I mentioned at Mass last Sunday (12:30) that I asked a nice young lady of color why she went to Mass at St. Ignatius; why she didn’t go to the parish where she lived, a nice parish too. Here is what she said: I want to be with the beautiful people. Her answer saddened me. What a bad job we priests must be doing with the gospel that this young woman needs to be with whites (and rich) in order to feel beautiful. And when I tried to explain I don’t think she understood and I didn’t press the point. But the funny part of the story is that at the end of the Mass a distinguished lady approached me and said I belong to St. Ignatius and I love coming to Mass here.

There was a good attendance last Sunday at 8pm and this is the heart of summer. The money may not be great but the turnout certainly seems so. Well, we have a lot of young people and it does good to my heart to see them there in this secular age. One nice lady at the end of the Mass said gratefully: we get so much affirmation here. Your words always seem to touch a chord and bring us closer to God. I was touched and thanked her. I too get so much gratitude and affirmation from my people and I am hugely grateful and thank God for such lovely congregation.

You may ask: Don’t you get big headed hearing all these good things about yourself? Not at all. In fact quite the opposite. I feel rather humble and apologetic and a little out of place. Too aware of my personal faults and failings, which thank God I don’t have to list out here; my ability to put a few words together I regard it as a gift of God, a talent God gave me. It has nothing to do with me. And what I get out of it is mostly anxiety, apprehension for I cannot help thinking and praying and asking: God did I do a good enough job for you? That’s what I get. Did I waste your gift? So I am always pushing myself to do the best I can because I cannot stand being a wastrel of God’s talents. Sometime I feel like the old Jew, tired of being part of the Chosen people that had brought blessings for sure but also a lot of trouble, responsibility and hassle. God maybe next time you choose somebody else.

– Jesus noticed that they were all trying to occupy places of honor and found it amusing and used the occasion to say something very profound about human nature and the need we all have to be humble. A virtue that endears us to God no end. Yes indeed we all love to grandstand, to court the limelight. Mirror mirror on the wall we all want to be the prettiest of them all type of thing. The smartest, the richest, the coolest, the hottest etc… And often this race to the top is a stampede leaving behind nothing but human wrecks. It is almost congenital, this original sin of ours, this invincible craving for more, this restless discontent we carry around in our soul. This wanting to be like God the center of everyone’s attention and envy and worship. Do you remember Muhammad Ali: I am the greatest!! But at least he was! We are not. And it only compounds our unhappiness, our inability to accept that we are poor and fragile and limited and mortal and no- God. With every fiber of our being we want to be upwardly mobile. God instead seems to be totally downwardly mobile.

And it is not out of spite but out of compassion. As the word means literally to suffer with. Jesus comes from the perfect realm of love, the Trinity—remember the most perfect icon in the world, the Trinity by Rublev, the three angels gathered around the table in Abraham’s tent: all different in color, yet same in shape and in perfect harmony, three divine persons with different jobs, work, yet united in one common divine purpose of generous gratuitous love. Jesus comes out of this furnace of love, lives a life of poverty and obscurity. Unleashes his divine powers of healing for all. Cannot stand unmoved before a human being in pain. Places himself an innocent victim on the cross to atone for all the sins, suffering and injustices of the world. He is exalted from that bottomless pit of darkness and raised above angels and saints.

I know it is crazy to live like Jesus. But Mother Theresa lived like Jesus. She did everything out of love for God. She wanted nothing except being of help to the poorest and most deprived. What a shining example! Can you imagine a more splendid life than Francis of Assisi? The immense harmony that existed in this blessed soul that was the exact replica of Jesus has been an inspiration for millions of people. Why can’t we do something good for nothing? Blessed are you, says Jesus, if they cannot repay you because you shall be repaid in the glory of the Resurrection.

Sunday: 5:30PM Vigil Mass $266; Sunday 8:30AM $310; 10:00AM $244; 11:00AM $247; 12:30PM $692; 8:00PM $380; Week Masses $283; Total $2422 – Thanks!

–So we come to Labor Day Weekend which marks the end of summer and the beginning of the School Year. It is the last fling before young and adults get back to working routines.  I am sure a happy relief to parents. Hectic time with last minute back to school purchases. It is always amazing to me how many leave everything to the last moment including enrolling their children in school or catechetical programs etc. any way good luck!!

–I have to report that the Parish Council was very supportive.  They were informed and looked at the terms of the rental and had some questions. I don’t have the minutes at hand but I will share them with you when I get them. The secretary is away in vacation for a few days. But officially the Parish Trustees and Pastor have now signed the document of rental on our behalf. I am not sure that Marymount have done so and until they do nothing is official. As I am not in charge of the negotiations I cannot tell you the reasons for the delay.

–Christ did not limit himself to taking just the lowest place at the table, but took the lowest place in the world on the cross, explained Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday. Jesus, taught the Pope, repeatedly offers humanity “a model of humility and of free giving” and showed the world “radical humility” by accepting the Cross. I mention it because if you came to church that was also the gist of my sermon quite coincidentally.

