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From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-07-27T17:38:35-04:00

Our Knights have been busy in Guatemala, constructing table and benches for the new library (we made the foundation for the library on our trip last summer, and the locals constructed the basic structure during the year on what we thought was going to be just a basketball court). The students are proud of the progress that has taken place in their school over the past few years.

The enrollment has quadrupled in seven years, and the government is now seeking to use our Father Tom Moran Educational Center as a model for more programs to go up throughout the country. In this way, the local population will be educating more and more people locally, and they will become the
future leaders of their communities, without necessarily having to leave their country to seek opportunities for work and a decent living standard.

In the meantime, I learned that the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was capped (we flew over it on our way to Guatemala last Saturday). I sure hope it is the beginning of the end of the BP problem. Likewise, I read that the U.S. Senate was ready to confirm the newest nominee for our highest court in the land. You can be sure I’m among the many who are not happy or impressed with her credentials, as she moves closer to that exalted position on the judiciary.

Nonetheless, her ability to rise that rapidly has been quite a clever move on the part of some to alter the
high court’s centrist leaning, and to try to impose a new type of “national morality,” as it seeks to modify the ethical standards of our great nation. If you don’t think so, consider the following:
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan reportedly “considers abortion rights to be settled law” (USA Today, May 21, p. 5A). You can bet that during her confirmation process you will have heard a number of Senators echo that assertion.

Yet, America’s courts and legislatures have a proud history of changing “settled law.” We have, on various occasions, recovered our senses and recognized the equal dignity of those who were deprived of their rights and even suffered violence (which was given legal cover under a different name; this legal cover was mistakenly recognized by the Supreme Court for a while, but then such decisions were overturned). The Dred Scott v. Sandford (1856) case is the most commonly cited instance. In it, the slaveholder's right to property eclipsed and subsumed the slave's right to freedom. But our Constitution was eventually amended to correct the error, though it took a little time to undo that decision.

Decisions like Lochner v. New York (1905) show us another error: employers' right to contract eclipsed and subsumed the workers' rights to humane conditions and hours. These abuses were corrected by subsequent Supreme Court decisions like Muller v. Oregon and Bunting v. Oregon. Then the "Separate but equal" doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) sanctioning segregation was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education some 58 years later. Also, erroneous decisions like Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918) institutionalized child labor. But this was overturned 23 years later by United States v. Darby. A new development -- a "pedagogical moment" -- occurred here in Constitutional law.

The question was whether constitutional rights applied to children, too. The answer was “yes.” Many reversals of Supreme Court cases came about when new evidence was brought forward that made it clear
that someone's rights, not previously recognized, were being violated. Thus, Justice Louis Brandeis brought forward the facts about how workers were being harmed.

We are now witnessing the same trend regarding the children in the womb. Evidence that has been around for quite some time demonstrating their humanity is finding its way into legislatures and courts. One of the most striking instances comes out of South Dakota. Federal courts have upheld South Dakota’s law requiring that abortion providers tell women that the procedure destroys a “whole, separate, unique, living human being.” This came about because of the evidence presented to the court regarding the humanity of the unborn child.

With hundreds of embryological studies, and massive evidence of the harm abortion does to women, such evidence, combined with new legal concepts, can challenge Roe vs. Wade in the same way its erroneous ancestral decisions were challenged. Interestingly enough, the very day after Roe v. Wade was decided, the front page of The New York Times said, “Supreme Court Settles Abortion.” Yet, it has remained the most unsettled issue on our national landscape.

The facts above should shape the way that senators, Supreme Court nominees, and all the rest of us speak about Roe v. Wade and the so-called “right” to choose an abortion. History should shape our language, and should strengthen our hope that the abortion policy can change again, just as radically as it did in 1973. May we pray fervently and work hard for that change!

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-07-16T10:01:17-04:00

E. Paul Weber, faithful sacristan, church opener and reader for our early morning weekday Masses for many years, was called home to the Lord while I was on retreat. It’s something of an understatement to say that we will miss him and his service to our parish. To me, he embodied the spirit of volunteerism that characterizes a true Catholic and Christian believer – service to God and His Church because he loved God and his church, without looking for something in return. That is what is often referred to as true stewardship, since we are all stewards of God’s gifts to us.

Paul always wanted to be close to Jesus, and we pray that he has found that abiding closeness now. May his family (both by blood and by faith) always be inspired by his example of loving service. May he enjoy God’s presence as a final reward of a job well-done on earth!

Beginning this Tuesday, the bridge over the Intracoastal is closed until December 13th. This will create a challenge for some of our parishioners and visitors to get to church. Fortunately, the alternative bridges at Atlantic Avenue and Woolbright Rd. are still available. It may take a little extra time and planning, but we still look forward to having you join us for Sunday worship and our parish activities between now and then.

Catholic News Service this past Tuesday featured a national article they picked up from our diocesan editor for the Florida Catholic newspaper, parishioner Linda Reeves. She wrote about the story of another parishioner, Jack Foley, and his efforts to help the people of the Gulf coast region to clean up after the environmental disaster brought on by the BP oil spill. Previously, Jack had worked in our parish office here, and is still involved with the responsibility of guiding our Sunday Mass ushering when he is in town. Congratulations to both of these parishioners!

The annual trek to our parish mission in Guatemala is underway as you read this. Our Knights of Columbus from this parish are joined by Knights from Royal Palm Beach and distinguished guest Knights (Florida Knights State officers, including the past State Deputy, his son and his brother, as well as our State Treasurer).

We’ll be working at the library in the Father Tom Moran Education Center, building tables and seats for the students, and finishing off the library that your generous financial support in that special collection last March helped to build. The State Council gave us a generous grant this year for the trip. There is a fine article about our efforts in the July edition of the Coastal Star newspaper by C.B Hanif; I think you’ll enjoy the write-up, complete with some pictures of last year’s trip.

The annual installation of new officers of the K of C in our parish took place last week, and I wish to congratulate the new officers (as previously listed in this bulletin). I also extend my gratitude to our parish Knights who contributed a generous grant of $2,000 to those of us who are travelling to our Guatemalan mission to help us cover the expenses of the trip. This is part of their charity work, and is the result of their successful fund-raising efforts during the year. God bless Chris Grant, their Grand Knight again this year, and the men who tirelessly
work to help the good of this parish and promote the good of the Catholic Church. Would that more men could join them as Knights in their fabulous efforts at building up Christ’s Body – the Church!

Speaking of installations, there’s a new roof recently installed on our convent, and our men are putting the finishing touches on the rest of the adjoining area to make the house a more suitable home for our Sisters. They express their thanks, as I do, for your generous support of our parish improvement efforts. Many more projects are to be done, but we take them on, one-by-one, with the help of some very special people.

We are well into our 70th year as a parish, and next April, we’ll have a special Mass to mark the closing of this anniversary year. It’s hard to believe that we’ve come so far in these years, including the nearly five that I’ve been here. We have a way to go, including continually trying to work to support our flagship school. Did you realize that it costs an average of nearly $8,500 to educate one of our students? Tuition does not cover all of this, so we’re into fundraising and gift-giving in order to keep it going. Your participation in those activities and your support of our parish through the Sunday collection envelopes each week helps us lower the additional costs that would accrue if we had to make the school self-sufficient, as some dioceses do.

Several people asked about the “removal” of the banner marking the “Year for Priests” that was displayed for the past year in our sanctuary. Well, the year is over, so the purpose for the banner is completed. We’re most grateful to parishioner Joe Santarella, who provided us with that gift which adorned our altar area. Joe also is one of our faithful lectors at weekend Masses. May God continue to bless those who offer their volunteer services without expecting rewards. I can assure you that their rewards are “out of this world.”

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-07-08T20:14:46-04:00

Can you believe it? An atheist organization is blasting the U.S. Postal Service for its plan to honor Mother Teresa of Calcutta with a commemorative stamp, saying it violates postal regulations against honoring “individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings.” The Freedom from Religion Foundation is urging its supporters to boycott the stamp — and also to engage in a letter writing campaign to spread the word about what it calls the “darker side” of Mother Teresa.

Foundation spokeswoman Annie Laurie Gaylor said that issuing the stamp runs against Postal Service regulations: “Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure, who ran a religious institution. You can’t really separate her being a nun and being a Roman Catholic from everything she did.”

The stamp -- set to be released on Aug. 26, which would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday -- will recognize the Nobel laureate for her humanitarian work, the Postal Service announced last month. Mother Teresa was a woman universally beloved across the globe for her humanitarian efforts in India and around the world. Her work with the poor and the dying, the disabled and disadvantaged, with refugees, and so on, earned her the Nobel Peace Prize (imagine that, an honor actually earned) in 1979.

“Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years,” the Postal Service said in a press release. “Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world’s poorest populations.” So when the U. S. Postal Service decided to honor her life with acommemorative stamp, most people were happy. But of course, since a Christian is being honored, a group of atheists are "outrageously outraged" and want the Post Office to cancel the stamp.

Postal Service spokesman Roy Betts expressed surprise at the protest, given the long list of previous honorees with strong religious backgrounds, including Malcolm X, the former chief spokesman for the Nation of Islam, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “In fact we honored Father Flanagan in 1986 for his humanitarian work. This has nothing to do with religion or faith,” Betts told FoxNews.com. But Gaylor said the atheist group opposed Father Flanagan’s stamp, too, but not those for King and Malcolm X, because she said they were known for their civil rights activities, not for their religion. She said, Martin Luther King “just happened to be a minister,” and “Malcolm X was not principally known for being a religious figure,” she said. “And he’s not honorific.”

It seems to me that they’re kind of picking and choosing who they’re outraged over, aren’t they? Martin Luther King Jr. was just as well-known a Christian as Mother Teresa was. I doubt Martin Luther King thought he “just happened to be a Baptist Minister?” And what difference does it make if someone who is being honored for their good works was a Catholic nun or not anyway? Being a Catholic nun or a Christian leader is not something you can separate those two people from. Is the argument, then, that you can’t honor a good person who did amazing things for their entire life simply because they were Catholic?

Gaylor also attacked Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, saying it was a “wealthy” charity, and that she — shockingly! — was against abortion and wanted to baptize people before they died. She says this is part of the Roman Catholic Church’s “PR machine” to make Mother Teresa a saint (because, you know, canonization as a saint always involves shadowy conspiracies with the USPS!). (I know it’s tough for some people to understand, but Catholics tend to be… anti-abortion, and they want people to be baptized and accept Christ as their savior; they have this whole thing about not wanting people to go to hell -- as crazy a concept as that might be!)

The USPS spokesman Roy Betts has said that the reaction to the Mother Teresa stamp has so far been overwhelmingly positive. Most people love and respect her because of all she did for so many others. Mother Theresa’s charity did indeed massively expand over the course of her lifetime. At the time of her death, 610 missions were operating in 123 countries. The work being done at these missions included: hospices, homes for people suffering from diseases such as leprosy and HIV/AIDS, caring for alcoholics, the disabled, refugees, victims of natural disasters, the poor and the blind, soup kitchens, orphanages, and so on. But I guess because she was, after all, first and foremost a Catholic nun who didn’t struggle with her mission of humanitarian relief in a little hut on the side of some road in Calcutta, so the Foundation wants us to completely ignore all the good she was able to do. She was successful in helping thousands upon thousands of people around the world, but because she was Catholic, maybe all of that should just be ignored. To the Freedom from Religion Foundation, probably a better person to look up to (and whose stamp we should all buy!) is Katharine Hepburn… an actress and an atheist!!!

So, to sum up, the FFRF wants to keep Mother Theresa from being honored — despite her good works and humanitarian efforts — simply because she was a Catholic nun, even though the majority of people seem not to be offended. It seems pretty obvious to me that this is a gross overreaction, and an immature one at that. But let’s not underestimate their efforts or anything. They’re already starting a letter-writing campaign… and you can bet that they believe that will surely teach the Post Office a lesson! But you can contact the Postmaster- General and express your support and gratitude for the Mother Theresa Stamp!!! Write: The Honorable John E. Potter, Postmaster General - U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington, DC 20260-0010.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-07-01T12:42:26-04:00

This Sunday, we celebrate the 234th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence for our country from Great Britain. It’s rather difficult for me to fathom that we are now 34 years past the bicentennial celebrations of our nation’s independence. Last weekend, I had the privilege to offer the invocation at south Filipino-American community of South Florida’s celebration that marked the 102nd anniversary of the independence of the Philippines from Spain. I couldn’t help but reflect on the many struggles of both of these nations in order to achieve real freedom from the oppressive tyranny which spawned that struggle in the first place, and how the founding fathers (and mothers) of these Christian-influenced nations prayed devoutly to God in establishing their nations under Him.

I also wonder if our own national holiday of “The Fourth of July” has lost its real significance when it’s one that’s only celebrated with cookouts and fireworks, parades and picnics, while we overlook the important fact that we are supposed to be “one nation under God.” Do we really appreciate and thank God for our “freedoms” when we learn that two-thirds of the world’s nations (China, Cuba and Afghanistan come to mind) still lack such liberties? And these freedoms, won and strengthened throughout the years at the cost of the many lives sacrificed for their preservation and exaltation, are not the kinds of freedom that permit us to do anything we want (those are called ‘license’), but which permit us to build up our “one nation under God,” ready to help others in a similar struggle. The challenges that face our nation today come both from without and within. Without God, I don’t see how we could realistically continue to resist the presence of dangers that threaten the continued existence of our nation. We have been blessed with abundant gifts to build up this nation and to enhance its endurance against those foes who seek its destruction. Outside forces are always a threat to those who seek democratic reforms and find themselves thwarted in their efforts by corrupt politicians and military leaders.

But, much like those pesky termites that often undermine the foundations of our homes, there also are subtle forces that exist even within our nation that try to tear away at the fabric that made this country great. That’s why the signers of our Declaration of Independence, diverse as they were in their religious practices, saw the necessary good that comes from being united as “one nation under
God.”

Amazingly, our freedoms even guarantee that those opposed to our way of life have a forum to express their beliefs that is protected by our freedom of speech. This is another freedom, like that of religion, which can be threatened by sinister forces who are fanatically dedicated to the overthrow of conventional wisdom and democratic governments. The right to speak is so fundamental that the FIRST Amendment of the Bill of Rights includes this promise: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” But today’s pro-abortion Congressional leaders read the First Amendment differently. They would have it read: Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of speech, unless it’s speech about incumbent Congressmen like us. Then we’ll restrict it.

Take the new “DISCLOSE ACT.” The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down a law that severely restricted groups like National Right to Life from even mentioning the name of a Congressman or bringing his voting record to the public’s attention during the period leading up to his re-election campaign. Congressmen don’t like groups like National Right to Life talking about their records. It’s inconvenient. But, the Supreme Court said, in effect, “too bad. Citizens (and citizen groups) have that right.” They struck down the law as unconstitutional.

However, undaunted by the Supreme Court’s recognition of our free speech rights, now Congress is trying to limit our speech with another approach: punish groups who speak out about them by forcing the groups to provide confidential donor lists and other sensitive information to the government. They call this set of punishments the “DISCLOSE ACT.” Yet not all organizations would be punished. Certain allies of the pro-abortion leaders in Congress, like the mainstream media, are exempt. They can continue to comment about members of Congress without fear of punishment. And the bill is skewed to give advantages to other allies, such as unions. But if you’re any one of a number of other Americans which speaks for the unborn, forget it; the 1st Amendment no longer applies to you. That’s why we have to be particularly astute in guarding our freedoms; and this we cannot do alone. Our prayer to God, if done sincerely, will not go unheeded. He will continue to guide us, if we want Him to do so.

Sadly, too few Catholics seem to understand that the command to ‘Keep Holy the Sabbath’ means that we have the opportunity each week to practice our faith in the spirit of that freedom of religion, and make that prayer an effective means of expressing our gratitude for the gifts that He has so generously bestowed upon us. The disregard by some “believers” of the command of God to give Him the worship and praise that is due Him each week weakens our relationship with Him, and causes us to puff ourselves up with pride in our own accomplishments, as if all these were really possible without help from our God. They have argued their way out of what should be a loving and dedicated worship of God, and skipped out of their primary duty as children of the Almighty One.

