stern's old studio. They credited Bill Donohue with making it real easy for O & A to come back and seemed genuinely appreciative.

Long Island Voice of the Faithful had their annual convention yesterday. Speakers included a former priest, Eugene Kennedy.

"The world of hierarchy has come to an end," said Kennedy, a professor emeritus at Loyola University of Chicago."

It is sad the group can get together 500 people to hear nonsense like this. There are so many good speakers who can truly talk about Church reform.

This was news to me:

"The latest casualty comes with the announcement that WLIE/540 AM, a station carrying business talk programs, has been sold to a Catholic broadcasting company for $14 million."

WLIE is a local radio station, the call letters refers to the Long Island Expressway. If this is going to become a Catholic station they might want to consider changing the call letters.

UPDATE: In doing a search, I just found out it was relevant radio that bought the station!! This is great. I listen to Relevant Radio when I am visiting family in Pittsburgh and would love to be able to hear it on Long Island. There is a dispute over the sale but hopefully Long Island will have a good Catholic radio station soon.

Relevant Radio

What a shock - the Duke University lacrosse players accused of rape include a Long Islander. I had actually predicted this already to people. It doesn't surprise me at all that jocks have been accused of rape, doesn't surprise me at all that one of them has an arrest record for assault, and definately doesn't surprise me that at least one was from this white trash heap called Long Island. But it does surprise me that the media is actually covering the story. Usually, when jocks are accused of anything it is treated as "not a big deal" and forgotten. So, once again we see a team behave like animals, getting strippers at a party, boozing it up and causing all kinds of trouble for a University. I wonder if Duke will eliminate their lacrosse team, as St. John's University did years after several players were accused of rape.

How did this happen? I have been on mailing lists for years due to my subscribing to Catholic magazines, or supporting certain groups, but recently I received junk mail that was totally different. I received a fund raising letter from Voice of the Faithful in Massachusetts! A week later I received a survey from FutureChurch. (LOL) I must really be getting old to get this type of junk mail. Anyway, I am sending back the VOTF form with this response:

"I only support traditional Catholic organizations. The Long Island chapter of VOTF supported the pervert Fr. Papa who was caught with child porn cookies on his computer. Why should I support you when you stand with priests like that? I will support Roman Catholic Faithful, Stephen Brady's group, which has had great success in fighting perverts in the Church. VOTF will never be for Gen-Xers, sorry."

The FutureChurch thing is an entire survey with plenty of room for comments. The survey indicates that FutureChurch has suggested or is using a strategy of "Encouraging women not to attend Church on a given Sunday". Why do these people bother? If you throw out the whole "Lead us not into temptation" thing, what is the point?

VOTF is a sad collection of mostly older and very sincere Catholics with their hearts in the right place, but FutureChurch is just a joke. Both are led by people who are leading them away from Catholicism.

The ancient coptic text of the "gospel of Judas" sat for years in a safe-deposit box in Hicksville, Long Island. You can read about the various gospels not found in your Catholic Bible by clicking here.

Behold! The New and Improved Catholic Blog Directory

I had always done the directory manually and recently found I didn't have the time needed to update it. Andrea was someone who emailed me with some more blogs and also notices that blogs had been defunct or moved. I asked her if she wanted to take over maintaining the directory and thankfully she agreed. She has already managed to highlight new blogs which is something I had always wanted to do. Enjoy!

Tradition in Action posts this picture, which they say is then Cardinal Wojtyla in shorts and T- shirt (they call it fishnet) in 1975. Apparently this is horrific to them, but I think it is a nice picture.

Congressman Peter King Vs. The Catholic Church

Peter King is actually a fellow parishioner of mine. I met him once at Dunkin Donuts and shook his hand. He is one of the very few politicians I like and respect. This time, King is wrong. Bashing the Church over pedophile priests because many of its leaders are opposed to harsh measures against illegal aliens? Then bring up nasty nuns from the 50's? I still like the guy, but he should stick to trying to find a solution to the very real problem of border security vs. our need for labor. My neighbor: if you can work with Bill Clinton to bring about peace in Ireland, surely you can work to make this nation secure and still open to all who sincerely want to work. Slapping the Church for whatever reason is bad politics, and is beneath you.

