Two Long Island housing related stories from Newsday:

• College grads push for affordable housing

Natalie Gaebelein started Stay on Long Island to lobby for affordable housing.

"There's nothing for people my age," Gaebelein said. "There's nowhere to live. You either live at home in your childhood bedroom, which is pretty embarrassing ... [or] somebody's basement."

Although my wife and I own a coop, we are looking for a house. Both of us spent plenty of time living at home. There is simply nothing affordable for college grads here. The condo complexes that are beautiful are mostly for people 55 and over. Houses that need a lot of work cost a huge amount of money. Although the housing prices are coming down, the taxes are not. When I saw some of the places my siblings lived in other states before they bought houses I was struck at how there was nothing comparable here on Long Island. Either something needs to be done to get affordable housing here, or people need to continue to move elsewhere.

• Ban on religious statues raises legal questions

"The community's homeowners' association board approved the rule this year, banning religious statues and bird feeders and birdbaths from all common areas. In those gardens, residents are allowed to place other small statues, gazing balls, scarecrows and even plastic pink flamingos so long as they don't exceed certain other restrictions."

The president of the Condo board Arlene Crandall -

"Typical decorations" should be allowed, as opposed to religious statues, for instance, which only appeal to one segment of the community's population."

So, pink flamingos appeal to everyone?
As mentioned earlier, I live in a coop so we have common areas for planting flowers and I am familiar with the types of rules complexes must set down. We are not allowed any statues or flags or anything except flowers to be put in the common areas. This is a sensible rule since people tend to lack common sense and taste. But banning only religious statues is simply bigoted, and does not make any sense when things like pink flamingos are allowed. If the complex didn't allow statues of Mary because or the danger of a huge wind storm picking it up, this would make sense, but they actually ban any specifically religious item. If I lived in this complex, I would respond to this by planting the biggest, most gaudy, ugly and tastless stuff in every inch I could.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Massapequa Park is asking people to sign up next week if they wish to attend a traditional latin Mass. From today's bulletin:

"Our Holy Father has given permission to
parishes to have a Latin Mass. Next Sunday
there will be a sign up sheet in the back of
the church after all the Masses so we may
see how many people are interested in attending
this Mass. Date and time of Mass to be
announced."

A Long Island Catholic was mentioned in The Long Island Press on 10/3/07! Overall, a nice mention, but what was I smoking when I said Mama's Family was one of my favorite television shows?? I think I have found the link and it was a post on really bad tv shows that I still enjoyed watching. For the record, my favorite tv shows are The Simpsons and Seinfeld.

Here is the link to the article and text featuring my blog:

Citizen Journalists

A Long Island Catholic

http://www.revertedxer.blogspot.com/

What's the deal? Most of the entries deal with Catholic education, the Diocese of Rockville Centre and other Church matters. This LI Catholic school veteran (16 years) started following this modus operandi after Catholic bloggers reminded him "how awesome it is to be Catholic (even now)." He says that although his personal Church experience has been completely positive, things are so bad that he has occasionally blogged to complain or write about the corruption.

Why should you care? These are well-written posts by a self-described "liturgy nut" who is rooted in the religion of the ages, yet is a child of the times. (He says he met his future bride on www.catholicmatch.com.) He favors humor, observing that after a September 2006 address by Pope Benedict XVI resulted in violence in the Muslim world, The Onion could run a headline reading, "Pope Calls Violence Unreasonable, Muslims Violently Protest." But the 30-something cradle Catholic also veers far from matters of faith, sometimes focusing on non-Catholicism Long Island stuff: He didn't care for the Rosie/Trump feud and confesses that his favorite TV shows include Monty Python's Flying Circus and Mama's Family. He offers fixes for the high taxes Long Islanders shoulder. He reviews rock concerts.

Quotable: "When someone asks you, 'Think about what Jesus would do,' remember that a valid option is to freak out and turn over tables." (He attributes this quote, which appeared on one of his entries, to http://www.catholicpillowfight.com/.)

I am back from a relaxing week in Mexico and am just catching up with the news from Long Island. Seems I missed an interesting week Church-wise:

The parish of Leticia from Causa Nostrae Laetitiae and Patrick from Creative Minority Report is all over the Catholic blog world. It seems Bishop Murphy was at Saint John the Evangelist Parish for confirmation and was not happy with the comportment of the parishioners before Mass. The result: at his direction, the tabernacle is being moved front and center! This is great news and typical of the leadership of Bishop Murphy. Please go to the two links above to read the Bishop's letter.

Also, Diogenes at Off The Record and Fr. Z. at WDTPRS both link to retired Bishop Wcela's article in America magazine regarding the traditional latin Mass. The article is typical of this bishop's smug and condescending attitude toward tradition. Bishop Murphy is pushing this Diocese into the right direction, which is opposite from the direction that Bishops McGann and Wcela took it when they ran things.