Fortunately, this year we observe our Independence Day on a Sunday, the regularly designated day of worship for all Christians, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. If you find that you are not worshipping God each Saturday evening or Sunday, get yourself back to God by making a good Confession before trying to receive what would otherwise be an unworthy Communion. Skipping out on God for some lesser reason means that we are not loving our God “above all things,” as we should. Laziness, indifference, and several other banal excuses for failing to exercise our DUTY to worship our God puts us at odds with Him, because it says that He is not the most important thing or being in our life. That is a fallacious assumption and places us on a very dangerous precipice in this life, as it jeopardizes our entry into the next life.

Hopefully, we’ll take the special opportunity presented by our presence at Mass to thank God for His wondrous gifts, including our
country, our freedoms, our life, health and faith, our family, and the opportunities to use these gifts wisely and prudently for the glory
of God and of His people.

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-06-25T10:59:59-04:00

After returning from my recent sojourn to Rome at the close of the “Year For Priests,” I found some interesting developments in our country regarding serious discrepancies between the teaching authority of the Church (that rests with the Pope and Bishops [Magisterium]) and the resistance by some members of our Church, including some rather influential members, to that teaching authority. I bring this to your attention because of the ever-present danger of eroding the teachings of our Church in matters that seriously affect the life of our faith and our country.

It seems that a real “battle royal” had been brewing steadily between the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops and the Catholic Health Association over the recently passed health care reform of President Obama. Sister Carol Keehan, CEO and President of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) openly acted in favor of President Obama’s health care reform and in opposition to persistent requests from the bishops, said Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), during their recent spring meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida. During the bishops' executive session held last Tuesday morning to address the fallout of CHA’s support for the health care legislation despite the bishop's opposition, Cardinal George recounted the events that took place prior to President Obama's signing of the health care reform.

The cardinal then concluded his remarks by criticizing CHA and Sr. Keehan, saying they have created a dangerous precedent of a parallel magisterium (teaching body) to the teaching authority of the bishops. In the events leading up to the final health care vote, the USCCB president, Cardinal George of Chicago, presented arguments on how the Bishops' Conference “remained consistent to the two guiding principles throughout the whole process: number one, everyone should have access to health care; number two, no one should be killed.” The consistent moral position of the bishops, Cardinal George explained, centered around the protection of life, conscience protections, and the inclusion of immigrants. “The Conference never backed down on these issues,” he forcefully stated. According to the Archbishop of Chicago, when the Stupak Amendment was defeated in the Senate in December 2009, “everything went south.” That is when “the Catholic Health Association and other so-called Catholic groups provided cover for those on the fence to support Obama and the administration.” Cardinal George clearly remarked that “Sr. Carol and her colleagues are to blame” for the passage of the health care bill. He continued by revealing that the bishops repeatedly tried to reach out to Sr. Keehan, both before and after the vote. “I personally met with her in March, to no avail,” the cardinal reported.

In April, three bishops of the USCCB ‘ad hoc’ Health Care Concerns Committee, Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth and Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, also met with Sr. Keehan to try to make her understand the bishops’ concerns, and thus bring CHA back in line with Church teachings; however the meeting concluded with “the same frustrating results.”

The president of the USCCB reiterated the bishop's fundamental opposition to the health care reform. “The bill which was passed is fundamentally flawed. The Executive Order is meaningless. Sr. Carol is mistaken in thinking that this is pro-life legislation,” Cardinal George emphatically said. The cardinal also expressed disappointment with CHA “and other so-called Catholic groups” because, “in the end, they have weakened the moral voice of the bishops in the U.S.”

In that regard, Cardinal George highlighted that the USCCB and CHA’s positions on Obama’s health care are not just “two equally valid conclusions inspired in the same Catholic teaching,” and reiterated that what the bishops said on May 21 in their statement “Setting the record Straight” is and will remain the official position of the USCCB on the contentious issue.

The document, presented by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo (Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities), Bishop William Murphy (of Rockville Centre, New York, and ) and Bishop John Wester (of Salt Lake City, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Immigration), says: "As Bishops, we disagree that the divergence between the Catholic Conference and Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Health Association, represents merely a difference of analysis or strategy (Catholic Health World, April 15, 2010, “Now That Reform Has Passed”). Rather, for whatever good will was intended, it represented a fundamental disagreement, not just with our staff, as some maintain, but with the Bishops themselves. “As such, it has resulted in confusion and a wound to Catholic unity."

We need to be observant about these and future developments that affect the life and health of the People of God, especially as it pertains to those who are united under the mantle of the Catholic Church’s leadership throughout the world. The danger persists that when the media and society at large construct a scenario against the Church, because of the moral weaknesses of some of its leaders and members, it will use such a setting to try to gain a greater foothold on the means to further damage the Christ-founded institution and dismember it, piece by piece. That’s why we must continually be on guard against the wiles of the Evil One, and to pray for the protection of our Catholic Church, its true leaders, and the Faith of our Fathers.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-06-17T16:13:26-04:00

Happy Father’s Day to all our fathers, soon-to-be fathers, would-be fathers (except for taking on a special role in family life that precludes the normal course of events) and our Priests! While I was in Rome, wonderful things happened in the parish, especially the Vacation Bible Camp 2010, with its theme, “Spirit of the Seas.” I ask you to prayerfully thank those special women who made this possible: Julie D’Addio, Kim Weber, Carrie Socha, Marjorie Robinson, Cathy Fradkin, Noreen Kelly, Chrissy Hubiak, Amy Sexton and Sister Dorothy. God bless them!

Yes, it was a privilege to be in Rome again, this time for the closing of the “Year for Priests.” I think the highlight of my week was the celebration of Mass with Pope Benedict on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The Eucharist was concelebrated by cardinals and bishops as well as by more than 15,000 priests from all over the world. The Holy Father consecrated the wine in the same chalice as that used by St. John Mary Vianney, the “Cure of Ars” in France. In his homily the Pope noted how the ‘Year for Priests’ was celebrated to ensure "a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry.” The priest is not a mere ‘office-holder.’ Rather, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ's name, he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins,
and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life. Over the bread and wine, he speaks Christ's words of thanksgiving, which open the world to God and unite us to Him. Priesthood, then, is not simply 'office,' but Sacrament.

“This boldness of God who entrusts Himself to human beings (conscious of our weaknesses, He nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead) is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'.” This is what Pope Benedict wanted us to reflect upon and appreciate again over the course of the past year. He wanted to reawaken our joy at how close God is to us. He also wanted to demonstrate once again to young people that this vocation, this fellowship of service for God and with God, does exist. Yet, it is to be expected that this new uplifting of the Priesthood would not be pleasing to the 'enemy' (Satan), who would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the Sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light - particularly the abuse of children. The Pope insistently begged forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; and that in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation, he will do everything he can to see that the authenticity of each vocation will be ensured as each man continues along his journey.

Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God's gift, a gift concealed in 'earthen vessels' which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes God’s love concretely present in this world. “So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, His gift becomes a commitment to respond to God's courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility".

Finally, the Pope commented on the lance thrust in Jesus' side, which caused blood and water to come out. This, the Pope explained, recalls "the two fundamental Sacraments by which the Church lives: Baptism and the Eucharist. From the Lord's pierced side, from His open heart, there springs the living fountain which continues to well up over the centuries and which makes the Church. The open heart is the source of a new stream of life. "Every Christian and every priest should become, starting from Christ, a wellspring which gives life to others. We ought to be offering life-giving water to a parched and thirsty world.” The Holy Father concluded, "Lord, we thank you because for our sake you opened your heart; because in your death and in your resurrection you became the source of life.

Give us life, make us live from you as our source, and grant that we too may be sources, wellsprings capable of bestowing the water of life in our time. We thank you for the grace of the priestly ministry. Lord bless us, and bless all those who in our time are thirsty and continue to seek".

This Sunday, as we celebrate Father’s Day and honor all fathers, let us remember to pray for all of our fathers, including our own spiritual fathers: our priests. As we celebrate with the newest “Father” Christopher LeBlanc, and the ‘older’ priests of our parish, and as we conclude this Year for Priests, may we recall that the essence of all fatherhood comes from God, the Father of all creation, the source of all life. May all who are called to “fatherhood” in this life be one day united with our Father in heaven! May Father LeBlanc be filled with an abundance of grace and peace and love for his ministry.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-06-14T14:15:08-04:00

At the time of publication, Monsignor Tom was fortunate to be in Rome attending the closing of the “Year For Priests”. In lieu of Monsignor’s article, here is a beautiful poem titled “The Beautiful Hands Of A Priest”.

The Beautiful Hands Of A Priest

We need them in life’s early morning, we need them again at its close; We feel their warm clasp of true friendship, we seek them when tasting life’s woes. At the altar each day we behold them, and the hands of a king on his throne are not equal to them in their greatness; their dignity stands all alone; And when we are tempted and wander to pathways of shame and of sin, “Tis the hand of a priest will absolve us – not once, but again and again. And when we are taking life’s partner, other hands may prepare us a feast, But the hand that will bless and unite us is the beautiful hand of a priest. God bless them and keep them all holy for the Host which their fingers caress; What can a poor sinner do better than to ask Him to guide thee and bless? When the hour of death comes upon us may our courage and strength be increased By seeing raised o’er us in blessing the beautiful hands of a priest!

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-06-04T18:03:39-04:00

Grateful to the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, I am in Rome, this week, with the head chaplains of each of the 50 states and several countries that have Knights of Columbus. There we will join Pope Benedict in closing ceremonies of the “Year For Priests.” I hope you find this column helpful.

More than several parishioners have asked me over the past few years exactly what is a Canon, as in Canon Tom. To try to help clarify this for them, I offer the following, much of it taken from an article I found in Wikipedia. My classification of Canon is found under the section titled “Honorary Canons.” **

Canons in Bruges, Belgium.

A canon of Sint Niklaas, Flanders.

A Canon (from the Latin canonicus, itself derived from the Greek κανονικος "relating to a rule") is an honored priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule (canon). Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or in one of the houses within the precinct or area near a cathedral, and ordering his life according to the orders or rules of the church. This way of life began to become common in the 8th century. In the 11th century, some churches required clergy living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinian or regular canons, while those who did not were known as secular canons.

In the Catholic Church, specially designated clergy members of the cathedral chapter or a collegiate church are called Canons. A cathedral chapter is a special group of clergy composed to assist the bishop in the governance of his diocese. A collegiate church is a church where the community of clergy, organized as a self-governing corporate body, may be presided over by a dean. Although a collegiate church is not the seat of a bishop, and has no diocesan responsibilities, in its governance and some religious observances a collegiate church is similar to a cathedral.

Honorary canons **
The title of Canon is still given in many dioceses to senior parish priests as a largely honorary title. It is usually awarded in recognition of long and dedicated service to the diocese. Honorary canons are members of the chapter in name, but are nonresidential and receive no remuneration. They are entitled to call themselves “Canon,” and often have a role in the administration of the cathedral and the diocese (generally speaking, Canons in the Anglican or the Episcopal Church are of this sort).

They also are equivalent to a monsignor in the Catholic Church, often wearing the violet or violet-trimmed cassock which is associated with that rank. Since the reign of King Henry IV, the heads of state of France have been granted by the pope the title of sole honorary canon of Saint John Lateran.

Lay canons
In addition to canons who are clerics in holy orders, cathedrals in the Anglican Communion may also appoint lay persons as canons. The rank of "lay canon" is especially conferred upon English diocesan chancellors (the senior legal officer of the diocese, who is usually, though not exclusively, a lay person).

Secular canons
All canons of the Church of England have been secular since the Reformation, although an individual canon may himself also be a member of a religious order. Mostly, however, they are ordained, that is, priests or members of the clergy. Today, the system of canons is retained almost exclusively in connection with cathedral churches. The dean and chapter are the formal body which has legal responsibility for the cathedral and for electing the (arch)bishop.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-05-31T20:41:52-04:00

Today, we celebrate the sacred mystery of the Holy Trinity. As we ponder the union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we start to realize, little by little, that God is always reaching out to us, never ceasing to try to draw us into a relationship with Him, by creating us, redeeming us, and making us holy. The goodness of God’s love, a selfless love, fills us with wonder.

God tries to touch our hearts so that we will respond to His merciful love and pass it on to others. That is our main mission in life in conjunction with praising God for all that He does for us. As we continue our journey toward a fuller conversion of our heart and mind, we can be assured of God’s loving support. After all, it is our common belief that God wishes the salvation of every human being. That’s why Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, was sent to our world—to save us. That’s why God sends the Holy Spirit upon us, to encourage us in our faith mission.

This weekend, we graduate 31 eighth-graders to their new place in high schools across our area. Many of them will continue their Catholic education in Catholic school settings. Next year, they will also continue their spiritual preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation. None of this will assure them or us of their advancement in their faith mission. Much like the seed in Sacred Scripture, some will fall on good soil and develop and produce good (spiritual) fruit; others, sad to say, will not.

What our school and its staff have given them is a solid foundation to advance in this life and prepare for the next. Though we are a major support system for their parents, it is the parents who have the ultimate responsibility of raising them in the practice of the Faith by giving good example. If the parents and family are well-rooted in its Catholic faith, then good fruit should follow. But, if parental responsibility should fall short in its obligations, then the results, unfortunately, will be similarly predictable.

That’s why we try to encourage our children AND their parents to participate in Mass each weekend, so that they may grow together in their belief in God and the Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. So, I ask you to pray for these young graduates and their parents, that the light of Faith that was given to each one in Baptism, will not be snuffed out, and that each of these youngsters will not fall victim to the seductions of this world or its wily prince (Satan). The more often they receive the Eucharist worthily, the more likely they will grow in their knowledge and love of God and His
teachings in Scripture and through the Church. If they omit Mass through their own fault, they’ve already been alerted to the need of reconciliation with God before a worthy Eucharist.

The school has started the process by planting the seed; let’s pray that the parents and the rest of our parish family
will work to nurture the plant! Now that the summer has begun for many of the youngsters with the usual closing of school, there will be summertime opportunities to continue the learning in more delightful and less formal settings. In our parish, we will again host the popular Vacation Bible School program, begun a few short years ago for the youngest of our children. Beginning June 7th to 11th on our grounds, for three hours each morning, several wonderful volunteer parents, assisted by some of our teens, will lead the children a little closer to the Lord by teaching them about His love for His Church, the People of God.

And for the rest of us, may we not forget that we are God’s children and, as children, we owe our God the proper love, respect and gratitude due Him. Our primary duty is to give Him praise and worship each Sunday, whether “in season or out of season,” and to show our love for all His creation, including the earth, and all living things upon it, especially His children. May we never lose our sense of rendering to God the things that are God’s, especially by keeping His day holy.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-05-20T16:56:05-04:00

This weekend, as we celebrate Pentecost, the fiftieth day of Easter, we come to the conclusion of the fifty-day celebration of Easter. Throughout the history of salvation, God’s Spirit continues to breathe upon all creation, bringing life and renewal. We rejoice in the continued presence of the Holy Spirit among us, bringing us abundant new life, first, through Baptism, and renewed again, through the Sacrament of Confirmation. The first Pentecost was the renewal of the covenant God made with man on Mt. Sinai, when the Spirit of the Lord descended upon the Apostles, with sevenfold gifts of wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence and wonder.

With joy, we renew the covenant made in the waters of Baptism, and ask the Lord to grant us a renewal of His gifts each day of our life, for we live in a funny world that daily challenges our spirit, our moral fiber, and our way of thinking. We need that constant help!

