Vatican Sets Up Sports Department

If their baseball team were made up of all Cardinals over 80, they could still beat the Mets.

Scandal, what scandal?

"Investigators - using cell-phone records and stakeouts - also uncovered 17 inappropriate relationships between students and school staffers, up from 13 the year before."

RIP

Mets announcer Bob Murphy died - I have great childhood memories of summer ball games on the radio with Murphy's "It's a beautiful day for baseball!". He was a great radio announcer who actually described the game rather than spout out opinions like many of the announcers do today.

The Statue of Liberty opened for the first time since the September 11th attacks, but you can only go as high as her feet.

Diogenes at Off the Record has been posting an interesting series regarding Catholics and their charitable giving. This time, he/she posts about the head of a Marianist University and what she did with $1,500. I think it is a good time to remind readers that the Marianist community that operates Chaminade High School and Kellenberg High School here on Long Island, broke away from the New York province in 1976 and formed their own province. I believe they did this to remain focused on operating schools locally. I don't know all the details but I do know that their community has flourished since then. Vocations have been steady and they remain a young, vibrant community. They still focus on operating schools and they do this well. The schools are solidly Catholic, although the most hard core traditionalists might not appreciate them entirely. Their ability to break away from the Marianist structure and still remain Marianists helped to inspire the founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, who attempted to do the same type of thing without luck. The Friars ended up having to form a completely separate community and today they have a good relationship with the Long Island Marianists.

German leader acknowledges Polish suffering

"Schroeder became the first German chancellor to attend an anniversary of the two-month uprising, which ended with 200,000 Warsaw residents dead and most of the city systematically destroyed by the Nazis.
He bowed on the steps of the Warsaw Uprising Memorial as a lone trumpeter played taps. Just before, sirens sounded across Warsaw at 5 p.m., the hour the uprising began on Aug. 1, 1944. "

Muslim fundamentalists take note - what you do today, such as attacking Churches, will haunt your granchildren 60 years from now.

Clerical Family Ties

One of the great shows of the 80's was Family Ties. The original concept was brilliant: married hippies end up with a son who is supremely conservative. The parents and son, Alex P. Keaton, have a love for each other that transcends their ideology. Their different outlook on life lent itself to comedy -(when the show got serious it bombed - remember Alex's torment over the death of a friend that had never been mentioned before?) Well, perhaps the time has come for a similiar show based on the situation in rectories today. (See the article A New Breed of Priest (via ut unum sint), or the classic Young Fogies by old priest Fr. Greeley)
The show would take place at a suburban rectory and show what happens when a recently ordained 20-something is assigned to a parish with an aging ex-hippie type priest. Look at how each deal with engaged couples, Liturgy, busybody parishioners, finances, politics, etc.. This show could have potential if it were done correctly - both priests would have to be stereotypes but still be good guys. They couldn't hate each other but simply see things differently, and each would learn a bit from each other.

Jones Beach is 75 Years Old

Newsday, the anti-Catholic rag, is at its best when it covers local stuff like this. I live just a 15 minute drive away from this great treasure. I am not much of a beach person, but I can remember going to Jones Beach at night as a child, walking with my family along the boardwalk. The hot summer nights were bearable thanks to the cool ocean breeze. There was live music, dancing, ice cream, and miniature golf. There was one summer when I would have weekdays off and I spent some time at the beach walking a mile or two on the sand, and then laying out in the sun. It is quite nice there during the week, the weekend can be a bit too crowded. I still will ride my bike or rollar blade on the bike path that terminates at the beach. The beach also provided employment for my grandfathers on both sides - one worked there on the maintainence crew and one worked building the beautiful water tower, a works progress gem. I hate to sound too cynical, but with the traffic, high cost of living, and endless series of strip malls, Long Island is losing some of what makes it special. At least we still have Jones Beach, a world class beach that has maintained it's beauty.

