Tommorrow's Hope Foundation

Bishop Murphy and Sr. Joanne Callahan started this foundation to support the Catholic elementary schools of the Diocese. Parishes will have a second collection on one Sunday a year and half the money will go to the Foundation and half will go to the parish or regional school. This is a good idea but one that is about 20 years late. Having bake sales and car washes to raise money does not cut it anymore when you are talking multi-million dollar budgets. I am a supporter of Catholic schools, but only when they actually teach the faith and when they are viable. Tommorrow's Hope will give out scholarships to students based on need, which is important since Catholic schools are no longer affordable for most. Since Long Island generally has good schools, the Catholic schools have to be very good to survive. I am sure many Catholics would love to send their kids to Catholic school but can't afford it. This Foundation should help.

The figures: 58 Catholic elementary schools

22,000+ students

GEN X Schält

La GEN X Invierte

La GEN X Retournent

La GEN X Ritorna

via Google Translate

Parents pledge fair play (Newsday article)

The article doesn't mention it but this event took place at Chaminade High School. All parishes in the Diocese of Rockville Centre have to abide by a new "Fair Play Agreement" for sports. This Fair Play Agreement sounded like a great idea when I first heard it, but this article makes it sound wimpy -

"If a parent got into a shoving match with a referee or another parent, for example, the fair play coordinator would diplomatically remind them of their pledge to uphold good sportsmanship.

In that case, the coordinator would hand the disgruntled parent a form to write his complaint, and the matter would be discussed at a later meeting. "

What??? Here is a better idea - if a parent got into a shoving match with anyone - the police are called and the parent is arrested. That parent would be banned for life from being anywhere within 500 feet of a Catholic Youth Organization event and would be forced to go to professional counseling. I mean the situation in school sports is already out of hand, and this is the land of the "Mepham High School Football Rapists" - Ken Carney, Phil Sofia, Rich Guccione, and Phil Diasparra in case anyone forgot. So, I think the approach should be much stronger to prevent any violence, or any silly behavior on the part of anyone around sports. Zero tolerance is good for child molesting priests, and it should be the idea in sports as well.

"Ayman al-Zawahiri -- Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in the al Qaeda terrorist network -- was the target of a CIA airstrike Friday in a remote Pakistani village and may have been among those killed, knowledgeable U.S. sources told CNN."

This would be good news. The war on terror must be fought in small battles like this, with the Just War Theory applying.

I have been following the story of George Smith, the man who dissappeared on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship on his honeymoon. (My honeymoon will be on a Royal Caribbean cruise.) This past weekend I read a transcript of the entire story from MSNBC's Dateline. Tonight on MSNBC, Rita Cosby (she seems nice and compassionate, but that voice sounds terrible!) had some more info that came out today, such as that Smith's new wife was so drunk she had to be helped to her cabin by two ship employees, and that the men who were hanging out with George Smith were accused of rape by another female passenger. The case is very interesting, and confusing. I hope for the families' sake, the case is solved soon. In reading all about the case, it is still not clear who may have done it, as it seems everyone involved is suspect in some way.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I attended Mass at my local parish on Jan. 1st. The celebrant wore gold vestments and used Canon I. The music was quite good, with a trumpeter making the Christmas hymns more glorious. The Church was nicely decorated with trees, wreaths, and pointsettias, making me more excited about the upcoming renovations.

As of tommorrow, I have exactly 5 months to go until my wedding day. The plans are going well, although we still have to solidify the music selections. Within the next few weeks we will meet with the priest celebrant.

Thanks to Dappled Things, I found this fun romp of a blog: Fireside Chat with the Rector.

Not a Culture of Life:

"PATCHOGUE, N.Y. -- A 37-year-old man was charged with child endangerment after one of two toddlers he was baby-sitting was found drunk, authorities said. "

"MILWAUKEE - A prosecutor began reviewing possible charges Thursday against five juveniles in the brutal mob beating of a man yanked from his car while driving through a north side neighborhood. "

"Great Falls, Virginia - The man responsible for fatally shooting four people, including his mother, on Christmas before taking his own life also shot at two houses four days earlier, police said Thursday. "

"New York - A stray bullet fired in the air outside a Queens apartment complex killed a woman standing at her fifth floor window, police said Thursday."