What a tremendous day we had last Saturday at the annual parish golf-outing at Quail Ridge Country Club! The weather was perfect, and the tourney was a success, thanks to the untiring efforts of Mimi Meister, her husband, Dan, and the committee and numerous volunteers who dedicated themselves to making this our best outing yet, for the benefit of the children of our St. Vincent Ferrer School. We had a lot of fun, with many laughs, and managed to enjoy ourselves throughout the afternoon and evening. May God bless Charlie Bowie and the leadership of the club that offered us such a wonderful venue.We thank all of these people for their fine efforts, and may all of us who participated relish the thought that next year’s event will be even greater!

Next weekend, we will take up that special 2nd collection for the missionary work of the same religious order of Sisters that now staffs our school, viz., the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. In your appreciation for having a community of devoted religious sisters that staff our parish school, and are ever present in our parish to minister to the sick and homebound, a generous response in the envelopes that have been provided will help that same community to reach out to many people in the third world. There they are engaged in bringing Christ to those who otherwise wouldn’t know Him, and of ministering to the spiritual and physical needs of these people at the same time. Our Sister Maria and Sister Dorothy and their superiors are most grateful for your support of their community’s efforts, and will ask the many Sisters of their Order to pray for you along with their other benefactors.

At this time, I would like to thank Mr. Lou Finelli of our school faculty for the many years of service he has given to our school and parish, too. He is retiring this year after fifteen years here of teaching math, computer science and doing the upgrades of our technology programs: data processing information, website structuring, etc., in the school. We will miss his daily presence here, but hope to see him on his visits in the future.

We will also bid fond farewells to two other staff members whom we will miss: Mrs. Molly Karpenko and Mrs. Patricia Sperry. May God bless them in their new setting, and know that our prayers will follow them. Next weekend we will celebrate our 8th grade graduates from St. Vincent School with a special Mass and blessing of the graduates during the regular Saturday 5:30 P.M. Parish Mass. With gratitude for the many sacrifices made by parents to provide a quality Catholic education at our school, and thanks to the efforts of a wonderful teaching staff and leadership in our school, we will send forth thirty-one young men and women to a new level of preparing to deal with life’s situations.

Hopefully, they will remember the most important values of what they have learned in these past eight to ten years in Catholic education and continue to worship the Lord each week, thanking Him for the abundance of gifts poured out upon His people. I thank our good Principal, Mrs. Delgado, her staff and all the teachers and parents who have brought our students to this point in their lives. May our graduates never forget they are God’s children, and may they always remember to give Him the worship and honor due Him each week at Mass.

Congratulations to our Mrs. Delgado for getting our school to be accepted into a special scholarship program. St. Vincent Ferrer is a participating school in the Florida Tax Scholarship plan called “Step Up For Students.” What is the Step Up For Students Program? Well, students who are entering kindergarten or first grade, or who attended public school the previous year are eligible, providing they match the criteria. The scholarships cover up to $3,950 for private school tuition and books. This should help a number of our students and their families to cut tuition costs. For more information regarding scholarship qualification, please go to www.stepupforstudents.org.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-05-14T18:44:22-04:00

Throughout the fifty days of Easter, we have rejoiced in the resurrection of Christ. Today we listen to the story of His glorious Ascension into heaven, where He intercedes for us to His Father. Just before ascending into heaven, Jesus instructed His disciples to return to Jerusalem, and there they should fast and pray while they await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. We are reminded that as members of the Body of Christ, we have become His hands and feet to work in this world. In various dioceses and countries, some observed Ascension last Thursday, but the bishops in most of the United States (except the northeast and Nebraska) use their prerogative to transfer the celebration to Sunday. In this way, the serious obligation of attending
Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation now has been combined with a Sunday, when many more people are able to get to church for the celebration.

On Saturday, May 29th, at the 5:30 p.m. Mass, our 8th grade will mark their graduation from our parish school. We certainly will miss this spirited group when they leave our school, and I invite you to pray for them, that they may stay close to Jesus when they are in high school and fulfill their role of worshipping Him each weekend, not only when they feel like coming. I invite all of our graduates to attend that Mass, too, as we pray for them and their future, so that they may realize that it is God who brought them to this point in their lives, and it is God who will sustain them when others will have abandoned them.

On the same weekend of May 29-30, our parish will take up a special 2nd collection for the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, of whom we have our Sister Maria and Sister Dorothy from our school. They will be speaking at most of our Masses that weekend about their community, and this will be our chance to help sustain their Order. Special envelopes have been printed for you to fill out and drop in the collection basket for that occasion. So, I hope you will be generous to their call for help, for, as in some of the poorer areas of the world, their work cannot be sustained except through the generous response given by people in first-world countries, especially in the parishes in which they work, such as ours. Among their many missions throughout the world, some of these Sisters work in Poland, Rome and the U.S., and have additional places to maintain, such as those situated in Africa, the Philippines, Ukraine and Belarus. There they run schools, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, orphanages, and catechetical centers. They are noted for their faithful witness to Christ and His people, their wearing of the traditional full-length garment of religious women, their love and devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and their prayerful witness through their good example.

May they also draw young women to their style of community life, ready to give up the worldly things this life offers to take on the challenges we all must overcome to enter into God’s Kingdom. Congratulations to the new officers for our parish Home and School Association: President, Tom & Elizabeth Brinkman; Vice President Noreen Kelly; Treasurer Chris & Susan Grant; Recording Secretary John & Begona Krane; Financial Secretary Bill & Greta Gillis; and Parliamentarian Jason & Vicki Chung.

They are very active and participating parishioners, not only in our school programs, but also in the total life of our parish. I welcome them into their new roles for the next 2 years, and pray that their good efforts will be met with the assistance of many other parents, who also will volunteer to assist them for the good of our school and parish.

In the first part of June, I will be returning to Rome for the closing of the Year of the Priest. It was my good fortune last June to be there for its opening. With gratitude to the 47,000 Knights of Columbus in the state of Florida for being chosen as their representative chaplain, I will join the state chaplains of each of our 50 states and several national chaplains of the countries in which our Knights are present, to meet with our
Holy Father and partake of the closing events.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-05-08T09:29:37-04:00

During this month of May, set aside in the Catholic Church to honor Mary, Mother of God and of the
Church, we take time on this second Sunday of the month to honor our earthly mothers, too, as we celebrate their love on Mother's Day.

Many flowers, spiritual bouquets, beautiful gifts, special meals and additional signs of affection will be shown to our Moms, whether living or not, to tell them how much we love them and how much we appreciate all that they mean to us and have done for us to nurture our life and faith. How wonderful, too, if we were to take some time to extend that gratitude to our spiritual Mother, Mary, and pray her rosary during this month as a sign of our love and affection for her.

Even if we set aside one decade of the Rosary each day and meditate upon the mysteries contained therein, we express our deepest sentiments in appreciation for all that she has done for us, including saying “Yes” to the Father for bringing forth the life of His Son, our Savior, on earth. Our school children will honor the Blessed Virgin this coming week (May 11th) with a traditional, annual crowning of the statue of the Blessed Virgin in church at the 8:30 A.M. Mass. I welcome you to join us on this occasion.

We're delighted that our little children of the second grade of our school and our Parish Religious Education Program (PREP) have just received their First Holy Communion this past Saturday. My hope and prayer is that it will not just be a single passing occasion in their lives, but that it will be repeated at least weekly at Sunday Mass, when their joy will be renewed at receiving Jesus regularly into their hearts, and that the love He has for them may be returned as often as humanly possible to Him by their worthy reception of Holy Communion.

May they always stay close to Jesus, and may they grow in wisdom and grace that comes from the worthy reception of this Sacrament. Sadly, we know that there are many people who approach this Sacrament casually, and, unfortunately, some of them in a most unworthy state, without the proper disposition necessary to receive His grace. May our little ones never be given the bad example of unworthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. If they have somehow neglected the Lord in their obligatory weekly worship in a Catholic church, or have offended God in a serious other way, may they learn to be first reconciled with Him through a good Confession in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, and then benefit from His graces through a worthy reception of Holy Communion. In that way may their reception of the Eucharist benefit their lives and keep them close to the Lord.

Next Saturday, May 15th, we will have our annual Parish Golf Tourney, and this one is set to be one of the
largest and best ever because of the hard work done by the preparatory team of Mimi Meister and her friends (mentioned previously in the bulletin). Sponsorships, underwriting and the signing up of many foursome teams have given us an indication that we're in for a very special day. Let's pray that the weather will be great and that we'll have a glorious and fun-filled time on the course. More information appears elsewhere in this bulletin.

Graduations of our parishioners from different levels of schooling is already taking place, and we congratulate all of them on their accomplishments, from pre-K through graduate school in several universities! May God's blessings be poured on them in abundance, and may all those who have led them to this graduation be rewarded with a sense of their own accomplishment.

As we draw closer to the end of this Year For Priests, and witness the ceaseless and continuous groundless
attacks on our Church and the Priesthood, we recall the words of Pope Benedict XVI, in his letter that proclaimed this year in our honor: “ I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ's words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labors, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity?” Pray for your priests, and pray for more priests to be sent to labor in the field of harvest.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-05-04T16:05:19-04:00

Irish journalist, David Quinn, recently came out with an article on why he views the current and ongoing attacks on Pope Benedict as attacks on the Catholic Church itself. Acknowledging his better journalistic abilities, I present some of his thoughts, edited and co-mingled with mine.

Although Pope Benedict XVI was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II just five years ago, he already has become a controversial figure. He has gone on to become the “hate figure” in certain media and other circles -- a sort of replacement “target man” for George W Bush. Those circles include aggressive secularists, angry ex- Catholics, and even some within the Catholic fold itself, who live in denial, and still suffer from the delusion that the purpose of the 2ndVatican Council was to turn the Catholic Church into another form of failed liberal Protestantism.

Pope Benedict is obviously in the news more than ever now because of the scandals and the ongoing and ratherunfair attempts to implicate him in the mismanagement of those scandals. But, even without the scandals, Benedict XVI was and is a ‘hate figure’ for some. He’s been attacked often without any proper justification. For example, in December 2008, he was widely condemned for allegedly comparing homosexuality with the destruction of the rainforests - except that he did no such thing. In that given speech, he never even mentioned homosexuality.

A few weeks later, on his way to Africa, he defended the Church's opposition to condom promotion in fighting the spread of HIV/Aids. He was excoriated for this and blamed for helping to cause the deaths of millions. But none of his critics paid any attention to the actual scientific evidence, which shows that no condom promotion campaign aimed at general populations has ever succeeded in reducing the spread of HIV/Aids. What does work, according to the evidence, are fidelity campaigns!

The attacks on Pope Benedict are, actually, a more subtle attack on the Catholic Church, and they come from many directions. The Church is attacked over its supposed attitude towards Jews, Protestants, Muslims and thevother religions, generally; and Pope Benedict and the Church are attacked for their attitude towards homosexuality and human sexuality. They are attacked over their defense of the right to life of the unborn, the elderly and the sick.

They are attacked over their defense of marriage. But in a way, all these attacks are an attack on the same thing, namely the Pope’s and the Church's defense of objective truth and morality --the belief that certain things are right or wrong in and of themselves, regardless of opinion or circumstance. In an age of moral relativism, nothing is more offensive than the person who says, however calmly, that morality is simply a matter of opinion, that religions are all equally true or equally false, and that all lifestyle choices are
equal.

With regard to sex, for example, the Church says that sex has an objective meaning and purpose, and that one such purpose is procreation, intrinsically linked to heterosexuality. This is connected to the defense of marriage. One reason the Church says men and women should marry before they have sex is because it believes children have a right to be raised by their two married parents. But many people, especially cohabiting couples, single parents and homosexuals, find this offensive, and it leads them into a denial that children have any need for, or right to, a married mother and father. But, the Church cannot go down that road! Nor can the Church say all religions are equal, because then it would have to deny that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Yet, it doesn't mean the Church
wouldn’t treat other religions with due respect. So, why is all this so difficult to grasp?

Presumably we're all able to treat most of the people with whom we disagree with respect. And the Church does the same thing, contrary to popular prejudicial opinion. The paradoxical problem of relativism is that it claims to treat all points of view equally but, in fact, it condemns those who deny relativism. In other words, relativists defend their point of view as trenchantly and aggressively as the worst fundamentalists and will allow no opposition.

The Pope calls this ultra-aggressiveness the 'dictatorship of relativism.' And the main reason these liberal fundamentalists spend so much of their time and energy attacking the Pope and the Church is because these are the foremost defenders of objective truth and morality in the world today. Destroy Benedict, damage or co-opt the Church he leads, and you go a long way towards destroying opposition to liberal fundamentalism. This is a cataclysmic battle between those who believe in objective morality and those who think morality is relative. Pope Benedict is smack in the middle of the hottest part of this battle! In this Year for Priests, please remember to pray for our Chief Priest, Pope Benedict XVI. As leader of Christ’s Church on earth, he is in great need of our prayerful help.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-04-22T17:06:23-04:00

It is with a real sense of sadness that we extend our sympathy to our Bishop Barbarito on the death of his mother, Anna Marie, who died on Saturday, April 17th, and was buried this past week in Brooklyn. She had bravely fought cancer these last few years of her life, and now, God has called her home to be with Him after a very beautiful life that included daily Mass and Holy Communion. May she enjoy happiness with the Lord and her husband forever, and may our Bishop and his sister and her family be consoled that God really loves His faithful followers!

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, a.k.a., The World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It is set aside for us to pray in a special way for more vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life. In this Year for Priests, we pray even more intensely that God will raise up from among us more good and faithful people to answer his call to serve as one of His Priests. Once they are called, we pray that they may be guided throughout their life of service and not succumb to the power of the Evil One. We also join in asking God to extend the call to for more to become Religious Brothers and Sisters and Permanent Deacons.

Perhaps an invitation from you to your children or other members of your family who are open to God’s call to serve Him and His people in one of these capacities will cause them to think and open their hearts to the possibilities of sharing God’s love with a world in need of that love. If you qualify and are considering the possibilities that God is calling you to try out the seminary or convent to discern whether to are being called to serve Him in religious life, remember the words of a famous manufacturer: “Just do it!” Remember, the seminary or convent is a place of discernment; you will not be ordained or professed in solemn vows for many years. There, you are just given ample opportunity over several years to explore the possibility of a call to priesthood or religious life.

Speaking of shepherds, we extend congratulations to Archbishop-elect Thomas Wenski, a priest-son of Palm Beach County, who has just been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to head the Archdiocese of Miami, which is the largest diocese south of Philadelphia and east of Huston. I just had dinner with him at his Orlando home ten days ago, and you would have thought he was the proverbial “cat that swallowed the canary.” The Archbishop served most of his priesthood in the Miami area before he was named six years ago to head the rapidly expanding diocese of Orlando. The 59-year old son of a Polish-immigrant father and Polish-American mother, he is well suited to lead the Miami-area Catholics, as he speaks fluent Haitian Creole, Spanish, English and a decent amount of Polish.

The enormous task that lies ahead of him will require a lot of energy and even more prayer, so please include this native son of our area in your prayers so that he will be a good shepherd. And, please don’t take any negative publicity in the media at face-value; they love to stir up controversy even where it doesn’t really exist. Yes, the devil has his minions at work, even when they may not realize he is using them.

Next Sunday, May 2nd, the Diocese of Palm Beach will celebrate our annual Marian Rosary Festival, beginning
at 2:00 p.m. at Emmanuel Parish. Once again, our own Bishop Barbarito has accepted the invitation to celebrate the devotions honoring Mary, the Mother of Our God. Events will include the procession of various Marian images, the recitation of the Rosary, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Knights of Columbus, parish chapters of the CCW, and Rosary groups from throughout our diocese are welcome to join in this celebration, followed by a multi-cultural fiesta of food and entertainment provided by different ethnic groups participating in the festival. You and your family are invited to honor Mary, too, with your prayer, and mark the beginning of Mary’s month of May.

On Saturday, May 8th, our little children, who have been preparing this year for their First Holy Communion, will receive Jesus at their special Mass at 10:30 a.m. I thank the teachers of religion and the parents of these children who have brought them to this point of their lives, most especially by the good example they have given through lives of volunteer service and deepened prayer. May they continue to show their faithfulness by teaching our children receive the Lord often in the Eucharist, attending Mass each and every Sunday as a means of growing
stronger in the spiritual life through this Bread of Angels.

