St. Sebastian Pastor

Urgent Action Alert

2011-09-17T10:21:00.001-04:00

In implementing the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the new health care reform law), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a rule requiring almost all private health plans to cover contraception and sterilization as "preventive services" for women. The mandate even forces individuals and groups with religious or moral objections to purchase and provide such coverage if they are to receive or provide health coverage at all. This poses an unprecedented threat to individual and institutional religious freedom.

The rule includes a religious exemption so extremely narrow that it protects almost no one. It covers only a "religious employer" that has the "inculcation of religious values" as its purpose, primarily employs and serves persons who share its religious tenets, and is a church organization under two narrow provisions of the tax code. A great many religious organizations -- including Catholic colleges and universities, as well as hospitals and charitable institutions that serve the public -- will be ineligible. Individuals and religiously affiliated health insurers will not qualify for the exemption.

The new rule would force insurance plans to cover "all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity." Never before has the federal government required private health plans to include such coverage. The FDA-approved "emergency contraception" (EC) drugs that are covered by this mandate can work by interfering with implantation of a newly conceived human being. Also, the drug the FDA most recently approved for EC, "Ella," a close analogue to the abortion drug RU-486, has been shown in animal tests to cause abortion. Thus, the mandate includes drugs that may cause an abortion both before and after implantation.

The public comment period on this interim final rule ends September 30.

ACTION: Please send an e-mail message to HHS by visiting www.usccb.org/conscience. Once you send your comments to HHS, you will be automatically invited to send a message to your elected representatives in Congress, urging them to support the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179/S. 1467) to ensure that such federal mandates do not violate Americans’ moral and religious convictions.

MESSAGE TO HHS: "Pregnancy is not a disease, and drugs and surgeries to prevent it are not basic health care that the government should require all Americans to purchase. Please remove sterilization and prescription contraceptives from the list of ‘preventive services’ the federal government is mandating in private health plans. It is especially important to exclude any drug that may cause an early abortion, and to fully respect religious freedom as other federal laws do. The narrow religious exemption in HHS’s new rule protects almost no one. I urge you to allow all organizations and individuals to offer, sponsor and obtain health coverage that does not violate their moral and religious convictions."

WHEN: Please send your comments to HHS by the September 30 deadline. Thanks! 9/9/11

This is my body

2011-03-22T15:58:00.000-04:00

Someone shared this with me today

Philadelphia Horror

2011-02-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

This is an absolutely chilling Grand Jury Report that the following from Philly.com summarizes. Read the whole report and you will be sick.

"IN HIS SQUALID West Philadelphia abortion clinic, Kermit Gosnell had a surefire way of dealing with the unwelcome complication of a live birth: He'd allegedly plunge scissors into the squirming newborn's neck, killing it by severing the spinal cord.

Sometimes, the elderly physician didn't do this right away. Often, he allegedly gave the chore to his unlicensed office staff. One premature infant wiggled around on a counter for 20 minutes before an untrained worker slit his neck - after first playing with him.

Those allegations were among countless bombshells in a 261-page grand-jury report that District Attorney Seth Williams released yesterday."

"I want to be a priest."

2011-02-07T14:06:00.001-05:00

It is 1957 and my first week of school at St. Teresa School in Woodside. I had turned six in June and so was probably the oldest in the first grade. Sometime during the week Sister Margaret Agnes had asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up and I had responded, “I want to be a priest.” Sister made it her business to tell my mother immediately. Mom told Dad and their quiet encouragement and support began that day and continued for the rest of their lives until I was ordained and beyond.

It is the spring of 1958 and the school and parish were busy preparing children to receive the sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion for the first time. The date was set for June 8, a Saturday morning, at the 8.00am Mass. I don’t remember if I ever knew, but either the pastor, principal, or Sister Margaret Agnes, realized that I would be seven years old by that date. Pope St. Pius X, in 1910 taught that once a child had reached the Age of Reason (7 years of age), she/he should not be deprived of the Holy Eucharist for any significant amount of time, and in fact, should be encouraged to receive Communion frequently, even daily if possible. So, I was the only child in First Grade who received Penance and Holy Communion that year. That meant that every Sunday thereafter, during the rest of June and all through Second Grade I received Holy Communion while the other boys and girls had to just sit there. I also received every week on Sunday with my parents and every day when we were on vacation. I credit my vocation to the priesthood to a full year more of receiving Our Eucharistic Lord with frequency. I remember learning that only a priest could change ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If only a priest could do that, then I wanted to be a priest!

Over the course of time, I thought about doing other things, but none too seriously, and always I came back to the priesthood. I went to the high school and college seminary and to the major seminary at Huntington. I was ordained a deacon in January 1977 and assigned to St. Pius V in South Jamaica. One year later, on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, I was ordained a priest. I stayed at St. Pius until June 1981 when I was assigned by Bishop Francis Mugavero to the Education Office of the Diocese. I worked in the education apostolate until 1993 when Bishop Thomas Daily appointed me Director of the Seventh Synod of the Diocese. In 1997 I was assigned as the Director of the Immaculate Conception Center and, in 2002, I was named pastor of St. Sebastian parish in Woodside. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio appointed me Vicar for Education in 2004 while continuing my work in Woodside. When my four year term as Vicar was over, I was appointed as the Executive Director of the Futures in Education Endowment for Brooklyn and Queens and now I am happy just to be here at St. Sebastian.

I’ve had so many wonderful experiences as a priest over the years and I can honestly say that I have not had an unhappy day as a priest and January 28, the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, was my 33rd anniversary!

There Be Dragons

2011-02-07T12:14:00.001-05:00

It looks like it will be a wonderful film! And a trailer from the website

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Santo Niño of Cebu Feast 2011

2011-01-20T14:49:00.002-05:00

Christmas Homily

2010-12-25T11:01:00.001-05:00

One of my parishioners, Patrick Sweeney, videotaped last night's homily at Midnight Mass. My prayers for a Blessed Christmas for you all! God bless.

Corpus Christi in 2009

2010-06-24T14:56:00.000-04:00

Someone suggested that the 2009 Corpus Christi Procession video should also be posted here

Woodside Memories

2010-06-24T13:23:00.001-04:00

The profile of St. Sebastian Parish on You Tube brought me this e-mail.

Monsignor,

My sister just sent the YouTube video for the City of Churches profile of St. Sebastian’s. It brought back a lot of memories.

As a 1961 graduate of St. Sebastian’s School, I’m from the generation of the wooden church and iron parishioners… no AC on a crowded Sunday morning.

I don’t know if you’re collecting “living history,” but the message I forwarded to my kids with the video is below,

Wow! That sure brings back some memories!

Back in the day… in the early mid-50’s… I went to Sunday mass in the old wooden church with nanny Gleason… no AC in the summer… it was the 1950’s version of a steam bath; when I started fidgeting, nanny pinched me ‘til I settled down… I had my first communion either in the wooden church or the school chapel because the big church wasn’t ready. Nanny never liked the new church because she felt like she was going to mass in a movie theater. I think my class was one of the first to be confirmed in the big church… that would have been 1958.

Nance! You may remember this… every Wednesday we got out of school early, at 2PM, for Novena in the school chapel… the nun’s taught catechism to the Catholic kids who were in PS 11. When the new church was almost done, I remember Fr. Moran waving down at us kids lined up along 58th street & Woodside avenue from one of the church towers.