The Buttafuocos, Amy Fisher, and Forgiveness

Remember Amy Fisher, the Long Island teenager who shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco (wife of her lover Joey) in my hometown of Massapequa years ago?  Well, she has written an autobiography.  I will wait for the snickering of my few readers to quiet down.  Most people have thankfully forgotten the sordid details, but once in awhile Joey Buttafuoco makes the news, usually by being arrested.  I grew up in Massapequa and while Joey is not typical of the guys in this town, his type is not too difficult to find.  (I don't mean Italians mind you, I mean stupid, obnoxious, uneducated morons.)  Anyway, Amy Fisher has actually been writing a column for the Long Island Press for awhile now.  I have read it occasionally and it does not impress me but a couple of times it has given me more of a positive impression of Mrs. Fisher.  She once wrote an article that was so good I tried to find it in the online archives of the newspaper.  The article came out a little after Joey was once again arrested for something or other.  Amy Fisher wrote about how stupid she was as a teenager to be doing anything with this jerk.  She mentioned, without sounding self-centered or arrogant, that since the shooting and her time in jail, she has turned her life around.  She is married, with children, and working steadily.  She has never been in any trouble and has apologized to Mary Jo.  She has worked to try to steer young girls away from the path that she went down.  She mentioned, without sounding smug, that Joey has done nothing good since his time in the sun.  He was arrested for insurance fraud, arrested for soliciting prostitutes, been divorced, “acted” in cheap films, and tried to take part in a celebrity fight against a woman.  The article was so good, it actually made me feel a bit for Amy Fisher, not sorry for her, but feel that she was a good person who made some awful and stupid decisions.  I am not one to “forgive” easily.  I don’t have a particularly rosy outlook on people and their “mistakes”.  But I agree with Mark Shea who has stated on his blog that the most scandalous dogma of the Church is never mentioned in the press:  FORGIVENESS.   I know it is up to Mary Jo to forgive the woman who shot her, but I believe she already has.  Usually when you hear Amy Fisher's name, there are usually some nasty adjectives and rolls of the eyes.  I have heard people say they won’t buy or read The Long Island Press because Amy Fisher writes for it, and I don’t claim she is a model person for Catholics, or anyone else.  But if we really believe in redemption and penance, then Amy Fisher (not a Catholic) would serve as a pretty good example.  Believe it or not.

Amish in the City

"That, of course, sets up the premise of "Amish in the City," which is to see what happens when a bunch of narrow-minded, shiftless, materialistic ignoramuses are brought together under one roof with people who live a life characterized by deep faith and strong tradition.
 
Good review, I may watch this show after all. 

Tragic!

Edwin Hernandez, a Suffolk County police officer died in a car crash while driving home from work.  He was the cousin of WKTU DJ "Vic Latino", and he had two children and two grandchildren.  Please pray for him and his family.

Good job!

I just happened to pass St. Raphael's parish on the way home from work tonight and decided to stop to see their new Church.  I was impressed as I pulled into the parking lot, it looked like a Church from the outside!  When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the large crucifix right behind the altar.  There were a few people inside and I spotted the tabernacle to the right, in a small chapel with clear windows all around it.  The tabernacle is visible from all around the Church which is good, and it wasn't until I sat in a pew and looked at the sanctuary for a minute that I noticed the monstrance on the altar with the Blessed Sacrament exposed.  I just noticed on the parish website they have Adoration from 1-7 pm on Tuesday.  The back wall of the sanctuary looks like some kind of stone.  There is a statue of Mary off to the left side, with nice blue stained glass behind her.  The stained glass windows are nice too.  Overall, not a bad job at all!  I wish their website had some more pictures of the Church, especially inside photos, but I will post the link once I see them. 

Move to make 9/11 day of service

"One Day's Pay, a nationwide non-profit organization that facilitates volunteering in memory of the Sept. 11 victims, has launched a campaign to recruit 2 million volunteers to go out on the next anniversary of the attacks to read to the blind, cook for the homeless or tutor children."
"To support the program, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) introduced resolutions in Congress last week to ask President George W. Bush to declare Sept. 11 a day of national service."

I would like to see this happen -  it is the best way to remember this vicious attack and respond.   I would like to add that the President should start a trend of pardoning criminals on this day (after the Justice Department investigates each case and recommends the pardons).  Let us remember this day by showing mercy to our own people and give them an opportunity to rejoin society and help make America stronger.  This day should also be a day of cleaning up parks, planting trees, restoring monuments, etc..  It goes without saying it should also be a day of prayer. 

Fr. Groeschel

The retreat this weekend was good.  I will blog later about it.   One of the highlights had to be this morning when we were just about to start eating breakfast, Fr. Groeschel comes walking down the hallway towards the dining room.  He was walking with a cane and had a bump on his head and a glove on one hand.  Other than that he looked pretty good.  Everyone got up and went to the door and started clapping.  This was the first teaching retreat weekend without him giving the opening talk.  After the clapping died down, he said, in a hoarse voice but with perfect timing:  "Living proof that only the good die young!!!!".  He then told us how one of the Friars was told in the hospital to make the funeral arrangements because they did not expect him to make it.  Someone said yesterday was Fr. Groeschel's birthday so we all sang happy birthday to him.  He said he came to Kellenberg for the Youth 2000 Mass (he was supposed to give the homily) and he just wanted to stop in and say hello to us.  He then did something I never saw him do before, he got a little choked up. 