There is a special notice in this week’s bulletin about our opening of a second counseling center on campus (the first is the diocesan-sponsored Catholic Charities Counseling office in the old convent, above the Parish Gift Shop). The new one is called Divine Mercy Healing and Counseling Center. Please check its announcement elsewhere in this bulletin. God bless you!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-04-15T22:04:03-04:00

What tragedies have befallen God’s people again, this time in West Virginia and Poland. My classmate, the Bishop of West Virginia, missed our class reunion last week to spend much time ministering to those of his flock who have lost loved ones in the coal mine disaster there (I did get to see his picture on the news more than once during that sad vigil). In Poland, the nation suffered its most devastating setback since World War II. Their leaders were on their way to offer a commemorative Mass marking the 70th anniversary of the wiping out of the leadership and intelligentsia of Poland by the Soviets in Katyn Forest.

My Polish-language professor had been among the leadership of those who persisted in bringing to light the atrocities that were hidden for years by Russia. When he died two years ago, he was given a state funeral from Warsaw’s Cathedral, already having been given the equivalent of Poland’s Medal of Honor and the Polish Parliament’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. For those of us who remember the Kennedy assassinations and were deeply affected by them, just try to imagine the wipe-out of not only the Kennedys, but much of the leadership of our military and Congressional leaders.

It is virtually unparalleled in these times outside of war and genocide. I knew the bishop of the Polish Military Diocese who lost his life (just saw him last summer), as well as the ex-President of the Republic-in-exile, who served his people from London during the years of Soviet and Communist domination of Poland. There were seven other priests also on board that ill-fated aircraft.

Please pray for all those who have perished in these disasters, as well as their families (and for our Sister Maria and Sister Dorothy, who cannot return home at this time to join in their nation’s mourning), and the entire Catholic Polish nation. Now that the flu season is over and the danger of rapid transmission of the “bug” seems to have passed, the reception of the Precious Blood at Sunday Masses in our parish will be resumed, with the usual precautions for both Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist and recipients still being observed. The ministers will continue to purify their hands before distributing the host or cup, and carefully wipe the cup after the recipient has partaken of the Precious Blood.

The recipient should not approach the cup if he/she is aware of any cold or other illness that could infect any other recipients. This will be the last Sunday that Deacon Chris LeBlanc will serve as a Deacon in our parish before his going off to prepare for his priestly ordination and First Mass. We are grateful for his weekends of service throughout the past year, and wish him only the best for his last days in the seminary as a student. He has been a good preacher of God’s Word here, and a valuable asset to our parish family, especially to the youth of our Life Teen program. Though we will lose his presence in our area, we know that his Diocese of Pensacola- Tallahassee will utilize his many talents, and hope that he will receive a suitable assignment there and continue to develop his gifts for the use of God’s people in that diocese. Pray for him, that he may be worthy of that call by God to serve Him and His flock in the best ways possible. Pray, too, for the health of his own bishop, the Most Reverend John Ricard, weakened by a series of strokes and physical setbacks in this 70th year of his life.

Father Chris will be ordained in the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Pensacola on Saturday, June 5th, in this “Year for Priests.” Then, on June 20th, “Father” Chris will return to us to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving, followed by a reception in our Parish Center. Until then, we wish him the choicest of God’s blessings and “bon voyage!”

Steve Dudenhoefer, of Ak’Tenamit in our Guatemalan mission, has sent us a lovely message of thanks for your generous contribution to that cause. He will greet us when several men from the Knights of Columbus of our parish and their sons arrive in mid-July (17th to the 25th) for our annual volunteer work week (actually 9 days) in the steamy rain forest of Guatemala. If you wish to donate to this worthy project, green envelopes marked for the Guatemalan mission are found in the clear plastic brochure holders at each of the entrances of our church. You may put your offering along with your weekly parish stewardship envelope in the Sunday collection. Thank you so much for your support of this worthy cause!

We welcome the newest members of our parish, who will join us after the last Mass this Sunday morning, in a meeting and reception in our parish hall. We thank Karen Turnbull and her team of welcoming volunteers who, with the leadership of our parish, are making them feel welcome to our parish family.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-04-08T19:32:03-04:00

Thank you to the many kind people who visited us over the past Easter weekend (the busiest time of year for church services and record attendance) and supported our church through their generous donations and collections.

The church was packed at many of the Masses, and parking seemed tougher than usual. So, I tip my hat to those kind and loyal volunteers who did their best to try to keep the great volume of cars flowing in and out after the most crowded of our Easter Masses, or who offered their services in such a way as to lessen an already difficult
situation. Thank you for being so patient, too, when the bridge went up and the train came through, causing a real delay in arrivals for Mass because the previous crowd couldn’t leave so quickly.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see these crowds coming to Mass each Sunday? But, alas, we know that many are only Easter-time visitors – some for good reasons, too. We appreciate their support of our parish while they are with
us, especially the many seasonal snowbirds who are a tremendous asset to us. We will miss you until you return to us. May God bless all of you who support us while you’re here, especially those who generously support the Diocesan Services Appeal!

Thank you to all those workers and volunteers who helped us prepare for such beautiful and spiritually uplifting Holy Week and Easter celebrations. Our maintenance staff (guided by Jay Flood), our volunteer grounds crew (headed by Chris Grant), the entire Skinner family, Ana Kenefick, and Gene Montfort (decorating the church), seminary students Mark Gobeo and Wesler Hilaire, and several other parishioners stayed very many extra hours in church and on the campus to give that special “extra time and effort.” Our mellifluous-sounding choir (with Bill Stafford & Mark Galsky at the helm) did its part to enhance each of the liturgies. Our teens did a reverent and dignified rendition of the Living Stations of the Cross on Good Friday evening. The many attendees had to be deeply moved by the presentation, as several related later to me.

This weekend unfolds in a relatively new feast in the Church known as Divine Mercy Sunday. Thanks to the intervention of the late Pope John Paul II, we have this celebration of the unlimited love and mercy of Our Lord, shown to us through His divine revelations to Saint Sister Faustina. While each Mass this Sunday is a celebration of Divine Mercy in itself, there will be a special Holy Hour in the afternoon in the church at 3:00 p.m., concluding a nine-day novena. Our weekly visiting transitional Deacon Chris Le Blanc is approaching his priestly ordination (June 5th) in Tallahassee. He’ll still in service with us as a deacon for just this weekend and the next one, too. Then it’s off to the required retreat and time for his immediate preparation for his ordination. “Deacon Chris” will then return to us as “Father Chris,” to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in our parish on June 20th, followed by a reception for all our parishioners in his honor in our Parish Center. I certainly hope you plan to be with us for that memorable
occasion.

On Thursday, April 15th, we will begin our 70th year as a parish!! It’s hard to believe that we have aged that much, but it is so. Checking out our parish website, you can trace the history of the growth of our wonderful parish from its earliest moments as it emerged from Sacred Heart Parish in Lake Worth, and later gave birth to several other neighboring parishes. So much has happened here in the span of these years, and we give thanks to God for the spiritual benefits of this pilgrimage. May He grant us seventy more years plus, and may His love continue
to be poured out upon us through the work of so many generous parishioners and great volunteers!

The feast of St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419), our parish patron, is usually observed on April 5th (though this past Monday, we observed Day 2 of the Easter Week celebrations). Vincent, the son of an Englishman who settled in Valencia, Spain, and married his Spanish-born bride there, has been named the patron of plumbers and builders. He entered the Dominican Order at age 17, distinguished himself as a scholar, and became an outstanding preacher and philosopher. He had quite notable success in arousing Christians to repentance in Spain, France and Italy, and he also converted literally thousands to Roman Catholicism. Among his many converts was the Rabbi Paul, who later became bishop of Cartagena, Spain. He did his best to try to arrest what Church historians refer to as “The Great Western Schism” (when there were two, then three claimants to the papal throne at one time), but to little avail. Still, he continued to serve God and His Church very faithfully, influencing so many people in a positive way. Incidentally, Vincent’s very own brother was chosen to head the great monastery of Grand Chartreuse in France, the country in which Vincent died after being worn out by his many successful preaching labors. Shortly after his death, a spontaneous popular cult arose about him, and he was later declared a saint in 1455.

[And you think we have it rough in the Church in this day and age!]
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-03-31T19:21:04-04:00

Congratulations to the newest members of the Catholic community of our parish, who will have been received into the fullness of our Faith this Holy Saturday evening: Angel DeBlasio, Tabatha Gerber, Lolita Howard, and Michael Spall, being baptized, confirmed and receiving First Holy Communion; Tiffany Guarneiri, receiving First Holy Communion and Confirmation; and Rodrigo Pastrana, receiving Confirmation! May they feel the power of the Holy Spirit and the Son of God come over them and lead them to a deep commitment to live out their Faith!

With gratitude for their recent two-year term of service, I thank the outgoing officers of our parish’s Home and School Association for taking up the responsible mantle of leadership and showing us the wonders of a very successful program during their tenure: our Presidents Irene & Bayard Hey; Vice Presidents Desiree & Richard Alaniz; Financial Secretaries Kim & Paul Weber; Recording Secretaries Vicki & Jayson Chung; Treasurer Laura Alexander; and our Parliamentarians Cindy & Tim Swilley. Their leadership has allowed them to discover new and creative ways of fund-raising and links of communication that help our parish school advance in academic, spiritual, and social achievements. May their examples of volunteerism and service inspire many others to continue the hallowed traditions we cherish! The new officers for the next two-year term of service will be announced shortly.

Thank you most kindly for your generous support of the Guatemalan Mission Collection. The collection netted $22,384, and there are numerous donors who signed up to sponsor the education of a child or two at Ak’Tenamit. If you have not yet donated to this worthy cause, green envelopes are still available at the entrances to our church. The children of Guatemala appreciate you and will be praying for you!

Thank you to the wonderful team of Michelle Gemma and Mimi Meister, who put forth a most successfully fabulous and entertaining Spring Trunk Show featuring a Fashion Show and British Tea last week for the benefit of our school. Team members are: Shannon Boueri, Amy Fairchild, Jill Gallo, Greta Gillis, Louis Glover, Michelle Harrington, Lisa Harshberger, Chrissy Hubiak, Ruthie Lesane, Louise Plunkett, Nancy Porter, Alexandra Raciunas, and Dolly Steinman. May God bless them for their volunteering to serve in this fund-raiser.

Our next big event for the benefit of our parish and school will be the Golf Tournament on May 15th. We hope you’ll come join us for a wonderful opportunity of fun, fund-raising and fellowship. I hope to join in the festivities as I celebrate my 39th priestly anniversary that day.

You have all heard of the recent attacks on Pope Benedict XVI regarding the scandals that have been plaguing the Church during the past decade. The latest is based on an article in The New York Times, once a flagship of higher, class journalism, which has sunk to lower levels because of its mediocre-to-less editorializing, that is now taking the place of factual reporting. There are several glaring inaccuracies and outright errors in its reporting. (Sadly, Maureen Dowd repeats the same innuendos in her syndicated column without checking out the facts). Very fortunately, the Vatican’s official news service and newspaper were able to soundly refute these hastily-made accusations veiled innuendos. Unfortunately, not everyone reads the English version of L’Osservatore Romano. For some more objective presentations on this matter, I urge you to go online to an excellent editorial by U.S. correspondent to the Vatican, John Allen, who’s written a thorough rebuttal to the Times article for the National Catholic Reporter, (which, by the way, is not my favorite “Catholic” paper): “Keeping the Record Straight on Benedict and the Crisis.” Likewise, George Weigel, Biographer of Pope John Paul II and Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the author of “The Courage To Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church,” in his recent article, “Scoundrel Time(s),” has taken up the same cause as John Allen, and given another strong defense of truth and the Pope. But I don’t know how many people will take time to get away from the distortions of the times to read these two men’s exposes and view the other side of the story. In this “Year For Priests,” please remember to pray for Pope Benedict, too. He is always under attack from the insidiousness of the anti-clerical, anti-Catholic and anti-God forces that “prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.”

Next Sunday, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday, the highlight of the eight days of the Easter octave. It will be marked by a special Holy Hour of adoration and reflection on the wondrous mysteries of our Lord’s lavish mercy upon those who call upon Him in truth. We will celebrate the Holy Hour and Benediction at 3:00 P.M. in the church. It is an opportunity to learn more of the revelations of Jesus to St. Sister Faustina. Will you take time to join us?

Have a blessed Easter (8 days long in the octave), and remember to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily at least
once during this season (5th Precept of the Church)!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-03-25T17:49:17-04:00

We begin, once again, the most sacred and most important week of the Christian calendar: Holy Week. These
days have precedence over all other celebrations. Palm Sunday (properly called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion), calls to mind Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem to accomplish the Paschal Mystery. Accordingly, the memorial of this event is included in every Mass. On Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the Eucharist is distributed only during the Liturgy, though it may be brought to the sick at a different hour. On Holy Saturday, the Eucharist is not to be distributed before the Easter Vigil; it may only be given as Viaticum (literally, “with you on the way”) tothe dying.

Funeral Masses may not be celebrated during these days. The last opportunities before Easter for Confession
will be Monday at 9 AM, Monday night at the 7 PM Penance Service, and Wednesday at 9 AM. Though we
are called to fasting, and abstinence from meat once more on Good Friday, Lent actually ends with the conclusion of Holy Thursday’s evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The following days are called the Easter Triduum, from the Latin for “The Three Days.” These are the holiest days of the Church year!

What really do the liturgies of the Triduum celebrate? Most all of us believe we know the answer. We assume
that Thursday commemorates the day Jesus instituted Holy Orders and the Holy Eucharist; Friday commemorates the day He was executed on the cross; and the Vigil commemorates His emergence from the tomb. We assume, further, that the liturgies of these days are dramatic reenactments of events -- touching, tragic and triumphant-- which happened during Jesus’ last days, and culminated in His victory over death. In other words, we assume that the Paschal Triduum is simply springtime’s parallel to winter’s Christmas. As we gather on these days, we often think we are to be engaged in acts of historical “reconstruction” that re-create scenes in the “Upper Room,” on Calvary, and at the tomb. People have been encouraged to imagine they are actually present at these events -- comforting Jesus during His tearful watch in Gethsemane, walking with Him along the Way of the Cross, and witnessing His miraculous “return to life” on Easter morning.

This view is reinforced by popular hymns that focus on the “historical facts” of the celebration. But is history to be the central focus of celebration during the Triduum? Certainly, early Christians anchored their belief in the historical (“this-worldly”) circumstances that accompanied Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion “under Pontius Pilate.” Jesus’ life, career and death were, in other words, attached to a specific time, in a specific place. For sure, His proclamation of God’s arrival in the present moment (God’s “reign”), His challenge to understand God as being in our neighbor, and His obvious rejection of elements of what people thought was “religion” (especially when used as a means of social or political control) -- all this took place not in some cosmic cloud of unknowing, but in a remote province of the Roman Empire, at a time of a sociopolitical transition.

Precisely because these faith-anchoring events are historical, however, they cannot be repeated or “reenacted.”
This is why the Church’s long tradition insists that what happened once in history passes over into the mystery of the assembly’s sacramental / liturgical celebrations. What the Triduum actually celebrates is mystery, not history.

These liturgies aren’t supposed to “take us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear” – to the Upper Room or the path to Calvary. Their ultimate purpose is not to retrace or relive the last hours of Jesus’ life – nor to catch sight of Him emerging from the tomb at Easter’s dawning. They celebrate not what once happened to Jesus, but what is now happening among us as a people called to conversion, gathered in faith, and renewed with the Spirit of holiness.

They celebrate God’s taking possession of our hearts at their deepest core -- re-creating us as a new human
community, broken like bread for the world’s life, rich in compassion, steadfast in hope, and fearless in the search for justice and peace.