The side chapel was where I went to the 6:30 mass every morning… I had those stained glass windows memorized.

Where the parish center is now, was the school yard. It was segregated by gender… the boys were in the front near 57th street and the girls were in the back by 56th street… heaven help the boy whom the nun’s caught on the girls’ side… the girls spend a lot of time jumping rope and the boys just hung out… there was a little, separate school yard in the front on 57th street where the first graders went… when it was time to go into school, one of the nuns rang a hand bell… we all shut our mouths, lined up in double file, and our nun would lead us into school… showing up late—after the bell—or talking in line was usually good for a noogie or a dope slap.

Of the many gifts given to me by the church, which for me is St. Sebastian’s and Maryknoll, two are a love of learning and psychically surviving two years in Viet Nam. I feel blessed not to have been one of the names on Ed Fowley’s Vietnam Monument on 57th & Woodside, but I knew a lot of those guys from the school yard. I was told that originally the monument was supposed to go into Doughboy Park, but the city objected to the reference to God in the inscription; so, the parish allowed it to be set up on its present site… you got to love secular progressives.

Best wishes from a Woodsider exiled in the hinterlands!

Ray Gleason

The Buzz about St. Sebastian School

2010-06-16T11:46:00.000-04:00

This is a great series of photos of St. Sebastian School, a Catholic School of Excellence!

The City of Churches

2010-06-15T17:55:00.000-04:00

This is a great piece done by our diocesan TV studio, NET, New Evangelization Television.

The Spirit of the Lord

2010-06-14T19:07:00.000-04:00

There was a mighty wind!

The Lord walks the streets of Woodside with His people!

2010-06-14T19:01:00.000-04:00

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus

2010-06-14T18:58:00.000-04:00

The procession stretches all the way back to 58th street.

Fr. Joy Alookaran's 30th Anniversary

2010-06-14T18:52:00.000-04:00

Fr. Joy's celebration of his 30th anniversary of priestly ordination on May 23, 2010, the Solemnity pf Pentecost. His brother Fr. Charley Alookaran is concelebrating immediately to his left as you look at the picture.

Group Wedding Reception

2010-06-14T18:34:00.000-04:00

Myrna Avendano & Francisco Añonuevo, Emelys Rivera & Lito Guerrero, Marivic Desquilla Cuello & Jose Cuello, Veronica Miyahira & Raul Diniz, and Jose Caguana & Laura Fernandez and Msgr. Michael J. Hardiman, pastor, at the reception the parish held for the couples in the school auditorium after the wedding in church.

Group Wedding, Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

2010-06-14T18:28:00.000-04:00

From the left: Joel Cuello & Marivic Desquilla Cuello, Francisco Añonuevo & Myrna Avendano, Lito Guerrero & Emelys Rivera, Raul Diniz & Veronica Miyahira, and Jose Caguana & Laura Fernandez celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony on Saturday, June 12, 2010 at St. Sebastian in Woodside, New York.

Corpus Christi

2010-06-09T16:35:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful procession last Sunday for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

http://netny.net/currents/video/stories/one-bread-one-body-6710/

An Open Letter to Hans Kung

2010-04-29T10:08:00.001-04:00

This is a must read piece by George Weigel.

A Fitting Memorial

2010-04-18T12:48:00.000-04:00

A tribute and Memorial Mass for the Firefighters who were killed in the 2001 Father's Day fire in Astoria.

The Great Vigil

2010-04-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

This was the scene at the Easter Vigil last night at St. Sebastian, thanks to Patrick Sweeney.

Maureen Dowd and the NY Times: Anti-Catholic together

2010-03-31T17:06:00.001-04:00

I am appalled at Maureen Dowd’s two recent columns. Op-Ed pieces need to be accurate in their presentation of the facts. I suggest that http://www.catholic-sf.org/news_select.php?newsid=&id=57030 and http://catholicanchor.org/wordpress/ be required reading and that appropriate action be taken to redress the factual errors Ms. Dowd has advanced in her recent columns. I have cancelled my subscription to a newspaper that I have read faithfully since 1965. It is clearly no longer the "newspaper of record." Ms. Dowd's piece today was the last straw; I should have done it years ago!

Pius XII redux

2010-03-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

Front page of the NY Times today.

The Way of the Cross

2010-03-03T04:53:00.001-05:00

A Scriptural Way of the Cross

First Prayed by the Venerable Pope John Paul II in 1991

Before each station: We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. All: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

First Station

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me." He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, "So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mt. 26:36-41)

Second Station

Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested

While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, "the man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely." He came and immediately went over to him and said, "Rabbi." And he kissed him. At this they laid hands on him and arrested him. (Mk. 14: 43-46)

Third Station

Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin

When day came the council of elders of the people met, both chief priests and scribes, and they brought him before their Sanhedrin. They said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us," but he replied to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I question, you will not respond. But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?" He replied to them, "You say that I am." Then they said, "What further need have we for testimony? We have heard it from his own mouth." (Lk. 22: 66-71)

Fourth Station

Jesus is Denied by St. Peter

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, "You too were with Jesus the Galilean." But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about!" As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazorean." Again he denied it with an oath, "I do not know the man!" A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away." At that he began to curse and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly. (Mt. 26: 69-75)

Fifth Station

Jesus is Judged by Pontius Pilate

Reader: The chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He said to him in reply, "You say so." The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of." Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.... Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barrabas... [and] handed [Jesus] over to be crucified. (Mk. 15: 1-5, 15)

Sixth Station

Jesus is Scourged at the Pillar and Crowned with Thorns

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said,"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly (Jn. 19: 1-3)

Seventh Station

Jesus Carries the Cross

When the chief priests and the guards saw [Jesus] they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him." ... They cried out, "Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha.
(Jn. 19: 6, 15-17)

Eighth Station

Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross

They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. (Mk.15: 21)

Ninth Station

Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time, people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!' and to the hills, ‘Cover us!' for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?" (Lk. 23: 27-31)

Tenth Station: Jesus is Crucified

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." (Lk. 23: 33-34)

Eleventh Station

Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good Thief

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Lk. 23: 39-43)

Twelfth Station

Jesus Speaks to His Mother and the Beloved Disciple

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. (Jn. 19: 25-27)

Thirteenth Station

Jesus Dies on the Cross

Reader: It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit"; and when he had said this he breathed his last.
(Lk. 23: 44-46)

Fourteenth Station

Jesus is Placed in the Tomb

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it [in] clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. (Mt. 27: 57-60)

The Privatization of Religious Belief

2010-03-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

Whispers mentions Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap. of Denver. It seems he has weighed in once again in the area of religion and politics with some great thoughts with regard to Catholics and public life. Does anyone remember the Notre Dame speech given by then Governor Mario Cuomo of New York? Same thing also missed the mark on Church teaching and beliefs. What a shame.

Sleeping Disciples

2010-03-02T15:54:00.001-05:00

That's it, the disciples sleep a lot. And they sleep at important moments. In last Sunday's Gospel, St. Luke's account of the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-36), St. Luke tells us that they fell asleep and only began to wake up as the Transfiguration was almost finished. In the account of the Agony in the Garden (Lk. 22:39-46) and in St. Mark and St Matthew's versions as well, we find the disciples described as having fallen asleep. If it happens to them then it must to us as well; what does it mean?