–You know how you read that Catholic countries like Ireland and Poland that used to have massive mass attendance on Sundays have become increasingly secular and attendance has dropped considerably. I was surprised to read somewhere that a national Catholic newspaper has become Poland’s top-selling weekly, outstripping its secular competitors. Gosc Niedzielny (Sunday Guest), a 92-page tabloid owned by the Archdiocese of Katowice, was confirmed Aug. 23 as the country’s highest-circulation weekly with more than 144,000 copies. It benefitted from a vigorous chief editor, a priest, and youthful editorial team, as well as from support by Catholic parishes nationwide. He said the staff had made sure the paper is “contemporary and up-to-date in form and content and addresses the issues most preoccupying people here in an open, approachable way.” ZKDP, the association that controls Poland’s press distribution, said Gosc Niedzielny, which runs local editions in half of the country’s 34 Catholic dioceses, had boosted sales by 5.5 percent in the past year, overtaking its nearest secular rival, Polityka, whose circulation fell by 2 percent to 142,000. Father Jaklewicz deputy chief editor, said Gosc Niedzielny offered a positive sign to counter media claims that the Polish Catholic Church faced decline with falling priestly vocations and Mass attendance. “Although the church has its problems and weaknesses, there are many good, hopeful things happening as well,” he said.

–I think the visit of the Pope to England is fraught with dangers. It is a German Pope and you know the English and the Germans and the second world war etc… Also, the scandal of pedophilia by priests, the move to incorporate the conservative wing of the Anglican Church into the Catholic and the proximity to Ireland. You remember the letter the Pope wrote to the Irish during Lent. They wanted the Pope to visit them and show solidarity with their spiritual woes. There is a lot of to and fro at this very moment to consolidate, final touches etc. to organize, to work out problems and possible kinks, in advance and forestall any disagreeable incident. Ambassadors are under tremendous stress. Francis Campbell, the British ambassador to the Vatican, is one member of the group of diplomats who seem to spend every afternoon and evening running from a meeting to a conference and then on to a reception or dinner party. Somehow, despite the busyness, he and at least one other member of the diplomatic corps find time to plan fairly elaborate practical jokes to play on their colleagues and on journalists. But for the past year, he has had what he described as being almost another full-time job: preparing for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Great Britain Sept. 16-19. Susan Boyle said in an interview on Wednesday that she is “honored and humbled” for the invitation to sing for the Pope in her homeland of Scotland next month. The performances she will make during the Pope’s visit are “her greatest dream come true.”

–A report issued on Friday showed the U.S. birth rate in 2009 falling to the lowest in a century. Experts, including president Steve Mosher from the Population Research Institute, (PRI) have cited the current economic recession as a significant factor in the recent numbers. Are these incontrovertible signs of stagnation and decline?

– Two Catholic bishops will take part in a Denver marathon in October. One is running to raise funds to pay off the $2.07 million debt on his diocese’s cathedral, while the other is joining local Catholics to increase prayers for and awareness of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

– The Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Blessed Mother Teresa, has no set plan for the future, revealed the current Mother Superior. In an interview released on Monday by Fides news agency, she said that Mother Teresa left them only with her constant advice: to become ever more holy.

German-born Sister Mary Prema spoke with Fides as the 100th anniversary of Bl. Mother Teresa’s birth, celebrated on Aug. 26, approaches. Mother Teresa’s “only goal” of loving Jesus and transmitting that love to others is the legacy she left to the Missionaries of Charity, said Sr. Mary.

Asked what major challenges the order under her direction expects in the future, she answered that the Missionaries of Charity don’t make plans too far in advance. “We try to remain open to what God asks of us,” she explained. “Only Jesus will tell me what is the next step. So, in the spirit of Mother, I’m not the one who controls things. God is the one who decides.”

– The Spanish Royal Federation of Soccer (SRFS) offered the World Cup trophy Spain recently won to Our Lady of Guadalupe at the basilica in Mexico City. During the emotional ceremony, the president of the SRFS, Angel Maria Villar, presented to trophy to Msgr. Diego Monry, fulfilling a promise made during his last visit to Mexico. The Spanish officials were accompanied by the president of the Mexican Soccer Federation, Jacinto Desio de Maria, and other members of his staff.  In his homily, Msgr. Monroy Ponce emphasized the human values that sports foster in society and proposed that they are a vehicle for the creation of spiritual strength.  “An effort of this dimension not only has do to with winning but also with spirituality,” he said.

–My brother goes to reconciliation at more than one parish so he can sure he is getting the “right” penance. This isn’t normal. What should do? Worried sick.

Dear worried, it sounds as though your brother has scrupulosity a condition characterized by obsessive thoughts about matters of faith and spirituality. People with scrupulosity sometimes confess the same sin to several priests so they can compare the answers. Living with scrupulosity is lonely and emotionally draining. The shame the scrupulous feel over their perceived sinfulness often isolates them from friends and family who can’t understand their fears. The treatment for scrupulosity is a combination of good pastoral care from one – and only one – priest as well as professional guidance, which often includes drug therapy. Researchers are studying scrupulosity’s similarities to obsessive-compulsive disorder. The more we learn, the more we can help people like your brother. Another source of support is Liguori Publications’ free monthly newsletter, Scrupulous Anonymous, which is available on our website www.liguori.org (scroll down to Spiritual Newsletters and click on Scrupulous Anonymous). If your brother asks for help advise him to ask his pastor for the name of a priest in his diocese who specializes in scrupulosity and tell him about Scrupulous Anonymous. But until he asks for help, all you can is pray for him and continue to be a loving compassionate sibling. (Thomas Santa, CSsR)

First Communion

– If you have children that need to make their First Communion, now is the time to contact our office and register them . Here in US the optimal time for First Communion is Second and Third Grades. We intend to repeat the program of last year of Catechism classes on Thursdays  here in the rectory maybe at 3:30pm. Then the First Communion ceremony on the First Sunday of May next year. Please get in touch with our office as soon as possible so that I can get organized and order books etc.. We have a starting date for these programs which is October 14 next. So you need to get moving.

