We are a group of parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes in Massapequa Park, New York, who are troubled that Our Lady of Fatima’s statue has been permanently removed from its customary place of honor in the sanctuary of our church.
Brought to our parish by parishioners returning from a Fatima pilgrimage, this beautiful statue has graced our altar for the past 25 years. Every Christmas and Easter it is lovingly surrounded by flowers and has been carried in joyful procession around our church at the First Saturday Mass every month for many years.
The official reasons for removing Our Lady’s statue are that the statue was making access to the altar difficult and that there should not be duplicate images of Mary in the church.
In an apparent response to the many complaints received about the statue's abrupt removal, it was taken from storage this week and is now in a recessed area on the right side of the church. Besides the fact that statues of Mary are traditionally placed on the left side of the church, this new location is a cause of great concern to many parishioners because it is so close to an exit door, making theft or breakage a real possibility.
In the July 27, 2008 bulletin, there is also an essay on the use (and abuse) of religious symbols. Sometimes, we are told, religious symbols like statues and rosaries are used "with too much reverence," causing people to ignore Jesus, and distracting us from the proper devotion owed to God.
As you can see from the picture above, the late Pope John Paul II had a large image of Mary above the main altar in his own chapel at Castel Gandolfo; there is obviously no canonical restriction upon the placement of Marian images in the sanctuary of a church. Many churches and basilicas have images of Mary and the saints in high places of honor above or adjacent to the altar, so there is no reason why Our Lady’s statue cannot remain in the sanctuary.
While we clearly understand that this is not a matter of faith or morals, we are very disturbed that the long-standing customs and devotions of our parish are being treated with apparent disregard and lack of sensitivity.
In addition, it is disheartening that faithful parishioners devoted to Our Lady are being warned not to give Mary undue honor (latria), the honor due to God alone. Catholics have always had a higher and deeper devotion (hyperdulia) to Mary than to other saints, but that does not mean that we offer her the worship and adoration we give to God. It is very troubling that we are considered intellectually and emotionally incapable of making such basic distinctions in our devotion to the Mother of God.
Please keep our wonderful parish in your daily prayers, particularly for the intentions that our beloved statue of Our Lady of Fatima is returned to her original place of honor in our church and that our parish will always remain loyal to the moral and doctrinal teachings of the Popes. A priest who loves Our Lady composed the prayer on the right especially for our parish, and we would like to ask you, if you share our concerns, to join us in praying it every day for these intentions.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Strange other countries are awaking to Latin mass, and Msgr Lisante is trying to destroy it
Thursday, November 27, 2008
NLM Interview with Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales
by Shawn Tribe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This past summer, I had the pleasure to visit England again, with the specific purpose of renewing liturgical contacts there and developing new one's. One such enterprise was an evening with Mr. Julian Chadwick, the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. One of the fruits coming from that meeting was an interview that has been in the works now for some while and which I am pleased to finally be able to present.
NLM: As Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, can you give us a sense of your own background with regard to the movement to promote the usus antiquior?
Julian Chadwick: I was bought up in southern England by Anglican parents, but through my late mother I also have strong roots in Welsh non-conformity. In spite of this, I was always attracted by the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England. Many churches I used to frequent used the English translation of the Roman Missal and the ceremonies that went with the missal, and I remember a sense of loss when many such churches converted to a more contemporary form of worship. I had not realized that deconstructive liturgy was undermining the faith of my friends and I started to become interested in the complexities of the liturgical reform at the same time as I started to move towards the Church. In fact I visited the Institute of Christ the King at Gricigliano just before my conversion!
It is, of course, simplistic to blame all the problems of the modern church on the liturgical crisis, but I have no doubt that the new liturgy has done much to undermine the church in Western Europe.
It was a great honour for me when David Lloyd and Michael Davies approached me to ask if I would be willing to become Chairman of the Latin Mass Society. I hesitated through a sense of my own unworthiness, and I wondered whether I would be equal to the job, given my professional responsibilities as a solicitor, but it was a privilege to undertake the role in which I have now served for over 4 years.
NLM: The Latin Mass Society has had a very active role within England and Wales in promoting the usus antiquior of the Roman rite. For the benefit of those newer to their interest in the usus antiquior, or for those who operate in North America or other parts of the world, can you give a quick summary of the history and activities of the Latin Mass Society?
Julian Chadwick: The LMS was set up at a time when there was great liturgical turmoil in the Church. In the early days of post-conciliar reform, the stress was less on changing the form of the liturgy than in having parts of the liturgy in the vernacular. It could be said that the Society was originally founded as much as anything else to encourage the correct application of the Council’s Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium – in which the Council Fathers declared that Latin was to be preserved as the normative language of the Roman rite.
There was also deep concern at the beginning of the history of the Society that the great musical traditions of the western church would disappear in the rush towards vernacular worship.
But as the form of the Mass was changed, the Society moved increasingly towards the position of promoting the celebration of what we now call the usus antiquior. Members of the Society who were more concerned with preserving the new form of the Mass in Latin formed their own association. One of the principal objects of the LMS (which is registered as a charity under English law) is “to promote the regular and frequent celebration of Holy Mass…in the Latin language and in the form no later than that published in AD1962”. The Society has been clear that it supports liturgical rites “celebrated by priests with faculties from a Bishop or superior in communion with the Holy See”. In our constitution we make it very clear that we are always to be in obedience to the Holy See.
We were always very fortunate in England because in the early 1970’s the late Cardinal Heenan obtained the so-called Heenan Indult from Pope Paul VI at a very early stage. The history of this is well documented, but it is worth recording that many non-Catholics as well as Catholics realized at the time the importance of the preservation of the usus antiquior to European civilization.
The Latin Mass Society has about four thousand members including over 250 priests. We have consistently lobbied individual bishops for regular celebrations of the Mass and sacraments, and for Bishops to honour the wishes of the late Holy Father John Paul II in this respect, as well as that of the present Holy Father.
NLM: What impact has Summorum Pontificum had on the Latin Mass Society?
Julian Chadwick: This is a whole new world! We were able to celebrate the coming into force of this motu proprio with a most splendid solemn Mass in the London Oratory. September 14th 2007 was a great day for the Church, and in a way it was an important day in the history of the LMS, for it marked a decisive shift in the way we can serve the Church.
Up until then most celebrations of the older form of the Mass in the dioceses were organized by the LMS with (the, at times, hard-won!) permission of the local bishop. But of course this is no longer the case. It is not a question of us lobbying a Bishop for “permission” any more. The Holy Father has given priests the direct responsibility of deciding when the older rites are to be celebrated, and he has given all the faithful the right to their celebration.
Now, in some cases we are only barely aware where and when priests are offering the usus antiquior on a regular basis. This, of course, is a return to a more normal situation in the Church. We are a lay society and it is extraordinary indeed for laity to be ‘in charge’ of liturgical celebrations.
We have lived through some very extraordinary years, and our forebears in the LMS – many of them already dead – did a splendid job and suffered much in difficult times; but today it is clear that we must move away from the old culture, where Masses were held in inconvenient locations and at odd hours, to a situation where the usus antiquior is part of the regular pattern of parish Masses. The LMS is at the service of the clergy in realizing this return to normality. It is a big change for us, and some of us haven’t quite realized it yet, but in the long run I’m confident that the spirit of generosity, sacrifice and love for the Church and indeed for the Holy Father that is so tangible every time I meet our members, will help us move on and to find new ways of serving the Church in this exciting post-Summorum Pontificum world.
NLM: This past June you hosted Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in London. Would you care to comment on his visit and on its impact?