Remember being in graduate school at Columbia and after a full day of work, riving to Morningside Heights to take two courses. More than once I remember starting to doze and snapping back to life, afraid that I may have started to snore -- didn't happen, thank God. That's the sleep of being tired. St. Luke's gloss on the disciples in the garden is that they were sleeping from "grief". Overwhelmed by this feeling they fled the conscious world. I think it's a metaphor for what I would call "inattention". They weren't paying attention to what was really going on; they didn't realize what was happening. How could they have missed it? Other things cloud the mind, and Jesus seems not to be the focus of their attention. If it can happen to the disciples who were physically in His presence how much the more likely it will happen to us?

Sleeping

2010-03-01T17:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a very busy day. It was the announcement Sunday for the Annual Catholic Appeal which benefits the mission of the in Catholic Schools, Faith Formation, Catholic Charities, Seminarians, and so much more. The parish gets to keep every dollar over goal so it also benefits the parishes, some obviously more than others. So, there was a video to be shown after the homily with a little introduction and commentary afterwards by the pastor, which meant that I had to be at and speak at all the Masses Saturday night and yesterday. By the 6 PM Mass last night I had memorized the video and it was playing in my sleep last night. I had dinner at a parish with a group of other priests and I think I was the only one who played by the rules and showed the tape.

A question to ponder: what do we frequently find the Apostles doing in the Gospels? See the title of this post for a hint and check back here tomorrow to find out what I'm talking about.

Inspiration

2010-02-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

Today I had the Noon Mass in Spanish. We prayed especially for the victims of the earthquake in Chile. What was truly amazing to me, and I never really noticed it before, was the two Korean ladies singing in Spanish along with some Filipinos, and at least one man from Ireland. I've dreamt about this but never really seen it for real. What a tribute to these people and to our identity as Church, the one Mystical Body of Christ!

Snow II

2010-02-26T16:56:00.000-05:00

I love books. I always have. A day like this is ideal for reading but somehow the day just slipped away from me. I never know just where the time goes.

The Seven Penitential Psalms:

Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129 and 142

Since the days of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), these psalms have been suggested to be prayed during the Holy Season of Lent. Some would suggest the be prayed on each day in Lent or they can at least be prayed on Lenten Fridays (or one could pray one prayer on each of the 7 Fridays of Lent.).

Psalm 6

For the leader; with stringed instruments, "upon the eighth." A psalm of David.

Do not reprove me in your anger, LORD, nor punish me in your wrath.
Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; heal me, LORD, for my bones are trembling.
In utter terror is my soul-- and you, LORD, how long...?
Turn, LORD, save my life; in your mercy rescue me.
For who among the dead remembers you? Who praises you in Sheol?
I am wearied with sighing; all night long tears drench my bed; my couch is soaked with weeping.
My eyes are dimmed with sorrow, worn out because of all my foes.
Away from me, all who do evil! The LORD has heard my weeping.
The LORD has heard my prayer; the LORD takes up my plea.
My foes will be terrified and disgraced; all will fall back in sudden shame.

Psalm 31

For the leader. A psalm of David.

In you, LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice deliver me;
incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me! Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to save me.
You are my rock and my fortress; for your name's sake lead and guide me.
Free me from the net they have set for me, for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, LORD, faithful God.
You hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD.
I will rejoice and be glad in your love, once you have seen my misery, observed my distress.
You will not abandon me into enemy hands, but will set my feet in a free and open space.
Be gracious to me, LORD, for I am in distress; with grief my eyes are wasted, my soul and body spent.
My life is worn out by sorrow, my years by sighing. My strength fails in affliction; my bones are consumed.
To all my foes I am a thing of scorn, to my neighbors, a dreaded sight, a horror to my friends. When they see me in the street, they quickly shy away.
I am forgotten, out of mind like the dead; I am like a shattered dish.
I hear the whispers of the crowd; terrors are all around me. They conspire against me; they plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, LORD; I say, "You are my God."
My times are in your hands; rescue me from my enemies, from the hands of my pursuers.
Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your kindness.
Do not let me be put to shame, for I have called to you, LORD. Put the wicked to shame; reduce them to silence in Sheol.
Strike dumb their lying lips, proud lips that attack the just in contempt and scorn.
How great is your goodness, Lord, stored up for those who fear you. You display it for those who trust you, in the sight of all the people.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from scheming enemies. You keep them in your abode, safe from plotting tongues.
Blessed be the LORD, who has shown me wondrous love, and been for me a city most secure.
Once I said in my anguish, "I am shut out from your sight." Yet you heard my plea, when I cried out to you.
Love the LORD, all you faithful. The LORD protects the loyal, but repays the arrogant in full.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

Look for the rest. They make for great comfort.

Snow attitude

2010-02-25T16:08:00.000-05:00

Lent is flying by and can easily pass without our realizing it. Even with Lenten practices and "giving ups" it's been known to happen that the person even forgets it is Lent. Consider the scene from earlier today here at St. Sebastian. The moisture had fooled the sensors in the school fire alarm into tripping and the children, most in shirtsleeves, evacuated the building by going out into the snow and cold to assemble as classes in the Parish Center. The custodial staff, alerted by the bell-code that the rooftop air-duct sensors were to blame thoroughly checked the school before sounding the all-clear. The students evacuated the building in no time and remained orderly throughout. When they were returning, one of the men who was parked in the Center lot was intent on leaving and tempers flared. It happens. It just happens.

Lent is really about changing our perspective on life and seeing what is really important. My cousin Matthew (28 years old) died almost a month ago and his death changed the perspectives of many in his family and of his friends. But time passes, and we forget.

Every day in Lent can be Ash Wednesday as we start again and remember what the season is all about and who the season is all about.

A Citizen of Freising

2010-02-24T15:40:00.000-05:00

Many people think our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is not as warm as his predecessor the late beloved, Venerable Pope John Paul II. I have never shared that feeling and in fact, in some ways he is warmer and more personal in his writings and addresses. On January 16, 2010 His Holiness was made an honorary citizen of the City of Freising, the city of his seminary days. He spoke extemporaneously to those present in the Clementine Hall and used a phrase that I found especially touching: "In my life biography -- in the biography of my heart, if I may -- the City of Freising has played a very special role." The notion of a "biography of my heart" is just so moving for me.

He shares some memories of his time in the city but the following recollection struck and especially sweet chord with me as a fellow priest. About the day of his ordination to the priesthood he writes:

"Three moments are particularly deeply impressed within me.

First of all, lying stretched out on the ground during the litany of the saints. In lying prostrate on the ground, one becomes newly aware of all one's poverty and asks oneself: am I truly capable of it? And at the same time the names of all the saints of history and the entreaty of the faithful ring out: "Hear us; help them".

In this way the awareness grows that, yes, I am weak and inadequate but I am not alone, there are others with me, the entire community of the saints is with me. They accompany me and thus I can make this journey and become a companion and guide for others.