–Everybody is talking about the hurricane which seems to be tracking its way towards New York, a first in 40 years, I believe. The Bulletin printers have advised us to send the bulletin asap so that they can pass it on to FedEx as early as possible which in turn must air lift it to New York ahead of  Earl.

–Last but not least, pls. remember in your prayers my confrere Father Pasquale Ruggeri who died at 3pm on Tuesday August 31. He was 87 and half years old.  I will attend his funeral in Boston if possible. In memory of the ten years we spent together at St. Ann’s. I honored him in past bulletins if you remember. He was getting very fragile and lost. He was ready for heaven.

Sunday, Sept.5 – Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

8:30AM* Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michale Duroseau

10:00AM*

11:00AM*  

12:30PM*Rocco Miano RIP

8:00PM*

Monday, Sept.6 – Weekday – Labor Day

8:30AM* Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

12:30PM*

Tuesday, Sept.7 – Weekday

8:30AM* Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

12:30PM*

Wednesday, Sep.8 – The Navity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

8:30AM*

12:00PM* For Blessing from Sabastin Family

Thursday, Sep.9 – Saint Peter Claver, Priest

8:30AM* Geneva Fox RIP by Family

12:30PM*

Friday, Sep.10 – Weekday

8:30AM* Calvin Solomon – Birthday by Hilda

12:30PM*

Saturday, Sep.11 – Weekday

9:00AM*

5:30PM*

Archbishop Dolan and the Governor met yesterday trying to work out a compromise to the mosque, unfortunately the most important party was missing, the people of the mosque themselves. Last Sunday Arch. Dolan was in Staten Island saying Mass in Spanish, trying to reassure the Mexicans who have been under attack there. Good for him. The other day the Archbishop went to visit Covenant House, which is a charity here in NYC that caters for the most venerable of our children, those who run away from home and get afoul of the law, who get in a spot of trouble and have to deal with courts. In Ireland I was doing similar challenging work that is why the visit by the Archbishop registered with me. As far as I am concerned the Archbishop could not give support to a more deserving and praiseworthy apostolate.

We celebrated the memory of Mother Theresa last Thursday and the Empire State Building refused to honor her, but we certainly did by celebrating Mass in her honor and memory. Mother Theresa still holds a special place in our hearts for her goodness, generosity and great love for the poorest. She bore witness to the love of God that transcends all limitations and barriers. If there was one shining symbol of God’s compassion was Mother Theresa. In this Sunday gospel Jesus exhorts his followers to do things for nothing, just for the love of God and not for lucre or profit. I cannot think of anyone better than Mother Theresa at doing precisely that. Maybe we should try and introduce a bit of this generosity in our little lives.

Sometimes there are simple occurrences that make me pause and reflect. An elderly parishioner brought to me a nice cake and some fruits and when I looked at the bananas they were gorgeous. Now the elderly lady lives in the neighborhood and buys stuff at the same shops that I do how come her fruit seems much better than mine? Because I am too fast and careless and don’t know how to select properly. Maybe it is high time that I start putting more diligence in how I spend my money, in how I purchase my things, spend more time in the shop instead of in and out as I do, show more care; there is product and product.

I wanted to cook for myself Saturday evening a dish of simple spaghetti with tomatoes and instead of using a tin I wanted to use real tomatoes. I had the spaghetti and the onions but I didn’t have the tomatoes so I went to Gourmet to buy some tomatoes only. But once I was there I almost bought the entire store. It always works out like that. And I was at the counter telling this story to the girl and she thought it was funny and my bill came to 102 dollars, which by my standards is a very big bill and I was taking my purse out to pay. I always use cash. It is the safest way because if you have money you buy whatever and if I don’t have it you don’t go shopping. Period. I am not into credit cards somehow. I was just doing that when a gentleman, a parishioner, whom I knew well, stepped forward and said to the girl: I’ll take care of it. I don’t think I was wearing my collar, so I don’t know whether she knew I was a priest, but she may have suspected it because she was not surprised or taken aback and when he offered his credit card she swiped it even before I could say thank you. I was there with my mouth agape and frozen as if time stood still. Of course I thanked him and blessed him deeply moved. What can I say!!

Nobody likes to be told what to do, so when I asked a couple soon to be married that they had to attend a Pre-Cana course the young man was annoyed. What for and all that jazz. Rules are rules. So they selected a course and joined the many couples in attendance, from like 9am to 3pm etc. I was later told by the woman that her fiancé at the end of the meeting came out with this sentence: Wow! That was most interesting and enjoyable. Now, wouldn’t you want to murder him, she said.