As another reminder, there are NO Saturday Vigil Masses this Saturday afternoon -- only the evening Mass of the Easter Vigil at 7:00 PM, in which we will receive some new members into the fullness of the Faith through Baptism, Confirmation and First Holy Communion. This Vigil Mass will fulfill our obligation to attend Easter Sunday Mass (and avoid the huge crowds that throng the Easter morning Masses!). Also, there is NO Sunday 5:30 Life Teen Mass on Easter Day. We will resume that on the following Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday.

I ask your cooperation with the police and ushers on Easter Sunday morning. In order to meet the Fire Marshall’s demands, when the church is filled to capacity for the 10 and 11:30 Easter morning Masses, the church doors will be closed, and the rest of the people then will be directed to the well-decorated parish hall for the overflow Masses. Also, you may really want to consider these in advance, as you can be guaranteed seating there, but not in church.

Please make time to participate in the various services during Holy Week, and may the blessings promised to the faithful be yours in abundance at Easter. The priests, sisters, deacons and staff wish you God’s choicest blessings upon you and your family this Easter!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-03-20T12:18:20-04:00

Steve Dudenhoefer, our lay-missioner and friend from our sister mission at Ak’Tenamit in Guatemala, is here to speak to us this weekend. He has been laboring in the rain forests of that country for over sixteen years, now, and is filled with stories of the new achievements at the school that you have been helping to make possible. Though the enrollment has more than doubled in the last five years, many more students are awaiting the possibility of a chance for an education at the Father Tom Moran School, and a chance to make a difference in their region and their country.

The program has been so successful, that the Guatemalan government is asking Steve and the program to go into other areas of the country and replicate the program. Your generous gift next week in the 2nd collection (special envelopes will be available, and checks can be made out to our parish or to the Guatemalan Tomorrow Fund - GTF), your sponsorship of a child or more, and your overall generous and prayerful support of our work down there will create more than a few “dreams come true.” This coming July, several Knights of Columbus (some with their sons as well as some of our state leaders) will venture there again in a labor of love, thanks to your generous support that also will help supply the needs of our next building project. Despite our current economic downturn, we know that we still have it better off than so many down there. Yet, why do we return from there so uplifted and fulfilled? It’s because, in their simplest ways, the
people there know how to express their gratitude for all we do for them.

Can you believe it - next Sunday is already Palm Sunday?!! As my Mom always said to us, “Where does the time go?” This is a fair warning to you who come regularly to our church, that next Sunday there will be crowds coming to church (the palms are free), so if you want to participate in the liturgies in a conducive way, please come extra early to find a seat. The seating will be tight. The palms will be blessed at the beginning, making them the sacramentals that they were intended to be. Here’s an excellent time to teach the little ones that these palms are not toys, but special holy objects to help bring us closer to the mysteries that unfold during Holy Week. As you leave church, please try to be considerate of those who will follow you at the later services and try to leave the church at least as neat as you found it, taking home your palms, and discarding excessive palm strings and any other residue. When you take palms home, you can place them behind the crucifix or a holy picture or in some other special place where they may be legitimately venerated
and the mysteries contained in them to be meditated upon.

We are grateful to Father Phelps and Father Steinmiller for the wonderful gift of the parish mission that they gave us this past week. They spent a lot of time in preparation for this work, and the results should continue to bear fruit as we contemplate their message and reflect upon the great gifts with which God has blessed our parish. The witness talks by our parishioners were so outstanding that many came to know themselves better because some of them really “hit close to home.” I thank our coordinators, Deacon Bruce and Karen Turnbull, and Deacon Lee and Alice Levenson, for their efforts to help promote the beauty of the message presented at this time.

A wealthy man once watched the late Mother Teresa caring for a leper that had foul smelling wounds. He said to her, “I wouldn’t do that work for a million dollars.” She replied, “Neither would I, but I am doing it to serve Jesus!” She knew the difference between what money could buy and what it couldn’t. No amount of reasoning or proof can convince us of the value of caring for the sick and dying. No cost-benefit analysis can justify giving oneself to another in marriage or having children. Simple knowledge may tell us what to believe and what not to believe.

Ordinary human knowledge, by way of reasoning and logical proof, can take us so far in life, but only the Holy Spirit’s gift of KNOWLEDGE can give us some insight into God’s ways. She knew compassion! In these changing and turbulent times in the Church, KNOWLEDGE can give us a real perspective on the reality of life. Knowing that God is the center of all creation and life itself, we become more willing to trust Him and His timetable. That’s why we always seek to learn as much about God and His Church as possible, so that we can work in cooperation with Him for the betterment of the world and ourselves.

That’s why we, as Catholics, value human life “from the womb to the tomb” – because we have learned from Sacred Scripture all that we need to know about God’s activity in our life. With only a few more weeks remaining in his schedule, Deacon Chris LeBlanc, who has been helping us on weekends for the better part of the past year, will be finishing his work here, and will go back to his diocese of Pensacola- Tallahassee for Ordination to the Priesthood in June. We have been blessed with his presence and the many talents and
gifts that God has given him that he shared with us. Please keep him in your prayers long beyond his priestly ordination, so that he may best bring Christ to the people who long to be nourished by the Word and Body of Christ.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-03-12T16:44:07-05:00

This past Saturday, Bishop Barbarito returned to our parish to preside over the anniversary of many couples who are celebrating 25, 40, 50 or more years of marriage! These couples’ marriages lasted so long because so many of them wanted to stay faithful to Christ and the teachings of His Church. Sadly, many others went a different way. This is not a condemnation of them, but rather a praise of those who struggle to be faithful to Christ and to each other in a society that promotes “the easy way out.”

In July, 1968, Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae. “Experts” predicted "a change" in Church teaching on birth control. However, wiser, quieter voices said that "a change" was out of the question, for this would have reversed the accepted and constant moral teaching, set out by Pope Pius XI in Casti Connubii and repeated by Vatican II, in the document Gaudium et Spes, #50, 51. But the quieter voices were ignored in the Sixties, a confused era for Catholics seeking moral guidance on spacing childbirths.

The anti-ovulent pill raised doubts about the classical teaching. It did not involve mechanical means. It was invisible and could have medical applications. Little was known then of health hazards or early abortion effects, and few recognized the disruptive psychological dimensions of contraception. So, a campaign began to spread across Europe and North America to allow the pill for Catholics. Confessors gave conflicting advice: some saying "no change," others "wait for it," others "follow your conscience" (code for "go ahead"). Well before the encyclical, a new “elastic conscience” took hold in the Church.

However, there were other problems. Natural methods were not trusted: “not ‘scientific’ enough” to satisfy a contraceptive mentality. All natural methods were called "rhythm." Married people were skeptical when told that this old "calendar method" had been superseded by the Basal Body Temperature Method or the simpler Billings Ovulation Method. Yet, some promoters of natural methods were not convinced about Church teaching—nor for the need of its essential work: to teach, sanctify and govern. They had lost heart. Others were not open to new developments, like the Billings or the Sympto-Thermal approach.

"High hopes" were also raised by the commission set up by Pope Paul VI to review the question. Since the majority report the commission presented to the Pope was in favor of change, that report was widely publicized. The more prudent minority report, the one against change, was noticeably derided.
When the encyclical appeared on July 25, 1968, knowledgeable people knew that the encyclical was not one Pope's hesitant "decision;" rather, it was his confident restatement of unchangeable teaching.

On the day the encyclical was released, it was already being undermined in Rome. Msgr.Lambruschini incorrectly told the media that the teaching was "not infallible" (a signal to “ignore it”). Others came to the opposite conclusion. But in 1968, who knew enough theology to understand that when a Pope repeats and elucidates constant Church teaching, this is infallible teaching in his Ordinary Teaching Authority? “Humanae Vitae” did not have to be proclaimed with a public ceremony, like a dogma defined by the Extraordinary Teaching Authority. It was the work of serious years of study and many more of tradition.

What most of us didn’t know at the time was how a young Polish cardinal influenced the way Paul VI presented the teaching. Karol Woytyla had written “Love and Responsibility” back in 1958. Later, as Pope John Paul II, he would develop and enrich the “Humanae Vitae” encyclical. In 1968, there was a famous debate at Oxford between some Dominicans and Professor Elizabeth Anscombe. She defended “Humanae Vitae” logically, and easily won, However, in the opinion of many crammed into the auditorium, emotions counted more than reason. During the debate, someone quoted a footnote in the encyclical by the great Dominican theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, on the Natural Law. The Dominicans were flustered, for, at that time, some English Dominicans had absorbed Marxism. One even cynically described “Humanae Vitae” as an opportunity for power struggles in the Church.

In the wake of “Humanae Vitae,” aggressive dissent seemed to freeze many Catholic leaders. To a certain extent, acts of discipline against vocal priests only made them “media martyrs.” Some of these went even so far as to attack infallibility, even though they understood papal teaching authority. The Pope was not only attacked in the secular press; the most tragic part of the saga was to come. Even though there was a compassionate pastoral tone to the encyclical, so called "pastoral statements" from some Bishops’ Conferences modified the Pope's teaching in a slippery way. Canada’s was perhaps the worst. Though these were later corrected, the damage was already done. Through the media, Catholics heard "follow your conscience,” and misinterpreted it as a green light for birth control and sterilization.

Paul VI now has been described as a prophet, though in his time he seemed to be a martyr. Actually, his letter on the transmission of human life was really his finest hour. It did have an uncanny accuracy in light of the past forty plus years. He said that contraception harmed women (H.V. # 17). He was criticized sharply for linking sterilization and abortion to contraception. But recent decades have revealed these three ugly sisters of a "culture of death" are inseparable. Though people laughed at
him, years later even many feminists came to agree with him in so much of his prophetic teachings. He argued that artificial birth control cannot be used by governments to impose population control. The Vatican-led struggles against population control at UN Conferences in the 1990's vindicated his stand. He argued that love, not just life, is disrupted by anti-natal practices.

People who actually read his encyclical find a rich doctrine of married love. But the creative development of that dimension had to wait for another Pope: John Paul II. His teaching, that the love-giving and life-giving dimensions of the marriage act must never be separated, has been vindicated by the current manipulation of human life: IVF, surrogacy, embryo experimentation, cloning, etc. Human-animal hybrids were later approved in England, where the "Mother of Parliaments," first legalized abortion in 1967.

After the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the Family, Pope John Paul II personalized “Humanae Vitae” in his own “Familiaris Consortio.” Benefiting from a real understanding of the woman's cycle, couples can cooperate with God as ministers of life, open to the Divine Plan. Pope John Paul II promoted the truly interpersonal natural regulation of fertility. This is the only real pastoral way forward: widely promoting natural regulation of fertility- the so-called "Natural Family Planning (NFP)." He said that what is truly natural in marital relations can actually be a means of grace in marriage.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-03-04T18:17:58-05:00

Thank you sincerely for your participation in, and support of our 43rd Annual Parish Festival. Through
your purchase of raffle tickets, sponsorships, underwriting of the event, and especially donating of your time and service as valuable volunteers, you have helped bring about another successful event for the benefit of our school children.

There were so many people involved that it becomes difficult to thank each individual. People have been coming from great distances as well as our local neighborhood to have a great time enjoying the food, camaraderie and various kinds of entertainment. Though we won’t have the final results for a few weeks (after all the bills have been paid!), suffice it to say that the parish festival has been blessed by the Lord with
fine weather and many good people who help to make it a wonderful success! May God reward you and your families for helping our school!

Our Annual Parish Mission will be observed from next Sunday, March 14th, through Thursday, March 17th. We’re happy to welcome back to our parish Father John Phelps, who spoke to us several weeks ago on behalf of the Redemptorist magazine, “The Ligourian.” Along with a Paulist priest, Father Alex Steinmiller, the two will work as a team to address our spiritual needs, especially based upon the needs assessment you answered for Father Phelps.

Bishop Barbarito returns to our parish next weekend for the diocesan observance of the annual Marriage
Anniversary celebration. Those couples who have been married 25, 40, 50 or more years will renew their commitments at Mass, and then attend a luncheon with the bishop following the ceremony. Congratulations to all of our parishioners who will be celebrating their wedding anniversary! May God bless you with many more happy years together.

This coming week, a busload plus of Catholic men and women will be headed for the state capitol in Tallahassee for “Catholic Days at the Capitol.” There, we will attempt to reach many of our legislators and explain to them our position as Catholics on many of the various pieces of legislation that will come before them for a vote this session. Sometimes we get a better response from those legislators who are not Catholic, compared to those who are “Catholic in name only.” Please pray for the success of our mission.

Steve Dudenhoefer of our Ak’Tenamit (“New Village”) in Guatemala will be coming to our parish on the
weekend of March 20-21 to make his annual appeal for our sister mission school and clinic in the rain forest of Guatemala. The following weekend (that of Palm Sunday), we will take up that second collection with the aim of supporting our mission there. Though we have been inundated with the most worthy of requests to help devastated Haiti in the aftermath of the great earthquake, we don’t want to lose sight of our need also to help the second poorest country in this hemisphere, Guatemala. This summer, our Knights of Columbus (some with their sons) will be taking their annual trek to that mission to assist in building more classrooms due to the rapid growth of the school population in Ak’Tenamit. Accompanying us will be some of the state officers of the 47,000 Knights in Florida, including a recent State Deputy (head knight) of Florida. We even expect to replicate our project in a neighboring area of the country, and help the people there realize the dream of Father Tom Moran, to educate and help keep the people in their own country, developing the talents and resources that they have in abundance, but needing outside assistance to do so. May your response be as generous as it has always been.

Just a reminder for those who are joining me this September on the trip to Germany and Austria, we will
have our preliminary meeting this Monday evening in the Conference Room of the Rectory at 7:00 PM. We still have 6 seats open for the trip. Did I mention that we will be in Munich during their annual Oktoberfest? Auf Wiedersehen! Ja! Ja!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-02-25T20:41:50-05:00

We welcome Bishop Barbarito this weekend to our parish to confirm our teens and bring them closer to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We congratulate our confirmati (Latin for ‘those confirmed’), and pray that they will respond to the promptings of the Spirit in their words and actions! May their parents and sponsors continue to exercise their own special responsibilities in seeing to it that these young men and women stay close to the Lord and demonstrate their loyalty to God and His Church as they continue to develop their Faith.

Our big event of the year is here! The 43rd Annual Parish Festival begins this coming weekend, and I trust you’ll join us on at least one of the days. Bring along your family, neighbors and friends. This event has grown over the years and is a fund-raiser solely for the benefit of our parish school. That’s why we need volunteers (young and not so young) to help us make this another success. The $100 ticket raffle can generate
quite a bit of cash for many winners, including the $25,000 Grand prize! One way to offset the cost of a ticket is to “group purchase” a ticket. Several family members or friends can “chip-in” and buy a $100 ticket. Likewise, there will be various raffle tickets available at a lesser cost. On Thursday, the carnival rides area will be open for a “sneak preview.” This does not include the rest of the festival, but it still benefits the school. Come, join the fun and help support our fine parish school!

This coming Saturday is the First Saturday of the month. Each month we gather at the abortion center in West Palm Beach to pray the Rosary and ask Mary’s intercession to change the minds of those who would snuff out the life of the unborn. We begin at 9:00 am, and the location is next to Wendy’s on 45th St. at Village Blvd. You have permission to park at the Wendy’s lot. We look forward to your sacrificing your time and
joining us for an hour in prayer to end the scourge of the sin of abortion in our society. No amount of political posturing will end it without prayer for God’s help.

As predictable for the past several years, the secular media mostly chose to ignore the largest and longest running march in Washington, DC - this year’s March for Life. Though the media decided not to mention it this year, police estimated some 370,000 to 400,000 Pro-Life protestors descended on our nation’s capital to mourn the 37 years of killing innocent and defenseless unborn babies in the womb! Predictably, our nation’s
Chief Executive had nothing to say to these Pro-Life demonstrators, and even left town rather than be reminded each time he looked out his window and saw well over a quarter-of-a-million people voicing their displeasure at his own administration’s lack of respect for unborn human life, that he would have to someday reconcile his conscience with God’s teaching on human life. What a sad commentary on the situation!