The second moment, the imposition of hands by the elderly, venerable Cardinal Faulhaber who laid his hands upon me, upon all of us, in a profound and intense manner and the knowledge that it was the Lord who was laying his hands upon me and saying: "you belong to me, you do not simply belong to yourself, I want you, you are at my service"; but also the awareness that this imposition of hands is a grace, that it does not only create obligations, but above all is a gift, that he is with me and that his love protects and accompanies me.

Then there was also the old rite in which the power to forgive sins was conferred at a separate moment. It began when the Bishop, pronouncing the Lord's words, said: "No longer do I call you servants... but... friends". And I knew we knew that this is not only a quotation from John 15 but a timely word that the Lord is addressing to me now. He accepts me as a friend; I am in this friendly relationship; he has given me his trust and I can work within this friendship and make others friends of Christ."

He also shared the memory: "...I was able to pass a further unforgettable three and a half years with my parents at Lerchenfeldhof. Thus once again I could feel completely at home. These last three and a half years with my parents were an immense gift to me and truly made Freising my home. I am thinking of the celebrations, of how we celebrated Christmas, Easter and Pentecost together; of our walks through the fields together, of how we would go to the woods to gather fir-tree branches and moss for the crib, and of our outings to the fields on the banks of the Isar. Thus Freising became a real homeland to us, and as a homeland it lives on in my heart."

Pope Benedict's memories, personal as they are to him, resonated in me as well in the "biography of my heart."

Tony, Tony Come Around

2010-02-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI's General Audience Catechesis on St. Anthony of Padua is worth reading in full but try this part on prayer on for size:

"...St Anthony speaks of prayer as of a loving relationship that impels man to speak gently with the Lord, creating an ineffable joy that sweetly enfolds the soul in prayer. Anthony reminds us that prayer requires an atmosphere of silence, which does not mean distance from external noise but rather is an interior experience that aims to remove the distractions caused by a soul's anxieties, thereby creating silence in the soul itself. According to this prominent Franciscan Doctor's teaching, prayer is structured in four indispensable attitudes which in Anthony's Latin are defined as obsecratio, oratio, postulatio, gratiarum actio. We might translate them in the following manner. The first step in prayer is confidently opening one's heart to God; this is not merely accepting a word but opening one's heart to God's presence. Next, is speaking with him affectionately, seeing him present with oneself; then a very natural thing presenting our needs to him; and lastly, praising and thanking him. (Italics mine)

In St Anthony's teaching on prayer we perceive one of the specific traits of the Franciscan theology that he founded: namely the role assigned to divine love which enters into the sphere of the affections, of the will and of the heart, and which is also the source from which flows a spiritual knowledge that surpasses all other knowledge. In fact, it is in loving that we come to know.

Anthony writes further: "Charity is the soul of faith, it gives it life; without love, faith dies" (Sermones Dominicales et Festivi II, Messagero, Padua 1979, p. 37). "

Venerable Pius XII

2010-02-23T13:47:00.000-05:00

The Vatican has agreed to make available through the Internet over 8,000 pages, more than five thousand documents of the Vatican Secret Archive for the years 1939 - 1945. This was done at the request of Gary Krupp, founder and president of the Pave the Way Foundation, which, among other things, is interested in setting the story straight on Pope Pius XII's wartime record especially his relationship to the Jews.

The Chair

2010-02-22T15:37:00.000-05:00

Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, one of the very few times during Lent that we recite the Gloria. The cathedra or chair is the symbol of the authority of the bishop of a diocese, in this case the Pope as the Bishop of Rome. Remember that the First Vatican Council solemnly defined the authority of the Pope to formally teach infallibly on issues of faith and morals. This has happened only twice, both teachings of the Church with regard to Our Blessed Mother, her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption.

So today we are invited to spend some time thinking and praying about the role Our Holy Father plays in the life of the Church as institution and as the People of God. The late beloved Venerable Pope John Paul II was a prolific author, and Pope Benedict XVI has also written quite substantially. Many of their writings are available at the Vatican website. Great reading for Lent!

Freedom from Hunger

2010-02-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

Pope Benedict XVI's message for Lent “The justice of God has been manifested

through faith in Jesus Christ” (cf. Rm 3, 21-22) is worth reading if you haven't already seen it.

On the First Sunday of Lent every year we hear the story of the Temptation of Christ in the Desert. This year, Cycle C of the Sunday readings, we read St. Luke's account (4:1-13) which tells us that "Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit" spent 40 days in the desert and was tempted by Satan. Temptations to material success and comfort, to the illusion of power in this world, and to the abuse of God's gift of life, are ways to look at what the Tempter suggested to Jesus. What are the temptations we experience and how do we ask the Holy Spirit to help us resist them?

Sinners who follow Jesus

2010-02-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

That's who we are: sinners who follow Jesus. The Gospel today, Luke 5:27-32, presents Jesus as preferring the company of sinners; isn't that good news. Somehow or other we may not want to be identified as sinners yet that is who Jesus came to save.

What does it mean to be a sinner? What does it mean to be a saint? At least in Jesus' book it appears that, here on earth at least, they are two sides of the same coin. Each of us is both much of the time and we can easily flip from one to the other. Consider the two men shouting at each other in the St. Sebastian parking lot immediately following the Good Friday services last year. I'm sure each of us has the experience of seeing something like that all the time, either in others (much easier to recognize their sins and sinfulness) or in ourselves (harder to accept, I know, but it's there nonetheless). The need to forgive and to be forgiven is a part of our human nature that God uses to transform us. Lent is an opportunity to plead for that transformation!

Here I Am!

2010-02-19T11:03:00.002-05:00

Today's First Reading is from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, 58:1-9a. It's another stunner! God Himself is speaking to His people about their religious practices. "This, rather is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own." Some definition of fasting, right. It's God's part of a dialogue with His people who are complaining that they fast and God doesn't see it and appreciate it. He says to them "On your fast day you carry out your own pursuits and drive all your laborers...your fast ends in quarreling and fighting...." On this third day of Lent, when we abstain from meat, it's time for a quick check of our Lenten practices. Ask yourself how you are doing?

When you saw the title of this post you probably thought of the story of Eli and Samuel and Samuel's response to God. The reference is from today's reading, and it's God who utters the words. "You shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!"

Lent is about crying to the Lord for help as we try to turn back to Him. By the way, as one who hears confessions, some people only think of the "Big Ones" when it comes to sin. Deadly or Mortal Sin isn't the only kind. Venial or light sin can abound and divert our attention from He who is the Source of Life. Those everyday distractions to which we can so easily fall prey, turn us away from Him and we need that constant reminder to turn back. It's so nice to know that no matter what, He says "Here I am!"

So it begins ...

2010-02-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

After all the intensity of yesterday, with more than 6,000 people here for ashes, the work of Lent begins today.

The First Reading, from Deuteronomy (30:15-20) sets a theme for Lent this year. It's all about choices!

In the verse before the selection, Moses tells us that the law that God has for us is not remote and far off; "No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out." Then he speaks of the choices we have: "life and prosperity, death and doom". Moses says it's simple: obey the commandments of the Lord, love Him, walk in His ways, and you will have life and be blessed. "If you turn away your hearts and will not listen ... you will perish. Now obedience is rooted in the Greek work for "hearing" and really is a kind of truly attuned and sensitive hearing that allows us to change and be changed as we listen to the Word of the Lord already present in out hearts. It's simple! And yet, year after year we are called to strive to do this thing so simple that eludes us (oops, me) all too easily. It's about choices!

