I have seen this on several blogs, so I can't remember where I saw it first:

The Storm Theatre in NYC is hosting a Karol Wojtyla Theatre Festival. They will be staging Jeremiah, Our God's Brother, and The Jeweler's Shop.

5 Long Islanders were arrested in Disney World

They were reportedly drunk, abusive, and violent. If you scroll through the comments on the Newsday story (page 3) you can see someone thoughtfully posted the myspace pages of 3 of them. On one of the girl's page she lists:

Religion: Catholic

Education: High School

No surprises there. Unfortunately.

Amy Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco have been seen together again.

I once wrote that Fisher had gotten her life together and seemed to be trying to be a decent person. Obviously, I was wrong. Buttafuoco, the convicted child rapist, was always a horrible person. They deserve each other: two desparate, pathetic, white-trash losers without a moral compass. I hope they have a very short life together.

As you can see from the right side bar, I have put Catholic book collection online at LibraryThing.com. I had created a Microsoft Access database to keep track of my growing collection and it served me well. But, LibraryThing was easier to create, I only needed to put in the isbn number.

Here is the link to my collection. Soon, all books will have covers pictured. When I was beginning my return to my faith, Ignatius Press was a great guide, and 72 out of the 281 books are from their catalog.

I am also pleased to have 26 autographed books so far.

"I’m tired of angry Catholics. No, I take that back, I’m tired of whiny Catholics. Every last one of us most likely has some legitimate complaints. With over one billion people in her care someone is going to be disappointed with every decision made. But she plugs along as best she can."

"Stop trying to save the Church. The Church is here to save you. "

---Fr. V. at Adam's Ale

12 men will be ordained as permanent deacons on May 19th

I take lunch at 12:30 PM but I missed this, from Ellis Henican's column in Newsday:

"PREPPED FOR LIFE: The no-prom controversy, the Duke case, three grads killed in Iraq: Who says president of all-boys Chaminade High School is a laid-back kind of job? Not Father James Williams. Not this year. Father James tells all to WHPC's Ray Bertolino, Monday, 12:30 p.m., 90.3 FM."

The Diocese of Rockville Centre will have a new bishop ordained on June 1st. Msgr. Peter Libasci will serve as Episcopal Vicar on the east end of Long Island, replacing Bishop Wcela who is now retired.

Leticia wrote about her optimism about the Diocese of Rockville Centre. I would say I am "cautiously optimistic". I see a few trends occuring here that mirror the larger Church in the USA:

The mainstreaming of the "orthodox", "new charismatics", "traditionalists", and "conservatives".

The decline of the "liberals".


The DRVC is, like many dioceses, recovering from a past where the orthodox, traditional Catholic faith was ground up and spit out by revolutionaries bent on changing the Church into a more politically correct, watered down, more cocktail-party-friendly version. Tradition was discarded entirely and some pretty non-Catholic ideas and actions crept into the Liturgy and parish life. This was done by both well-meaning and not so well meaning people. The traditionalists were the canaries in the mine that were ignored and vilified and left for their chapels. The conservatives railed against what they saw but were powerless to do anything. The charismatics were busy having home Masses and strumming guitars and didn't really get involved. The liberals ran things with a ruthless efficiency.

Just as the abuses and failures and missteps of the 70's and 80's and 90's were being corrected or discarded, the sex abuse scandals exploded and all Catholics were thrust into the world of intra-Catholic politics. Then, JPII died and Ratzinger elected and the world watched with amazement. As nobody said at the time, but should have, we were all Catholic nerds now.

When the dust settled, this much was clear: the liberals who ran this Church for 35 years were done. Not because of some "smackdown" by Pope Benedict as some had hoped, but because after 35 years nothing liberals proposed was "new" "exciting" or "relevant" anymore. Their ideas were exhausted and their ruthless rule didn't exactly lead to a mass influx of people to the Church.

So, now we are at the point where the "dynamic orthodoxy" of groups like the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal for example, is starting to show up at the parish level, in apostolates (even those groups run by the DRVC), in the seminary, and in schools. Combined with a renewed understanding and appreciation of tradition and Liturgy evident particularly in the young, this gives me reason for hope. Now if we just don't mess it up.....

From Newsday:

Mayor of tiny LI village apologizes for anti-Hispanic comments

Manorhaven Mayor Nicholas Capozzi was tape recorded saying:

"Do you drive down that --- block? It looks like --- Harlem. It looks worse than Harlem. It's a --- hole over there."

The online story at Newsday.com omits three things that are in the print edition:

1) That he was also tape recorded admitting that he allowed someone to break the rules of the town because he was a political supporter

2) That a man who "shares a ranch house with Capozzi" was arrested for threatening to kill a critic of the mayor

3) The picture showing him to be an ugly, fat pig-like creature.

This article details the arrest of the mayor's house mate.

" Richard C. Li was arrested July 17 by Nassau police and charged with harassment, and is scheduled to appear Aug. 4 in First District Court.
Neither Li nor Mayor Nicholas Capozzi, who lives in the six-room ranch Li owns on Sagamore Hill Drive, returned calls seeking comment"
"Grenfell said Li rushed up to him as he drove into the parking lot and began punching the side of the car while yelling, 'You'd better get out of here if you know what's good for you or you're a dead man.'
Michael Davenport, one of three witnesses police interviewed, said Li shouted profanities at him and two others who carried signs supporting Grenfell's campaign. 'He was cursing at us, telling us to leave,' Davenport said."

From the VOTF Long Island "Faith Convention"


David Gibson on electing Popes: "Noted that the white smoke tradition for announcing the election of a new Pope is only about 100 years old, but the Church makes it seem as though it has been around from the very beginning." [Citation please]

Gibson again on Pope Benedict: "The Pope is a cultural Catholic – no conversion experience. He cannot accept the past errors of the Church with respect to anti-Semitism and the response to the Holocaust. Benedict is focused on the beauty in the Church. He is enshrined in ecclesiology. Benedict is old fashioned and conservative – activism and reform are out of bounds. He does not have his finger on the pulse of the laity." [???]

Camille D’Arienzo on why she should be allowed to give homilies instead of the priest: "It is very important that they hear good homilies. Some priests and deacons are not gifted in this way. There is also the problem of the priest shortage and the number of priests whose first language is not English [Racism anyone? Xenophobia anyone?] So un-ordained, qualified, enthusiastic preachers should be considered as an alternative. She enjoys her one-minute Catholic commentaries on 1010 WINS each week [I think they are trite and boring], but would prefer the pulpit and is available"

Richard Sipe: "Claimed that the Church is wrong about sex."

"Each of us has the capacity to determine what is right and what is wrong."



Is VOTF still wondering why they can't attract young people????