A friend of mine has given me a mountain bike and a helmet so that we could go cycling together in the park. Our park is so uneven and there are two steep hills and quite lengthy. Jogging is so boring, so slow, so hard on your joints, whereas biking can be fun. The last time I was walking in the park I noticed how the bikes have multiplied. There used to be many roller blades but seem to have disappeared. Instead now everybody in on bikes, hundreds of them. It took us a good half hour to do the six miles loop taking it easy. Up those hills is a good cardio. You huff and puff and feel like spitting your lungs out. I was very careful downhill. Lots of sweat. Lots of fun. Something new to do.

Sunday: 5:30PM Vigil Mass $318; Sunday 8:30AM $210; 10:00AM $387; 11:00AM $576; 12:30PM $602; 8:00PM $324; Week Masses $533; Total $2950 – Thanks!

–We were informed that Archbishop Dolan will host two barbecues for priests at St. Joseph Seminary. One on Monday August 30 and another on Thursday September 2, from 1 to 3pm. We can wander the grounds or sit under a tree if you wish, but for your comfort, tables and chairs will be set up in the air-conditioned gymnasium. Cooking will be done on the terrace, and all priests are most welcome to come and enjoy the refreshments and the company.

The message said: If you plan to come, please tell us your name and which of the days you will be with us. Since ordering must be done this Monday, for the best hospitality your prompt reply will be appreciated.  Please know that we realize that some priests are on vacation, and some will not see this at all. Everyone who comes will be welcome. If just helps a lot to have an approximate number to prepare for.

–Thirteen years after her death, the impact of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’s work and prayer is still felt around the world. Mother Teresa would have turned 100 Aug. 26. The order she started 60 years ago — the Missionaries of Charity — continues its outreach to the “poorest of the poor.” Her spiritual life also continues to gain attention as her sainthood cause progresses.

–Catholics in the United States will begin using the long-awaited English translation of the Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent in 2011, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago said Aug. 20.
The cardinal’s announcement as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops marks the formal beginning of a more than 15-month period of education and training leading to the first use of the “third typical edition” of the Roman Missal at English-language Masses in the United States on Nov. 27, 2011.

–The United States has a duty to leave behind peace, not chaos, when troops are finally withdrawn from Iraq, said Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad.

–While underlining its condemnation of “the horror” of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy, the Vatican welcomed as “good news” the imminent end of a lawsuit against the Holy See in a U.S. court.
The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told journalists Aug. 10 that “the Holy See is satisfied to hear the news” that a lawsuit in a U.S. court against the Vatican was being dropped by the plaintiffs.

Three men in Louisville, Ky., filed a motion Aug. 9 requesting a federal judge drop their case. The men, who were abused by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville, filed a suit against the Vatican in 2004 claiming it was liable for actions by bishops in failing to prevent sexual abuse by priests. They argued that the bishops who supervised the abusive priests were employees of the Holy See. However, the men’s attorney, William F. McMurry, told media outlets that because an earlier court ruling recognized the Vatican’s sovereign immunity, he was going to drop the lawsuit. A judge must now rule whether the case can be dismissed, but lawyers for both sides told The Associated Press it had virtually ended.

–You may have heard on the news that in Chile a group of miners were found alive inside a mine which had collapsed 17 days earlier. Their survival was due to them eating two spoonful of tuna and drops of water every two days. Obviously now they will be kept alive through the hole they have drilled. But the thought that it could be months before they are actually rescued is so scary that I cannot even wrap my mind around it. I have some feelings for them for I was in Chile in 1991 or  92 to learn a bit of Spanish for two and half months. And at one stage I was brought to visit the copper mines. Chile has some of the best copper mine in the world. I don’t know whether I visited the same mine where the accident occurred but I was taken on an extensive tour of it, right down into the earth and I saw how they extract the copper. I was even present when a dynamite charge was lit. In fact when the bishop found out that I was a priest from New York he wanted me to stay and become the senior chaplain to the Copper  Mine. It is a big industry with thousands and thousands of miners.

–Tiger Woods is now a free a man after having divorced his wife. Apparently she hated even being called Mrs. Woods. They have joint custody of the children and she got something like 100 million dollars in severance pay or whatever. It will be interesting to see now what kind of a man he is, what kind of turn he takes towards redemption or back to the freewheeling ways of yester year. We shall see whether the new freedom will restore his golfing skills?

–The flood in Pakistan have been apocalyptic. They talk of 40 million people affected by this natural disaster.  Here in US we don’t seem able to summon much enthusiasm for that country perhaps understandably knowing how much trouble it has created for us by harboring and supporting terrorists and even maybe sheltering Osama Bin Laden. I was hearing from Irish friends that over there they held Sunday collections in all the churches in Ireland for Pakistan and they collected an enormous amount of money. Like we did here for Haiti. See how politics color everything and of course it is always the poor to suffer.