Julian Chadwick: We were honoured that Cardinal Castrillon accepted the invitation of the Society to visit London for what was an all-too-brief visit. His Eminence arrived on Friday evening, and then, together with the LMS Committee and invited guests, attended the dinner that I hosted at The Travellers Club. The following morning, after a press conference, he was able to address the AGM of the LMS and then, after being welcomed privately by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, to celebrate Pontifical Mass in Westminster Cathedral. To see the Cathedral so full was a remarkable testimony to the popularity of the ancient liturgy, especially amongst the young. What was even more remarkable was the strength of emotion of many of so many of the faithful on that occasion. I think his visit was a clear statement that Summorum Pontificum is for the whole Church, not just for some peculiar old-fashioned Catholics. Also, I think there is a clear message here from the Holy Father, that his reform of the liturgy cannot be ignored.
NLM: One of the most significant and prominent activities that the Latin Mass Society has undertaken lately has been the training conference for Priests and clerics generally interested in learning to celebrate the usus antiquior which has occurred the past two years at Merton College, Oxford. This is an event which has gained international interest and attention and has surely become the gold standard for training conferences, putting forward the very best foot of the usus antiquior, both in terms of the quality of the training and the liturgies themselves. What can you tell us about this initiative? How did it begin?
Julian Chadwick: It is clear that now there need to be more priests who are properly trained in the celebration in the usus antiquior. Sometimes in the past we have been aware of one or two priests who have been “put up” or asked to offer the older Mass but who have either been poorly trained or do not particularly feel at home with celebrating it.
Paul Waddington, who is one of our committee members, had the providential idea of a training conference for priests. The first one, in August 2007, was arranged quite quickly and took place at Merton College, Oxford. We had no idea how many priests would be interested and in the end nearly 40 came. This was a short conference, but in the course of a few days training was provided towards the celebration of the low Mass. We were deeply heartened by the generosity shown by the Archbishop of Birmingham in his encouragement for the conference to go ahead - he attended the first day and offered clear words of support. Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Bishop Rifan of Campos were our honoured guests also. Bishop Slattery celebrated Pontifical Mass and Bishop Rifan celebrated Pontifical Vespers.
This last July a much longer conference was arranged – a week in length – again with the generous support of the Archbishop of Birmingham. We were graced with the presence of Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP of Nottingham, and Bishop David McGough, one of the Birmingham auxiliaries, was due to attend but most unfortunately he could not do so because of a family bereavement. Pontifical Mass was offered in his place by the Abbot of Lagrasse (with the appropriate permissions) in what was undoubtedly one of the most splendid Pontifical ceremonies ever to take place in this country.
This year’s conference encompassed far more than low Mass. An expanded team of priest-instructors offered tuition in the celebration of the sacraments, the breviary, solemn and sung Mass, as well as in the basics of low Mass. Tuition was also available for those new to Latin. All the participants were offered the opportunity to celebrate a low Mass (or to go through a ‘dry’ Mass) with the assistance of an experienced priest. This wider scope attracted our maximum possible number of registrations, 60, including priests from the USA, South Africa, Australia, and beyond.
The amount of work the whole conference involved was enormous. But the LMS has been hugely blessed with the dedicated and professional input of Father Andrew Wadsworth, Catholic Chaplain of Harrow School, our Director of Tuition, and of Dr Alcuin Reid, the world-famous liturgist and scholar, our Director of Liturgy. Through months of effort they assembled a teaching staff and a liturgical team respectively which delivered, as you so kindly remarked, a “gold standard” for conferences.
Apart from the practical tuition, three more academic lectures were arranged by Dr Laurence Hemming, a leading voice in the academic study of the liturgy. Under his expertise the priests were led to consider aspects of liturgical theology, the pastoral use of the usus antiquior in a parish, and of the implications of Summorum Pontificum.
The generosity of Dr Simon Jones, the chaplain of Merton College, has been wonderful. He kindly gave permission for each conference to have the full use of its medieval chapel and all its resources, something which we have not always found offered to us in Catholic institutions!
No reflections on Merton would be complete without recording the generosity of the faithful. In both cases the conference was entirely paid for by an appeal to members and benefactors.
As in the famous comment about the effects of the French Revolution, it is too early to tell what effects these conferences have had, and continue to have, on all those participating in them, as well as on the wider Church; and we have to guard against simplistic attempts to analyze their benefits. But after both conferences I received numerous letters of support and gratitude from the priest-delegates and I know that, as a result, many of these are now saying the usus antiquior regularly. To receive one such letter makes the time and effort worthwhile.
NLM: As was noted, this event has occurred each summer the past two years. Can we look forward to another such event this summer, and what details can you give readers, particularly priests, who may be interested in attending?
Julian Chadwick: Building on the tremendous success of the past two years, our committee has decided to continue and even expand its opportunities for training in the older rites. The third summer conference will take place at Merton College, Oxford, from August 24th – 28th 2009, with the same experienced organizing team. And Paul Waddington is working hard to organize a conference for training priests in the North of England earlier in 2009. More information on these can be had as it becomes available from our website or by emailing our office.
NLM: What does the future hold for the Latin Mass Society?
Julian Chadwick: Life after Summorum Pontificum is very different and I know that some of our members do not find this altogether easy. We are now part of the mainstream of the church and it is crucial that, without surrendering any of our principles, we integrate into the life of the parishes where we worship, and not either be regarded or regard ourselves as a kind of sect within the Church. It seems to me that the role of the Society will change: although we will and must continue to promote the usus antiquior to all, the days of the laity fulfilling an organizing role that is properly that of the clergy must soon, we hope, be regarded as over. So we shall find our role being more one of providing support to priests and bishops, through training and through supplying practical and financial help at a local level.
So the work of our Society is by no means finished. We have much to offer, as the past two years have shown, as indeed has the traditional movement. But we must be careful not to isolate ourselves or to seek or demand the impossible. We also have to realize that many Catholics don’t understand our position – they know nothing other than the newer rites. In being of further service to priests, as they apply Summorum Pontificum in the coming years, we can surely help to bring about a situation where the Mass our founders thought was lost is once again known by and available to all Catholics up and down the land.
NLM Interview with Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales
by Shawn Tribe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This past summer, I had the pleasure to visit England again, with the specific purpose of renewing liturgical contacts there and developing new one's. One such enterprise was an evening with Mr. Julian Chadwick, the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. One of the fruits coming from that meeting was an interview that has been in the works now for some while and which I am pleased to finally be able to present.
NLM: As Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, can you give us a sense of your own background with regard to the movement to promote the usus antiquior?
Julian Chadwick: I was bought up in southern England by Anglican parents, but through my late mother I also have strong roots in Welsh non-conformity. In spite of this, I was always attracted by the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England. Many churches I used to frequent used the English translation of the Roman Missal and the ceremonies that went with the missal, and I remember a sense of loss when many such churches converted to a more contemporary form of worship. I had not realized that deconstructive liturgy was undermining the faith of my friends and I started to become interested in the complexities of the liturgical reform at the same time as I started to move towards the Church. In fact I visited the Institute of Christ the King at Gricigliano just before my conversion!
It is, of course, simplistic to blame all the problems of the modern church on the liturgical crisis, but I have no doubt that the new liturgy has done much to undermine the church in Western Europe.
It was a great honour for me when David Lloyd and Michael Davies approached me to ask if I would be willing to become Chairman of the Latin Mass Society. I hesitated through a sense of my own unworthiness, and I wondered whether I would be equal to the job, given my professional responsibilities as a solicitor, but it was a privilege to undertake the role in which I have now served for over 4 years.