CBS Radio Suspends FREE FM Hosts After Prank

JV and Elvis were (are?) on the radio at 92.3 Free FM, where Howard Stern used to be. As a big radio listener I have to say I did not like this show, they sound like two dumb jocks, guys that think they are funny but aren't. I am glad to see some of the filth being cleaned up on the radio, although there has got to be some room for satire. I am a big fan of Ron and Fez, who although their Free FM show doesn't seem to have any of the old characters they had when they were on WNEW, are still very funny.

NPR and NCR

I was listening to NPR this morning before going into work and they had a piece on forced abortions in China. I guess it was interesting to hear this on NPR because it certainly is not news:

Cases of Forced Abortions Surface in China

Then after getting home from work I read this article in the National Catholic Register:

"Where Have All the Girls Gone?"

This article mentions the practice of aborting girls in cultures, such as China, where boys are more socially prized for various reasons.

"Among other things"


"Among other things, the resurrection is about positive thinking and the belief that positive energy makes good things happen, just as self-defeating thoughts are also self-fulfilling."

---Ron Rolheiser

If I hear or see the following phrases one more time I am going to convert to Islam -

"Celebrating our giftedness"

"time, talent, treasure"

"stewardship"

"Happy Friday"

"Called and Gifted"

"gifted"

My baby is growing! Andrea has the Catholic Blog Directory up to 1,011 blogs.

A story about a Nigerian-born priest involved in a car crash. Priests from Nigeria are very inspiring.

Justice is a favorite topic of mine and today there are a few justice stories going around:

The Duke lacrosse players finally had all charges dropped and were declared innocent, which was obvious to all after the late Ed Bradley's 60 Minutes piece. Perhaps they have learned a tough lesson in life: don't ever hire a stripper, as they tend to be skanky, lying, conniving, uneducated whores. Also, people are often accused of things they did not do, particularly by uneducated people.

Don Imus was finally fired for being a racist jerk. This is also not news to anyone who paid attention. I had to laugh when I saw this article about Fr. Hartman of the God Squad and a racist incident on the show that caused him to leave the studio.

"Today was a disappointing moment, the lowest point in our appearances," said Father Hartman, regarding McGuirk's imitation of New Jersey Nets forward, Jayson Williams. "It was the most direct form of bigotry. I don't agree with what he said. It's against what I believe in and what my Church believes in. And I'll do something about it in my own way. I have to think and pray about what happened. If that is characteristic of the entire show, then we couldn't be on the show, but I don't believe it is." (my emphasis)

This was from May of 2000! And here is an article from 1999 about Philip Nobile who wrote to Bishop McGann complaining of Fr. Hartman appearing on Imus' show.

"Nobile has written the pair and sent two letters to Hartman's superior, Bishop John McGann of Rockville Centre, N.Y. In his first letter to the bishop, Nobile accused Hartman of "giving scandal by his association with Don Imus, the most powerful and active white racist and homophobe in the American media."
Nobile, who holds a theology degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, contends that the Imus show "routinely smears racial minorities, homosexuals and the handicapped with vicious and vile remarks that should shock Catholic conscience."

Of course, Bishop McGann was famous for ignoring complaints of Catholics when it came to priests, as the Suffolk County Grand Jury Report on sexual abuse of minors by priest showed.

All of the people who were frequent guests on his show knew the deal, and they supported the racism by their presence. It is about time justice was served to Imus, who was always a rotten person to those around him.

Christ is Risen! He is truly risen!

I went to Easter Vigil last night at St. Kilian parish in Farmingdale. It is a beautiful Church lined with statues and a large sanctuary. According to the parish history on its website, the Church looked like an auditorium before its renovation, so they did an excellent job. Only the ceiling in the main section of the Church reminded me of an auditorium. The vigil had 4 priests, and 1 bishop and 5 deacons. The altar servers did a good job with so much to do- lighting everyone's candles during the service of light, ringing bells at the Gloria, kneeling with the giant candles at the Eucharistic Prayer, incensing at the elevations, etc.. The choir sounded excellent chanting the psalms in between the readings (there were only 3 done). This Liturgy nut enjoyed both Holy Thursday Mass and Easter Vigil - feel free to describe what you saw this Triduum/Easter Sunday at parishes on Long Island.

Now it is off to Easter Sunday Mass with the wife and then to dinner with family. I am going to beat my nephew and niece at Life if I have to play 100 games!!

In tsunami-hit Solomons, LI native offers hope

From Newsday, an article about Bishop Chris Cardone

"Cardone plans to travel next week to Gizo, where he spent 14 years as a missionary. The Chaminade High School graduate went on to Providence College in Rhode Island and was inspired by some Dominicans there. He switched his major from business to liberal arts and became a friar. Cardone was sent to the Solomon Islands 18 years ago to train the native people in Catholicism. The three-year assignment turned into a permanent position. Cardone was promoted to bishop in 2001.


In the comments section of the article, Fr. Gerard Twomey wrote the Solomon Islands is "the island chain where Marines landed on Marines landed on Guadalcanal in 1942 and P.T. 109 was sunk in 1943".

Bishop Murphy has authorized a special collection to be taken up in parishes on April 15th for relief.

Holy Thursday

I went to Mass last night at St. Matthew in Dix Hills. Fr. McCartney celebrated the Mass of the Last Supper and 7 other priests concelebrated!. He walked around the Church to wash the feet of 12 people which was different, I have only seen 12 go to the sanctuary where the priest washes their feet. The choir sang Ubi Caritas all in latin during the washing of the feet. The offertory was Panis Angelicus which sounded great. I recognized a few people from the indult Mass sitting in the corner to the right of the sanctuary and realized then that communion would be given at the rail. I didn't move from where I was though and I am glad I didn't. I ended up in a good position at the end of the Mass when the 8 priests, 1 deacon, and 5 altar servers led the transfer of the Eucharist to the chapel. Overall it was a beautiful Liturgy.

I am just getting home from work and dinner so I just caught these two Long Island related posts on Open Book.

• The Tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands made many Long Islanders come to this blog searching for news about Bishop Chris Cardone, a native Long Islander, Chaminade grad, and brother of Fr. Cardone of Kellenberg. Amy links to Moniales which posts a letter from Bishop Cardone.

• A new auxiliary for Rockville Centre - in which Amy Welborn reports on the resignation of Bishop Wcela and the appointment of Fr. Peter Libasci, pastor of St. Therese of Liseux in Montauk as new auxiliary.

I try to make this blog the source of news and discussion for Long Island Catholics but sometimes it is just easier to point to the better blogs.

Our new bishop, Msgr. Peter Libasci, is bi-ritual, able to celebrate the divine Liturgy in Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church!

I was also able to dig up some dirt on the Bishop. According to this story, he was a major figure in this "rooster gone wild" story back in December.

From Newsday:

"Illegal credit card use nets three $19K in gas"

So, what did they get, 4 or 5 fill-ups?

On Saturday I went to hear George Weigel give a talk based on his book The Cube and the Cathedral. A great lunch was offered free for all attendees by Dr. Varacalli and the Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies. The talk was about the Secularization of Europe and what this might mean for America. It was an interesting discussion and I got to get my Witness to Hope signed by Weigel.