"Today I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.... Choose life!"

In the Gospel today (Luke 9:22-25), Jesus invites us to deny ourselves, and follow Him. It's about choices!

Choose Life!

Ashes to Ashes

2010-02-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

Once again the Lenten season is an opportunity for all of us to spend some well deserved "retreat time" praying, fasting, and giving charitably to those less fortunate than we. Once again this year this daily blog will be my penance (and yours as well, perhaps).

Thousands of people are passing through the doors of St. Sebastian today. Some faces are very familiar and some are new. Some people are or will be with us every day for Lent and others are just passing through.

The phone has been ringing off the hook at the rectory and the staff will fall asleep tonight repeating the Ash Wednesday schedule over and over after so many calls inquiring about the ashes.

I love the A & P Catholics! They arrive every year because their faith leads them home. I just wish they'd stay with us and my prayer every year is that some will.

The fragility of our lives is on my mind these days as I continue to mourn the loss of my cousin Matthew Cahill, who died on his 28th birthday. My heart and prayers go out to his Mom and Dad and his two sibs. He has been lead by his faith and theirs to his true home and ours as well.

Sad News and Happy News

2009-12-02T15:54:00.000-05:00

This article in today's New York Times is among the saddest I could possibly imagine in this season of the year that we prepare to commemorate the Birth of the Son of God. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/us/02atheist.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=atheists&st=cse

On the other hand the Manhattan Declaration is a noble enterprise and I hope you will consider signing.
http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/

Lastly, JPMorgan Chase is running a challenge for the next month on Facebook and will donate $5 million to local charities. All Facebook account holders get 20 votes in the First Round of voting. The top 100 charities go to the next round.

Futures in Education Endowment Fund is already listed. Help us get to the next round. Ask your family and friends to vote for the Futures in Education Endowment by clicking on:

http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving

At the "Chase Giving" tab, go to the blue search box and type "Futures in Education" and hit go. Allow Chase to access your profile for pictures, etc.

On Futures’ page, click the "vote" button. That’s it!

Anti-catholicism

2009-11-06T09:58:00.000-05:00

The Archbishop of New York has joined the world of blogs.

Archbishop Dolan’s Blog

Archbishop Timothy Dolan on anti-Catholicism October 30, 2009

Filed under: Catholicism, Doings on Other Blogs, Hypocrisy Watch, Religious Expression — praybrethren @ 3:21 am

FOUL BALL!

By Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan

Archbishop of New York

October is the month we relish the highpoint of our national pastime, especially when one of our own New York teams is in the World Series!

Sadly, America has another national pastime, this one not pleasant at all: anti-catholicism.

It is not hyperbole to call prejudice against the Catholic Church a national pastime. Scholars such as Arthur Schlesinger Sr. referred to it as “the deepest bias in the history of the American people,” while John Higham described it as “the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history.” “The anti-semitism of the left,” is how Paul Viereck reads it, and Professor Philip Jenkins sub-titles his book on the topic “the last acceptable prejudice.”

If you want recent evidence of this unfairness against the Catholic Church, look no further than a few of these following examples of occurrences over the last couple weeks:

• On October 14, in the pages of the New York Times, reporter Paul Vitello exposed the sad extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. According to the article, there were forty cases of such abuse in this tiny community last year alone. Yet the Times did not demand what it has called for incessantly when addressing the same kind of abuse by a tiny minority of priests: release of names of abusers, rollback of statute of limitations, external investigations, release of all records, and total transparency. Instead, an attorney is quoted urging law enforcement officials to recognize “religious sensitivities,” and no criticism was offered of the DA’s office for allowing Orthodox rabbis to settle these cases “internally.” Given the Catholic Church’s own recent horrible experience, I am hardly in any position to criticize our Orthodox Jewish neighbors, and have no wish to do so . . . but I can criticize this kind of “selective outrage.”

Of course, this selective outrage probably should not surprise us at all, as we have seen many other examples of the phenomenon in recent years when it comes to the issue of sexual abuse. To cite but two: In 2004, Professor Carol Shakeshaft documented the wide-spread problem of sexual abuse of minors in our nation’s public schools (the study can be found here). In 2007, the Associated Press issued a series of investigative reports that also showed the numerous examples of sexual abuse by educators against public school students. Both the Shakeshaft study and the AP reports were essentially ignored, as papers such as the New York Times only seem to have priests in their crosshairs.

• On October 16, Laurie Goodstein of the Times offered a front page, above-the-fold story on the sad episode of a Franciscan priest who had fathered a child. Even taking into account that the relationship with the mother was consensual and between two adults, and that the Franciscans have attempted to deal justly with the errant priest’s responsibilities to his son, this action is still sinful, scandalous, and indefensible. However, one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation–genocide in Sudan. No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention.

• Five days later, October 21, the Times gave its major headline to the decision by the Vatican to welcome Anglicans who had requested union with Rome. Fair enough. Unfair, though, was the article’s observation that the Holy See lured and bid for the Anglicans. Of course, the reality is simply that for years thousands of Anglicans have been asking Rome to be accepted into the Catholic Church with a special sensitivity for their own tradition. As Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican’s chief ecumenist, observed, “We are not fishing in the Anglican pond.” Not enough for the Times; for them, this was another case of the conniving Vatican luring and bidding unsuspecting, good people, greedily capitalizing on the current internal tensions in Anglicanism.

• Finally, the most combustible example of all came Sunday with an intemperate and scurrilous piece by Maureen Dowd on the opinion pages of the Times. In a diatribe that rightly never would have passed muster with the editors had it so criticized an Islamic, Jewish, or African-American religious issue, she digs deep into the nativist handbook to use every anti-Catholic caricature possible, from the Inquisition to the Holocaust, condoms, obsession with sex, pedophile priests, and oppression of women, all the while slashing Pope Benedict XVI for his shoes, his forced conscription — along with every other German teenage boy — into the German army, his outreach to former Catholics, and his recent welcome to Anglicans.

True enough, the matter that triggered her spasm — the current visitation of women religious by Vatican representatives — is well-worth discussing, and hardly exempt from legitimate questioning. But her prejudice, while maybe appropriate for the Know-Nothing newspaper of the 1850’s, the Menace, has no place in a major publication today.

I do not mean to suggest that anti-catholicism is confined to the pages New York Times. Unfortunately, abundant examples can be found in many different venues. I will not even begin to try and list the many cases of anti-catholicism in the so-called entertainment media, as they are so prevalent they sometimes seem almost routine and obligatory. Elsewhere, last week, Representative Patrick Kennedy made some incredibly inaccurate and uncalled-for remarks concerning the Catholic bishops, as mentioned in this blog on Monday. Also, the New York State Legislature has levied a special payroll tax to help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fund its deficit. This legislation calls for the public schools to be reimbursed the cost of the tax; Catholic schools, and other private schools, will not receive the reimbursement, costing each of the schools thousands – in some cases tens of thousands – of dollars, money that the parents and schools can hardly afford. (Nor can the archdiocese, which already underwrites the schools by $30 million annually.) Is it not an issue of basic fairness for ALL school-children and their parents to be treated equally?