NLM: The Latin Mass Society has had a very active role within England and Wales in promoting the usus antiquior of the Roman rite. For the benefit of those newer to their interest in the usus antiquior, or for those who operate in North America or other parts of the world, can you give a quick summary of the history and activities of the Latin Mass Society?
Julian Chadwick: The LMS was set up at a time when there was great liturgical turmoil in the Church. In the early days of post-conciliar reform, the stress was less on changing the form of the liturgy than in having parts of the liturgy in the vernacular. It could be said that the Society was originally founded as much as anything else to encourage the correct application of the Council’s Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium – in which the Council Fathers declared that Latin was to be preserved as the normative language of the Roman rite.
There was also deep concern at the beginning of the history of the Society that the great musical traditions of the western church would disappear in the rush towards vernacular worship.
But as the form of the Mass was changed, the Society moved increasingly towards the position of promoting the celebration of what we now call the usus antiquior. Members of the Society who were more concerned with preserving the new form of the Mass in Latin formed their own association. One of the principal objects of the LMS (which is registered as a charity under English law) is “to promote the regular and frequent celebration of Holy Mass…in the Latin language and in the form no later than that published in AD1962”. The Society has been clear that it supports liturgical rites “celebrated by priests with faculties from a Bishop or superior in communion with the Holy See”. In our constitution we make it very clear that we are always to be in obedience to the Holy See.
We were always very fortunate in England because in the early 1970’s the late Cardinal Heenan obtained the so-called Heenan Indult from Pope Paul VI at a very early stage. The history of this is well documented, but it is worth recording that many non-Catholics as well as Catholics realized at the time the importance of the preservation of the usus antiquior to European civilization.
The Latin Mass Society has about four thousand members including over 250 priests. We have consistently lobbied individual bishops for regular celebrations of the Mass and sacraments, and for Bishops to honour the wishes of the late Holy Father John Paul II in this respect, as well as that of the present Holy Father.
NLM: What impact has Summorum Pontificum had on the Latin Mass Society?
Julian Chadwick: This is a whole new world! We were able to celebrate the coming into force of this motu proprio with a most splendid solemn Mass in the London Oratory. September 14th 2007 was a great day for the Church, and in a way it was an important day in the history of the LMS, for it marked a decisive shift in the way we can serve the Church.
Up until then most celebrations of the older form of the Mass in the dioceses were organized by the LMS with (the, at times, hard-won!) permission of the local bishop. But of course this is no longer the case. It is not a question of us lobbying a Bishop for “permission” any more. The Holy Father has given priests the direct responsibility of deciding when the older rites are to be celebrated, and he has given all the faithful the right to their celebration.
Now, in some cases we are only barely aware where and when priests are offering the usus antiquior on a regular basis. This, of course, is a return to a more normal situation in the Church. We are a lay society and it is extraordinary indeed for laity to be ‘in charge’ of liturgical celebrations.
We have lived through some very extraordinary years, and our forebears in the LMS – many of them already dead – did a splendid job and suffered much in difficult times; but today it is clear that we must move away from the old culture, where Masses were held in inconvenient locations and at odd hours, to a situation where the usus antiquior is part of the regular pattern of parish Masses. The LMS is at the service of the clergy in realizing this return to normality. It is a big change for us, and some of us haven’t quite realized it yet, but in the long run I’m confident that the spirit of generosity, sacrifice and love for the Church and indeed for the Holy Father that is so tangible every time I meet our members, will help us move on and to find new ways of serving the Church in this exciting post-Summorum Pontificum world.
NLM: This past June you hosted Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in London. Would you care to comment on his visit and on its impact?
Julian Chadwick: We were honoured that Cardinal Castrillon accepted the invitation of the Society to visit London for what was an all-too-brief visit. His Eminence arrived on Friday evening, and then, together with the LMS Committee and invited guests, attended the dinner that I hosted at The Travellers Club. The following morning, after a press conference, he was able to address the AGM of the LMS and then, after being welcomed privately by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, to celebrate Pontifical Mass in Westminster Cathedral. To see the Cathedral so full was a remarkable testimony to the popularity of the ancient liturgy, especially amongst the young. What was even more remarkable was the strength of emotion of many of so many of the faithful on that occasion. I think his visit was a clear statement that Summorum Pontificum is for the whole Church, not just for some peculiar old-fashioned Catholics. Also, I think there is a clear message here from the Holy Father, that his reform of the liturgy cannot be ignored.
NLM: One of the most significant and prominent activities that the Latin Mass Society has undertaken lately has been the training conference for Priests and clerics generally interested in learning to celebrate the usus antiquior which has occurred the past two years at Merton College, Oxford. This is an event which has gained international interest and attention and has surely become the gold standard for training conferences, putting forward the very best foot of the usus antiquior, both in terms of the quality of the training and the liturgies themselves. What can you tell us about this initiative? How did it begin?
Julian Chadwick: It is clear that now there need to be more priests who are properly trained in the celebration in the usus antiquior. Sometimes in the past we have been aware of one or two priests who have been “put up” or asked to offer the older Mass but who have either been poorly trained or do not particularly feel at home with celebrating it.
Paul Waddington, who is one of our committee members, had the providential idea of a training conference for priests. The first one, in August 2007, was arranged quite quickly and took place at Merton College, Oxford. We had no idea how many priests would be interested and in the end nearly 40 came. This was a short conference, but in the course of a few days training was provided towards the celebration of the low Mass. We were deeply heartened by the generosity shown by the Archbishop of Birmingham in his encouragement for the conference to go ahead - he attended the first day and offered clear words of support. Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Bishop Rifan of Campos were our honoured guests also. Bishop Slattery celebrated Pontifical Mass and Bishop Rifan celebrated Pontifical Vespers.
This last July a much longer conference was arranged – a week in length – again with the generous support of the Archbishop of Birmingham. We were graced with the presence of Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP of Nottingham, and Bishop David McGough, one of the Birmingham auxiliaries, was due to attend but most unfortunately he could not do so because of a family bereavement. Pontifical Mass was offered in his place by the Abbot of Lagrasse (with the appropriate permissions) in what was undoubtedly one of the most splendid Pontifical ceremonies ever to take place in this country.
This year’s conference encompassed far more than low Mass. An expanded team of priest-instructors offered tuition in the celebration of the sacraments, the breviary, solemn and sung Mass, as well as in the basics of low Mass. Tuition was also available for those new to Latin. All the participants were offered the opportunity to celebrate a low Mass (or to go through a ‘dry’ Mass) with the assistance of an experienced priest. This wider scope attracted our maximum possible number of registrations, 60, including priests from the USA, South Africa, Australia, and beyond.
The amount of work the whole conference involved was enormous. But the LMS has been hugely blessed with the dedicated and professional input of Father Andrew Wadsworth, Catholic Chaplain of Harrow School, our Director of Tuition, and of Dr Alcuin Reid, the world-famous liturgist and scholar, our Director of Liturgy. Through months of effort they assembled a teaching staff and a liturgical team respectively which delivered, as you so kindly remarked, a “gold standard” for conferences.
Apart from the practical tuition, three more academic lectures were arranged by Dr Laurence Hemming, a leading voice in the academic study of the liturgy. Under his expertise the priests were led to consider aspects of liturgical theology, the pastoral use of the usus antiquior in a parish, and of the implications of Summorum Pontificum.
The generosity of Dr Simon Jones, the chaplain of Merton College, has been wonderful. He kindly gave permission for each conference to have the full use of its medieval chapel and all its resources, something which we have not always found offered to us in Catholic institutions!
No reflections on Merton would be complete without recording the generosity of the faithful. In both cases the conference was entirely paid for by an appeal to members and benefactors.