"We are singing songs at most parishes that would be rejected by Barney. Our priests and bishops have zero aesthetical training and have completely lost the desire to bring “new epiphanies of beauty” (JPII) to the Church. "

--Barbara Nicolosi at Church of the Masses

Found via Off the Record

Why won't Newsday and the Boston Globe cover the teacher sex scandals like the Catholic priest sex scandals?

From Newsday:

"A former middle school teacher accused of having sex with five boys was indicted Friday by a grand jury, the Laurens County prosecutor said."

"She is one of two Laurens County teachers facing sex charges; an elementary school teacher is charged with having sex with an 11-year old boy."

Where is the 4 page special investigative series? Why haven't the front page stories been on teacher sex abuse every day for a year? Why haven't the records of the past 50 years been examined? Why haven't the papers sued to release the personnel files of schools, school districts, and the unions?

From CNN.com (in 2002!)

" A California high school teacher runs off to Las Vegas with her 15-year-old student. A Louisiana teacher is accused of having an affair with her 14-year-old student. In the Bronx, a teacher is charged with statutory rape involving a 16-year-old former student.

Such cases aren't uncommon across the country. But unlike the Roman Catholic Church's troubles with pedophile priests, teacher-student sex cases have received little attention beyond a few sensational cases."

I have been asked to put together a panel on Catholic blogging for an upcoming Catholic conference. I am excited about this and will get around to putting my thoughts on Catholic blogging in some sort of order. I am currently watching a similiar panel that was recently filmed and can be seen here at BustedHalo.com.

Grant Gallicho, Amy Welborn and Rocco Palmo discuss blogging and I was thrilled to hear Amy Welborn mention The Catholic Blog Directory. I started this site after Gerard Serafin passed away, trying to pick up on his list of "St. Blog's Parish", which is where I first discovered Catholic blogs. Today it is maintained by Andrea who has upgraded the directory to include 964 blogs.

I can't wait to have some time to sit down at the computer and put down some sort of words about Catholic blogs, particularly its history. Although there are some limitations and problems with Catholic blogs, the positive well outnumber the negatives.

Bishop Murphy will dedicate a new Church in Montauk this weekend, St. Therese of Lisieux. The picture at this link actually bears a striking resemblance to the parish Church of my childhood.

"Though Catholics had been celebrating Mass in Montauk since the 1760s, the first church did not sprout until 1929-1930 thanks to a burgeoning French Canadian Catholic community in Long Island’s easternmost point. Then named the Church of the Little Flower, because of the founding priest’s devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux, the completed church building would eventually be dedicated in 1935 by Bishop Molloy. In 1950, full parish status was conferred to St. Therese"

BOGO Wines is having a 1/2 price sale - go to their website now! I have had this wine and it is good. If you buy a case, you are supporting the pro-life cause. A case (12 bottles) is only $59.35 with free shipping. That is less than $5 per bottle!

Amy Welborn at Open Book links to a NY Times article on Fr. Benedict Groeschel. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, or better still, go on retreat with him, you will not be disappointed. He has often lead retreats for the Catholic Lay Preachers at the retreat house at Kellenberg High School.

Franciscan brother dies in crash

"A popular Franciscian friar and football coach died after his car went out of control on a stretch of road in Kings Park.

Brother Neri Fulton, 72, was driving home on Indian Head Road at about 7:10 p.m. Sunday when he lost control of his 2004 Honda CRV, police said."

From Newsday

This is really a shame - this is the third Franciscan Friar from the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn to die this year. May they all rest in peace.

George Weigel is going to speak at the Nassau Community College this Saturday!

Saturday, March 31 "Secularization of European Society", based on his book The Cube and The Cathedral.

Another great event sponsored by The Nassau Community College Center for Catholic Studies. The event is free (!) and starts at 12 PM with a luncheon followed by Weigel's talk.

Held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the College Center Building.

Ruth at Wheelie Catholic posts about missing Mass due to snow since she is in a wheelchair. This is something we Catholics can work on at the parish level, making sure those who need rides to Sunday Mass get them.

Diogenes reports that the US Catholic Bishops have actually spoken up in defense of Catholic teachings, and adds that this is not an early April Fools joke (surprisingly). The Bishops simply pointed out that failed priest Daniel Maguire has published pamphlets that are not Catholic, although he lied and tried to claim they were.

Christopher West is coming to Long Island again to give his Created and Redeemed Seminar - an introduction to John Paul II's Theology of the Body. My wife and I attended this seminar at Kellenberg High School before we were married and it was quite good. West is one of the few speakers who could give a 10 1/2 hour seminar and pull it off without boring everyone to death. He is quite funny, entertaining, interesting and informative, especially if you are a child of the 80's and can get all the references he makes to 80's music. Here he speaks of giving his book to Bono and hearing the Theology of the Body in one of U2's songs.

The seminar will be at Cure of Ars parish in Merrick (where the heart of St. John Vianney was venerated)

Friday, April 20th 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Saturday, April 21st 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Info is here (PDF file)

Catholic Church stuff -

• The Pope issued an apostolic exhortation called Sacramentum Caritatis which focuses on Liturgy. Good commentary on it can be found at What Does the Prayer Really Say? The Pope writes about using latin and chant, keeping the tabernacle in a prominent place, etc..

• There have been rumors for months now about a motu proprio from Pope Benedict allowing greater use of the traditional latin Mass.

• And of course, a more accurate translation of the Mass into English is on its way....

All of these things should make a Liturgy nut like me happy, the Reform of the Reform is gathering steam! But my reaction to these recent developments has been very muted. I can't help but feel that this has all been said before, all promised before, and no matter how many in the Vatican, including the Pope express the desire for reverence, tradition, etc.. it never seems to trickle down to the parish level. The motu proprio, if it ever actually comes, will be ignored by many bishops. The exhortation will be ignored. The new translation will be ignored. I am very cynical about this because at the parish level the understanding of tradition is almost non-existent.

Speaking of Liturgy, anyone on Long Island know of a parish where the Easter Vigil is 'done up real good'? I would love to go to a parish this year where the Vigil is done well. It doesn't have to be in latin, or with a huge choir, or with chant, at this point I have minimal standards. I have been to my own home parish, as well as my new parish so I would like to try somewhere different this year.

Bishop Murphy, recently appointed to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, will once again speak at Faith on Tap. I believe this is his third time speaking for the group. This time, however, it will not be at its normal venue, The Wantagh Inn, but next door at Mulcahy's Pub.

The Topic: "The Legacy of Pope John Paul II"

Faith on Tap website

Monday, March 26th 7-9 PM

Teacher pleads guilty to kiddie porn charges


"Michael Kelly Reiner, a longtime teacher at the Long Island School for the Gifted in Huntington Station, was arrested last September and was fired from the school, where he had taught for 18 years."

