Thursday, May 31, 2012

Just sayin'

If you've had enough of this:


Why not try this:


And just for extra, Taylor Marshall at Canterbury Tales posted awhile back about why he attends a Latin Mass parish.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Traditional Mass in Corning on June 3!

There will be a Mass in the Extraordinary Form (a Traditional Latin Mass) Sunday, June 3 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church in Corning. The address is 222 Dodge Ave., Corning, NY 14830.

Here's some interesting and informative links and embeds about the EF Mass.

Summorum Pontificum

Latin Mass video from Institute of Christ the King (This is a great video)

Traditional Latin Mass Explained (also from Institute of Christ the King)

Interlinear Translation of the Latin Mass (there will be translation booklets available at the TLM in Corning, but this is helpful as well)

The Latin Mass Magazine (Lots of info)

The Latin Mass Explained (numerous YouTube videos)

What to Wear? Fr. Z allays a reader's fear on that point



Friday, May 18, 2012

Gird yourselves

The time is fast upon us when Catholics must choose who they are and who they support. Are you a Catholic or a catholyc? The issues facing the Church today in the United States, courtesy of the Obama administration, will separate the wheat from the chaff, even in our little corner of the Catholic world. Nancy Pelosi has determined that chaplains serving in the United States Military have no rights of conscience. Franciscan University at Steubenville, OH has been forced to drop health insurance coverage for students because of the HHS mandate. Read this homily by Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, on the eve of the last presidential election in 2008. It was prophetic. Here is a snippet:

The Freedom of Choice Act will mark the beginning of a great persecution against religious liberty, because it will require tax payer money to be used for abortions. You and I will be faced with this legal trial: whether we should pay our taxes making us participants in the slaughter of Innocents or be liable for jail and fines.

And what of our Catholic hospitals? If we are forced to provide such destructive services under the Freedom of Choice Act, we will have to refuse. Catholic health care workers, and other men and women of good conscience, will risk losing their jobs when their conscience exception is lost and they are pressured to participate. I read a letter recently in our daily paper: The man said, “If you don’t want an abortion. Don’t have one.” Under a regime of such change, you and I will not have such an easy choice. By paying, it will become “our abortion.” Lord, have mercy on us, and on our country.


There's nothing like a good film to rouse the 'troops'. For Greater Glory comes out on June 1 (let us hope it reaches our community soon):



(H/t to Fr. Z's blog, where all the Catholic news that's fit to print...is printed.)

Thursday, May 10, 2012

One position, or two positions?

Just to be clear, the All Saints Parish bulletin of May 6, 2012 is advertising for a full time and a part time position. Two positions are being advertised: Job Openings at All Saints Parish, page 4.

The title says 'Job Openings'. The 's' in Openings indicates plural, grammatically speaking. Then it says, "All Saints Parish is currently accepting applications for a full or part-time position, both listed below (full or part-time status to be determined by final budget)." Then it follows with descriptions for the two jobs.

Hmmmm...not so clear. Does that mean there will be one full-time position only, or two part-time positions, or one of each, or even just one part-time position? (The latest bulletin makes it clearer by bolding and underlining the word 'or'.)


If the budget is so tenuous and unstable, then "make do" with the talent and staff already in place and don't hire anyone.

Perhaps the ceiling tiles or sidewalks at St. Vincent's could be repaired, or repairs at our other churches could be made with the funds that would have been spent on the position(s).

I corrected the original post about the positions here.

The Catholic Way

Reason. Reasonable. Rational. Real. The poster below is from Bad Catholic. Read it, take it in. Now go forth with love in your hearts and vote out Obama in November! He doesn't love homosexuals, he uses them for political gain. (For more of the Catholic way on homosexual 'marriage' read this from Timothy Cardinal Dolan.)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

All Saints Parish....Hiring Again--UPDATE

We have 16 (count 'em) paid employees at All Saints Parish. Lest you think I am exaggerating, that is the number that the pastoral administrator mentioned at a recent parish gathering. We have one individual retiring this month. Now, the parish is advertising for one full-time (faith formation director) and one part-time position (coordinator of children's faith formation). That will bring the number of paid staff to 17, plus two deacons.

UPDATE: The May 13, 2012 bulletin clarifies that though the parish is advertising two positions, there will only be one position filled, which may or may not be full time. So, paid staff will remain at 16, not 17. Still six or more positions too many.

Most parishes of our size have 10 or less paid staff.

This is not stewardship. It is fiscal insanity.

And while I'm ranting, how much does it cost to send out three (or is it now four) parish fundraising letters using 45-cent stamps? With over 2,000 enrolled households, postage alone is about a thousand bucks. Why aren't they using their bulk rate for a non-profit? I don't get it. Imagine what the cost to print these appeals must be!

I moseyed on over to the Victory Highway website. Guess how many staff they have? Yep. Seventeen. Don't know if they are all paid or not (they have 10 pastors, God bless 'em) and seven administrative staff people. Their website says they currently serve about 1,500 people weekly.

Who'd a thunk it...Catholics were the first mega-churches...and didn't even know it. They just went about their business with a couple holy priests, a couple of paid staff, and a bunch of lay volunteers. The community of believers pitched in according to their God-given talents and inclinations, and it all worked.

Not to take anything away from the 10 pastors at Victory Highway, but our two priests are priceless. I wouldn't trade them for anything or anyone. In persona Christi. It makes all the difference in the world.