As in the famous comment about the effects of the French Revolution, it is too early to tell what effects these conferences have had, and continue to have, on all those participating in them, as well as on the wider Church; and we have to guard against simplistic attempts to analyze their benefits. But after both conferences I received numerous letters of support and gratitude from the priest-delegates and I know that, as a result, many of these are now saying the usus antiquior regularly. To receive one such letter makes the time and effort worthwhile.
NLM: As was noted, this event has occurred each summer the past two years. Can we look forward to another such event this summer, and what details can you give readers, particularly priests, who may be interested in attending?
Julian Chadwick: Building on the tremendous success of the past two years, our committee has decided to continue and even expand its opportunities for training in the older rites. The third summer conference will take place at Merton College, Oxford, from August 24th – 28th 2009, with the same experienced organizing team. And Paul Waddington is working hard to organize a conference for training priests in the North of England earlier in 2009. More information on these can be had as it becomes available from our website or by emailing our office.
NLM: What does the future hold for the Latin Mass Society?
Julian Chadwick: Life after Summorum Pontificum is very different and I know that some of our members do not find this altogether easy. We are now part of the mainstream of the church and it is crucial that, without surrendering any of our principles, we integrate into the life of the parishes where we worship, and not either be regarded or regard ourselves as a kind of sect within the Church. It seems to me that the role of the Society will change: although we will and must continue to promote the usus antiquior to all, the days of the laity fulfilling an organizing role that is properly that of the clergy must soon, we hope, be regarded as over. So we shall find our role being more one of providing support to priests and bishops, through training and through supplying practical and financial help at a local level.
So the work of our Society is by no means finished. We have much to offer, as the past two years have shown, as indeed has the traditional movement. But we must be careful not to isolate ourselves or to seek or demand the impossible. We also have to realize that many Catholics don’t understand our position – they know nothing other than the newer rites. In being of further service to priests, as they apply Summorum Pontificum in the coming years, we can surely help to bring about a situation where the Mass our founders thought was lost is once again known by and available to all Catholics up and down the land.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
I have not given up, and will keep trying to bring down James Lisante.
HE WILL NEVER WIN, AS OUR RESOLVE IS STRONGER THAN EVER, AS I WEAKEN, OUR LORD IN ME GROWS STRONGER. IN THE DARKEST DAYS, BRIGHTER GLOWS THE LIGHT FROM OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
WHERE WE ARE WEAK LORD, MAKE US STRONGER
WHERE THERE IS NO HOPE, FILL US WITH SUCCESS
WHERE ALL THE GATES ARE CLOSED, SMASH AND OPEN THEM
WHERE THERE IS NO SOUL, REBUILD AND FILL US WITH THY SPIRIT
Families Prepare to Leave OLL
Like the Magnificent Seven, the OLL rebels remain defiant to the end, condemning the corrupt reign of Msgr. Jim Lisante.
It is with a keen sense of poignancy that I write this post. From the kind of emails I've been receiving lately, I know some will greet this news with triumph and derision, but every honest Catholic, no matter what his theological/moral perspective, cannot in his heart rejoice about division and separation in the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church.
A few of the families who have worked the hardest and prayed the hardest to protect the legacy of doctrine and devotion maintained for so many years at Our Lady of Lourdes will be resigning from the parish after the last Children's Mass tomorrow.
These are families whose lives have been closely linked with this parish for close to two decades. Babies and baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations, the passing of a few loved ones---all the moments of joy and sadness shared with the blessing of their priests in this church have created deep roots which are painful to extricate. A parish, however humble or imperfect, becomes, over the years, one's native spiritual home, a place where heart and spirit have been nourished and will always hold a treasured niche in collective family memories.
The reason for this resignation, painful as it is, is simple. If you'll forgive me for being blunt, they are leaving because they can no longer stand the underhanded, sinister environment which has infected this once proud parish. They are distressed by the complete lack of response to their concerns, and the total inaccessibility of their pastor. They cannot take the fact that after having a pastor who was present in the parish all the time to pray, offer sacrifice for sin, hear confessions, console the troubled, and annoint the sick, they now have a remote, uncaring, often duplicitous, theological lightweight, who is not only never around the parish, but also has absolutely zero interest in saying Mass, hearing confessions, or having much of anything to do with his flock.
These good people know in their hearts that the real problem with Jim Lisante is not the fact that he is a gay sympathizer or has little interest in being around the parish---they know that these are the symptoms of a priest who was formed at the worst possible moment in Immaculate Conception Seminary's history and thus has no real idea of why he is a priest at all.
They realize that to Msgr. Lisante, being a priest means being a slick media star, as well as being respected and admired by the zeitgeist for his predictable condemnations of evils like racism, bigoty, and homophobia, the only sins liberals will ever recognize.
These families know that, barring a deep conversion experience, Msgr. Lisante will never be a priest who will preach the hard truths of purity, chastity, sacrifice, prayer, love of Our Lady, honor of the Blessed Sacrament and fidelity to the Magisterium.
So, while their exodus may be cheered by the Lisante Team who have made no secret of their dislike and who will no doubt cheerfully "slam the door on their backs as they go," I can't help but wonder if, in their hearts, the Lisante Team is really comfortable with the fact that families like these are leaving. Like them or not, they have been faithful, regular supporters and volunteers at the parish, and, as their children get older, were poised to become even more committed parish members, able and willing to give even more time (and money, do you hear that, Msgr. Jim?) to their beloved church.
The Lisante Team may believe there are many Catholic families lined up waiting to replace these hardliners, eager to join the new and improved OLL, but so far, the parking lot seems emptier than ever at the Sunday Masses, and the few families that trickle in are merely interested in squeezing their Mass obligation in between soccer games.
One of the fathers delivered this parting shot in an email to me:
Jim Lisante is a "hireling," in the biblical sense of the term. In his person he serves as the perfect symbol of the gutting of the Church's dogmatic, moral, scriptural and ascetic theology which took place at Immaculate Conception in the late '60's and '70's, only to be replaced by a combination of the Protestant Reinhold Niebuhr and the New York Times, and, if they were in a particularly intellectual frame of mind, the latest trendy offerings from the liberal theologians featured in Time magazine.
He is, in short, an imposter, a liberal, self-centered socialite who has no business being the pastor of a parish, let alone a Catholic priest. The cold, sterile and efficient soccer moms will love him precisely because they know he will never challenge them spiritually or morally to give up their contraceptive lifestyle which eats away at both their families and the Church like a cancer.
The men who are addicted to pornography, sports, and their own pursuits will feel quite comfortable with him because he will encourage them to participate in fundraisers for the poor and campaigns against racism, but will never offer them the one thing they all need---the truths of the Catholic faith and the grace of God offered to a humble penitent in sacramental absolution.
In fighting him, we have not fought the Church, but the enemies of the Church.We will never accept him or anything to do with him. The truth is not in him because he is a disingenuous, unfeeling hack. Personally, I think he should be the chairman of the NY Republican party and not a Roman Catholic priest. His pastoral plan will be as successful as every other dissenting liberal priest has been. Good luck and so long, Monsignor Jim!
So let these good families, this "last wave" of old-fashioned, orthodox Catholics, go not so gently and quietly "into that good night," to quote Dylan Thomas. You won't be seeing their like again soon.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light . . .
Do not go gentle into that good night.