I am updating the Catholic Blog Directory. Unfortunately, I cannot highlight new blogs added, but I thought I might put a couple of interesting ones here:

Fay's Catholic Thoughts is by a Chaldean Catholic, born in Iraq and now living in Texas.

Live Jesus! is the blog of a monastery of Visitation nuns in Georgetown.

Merry Christmas!

This is one of the most arrogant things I have seen:

"More than one commentator has mentioned that, as Pope Benedict XVI takes on his new task of being Pope for the whole Church, he brings with him much baggage from his past position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The press and theologians all over the world have carefully scrutinized that baggage over these years. We all wish the new Pope well as he sorts out how the new role to which he has been called differs from the old he leaves behind. We want him to keep in mind that the new role has a pastoral claim on him that the old often hid." [emphasis mine]

-Rembert G. Weakland, May 17, 2005

What do you mean "we" cowboy? This former archbishop has more baggage than all of JFK airport! The man took money from his Catholic Diocese and gave it to a male lover. He hid this fact for approx. 20 years while lambasting orthodox Catholics such as Mother Angelica. Gimme a break.

Parish Renovation

I attended a meeting today to hear a presentation on our parish's upcoming renovations. The good, bad and ugly:

Ugly:

• The new altar follows the latest fad: square table look with 4 legs. (Boo!)

Bad:

• The tabernacle will stay on the right side, rather than the center, where it belongs.
• Still no sign of Mary or Joseph in the Sanctuary.
• The Priest's chair is at the back wall, instead of the side, where it belongs.

Good:

• Goodbye carpeting! Hello tile/marble floors!!
• Goodbye electric organ! Hello antique pipe organ!!
• Goodbye Risen Christ sculpture on center back wall of Sanctuary! Hello CRUCIFIX! (Yeah!)
• Risen Christ sculpture sent to the side wall of the Transept, which is now blank. New sculpture will be added to other side wall.
• Stations of the Cross will be put on new backing and spread around the Church, rather than on one spot on 1 side wall.
• Addition built on the entrance of Church will mean a large narthex for chatty people to chat. Also, handicapped accessible bathroom added so people won't have to go to the basement, to go.
• Old marble altar will be used to create a new Marian Shrine, where currently there is simply a statue of Mary.
• Baldachino will be built over the tabernacle, making it more prominent.

I am overall very happy about this renovation. Although by the time this is all finished I will be married and living elsewhere, this is the parish I was baptized and confirmed in so it is important to me. I wish there had been a little more attention to the traditional look of the parish, but this renovation will still correct some of the mistakes of the huge expansion/renovation done in 1982. The Church then was made plain and bare and this renovation will add artwork that will correct this problem. The pipe organ and tile floor with marble should make it feel and sound more like a Church. The Crucifix is the best aspect of this project. The word Wreckovation was coined because of the changes done to parish Churches in the 70's and 80's but I think it is time to coin the word Correctovation to describe the latest changes being done.

While typing this post on such an upbeat note, I happen to turn on Drudge and Peggy Noonan is now talking about her new book John Paul the Great. This has been a good night.

Newsday has a story about a situation in the wealthy neighborhood of Manhasset:

"When the Rev. Nick Zientarski invoked the name of Jesus Christ during his traditional blessing of the official Christmas tree lighting in Manhasset last week, he had no idea he had signed on as a soldier in the culture wars over Christmas.

Even as he spoke, the Roman Catholic priest said he could hear North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman angrily objecting behind him, "this is inappropriate." Then, Kaiman got up and told the crowd, "I just want to make it clear that this is in no way a religious ceremony."


I met Fr. Zientarski when he was a seminarian on a retreat. He seemed like a solid JPII type of guy with a great attitude about things in the world and in the Church.

"She tried to break it to me gently and then, just as she was about to tell me, I said 'I was aborted, right?' She said 'Yeah, you were.' And my reaction was 'Well, at least I have cerebral palsy for an interesting reason.' "

Amazing story found via Off the Record.