Thank you to the Knights of Columbus and the members of our EDGE Middle School program for their help in putting on successful Fish Fry Dinners on Fridays of Lent. These wonderful organizations will split the profits so as to help each of them run the programs that they do.
In this week’s Gospel, we read about Jesus’ Transfiguration and His conversation with Moses and Elijah concerning His exodus to take place in Jerusalem. Our Lenten journey to the renewal of our baptism on Holy Saturday evening and Easter Sunday is meant to be a rather prayerful experience that prefigures our own transfiguration, and helps us enter into and try to understand Christ’s Paschal mystery. It begins with our celebration of Mass and continues with our own transformation, so that we can go out and witness for Christ in our everyday world. As we approach the days of our upcoming Parish Mission and Retreat (March 14-17), we pray that the time we spend during Lent will bring us to a closer glimpse of God’s glory, and prepare us for the day when we will be able to experience Him in the fullness of that glory.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-02-18T20:25:48-05:00

Some of our foreign visitors had stopped me to chat after Mass, and inquired whether the rather noticeable early departure right after receiving Holy Communion at Masses here is a custom in our parish. They don’t see that in their country.

Sad to say, it seems to have become one, having a long tradition from the very first Mass at the Last
Supper, when Judas was the first one to leave Mass early. He missed out on the Lord’s blessing (and, obviously, so do many adherents of that same custom). What does it say about our failure to take a few more minutes to express our gratitude for the great gift of the Eucharist? What has become so important in our lives than spending just one hour with Jesus?

Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter and the Apostles, “Could you not watch just one hour with Me?” Did the Scriptures ever record Judas as expressing his thanks for anything that Jesus did for him? Judas had a false concern for the poor, and Jesus’ reply was that “you will always have the poor with you, but Me, you will not have.” I guess the embarrassing answer to our visitors is this: that for some, God’s final blessing is not as important to them as trying to get out of the parking lot early; or getting a place in line earlier for the “early bird special” at the restaurant. What message does this send to the young people? If adults get their priorities messed up, what will follow this bad example? Maybe if we take the time for some deeper reflection upon this during Lent, we might realize that if God is not first in our life, we might be in violation of the very First Commandment: “I am the Lord, your God; you shall not have other gods before me!

Our Forty Hours Eucharistic devotion concludes this Sunday afternoon with a procession of the Most Blessed
Sacrament from the Adoration Chapel to the Church, followed by Benediction just before the 5:30 p.m. Mass.
Thank you for spending time with Jesus in this awesome way!

This week, we will have First Penance and Reconciliation for our little children preparing for their May 8th reception of their First Holy Communion. This first confession of sins demonstrates that, even from a relatively early age, we all need to take responsibility for our faults against the Lord and His commands, and express our sorrow in the Sacrament of Penance, and then fulfill the penance as satisfaction for our sins. In no way should we approach the Eucharist if we are aware of any serious sin until we have been reconciled with the Lord and His people. Otherwise, we would be deepening our sinfulness by sacrilege through unworthy reception of Communion. A further understanding of this teaching was explained in my column in last week’s bulletin.

Several of our younger teens will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at this coming Saturday afternoon’s 5:30 p.m. Mass, when Bishop Barbarito visits us again and prays for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them. May that strength given them in this special Sacrament enable them to live out their faith well, especially in view of today’s temptations that pervade our very materialistic society. May they also become good examples of living out the faith by weekly (and not weakly) participation at Mass and the worthy reception of the Eucharist.

We note, with a tinge of sadness, the passing, last weekend, of P. Rose Venezia, a long-time occasional parishioner, the mother of Father Arthur Venezia, Deacon Richard, and most recent parishioner, Robert (wife, Rosemary). Rose was just six weeks shy of her 100th birthday! Please keep her and her family in your sympathetic thoughts and commendatory prayers.

Our Annual Parish Festival is less than 2 weeks away! It is such a major activity of our parish and the Delray
Beach community. If you have not yet purchased your tickets, bought any of the several raffle tickets, or volunteered to serve in some capacity, or donated in some way your time and service, I urge you to consider doing so as quickly as possible.

The festival is our largest fund-raising activity of the year and produces a sizeable income to benefit out parish school. Your support is greatly appreciated by 270 students, several full and part-time teachers and staff, and a lot of parents who are hoping to keep the family part of the tuition as low as possible.

Set your calendars for one more important series of dates: March 14th-17th for our annual Parish Spiritual Retreat. Father John Phelps is grateful for the many responses you gave him during his recent visit to prepare us for his team presentation. It sounds like it will be well worth the time and effort to partake of this Lenten movement closer to the Lord. Make sure that you invite all our family members and Catholic neighbors and friends to join you for that mission.

May God bless you and your families with an abundance of grace during this holy and joyful season of Lent!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-02-12T09:08:55-05:00

This weekend marks the beginning of the annual FORTY HOURS Eucharistic Devotion in our parish. Introduced into the USA by St. John Neumann, 4th Bishop of Philadelphia, in the 19th century, the devotion rapidly spread throughout the country; but it the South it didn’t take hold until more recently. We will have the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the jeweled monstrance in the Adoration Chapel each day this weekend after the 8:30 A.M. Mass, beginning with Friday morning and ending Sunday evening with solemn Benediction just before the Life Teen Mass. May I encourage you and your family to spend some quality time with Jesus in the Eucharist.

A big and hearty “Thank You” to those Knights of Columbus members, who volunteered the last two Saturdays under the leadership of Grand Knight Chris Grant, to trim the hedges and trees around the church and rectory; they really made a big difference in the way that area looks. We also thank the men and women of our school family, led by Tim & Danielle Marten, who worked so well in putting
on the Spaghetti Dinner last Saturday, at the close of last week’s Catholic Schools Week.
What a wonderful way, combined with the Talent Show our youngsters put on, to bring that celebration to a close. Thank you, too, to David Valdez of Carrabba’s, for donating the makings of that great meal! Don’t forget to patronize his business, too!
Now, we enter the holy season of Lent, beginning this Ash Wednesday (which is not a Holy Day of Obligation). Stations of the Cross will be conducted twice weekly, on Tuesdays at 7 P.M. and on Fridays at 9 A.M.

It might be good to familiarize ourselves again with the regulations and guidelines of the Catholic Church on fasting, abstaining, the Holy Eucharist and Penance, so that we might better plan our observances during this great spiritual season:
Fasting and Abstinence Regulations for Lent Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast (one full meal) and abstinence (from meat). Fasting is observed by all 18 years through age 59. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids (including
milk and juices) are allowed. Two other meals may be taken these days, but should not equal a full meal.

Abstinence is observed by all, once they have reached 14 years of age. Ash Wednesday, ALL Fridays of Lent and Good Friday are days of abstinence. On these days, NO meat/meat products is allowed. Note that when health issues or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige. When in doubt, consult your parish priest. Fasting, almsgiving and prayer are the three spiritual disciplines of Lent. All the faithful and catechumens should undertake these practices in a spirit of penance and of preparation for baptism or of renewal of Baptism at Easter.
Regulations Regarding Eucharistic Fasting and Frequent Reception of Holy Communion Catholics who have made their First Communion are obliged to receive the Eucharist at least once during the Lenten- Easter season. That season extends from Ash Wednesday to Trinity Sunday. Though frequent reception of the Sacrament
Penance is encouraged, it is not obligatory during this season unless a person has committed serious sin.

A person who is to receive the Holy Eucharist is to abstain from any food or drink, with the exception of water and medication, for at least the period of one hour before Holy Communion. The time of the fast is computed from the time of the completion of the consumption of the food or drink until the reception of Holy Communion.
A person who has received the Holy Eucharist may receive it a second time on the same day only during the celebration of a Mass in which he/she participates. A person may not, under normal circumstances, receive Holy Communion a third time on the same day. The exception would be on a Saturday, if a person receives in the regular morning Mass, then he/she may do so at a Nuptial or Funeral Mass, and again at the Vigil Mass of Sunday. Likewise the custom of receiving Holy Communion at three Masses on Christmas or All Souls Day is not abrogated.
Eucharistic Regulations and Prohibitions In order to be properly disposed to receive Holy Communion, a Catholic who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive
the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental Confession (unless a grave reason is present and there is no opportunity of Confession beforehand). In this instance, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an Act of Perfect Contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible.

We also welcome to our celebration of the Mass those who do not share in the fullness of our faith in Jesus Christ. However, because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life and worship, members of Christian churches with whom we are not yet fully united cannot be admitted to Holy Communion. Yet, we encourage them to express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with the Lord Jesus and one another at that time (a spiritual Communion).

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-02-05T09:33:45-05:00

Thank you for your support of our Catholic Schools Week programs and the wonderful ways in which we were able to observe it here, in our excellent parish school. The School Open House, Spaghetti Dinner, Spelling Bees, and the various Appreciation Days really set a delightful tone to the entire celebration. Above all, we appreciate your continued support of our special children in such a fine Catholic educational setting. It’s not an easy task to provide for a Catholic institution in this age, so we take great pride in our parish school, its leadership and staff, and all the parents and other parishioners who maintain it. May God bless and prosper our St. Vincent Family!

We are getting close to Lent, and the Lenten observances will include our annual parish retreat, held from March 14th through the 17th. Our parish retreat team, under the direction of Deacon Bruce and Karen Turnbull, is preparing to assist the retreat masters in putting on an outstanding spiritual program during that time. This weekend, Father John Phelps, CSSR, will be speaking at all the Masses to help us make the best use of our time and energy in observing the retreat. I hope that you’ll listen to his preparatory message and schedule those retreat days on your family calendar. I think you’ll enjoy the manner and schema of the program he has set up, especially as he teams up with another priest associate and members of our own parish. This coming Friday, February 12th, through the weekend conclusion on February 14th, we will begin our annual parish observance of the Forty Hours Eucharistic Adoration. It was first introduced to America by St. John Neumann, 4th Bishop of Philadelphia. This devotion gives us a special opportunity to come to pray before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Each morning, after the first Mass of the day, the Holy Eucharist will be brought to the Adoration Chapel in a special monstrance from the main church for you to adore, thanking Our Lord for His blessings upon our families and family life, asking Him to hear our special needs, and asking His pardon for slipping away from the true practices of our Catholic Faith. Each evening, during this time, the Holy Eucharist then will be reposed in the tabernacle of the church. Do you have something special you’d like to bring before the Lord in the Eucharist? This will be the chance!

Congratulations to our high school students who have achieved academic honors this past semester. From Pope John Paul II High School: (Principal’s List: “A” in all subjects) Lindsay Brammer, Hannah Brammer, Hunter Maxwell, Emily Sama; (1st Honors) Claire Brinkman. John Churey, Marrissa LaFontant, Bianca Loreti, Julian Loreti, Nicholas McNamara, Christina Richardson, Michael Scanlan, Stephanie Schappert, Alyssa Skehan, Holly Stryjek, Collin Transleau, Gerald Williston, Katherine Williston, Katherine Youngross; (2nd Honors) Katherine Roussin. From Cardinal Newman High School: (1st Honors) Christine Delgado, Jennifer Grant, Justin Hey, Nicolyn Rohrer, Alec Therien and Lacey Zuccala; (2nd Honors) Allison Swank. We congratulate all of our scholars and encourage those who “almost made the list” to continue in their good efforts to do so the next time!

We’re drawing closer to the parish’s biggest fund-raiser of the year, the 3-day extravaganza we know as the Annual Parish Festival. The proceeds benefit our St. Vincent Ferrer School, and make possible some great Catholic educational possibilities for Delray Beach area families. Our parents and students will be outside the church doors these next few weekends selling the $100 raffle tickets. While it may seem steep for some people, you can consider grouping a few family members or friends together to purchase a ticket. The payoffs start at $25,000, one of the best bargain prizes in this entire area. Won’t you consider helping the cause of Catholic education at our school? It’s deductible on your income tax filing, and you’ll be benefitting so many children.

Thank you for your pledge to the DSA (Diocesan Services Appeal) last week. If you happen to have forgotten your pledge envelope, you can always put it in with the regular collection. We will sort and credit your account with the diocese. Let’s try to reach our goal again this year; you can make it happen! God bless you!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-01-10T15:50:01-05:00

For more information on the pilgrimage, or to begin booking your reservation now or make a deposit,
please contact the parish office.

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-01-30T15:01:41-05:00

THANK YOU, thank you for your most generous response to the Haitian relief efforts! So far, our parish has donated $30,000 in cash and checks that will be forwarded through the diocese to Catholic Relief Services for distribution to the needs of the people of Haiti. This does not count the funds raised through our school children. Your most generous response to God’s people in need will not be overlooked by the Lord of all, especially when His children are suffering! We also are grateful for the donations of food and water for Haiti, coming steadily each day. These are loaded onto a container ship in Miami for a three-day journey to that shattered country.

There are so many requests for help and so many people of good will who want to help in the desperate situation in Haiti that it’s necessary to work with and through legitimate organizations that can funnel and match up these needs and responses. Sometimes people just discard their old and worn clothing and drop them off at the church to “get rid” of their refuse. When these are being sorted by members and volunteers of the Haitian relief programs here, they have to be “trashed.” That’s unfortunate, and a waste of the time and effort of the volunteers. What is needed most are: tents, tarps, blankets, rolls of large heavy duty plastic bags. These items give the Haitian people something to protect themselves from the elements while they sleep in parks, lots, fields and elsewhere in the open.

They do not want sheets or linens. They also need canned or pre-packaged non-perishable foods and bottled water. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission in Delray Beach is coordinating these relief efforts; its administrator, Father Roland, has been in Haiti for a week to see what more can be done to get the relief to the people in most need.

As you may have now heard, Father Ridore’s sister has been rescued and is recuperating in the Dominican Republic. People have asked about raising additional funds to rebuild her order’s convent in Haiti. At this time, and until we get the direction from our bishop to do so, we will wait to see what plans the Archdiocese of Port-au- Prince has when it gets its new leadership. We will continue to work with those who have a real grasp of the situation to assess the projected needs for the future. We will also try to keep our perspective in continuing to support our own mission in Guatemala, without losing our focus on the immediacy of Haitian relief.

We also join our voices with many others in prayer to God for the two faculty members and the four students from Lynn University in Boca Raton, who apparently were lost in the collapse of the hotel where they were staying in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake. They had been part of a larger team from the school to work with the Food for the Poor organization in Haiti. Though their families and friends will grieve for their loss, their commitment to the poor in Haiti will be long remembered and, hopefully, emulated. We extend our prayers and sympathy to President Donald Ross and the entire Lynn University family.

This weekend is “Commitment Weekend” in support of this year’s (2010) Diocesan Services Appeal. Our goal is the participation in a “Sacrificial Faith Commitment” from every Catholic household in the parish. Every family attending Mass today is invited to offer a generous pledge to advance the mission and ministry of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Palm Beach. This is an awesome opportunity to teach your little ones the way to become good stewards of God’s gifts, and to make their own sacrifices in helping to contribute to the family’s commitment. Since we do have a large amount of seasonal parish family members, I would like to encourage them and those who didn’t receive a pledge envelope in the mail to take one today, and mark out your “suggested gift level.” While you are enjoying the climate here, you are included in our ministry, and we hope that you will assist us in it by your support of our diocesan-wide outreach programs.