UP NEXT: The questions about this corrupt regime which Msgr. Lisante and Bishop Murphy refuse to answer. COME LORD JESUS, SAVE THE SOUL OF " OUR LADY OF LOURDES MASSAPEQUA PARK PARISH"
WHERE WE ARE WEAK LORD, MAKE US STRONGER
WHERE THERE IS NO HOPE, FILL US WITH SUCCESS
WHERE ALL THE GATES ARE CLOSED, SMASH AND OPEN THEM
WHERE THERE IS NO SOUL, REBUILD AND FILL US WITH THY SPIRIT
Families Prepare to Leave OLL
Like the Magnificent Seven, the OLL rebels remain defiant to the end, condemning the corrupt reign of Msgr. Jim Lisante.
It is with a keen sense of poignancy that I write this post. From the kind of emails I've been receiving lately, I know some will greet this news with triumph and derision, but every honest Catholic, no matter what his theological/moral perspective, cannot in his heart rejoice about division and separation in the Mystical Body of Christ, the Catholic Church.
A few of the families who have worked the hardest and prayed the hardest to protect the legacy of doctrine and devotion maintained for so many years at Our Lady of Lourdes will be resigning from the parish after the last Children's Mass tomorrow.
These are families whose lives have been closely linked with this parish for close to two decades. Babies and baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations, the passing of a few loved ones---all the moments of joy and sadness shared with the blessing of their priests in this church have created deep roots which are painful to extricate. A parish, however humble or imperfect, becomes, over the years, one's native spiritual home, a place where heart and spirit have been nourished and will always hold a treasured niche in collective family memories.
The reason for this resignation, painful as it is, is simple. If you'll forgive me for being blunt, they are leaving because they can no longer stand the underhanded, sinister environment which has infected this once proud parish. They are distressed by the complete lack of response to their concerns, and the total inaccessibility of their pastor. They cannot take the fact that after having a pastor who was present in the parish all the time to pray, offer sacrifice for sin, hear confessions, console the troubled, and annoint the sick, they now have a remote, uncaring, often duplicitous, theological lightweight, who is not only never around the parish, but also has absolutely zero interest in saying Mass, hearing confessions, or having much of anything to do with his flock.
These good people know in their hearts that the real problem with Jim Lisante is not the fact that he is a gay sympathizer or has little interest in being around the parish---they know that these are the symptoms of a priest who was formed at the worst possible moment in Immaculate Conception Seminary's history and thus has no real idea of why he is a priest at all.
They realize that to Msgr. Lisante, being a priest means being a slick media star, as well as being respected and admired by the zeitgeist for his predictable condemnations of evils like racism, bigoty, and homophobia, the only sins liberals will ever recognize.
These families know that, barring a deep conversion experience, Msgr. Lisante will never be a priest who will preach the hard truths of purity, chastity, sacrifice, prayer, love of Our Lady, honor of the Blessed Sacrament and fidelity to the Magisterium.
So, while their exodus may be cheered by the Lisante Team who have made no secret of their dislike and who will no doubt cheerfully "slam the door on their backs as they go," I can't help but wonder if, in their hearts, the Lisante Team is really comfortable with the fact that families like these are leaving. Like them or not, they have been faithful, regular supporters and volunteers at the parish, and, as their children get older, were poised to become even more committed parish members, able and willing to give even more time (and money, do you hear that, Msgr. Jim?) to their beloved church.
The Lisante Team may believe there are many Catholic families lined up waiting to replace these hardliners, eager to join the new and improved OLL, but so far, the parking lot seems emptier than ever at the Sunday Masses, and the few families that trickle in are merely interested in squeezing their Mass obligation in between soccer games.
One of the fathers delivered this parting shot in an email to me:
Jim Lisante is a "hireling," in the biblical sense of the term. In his person he serves as the perfect symbol of the gutting of the Church's dogmatic, moral, scriptural and ascetic theology which took place at Immaculate Conception in the late '60's and '70's, only to be replaced by a combination of the Protestant Reinhold Niebuhr and the New York Times, and, if they were in a particularly intellectual frame of mind, the latest trendy offerings from the liberal theologians featured in Time magazine.
He is, in short, an imposter, a liberal, self-centered socialite who has no business being the pastor of a parish, let alone a Catholic priest. The cold, sterile and efficient soccer moms will love him precisely because they know he will never challenge them spiritually or morally to give up their contraceptive lifestyle which eats away at both their families and the Church like a cancer.
The men who are addicted to pornography, sports, and their own pursuits will feel quite comfortable with him because he will encourage them to participate in fundraisers for the poor and campaigns against racism, but will never offer them the one thing they all need---the truths of the Catholic faith and the grace of God offered to a humble penitent in sacramental absolution.
In fighting him, we have not fought the Church, but the enemies of the Church.We will never accept him or anything to do with him. The truth is not in him because he is a disingenuous, unfeeling hack. Personally, I think he should be the chairman of the NY Republican party and not a Roman Catholic priest. His pastoral plan will be as successful as every other dissenting liberal priest has been. Good luck and so long, Monsignor Jim!
So let these good families, this "last wave" of old-fashioned, orthodox Catholics, go not so gently and quietly "into that good night," to quote Dylan Thomas. You won't be seeing their like again soon.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light . . .
Do not go gentle into that good night.
UP NEXT: The questions about this corrupt regime which Msgr. Lisante and Bishop Murphy refuse to answer. COME LORD JESUS, SAVE THE SOUL OF " OUR LADY OF LOURDES MASSAPEQUA PARK PARISH"
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Obama Victory Celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Massapequa Park
President-elect Barack Obama got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Fr. Ed in last Sunday's sermon, a preview of things to come in the fresh, new, politically-correct climate at OLL.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of Our Lady of Lourdes parish used to be oft-repeated reminders from the pulpit at election time of the serious obligation to vote for candidates with the best record on moral issues.
OLL parishioners were typically instructed weeks in advance of every election that if even if a candidate promises voters to give a little extra money back in their social security checks, but also promises to vote to kill babies, then voting for that candidate makes the voter responsible for the evil that elected official approves once in office.
Now OLL parishioners no longer have to dread long tedious lectures on their moral responsibility in the voting booth. In fact, all you OLL Catholics who voted for our ardently pro-abortion, pro-gay-marriage, pro-Planned Parenthood, pro-FOCA President-elect should feel right at home in Msgr. Lisante's politically hip new parish. Believe it or not, you won't see any stern faces or finger-wagging about the 61% of Catholics who helped push Barack Obama to victory two weeks ago at OLL.
Obama supporters will be gratified to learn that last Sunday, Fr. Ed Seagriff, Msgr. Lisante's assistant pastor, openly rejoiced over the prospect of an Obama presidency, declaring it a triumph over long-standing racial prejudice, regardless of the dire consequences Obama's victory signifies for pro-life and pro-family efforts.
An indignant and heartbroken reader has sent me this riveting account of Fr. Seagriff's landmark pro-Obama sermon last Sunday:
"He began with a story about how his father was a lifelong bigot. After establishing clearly to the parishioners that his father was, as he put it: “the Archie Bunker of the family”, he told us a story about this family that moved into the house next door to them.
"Their name was Malone and both Fr. Seagriff’s parents were elated that “good Irish Catholics” were moving into the neighborhood. Following the tradition of the day, they brought Holy Water, a loaf of bread, salt, etc. over to the new neighbors to welcome them. When the man of the housed opened the front door, Seagriff’s father said: “We’d like speak to the man of the house”, his father was mortified to learn that the man who opened the door WAS the man of the house; a black man.
"They handed over their welcoming gifts politely and headed back home where a huge fight ensued between Fr. Seagriff’s mother and father....why?....because Mr. Seagriff was horrified that the new neighbors, the Malones, were black!
"Mrs. Seagriff put her foot down and threatened to divorce Mr. Seagriff if he did not mend his ways there and then. He continued that he subsequently attended Mass with his father one Sunday and he was shocked to see his father go down on his knees and kiss the hand of a visiting Nigerian (clearly black) priest.
