I Hate Politics

I hate politics and will be glad when the Catholic blogs will be back to posting reasonable, thoughtful, educated posts on topics of interest to me. Like 13th Century Liturgy. Anyway, I can now post something about the Presidential Election of 2008 :

Obama and McCain Yuk it Up at Al Smith Dinner

It is great to see a Catholic event that raises money for charity and hosts some big political figures. I enjoyed hearing clips of both candidates joking although neither one of them is naturally funny, the writing was good. It was good to see both laughing amid the seriousness of the election.

From The Long Island Press:

Soccer Moms vs. God

"One Rockville Centre mother, Sue Cavallo, who spent this past Sunday morning-as well as many other weekend mornings-on the football field at Oceanside High School, says football gives her son an "easy out" from church, especially if he throws a "hissy fit" and she doesn't want to deal with it.

"Quite frankly, I'm a parent and I should put my foot down," says Cavallo. "But if there is a call between church and the game, the game comes first."

The 44-year-old accountant is not alone in that school of thought. Many of the parents the Press spoke with at weekend games said that between homework, school clubs and sports, there's really no time for church."

Wow, that is an honest quote - admitting that she does not do what a parent should do, that Church comes after sports, and that her jock son throws hissy fits. I am surprised to see honesty from a Long Islander. The Diocesan spokesperson is quoted:

"The Diocese does not have an official policy regarding Sunday sports, but Dolan says that as a rule the parishes push to schedule sporting activities after noon on Sundays.

"[The Diocese] is not out of touch, we're not suggesting people stay home all day on Sunday, but there has to be a balance, and the Eucharist has to be a central part of Sunday," says Dolan, who adds that after Mass, families should bond, not just run off to a game or a practice."

And the Press actually found two reasonable parents (also rare on Long Island):

"Catholic churches have many different masses to attend, either during the week or weekend. If I were to say I do not go to Mass anymore because my kid has games on Sunday, I would just be copping out," says Gregory Muller, a soccer dad from Coram."

Of course the Masses during the week do not count as Sunday obligations so they are irrelevant but there are an average of two Masses on Saturday night at parishes across the island that do count for Sunday. So, it would be really pushing it to say you could not play sports and attend Mass at all.

"So, is there a happy medium? Could the fictional opening scenario end with the Soccer Moms lining up to slap hands with Team Mass after the game and everyone having a milkshake and a slice before going to worship? Optimists such as Sachem soccer mom Lindsay Gorman say, "Yes." But there is work that needs to be done on both sides.

"We've become very good at working around it. Sunday morning Mass becomes Saturday evening Mass-it's a balancing act," says Gorman."

The article also notes an incident that shows that Long Island parents of jocks have still not changed much even after the Mepham High football player rapes:

"Commack Soccer League president Rich Hollingsworth sent out a mass e-mail notifying parents that the camp would be canceled because it was accidentally scheduled on the holiday. The Press obtained the thread of e-mails, in which one parent replied back from an e-mail account identifying itself as Frank Daurio's (several sources involved confirmed that the e-mails came from Daurio, and the replies are addressed to Daurio). The e-mails are published here verbatim:

Daurio: "I just found out tomorrow's Soccer Camp is canceled because some immorally self-centered person (or group of people) decided it was unfair for people to play soccer when their kid wasn't going to because they happen to be Jewish."

Daurio continues in this vein. An unnamed parent replies that while he or she can understand Daurio's frustrations, his tone could be deemed anti-Semitic. Another unnamed parent chimes in with "backup" for Daurio and writes:

"The cancellation of today's soccer camp due to the selfish behavior of two Jewish women (we know who you are) is unacceptable. All of our kids were looking forward to the event. This includes many Jewish children. As we all know many Jewish in this area are not religious and don't practice so you hurt your own people as well. Frank Daurio's e-mail this [morning] stated what many think but won't put to pen. Why is it that Jewish people throughout the centuries have been persecuted and why does NY get such a bad rap around the country? Is it because of this type of behavior?"

Yes, sports can play a good role in raising healthy children, teaching team work and dedication to a task, cooperation and good sportsmanship, but they often do not. The problem is that the culture takes sports too seriously and excuses bad behavior on the part of jocks and their parents. I won't even get into the fact that most of these white parents have no real hope of seeing their children play professionally in a real sport, something I have often heard mentioned in bitter, racist ways.

