Sunday: 5:30PM Vigil Mass $783; Sunday 8:30AM $298; 10:00AM $545; 11:00AM $309; 12:30PM$458; 8:00PM $315; Week Masses & donations $496; Total $3,164 — Thank you!
–I have sent to the Archdiocese a check for $1500 (rounded off to nearest). That is what our second collection for Haiti came to. Thank you very much. At least we have done something concrete. Archbishop Dolan is the Chairman of the Catholic Relief Services which is the biggest Catholic organization for relief of poverty in the world and who are now massively involved in helping the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
–Today January 24, is actually the feast of St. Francis De Sales, our beloved Patron Saint. The liturgy of the Sunday takes priority but we honor him in thought and prayer. I’m beginning to realize that he is a greater saint than I was giving him credit for and he has influenced more people and other great saints. I come across him in my readings and in my studies very frequently. He is quoted frequently by other authors. For balanced spirituality!!
–The Cardinal’s Appeal will be called “The Archdiocesan Stewardship Appeal ” from now on and will be based on a new formula. Every parish will contribute 1/6th of their Annual Sunday collection. In our case $24,500 (up from 18,400). We’ll need the cooperation of all to attain the parish goal.
–Over the last few months, Pope Benedict XVI has opened a wider dialogue on the subject of environmental protection, and in the process put a sharper focus on an issue that’s become central to his pontificate. It’s increasingly clear that the “green” label slapped onto Pope Benedict after he installed solar panels at the Vatican and joined a reforestation project in Europe was not the whole story. Now the pope is defining which shade of green — in moral arguments that are not always popular. “Creatures differ from one another and can be protected, or endangered, in different ways, as we know from daily experience. One such attack comes from laws or proposals which, in the name of fighting discrimination, strike at the biological basis of the difference between the sexes,” he said. That got up some people’s nose.
–I was glad to read reports that the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the synagogue in Rome went off better than expected. I think both sides were conscious of not letting rhetoric balloon out of control and that failure was in no one’s interest. The Pope spoke briefly and eloquently. Most comments were positive. Only the right wingers of Lefebvre were highly critical.
–One of the saddest stories in Haiti that resonated on the Italian news was the Salesian trade school run by the priests of St. John Bosco. It collapsed completely. Over 500 students and staff and one priest died under the ruins. An Italian priest barely escaped with lots of injuries. His niece had left for Italy that very morning.
–The Book of Eli may be a movie worth watching according to the reviews. Thirty years after an apocalyptic event, Eli (Denzel Washington) is a drifter on a journey to the west coast of the United States. On his travels he runs into many enemies but he ably dispatches them with his fighting skills He has in his possession the only surviving copy of the Bible to protect and the way the film treats the Bible is pretty reverent and serious and intelligent. And Denzel is very credible and convincing. The movie is coarse and violent but also lyrical and thoughtful.
–The most tragic consequence of the earthquake in Haiti is going to be the thousands and thousands of orphans. Tens of thousands of children have been orphaned by the earthquake, aid groups say — so many that officials won’t venture a number. “As yet they are still on the streets,” said Elizabeth Rodgers, of the Britain-based international orphan group SOS Children. “Without doubt, most of them are in the open.” Even before Tuesday’s deadly magnitude -7.0 earthquake, Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, was awash in orphans, with 380,000 children living in orphanages or group homes, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.
– James Capozzi, who represents the Bernstein family and has been organizing the chair lift project on their behalf, told me during the week that we are getting closer to the installation of the chair lift outside the church and could be just matter of days. He came with electrical contractors to inspect the electrical component and get estimates.
– Before heading an hour south to Trenton to take office as New Jersey’s 55th chief executive, Gov.-elect Chris Christie began his Inauguration Day with an early Mass at the Garden State’s mother church — Newark’s Cathedral-Basilica of the Sacred Heart — celebrated by the state’s metropolitan, Archbishop John Myers. I’m impressed that the new Governor seeks God’s help.