"Fr. Seagriff relates that when he and his father got into their car to head home, he asked his father (in a very confounded tone) “Why did you DO that??”. His father’s reply was: “Because my son, that was not a black man, that was Jesus.”
"From THIS story he led into his opinion that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated because of bigotry and racism, much like the ignorant hatred that his father exhibited.
"It became clear by the end of his sermon that he regarded his father as a bigot, while his mother was the pillar of Catholicism, but, in spite of his bigotry, his father could “see” Jesus in a black man.
"He went on to further establish that it was 'because of this great man, Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation that TODAY....Barack Obama was able to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ of racism and become President-Elect Obama. What a glorious time in history this is.'
"THIS led into another equally dramatic story about how he has some other relic/historical document?? I don’t remember what it was...but after the election, he took this historical document and wrapped it in the American Flag and brought it to the second graders at the school.
"He told them how Abraham Lincoln fought for equal rights for black people and how he was killed for this and how his death and sacrifice paved the way for this extraordinary historical event of Barack Obama becoming president. He said that when he unwrapped the picture/document...the children stood in awe of it and began to touch it and clap and cry and scream and he made it sound like they were all “slain in the spirit” or something equally dramatic. The whole story was dripping with drama!
"As if this wasn’t bad enough....he went on to compare Obama to Kennedy and how his father, 'A lifelong Republican, and his mother... a lifelong Democrat fought like cats and dogs when Kennedy won the election.... His mother was elated that an Irish Catholic Democrat had won; his father was furious that a Democrat had won and vowed to never accept Kennedy.'
"He then swung back to how wonderful it is that Barack Obama has accomplished this awesome task of becoming the first black President and how lucky we all are to be witnessing this momentous event in history.
"He wrapped it all up by recounting again the story of his father with the Nigerian priest and how his father uttered the words: 'That was no black man, that was Jesus.'
"My father, mother, husband and three kids all just sat there stunned. My mother – who is always quiet and reverent in church was so angry and appalled that she actually shouted the Apostle’s Creed... I had to shush her more than once!
"We all felt like storming out of the church...even our misguided Monsignor did not have the audacity to support Obama and now this irresponsible priest takes a church full of parishioners and basically tells them 'it’s ok if he’s pro-abortion...he’s black and we should be happy about that over all.'"
The reader relates how her whole family walked out of church, completely astounded that Fr. Ed had compared Obama to Jesus, despite Obama's rabidly anti-life positions, which the young Illinois senator has not hesitated to elaborate upon on numerous occasions in his campaign.
It hardly needs to be emphasized here that the color of Obama's skin does not matter a particle to pro-life Catholics like this reader and her family, and they would be equally approving of the first black president if he had only been pro-life. I assure you if Alan Keyes, a pro-life black Republican Presidential candidate had won the election, there would be enough cork-popping and celebration among white Catholics to satisfy anyone that bigotry and racism is almost completely dead in the Catholic Church in America.
So, be prepared for many more sermons along the same lines in Msgr. Jim Lisante's ever-tolerant and welcoming parish, sermons where fine distinctions and careful definitions are no longer necessary, where blurred lines, fuzzy theology and moral vacuousness predominate. Fr. Ed and the new pastor are apparently only too happy to erase from OLL's collective memory all these antiquated notions and grim-sounding words:
sin, (oh, brother!) responsibility, chastity, (what's that?) sacrifice, confession, heaven, judgement, purgatory, hell, (puh-leez!) modesty, expiation, magisterium, (magi-who?) obedience, virtue, immorality, dogma, pornography, (yawn) abortion, (well, Msgr. Jim might mention that once in a while) homosexuality, (gasp!) contraception, (shudder!) catechism, and commandment (you mean you still believe in that? What a dinosaur!).
Better take one last look. You won't be seeing or hearing any of these any time soon in the new and improved OLL
Obama Victory Celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes Massapequa Park
President-elect Barack Obama got an enthusiastic thumbs-up from Fr. Ed in last Sunday's sermon, a preview of things to come in the fresh, new, politically-correct climate at OLL.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of Our Lady of Lourdes parish used to be oft-repeated reminders from the pulpit at election time of the serious obligation to vote for candidates with the best record on moral issues.
OLL parishioners were typically instructed weeks in advance of every election that if even if a candidate promises voters to give a little extra money back in their social security checks, but also promises to vote to kill babies, then voting for that candidate makes the voter responsible for the evil that elected official approves once in office.
Now OLL parishioners no longer have to dread long tedious lectures on their moral responsibility in the voting booth. In fact, all you OLL Catholics who voted for our ardently pro-abortion, pro-gay-marriage, pro-Planned Parenthood, pro-FOCA President-elect should feel right at home in Msgr. Lisante's politically hip new parish. Believe it or not, you won't see any stern faces or finger-wagging about the 61% of Catholics who helped push Barack Obama to victory two weeks ago at OLL.
Obama supporters will be gratified to learn that last Sunday, Fr. Ed Seagriff, Msgr. Lisante's assistant pastor, openly rejoiced over the prospect of an Obama presidency, declaring it a triumph over long-standing racial prejudice, regardless of the dire consequences Obama's victory signifies for pro-life and pro-family efforts.
An indignant and heartbroken reader has sent me this riveting account of Fr. Seagriff's landmark pro-Obama sermon last Sunday:
"He began with a story about how his father was a lifelong bigot. After establishing clearly to the parishioners that his father was, as he put it: “the Archie Bunker of the family”, he told us a story about this family that moved into the house next door to them.
"Their name was Malone and both Fr. Seagriff’s parents were elated that “good Irish Catholics” were moving into the neighborhood. Following the tradition of the day, they brought Holy Water, a loaf of bread, salt, etc. over to the new neighbors to welcome them. When the man of the housed opened the front door, Seagriff’s father said: “We’d like speak to the man of the house”, his father was mortified to learn that the man who opened the door WAS the man of the house; a black man.
"They handed over their welcoming gifts politely and headed back home where a huge fight ensued between Fr. Seagriff’s mother and father....why?....because Mr. Seagriff was horrified that the new neighbors, the Malones, were black!
"Mrs. Seagriff put her foot down and threatened to divorce Mr. Seagriff if he did not mend his ways there and then. He continued that he subsequently attended Mass with his father one Sunday and he was shocked to see his father go down on his knees and kiss the hand of a visiting Nigerian (clearly black) priest.
"Fr. Seagriff relates that when he and his father got into their car to head home, he asked his father (in a very confounded tone) “Why did you DO that??”. His father’s reply was: “Because my son, that was not a black man, that was Jesus.”
"From THIS story he led into his opinion that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated because of bigotry and racism, much like the ignorant hatred that his father exhibited.
"It became clear by the end of his sermon that he regarded his father as a bigot, while his mother was the pillar of Catholicism, but, in spite of his bigotry, his father could “see” Jesus in a black man.
"He went on to further establish that it was 'because of this great man, Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation that TODAY....Barack Obama was able to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ of racism and become President-Elect Obama. What a glorious time in history this is.'
"THIS led into another equally dramatic story about how he has some other relic/historical document?? I don’t remember what it was...but after the election, he took this historical document and wrapped it in the American Flag and brought it to the second graders at the school.
"He told them how Abraham Lincoln fought for equal rights for black people and how he was killed for this and how his death and sacrifice paved the way for this extraordinary historical event of Barack Obama becoming president. He said that when he unwrapped the picture/document...the children stood in awe of it and began to touch it and clap and cry and scream and he made it sound like they were all “slain in the spirit” or something equally dramatic. The whole story was dripping with drama!