I have completed Russell Shaw's book Nothing to Hide and have a few thoughts. (I am now engrossed in Havana Noctune about Cuba before the revolution).

Shaw's book puts forth the idea that the communication in the Church should be open and free flowing and cites examples of abuse of secrecy. His overall idea is very good and is a great example of a faithful Catholic who sees things in the Church that need reform and lays out the case for reform. This should be the path those who advocate changes in the Church should follow.

A good point Shaw made in the book is - the ignorance of Church members is not a reason to keep information from them but a challenge to explain and teach that info. In other words the fact that many of us do not understand financial statements does not mean they shouldn't be published but that they should be explained and made as clear as possible. The 'they won't understand' mentality is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Shaw also believes the Diocesan newspapers should be opened up to being more than just 'house organs'. I would like to see these papers become more like the National Catholic Register in terms of quality and coverage. But I also see a need for these newspapers to be 'house organs'. It is interesting to note Shaw's desire to see these papers become 'vehicles for public expression' considering his negative views of blogs, which are almost the online version of the letters to the editor section. Overall, this book is an excellent look at an aspect of the Church that could be improved greatly.

Product Description
'Shaw, widely known Catholic writer, speaker and former communications director for the U S Bishops, discusses the abuse of secrecy in the Church, the scandals it has caused and the serious problem of mistrust that exists in the credibility of the Church. Not concerned with the legitimate secrecy that is necessary to protect confidentiality and people's reputations, Shaw is rather concerned here with the stifling, deadening misuse of secrecy that has done immense harm to communion and community in the Church in America. '

I went to the Russell Shaw lecture today at the Center for Catholic Studies at Nassau Community College. Shaw discussed his book on the misuse of secrecy in the Church, carefully noting the legitimate uses of secrecy such as the confessional, or private matters. His book and lecture noted that secrecy props up clericalism as those in charge keep information from the average Catholic creating a sense of insiders vs. outsiders. A good point was Shaw's contention that clericalism is not limited to the clergy and is even evidenced by the over emphasis on 'lay ministry', something I have noted many times. The lack of communication within the Church negatively affects the Communio which is a major part of the Church's mission. During the question and answer session I asked Shaw about the new forms of communication used by Catholics today such as EWTN which televises the bishops conferences and blogging. Shaw was pretty positive about EWTN and Raymond Arroyo but very negative on blogging which he didn't seem to find useful at all. I understand his view on blogging but hope that he can find some good in the Catholic blogosphere. Shaw has the attitude found among many mainstream media types, that blogs are not 'real journalism' which is true enough. Shaw ended with mention of the Apostolic Visitation of US seminaries which was supposed to be a major part of the result of the infamous Dallas meeting of Bishops in 2002. After the whole priest sex scandal exploded the visitations were a major part of reform, and Shaw noted how the entire thing went on and finished without any public notice. There were no major reports giving findings, or announcements of steps taken to improve any flaws in the system. This was a great point that shows that as much as has changed, some things have remained the same in the Church. This was an interesting talk and I can't wait to read the book.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Shea

My brother sent me the fascinating article linked above about the closing of Shea Stadium. I didn't get to a ballgame at Shea Stadium at all this year so I didn't get to say goodbye to the stadium that was a nice part of my life. I went there many times as a kid, with friends, with family and later as an adult with my wife (then girlfriend) and my niece. I can remember sitting in the upper deck (red seats) as part of the Mets fan club and then moving down to the better seats after a few innings. There were always plenty of unused seats pre-1986. Hopefully, I will get to see a game at the new stadium but it will not be the same.

Reminder: this Saturday is Russell Shaw's talk:

Saturday, October 11th - 1:30 PM Nassau Community College

Russell Shaw presents his book, Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press, 2008)

1:30 P.M. in the Multipurpose Room of the Nassau Community College Center Building.

The event is free of any charge and there will be a coffee and desert table, after the talk, for members of the audience. The local NCC Barnes and Noble affiliate will be selling copies of his book for those interested.In order to attend the event, however, registration is required and a parking permit must be secured.

From the Deacon's Bench - a Time Magazine story on young nuns from 2006:

Today's Nun Has A Veil--And A Blog

"Over the past five years, Roman Catholic communities around the country have experienced a curious phenomenon: more women, most in their 20s and 30s, are trying on that veil. Convents in Nashville, Tenn.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and New York City all admitted at least 15 entrants over the past year and fielded hundreds of inquiries. One convent is hurriedly raising funds for a new building to house the inflow, and at another a rush of new blood has lowered the median age of its 225 sisters to 36."