A Tale of Two Surburbs


Newsday reports on a study that shows Long Islanders pay higher taxes but do not get better service than a similar area of northern Virginia.

"The reason, according to the study, lies in Long Island's 439 units of local government, school districts and special districts. In Fairfax and Loudoun counties -- Washington, D.C., suburbs with about half Long Island's population -- there are 17 such districts."

It is well past the time for Long Island to consolidate its school districts, fire districts, and other services. Nassau and Suffolk could get by with 1 school district each, broken down by region, or perhaps even 5 school districts each. This would make things more efficient without affecting the excellent quality of most public schools here.

One thing I noticed in the article is that while Newsday reports that spending for fire departments "excluding personnel" is twice as high on Long Island, the volunteer fire personnel actually bring the overall cost below northern Virginia. The only thing to be done with the fire departments is to consolidate the fire districts, and watch their spending, as these arrests show.

The report, as well as many other info for Long Islanders can be found on the Long Island Index.

Nassau DA says several factors went into decision to not prosecute Islander for vicious hit

What could those factors be?

1) That Chris Simon is white?

2) That Chris Simon is a jock?

3) That Nassau County police get free tickets to Islander games?

4) That the owner of the Islanders is BILLIONAIRE Charles Wang?

5) That hockey is the last sport where white men can pretend to be athletic, and we wouldn't want to tarnish the sport?

6) That the thousands of people who witnesses this assault were too drunk to be reliable witnesses?

7) That charging Chris Simon might set a dangerous precedent of actually expecting white men to obey the law?

Newsday printed an article today on Chaminade and how it teaches sacrifice, focusing on the 3 Chaminade graduates who have died in Iraq - Ronald Winchester, Michael LiCalzi, and James Regan RIP.

"Anchored in faith, and unrelenting in its academic demands on its 1,600 students, Chaminade could easily shape young men for Wall Street, not for war. And yet in just less than three years, three young graduates have died in Iraq and about 70 more have done military duty there."

Betty Hutton, 86, died on March 11th.

"But her personal life was rocky at times, including four failed marriages, financial problems and difficulties between her and her three daughters. In a 1980 AP interview, Hutton said she had kicked a 20-year addiction to pills. "Uppers, downers, inners, outers, I took everything I could get my hands on," she said.

She credited a Rhode Island priest, the Rev. Peter Maguire, with befriending her and turning her life around. She converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1986, she earned a liberal arts degree from Salve Regina College, in Newport, Rhode Island, commenting that she liked college because "the kids studying there accepted me as one of them."

Francis Porretto at Eternity Road is some writer! I especially enjoy his Sunday Ruminations -

"The Long Island "coot" is a hardy species, and over time can be educated to the hazards of his style of shopping. This specimen was from Connecticut, where they're frailer, slower, and apparently have no convenience stores.

GRRR! By the time I'd paid for my newspaper and was back in my car, I was ready to declare war on the whole world. At least on Connecticut, which has deserved it for a long time now.

This is not the way I like to feel upon returning from Mass. "

Do go read the whole thing.

Simon says "Racism"

So, a man is caught in Nassau County on video tape giving a "vicious two-handed stick attack to the face" to someone. There were plenty of witnesses and the man's address is well known. This was on Saturday but no arrest has been made?

"A spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Friday that "no decision has been reached" about whether to bring charges against Simon.

"We are going to review the tape," spokesman Eric Phillips said."

Why the delay in bringing charges? Could it be.......that the attacker was white? That he was a jock? That hockey is a sport very popular amoung white people such as cops and fireman, who often get free tickets to Islander games?

In the Light of the Law blog points out a very serious error in one of the God's Squad's answers. Since this involves a strictly Catholic issue of Holy Communion, all the blame goes to Msgr. Thomas Hartman. A "Eucharistic Minister" (sic) claimed an Alzheimers patient couldn't be given communion because communion "depends on a cognitive understanding of what is being received."

Msgr. Hartman agrees with this "Eucharistic Minister" and Ed Peters points out just how wrong Hartman is, from a canon law standpoint. Holy Communion does not depend on an understanding of what is being received, and it is sad that Msgr. Hartman's column for years has given people incorrect answers. (This column was not yet printed in Newsday, where the God Squad column appears locally.)

If you missed Dawn Eden at Faith on Tap last month, you can see her at the Faith and Reason Bookstore in my hometown - Massapequa! Directions are here.

Dawn will give a talk and sign books from 1-2 PM.

Rudy says it's a family affair

Rudy Giuliani has been married three times, and very publicly cheated on his wife. He apparently has strained relationships with his son and daughter. People outside of New York do not realize how strained his support was just before 9/11, despite his success as mayor. Like most Long Islanders I respected what he did to make the city a better place, but was anxious to see him go towards the end because he just seem to implode into this horrible jerk. He then redeemed himself with his heroic leadership on and after 9/11.

While I have always applauded his fight against the mafia, his attacks on crime in NYC, his stance against anti-Catholic bigotry, and his actions on and after September 11th, I cannot see supporting his run for President. He is 100% pro-choice, and lead a very questionable life. Catholics should be careful not to equate conservative or republican politics with the faith. Although the right wing has been much more hospitable to Christian people and values than the left, it still worships the same god as the left: power.

The Long Island Catholic has a new editor - Rick Hinshaw. Let's hope he uses The National Catholic Register as a model for how a Catholic paper should teach the faith, inform, enlighten, and inspire.

Double Whammy!

I got to hear Dawn Eden at Faith on Tap tonight, who gave an excellent talk on her book The Thrill of The Chaste. The crowd loved her - especially her recounting the experience of getting fired from the NY Post and when she read excerpts from her book. It was a decent crowd of about 50 people, although there would have been more if the weather had been better. Dawn had to catch a train and the Mrs. and I wanted to get home, so there wasn't much time to talk, but we will meet again.

I also got to meet Leticia of causa nostrae laetitia which was a great surprise. She picked me out of the crowd because she claimed my wife and I "looked like newlyweds" which amused us greatly. She shared some good news about films that are coming out and are family friendly, you can read about one here. Again, there wasn't much time to talk but I am sure our paths will cross again.

UPDATE 3/2 - Leticia has a good description of Dawn's talk at her blog here.

The Baby Who's Not Supposed to Be Alive

Great story about the youngest premature baby to survive, at 21 weeks and six days old. The doctor who delivered the baby is quoted in this Newsweek article:

"Sometimes you just can't explain these things," Lievano said. "Science only takes us so far. There are a lot of us who think God helped us out here, that this is a miracle. Somehow we were allowed to do something that was bigger than all of us."

Biking militants die when bomb explodes prematurely


"Three Islamic militants died in eastern Pakistan when a powerful bomb they were transporting by bicycle accidentally exploded Saturday near a bustling cattle market, police said."

Enough with Anna Nicole Smith already. She was a self-important, greedy, stupid, uneducated, white trash, gold-digging, drug-taking, boob-enhancing, shallow, egotistical, failed actress, failed model, silly, superficial jackass.