Found via Charlotte was Both -

Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP at Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! has some great observations on campus ministry including:

"You had a crappy childhood at St. Sixtus of the Perpetual Frown under the bruising discipline of Sr. Mary of the Five Wounds of Christ, so religious habits, rosaries, crucifixes, devotional booklets, Latin, incense, sanctus bells, etc. all remind you of stifling dogmatic lectures, knuckle-rappings, silly moral imperatives, triumphal-martial Catholicism, etc. Guess what? They aren’t you! They didn’t have these experiences, so they don’t associate Eucharistic adoration and First Friday Masses with intellectual repression and physical pain. Let them transform these traditions and make them their own."

The whole post is very good, go read the whole thing. Thankfully, the campus ministry, youth ministry and young adult ministries in the Diocese of Rockville Centre have all been transformed over the past few years so they are on the right track.

I have always read the obits in Newsday. I don't consider it morbid, they can actually be a pleasant read, especially when the person has lived a good, long life. An example was -

Peace activist Jozef van der Grinten dead at 88

Today, liberal Catholic and Newsday columnist Bob Keeler remembered him in this column.

I had sent Fr. Z at What Does the Prayer Really Say? a link to Bishop Murphy's column on the Motu Proprio published in The Long Island Catholic. He does his usual parsing of the statement and mentions the statment was a pleasure to read. For some reason the comments section became a bitch-fest on the Diocese of Rockville Centre with many talking as if conditions in this Diocese are a result of Bishop Murphy's leadership. I never thought I would be defending a Bishop or the DRVC but there I am in the comments section doing just that!

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

THE 15TH ANNUAL MEETING

Friday and Saturday, October 26-27, 2007

The St. John’s University School of Law

8000 Utopia Parkway Jamaica, Queens, New York 11439

I had listed the panels and speakers for Friday, now I will list the panels for Saturday. The panel on blogging is Panel Sixty-Three.

Panel Twenty-Two: Economics and Catholicism: II

Panel Twenty-Three: Topics in Catholic Historical Research

Panel Twenty-Four: Problems and Prospects in Catholic Education

Panel Twenty-Five: Problems and Prospects of Globalism

Panel Twenty-Six: Eastern Catholic Saints: Developers of Eastern Social Conscience

Panel Twenty-Seven: The Knights of Columbus: Founding, History, Apostolate

Panel Twenty-Eight: Issues of Life and Death

Panel Twenty-Nine: The Sociology of the Two Great Commandments: Shaping the Structure and Function of Society

Panel Thirty: The Voice of the Poor: The Advocacy Mission of the St. Vincent de Paul Society

Panel Thirty-One: Topics in Catholic Psychology: Community and Church Based Counseling Services, Parental Attachment, and Human Formation at a College Seminary

Panel Thirty-Two: Human Society

Panel Thirty-Three: The Sexual Scandal in the Catholic Church Today: Should The Church Oppose Extending Statutes of Limitation?

Panel Thirty-Four: Evangelization through the Airwaves: The Example of Radio Maria

Panel Thirty-Five: African American Catholicism and Catholicism in Africa

Panel Thirty-Six: Faith and Reason in Catholic Thought as Understood by Pope Benedict XVI

Panel Thirty-Seven: Catholics in American History: Perspectives on the Founding

Panel Thirty-Eight: Catholicism Transforming Culture

Panel Thirty-Nine: “An Afternoon with C.S. Lewis”

Panel Forty: The Pius Wars and Sister Margherita Marchione

Panel Forty-One: The Inevitable Metaphysical Connection with Social Science

Panel Forty-Two: Abortion, The Church, and American Society: Past, Present, Future

Panel Forty-Three: The Sociology of New York City

Panel Forty-Four: The Contribution of Frederic Ozanam

Panel Forty-Five: Teaching in the Classroom

Panel Forty-Six: Psychology and Catholicism

Panel Forty-Seven: The Cardinal Newman Society/ The Promotion of Chastity: National and Local Efforts

Panel Forty-Eight: Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, andSocial Policy (Scarecrow Press)

Panel Forty-Nine: Catholic Approaches to Criminal Justice

Panel Fifty: Trends in Sacred Music During the Twentieth Century: An Appraisal

Panel Fifty-One: Roundtable: The Ancient-Moderns Distinction: Catholic Perspectives

Panel Fifty-Two: The Sexual Revolution: How Christians Accepted It and How to Counter It

Panel Fifty-Three: The Legacy of Pope John Paul II Continues

Panel Fifty-Four: A Critique of the Writings of Some Prominent Secular Thinkers: Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Sigmund Freud