The Catholic Church is not above criticism. We Catholics do a fair amount of it ourselves. We welcome and expect it. All we ask is that such critique be fair, rational, and accurate, what we would expect for anybody. The suspicion and bias against the Church is a national pastime that should be “rained out” for good.

I guess my own background in American history should caution me not to hold my breath.

Then again, yesterday was the Feast of Saint Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes.

****UPDATE****

By the by, the New York Times declined to publish Dolan’s piece. Wonder why…

Marriage and Cohabitation

2009-10-30T14:30:00.000-04:00

H/T to Deacon Greg for this wonderful piece. It's something I always suggest to couples in that circumstance.

Another Voice

2009-09-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of Rocco.

O'Malley and Kennedy

2009-09-04T12:21:00.002-04:00

Cardinal Sean's statement. For what it's worth, I agree.

The President and Notre Dame

2009-09-01T22:40:00.000-04:00

This is just a wonderful piece which captures my point of view.

Composition of Place

2009-08-25T09:19:00.000-04:00

This is a wonderful example of "composition of place" taken from The Anchoress.

Monday, August 17, 2009

I turn my face toward Jerusalem...

I come to the door of the house, carrying my jar of ointment, still wondering what possessed me to come. As I bribe the doorkeeper -- who knows me -- to let me in, I wonder what He will do when I touch His feet. If He should kick at me, it is only what I deserve, but if He does before I can anoint Him, what then? What then? No answer comes. And now I am already inside, burning under the hostile gaze of everyone in the room. Oh, God, it is a regular dinner party! They all know, they all accuse, they all wonder how I gained entrance. Even the maidservants stare.

But there He is, and he is not looking at me. He is attentive to a conversation which He has just begun with someone on the opposite side of the table -- almost as though He is deliberately distracting attention from me -- and others are joining in now, too. The oppressive, silent accusation is lifted, and I make my way to Him. As I remove His sandals, he doesn't flinch, and I begin to weep. He is letting me touch Him! He is letting me touch Him without fuss or ceremony; I didn't even have to ask! As my tears fall on His ankle accidentally, I realize how dirty these feet are. Whatever water I can, I use; my tears shall cleanse Him even as they cleanse my heart from so much worry, so much shame. All my memories of sin, I pour out of my eyes; all my wishes to begin again as a new woman, become tears to wash away the dust on these precious feet. But what shall I use to dry them? Even my clothes are tainted by my past life -- I cannot dirty these feet anew by using defiled veil or dress. But my hair is mine, God-given from before I fell away from him. Pulling back my veil, I loosen its combs and let its coils tumble down. Gently, I dry away my tears and try to calm the tremors in my stomach and hands. How can He be allowing this? He still has not even looked at me!

Finally I reach for my jar. Though this ointment cost me nearly all my ill-gotten fortune, it now pales in the face of what this wandering prophet has given me. I no longer desire any vestige of my sinfulness, any remnant of this life, and I break the neck of the jar on the stone floor, emptying its entire contents on the feet before me. The noise and smell which soon overpowers the room immediately bring attention back on me, and I hide my scarlet face by bending and kissing once more His now-pungent feet.

Then I hear his voice and feel a gently hand on my head. "Simon, I have something to say."

What ensued I can hardly admit even to myself. He described my actions beautifully, as if they were favors to Him instead of supplications, and then He turned to me, raised me up, and forgave me. Then, taking my veil and covering my head again, He said, "You shall no longer be a woman of the streets, but a woman of the Way. Come, follow me! You can stay with Simon Peter's family, and they will give you new clothes. With them, you will serve and follow me and my disciples."

A new life! A new path! I rejoiced even in my astounded state, and Simon Peter led me out through the streets to his mother. I am leaving everything behind! Everything, except those things stored in my heart...which, Simon points out, are all that He desires me to keep anyway.

Then I -- once again QM -- went back and spoke with this Jesus who had just asked me to come and follow Him. I began to understand that the Lord is asking me to come now, and leave behind my life in the world to join Him as he travels to Jerusalem and to Calvary. My service will be to Him and to others on the Way for the rest of my life, to be on the inside of the circle of disciples and to stay there, not going out to minister to those outside.

"But why, Lord? Why should I not care for those others?"

"Because other apostles will do so -- and you must care for them."

"But they don't have the mind I have, nor the talents..."

"...nor the heart! And it is for that very reason that I ask you to come with me. For you need and desire to be formed in my own Heart, before you can use all these gifts to the utmost for my glory. You must learn to be one with me and my Way, so that when you do finally write and speak, it is with my words and my Heart, not your own. This is not a case of what is right or wrong, or a case of what is good or bad, but rather a case of you. And because it is you whom I call, I call you to this life."

"So, just to be perfectly clear, Lord, are you asking me to serve you as a contemplative nun?"

"I am."

"Then, the Passionist Nuns?"

"Then, the Passionist Nuns." He smiled.

I fell to my knees. "Lord, have mercy on me, a poor sinner."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This has been the weblog of Quantitative Metathesis, who departs on the morning of August 19 to begin her aspirancy with the Passionist Nuns in Whitesville, KY. You may catch glimpses of her new adventures at their own blog, found here. Please pray for her, as she does for you!

May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ be ever in our hearts!

Eucharistic Miracles

2009-08-21T14:21:00.001-04:00

In his homily for August 16 Deacon Greg Kandra wrote about a Eucharistic miracle I had long forgotten about:

It happened almost exactly 280 years ago, on the Feast of the Assumption. August 15, 1730. At that time, there were special services and festivals held around the town in connection with the feast. And so while most of the town was out celebrating, and the church was deserted, a thief went into the chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was kept, picked the lock to the tabernacle, and carried away the gold ciborium with the consecrated hosts.

Nobody discovered the theft until the next morning, when the priest went to the tabernacle for communion. He alerted his superiors and the entire town began searching for the hosts and the ciborium. The Archbishop even ordered public prayers of reparation.

Two days later, in another church in town, a priest noticed something white sticking out of the offering box. He took a closer look and discovered it was a pile of hosts. Since the offering box was only checked every few months, it was filthy. Some of the hosts were suspended on cobwebs. Authorities soon confirmed that they were the same hosts that had been stolen from the Church of St. Francis – nearly 400 of them.

The hosts were cleaned off, placed in a ciborium and returned to the Church of St. Francis.

And at this point, the friar telling the story paused to explain the miracle that followed.

Across nearly 300 years, those hosts have remained intact.

They have not deteriorated. They haven’t crumbled or decayed. In fact, they still smell as if they were freshly baked.

And then the old friar walked over to a side altar, pulled a small chord, and a curtain behind him parted, revealing those hosts, in a glass ciborium. Each one was perfect and white and appeared, for all the world, brand new.

As we knelt before the ciborium, the friar told us that theologians and scientists had all examined the hosts over the centuries – most recently in 1922. They could find no explanation for what had happened. One doctor even wrote that the preservation of the hosts was “a fact unique in the annals of science.”

What makes this especially significant, the friar explained, is that this miracle has never stopped. It continues. It is ongoing – even as I speak. Since the hosts are in a perfect state of conservation – still maintaining completely the appearance, taste and smell of bread – the Church has declared that they are still truly and completely the Body of Christ.