This is old news to those of us who have followed the young traditional/older liberal split in the Church and religious life.

The article also quotes a native Long Islander:

"For those who are called, there is a real falling in love. You are filled with a joy and desire to be with God," says Sister Mary Gabriel Devlin, 32, vocation director at Sisters of Life. "Their families are not experiencing this, so it can be hard for them to understand."

One of the blogging sisters is mentioned:

"There are people out there who wonder what being a nun is like," says Sister Julie Vieira, 36. "These are people who were exposed to stereotypes of nuns and don't understand how we really live." So last summer Vieira began a blog titled A Nun's Life, in which she has chronicled her days as a sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and also a conventional-dressing, apartment-dwelling, master's degree--holding production coordinator at the Loyola Press, a Catholic publisher in Chicago."

You can see a huge list of Blogs by Religious on the Catholic Blog Directory. Overall the article is nice, although it contains this (understandable) error when discussing veils:

"Decreed unnecessary by Vatican II and shed happily by many older nuns, the headdress is for many of today's newcomers a desired accessory. "A lot of my older sisters would never wear the veil," says Sister Sarah Roy, 29, who is the only member of her Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Ill., to do so. (The others wear a simple dark dress adorned by a pin.) "

Of course Vatican II did not decree any such thing, although many nuns did happily shed their veils or modified them.

From Newsday (not The Onion) -

Study: Stem cells derived from men's testicles seem to work as well as embryonic stem cells

"Using testicular cells isn't the only promising method that avoids embryos; there have been impressive experiments in reprogramming ordinary body cells into stem cells by slipping certain genes into them."

Gives new meaning to the phrase "grow a pair" don't it? The breakthroughs in non-embryonic stem cell research are impressive indeed.

From MacBeth's Opinion, an article in the NY Times on Chaminade High School:

At a Boys’ Catholic School, Tradition Fuels Demand

"UNLIKE most Roman Catholic schools in the New York area, which embrace students regardless of their religion, Chaminade High School here requires a baptismal certificate to register.

“No exception,” said the Rev. James C. Williams, a cherub-faced priest who is the school’s president. “We advertise that pretty clearly because this is who we are. I don’t have room for all the Catholics who want to be here.”

"Chaminade, founded in 1930 and now the Island’s only all-boys Catholic school, has thrived by staying unabashedly Catholic and traditional."

Actually the school is not particularly traditional in many ways, but it is solidly Catholic.

High school football hazing scandal could lead to charges

Here we go again, just like the Mepham High Football rape, etc... When are people going to learn?

"According to state police reports, a group of juniors assaulted several younger teammates over two days, holding the victims down while a broomstick was forced into their rectums over their athletic shorts."

This is rape, just like at Mepham High. The students who did this have very serious issues and need to be in jail, and in therapy.


"Police didn't find out about it from school officials; instead, a state trooper whose son is on the team learned of the allegations through his wife, a camp volunteer."

Why were the police told immediately? What did the coaches, school officials, parents and jocks know and when did they know it?

"The alleged ringleader was expelled. The others, some of them veteran players of the highly successful team, were suspended through the end of the school year."

This is good, but these football players committed violent acts and the police and courts should be doling out the punishments, not just the school.

"Several residents expressed disbelief, frustration and embarrassment over the case, along with anger - some directed at the coaches, some at the media inquiring about the scandal."

No one should be angry about the media inquiring about this crime - that is their job and it helps to expose the truth. That is how Mepham High became famous and only then did action get taken.

There are some good things going on for Catholics on Long Island:

Saturday, October 11th - 1:30 PM Nassau Community College

Russell Shaw presents his book, Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication, and Communion in the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press, 2008)

1:30 P.M. in the Multipurpose Room of the Nassau Community College Center Building. The event is free of any charge and there will be a coffee and desert table, after the talk, for members of the audience. The local NCC Barnes and Noble affiliate will be selling copies of his book for those interested.
In order to attend the event, however, registration is required and a parking permit must be secured.