 

Update:  The amazing thing about this weekend was that you had two totally different retreats going on at the same time and on the same high school grounds and everything seemed to go smoothly.  We had a lovely teaching retreat, with about 25 people, which is about half the normal size, perhaps due to Fr. Groeschel's absence this year.  The Youth 2000 New York had 600 young people and there was a giant tent set up on a field with the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration.  This Diocese is slowly on the way to repairing the damage of the past by hosting events such as these.  (See "McGann's Mess" by Dr. Thomas Droleskey for a very pessimistic view of things, I see things improving steadily).  As one priest said, who would have thought 20 years ago, that a traditional Latin Mass would be offered in the school's chapel, while outside hundreds of young people were adoring the Blessed Sacrament?  I got to eat at a dinner table with Msgr. William Smith and hear a bit of his wonderful humor.  Fr. Pereda, who celebrates the traditional Mass I sometimes attend, gave an interesting and inspiring talk on the Latin Mass.  I wasn't sure how he would come across and I think he was very impressive to the group.  He was intelligent, interesting, and very funny.   I had no idea he had such a great sense of humor since his personality is thankfully not on display while celebrating Mass.  He celebrated the traditional Mass in the school's very modern chapel, meaning that perhaps for the first time in years (?) there were two approved traditional Masses offered in this diocese on the same day.   I did not stick around long enough to hear the responses of the people to this Mass.  These are good faithful Catholics that attend these retreats but not necessarily traditionalists.  I would have liked to have heard some of the reactions, but I stupidly left right after the Mass. 

Speaking of Retreats

As I pack to go on a retreat weekend as posted, I see today's Long Island Catholic article on the various retreat houses in the Diocese.   

"What we’ve done here is focused our work through the lens of the new cosmology,” explained Dominican Sister Honora Nolty, executive director of the retreat center. “We’ve become an eco-spirituality center."

 

Fr. Groeschel used to have a popular annual retreat at a retreat house on Long Island (not one mentioned in the article)  but stopped because he did not like what was going on there.  It was his desire to see an orthodox retreat center on Long Island that led to the Lay Preachers establishing an adult program at Kellenberg.  I go to nights of recollection and retreats there and would highly recommend them to anyone.  Unless of course you are into the new cosmology.....

Requiescent in Pace

'Selfless' constable mourned

"More than 2,000 attended Brooks' funeral Mass at St. Martin of Tours in Amityville yesterday morning. The retired New York City police officer, 44, was shot to death Friday while working his one-day-a-week job as a Babylon bay constable."
 

A Tale of Two Retreats

I will be on retreat this weekend - a teaching retreat at Kellenberg Memorial High School's retreat facility.  This retreat is run by a couple of retired NYC police officers who started an adult retreat program with the help of Fr. Benedict Groeschel.  (For the whole story, see A Spirituality for Police Officers .)   This is the first time that Fr. Groeschel will not be giving the opening talk at this unique type of retreat.  The retreat is geared towards learning stuff instead of spirituality and the teaching is all solid.  The speakers are:  Msgr. George Graham, Msgr. William Smith, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, Mr. Tom Cook, and Mr. John Moreno.  In a separate part of the school's beautiful campus, there will a Youth 2000 New York young people's retreat.  The homilist at the closing Mass at the young people's event will be Fr. Groeschel!  I will have to see if I can sneak over to the event on Sunday morning to see if I can say hi to him, but chances are he will spend the time with the kids and rightfully so.  What a blessing to be able to see Fr. Groeschel again though.   And this may be the first time he is out and speaking since the accident?? 

But, as the commercial says, Wait  - There's More!!  This teaching retreat I will attend will include a final talk by Fr. James Pereda, who will speak on the traditional Latin Mass.  He asked for and received permission to offer the traditional Latin Mass after the talk on Sunday.  So I will be attending a traditional Latin Mass at the same time and almost in the same place as Fr. Groeschel will be giving a homily at a Novus Ordo Mass.  On the grounds of a large high school that is unapologetically Catholic.  Things are looking up in this diocese!

A commentator in the Scandal Time post below calls me an [nasty name].  I liked that because sometimes I enjoy being an [nasty name].  But today, I realized I am an ungrateful [nasty name], and that is not cool.  Here I am posting on horrible things in the Church and I just realized today how lucky I have been since my reversion (and before)  Here is why:  I spent a good amount of time at the bookstore today skimming through two books: 
 