Fired nuns speak out

3 older nuns were replaced as campus ministers by younger "peer ministers" while a 73 year old nun at one campus was kept in place. The 3 fired nuns are claiming age and gender discrimation. What is really going on is part of a larger story within this diocese and the Church in general. The job shifting really doesn't have to do with age and gender so much as orthodoxy and tradition. The Diocese is trying to reach the young college age students and keep their faith alive. The nuns, from interviews in the past, seem to be concerned with interfaith services, social justice and counseling. The Catholic teachings and traditions did not have a special place of value at least from I have read. The Diocese seems to want to focus on the type of ministries that have worked throughout the country, with a focus on Church traditions, sacraments and teachings. Although I am very sympathetic to anyone who loses their job, the 3 nuns will not be in danger of being homeless, as their orders are able to support them and they will find work. Although I am very interested in seeing this Diocese overcome its horrible past under Bishop McGann, I would hate to see the Church treat people as corporate America treats people. So, although this sounds like a good move on the part of Fr. Barr, I had hoped the nuns were treated fairly. One fact that I have not seen before confirms that the Church has been more than fair:

"Moreover, Dolan said, the bishop, who met with the sisters in September, offered to rescind their terminations, keep them on the diocesan payroll and the diocese would find them a job -- but not in campus ministries."

"It's really not rescinding if you're not offering us a position within campus ministries," Riordan said. "This is the job we wanted to do and we didn't want to take away other people's jobs in the diocese."

This sounds just like Bishop Murphy - he would rescind their terminations, keep paying them and find them other jobs. What could be more Christian than that? That is certainly not treating these nuns like "dirt" as one of the nuns claimed. It sounds like the Bishop bent over backward to help the nuns out, but they just couldn't take being replaced. I could understand the feelings involved, but ultimately this is going to help keep campus ministry in line with the New Evangelization.

"Father James Williams hasn't forgotten his own prom at Chaminade High School.

'Afterward, we went to the diner, and then we went home," he said. "I think we went to the beach the next day.'

Ah, innocent youth, circa 1987!"

Ellis Henican in Newsday on the Chaminade non-prom story.

The other story in today's Newsday quotes junior Sean Rober, the blogger at Fac ut Gaudeam.

"Why the Pope is better than Elton John" at Relapsed Catholic

Newsday.com has on the front page: No Prom for Chaminade High School

Amy Welborn linked to Fac ut Gaudeam on the cancellation of Chaminade High School's proms.

Dan at Shrine of the Holy Whapping (a fellow Chaminade grad), asks the $1,000,000 question -

"This culture of unmediated affluence is in some sense a dark side of the "American dream" removed from recourse to the moral and social teaching of the Church. In that sense, this particular issue ought to raise some thoughts among Catholics about why the Church in the Northeast is so dessicated compared to the Midwest and some parts of the South. Did the same comfort and affluence help to foster the general stifling of a distinctively Catholic culture and of evangelical zeal after the second generation or so of immigrants?"

While I applaud the schools for dropping the prom and trying to fight the culture of excess, I hope Kellenberg and Chaminade can come up with an alternative event. As Andrew Cusack comments on the post at the Shrine, students need to be taught how to behave at a formal event. For Chaminade men, a formal dance is especially important, what with being cooped up with no female students for 4 years! Anyway, both Kellenberg and Chaminade have Senior Proms that will continue - students from both schools go to a local nursing home and host a formal dinner/dance with the elderly residents. The students host the event and act as dates for the seniors. It is a popular event and I have yet to hear of any stories of excessive spending on food, limos or drink.

This post on Liturgy by Fr. Jay Scott Newman is just awesome. I found it via Off the Record.

"Remember that every liturgy leaves chronological time and enters kairotic time. In chronos we say Good Morning; in liturgical kairos we say Dominus vobiscum. If we do not depart from the texts of the Church, then we stand a fair chance of taking the people with us into the never ending liturgy of the New Jerusalem. This is also why SLOW walking, talking and gestures are important. Same with hiding street clothes under sacred vesture. Ditto for the athletic shoes of the altar boys."

I have attended very few Novus Ordo Masses where the above type of stuff is understood. Please go and read the entire post, it is very good.

CIA Realizes It's Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years

This headline from The Onion is funnier than the actual article.

Tommorrow night is the Faith on Tap session featuring John Zmirak. Any locals in their 20's or 30's might wish to attend. Those from NYC can take the LIRR and get off at the Wantagh RR Station, and the Wantagh Inn is right across the street. This time Mr. Zmirak will speak on his book - The Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living