"As if this wasn’t bad enough....he went on to compare Obama to Kennedy and how his father, 'A lifelong Republican, and his mother... a lifelong Democrat fought like cats and dogs when Kennedy won the election.... His mother was elated that an Irish Catholic Democrat had won; his father was furious that a Democrat had won and vowed to never accept Kennedy.'
"He then swung back to how wonderful it is that Barack Obama has accomplished this awesome task of becoming the first black President and how lucky we all are to be witnessing this momentous event in history.
"He wrapped it all up by recounting again the story of his father with the Nigerian priest and how his father uttered the words: 'That was no black man, that was Jesus.'
"My father, mother, husband and three kids all just sat there stunned. My mother – who is always quiet and reverent in church was so angry and appalled that she actually shouted the Apostle’s Creed... I had to shush her more than once!
"We all felt like storming out of the church...even our misguided Monsignor did not have the audacity to support Obama and now this irresponsible priest takes a church full of parishioners and basically tells them 'it’s ok if he’s pro-abortion...he’s black and we should be happy about that over all.'"
The reader relates how her whole family walked out of church, completely astounded that Fr. Ed had compared Obama to Jesus, despite Obama's rabidly anti-life positions, which the young Illinois senator has not hesitated to elaborate upon on numerous occasions in his campaign.
It hardly needs to be emphasized here that the color of Obama's skin does not matter a particle to pro-life Catholics like this reader and her family, and they would be equally approving of the first black president if he had only been pro-life. I assure you if Alan Keyes, a pro-life black Republican Presidential candidate had won the election, there would be enough cork-popping and celebration among white Catholics to satisfy anyone that bigotry and racism is almost completely dead in the Catholic Church in America.
So, be prepared for many more sermons along the same lines in Msgr. Jim Lisante's ever-tolerant and welcoming parish, sermons where fine distinctions and careful definitions are no longer necessary, where blurred lines, fuzzy theology and moral vacuousness predominate. Fr. Ed and the new pastor are apparently only too happy to erase from OLL's collective memory all these antiquated notions and grim-sounding words:
sin, (oh, brother!) responsibility, chastity, (what's that?) sacrifice, confession, heaven, judgement, purgatory, hell, (puh-leez!) modesty, expiation, magisterium, (magi-who?) obedience, virtue, immorality, dogma, pornography, (yawn) abortion, (well, Msgr. Jim might mention that once in a while) homosexuality, (gasp!) contraception, (shudder!) catechism, and commandment (you mean you still believe in that? What a dinosaur!).
Better take one last look. You won't be seeing or hearing any of these any time soon in the new and improved OLL
I guess Fr Seagriff must follow Times magazine!
I had to send this to you because the irony is just too much! Apparently Fr. Seagriff is fashioning his sermons from what he reads in Time Magazine. Here is what I found in my inbox this morning from Ann Coulter:
November 19, 2008
Genius, Thy Name Is Obama
By Ann Coulter
With Time magazine comparing Obama to Jesus, I guess we should be relieved that, this week, liberals are only comparing him to Abraham Lincoln.
The one thing every liberal on TV seems to know about Lincoln is that he put rivals in his cabinet, as subtly indicated in the title to historian and plagiarist Doris Kearns Goodwin's book: "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." Like Lincoln, Goodwin is always open to contributions from her rivals, although Lincoln was better at crediting their words.
And hasn't Obama talked to former rival Hillary about becoming his secretary of state? Hasn't he had a sit-down with Sen. John McCain? Did I imagine this, or is he even now brokering peace talks between Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck?
Ergo: Obama is a genius.
Indeed, historians have just named Obama the best president-elect ever.
(end quote)
And this president-elect HAS NOT ACCHIEVED ONE SINGLE THING IN HIS POLITICAL CAREER, No wonder he is taking people from the Clinton era into almost every cabinet post he is putting together, how come he hasn't asked Senator McCain to take a position also?
He had better be on the look-out for anyone named Booth.
November 19, 2008
Genius, Thy Name Is Obama
By Ann Coulter
With Time magazine comparing Obama to Jesus, I guess we should be relieved that, this week, liberals are only comparing him to Abraham Lincoln.
The one thing every liberal on TV seems to know about Lincoln is that he put rivals in his cabinet, as subtly indicated in the title to historian and plagiarist Doris Kearns Goodwin's book: "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." Like Lincoln, Goodwin is always open to contributions from her rivals, although Lincoln was better at crediting their words.
And hasn't Obama talked to former rival Hillary about becoming his secretary of state? Hasn't he had a sit-down with Sen. John McCain? Did I imagine this, or is he even now brokering peace talks between Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck?
Ergo: Obama is a genius.
Indeed, historians have just named Obama the best president-elect ever.
(end quote)
And this president-elect HAS NOT ACCHIEVED ONE SINGLE THING IN HIS POLITICAL CAREER, No wonder he is taking people from the Clinton era into almost every cabinet post he is putting together, how come he hasn't asked Senator McCain to take a position also?
He had better be on the look-out for anyone named Booth.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
History teaches us....
A Tale of Two Pastors
The stunning marble Last Supper frontispiece which is now obscured from view by three chairs in front of the altar at OLL---one example of how the priorities of Msgr. Lisante are radically different from those of another new pastor in an adjoining parish.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way---"
So begins Dickens' classic "Tale of Two Cities," a beautiful passage comparing the extreme social conditions of 17th c. England and France. A similarly wide gap exists between two pastors of adjacent parishes in the DRVC. Their different styles and spiritual priorities reveal a strange mix of ideologies existing side by side in this diocese.
A new pastor in a parish near Our Lady of Lourdes---we'll call him Pastor #2---has spent his first year quietly guiding his parish in a dramatic restoration and renewal of his historic church. It is quite instructive to compare his initial projects with those of Msgr. Lisante, Pastor #1, at OLL.
OUR LADY'S IMAGE
The first thing Pastor #2 did was to refurbish a prominent image of Our Lady. He hired a professional artist to restore the image and brighten the colors and had it replaced in its original position of honor in the front of the church. New lighting was also installed to illuminate the steeple cross.
At OLL, however, the opening act under Pastor #1's (Msgr. Lisante's) management was the removal of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the altar. The much-loved statue was placed in a cleaning closet until numerous protests and complaints forced the pastor to move it back into the church in a less prominent position. In addition, unlike Pastor #2 who highlighted the steeple cross on his church, Pastor #1 took the crucifixes off the church and chapel altars.
SANCTUARY RENOVATIONS
Next, Pastor #2 dedicated his energies to moving the tabernacle to the center of the sanctuary, according to the specific wishes of Bishop Murphy. A new tabernacle altar and main altar were ordered from Carrara, Italy, and a design selected with great care. A description of the altars from his parish bulletin: "The altars are white Carrera marble, the arch inserts are red Verona marble, the arches are gold mosaic and the images are colorful Eucharistic Mosaics of the Pelican feeding her young and the Chalice and Host with grapes and wheat clusters. Both altars are beautifully hand crafted in Italy."
Pastor #2 declared in the bulletin his great satisfaction with the progress on the new altars: "To be at this point in bringing the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist to the center of our lives is a spiritually exciting and uplifting moment in my life."
In contrast, Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante), upon his arrival, immediately authorized the placement of three block-shaped chairs in front of the main altar, obstructing the beautiful marble bas-relief of the Last Supper. Apparently, his main objective was to bring the priest and not Jesus into the center of attention, a move that has met with intense disapproval from many parishioners.