–I don’t know if you have followed the story of the billions of eggs recall throughout the country infected with salmonella. They have found the two farms that are the cause of the bad eggs and they are both in Iowa. I have always liked eggs and I think they are very good for you used in moderation. But watching on the news the way those poor critters are kept in these barns without light, without windows, cooped up in these cages. Miles and miles of white barns. It seems little wonder to me if their eggs are poisonous. I guess like everything else in our industrialized consumer society even our eggs have become unnatural and harmful. But I wouldn’t mind buying some decent eggs that were produced by hens that lived a natural life like God meant them to have it.

–Bethany Spirituality Center, Highland Mills, announces the following fall programs:

“Open the Door”, a six-week prayer experience that invites the participant to discover the treasure within your heart through a deeper and fuller union with God- your Beloved. Sr. Stella Herrera, RJM, will direct the weekly program on Wednesdays, 9:00am to 11:00am, September 29 to November 3, and Thursdays, 7:00pm to 9:00pm, September 30 to November 4.

“Letting Go and Finding God”, a weekend retreat for all, directed by Brother Don Bisson, FMS, from October 15 to 17. The retreat will focus on the Mystery and invitation to let go of control, the gradual surrender to God, and the gift of moving beyond ego. Retreat includes conferences, silent time, Sunday liturgy, and time for prayerful listening and sharing.

Please visit www.bethanyspiritualitycenter.org for further information or call the office at (845) 460-3061 to register.

—-If you have children that need to make their First Communion, now is the time to contact our office and register them . Here in US the optimal time for First Communion is Second and Third Grades. We intend to repeat the program of last year of Catechism classes on Thursdays  here in the rectory maybe at 3:30pm. Then the First Communion ceremony on the First Sunday of May next year. Please get in touch with our office as soon as possible so that I can get organized and order books etc.. We have a starting date for these programs which is October 14 next. So you need to get moving.

–I have hired with the help of the Archdiocese an architect to straighten out the problem with our parish hall. In the past our parish hall was used as a Chapel and as a Bingo hall then subsequently changes were made to its structure which were not filed with the city. During the last fire inspection we received a violation. The City is so desperate for money that Mayor Bloomberg has told everybody to go around and enforce every possible law and make them pay fines to replenish the city coffers which are depleted and they have been relentless. Fire precautions illegal partitions changes to structures everything now is a violation and you are charged fines some of them quite high. So my effort to rectify past mistakes and put the parish in good legal standing continues unabated. So it is going to cost money maybe up to $15,000 to get this matter sorted out.

–During the week, after a hiatus of months, we had a Parish Council Meeting. Unfortunately this bulletin gets printed too soon for me to give you an updated account of such meeting. But I was hopeful of receiving a full endorsement by the Parish Council of the rental of our parochial school to Marymount which I believe is nearing its legal journey. The process is coming to an end but nothing has been signed yet.

Sunday, Aug.29 – Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

8:30AM* Thanksgiving Mass for Asino Rivera Family

10:00AM* Ulysses Keirtt and Gregory Alford

*Isabelita Rivera – Birthday

11:00AM* David Negrete RIP by Olga Kovalik

*Awilda Diaz RIP by Her Mother

*Gloria Pion Ducoudray RIP by Nelsi Payan

*Jerson Erazo RIP by Elena and Erazo Family

12:30PM* Melzia Arlene & Albert Leroy Barksdale by Warren Barksdale

8:00PM*

Monday, Aug.30 – Weekday

8:30AM* Ghislaine and Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

12:30PM* Elba Ortiz RIP by Nancy Amaro

Tuesday, Aug.31 – Weekday

8:30AM* Fritz & Gladys Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

12:30PM*

Wednesday, Sep.1 – Weekday

8:30AM* Fritz & Marie Therese Duroseau RIP by Michael Duroseau

12:30 PM* Melzia Arlene & Albert Leroy Barksdale by Warren Barksdale

Thursday, Sep.2 – Weekday

8:30AM* Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

12:30PM* William Ramos Sr. RIP

Friday, Sep.3 – Saint Gregory, the Great Pope

8:30AM* Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

12:30PM* Manuel Dural – Birthday by Cora Silverio

Saturday, Sep.4 – Weekday

9:00AM* Wedding Ann. – 40^th by Robinson Sr. and Elma Barranda

* Fritz Duroseau RIP by Michaele Duroseau

2:00PM* Henry Carrion – Baptism

3:00PM* Harley Cruz – Baptism

5:30PM*

Well, I can’t believe we are almost at the end of August. I am afraid that when the weather breaks we’ll probably be plunged into winter, oh what a melancholic thought!

I am a summer person. They tell me that Italy since I left it has been nothing but rain and cold. It’s also back to school time: books, bags accessories. Maybe that is why Wall Mart is registering a slight increase and today that I write the Market is up. It has been dismal for a long time (not that it matters to me because I don’t own stock, but I know friends who do) and looks dismal for much of the time to come. Those in charge of school buildings are rushing to get things under control and ready for the New School Year. Soon enough everything will start all over again.

It is hard to resist the temptation to doom and gloom. I just heard that Michael Douglas, who is my age, has just announced that he has cancer of the throat and will undergo treatment lasting 8 weeks. Another A-list celebrity with this terrible disease. I wonder if smoking had anything to do with it. Intimations of mortality. We all have to pass through it. He actually said that he is hopeful of a complete cure (What else could he say?). I’ve just read that it is now confirmed that cancer is #1 disease in the world. It swallows up every year one trillion dollars and it is the biggest killer of people worldwide. It also said that in proportion to its danger and costliness it receives the least amount of money in research to find a cure for it. Maybe here is the case of another entrenched industry. What would happen to this industry to the people earning this trillion of money if a cure to cancer was found? I wonder. Have we got here another vicious circle like the oil industry? A monster that wants us prisoners in its deadly spires? We have made some progress yes, but no substantial advancement.