Wednesday, October 1 or Thursday, October 2, St. Matthew's in Dix Hills

Beginners' Gregorian Chant Lessons will be offered, free of any charge

Any and all laypeople interested in learning about Gregorian Chant and are willing to take up their responsibility for singing it at Mass are welcome. No prior experience in Gregorian chant is necessary - in fact, such experience may over-qualify you - but the ability to carry a tune will be a big advantage.

See this page for more info.


Theology of the Body with Dr. Janet Smith

12 weekly sessions will be offered with Dr. Janet Smith CDs on the Theology of the Body in Farmingdale. If interested & for more info, please contact Rich at this email.

Enron

I recently read Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story about the corruption and eventual downfall of Enron. It was an excellent and interesting read, and I discovered there were a couple of Long Island connections with the largest collapse of a US company ever. The book portrays Andrew Fastow as the ultimate slimeball who figured out ways to make money by creating separate businesses that would interact with Enron in a way that made Enron look like it was making more money than it really was. Fastow was the head of some of these companies while also the CFO of Enron, a conflict of interest that was basically ignored by Wall Street analysts, banks, Enron executives and the Board of Directors. Fastow made millions - possibly $60 million - through these separate companies. Fastow and Michael Kopper come across as the real scammers in the Enron story, and it is sad to see they both struck deals with the government and received lesser sentences than they should have.

The Long Island connection to Enron? Kopper was born in Woodmere, and Cliff Baxter, an Enron exec described by the whistleblower Sherron Watkins as "one of the few good guys in this whole thing" came from Amityville. Baxter committed suicide as Enron fell apart and his funeral was at St. Martin of Tours - where this blogger was married. (BTW - this is a weird place to mention this, but St. Martin of Tours is one of the most beautiful Churches in the Diocese of Rockville Centre.)

This book (and dvd Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) reinforced what I have experienced in my life when it comes to corruption and evil - people are able to get away with almost anything when there is a culture of greed, looking the other way, egoism, shallowness, and fear. Enron was almost a textbook example of this - I would hope people would learn from its fall, but I know that most will not.

Chapel at St. Anthony's blends old and the new

From Newsday, what looks to be an excellent new chapel:

"In a school that stresses academics and athletics," said Brother Gary Cregan, the school's principal, "I wanted to sound out a loud statement that says God before all."

"A student's mother, Rose Russo-Barbour, of Old Brookville, found a 16th-century European altar which, with all of its history attached, sits as a focal point in the chapel.

"The limestone that craftsmen used to line the walls and floors came from a mountainside in Kurd-controlled northwest Iraq, Cregan said."

Msgr. Lisante and Our Lady of Lourdes

Newsday published a couple of articles about a situation at Our Lady of Lourdes in Massapequa Park and their new pastor Msgr. Lisante. The second article can be read here. The controversy boils down to: Msgr. Lisante had invited Fr. Blockley - a priest from the South Pacific to assist in the summers for the past eight years at Lisante's former parish -St. Thomas the Apostle in West Hempstead. When Msgr. Lisante was made pastor at OLL Blockley was invited to help out this summer. Fr. Blockley however was not in good standing with his Diocese and did not have his Bishop's permission to be here. Bishop Murphy expelled Blockley from the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Meanwhile, there was a statue of Our Lady of Fatima that was removed from the left side of the sanctuary after 25 years and this also caused an uproar. I have a few observations:

1) Shame on Msgr. Lisante for not following the procedure for bringing in outside priests to the Diocese. This is standard procedure and especially important after the priest scandals exposed in 2002. When tens of thousands of Catholic mothers, fathers, and grandparents have to attend classes on prevention of child abuse in order to volunteer at parishes, all because of the actions of priests and bishops, it is simply incredible that a priest cannot follow procedure. And shame on the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle for not discovering the status of Fr. Blockley sooner and exposing it. While Fr. Blockley is not accused of anything (he seems to be on the outs with his bishop on issues not relating to children or anything criminal), it is very important to make sure priests are in good standing.

2) The removal of a statue from a sanctuary is usually not a good sign. There are those who would love to remove any sign of traditional Catholicism in our Churches but I thought this had pretty much ended in the 1990's. However, OLL was always a weird looking Church - a modern design with traditional things thrown in there by people attempting to make the Church look Catholic. The result was a hodgepodge, so having the statue moved may not have been so bad.