CONFESSION HOURS
Pastor #2 has established a full schedule of confessions, making the sacrament of penance readily available for the people of the parish. Again, as I've mentioned several times, this is in keeping with Bishop Murphy's special requests of all pastors in the diocese:
Pastor #2's Confession Schedule:
Saturday Afternoon: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. & following the 7:30 p.m. Mass
Sunday: 1/2 hour before Mass beginning before 9:30 a.m. Mass
Weekday Mornings: following the 8:00 a.m. Mass
First Saturday: following the 8:00 a.m. Mass
Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante), as I've pointed out before, is drastically cutting confession hours at OLL. Saturday evening confessions have been eliminated. Weekday confessions after the 8am Mass have also been cut, along with monthly confessions for the school. When the new schedule takes effect, there will only be one hour of confessions/week at OLL.
WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE PASTOR
Both pastors have a lengthy weekly message in the parish bulletin. Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante) fills his with random anecdotes, parish news and a few quasi-religious reflections. Pastor #2 uses his column instead to instruct the faithful on important points of Catholic doctrine. Past columns have focused on Baptism, prayer, Scripture reading, and the Sunday Mass obligation, to name a few.
I found this column of Pastor #2 most striking. Noticing that some in the parish felt marginalized by past events, like a good shepherd, he tackles the issue head-on in an attempt to heal the ill feelings and disunity:
"However, it is sad that people spend years harboring ill feelings and holding old grudges. As long as we remain human beings, we will have to deal with and move on from the obstacles that these actions cause. Thank God, we do move forward and will continue to do so.
I hope we will all continue to pray for a healing of all the ill feelings of the past. With our renewed focus on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, I believe that healing will come. I believe that Our Lady . . . will be a vehicle of that healing for us as a parish."
Tragically, Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante) has not yet publicly reached out to the people of OLL in an attempt to heal the growing division between him and a number of his people who are unhappy with the rapid and baffling changes he has made to their parish life.
As his Installation Mass approaches, before his new agenda is announced, perhaps Pastor #1 might take a few pointers from Pastor #2: his attention and care of Our Lady's image, his enthusiastic efforts to make Christ the center of the parish, his interest in beautifying and restoring the sanctuary, his concern that confessions be widely available, his effort to give a solid instruction in the fundamentals of the Faith to the parishioners, and finally, his concern that rifts and ill feelings in the parish be healed and unity restored.
That such stark contrasts between pastoral styles and practice are allowed to exist in adjoining parishes intrigues me. Which parish is the preferred model in this diocese? Is it "anything goes," or is it something else which makes each pastor feel free to pursue totally different agendas?
That's a tale for another day.
The stunning marble Last Supper frontispiece which is now obscured from view by three chairs in front of the altar at OLL---one example of how the priorities of Msgr. Lisante are radically different from those of another new pastor in an adjoining parish.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way---"
So begins Dickens' classic "Tale of Two Cities," a beautiful passage comparing the extreme social conditions of 17th c. England and France. A similarly wide gap exists between two pastors of adjacent parishes in the DRVC. Their different styles and spiritual priorities reveal a strange mix of ideologies existing side by side in this diocese.
A new pastor in a parish near Our Lady of Lourdes---we'll call him Pastor #2---has spent his first year quietly guiding his parish in a dramatic restoration and renewal of his historic church. It is quite instructive to compare his initial projects with those of Msgr. Lisante, Pastor #1, at OLL.
OUR LADY'S IMAGE
The first thing Pastor #2 did was to refurbish a prominent image of Our Lady. He hired a professional artist to restore the image and brighten the colors and had it replaced in its original position of honor in the front of the church. New lighting was also installed to illuminate the steeple cross.
At OLL, however, the opening act under Pastor #1's (Msgr. Lisante's) management was the removal of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the altar. The much-loved statue was placed in a cleaning closet until numerous protests and complaints forced the pastor to move it back into the church in a less prominent position. In addition, unlike Pastor #2 who highlighted the steeple cross on his church, Pastor #1 took the crucifixes off the church and chapel altars.
SANCTUARY RENOVATIONS
Next, Pastor #2 dedicated his energies to moving the tabernacle to the center of the sanctuary, according to the specific wishes of Bishop Murphy. A new tabernacle altar and main altar were ordered from Carrara, Italy, and a design selected with great care. A description of the altars from his parish bulletin: "The altars are white Carrera marble, the arch inserts are red Verona marble, the arches are gold mosaic and the images are colorful Eucharistic Mosaics of the Pelican feeding her young and the Chalice and Host with grapes and wheat clusters. Both altars are beautifully hand crafted in Italy."
Pastor #2 declared in the bulletin his great satisfaction with the progress on the new altars: "To be at this point in bringing the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist to the center of our lives is a spiritually exciting and uplifting moment in my life."
In contrast, Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante), upon his arrival, immediately authorized the placement of three block-shaped chairs in front of the main altar, obstructing the beautiful marble bas-relief of the Last Supper. Apparently, his main objective was to bring the priest and not Jesus into the center of attention, a move that has met with intense disapproval from many parishioners.
CONFESSION HOURS
Pastor #2 has established a full schedule of confessions, making the sacrament of penance readily available for the people of the parish. Again, as I've mentioned several times, this is in keeping with Bishop Murphy's special requests of all pastors in the diocese:
Pastor #2's Confession Schedule:
Saturday Afternoon: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. & following the 7:30 p.m. Mass
Sunday: 1/2 hour before Mass beginning before 9:30 a.m. Mass
Weekday Mornings: following the 8:00 a.m. Mass
First Saturday: following the 8:00 a.m. Mass
Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante), as I've pointed out before, is drastically cutting confession hours at OLL. Saturday evening confessions have been eliminated. Weekday confessions after the 8am Mass have also been cut, along with monthly confessions for the school. When the new schedule takes effect, there will only be one hour of confessions/week at OLL.
WEEKLY LETTER FROM THE PASTOR
Both pastors have a lengthy weekly message in the parish bulletin. Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante) fills his with random anecdotes, parish news and a few quasi-religious reflections. Pastor #2 uses his column instead to instruct the faithful on important points of Catholic doctrine. Past columns have focused on Baptism, prayer, Scripture reading, and the Sunday Mass obligation, to name a few.
I found this column of Pastor #2 most striking. Noticing that some in the parish felt marginalized by past events, like a good shepherd, he tackles the issue head-on in an attempt to heal the ill feelings and disunity:
"However, it is sad that people spend years harboring ill feelings and holding old grudges. As long as we remain human beings, we will have to deal with and move on from the obstacles that these actions cause. Thank God, we do move forward and will continue to do so.
I hope we will all continue to pray for a healing of all the ill feelings of the past. With our renewed focus on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, I believe that healing will come. I believe that Our Lady . . . will be a vehicle of that healing for us as a parish."
Tragically, Pastor #1 (Msgr. Lisante) has not yet publicly reached out to the people of OLL in an attempt to heal the growing division between him and a number of his people who are unhappy with the rapid and baffling changes he has made to their parish life.
As his Installation Mass approaches, before his new agenda is announced, perhaps Pastor #1 might take a few pointers from Pastor #2: his attention and care of Our Lady's image, his enthusiastic efforts to make Christ the center of the parish, his interest in beautifying and restoring the sanctuary, his concern that confessions be widely available, his effort to give a solid instruction in the fundamentals of the Faith to the parishioners, and finally, his concern that rifts and ill feelings in the parish be healed and unity restored.
That such stark contrasts between pastoral styles and practice are allowed to exist in adjoining parishes intrigues me. Which parish is the preferred model in this diocese? Is it "anything goes," or is it something else which makes each pastor feel free to pursue totally different agendas?
That's a tale for another day.
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