– Pope Benedict on January 18 named Bishop André-Mutien Léonard of Namur, a member of the International Theological Commission, as Archbishop of Malines-Brussels. Succeeding the influential Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop Léonard is known for his forthright defense of Catholic moral teaching and his support for Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict’s motu proprio on the extraordinary form of the Mass.
Deputy Prime Minister Laurette Onkelinx condemned the choice. “Church and State are separate in Belgium, but when there are problems in our society, all the social partners sit down around a table, including representatives of secularism and of religion,” she said. “Cardinal Danneels was a man of openness, of tolerance and was able to fit in there. Archbishop Léonard has already regularly challenged decisions made by our parliament.”
– Here is an interesting news snippet. Faith in Britain seems to not only to be surviving, but thriving: Some ember still seems to burn in Britain’s 3.6 million regular churchgoers, for almost all of them feel a sense of expectation for the Sunday sermon, according to researchers at Durham University. Fully 96.6 per cent of those surveyed “look forward” to the Sunday sermon. Lucky them!!
– Here are some bits and pieces from the Archdiocese that may be of interest to some of you. Archbishop Dolan has asked Bishop Sullivan to reestablish the Strategic Planning Committee. Because of dwindling numbers, the Archdiocese need to look at polices concerning sabbaticals, retirement, staying on after retirement age and international priests. Archbishop Dolan has hired Father Dennis McManus, from the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama, as a theological consultant. Father McManus was a Christian Brother for a number of years before being ordained a priest. The priests-council was told by the Chancellor that the Archdiocese is considering six areas of concern. The first mentioned was the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Restoration Project. Monsignor Mustaciuolo stated that all phases of restoration will cost $179 million. The archdiocese has contracted with Changing Our World Foundation to raise the funds needed to complete the restoration. Changing Our World Foundation will target businesses and the general Catholic population. In addition to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue, Saint Patrick’s Old Cathedral is in need of renovation. It is estimated that this renovation will cost $20 million. It is thought that the sale of, and development of, some properties could help with the expenditures. Monsignor Mustaciuolo then brought up the second: Parish Handbook for Employees. A lot of work has gone into the development of an employee handbook. It has been vetted by many different offices of the Catholic Center, including Legal Affairs. Shortly, this Handbook will be ready for review by a committee of the council. The third concern involves ethnic apostolates. Over time a number of concerns have been raised. Bishop Sullivan, Monsignor Belford, Father Devery and Monsignor Mustaciuolo will meet with priests involved in these different apostolates. A fourth area of concern is Interparish Finance. Monsignor indicated that if a parish is going on, or is on IPF then it will be asked to conduct an increased giving campaign. Perhaps in this way the amount of the grant can be reduced. Also, if a school is on IPF the school will be asked what tuition is being charged. Perhaps, the school will be asked to raise tuition to cover some of the grant. The fifth concern is a Columbarium. A number of questions have been asked regarding them. A pastoral question must be asked: Does it give the wrong impression that there is a preference for ashes as opposed to the body? The sixth area of concern is Elementary School closings. Should we go for a large number of closings or a smaller one? It has been decided to go for a smaller number this year. There is not an exact process in place to handle this delicate issue. More time is needed. Next year we will have a better process in place that will involve pastors, principals, parents and other interested parties, so that any announcement of closings will be seen in relation to the strategic plan of the Archdiocese. The Department of Education is asking that budgets for elementary schools be submitted by March 1st. They would like to look over the budgets before the coming September tuition rate is set and published by April 1st. There are issues also with teachers’ contracts which need to be signed by April 1st but the Department would like, if possible, to have them delayed till May 1st. They would like elementary school offices to be open all summer. In addition, the hiring and firing of elementary school principals should have the local superintendant’s signature on all pertinent documents. It is being recommended that elementary school principal’s should be evaluated every year. These are some of the concerns confronting the new Archbishop as he begins to put his stamp on the Arch.