And Howard K. Stern is even worse.

AP IMPACT: Records show tremendous growth in teacher sex cases

"An internal state Education Department report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Law shows "tremendous growth" in so-called moral conduct cases against teachers over five years. "

--Printed in Newsday

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I would think the number of such cases against Catholic priests has greatly decreased over the past 5 years. It seems to me most (but not all) Catholic priest-perverts have been fired and Catholics have made great strides in fighting perverts in their Church. Yet lawsuits that accuse dead priests of abuse 50 years ago are allowed to go to court? Shouldn't people then be able to sue school districts accusing dead teachers from 50 years ago? Or would that be stupid and unfair?

And along the same lines, shouldn't Newsday and The New York Times be running stories of teacher abuse over the past 50 years every day on the front page for a year?

Anyway, here is a link to the Abuse Scandal 5 Years Later Update at NPR (National Public Radio, not National Catholic Register or National Catholic Reporter) One major glaring omission from this 5 year update is in the Where Are They Now story - there is no mention of Paul R. Shanley, a major figure in the scandals in Boston.

Monday, February 26th, 7-9 PM

Guest Speaker - Dawn Eden, author of The Thrill of The Chaste

Faith on Tap is held upstairs at The Wantagh Inn, located right next to Mulcahy's, across from the Wantagh Railroad Station. The talk will start around 7:30 PM.

Long Island crime news

There were four men who robbed the family home of a young father named Dane Aulak in Medford. Dane Aulak's brother managed to get a gun from one of the robbers and shot two of them. Both of them died. One of the robbers shot Dane Aulak to death.

According to police, Dane Aulak was a drug dealer and one of the men who broke into his home was a customer of his. This man is Eric Calace, the grandson of wealthy Long Island developer Arthur Calace.

So, a drug dealer is dead. Two armed robbers are dead. Two men are going to be charged with burglary and second-degree murder. A young child has no father.

I hate it when that happens.


Man Returns From Visit, Trips on Corpse

Vincent Cioci, RIP

My mother knew him when he ran the Neighborhood Network in Massapequa and said he was the nicest guy. Vincent was a traditional Catholic who helped expose the corruption of the Society of St. John in Shohola, Pennsylvania. He moved upstate but was still involved in his Fuel Consumers Group, which helped keep the cost of home heating oil down for Long Islanders. It is a shame that he died so young.

A decent column by Fr. DeGrocco is in this week's edition of The Long Island Catholic. He writes about the Introductory Rites and I hope every parish takes note of these two important points:

"Notice, however, that the entrance hymn is definitely not supposed to be a greeting for the priest presider! An instruction such as, “Please stand and greet our celebrant by singing …” is entirely inappropriate."

AND


"....secular or casual greetings that emphasize a mere human exchange (such as “good morning”) are inappropriate."

Crisis Magazine published a study ranking Dioceses in the USA according to various criteria. The Diocese of Rockville Centre came in second to last. But the largest dioceses all did poorly according to this report, which makes me wonder how the size was factored into the figuring. I would also like to have seen Mass attendance, number or percentage of fallen away Catholics, and number of baptisms and weddings counted as well. I think it is possible to know the "health" of a Diocese and I would not consider DRVC to be less healthy than Rochester. I also think DRVC is a lot healthier today than it was 10 years ago, but it would be hard to prove it with statistics. Overall, the report did not interest me much at all.

More letters have been published regarding Fr. Dietzen's column in the Long Island Catholic. I will simply refer readers to this post, which sums up my feeling on Dietzen's writing.

St. John’s Officials Nix Controversial Play

Eve Ensler's infamous play will not be performed at St. John's University in Queens, of which I am a graduate. This is good, and surprising, news.

"The Rev. James Maher, vice president of student affairs at the Jamaica Estates campus, said the university took great care in weighing the issues, “and concluded that the performance, by its very nature, was unsuitable subject matter in keeping with Catholic teachings and our Vincentian mission.”

Despite turning down the play, Maher said St. John’s supports raising awareness and education about violence against women “and we will continue to provide resources to this end with programs and services each year.”

In God's Image On Long Island

Another Catholic blog from the DRVC.

The great Dawn Eden is coming to Faith on Tap! She will be speaking on her book "The Thrill of The Chaste" . Faith on Tap is held at The Wantagh Inn, right across from the Wantagh Railroad Station.

February 26th, 7-9 PM

Free Admission!

Check out their website (which I created) at Faith on Tap

You are a 100% traditional Catholic!

Congratulations! You are more knowlegeable than most modern theologians! You have achieved mastery over the most important doctrines of the Catholic Faith! You should share your incredible understanding with others!

Do You Know Your Baltimore Catechism?
Make Your Own Quiz

This was a surprise result! Leticia Velasquez from causa nostrae laetitia created this Do You Know Your Baltimore Catechism quiz. This was a great quiz and I honestly did not expect to do this well.

(And I happen to think giving wine to the thirsty is a kind of corporal work of mercy!)

I read a little blurb in the latest National Catholic Register that Ron Hansen was ordained a deacon. He is the author of Hitler's Niece and Mariette In Ecstasy, the latter was made into a film but apparently not released in the US. Hansen also wrote a book that was adapted for film that will be out soon, starring Brad Pitt as Jesse James.

Duke faculty failed its accused students by rushing to condemn, but their high schools wisely waited for truth

A fellow Chaminade graduate wrote this editorial that was published in Newsday about the lacrosse players accused of raping a stripper. His point is that Duke University and its faculty seem to rush to judgement against the players, while the private high schools the students attended, Delbarton and Chaminade, supported the players and expressed faith in them as good people. I know Chaminade is supportive of its alumni and truly cares about its students, but I want to comment on two things in the article.

First, I happen to agree with the Duke University President who is quoted from the 60 Minutes story:

"From our point of view, this was an evening of highly unacceptable behavior whether or not the rape took place."

I agree.

Also, the article does not mention the previous assault charge against one of the players. What this stripper did was horrible and obviously she is a very messed up person, but the party should never have involved strippers in the first place. Hopefully, the DA down there will be disbarred, the stripper will be arrested for filing a false complaint, and the lacrosse players will learn valuable lessons.

Mass today was at St. Luke's since I spent the weekend in the Poconos. The Mass was being filmed so if you watch the Sunday Mass in the Diocese of Scranton (PA) you may have seen me receiving communion. After unpacking and sitting down to unwind after the long drive home, I turned on the television and caught part of the Mass from St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre. The red on Bishop Murphy and concelebrants reminded me they are celebrating the Mass for the feast of St. Agnes today in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Diocese.

"Bishop Murphy has encouraged all parishes to celebrate the Feast of St. Agnes at their own parish Sunday Masses on January 21. Normally, the feast of a saint that falls on a Sunday is not observed so that the liturgy can focus on the regular Sunday lectionary readings."