This Sunday marks the beginning of Catholic Schools Week. The theme of the week for this year is “Catholic Schools: Dividends for Life.” Some of the other featured events are found in Sr. Maria’s column, but I wish to draw your attention to this Sunday’s Pancake Breakfast after the first 3 morning Masses (8:00 to 11:15 AM); the Open House on Friday from 9 to 10:45 AM; and the Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday from 5 to 8 PM in the Gym. God bless the parents and teachers who are preparing this week-long extravaganza of educational, social and fun activities! May God reward our Principal, Mrs. Delgado, and the teachers and staff at our school, and all those parents who volunteer to serve in numerous ways to help out our school. God bless you! The St. Blaise Day traditional blessing of the throats will take place on that saint’s Feast Day, this Wednesday, at each of the daily Masses. Your infants are welcome to join you for a blessing.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-01-24T12:30:22-05:00

This weekend, we take up that all-important collection to help the most distressed nation in our hemisphere – Haiti. The 2nd collection at each Mass this weekend will be one of the numerous ways in which we can help our brothers and sisters in that country that is only an hour away by air, yet so far away in economic and political stability. Catholic Relief Services has been able to maintain its local office there, and is joining a legion of other officially recognized organizations to reach out to the survivors and try to hold down the death toll. Sadly, the Vicar General of the late Archbishop was also killed in the collapse of the cathedral and diocesan offices, along with other priests and seminarians, which also injured the sister of our Father Danis. She is recovering in the Dominican Republic, as are many other injured survivors. In my last parish, my former associate pastor as well as the current associate pastor lost family members: brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. Over 40 seminarians were killed, along with several priests and sisters. Please commend them in your prayers, and then reach deep into your heart and pockets to help. The canned goods that we seek will be for our brothers and sisters in our Haitian mission right here in Delray Beach at Our lady of Perpetual Help Mission. Those people, who have lost many family members and relatives, are sending what money they have to purchase food and water for the survivors. We can help them by providing food for their homes from our supply.

Our annual Diocesan Services Appeal for the 2010 year begins with the video this weekend explaining the different dimensions of charitable outreach programs that are offered in this area under the auspices of the Catholic Church because of your extended generosity. Seminarians are educated (who might otherwise not be able to afford the opportunity to study in our seminary without your help); programs that promote a respect for life are promoted; spiritual, educational and ministerial help for migrant workers and their children are made possible; counseling for individuals and families (including those affected by divorce or addiction problems) is made available; housing and care for the elderly and sick throughout our diocese are made more affordable; and maintaining some of the Catholic schools in poorer economic areas and extended care services for children are provided – to name just a few of the benefits accruing from your valuable support of the DSA. This week, we ask that you contemplate what sacrifice you will make to enable God’s work to get done through His Church, and next week, we will ask you to make a commitment for this year, including a pledge to be made in the presence of Our Lord, and honored in the course of the next ten months. This week, all registered parishioners will receive the bishop’s personalized letter with a campaign brochure, personalized pledge card and return envelope. All of the pledges that were honored last year virtually helped us to reach our parish goal, without dipping into needed operational funds. For this, our bishop and I are grateful for your support. Our goal this year will be $209,000, and I know that by your sacrifices and careful gift-planning, we’ll achieve that goal, once again.

Thank you for your support of the annual local Rosary for Life this past Friday opposite the County Court
House, joining our Bishop Barbarito. Many of you are the same people who join me each month to pray against the “death peddlers” at the abortion clinic in West Palm Beach. For this, I am grateful. It is only through your prayers for God’s help and legal actions that we can win the victory over the “culture of death.” Without God’s help, it is impossible!

Congratulations to the men and boys, friends and associates who attended this past Saturday’s half-day Annual Spiritual Rally for Men at the Cathedral with Bishop Barbarito. It was truly a fabulous opportunity to join other such men in an effort to get back on the true course set for us by our Redeemer. The morning was filled with prayer, music, inspirational talks by “Dion” (of the “Dion and the Belmonts” fame) and Peter Herbeck, Confession, and other testimonies. The highlight is always the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and homily by our bishop. May you be uplifted in your family and work life and spread that Christian feeling to all others you meet.

Next week, we begin Catholic Schools Week. It is a special time for our parish because of the great school and program we have. Thanks to the leadership of Mrs. Vikki Delgado and her team of associates and teachers, we have an excellent Catholic institution to help us bring the best of knowledge of God and His creation to our youngsters . For a detailed list of the CSW events, please read Sister Maria’s column elsewhere in this bulletin.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2010-01-15T13:39:13-05:00

The tragedy of the deadly earthquake that has struck Haiti this past week has wreaked havoc on the poorest nation of our hemisphere. In this most impoverished country of nine million people, 80% of whom are Catholic, tens of thousands of God’s people have lost their lives, including the capital city’s new archbishop, many priests, nuns and seminarians. The beautiful large cathedral in the capital city was destroyed, along with the major seminary, the residence of the country’s president, most government buildings, hospitals, churches, schools and countless homes. It could hardly have happened to a more tragic nation, whose people have been wearied over the past half century by corrupt dictators, inept politicians, four disastrous hurricanes just one year ago, and a political and cultural infrastructure that has been ravaged and raped repeatedly. Is this latest devastation what it finally takes to wake up the better-off nations of the world to come to the aid of their beleaguered brothers and sisters? We will take up a special Second Collection next weekend to express our solidarity with the victims of this natural disaster. Your most generous support of relief efforts will be channeled by our diocese to Catholic Relief Services, which has already been at work alongside numerous other charitable organizations to bring aid and comfort to those who have survived the quake. In the meantime, our Haitian mission church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Delray Beach, is asking for canned goods and dry-packaged goods such as rice and beans to help their starving relatives in Haiti. The drive was originally planned to help out parishioners of that mission who are hurt more than most by the economic crisis in our country and area, but who see the plight of their own family members “back home” as even more desperate, and are willing to share their own few goods with them. You can put the food in our food baskets near the entrances of our church. You can put your money in envelopes next week, marked “FOR HAITI.” Pray for the families of our seminarians, Wesler and Jude!

Not losing sight of the Haitian tragedy, we are still concerned (as we always will be) especially at this time of year, with the tragedy of abortion, and the lives it destroys in our society. As we approach the anniversary of the infamous Roe v Wade decision of our nation’s Supreme Court, we are reminded that there are still forces in our government, especially in our Congress, that consider human life to be expendable for the sake of convenience, greed, selfishness, personal or political ambition or desperation. All of our recent popes have labeled abortion to be the #1 moral issue of our time, because it reflects the ultimate disregard for human life through attacks on the most vulnerable innocent human life. It can NEVER be justified. That’s why we offer daily petitions in our Prayers of the Faithful at Mass, beseeching God to end this scourge of sin in our society. That’s why more and more of our bishops are reckoning with politicians who, while they describe themselves as ‘practicing’ Catholics, continually vote or work against the teachings of the Catholic Church on these and related important moral issues, always trying to rationalize their way of their morally precarious situations with the oblique, “I follow my conscience.” Their consciences are obviously not formed by thetrue teachings of the Church, enlightened by the Holy Spirit. No wonder the Archbishop of San Francisco severely chastised Nancy Pelosi after her ridiculous remarks recently about her disagreement with Church teachings on this and other moral issues. He clearly states: “It is entirely incompatible with Catholic teaching to conclude that our freedom of will justifies choices that are radically contrary to the Gospel—racism, infidelity, abortion, theft. Freedom of will is the capacity to act with moral responsibility; it’s not the ability to determine arbitrarily what constitutes moral right. While we deeply respect the freedom of our fellow citizens, we nevertheless are profoundly convinced that free will cannot be cited as a justification for society to allow moral choices that strike at the most fundamental rights of others. Such a choice is abortion, which constitutes the taking of innocent human life, and cannot be justified by any Catholic notion of freedom.” There are others, too, who continue to harp on their Catholicity while trying to rationalize their way out of the problem. They are so blatantly wrong when it comes to two thousand years of Christ continuing to teach through His Church. Please be advised that the Obama Health Care Plan as it currently is drawn up, is strongly opposed by the U. S. Catholic Bishops Conference.

ACTION: Contact your Representative and Senators today by e-mail, phone or FAX. To send a pre-written, instant e-mail to Congress go to www.usccb.org/action. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices. Contact info can be found on Members’ web sites at www.house.gov & www.senate.gov.
MESSAGE to the HOUSE MEMBERS: “I urge you to uphold essential provisions against abortion funding, to include full conscience protection and to assure that health care is accessible and affordable for all. Until and unless these criteria are met, I urge you to oppose the final bill.”
MESSAGE to the SENATE MEMBERS: “I urge you to support essential provisions against abortion funding, similar to those in the House bill. Include full conscience protection and assure that health care is accessible and affordable for all. Until and unless these criteria are met, I urge you to oppose the final bill.” WHEN: Votes in the House and Senate on the final bill are expected this month- January. Act today! Thank You!

In solidarity with the countless victims of the Roe v Wade decision, and those taking part in the annual Right to Life march in D.C. this week, please join our bishop across the street from the County Court House in West Palm Beach on Friday, January 22nd at 11 A.M., as we pray the annual Rosary for Life. If and when you can, join us for our Rosary for Life each 1st Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at the abortion center just north of 45th St. and Village Blvd., West Palm Beach. !!!

THANK YOU! We did it! We made our DSA goal for the first time in over 6 years without digging into parish operational funds! If the few remaining pledges are honored, we’ll be slightly over this year’s goal (so much for the nay-sayers and negative media).

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-12-13T09:42:17-05:00

Thank you to the many parishioners who have expressed a lot of support for the priests of our parish this past week after reading another grossly inaccurate article in the P.B. Post about our parish. Already fed up with the concoction of such distortions, misinformation, innuendos, hearsay, “anonymous sources,” and gossip that is usually found in tabloid journals, they are wondering if the Post is so desperate for readership that they need another assault on the Catholic Church (it seems to occur every year around this time). One parishioner remarked, “yellow journalism is still alive in South Florida.” In this “Year of the Priest,” one might think that good writers and reporters would seek out positive information to disseminate to the public about the Church and the good its priests do rather than the tired, re-hashed articles they keep digging up. That’s why we cancelled our subscription some time ago, and I hope others will consider doing, also. While not being able to address each and every detail in this column, I’d like to know from what magical hat did they pull out the cost of the Adoration Chapel. Also, what artwork came from Poland? (Answer = 0) The four carved antique wood panels from Mexico cost a total of $360 (after a little haggling with the owner of the restaurant where I saw them). Additionally, the re-roofing on the church, was explained in a previous article (for those who come to church weekly and take home the bulletin, this isn’t new information); Fr. Grace hasn’t been Dean of the Vicariate for 3 years (as I happen to be the Dean); our DSA goal will most likely be reached this year, the first time in over a half-dozen without taking from the operational funds; and many more. In the past few years we have spent money on renovating the Youth Center, the St. Paul House (which holds the Family Life Ministry and Religious Ed offices), the old convent- now housing Family Promise Program (a joint ecumenical venture to help the homeless and jobless of our area) and Catholic Charities counseling offices, the gym floor (shoddy workmanship in the rather recently-built F.L. Center), needed repairs on facilities after hurricane damage as well as much-needed maintenance because of long-time neglect. This doesn’t include renovations and repairs to the school building. All of this was done with the guidance of the Parish Pastoral Council, and there is so much more not covered here. Thank God we have a fine Development Committee to guide us in our programs to find and use financial resources wisely; they’re a real blessing to us as they continue to search out the means to offset the economic downturn!

Many thanks to the special moms and supportive family members who conducted this year’s “Santa’s Secret Workshop” the past week for the benefit of our school. God bless them all!

There were many wonderful compliments presented after last Sunday’s beautiful presentation of “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” which showcased a lot of talent in our parish and delighted quite a few parishioners and the numerous guests who attended. In addition to last week’s kudos, I offer special thanks to Jay Flood who constructed the props, assisted by Richard Cavanagh and Joe Zupo. Patrick Albano assisted with the sound and costumes, and John Krolikowski and the Flood Family tied in many loose ends to make this a timely and uplifting occasion.

You are cordially welcome to another seasonal musical event by our parish school children, under the direction of their music teacher, Mr. Pablo Falcon. They will present their annual Advent Concert this Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Admission is free.

Our Knights of Columbus have been laboring hard, preparing the site for a good-sized granite monument of The 10 Commandments, and several of them have donated their time and talent to this project. Thanks to their fundraising efforts at monthly Pancake Breakfasts and Friday Fish Frys, and a generous financial gift from parishioner Frank McKinney, we will soon have the monument in place, and those cars that drive by will have a permanent reminder of the Law of God, on which we base much of our moral life. Sadly, this type of monument can’t be erected on government property, so we are glad that the Knights of Columbus took the initiative to have it placed here. God bless all those who have made this “Project Moses” possible.

This Sunday, our Knights of Columbus will host the monthly “Pancake Breakfast” in our Kellaghan Hall, after the first three Sunday morning Masses (7, 8:30 and 10 a.m.). It’s a great meal for the family at bargain prices, and a chance to meet and socialize. Come!

The Knights will also be selling their annual “Keep Christ in Christmas” magnetic logos this weekend. Your support of them in their efforts last year put our parish #1 in the diocese in sales!

We give thanks and praise to God for the many blessings received through the services of men and women in religious orders – to help ease the financial burden of elder care for retired men and women religious. We can express some of that special thanks

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-12-30T18:11:03-05:00

Riding down a familiar street in my childhood neighborhood one New Year’s Eve, I remember being truly amazed to see how quickly the signs of Christmas were gone. My cousin’s little daughter remarked, with what I now consider to be an amazingly brilliant question, “Who turned off Christmas?” She had learned about the 12 days of Christmas in Catholic school, and knew they occurred after Christmas Day, not before it. But, now the reverse seems to be true: we spend an entire month or more preparing for one day, and when it has passed, the decorations are hastily removed, the tree discarded, and the lights turned off.

Many folk and religious traditions, such as dancing and music-making, have been replaced by what seems to be America’s
biggest holiday tradition: The day after Christmas shopping. We tried to prepare for Christmas with the lovely season of Advent, but we culminate that time with a gift-opening ritual that is almost as frantic. And then, Christmas comes to an abrupt end! The season really ends Jan. 10th this year.

When I was a child, I remember that our own celebration of Christmas began on Christmas Eve, when we purchased a fresh evergreen tree, whose fragrance permeated the house soon after it was brought in. We decorated
the tree while Mom prepared the traditional Christmas Eve meal. Our custom was to set an extra place at table for the unknown guest who might walk in that night. Who knows who would come; tradition held the possibility that it might turn out to be Jesus Himself. We sang Christmas carols around the table after we shared the traditional Christmas unleavened wafer. Christmas Day would be spent AT HOME WITH THE FAMILY. We didn’t travel about visiting friends or even relatives; that came later, during the 12 days that followed.

Additional gifts were given at “Little Christmas,” now the Sunday after New Year’s Day (today). On this Feast of the Three Kings (Epiphany, or Little Christmas), we brought home the blessed incense and chalk with which we inscribed the initials of the Three Wise Men or Kings over each doorway, invoking God’s blessing and protection while we did so, ever reminded of how God protected Jesus from the wiles of Herod after the Kings returned to their country by another route. The inscription reads like this: 20+C+M+B+10. Incense signifying God’s presence in the home for the New Year was safely burned after dinner.

We know in our hearts and minds that Christmas should be a family time; but, oddly enough, surveys show that we spend less time with our immediate families during the month of December than at any other time. What is more, researchers tell us there is a 15 percent increase in the number of people seeking help for depression at this time of year. We work so hard to make our Christmases magical and meaningful that it’s no wonder we get depressed when we’re left with hearts that are empty and lonely.

In reality, shared experiences, not objects or gifts, are the things that seem to remain in our hearts the longest. As individuals and as families, we need to determine what we truly long for at Christmas – and then we must truly choose to celebrate those traditions that will help us to capture the essence of those longings. A word of caution: sometimes those traditions, if held too tightly, can rob us of real Christmas joy. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the traditions that we forget the significance behind them.
So, be sure your traditions point you to Jesus.