It is the time of Mostly Mozart and I went during the week with the sisters to Lincoln Center. I had not been there for a while and we stopped almost half hour to look at the new beautiful fountain in the middle of the Plaza there. There are many spouts of water that create a beautiful water sculpture that continuously morphs into attractive shapes mostly circles of water that grow ebbing and waning. Very attractive.

There is a sense of cheerfulness at this music festival. It seems to me that the faces are mostly the same every year. People that seem mature, my age, nice, sedate, polite and at peace with themselves. Nobody pushing, nobody shoving, nobody rushing and everyone mindful and thoughtful of others and also I noted appreciative of music. Lots of prolonged applauds. Several curtain calls. We were seated on the stage behind the orchestra and you could hear and see everything.  The concert only lasts a couple of hours. And the funny thing about it was that we did not even hear even one note of music by Mozart himself. It was Mendelsssohn a concerto for violin and piano and Schuman’s symphony No. 4 in D minor. Everything this evening was in D minor. A lot of D minor music. And in previous evening a lot of Bach and polyphonies.

But the reason we went was to hear Joshua Bell the virtuoso violinist who is a friend of St. Ann School and a friend of the Archdiocese. I seem to remember that some of the kids of St. Ann School played a small and simple violin piece with him at a fundraiser.

Joshua Bell

The pianist was also very good. His name was Jeremy Denk. The concerto was basically a display of virtuosity between violin and piano. After the initial statement of theme by the orchestra the two soloists play chamber music with each other for the rest of the first movement and the orchestra plays the faithful valet, seen but rarely heard. After the concert the sisters and I gathered at Fiorello for a delicious pizza.  A Margarita, thin and crusty. It was late.

When I looked up the Liturgy for this coming Sunday I was frightened by the theme of the narrow gate and the question put to Jesus by an anonymous: are there going to be many saved? Interesting question to which Jesus gives no answer. I wonder sometimes if behind the nonchalance, the outward bravado of our secular society, how many are actually worrying within themselves about going to heaven or to hell. Behind the façade of non-religiosity how many are actually afraid, scared about their eternal destiny, even if they don’t want to admit to themselves. I have no problem in saying that I am. The saints  certainly were.

There is another word used a lot in this Sunday liturgy. Discipline. I would have loved to have become a pianist. Listening to those incredible artists like Bell and Denk and their incredible skills and they way they made their instruments talk and express themselves. Mr Bell plays the 1713 “Gibson ex-Huberman” Stradivarius.  Mendelssohn and Schumann were extraordinary virtuoso pianists themselves. Such perfection is the result of hours and hours of practice. Can anything truly great be ever achieved without effort & discipline? As Jesus says.

Sunday: 5:30PM Vigil Mass $286; Sunday 8:30AM $208; 10:00AM $371; 11:00AM $320; 12:30PM $564; 8:00PM $710; Week Masses $364; Total $2823 – Thanks!

–I am informed that the Archdiocese is nearing the conclusion of the deal with Marymount for the rental of our parochial school building. A lease of 11 years. Our Archbishop is big on parish Council and parish structures. So before a legal agreement is actually signed I called for a Parish Council meeting on Wednesday August 25^th at 7:30pm here in the rectory. Refreshments as usual will be provided by way of pizza from next door and a glass of good wine. We’ll study & discuss the terms of the agreement and I hopefully we’ll come to a unanimous decision in support of our Archdiocese; then maybe other issues connected with our Parish Council in order to revitalize it. I have neglected it because unfortunately our Chairman resigned in January as he was leaving our parish to move to Australia.  So now maybe we shall find a way of revamping the Council as well. Here is what the Archbishop writes to us priests: “Recent events at a couple of parishes — blabbed all over, of course, by the press — offer us two practical lessons:  one, the value of parish councils and finance councils; and, two, the necessity of scrupulously following diocesan financial policies.  If a tough and controversial decision is made by a pastor only after consultation with his parish council, trustees, and finance council, that decision has a lot more credibility.  Complain they may still, but at least they cannot say, “He did this on his own and didn’t let us know.”  And when diocesan policy about parish budgets and expenditures is heeded, a lot of trouble can be avoided.  With tender decisions about parishes and schools needing to be made the next couple of years, I would hope every parish would have a working parish council, school board, and finance council. May the remaining weeks of summer hold some relaxation for all of you!  My vacation in Bavaria, Ireland, and the shore was a Godsend.  This week I’m in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, for the installation of the new bishop, William P. Callahan, who was one of my auxiliaries in Milwaukee, and then to Haiti for a visit on behalf of Catholic Relief Services.  I’m back Saturday, and no more travel for awhile.”

