November 2009

Collection: Saturday 5:30PM $1608; Sunday 8:30AM $496; 10:00AM $163; 11:00AM $275; 12:30PM$708; 8:00PM $460; Week Masses $1019549; Total $4,259 - Thank you.

–I hope you had a peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving. As you look at the altar the purple is everywhere which tells us that a new Liturgical Year has begun with the season of Advent. I love Advent and its call to repentance, conversion and change and making room in our lives for God. I love its liturgy, melodies, readings, and the advent wreath. They speak powerfully about time, about the God who is coming to us from the future. We’ll try and keep the spirit of Advent as long as we can certainly until the third week, even if all around us the commercial world will try to absorb us with its messages and materialism.

–On Saturday December 5^th, there will be a fundraiser combined with the celebration of the “Misa del Gallo” or “Simbang Gabi”. The proceeds will go for the relief of homeless people in the Filippines, victims of natural disasters. Floods in particular.

–On Sat. Dec. 12^th will be the turn of our Spanish community to hold their Christmas Concert and Dinner from 6:30 to 11PM. The tickets ($10) are available now. It is a church fundraiser. For more information 212 860 0594/917 492 1352.

–Don’t be surprised if you detect a little staleness in this bulletin; it had to be written over a week ago because of Thanksgiving.

–The cardinal- and bishop-members of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes voted unanimously Nov. 16 to recommend that Pope Benedict XVI formally recognize that Pope John Paul II heroically lived the Christian virtues, Italian newspapers reported. The Vatican did not deny or confirm that the vote took place because the process is supposed to be secret until Pope Benedict signs the decree recognizing the heroic virtue of his predecessor and declares him venerable. Pope Benedict generally signs a dozen or more decrees three times a year: in April, in June or July and in December.

– The U.S. bishops approved the English translation and U.S. adaptations of five final sections of the Roman Missal in voting on the second day of their annual fall general assembly in Baltimore. With overwhelming majority votes, the bishops approved translations of the proper of the saints, specific prayers to each saint in the universal liturgical calendar; the commons, general prayers for celebrating saints listed in the “Roman Martyrology”; the Roman Missal supplement; the U.S. propers, a collection of orations and formularies for feasts and memorials particular to the U.S. liturgical calendar; and U.S. adaptations to the Roman Missal. There was some debate on the floor about a separate piece of the translations — the antiphons — which has not come to the bishops for consideration, but instead has advanced through the Vatican’s approval procedures without the consultation of the English-language bishops’ conferences around the world. But the final five sections of the missal before the bishops passed with minimal discussion and only a handful of proposed amendments to the texts. The Vatican’s Congregation of Divine Worship now must grant its final “recognitio“. We won’t have to buy new missals until maybe springtime 2011.

–To really see the Sistine Chapel, it’s more important to have a Bible in your hands than mini-binoculars, said Msgr. Roberto Zagnoli, an official of the Vatican Museums.  The Italian monsignor is the principal author of “The Painted Word,” a new series of books published by the Vatican Museums and the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. In the four-part series, the Italian monsignor quotes and explains the biblical passages that inspired the famous frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. The first volume focuses on Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine ceiling.

–Recalling the great European cathedrals of the Middle Ages, Pope Benedict XVI said the contemplation of art and beauty offers a special way to commune with God. At his weekly general audience Nov. 18 in the Vatican’s audience hall, the pope gave a brief lesson in art history, explaining the religious significance of the Romanesque and Gothic styles of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries in Italy and France. Pope Benedict’s emphasis on the relationship between spirituality and art came as he was preparing to meet Nov. 21 with more than 200 artists from around the world in the Sistine Chapel. Looking at the cathedrals of the period is important for two reasons, he said. First, the examination of artistic movements of centuries past shows that “the masterpieces are incomprehensible if the religious spirit that inspired them is not taken into account.” And second, he said, the wonder inspired by the cathedrals shows that even today, “beauty is the privileged and fascinating pathway to the mystery of God.”

–Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna has been a supporter of Medjugorje for some time, recently hosting Marija Pavlovic Lunetti, one of the alleged seers, for an event in his cathedral and being photographed with her. It’s not surprising, then, when stories appeared on the net to say that he was going to make a visit to the town “from December 8th to January 4th.” At least that’s what Medjugorje supporters were happy to report controversy would arise. What looked like favorable publicity for Medjugorje has turned into an embarrassment for the Cardinal. His travel and the boasting of apparition supporters about it told the world that the Cardinal was showing support for the “seers”, even on the territory of another bishop. But even if Cardinal Schönborn doesn’t accept the bishop’s position, there is someone whom he should (and of course will) respect: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Any remaining doubts about CDF’s position should be fading, if this leak to the press — probably a planned and wanted leak — is correct. An official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told CNA that the Roman dicastery remains behind the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina. “The local bishops have the ultimate authority on this matter, and their arguments against the alleged apparitions are doctrinally solid,” the official said. Asked if Medjugorje should not be judged by its fruits of many conversions and vocations to the Church, the official responded: “It is not the duty of this Dicastery to make a pastoral assessment, but a doctrinal one. But regarding the argument, it can equally be argued that God can write straight with crooked lines, just as it has been proven in several previous occasions with patently false apparitions.” It’s understandable that a CDF official has been thinking about the issue. Cardinal Puljic, the chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina bishops, has already said that CDF will soon make a statement, and he is traveling to Rome this month. Bottom line, this episode illustrates how very much CDF’s intervention is needed.

–Marriage was a huge issue at the Bishops meeting in Baltimore and they approved a pastoral letter on marriage. A change was instead of calling cohabitation and contraception as “intrinsically evil” they say “objectively wrong” and “essentially opposed to God’s plan for marriage and proper human development.” The document encourages the use of natural family planning, which the bishops say promotes “an attitude of respect and wonder … and fosters the true intimacy that only such respect can bring.”In place of a section that said living together without marriage “is intrinsically evil and thus always diminishes the capacity for love,” the amended document quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying, “Cohabitation ‘involves the serious sin of fornication. It does not conform to God’s plan for marriage and is always wrong and objectively sinful.” The pastoral letter also names divorce and same-sex unions as two other “fundamental challenges to the nature and purpose of marriage.”The bishops say divorce conflicts with “God’s plan for marriage,” but the bishops added that in some cases, “divorce may be the only solution to a morally unacceptable situation,” such as when the safety of a spouse or children is at risk.” They also encourage those who have divorced and remarried civilly to “participate in parish life and attend the Sunday Eucharist, even though they cannot ordinarily receive Holy Communion.” To couples facing “modern stresses upon marriage,” such as “the conflict between work and home, economic hardships and social expectations,” the bishops urge them to “turn to the Lord for help” and to utilize church programs and ministries “that can help save marriages, even those in serious difficulty.” Legalization of same-sex unions poses “a multifaceted threat to the very fabric of society”. To oppose the legal recognition of same-sex unions is not discriminatory. “To defend marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a matter of justice.” The bishops said they addressed the letter “first and foremost to the Catholic faithful in the United States” but also to others “in the hope of inspiring them to embrace this teaching.”

–I love a good Hasidic tale. Check this one out: It was customary back in the days of Rabbi Naftali for the rich people of the city, whose homes were on the outskirts and rather isolated, to hire men to watch over their property at night. Late one evening as the rabbi was out for a walk, he met one of these watchmen walking back and forth. The rabbi asked, “For whom do you work?”After telling the rabbi who had hired him, the guard asked, “And for whom do you work, Rabbi?” The watchman’s words struck the rabbi’s heart. He replied, “I’m not sure whether I work for anyone or not.” The rabbi then walked in silence for some time with the watchman. Finally, the rabbi asked, “Will you come and work for me?” “Oh, Rabbi,” replied the watchman, “I should be honored to be your servant! But what would be my duties?”Rabbi answered quietly: “To remind me each day for whom I am working.”

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