3) The Newsday article mentions bloggers associated with the parish so I did some digging around and discovered Save Our Lady of Lourdes. From this blog I learned a couple of more things: Apparently, chairs were put in front of the altar and the altar crucifix was removed. If this is true then this is a shame. I was never fond of the sanctuary of OLL or the Liturgies celebrated there. But the altar crucifix was a positive. Chairs do not belong in front of any altar and most parishes with this arrangement were corrected in the 1980's and 1990's.

4) Msgr. Lisante is a good priest and very personable. I hope his abundance of talents can help him lead the parish of OLL and pull the parish together. So far, if he has authorized or done these changes, he is off to a very bad start.

5) The Save Our Lady of Lourdes blog has some excellent posts on restoring traditional aspects of parish Churches. It rightly calls for a complete overhaul of the sanctuary. I hope Msgr. Lisante will look into some of this, although I don't think he is of the Benedict XVI mindset of the 'hermeneutic of continuity' when it comes to Liturgy and Church design.

Speaking of the Voice of the Faithful:

Diocese of Rockville Centre's cash reserve rapped

"A clash between a dissident group of Catholics and the Diocese of Rockville Centre over how much the diocese has in the bank - and what it ought to do with the money - reflects a national church debate over how to best use its funds.

Although the diocese disputes the figures, the Voice of the Faithful asserted last week Rockville Centre has what the group calls a "jaw-dropping" $268 million in cash reserves."

VOTF does this almost every year - accuses the Diocese of having too much money, as if that would be a bad thing. It is almost comical how desperate they are to drum up publicity for their ageing, failing group. They are relying on the outside opinion of Richard Grafer, a retired accountant who used to work for Arthur Anderson, the firm responsible for overseeing the finances of Enron. We all know how great they did with that job.

Voice of the "Faithful" Long Island is holding their annual conference. People making up the panels at this conference will be from groups including:

FUTURE CHURCH

CALL TO ACTION

'nuff said.

I was the driver last night taking my wife and two other friends to the Bruce Spingsteen concert at Giants Stadium. On the way there we heard the reports of a propane truck overturned RIGHT ON the exit ramp to the stadium. Fortunately we were able to figure how how to get onto the exit for Route 3 from the Turnpike and make our entrance from there. The concert was delayed an hour due to the mess so we ended up getting home very early this morning. It was a fun night though. Bruce and the E Street band kicked off with a spirited version of Summertime Blues. They also did Blinded by The Light which I have always hated but this version was good. They ended with Jersey Girl and then Rosalita.

UPDATE: I forgot - after Rosalita they did the terrific Irish sounding American Land. Click here for the lyrics.

From Newsday:

Another adult stem cell breakthrough!


"Harvard University researchers have made motor neurons, the brain cells that degenerate in patients with Lou Gehrig's disease, from skin cells taken from two elderly sisters with the condition.

The advance, published yesterday in the journal Science, used a technique developed during the last two years that gives adult cells the same power as those from embryos to turn into any cell type in the body. "

How many more times is this going to happen before people wake up to the fact that moral stem cell research is possible and already fruitful?

‘Summorum Pontificum’ one year later:Diocese expands ‘wonderful opportunity’ for traditional Latin form of Mass

"Since Pope Benedict’s “Sum-morum Pontificum,” an apostolic letter which allowed for regular celebration of the extraordinary or traditional Latin form of the Mass in parishes and other Church settings, St. Matthew’s Church in Dix Hills and Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Massapequa Park have instituted such celebrations — once a week at St. Matthew’s and twice a week at Our Lady of Lourdes."

"He also noted that the diocese sent Father Eric Fasano, former associate pastor of St. William the Abbot Church in Seaford who has been assigned to studies in canon law in Rome, and Father Walter Kedjierski, associate pastor of Our Lady of Victory Church, Floral Park, for training at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska. The seminary is operated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. The fraternity is a society of apostolic life founded by Pope John Paul II that trains priests and fosters celebration of the Mass and administration of the sacraments in the older form. “Personally, I consider it a wonderful opportunity and a privilege to celebrate the form of the Roman rite that nourished the holiness of the saints and of all the faithful for so many centuries,” said Father Fasano. “What a blessing, to experience the Mass as my own parents did in their childhood.”

This is wonderful news to have two young priests trained to offer the Extraordinary Form.

Andrea Duda has advised me of this milestone:

The Catholic Blog Directory just passed the 1,500 blog mark


WooHoo!