–Also: Can I put in a plug for one of the most effective apostolates around?  The St. Vincent de Paul Society.  In the three parishes where I was honored to serve as a priest, I inherited excellent St. Vincent de Paul Societies, and found them trusted co-workers in assisting the poor.  I haven’t been around long enough to know if they flourish here in the archdiocese.  I sure hope so.  I’m and old fan of the corporal works of mercy — remember them? — and found the St. Vincent de Paul Society in a parish to be professionals at living them.

–Standing behind a simple, cypress casket handcrafted by the monks of St. Joseph Abbey, Benedictine Abbot Justin Brown asked a federal court in New Orleans Aug. 12 to bury a Louisiana law allowing only licensed funeral homes to sell caskets to the public.

At stake, Abbot Brown said, is the monks’ ability to engage in free enterprise through the sale of the caskets, which range in price from $1,500 to $2,000, but which are considerably less expensive than many of the caskets sold to bereaved families by funeral home operators

–Heaven is not a location in the cosmos, but a place within God where those who believe in him will enjoy his love forever, Pope Benedict XVI said on the feast of the Assumption.

–Dear Father Victor: I wanted to tell you about how my husband Colm Magner and I have been spending a good part of our summer. His one-man show The Scavenger’s Daughter is receiving its U.S. premiere this month at the New York International Fringe Festival. The Festival is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with some 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues. The selection process is highly competitive, and we are thrilled to participate.

The Scavenger’s Daughter is written and performed by Colm Magner. August 13- 29 Tickets $15-$18. For tickets and show times please visit fringenyc.org

Colm Magner

Following its 2008 premiere in Prince Edward Island, veteran Canadian actor and writer Colm Magner brings his fifth solo play The Scavenger’s Daughter to New York for its U.S. premiere. Part mystery story, part personal memoir, and a true story of suicide, the play unravels in a series of vivid flashbacks as an Irish Catholic boy journeys by car to the funeral of his twin brother–a funny and affecting testament to lost youth, rock and roll, and the ties that bind.  Colm has done extensive work with some of Canada’s most innovative theatre companies, including the renowned Da Da Kamera, with Daniel MacIvor.

“There will be no tears here unless you would like to see them, and if that’s the case, it’ll be an extra ten dollars.  Pay the lady at the door. I’ll meet you at the pub, and for an extra fiver I’ll make the tears fall into my beer.” Venue:83 East 4th Street.  Bet.Bowery and 2nd Ave. (www.thescavengersdaughter.org) (The wife is a faithful Parishioner hence the plug.)

–I am following with a certain interest and amusement the saga of the Mosque near Ground Zero and how it has become such a controversial issue. And like most thorny issues it has two sides and a lot of people who cannot bring themselves to see the other side’s point of view. We’ll see how it gets resolved meanwhile this world is reeling under so much sadness  and hardship for so many that it is truly heartbreaking, beginning, maybe from those big fires near Moscow in Russia and  the extreme draught experienced by that country that has left them without wheat.  My barber on Lex. Ave was saying that his family who lives in Moscow had to wear masks going to work. Instead of the usual temperatures around 75 F they had weeks and weeks  of 115 degrees, never, never seen before. The floods in Pakistan have been something apocalyptic. With so many dead and so many displaced that it is beyond belief. America is very much hated in that country because of war. Also in Iraq because our troupes are leaving at the end of this month the situation is very tense; extremists are creating unrest and havoc for their political expedience. A suicide bomb this week killed sixty one innocent people and injured over 120. Can you imagine how much grief, sorrow and fear must exist in people’s hearts?

First Communion

–If you have children that need to make their First Communion, now is the time to contact our office and register them . Here in US the optimal time for First Communion is Second and Third Grades. We intend to repeat the program of last year of Catechism classes on Thursdays  here in the rectory maybe at 3:30pm. Then the First Communion ceremony on the First Sunday of May next year. Please get in touch with our office as soon as possible so that I can get organized and order books etc..

–I see no good economic news forthcoming. There are a lot of people who say that we are heading for another financial crash. I think not because every time we have an economic disaster like in 2008 it comes out of the blue, completely unexpected ly and so people are caught unprepared and vulnerable and they lose a lot of money, which makes it a disaster. Now too many people are predicting a double dip or a financial crash so it is unlikely to happen because people are expecting it. So they are prepared and that is probably enough to stave it off. But one of the news that registered with me is that China has overtaken Japan as the second great economy in the world and the predictions is that in another ten year China will be the #1 economy in the world. Here we don’t want to spend and we cannot build and it is a litany of negatives. There in China everybody is working themselves to death. Everybody wants to earn and to spend and build and to overcome. The real America is now in China. They seem to have now the spirit of determination that used to possess America. Good luck to them, I say. I have a lot of respect for people who want to advance themselves and are prepared to work hard for it. For a better world there need to be more people transiting from appalling poverty to lives of quiet dignity. As long as there is poverty and injustice this world will be a troubled world where war can erupt.

–I was rather amused by the fact that the jury in Illinois could not convict Blogojevich except on one minor count and now the prosecutor Fitzgerald wants to try again this Fall, maybe throwing more tens of millions of dollars away. This is America.