St. Agnes was an early martyr of the Catholic Church and her name is mentioned in the Roman Canon. I love hearing the names of the early saints and martyrs when this prayer is used. St. Agnes of Rome was only around 12 or 13 when she was killed for refusing to give up her virginity.

The National Catholic Register has been doing an ongoing series on the US Dioceses with the most Catholic elementary students to see how their textbooks conform to the Bishops' standards. When the series started they mentioned the Diocese of Rockville Centre would be looked at and the article has finally appeared:

"Even though the Diocese of Rockville Centre’s textbook policy requiring materials in conformity with the Catechism has only been in effect since Sept. 1, 2005, every parish or school checked by the National Catholic Register was found to be in compliance. "

The article is a little disappointing since it lumps DRVC in with the Archdiocese of NY and is a little light on facts. What parishes were checked, what schools? What textbooks were in use? How was the change to conformity with the Cathechism perceived by teachers and parents? The only person quoted is the director of catechesis for the Diocese. I would have liked some quotes from teachers, parents, etc.. Anyway, it is good to know the elementary schools are using approved textbooks. The high schools don't have to yet as there are not enough texts on the Bishops' list yet. Any move to orthodoxy is good for all. If any readers can enlighten me about what books are used in schools on Long Island please comment here.

4 YEAR BLOGIVERSARY

Any moron can have a blog, it takes a special one to keep it going for 4 years!

This blog started on 1/18/03 with the following post:

Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a 32 year old cradle Catholic who "reverted" about 3 years ago. I have enjoyed reading the many Catholic blogs and figured I would try it out. Let me start by thanking those bloggers who have educated me, enlightened me, infuriated me, made me laugh and reminded me how awesome it is to be Catholic ( even now). Thanks:

Catholic Blog For Lovers

Catholic and Enjoying It

In Between Naps

Flos Carmeli

man with black hat

Eve Tushnet

Come On, Get Lively

Ad Orientem

Swimming the Tiber

Mysterium Crucis

6 of those 10 are still active, a few have different names and addresses. This blog was Gen X Revert for most of the time, I changed the name only recently to focus more on Long Island, after having pretty much said everything I have to say on the "revert" and Gen X things. I started this blog after discovering Catholic blogging through Gerard Serafin (Bugge)'s list of blogs. After Gerard died, I tried to replicate his list and that Catholic Blog Directory is currently maintained by Andrea out in California.

Catholic blogs took off during the priest sex scandals because Catholics needed to vent, correct the record, and comment. I enjoyed commenting at various blogs and felt I wanted to share some more with people by creating my own blog. I had 16 years of Catholic school under my belt and it was a very good experience so I wanted to share that with people as well. When I rediscovered Catholicism I found a whole world of ideas and I wanted to share my new "discovery" with others. The breadth, scope, and depth of Catholicism is not obvious to those who only know of what goes on in the Church by reading the mainstream media.

In these four years I fell in love, married, and got a new job. I am very happy to say the least, and hopefully I can say the same thing four years from now!

Mohamad Bazzi wrote an article in today's Newsday with the headline:

"Decapitation of Saddam's half-brother could increase tensions"

So, some arabs get upset over the decapitation of an evil man who is responsible for the deaths of thousands? Why don't they get upset over the decapitation of innocent man Nick Berg? Or how about the 3 Christian girls beheaded in Indonesia as "Ramadan trophies". Or, how about the beheading of Mr. Sobero in the Philippines done by muslims? Or how about the beheading of Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl? I doubt they would, since that perverted "prophet" muhammad actually supported beheading (non-muslims of course):

"According to Muhammad’s sacralized biography by Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad himself sanctioned the massacre of the Qurayza, a vanquished Jewish tribe. He appointed an "arbiter" who soon rendered this concise verdict: the men were to be put to death, the women and children sold into slavery, the spoils to be divided among the Muslims. Muhammad ratified this judgment stating that it was a decree of God pronounced from above the Seven Heavens. Thus some 600 to 900 men from the Qurayza were lead on Muhammad’s order to the Market of Medina. Trenches were dug and the men were beheaded, and their decapitated corpses buried in the trenches while Muhammad watched in attendance. Women and children were sold into slavery, a number of them being distributed as gifts among Muhammad’s companions, and Muhammad chose one of the Qurayza women (Rayhana) for himself."

For more on the islamic tradition of beheading read "Beheading in the Name of Islam" at the Middle East Forum. Here is the conclusion:

"Islamic civilization is not a historical anomaly in its sanction of decapitation.[36] The Roman Empire beheaded citizens (such as the Christian Saint Paul) while they crucified noncitizens (such as Jesus Christ). French revolutionaries employed the guillotine to decapitate opponents. Nevertheless, Islam is the only major world religion today that is cited by both state and non-state actors to legitimize beheadings. And two major aspects of decapitation in an Islamic context should be noted: first, the practice has both Qur'anic and historical sanction. It is not the product of a fabricated tradition. Second, in contradiction to the assertions of apologists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, these beheadings are not simply a brutal method of drawing attention to the Islamist political agenda and weakening opponents' will to fight. Zarqawi and other Islamists who practice decapitation believe that God has ordained them to obliterate their enemies in this manner. Islam is, for this determined minority of Muslims, anything but a "religion of peace." It is, rather, a religion of the sword with the blade forever at the throat of the unbeliever."

Official: Top leader of Somalia's Islamic militia arrested

The History of Catholicism on Long Island:

Glaciers cover the island.

Glaciers recede leaving behind tons of potato farms.

The entire population of Brooklyn moves to Long Island and procede to:

1. Pour concrete on everything
2. Talk about the old neighborhood and how much better it was in the old days, even though "we were poor"
3. create the Diocese of Rockville Centre

Then, on January 18th, 2003 a blog named Gen X Revert was created, ushering in the era known as "Pax Reverticana". All this is my way of advising:

My 4th Blogiversary will soon be here.

Entenmann's Bakery is downsizing at their Bay Shore plant. The cookies and crumb cakes will be made elsewhere. Entenmann's is a great Long Island business, their french-filled crumb cake is the greatest. You can't blame them for wanting to do business elsewhere, it is just simply too expensive here. The Entenmann family started out in Brooklyn and sold the business years ago.

Top Al Qaeda suspect killed in U.S. airstrike

I like what I see in Somalia, the Islamists are driven out the US can go in and kill Al Qaeda.

A choral group from Yale was attacked in San Francisco and not a single arrest has been made?

Mepham High School Football Rape -- 4 Years Later

Where are they now?