This prompted me to do a little research and I found a site dedicated to the Real Presence which I had also forgotten about having discovered some time ago. I hope you spend some time there.

Facing East

2009-08-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

Bishop Edward J. Slattery writes:

Because the Mass is so necessary and fundamental to our Catholic experience, the liturgy is a constant topic of our conversation. That is why when we get together, we so often reflect upon the prayers and readings, discuss the homily, and – likely as not – argue about the music. The critical element in these conversations
is an understanding that we Catholics worship the way we do because of what the Mass is: Christ’s sacrifice, offered under the sacramental signs of bread and wine. If our conversation about the Mass is going to “make any sense,” then we have to grasp this essential truth: At Mass, Christ joins us to Himself as He offers Himself in sacrifice to the Father for the world’s redemption. We can offer ourselves like this in Him because
we have become members of His Body by Baptism. We also want to remember that all of the faithful offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice as members of Christ’s body. It’s incorrect to think that only the priest offers Mass. All the faithful share in the offering, even though the priest has a unique role. He stands “in the person of Christ,” the historic Head of the Mystical Body, so that, at Mass, it is the whole body of Christ – Head and members together that make the offering.

From ancient times, the position of the priest and the people reflected this understanding of the Mass, since the people prayed, standing or kneeling, in the place that visibly corresponded to Our Lord’s Body, while the priest at the altar stood at the head as the Head. We formed the whole Christ – Head
and members – both sacramentally by Baptism and visibly by our position and posture. Just as importantly,
everyone – celebrant and congregation – faced the same direction, since they were united with Christ in offering to the Father Christ’s unique, unrepeatable and acceptable sacrifice.When we study the most ancient
liturgical practices of the Church, we find that the priest and the people faced in the same direction, usually toward the east[Ad orientem], in the expectation that when Christ returns, He will return “from the east.” At Mass, the Church keeps vigil, waiting for that return. This single position is called ad orientem, which simply
means “toward the east.”

Having the priest and people celebrate Mass ad orientem was the liturgical norm for nearly 18 centuries. There must have been solid reasons for the Church to have held on to this posture for so long. And there were! First of all, the Catholic liturgy has always maintained a marvelous adherence to the Apostolic Tradition. We see the Mass, indeed the whole liturgical expression of the Church’s life, as something which
we have received from the Apostles and which we, in turn, are expected to hand on intact. (1 Corinthians 11:23)

Secondly, the Church held on to this single eastward position because of the sublime way it reveals the nature of the Mass. Even someone unfamiliar with the Mass who reflected upon the celebrant and the faithful being oriented in the same direction would recognize that the priest stands at the head of the people, sharing in one and the same action, which was – he would note with a moment’s longer reflection – an act of worship.

In the last 40 years, however, this shared orientation was lost; now the priest and the people have become
accustomed to facing in opposite directions. The priest faces the people while the people face the priest, even though the Eucharistic Prayer is directed to the Father and not to the people. This innovation was introduced after the Vatican Council, partly to help the people understand the liturgical action of the Mass
by allowing them to see what was going on, and partly as an accommodation to contemporary culture
where people who exercise authority are expected to face directly the people they serve, like a teacher
sitting behind her desk. Unfortunately this change had a number of unforeseen and largely negative effects. First of all, it was a serious rupture with the Church’s ancient tradition. Secondly, it can give the appearance
that the priest and the people were engaged in a conversation about God, rather than the worship of God. Thirdly, it places an inordinate importance on the personality of the celebrant by placing him on a kind of
liturgical stage.

Even before his election as the successor to St. Peter, Pope Benedict has been urging us to draw upon the ancient liturgical practice of the Church to recover a more authentic Catholic worship. For that reason, I
have restored the venerable ad orientem position when I celebrate Mass at the Cathedral.
This change ought not to be misconstrued as the Bishop “turning his back on the faithful,” as if I am being inconsiderate or hostile. Such an interpretation misses the point that, by facing in the same direction, the posture of the celebrant and the congregation make explicit the fact that we journey together to God. Priest and people are on this pilgrimage together. It would also be a mistaken notion to look at the recovery of this
ancient tradition as a mere “turning back of the clock.” Pope Benedict has spoken repeatedly of the importance of celebrating Mass ad orientem, but his intention is not to encourage celebrants to become “liturgical antiquarians.” Rather, His Holiness wants us to discover what underlies this ancient tradition and made it viable for so many centuries, namely, the Church’s understanding that the worship of the Mass is primarily and essentially the worship which Christ offers to His Father.

The Pastor says in response:

I have been a priest for more than 30 years. I have never considered myself to be the focal point of the Mass. The Altar of Sacrifice is in plain view of both the priest and the people. There they can see the gifts of bread and wine placed on the altar and understand that as they gaze a miracle takes place through the power of the Holy Spirit and the sacramental action of the Church as the priest, standing in persona Christi pronounces the words of consecration and the bread and wine become the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The notion is that of gathering around the altar to see, adore and worship Our Eucharistic Lord. Nothing is more humbling for a priest than to stand in the person of Christ in the midst of the assembled faithful and gaze with them upon the Sacred Host and Precious Blood. I do not understand how priests (bishops) take it upon themselves to make such changes.

Habits are a Visible Sign

2009-08-11T09:50:00.000-04:00

Today's NY Times has an interesting article on the results of surveys on recent vocations to the priesthood and religious life. It confirms what has been said anecdotally for several years about habited communities.

Encyclical Letter

2009-07-08T16:07:00.000-04:00

Benedict XVI's newest encyclical Caritas in Veritate. Great stuff!

2009-07-01T12:56:00.002-04:00

The next Catholic Schools Night at Citi Field is Friday, October 2. Join us.

Homilycast Corpus Christi

2009-07-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

This link will take you to a pod cast of my Corpus Christi homily. It took me this long to figure out how to do this so maybe over the vacation I will discover an easier way.

A Vocation Story

2009-06-30T18:47:00.000-04:00

The Brooklyn Priests website has a new addition with an interesting story.

Whose hands are His

2009-06-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

One of our parishioners send this wonderful piece for the Year for Priests.

St. Sebastian and Corpus Christi

2009-06-25T21:46:00.002-04:00

We had a great procession.

Brooklyn Priests

2009-06-17T10:55:00.000-04:00

There is an extraordinary website http://www.brooklynpriests.org/ which was put together by a group of young priests. It's well woth the click that will take you there.

The Year for Priests

2009-06-12T16:57:00.000-04:00

The USCCB Website for the Year for Priests is a great resource. The icon to the left has Melchisedech and John Vianney flanking Christ, vested as the Eternal High Priest. It also has a prayer for priests to pray during the year

A Priest’s Prayer

Loving Father, I praise you, I love you, I adore you.
Send your Holy Spirit to enlighten my mind to the truth of your Son, Jesus, Priest and Victim.
Through the same Spirit guide my heart to his Sacred Heart, to renew in me a priestly passion that I, too, might lay down my life upon the altar. May your Spirit wash away my impurities and free me from all my transgressions in the Cup of Salvation, Let only your will be done in me.