Panel Fifty-Five: Catholic Faith and Morals in the Institution of the Family

Panel Fifty-Six: Catholics of the South

Panel Fifty-Seven: Catholicism and Social Work

Panel Fifty-Eight: Resolving Conflict in the Middle East

Panel Fifty-Nine: “Catholicism and Social Science”

Panel Sixty: “Catholicism and the Law: Special Topics”

Panel Sixty-One: Staying the Course! A Tribute to Monsignor George A. Kelly”

Panel Sixty-Two: Attacked on All Fronts: How Secular Ideology is Marginalizing the Rule of Law and Catholic Contributions to Law and Society”

Panel Sixty-Three: The Impact of Catholic Bloggers: How They Are Becoming An Important Alternate Voice in Catholic Culture

Panel Sixty-Four: The Legacy of Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and the Direction of the Church Universal

Panel Sixty-Five: Critiquing MacIntyre’s Critique of Liberalism

Panel Sixty-Six: Critical Issues in Catholic Education

Panel Sixty-Seven: Roundtable Discussion with the S.C.S.S. Sociology Disciplinary Section: “Developing a Sociology Textbook As a Companion Volume for the Compendium of Catholic Social Teachings”

Panel Sixty-Eight : Catholicism and Politics

Panel Sixty-Nine: Economics and Catholicism: III

Panel Seventy: The Use of Virtue in the Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Panel Seventy-One: What Catholics Need to Know About Islamic Jihad

Panel Seventy-Two: Strengthening Catholic Higher Education: A Roundtable Discussion

New "Extraordinary Form" of the Mass on Long Island!!!!!!

Thanks to reader Anthony for pointing out this from Fr. McCartney, the pastor of St. Matthew in Dix Hills:

"For some four years now we have offered the Novus Ordo Mass (the Mass of Vatican II) celebrated in Latin each week with music provided by our Gregorian Schola. Because I have received so many letters from parishioners requesting the Tridentine Mass, I am happy to announce that the 9:00 a.m. Sunday Mass in the chapel will become a weekly Tridentine Mass. The first Mass of this “extraordinary form” of the liturgy will be celebrated by Msgr. Vincent Keane on Sunday, September 16, 2007. It will be a learning process for both priests and people, and there may be some bumps along the way. But I am very happy to be able to offer this Mass, so important in our Catholic tradition, to those who desire it. I have been studying the liturgy, and look forward to being able to celebrate the Mass myself soon."

Leticia Velasquez of Causa Nostrae Laetitia, who was aptly named a "dynamo of Catholic energy" by Oswaldo Sobrino, has created the Dr. Jerome Lejeune Society. The goals of the group are:

1. To provide support for parents of children with Down syndrome with the help of their Catholic faith, including a beautiful prayer which Dr Lejeune's daughter, Anouk Lejeune Meyer will send us.
2. To raise society's awareness of what beautiful children they are to lower the 90% abortion rate
3. To raise funds to support ongoing research to treat and to cure Down syndrome, like Fondacion Lejeune
4. To support Dr. Lejeune's cause for sainthood, by raising awareness of his contributions to the science of genetics, to the pro-life movement, and to raising the dignity of individuals with Down syndrome.

I read Life Is A Blessing, written by Dr. Lejeune's daughter and it was a wonderfully inspiring book. Here is the link to the Dr. Jerome Lejeune Foundation and a link to the Wikipedia article on him.

THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

THE 15TH ANNUAL MEETING

Friday and Saturday, October 26-27, 2007

The St. John’s University School of Law
8000 Utopia Parkway
Jamaica, Queens, New York 11439

This is going to be a huge event with dozens of panels and speakers. Anyone who wants to attend has to pay a $50 registration fee. You can email me for the details of how to register. I am not a member of the Society, however, I will be in a panel discussion on Catholic blogging. I will post more on that another time. Here are the panels on Friday:

Panel One: Italian American Catholic Studies

Panel Two: University Faculty for Life and Its Long Island Chapter: Goals, History, Activities, and Future

Panel Three: Eastern Catholicism in the United States

Panel Four: Key Issues Affecting the American Family, the Church, and the Nation

Panel Five: The Contributions of Dietrich von Hildebrand

Panel Six: The New Evangelization in the U.S

Panel Seven: The Contribution of Francis Canavan, S.J.