I am referring to the rapists from the Mepham High Football Team -

Ken Carney (the ringleader whose father died right after his son was exposed)

Phil Sofia

Tom Diasparra

Rich Guccione

These four monsters should be registered as sex offenders but don't have to because they were underage when they raped young boys as a football camp. This story focuses on the ringleader, Ken Carney, who was a typical white trash bully from Bellmore, but it also points out the problem with the attitudes of so many sports-minded people:

"Sometimes it’s hard to tell what bothers the people of Bellmore and Merrick more—allegations of sodomy or the abrupt end of football season. At a school-board meeting on October 1, packed with camera crews and angry parents, Superintendent Caramore tries to explain that hazing simply doesn’t happen at Mepham—that football was canceled not because of what the boys allegedly did but because their teammates never reported it. That hasn’t satisfied parents who complain about the lost scholarships, the deflated homecoming celebration, and the fund-raisers for other sports, all of which depend on football and are now ruined, they’re saying, because of a couple of messed-up kids."

Elizabeth Fox Genovese, RIP

Feminist, Writer, Scholar, Pro-Lifer, and Catholic convert

Link is via The Dawn Patrol

The East Meadow School District has refused to let a deaf student enter school with his service dog. It looks like the school district is breaking the law.

From Newsday:

"East Meadow School District officials appeared to dig in their heels after the state Division of Human Rights began an investigation into the district's refusal to allow John Cave, 14, to bring the dog, Simba, to W. Tresper Clarke High School. John, who has limited hearing with the aid of cochlear implants, was rebuffed yesterday for the fourth consecutive school day."

In other disability related news the big story is the "Ashley Treatment":

Parents halt growth of severely disabled girl (From The Seattle Times)

The parents have a website to give their side of the story, but it appears they have taken action to keep their girl small so they can more easily care for her.

"The girl's treatment has involved a hysterectomy, surgery to remove her breast buds and subsequent high doses of estrogen.

High-dose estrogen was used occasionally in the 1950s and '60s, mostly on teenage girls whose parents were concerned about the social stigma of being tall. The drugs could stop a 5-9 girl from becoming, say, 6 feet tall.

As that stigma has gone out of fashion, so has the treatment, medical ethicists say."

Sometimes Diogenes is so spot on that it is amazing! He is referring to Fr. Donald Cozzens but tell me this does not describe priests you have seen:

"We're all familiar with Cozzens's attitude, though perhaps most of us meet it in the celebrant at Mass. It's not as if they're obviously bored or perfunctory, but somehow they communicate the feeling that the real business takes place somewhere else. They seem bewildered, not by the meaning of Calvary exactly, but that the faithful would find it important. They don't understand genuflections or silences or prayers said kneeling. They're embarrassed by awe. Their breeziness at the altar as well as the velcro on their vestments shows that, for them, the whole golgotha/sacrifice/wine-into-blood thing is No Big Deal.


Their priesthood means something different to them than it does, say, to the faithful that show up at Mass during the week, whose eyes tend to focus on host and chalice. It's a priesthood in which the gift shop and the altar are simply two ways of reaching out to spiritual needs. It's a priesthood in which there's no damnation from which souls need to be rescued, a priesthood in which acceptance of self is more urgent than contrition. Small wonder if, for Cozzens's generation of priests, asceticism in general -- and celibacy in particular -- is hard to make sense of. "


Wow.

Oprah Winfrey has started a school for girls in South Africa which is awesome. More celebrities should use their wealth to make the world a better place as she does.

Speaking of Africa, a Long Islander originally from Rwanda has written a book on her experiences with the Rwanda Genocide.

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

Immaculee Ilibagiza is from Elmont and writes about surviving in a small bathroom of a pastor's house with seven other women. I will have to buy the book soon as my mother says it is an incredible story. Immaculee was featured on 60 Minutes also and it was amazing to see her speak about forgiving the man who killed her family members. Her Left To Tell Charitable Fund attempts to help the orphans of the Rwanda Genocide.

A new Church management consultant group promises a more faithful response to the problems of the Church

From the National Catholic Register

This article features Deal Hudson, former editor of Crisis Magazine, who has just founded the Church Resource Institute to assist Bishops in management. This Institute is meant to counter the National Leadership Roundtable started by Geoffrey Boisi, which some considered to be too liberal. I welcome lay people who are experts in business management, fund raising and finance offering assistance to the Bishops. I don't think Deal Hudson, who left Crisis after being exposed as a sleazebag should be seen as any more faithful to Catholic teaching than the Roundtable's group. I hope both groups can provide help as we all know the Bishops need it. Priests are overwhelmed today trying to run all aspects of parishes and they should not have to be. Rather than be another area of liberal vs. conservative, progressive vs orthodox, dissenters vs. faithful, these groups should both be able to prevent the Church from suffering from mis-management the way She has over the past 40 years.

A New Catholic Church in Town! (Lindenhurst)

"The Ukrainian Catholic Church, which is in full communion with the Latin-rite Catholic Church, is one of several Eastern churches that maintain their own form of worship, tradition, and hierarchy while remaining under the pope’s authority."


The Church moved from West Islip as it had outgrown the building there. I hope I can get to a Mass at this Church some day.

A local parish bulletin has a weekly page dedicated to "Adult Faith Formation". There has been a cry for adult faith formation from both sides of the ideological spectrum in the Church for years. This page reprinted the old false tale of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song being a secret way to teach the faith to Catholics in England during the persecution. This is sad on so many levels. How many more people are now going to believe this? It would only take a little knowledge of history and a little common sense to realize that this is a myth. To have this published in a parish bulletin, under the context of teaching adults, is a sign of just how bad things are. Anyway, to set the record straight:

Snopes Urban Legend Page on the 12 Days of Christmas

Tommorrow there will be a Mass for the Celebration of the Feast of Mary Mother of God and the Anniversary of the Independence of Haiti. It will be offered at St. Boniface Church in Elmont in the French and Haitian Creole languages. Haiti is a very Catholic country and many Haitians are on Long Island. Haiti was the first country founded via a slave revolt.

In today's Newsday:


Two of the Franciscan Brothers who run St. Anthony's High School in Huntington died within a day of each other.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Also a story on St. John Antiochian Orthodox Church in Levittown that is home to Christian Palestinians. The story focuses on how the congregation tries to keep their culture alive here and how so many have fled the middle east since the founding of Israel. There is not much about their religious traditions specifically, but still an interesting read.

And finally, Suffolk County has always had terrible public tranportation, and the situation for disabled people is particularly bad. A lawsuit filed on behalf of disabled riders was settled and it looks like there will be some improvement.

Voice of the Faithful has a Long Island chapter in case anyone cares. I occasionally check out their website to see if there is anything of interest. The minutes of their November 15th regional meeting (held at a Universalist Unitarian place) had an interesting sentence that caught my eye. The guest speaker was a writer named Thomas Cahill who wrote "Mysteries of the Middle Ages The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe". The minutes list some good things he says about the Middle Ages and I am glad to read that yet another author is attempting to correct the record of this age as the "dark ages". I don't know if the minutes accurately reflect what he said but the VOTF minute taker records:

"With regard to the structure of our Church, he reminded us that Jesus did not ordain anyone. It is safe to assume that neither did He envision the pyramidal organization as we have today. " [emphasis mine]

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

This is good.