Sunday, Aug.22 – Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time

8:30AM* Gregory Alford RIP by Alford Family

10:00AM*

11:00AM*

12:30PM* Nick Mastrandrea RIP

8:00PM*

Monday, Aug.23 – Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin

8:30AM*

12:30PM*

Tuesday, Aug.24 – Saint Bartholomew

8:30AM*

12:30PM* Thanksgiving Mass for Saint Francis de Sales by Zechovar Georges

Wednesday, Aug.25 – Weekday

8:30AM*

12:30 PM* Poor Souls in Purgatory by Sabastin Family

Thursday, Aug.26 – Weekday

8:30AM*

12:30PM*

Friday, Aug.27 – Saint Monica

8:30AM*

1:30PM* Monserrate Bonilla – Blessing

12:30PM*

Saturday, Aug.28 – Saint Augustine, Bishop

9:00AM*

2:00PM* Anthony and Jonathan Ramales – Baptism

*Guadalupe Ramirez Vazquez – Baptism

5:30PM*

Short-termism and inane sound bites have to go. There is no question that the most pressing problem facing the country is jobs. But jobs are not going to come back because America is changing. You can throw as much money as you want into the system, as the government has been doing, but there is no demand. Not point in making things or building things if people don’t want them. I know people/families that have given up the car, are buying fewer clothes, have got rid of the television and live a simpler style of life and have paid back thousands and thousands of dollars in debt in one year. And say that they will never go back to the bad ways of the past. People in general are saving more and planning their lives more carefully, counting the pennies. I think that is good. The financial collapse of 2008 has scared them out of their wits. They will not be caught again in a vulnerable position. While this is going on in the country, the establishment has not caught up with this new mood. Unemployment is going to remain high until the politicians figure out what to do next as the consumer, free spending society comes to an end.  The left is saying: more stimulus. The right is saying: more tax cuts for the rich which means the same: throw more money at people so that they will spend. They won’t. We need to refashion our politics to the new realities of America. I have faith that a way out of this impasse will be found.

— It was the summer of 1955 when my father and I took the bus to Lu Monferrato, the junior seminary. I still have a picture of that day. There is me such a little boy with this brown suitcase with my little belongings and my dad in front of this big forbidding door. My dad has a long overcoat. I was fairly heartbroken and so were 30 other kids. But there is when I finally found my footing in life. I wasn’t very smart as a young boy. At the end of my First Grade I was kept back and made repeat the year. 2^nd and 3^rd Grades I remember those years as a struggle to stay afloat. As a struggle to do my home work. Learning how to make a dvision became a nightmare. Nobody spoke Italian in my family. Everybody spoke dialect so that was another big challenge, then, writing homework in Italian, small phrases as a composition. I had no help from anyone. My Father had done 5^th Grade. My mother nothing. This is Italy 1952. Universal education was just being introduced then.

Maybe I was slow or maybe I was unhappy, emotionally deprived. I got tossed around a lot. My mom was ill; when she died my aunt took care of me for several years; the only happy time I had. But then dad remarried and I had to leave my comfortable nest. I didn’t bond with my new mom. It was nobody’s fault.

But the story goes that when I was in 3^rd Grade, that summer Father Crapelli and my parents decided to send me to Lu Monferrato to become a priest for the Order. One less mouth to feed and the prospect of good education etc. And so I went like a little lamb. That town boasted one of the highest number of vocations in the whole of Italy. There was also born Father Rinaldi the third successor of Don Bosco, now a Blessed himself.

I don’t think I ever lived in a town that had more churches and was so deeply religious like the good people of Lu Monferrato. They were all saints.

I started Grade 4. A young teacher taught us boys. He volunteered his services. Needed classroom practice. He was very nice and took a liking to me and must have seen that I was a clever little boy, and could flower intellectually with some loving attention. After Christmas I was moved up to Grade 5 and in no time I caught up with my classmates. I had recuperated the lost year. I think it was at Lu Monferrato that I became aware deeply of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I learned to say the rosary. Father Zani our priests would regale us with stories about the Blessed Virgin Mary. We were all little boys away from home and missing our families it was smart of him to fill our minds and hearts with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother. We would be called to say the rosary and sing at funerals, that is a group of us with better voices; the family would give a contribution to the seminary. We ate ok. Life was good.

Of all those boys (two years Grade 4 & 5) I am the only one who became a priest. That town had a young vicar/priest Father Tagliabue who was a poet. I would go to confession to him. I still vaguely remember a poem to our Lady by him. The major adventure of the year was the pilgrimage on foot to the Holy Shrine of Madonna di Crea. That was a walk of 40 kilometers. Nothing to sneeze at. I can’t remember all the details whether we would pass the night on blankets on the floor or what, and then come back the day after. But it was an adventure and it was a regular thing and it got our imaginations fired up.

Those were the big Marian years. Our Lady of Fatima and the Third Secret to be revealed soon was a topic of conversation. The Dogma of the Assumption had just been proclaimed in Rome by Pope Pius XII. Every parish had processions and festivities in honor of the Virgin Mary. The Rosary was the ubiquitous prayer and we children grew up in this holy atmosphere of tender and filial love to the Mother of God. We had statues everywhere. We kept the rosary beads in our pocket all the time. Her feastdays were celebrated even at table with something special, something extra. And the Feast of the Assumption was the biggest Feast of all because it came in the middle of summer vacation.