"You are young, and the Pope is old, 82 or 83 years of life is not the same as 22 or 23. But the Pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope."

Pope John Paul II
2002 World Youth Day, Toronto

Today was the first anniversary of Pope JPII's death. His influence is still quite strong in the Church. Just this weekend, I attended a "Created and Redeemed Seminar" by Christopher West in which there were 8 one hour sessions discussing the Theology of the Body. This is just one of the many huge contributions of JPII to the Church. West is a great speaker, although the seminar was a bit too much for one day. I found out West is my age (36) and he makes many references to movies and music of our time. He is funny and interesting, and well worth listening to.

"Johannes Paulus Magnus Oro Pro Nobis"

oook...

"Britney Spears will soon be giving birth again _ in Brooklyn, as a sexy sculpture that has drawn thousands of hate e-mails."

"This is a new take on pro-life. Pro-lifers normally promote bloody images of abortion. This is the image of birth," Daniel Edwards said of his work, to be unveiled at a Brooklyn gallery in April, months after Edwards' sculpture of Ted Williams severed head stirred up an artistic storm."

Here we go again, jocks accused of rape. Whether this is true or not, the fact is they hired strippers to come to their house, making Duke University look bad, etc..

All-American Hamburger in Massapequa

All-American Hamburger in Massapequa is a family-owned fast food joint that is a local landmark. Apparently, there was a rumor that spread that the family was selling out to a chain, but this is untrue. The distributionist in me loves family-owned businesses and the Massapequan in me loves the burgers, fries, and shakes at this place.

Best.Fastfood.Ever.

Curtis Sliwa and John Gotti Jr.

"It's a disgrace to see my church giving Holy Communion to a man who helped lead a reign of terror," said Sliwa, 51, who is also Catholic. "What is the message? You kill, you maim, you commit crime, and you gain sanctuary. It's shameful."

"The bottom line is he is allowed to worship in any Catholic church," said Sean Nolan of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. " Any Catholic is welcome."

[It is Sean Dolan, can't any reporter get a name right????]

I hate to say it, but Curtis is wrong this time. Gotti has a right to attend Mass like any other person. Sliwa is angry and understandably so, he was attacked by goons who shot him and justice has been denied. But if the Church kept sinners out, what purpose would it serve?

Religious group claims Diocese of Rockville Centre is hoarding money

The Voice of The Old Faithful (VOTF) are at it again. They are spending thousands of dollars on an ad campaign to say the Diocese should give away more money. They base this on an audit done by CPA Dick Grafer, who used to work for Arthur Anderson, the firm that did a bang up job taking care of Enron's finances. (Good job!) This audit was done months ago, but VOTF is starting this campaign now as the Diocese is in the middle of their annual fund raising. I don't have a problem with the Diocese having lots of money on hand, since they employ thousands of people, so I once again fail to see the point of VOTF's crying. It seems to me that the Diocese is in better hands today than years ago, and that it is managing its money carefully. However, Catholics should know and understand how their money is being used, and the Diocese should keep the Gospel in mind above all else. There are a lot of things I too would like to see the Diocese do with their money but no one asked me since I never worked for a firm that was convicted in the Enron scandal:

Destroy many of the ugly, non-Catholic Church buildings built during the 1970's-1990's and rebuild beautiful Catholic ones.

Create an educational endowment fund to make Catholic schools affordable without 8 billion cookie sales.

Fund pro-life groups such as Mommas House, Birthright and The Life Center of Long Island so they too don't have to beg for money every 5 seconds.

Endow the seminary so finances aren't a problem for seminarians.

Start a loan program or credit union for Catholics who can't afford living on Long Island, which would be almost all Catholics.


I am sure discussing how the Diocese spends its money is a good thing for Catholics. But I don't think the VOTF is being helpful at all by approaching the issue this way. All large organizations, religious or otherwise, need to have large cash reserves. After all, we would not want one of Long Island's biggest employers to end up like Arthur Anderson:

"From a high of 28,000 employees in the US and 85,000 worldwide, the firm is now down to around 200 based primarily in Chicago. Most of their attention is on handling the lawsuits."