Islamists kicked out of Mogadishu

This is even better.

About 4,000 people, mostly militants, have died in 2006, the bloodiest period in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

This is the best news so far.

Let's hope the New Year will see American troops leave Iraq, where they are not needed, and moved to Afghanistan and Pakistan where they are very much needed. I hope 2007 will be the year when we finally see real progress in the war on terror. Remember to follow all the news by reading Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch. And consider buying the new book from Robert Spencer:

The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion

Unruly Passenger Slaps Federal Air Marshal

"A US Airways passenger faced charges of interfering with a flight crew Thursday after he apparently unknowingly slapped an undercover federal air marshal, said an official familiar with the case.
The man, who'd been drinking liquor, threw a mid-air temper tantrum Wednesday night after attendants refused to serve him any more alcohol during his flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport to Fort Myers, Florida, the official said. "

People this pathetic should be banned from flying any airlines, put in jail for a year, and fined very heavily. After 9/11, there should be mandatory prison terms for unruly flight behavior.

Since this blog sometimes focuses on Long Island stuff having nothing to do with Catholicism, I suppose posting about the Rosie O'Donnell VS. Donald Trump battle is in order. After all, Rosie is from Commack and Donald hails from Lattington. Their hometowns are approx. 30 miles apart physically but economically, the two towns are light years apart. The battling between them is doing nothing to enhance Long Islanders' reputation, although I am not sure people think of Trump as a Long Islander. I don't care for either one of them so let's hope the battle ends soon, as it is annoying.

I went to Mass last night at St. Martin of Tours in Amityville. I have been attending the 8 PM Christmas Eve Mass there for a few years. It is a well kept secret of the Diocese of Rockville Centre as it happens to have some of the best music on Long Island. At 7 PM a choir came out and sang some Christmas carols. Then at 7:30 the choir is joined by an orchestra and plays another 30 minutes of songs. At 8 PM, the Mass begins and the choir and orchestra play the music throughout the Mass. It is all done very well, although at times the music is a bit drawn out, a bit too dramatic. I wish I knew music because I would love to post what settings were used. The Gloria and Agnus Dei were both in latin. The orchestra sounded great, and the Church is always beautiful, even more so at Chistmas time. The closing hymn was the Alleluia Chorus!! I would encourage Long Islanders to go at least once to this Mass.

Merry Christmas!!

This is why I love traditional Catholicism! This is an excerpt from the Baltimore Catechism that I found:

"Q. 1311. What are rash judgment, backbiting, slander and detraction?

A. Rash judgment is believing a person guilty of sin without a sufficient cause.

Backbiting is saying evil things of another in his absence.

Slander is telling lies about another with the intention of injuring him. Detraction is revealing the sins of another without necessity."

Can you imagine if this stuff was still taught?? This is what almost every Catholic I have ever met on Long Island needs to learn.

Another One Bites The Dust!

"A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday."

The rape charges against the Duke lacrosse jocks were dropped.

Native Long Islander Dan at the Shrine of the Holy Whapping points out that St. Anthony's High School is planning a great new chapel. This is great news! I also fully agree with his statement:

"Hopefully more high schools with dated 60's buildings and chapels (like St. Anthony's has at present) will take the initiative and center their fundraising campaigns on the important things".

[emphasis entirely mine]


My hometown parish St. William the Abbot has just renovated the Church due to a sanctuary that had to be rebuilt. This is the second major renovation of the Church in my lifetime, which probably means I am getting old. The original small country Church from my childhood was expanded and renovated in 1981, and I was an altar boy at the consecration of the new Church. (I was also present when Bishop Murphy consecrated the new altar this year.) The Church badly needed renovation then, it was simply way too small for the large parish, and the building was falling apart. Most of the Masses I remember from my youth were in the school gym, because the Church capacity was about a third of what the parish needed. But the '81 renovation included many silly aspects of the time, such as replacing a crucifix with a "risen Christ", and carpeting covering the floors. The Church had mostly blank, white walls and was overall uninspiring.

The recent renovation was also spurred by practical considerations. The sanctuary was falling apart and therefore unsafe. But the changes that were done ended up correcting some of the previous mistakes. The risen Christ sculpture that had always bothered me was taken away from the sanctuary and replaced with a striking crucifix, which is now the main focal point. The risen Christ sculpture is now on the front right side on what had been previously a blank white wall, where I find it to be perfectly fine. To balance this out, the left side now has a brand new wall sculpture of the Last Supper. So, to me the problem of not having enough artwork has now been solved. The Marian shrine had some symbols of Mary added to it, and now features part of the original marble high altar from the original sanctuary in the Church. The carpeting is gone, replaced by a wood sanctuary floor and tile floors. Overall, this was a great improvement to the Church. The next phase of renovation will be to expand the narthex, to increase the size of the choir loft. This is being done to make room for an antique pipe organ, replacing the electronic organ that is currently being used. This is all a great improvement to the Church although I doubt it will win any "traditional Catholic architecture" awards. Still, although it is no longer my parish I am grateful to see it improve.

This year there will be a Traditional Latin Mass on Christmas at the St. Pius Chapel in Uniondale. This is good news for all. Hopefully, we will soon see the long awaited document from the Pope making it easier for priests to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass. Perhaps 2007 will finally see the Mass moved to parishes where it belongs, one for Nassau and one for Suffolk would be nice.

Interesting stories in this week's Long Island Catholic:

Diocese enjoys surge in priestly vocations

"Last Friday 11 men preparing for the priesthood for the Brooklyn and Rockville Centre Dioceses were ordained as deacons at Immaculate Conception Seminary here.

“This was the most that either diocese has had in years,” noted Father Thomas Coogan, vocation director for the Rockville Centre Diocese."

Although vocations still have a long way to go, this is an encouraging sign. There are about 40 seminarians today as opposed to 17 in 2002. Those who are aware of the changes made in this Diocese over the past few years would not be surprised that vocations are up.

3,000 Kellenberg and St. Martin de Porres students went to see The Nativity Story movie for Advent.

Kellenberg is the school that sent most students to see The Passion of the Christ movie also. I just received mail today from St. Martin de Porres that indicated that when the Marianists took over the school in 2004, the enrollment was at 120, and today there are 419 students there. So, the Diocese continues to see some good signs.

The former Newsday Publisher was sentenced to 15 months in jail for child porn. One of the people who wrote to the judge asking for lenient sentencing was the head of the editorial board, James Klurfield. Those who know about Newsday's anti-Catholic history will be somewhat bemused by all of this. In fairness, I should point out that despite its anti-Catholic history the paper did do a good job reporting on the sex scandals involving Catholic priests over the years.

In a related note, the Bishop of Arlington, VA wrote a pastoral letter warning about pornography.

I want to point readers to two local blog posts:

Eternity Road's Sunday Ruminations

Be Not Afraid on The Black Madonna