Father Joe:  The Man Who Saved My Soul
 
The Miracle Detective:  An Investigation of Holy Visions
 
I like to skim books at the bookstore because if I bought every book I was interested in I would need a warehouse to keep them in.  I still have many books on my shelf that I have not had the time to read, so I skim.  In skimming Father Joe, I found the story to be funny and heartwarming.  The author, Tony Hendra is a writer, known for his work at National Lampoon.  Hendra was 14 when he groped a married woman, whose husband then insisted he see Father Joe.  Hendra was so impressed by this Benedictine monk, that he trained to become a monk himself.  He was encouraged to go elsewhere though, but he kept visiting and writing with Father Joe throughout his life.  Through failed marriages, agnostic periods, and substance abuse, the author was wisely and lovingly counseled by Father Joe.  He takes his son to visit Father Joe when the priest was dying of cancer.  I was imagining how this might make a good movie.  The scene of Tony Hendra visiting the monk's grave and singing the Salve Regina for him almost made me tear up a little.  (I am not emotional at all).  How wonderful this book would come along at this time when Catholics need stories of great priests to refresh our confidence!  The thing is that I have never met any "bad priests".  The priests and brothers and nuns that taught me were wonderful, so I should be grateful, as is Hendra.
 
Skimming The Miracle Detective really hit me hard though.  The book itself is interesting as an agnostic author who writes for Rolling Stone investigates various Marian apparitions and how the Church "handles" them.  He is respectful and even drawn to the faith in the process of writing the book.  But for me, the author's interview with Fr. Benedict Groeschel at the end of the book really made me realize how lucky I have been.  He is informed about Fr. Groeschel by two priests at the Vatican who speak very highly of the priest.  One calls him a saint, one calls him "Groucho Marx in a habit".  (I think they are both right).  The author writes about how difficult it is to get in touch with the friar.  He is told he only answers phone calls about 2 hours every other week, so he calls several times.  He recounts attempting to speak to someone in Fr. Groeschel's office who doesn't seem able to carry on a conversation.  (He later learned Groeschel ministers to the mentally ill and they act as his assistants).  When he does meet him, he learns that his reputation as a funny, brilliant and holy man is well-deserved.  The author is impressed by Groeschel and I realize that I have had the opportunity to hear this great priest speak several times.  I have even been on two weekend retreats with Fr. Groeschel giving almost all the talks and celebrating Mass the whole weekend.  The book makes Fr. Groeschel out to be one of the most impressive priests (intellectually and spiritually) in the Church today and here I am (me!) able to meet and learn from him.  
 
 
This weekend I will be attending the "teaching retreat" run by Lay Preachers that Fr. Groeschel helped establish at the Kellenberg High School retreat house.  This is the first time that Fr. Groeschel will not be giving the opening talk for the retreat.  Fr. Pereda, the priest who celebrates the weekly traditional latin Mass in the diocese, will be speaking on the latin Mass.  He asked for and was given permission to celebrate the Mass at the end of the retreat.  How fortunate I was to come back to the Church at this time, and in this place. 

Fiend robs nun's rosary
 
"A nun wearing her white habit was viciously mugged on a Brooklyn street yesterday morning by a thug who knocked her to the ground and stole her purse and rosary beads, cops said."

Tell me if any of this sounds familiar to Catholics: 
  
Former school chief's mixed message  

   
The Roslyn school district on Long Island has quite the scandal on its hands.  It started out in 2002 when the chief financial officer Pamela Gluckin was discovered to have stolen money from the district.   Did the school district notify the police or the DA?  No.  They allowed her to quietly retire after she paid $250,000 back to the district.  They thought this was the amount she stole, but it turns out to have been much more than that.  Why would the school district do this and keep it secret?  Because an outside attorney told them they had no obligation to notify anyone.  How did the school superintendent and school board explain Gluckin's sudden departure?  They told parents she was ill.   This year an anonymous letter was sent to the Nassau District Attorney's office and other officials that exposed the 2 year old theft and the district's coverup.  What was the reaction of the school superintendent to this letter?  He dismissed the allegations and accused the letter writer of sloppy accusations.  The superintendent,  Frank Tassone, was believed by parents because you see, he was very charismatic.  But some people were concerned because Tassone was more concerned with finding out who sent the letter rather than addressing the accusations it contained.  Eventually it was discovered that Tassone had billed $800,000 to a company that was owned by his roomate, Stephen Signorelli.  It turns out that Tassone was using school district money to live a posh lifestyle.   He even bought a home with a 32 year old man, Jason Daugherty in Las Vegas.    The superintendent has now been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $1 million over 27 months. 
 
 Some more things about the situation that seem familiar to me come from this New York Times article:   Shattered Impressions of a School Superintendent.  In it I learned that: 
 
"Until several months ago, many people in this affluent village said, it would have been unthinkable to imagine Dr. Tassone in such a context. He was a progressive leader who spoke of social justice, made condoms available in the high school and built a community service program founded on the concept that the privileged class should give something back. " 

"Dr. Tassone's fall from grace has unleashed a torrent of anger in Roslyn"

" 'Call me Frank,' " Paul Burros, a Roslyn resident, recalled Dr. Tassone saying when he met him at a school district gathering four years ago."