Panel Eight: Contemporary Catholicism Around the Globe

Panel Nine: “Today’s Culture and Its Effects on Psychotherapy Practice”

Panel Ten: Edith Stein: Saint and Feminist

Panel Eleven: Topics in Economics and Catholicism: I

Panel Twelve : Humble and Heroic: The Academic Career of Salvatore J. LaGumina

Panel Thirteen: Catholic Contributions in Providing Diversity Within Public Higher Education

Panel Fourteen: Evangelization Efforts in the Dioceses of Rockville Centre and Brooklyn

Panel Sixteen: The Campaign for the International Right to Abortion in International Institutions

Panel Seventeen: The Legacy of John Paul II

Panel Eighteen: Toward A Theology of Work

Panel Nineteen: Catholic Social Teaching Applied: Some Irish Contributions

Panel Twenty: Abortion, Contraception, and the Future of the Catholic Church in the United States: The Need for a Comprehensive and Authentic Program in Catholic Education and Communication

Panel Twenty-One: The Society of St. Vincent de Paul—Embracing All Works of Charity: Blessed Frederic Ozanam’s Legacy

Those are the panels for Friday after which the Keynote Address will be given by Dr. William Donohue of The Catholic League. Following that will be remarks by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. Later I will post the panels for Saturday.

Mullah Brother, meet Brother Death

"Berader, also known colloquially as Mullah Brother, was close to Taliban leader Mullah Omar. His death will come as a major blow to the Taliban hierarchy and follows the deaths of senior commander Mullah Dadullah Lang in May and the arrest of Defense Minister Mullah Obaidullah in Quetta, Pakistan in March."

The Divine Gift of Motherhood

Another Long Island blog found via Leticia Velasquez

Via Newday, another example of killing by followers of islam:

"Islamic militants were behind two deadly explosions that killed at least 44 people and wounded scores more Saturday night in southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Indian officials said Sunday."

Religious women lost prophetic place, but can regain relevance, Gen X nun says

“We are on the verge of extinction, not because of some cataclysmic event, but because for the last 30 years or so, we have slowly removed ourselves from church circles, and have failed to recognize when we were no longer needed as a work force, that perhaps the spirit had a new call for us.”

That quote is from Sr. Laurie Brink who spoke at the LCWR Assembly, that is the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group of mostly old nuns who for the most part gave up being Catholic nuns years ago. Sr. Brink spoke positively about a group of former nuns who left the Catholic Church, which is all you need to know about her and this assembly.

This group is not to be confused with the younger, more orthodox group, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. See this post at The Cafeteria if Closed for a brief shot of both groups.

A great post on immigration at Relapsed Catholic

I believe there is a serious problem with immigrants today committing crimes, as anyone who follows the news can see. But the immigrants of old (Italians, Irish and Jewish) were probably worse. The "discrimination" they faced was exaggerated, and probably based on their own bad behavior. I have often said that if I met my ancestors, I would probably not like them and they would not like me. People who are uneducated, whether immigrants or not, often exhibit nasty and self destructive behaviours and are very insecure, leading them to be full of hate. They always blame others for their own problems as well. The problem years ago and today, is not with immigration, it is with the uneducated. The solution is for all to become as educated as their abilities will allow. Higher education must be made more affordable and all parents must value education highly. And everyone must understand that crime, especially violent crime, must not be tolerated.

This should be good - CNN is doing a 3 night series on "God's Warriors"
One night each is going to feature Jewish, Muslim, and then Christian "Warriors". I wonder how the so called warriors of the Christian and Jewish world stack up against muslim warriors. I haven't read too many stories of Jewish or Christian people killing, kidnapping, and bombing in the name of their religion.

Amy Welborn has a new blog - Charlotte was Both, and continues to find interesting Church links. She links to a great news story on the Bishop of Burlington, VT offering a Mass "in the Extraordinary Form" at the Cathedral. You can watch the new video here.

Crooner 'with a calling' sings Elvis ... in Latin

"In yet another testament to the irrepressible influence of "The King," fans can croon along to the broody "Nunc hic aut numquam" ("It's Now or Never"), shake hips to the slightly scary sounding title "Nunc Distrahor" ("All Shook Up"), or just have fun with "Ne Saevias" ("Don't Be Cruel")."

Well, at least he understands what many in the Catholic Church do not:

"Latin is an eternal language and therefore I believe it is important to document Elvis' songs also in this eternal language," said Jukka Ammondt, known by his stage name Doctor Ammondt."

From Newsday:

A player for the Long Island Ducks was arrested (and suspended) after "charging the mound and injuring two players with his bat". The Long Island Ducks is a minor league baseball team that has been an awesome success story here in Suffolk. Frank Boulton, the owner of the team, tried to bring a minor league team to Long Island years ago, first in Nassau where the politicians were less than helpful. His Albany-Colonie Yankees moved to Norwich, CT when they could not be brought to LI, but years later the Ducks were created and the games have been sold out since. Two of my family members made a living in minor league baseball for some years and I always enjoyed going to the games. The Long Island Ducks stadium is nice, clean, and the games are fun to go to, even for families. This is why this incident is so bad. I have mentioned my annoyance before when jocks do not get charged with crimes when they commit them on the field, so I am glad to see the player was arrested.