May the Blessed Mother of your dearly beloved Son,wrap her mantle around me and protect me from all evil. May she guide me to do whatever He tells me. May she teach me to have the heart of St. Joseph, her spouse, to protect and care for my bride. And may her pierced heart inspire me to embrace as my own your children who suffer at the foot of the cross. I humbly cry to her: please be my consoling mother,
and help me to be a better son.

Lord, make me a holy priest, inflamed with the fire of your love, seeking nothing but your greater glory and the salvation of souls. I humbly bless and thank you, my Father, through the Spirit, in Christ Jesus, your Son and my brother. Amen.

O Mary, Queen of priests, pray for us.

Saint John Vianney, pray for us.

There is also a prayer for the people to pray for their priests during this upcoming year as well.

Please Pray for Priests

Dear Lord, we pray that the Blessed Mother wrap her mantle around your priests and through her itercession strengthen them for their ministry. We pray that Mary will guide your priests to follow her own words, “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary’s most chaste spouse. May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the cross. May your priests be holy, filled with the fire of your love seeking nothing but your greater glory and the salvation of souls. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, pray for us.

Weigel on "The Vatican"

2009-05-21T14:37:00.000-04:00

I have to thank Beth for this as well. George Weigel is completely correct and his insights quite valuable.

The Touch of Love

2009-05-21T13:44:00.002-04:00

This is an amazing story. This is the original story. Thanks to Beth Edejer who sent this to me.

Judge Noonan and Truth

2009-05-20T09:59:00.000-04:00

How sad it is that Judge Noonan can say that all of us know that genocide is wrong and not be able to equally assert that the taking of the life of the pre-born is wrong as well. To use the quote "Great is truth; it will prevail" gives the lie to his understanding of truth.

"I turn to issues before you as Americans prepared to participate in our urgent moral matters. Some things we have in common. Some things all of us know are wrong. Genocide is wrong. Torture is wrong. Slavery is wrong.

In these matters, our moral vision is clear. Our moral vision has had a voice to vindicate those unable to speak. Our moral vision is shared by the civilized world.

It was not so always. The clarity of our moral vision has come out of clashes. It has come by experience, by suffering, by strenuous debate. It has come from the insight and courage of gifted leaders. It has come from the light radiating from the Gospel."

The President and The Truth

2009-05-17T15:42:00.001-04:00

President Obama at Notre Dame gave a wonderful, if flawed, address to the graduates. He does not see that "truth" is objective and merely sees a process of reconciling divergent opinions. That's what politics is.

The sanctity of human life from the first moment of conception to natural death is not an opinion that I hold; it is not a "parochial principal." It is truth.

Archbishop Weakland

2009-05-16T10:59:00.000-04:00

This story is just so sad I do not have the words to express my feelings. I pray for him.

Mary's Month

2009-05-16T10:01:00.000-04:00

This is a great video. Thanks to Deacon Greg for calling attention to it.

Notre Dame

2009-05-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

The President of Notre Dame has weighed in exactly as I thought he would. Deacon Greg and AMERICA, thank you.

Archbishop Wuerl and 'You Face'

2009-05-08T09:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Rocco, this is just an outstanding piece.

Mary Ann Glendon says no to Notre Dame

2009-05-04T17:27:00.001-04:00

Story here. I forgot to click 'post' last week. I printed her letter to the President of Notre Dame in yesterday's Sunday Bulletin.

2009-05-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

In the sacristy at Maryknoll the windows all depict patron saints of the missions or missioners themselves who were named saints, here the Jesuit St. Francis Xavier.

2009-05-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

The Nativity Window at Maryknoll. The Baby Jesus is placed on yellow straw or hay. The lamb, in an almost stylized position with head turned to gaze at the Babe is on green fronds of palm perhaps?

The Risen Lord

2009-05-04T17:20:00.001-04:00

The Resurrection Window at Maryknoll. Note the three women and the sunrise in the lower panel.

Swine or you have to DO something

2009-05-04T16:27:00.000-04:00

A week ago today with everything swirling in the press about Swine Flu we decided to temporarily suspend offering the Precisous Blood to the faithful at Mass. This was something I was reluctant to do but I felt we had to DO something. At the same time we, again temporarily, did not use the optional gesture of inviting the congregation to exchange the Sign of Peace. Compliments and complaints. You cannot please everybody!

Weekends

2009-05-04T13:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Good Shepherd Sunday, World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and Father Kevin Abels the Associate Vocation Director of the Diocese was here to speak at all the Masses. Father Kevin had been here for the first five years of his priesthood and left only a year ago so he was ever so warmly welcomed back by the people. It was also the first Sunday in May and many of the children who had received Holy Communion for the first time the previous day returned for the procession at the 10:30 am Mass. They were joined by our soon-to-be graduates two of whom had the honor of placing the garland on the Statue of the Blessed Mother we had set up in the sanctuary. The Rosary Society was also at the Mass which was followed by their annual Communion Breakfast.
As I mentioned, Saturday was the first of three Masses at which about 40 children at each Mass would receive Jesus for the very first time. This year the children were presented by their parents or other family members. More than one couple or parent became overwhelmed by what Bishop Thomas Daily referred to as "the Great Emotion." In the past, the children came up in procession one by one and my whole attention was on them and their experience of receiving Jesus. I remember it becoming almost trance like for me, with all the other 'stuff' going on in the church around me completely beyond my comprehension. The parents presenting their children was a distraction for me but I think it was nicer for them and for the children.
I always invite the rest of the congregation to try to remember their own First Communions and focus on the emotions that they may have experienced that day. It is such a day of blessing for the entire parish! This Saturday we have a morning and afternoon Mass and by the time the third Mass is finished 120 or so children will have received Jesus. What a parish!

Joseph

2009-05-01T16:43:00.000-04:00

A blessed feast of St. Joseph the Worker!

A Sword pierces her heart

2009-04-29T17:44:00.000-04:00

This window portrays the circumcision of Jesus and the prophecy of Simeon (Lk. 2:21-35). The upper panel shows the priest and the table where the circumcision took place. Simeon is taking the Child Jesus from his mother, Mary, while Joseph - a very young looking Joseph - looks on. The central panel shows a sword poised at Our Blessed Lady's heart, (verse 35) "and you yourself a sword will pierce". The window is in the Lady Chapel at Maryknoll. It is a great example of the use of the imagination and emotions to enflesh the Living Word of God that the Scriptures contain.

Joseph visits too

2009-04-29T09:03:00.000-04:00

After the Annunciation (Lk.1:26-38), Mary goes immediately to visit her cousin Elizabeth (Lk.1:39-56). Here the two women dominate the stained glass window but in the upper panel we can clearly see Zechariah and in a panel off to the right, we see Joseph. What I often said to the Holy Ghost Fathers last week on retreat was that in our prayerful reading of Sacred Scripture we need to use our imagination and our emotions to make the Scripture passages come alive for us.
Of course Joseph would have traveled with Mary! Think of those three months that Mary stayed with Elizabeth and all that would have been happening to her in those first months of her pregnancy. What blessings she must have experienced as she encountered the "Word made flesh" growing within her own body.

Newsday and the Pastor's Column

2009-04-28T16:22:00.001-04:00

In place of my coulmn in the bulletin this coming weekend, I'm sharing this editorial from Newsday that ran last Sunday. Better said than I could.