Let your next celebration of Christmas begin with a true Advent spirit of preparation for the real meaning of Christ coming into our life. And when He does come, may He find us truly watching and waiting, our hearts filled with wonder and joy. May you begin a New Year with Christ’s peace reigning in your heart. May you seize the opportunity to avoid the world’s focus on Christmas, and focus on the Church’s approach. In that way, you will allow the Christ Child to find a dwelling place in your heart, and share His peace and love with those who are in the greatest need. Thank you to all who helped make this Christmas such a wonderful one, by volunteering to decorate the church, assisting in feeding the poor, visiting the homebound, offering a special gift to our parish, or, as our pre-teen EDGE students did, portray
the live Nativity scene on Christmas Eve near the main entrance to our church. Each one did something
personal to enhance the spirit of this season. Happy New Year!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-12-18T10:15:31-05:00

Now we come to the shortest week of Advent, the fourth one. Only when Christmas falls on a Sunday can we get the full impact of this week. It is the week of great hope and great expectation for all those who still have the ability to hope. Human beings cannot live without hope. Unlike the lower forms of animals, we are blessed (or cursed) with the ability to think about the future and to form our actions in shaping it. This is so essential to our human life that, to be without hope, to have nothing to live for, is to surrender to despair and death. So, one of the reasons we read the Old Testament a lot during Advent is to learn what to hope for. The people of that time had the courage to hope for big things; yet, their hopes were not really so different from ours. They were hoping for the Messiah, and we hope for eternal life with the Messiah after working out our lives on earth according to His ways, so as to enter into His Life. We even have a little foretaste of this life in the Eucharist (at least, for those who receive the Eucharist worthily). In today’s Gospel, we see profound things happening is a small town and among rather obscure people, almost hidden from the rest of the world. This is the way, it seems, that God prefers to work: in quiet ways. In moments of prayer when we come to realize that “God is with us,” and this is translated as Emmanu-El! As we sing this Advent hymn for possibly the last time this year, may we come to know that HE IS! – and, then like Mary, proclaim His goodness in our lives by following His ways, and bring something of His peace into our little part of His world!

This Monday evening, December 21st, we will conduct our annual Advent Penance Service at 7:00 PM, with several priests available for Confessions during that time. It is an opportunity to prepare the manger of our hearts for receiving Christ at Christmas. When He comes, will He find any room to dwell there? I hope so. The last opportunity before Christmas is Dec. 23rd at 9 AM.

Our school children performed their Advent musical special this past Tuesday evening, and each of the classes from pre-K to 8 did a special holiday-themed presentation. It was a very delightful occasion, and I congratulate Mr. Pablo Falcon for the nice variety of music and for bringing out the musical talents of our 270 students. If you missed it, there’s always next year.

Many thanks to the men and women who helped us with the Christmas mailing this year: Frank & Rita Manfredonia, Anne McDonough, Mary Murphy, Cathy Everett, Lorraine MacLaren, and Eleanor Blaine. They are like God-sent to help us in time of need! I also thank all of those volunteers who participated in decorating our church this past Friday and this coming Monday. May your handiwork be pleasing to the Lord and His people!

As I enter my fifth year as Pastor here, I want to thank you for your wonderful support of our parish church and school. There are so many good and supportive people here to whom I am indebted for their help in making our parish a testimony of faith and strength in difficult times. I would be remiss in not mentioning our seasonal “snow-birds,” too, for they are generous, too. Your support of God’s people goes well beyond the needs of our own community. In gratitude,

I thank you for your generous contributions these past few years that have made possible the following: the growth of our mission in Guatemala, where the much-needed expansion of the school allowed 84 children to graduate this year (up from 14- four years ago when we started); the lovely structural addition to the impoverished parish church in Belle Glade; badly needed financial assistance to the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Haitian mission in Delray Beach; the completion of the retreat center and chapel in Radom, Poland (which will accommodate 180 participants); help for the parishes in Pahokee and Indiantown (both building larger churches to accommodate their increasing numbers); and the help given to missions in Rwanda, India, and the Philippines. May God reward you for your kindness to His people in need!

Congratulations to the two recently (re- and) elected members of the Parish Pastoral Council, Lorraine MacLaren (2-year term) and Kit Johansen (1-year term). Their willingness to help us with the decisionmaking for our parish will add to the spirit of building up the Body of Christ here in our midst. We also thank Mike Wigderson, now concluding his term of service.

Congratulations to our young people from the “EDGE” youth program for winning 1st Prize in their division in the annual Holiday (read “Christmas”) Parade in Delray Beach last weekend. The theme of the parade was “A Traditional Christmas,” and our youngsters were carted along in a float as Mary, Joseph, the Three Kings and angels, towed by Joe Hughes. I extend a special thank you to Don and Duncan MacLaren, Jay Flood and Patrick Albano for their help in making the “Keep Christ in Christmas” float so presentable.

We, the Priests, Deacons, Sisters and Staff of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish wish you all God’s choicest blessings in this holy season of Christmas, and pray that your family may enjoy the graces of this holy time of year, when God became one of us, to assure us that we are not alone in our struggle to come to Him! May your New Year be filled with health, happiness and peace!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-12-04T08:01:17-05:00

As we begin this Second Week of Advent, we are confronted with the paradox of this season. There is the tender image of the Christ-child in the manger. But we are also faced with the image of a powerful king who will not only rescue the poor, but who will also wipe out the wicked. So, Advent is about the coming of Christ, but especially His coming in glory at the end of time. Throughout this season, the Church insists that we remember we are preparing for the final Advent of Christ in glory, at the end of time. He also comes every day to root out the evil that afflicts us and to show us how to be truly who and what we are: images of God, made in His likeness. May we come to appreciate more deeply the reason for this season, and not confuse its celebration with the celebration of the season to follow – Christmas! That has a glory of its own.

This Sunday, we make history again in our parish! Thanks to the wonderful members of our parish choir, and our very talented young 8th grader, Karly Parsons, and soloists Alicia Branch, Wayne Le Gette, and Michael Tischuk, under the direction of our gifted Director of Music, Bill Stafford, accompanied by our versatile keyboardist, Mark Galsky, we are able to have another “first” in our parish this Sunday afternoon at 2:30, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” It’s quite a splendid musical presentation, set in the hill country of ancient Palestine, - an ideal preparation for our celebration of Advent and Christmas. I hope you and the family enjoy this very unique musical-spiritual experience. The cast has been rehearsing diligently for weeks, and hopes this will make your Advent more enjoyable! I’m certainly going to enjoy my part in it! There is no ticket or admission charge, but a free-will offering will be taken up to defray the costs involved.

This coming Tuesday is the Solemn Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. Under this title, Mary is the Patroness of our United States. We celebrate the fact of the infallible teaching of our Church that Mary was protected from ALL sin (including Original) when she was conceived in the womb of her mother, St. Ann. This is also a major feast in the community of our dear Sister Maria and Sister Dorothy, members of the Congregation of the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. May they rejoice in this holy feast, and bask in the glory of Mary’s privilege to be the Mother of God. Masses in our parish will begin on the Vigil (Monday, December 7th) at 5:00 p.m., and on Tuesday at 7:00, 8:30 and 10:00 A.M., and at 7:00 p.m. Because of the Holy Day schedule, there is no evening Mass on Tuesday, Dec. 8th, at 5:00 p.m. (only at 7:00 p.m.). May we always take seriously our obligation to attend Mass on Holy Days of Obligation as well as Sundays (bring the kids, too!).

It is a special joy to be able to present the proposed budget for our church and school for the next fiscal year and have you review it. This has never been done before in our parish, but thanks to the men and women of our Parish Finance Council (chaired by Chris Grant, who also is the Diocesan Comptroller) and the hard work of both our parish bookkeeper and parish manager, Chris Currie and John Krolikowski, we think it is the best product of our combined efforts. It has undergone many revisions after many, many hours of discussion, pencil sharpening and debate. Though we have given you the financial reports each year since I became pastor here, this is the first time we have published the budget. Hopefully, it will help more of us to appreciate the extensive (and expensive?) operations that go on in running and maintaining of such a large institution as ours. God bless all those whose expertise and advice were given when they were consulted in these matters! They make the work a bit more understandable.

Thank you to the Knights of Columbus who put on this past Friday night’s monthly Fish Fry and have scheduled a nice pancake breakfast next Sunday. May their spirit generate many more such giving of time, talent and treasure – a true stewardship of God’s gifts to serve His people.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-11-25T11:06:23-05:00

Welcome to the holy season of Advent! This is that wonderful time of year for quiet hope and preparation. It is also the time of year when the hours of darkness are greatest for those of us in the northern Hemisphere. The early darkness is marked by the winter solstice, when the sun’s hours begin to gradually increase. When Advent ends at Christmas, we celebrate the gift of God’s own Son to us. Jesus is the Light of the world, which the darkness cannot overcome!

The late, great Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, loved the story of the birth of Christ. In fact, he argued in his book, “The Grand Miracle,” that every other miracle of Scripture resulted from or prepared for or demonstrated the mystery of the Incarnation (the Word becomes Flesh). Lewis classified a miracle as “an interference with Nature by supernatural powers.”

We thank God that He does interfere in our world! Left to our own instincts, we would go our own way. But God became one of us because He yearns to make us one with Him. That’s why God has been miraculously interfering with us for thousands of years; He is constantly working miracles in our life. The problem is that we rarely stop to contemplate the depth of this fact. So, the season of Advent is the perfect time to do so. Even though God is somehow hidden in these miracles, none of these is as remarkable as the mystery of God becoming man in a tiny body, like any other, that a mother would hold, cherish and nourish. As we begin the season of Advent, and the start of the Church’s liturgical year, let’s recall the nearness of God to us through Jesus’ coming into our world. May the Great Miracle of God that happens once again at this time show you the miracles God wants to work in your life.

Next Sunday, December 6th, at 2:30 in the afternoon in our church, we will offer the musical drama, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” This one-act Advent-Christmas presentation will be a delight for you and the family, and is an excellent way to prepare us for the Advent-Christmas seasons. We will have one performance only. Our choir and cast have been rehearsing their parts so as to make this a most memorable event. We invite you to invite your families to join us and witness this spectacular program in our sanctuary. No tickets will be sold, and no special seating will be reserved. A free-will collection will be taken up that day to assist in defraying the costs. We guarantee that you will be moved by the beauty and content of the message it brings.

Congratulations to our high school honor students who have done very well in the first quarter. From Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton, we have the following honor students: Principal’s List – Emily Sama; First Honors – Lindsay Brammer, Clare Brinkman, John Churey, Caroline Cook, Rachel Day, Arthur Drexler, Bianca Loreti, Timothy Marten, Nicholas McNamara, Michael Porter, Christina Richardson, Charles Roussin, Katherine Roussin, Stephanie Schappert, Alyssa Skehan, Holly Stryjek, and Gerald Williston; Second Honors - Collin Transleau. From Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, we have: First Honors – Christine Delgado, Jennifer Grant, Alec Therien, Elise Therien; Second Honors – Arielle Routhier and Allison Swank.

THANK YOU for your support in trying to help us reach our goal in the annual Diocesan Services Appeal (DSA). As many of you hear the testimony from Deacon Chris last weekend, the support you give to this program will enable young men, such as him, to reach the priesthood through support of our St. Vincent de Paul Seminary. Additional funds help support the poorest schools of our diocese, and help maintain Catholic Charities activities, including a counseling center on our campus, day care programs for the children of migrant workers, religious education programs in our poorest parishes and the supplying of nutritious food for poor young children. We are getting closer to reaching our goal (which we haven’t done in over 6 years). You can use a DSA envelope in the back of the church or an envelope in the pews marked for special collections. Just write the words DSA on the envelope so that we can get proper credit. Then, when all the results come in, we won’t have to take from operating expenses to reach our goal.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-11-19T15:54:08-05:00

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Most of us haven’t met a real king “in the flesh” (though some have reported “Elvis sightings” and the like). Nonetheless, since we do acknowledge Jesus as our Ruler, Shepherd, Guardian and Guide, we are, essentially, making Him our King (in the fullest sense of the word), vanquishing our foes and leading us to the Kingdom. May He always be the most important figure guiding us through this life to the next.

Thank you for making and honoring your pledge to the DSA (Diocesan Services Appeal). As we draw nearer to our goal for this year, there is less likelihood that we’ll have to draw from our savings (as so many other parishes have had to do-and as we have done for the last half-dozen or so years), and will be able to come closer to balancing the parish budget. Your good stewardship of the gifts God has given us is the best way to make this possible.

The religious musical presentation of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” will be performed in two weeks in our church on the 2nd Sunday of Advent (December 6th), at 2:30 p.m. We invite you to invite your family and friends to attend this touching spiritual program. CAUTION: You may want to bring some extra kleenex with you!

Once again, we are privileged to host the annual Delray Beach Thanksgiving Ecumenical Prayer Service in our church. This year, it will be held on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. When you come to join us in prayer for the community, please bring along, if possible, a canned or non-perishable food good for the poor as your offering.

During the American Bishops' Fall General Assembly in Baltimore this past week, they issued an important document on married life titled: "Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan" The letter is another component in the bishops' National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage, which began in November 2004. The bishops said they addressed this letter "first and foremost to the Catholic faithful in the United States" but also offered it to others "in the hope of inspiring them to embrace this teaching." Though there is much more to read in the letter, a summary follows: The document encourages the use of natural family planning, which the bishops say promotes "an attitude of respect and wonder ... and fosters the true intimacy that only such respect can bring." Among other things, it calls contraceptive practices "objectively wrong" and "essentially opposed to God's plan for marriage and proper human development." The letter also quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying, "Cohabitation involves the serious sin of fornication. It doesn’t conform to God's plan for marriage and is always wrong and objectively sinful." It also names divorce and same-sex unions as two other "fundamental challenges to the nature and purpose of marriage." The bishops say divorce conflicts with "God's plan for marriage," but added that in some cases, "divorce may be the only solution to a morally unacceptable situation," such as when the safety of a spouse or children is at risk." They also encourage those who have divorced and remarried civilly to "participate in parish life and attend the Sunday Eucharist, even though they cannot receive Holy Communion."

The moves to legally recognize same-sex unions pose "a multifaceted threat to the very fabric of society, striking at the source from which society and culture come and which they are meant to serve," the bishops say. "Such recognition affects all people, married and non-married, not only at the fundamental levels of the good of the spouses, the good of children, the intrinsic dignity of every human person and the common good, but also at the levels of education, cultural imagination and influence, and religious freedom.”

To oppose the legal recognition of same-sex unions is not discriminatory nor a matter of fairness. The document says. "To promote and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman is itself a matter of justice. In fact, it would be a grave injustice if the state ignored the unique and proper place of husbands and wives, the place of mothers and fathers and the rights of children, who deserve from society clear guidance as they grow to sexual maturity."

To couples facing "modern stresses upon marriage," such as "the conflict between work and home, economic hardships and social expectations," the bishops urge them to "turn to the Lord for help" and to utilize church programs and ministries "that can help save marriages, even those in serious difficulty." "The vision of married life and love that we have presented in this pastoral letter is meant to be a foundation and reference point for the many works of evangelization, catechesis, pastoral care, education and advocacy carried on in our dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies, movements and programs," says the document's closing section, called a "commitment to ministry."

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-11-13T13:45:31-05:00

Members of our recently-formed Parish Development Committee will address our own congregation at Masses this weekend concerning our approach to stewardship of our parish. They have been preparing their thoughts (after listening to your ideas and suggestions) on how to better help our parish grow and serve the large number of parishioners and guests that depend on St. Vincent Ferrer for spiritual, emotional and educational sustenance. Knowing how to balance their own stewardship of time, talent and treasure seems to enable them to approach so many of these matters in a collaborative effort, and to advise the Parish Pastoral Council and me on how to put forward a strategic plan of action dealing with our finances and investments for our parish for the next several years. I’m grateful that they not only take an interest, but also the time and energy needed to help us succeed. God bless them, and may they continue to serve us with such a generous and willing spirit.

Congratulations to Heather Hackett and her team of volunteers who sponsored our diocesan-wide Middle School Youth Group Rally this past Saturday. Considering all the preparation and work with our own youth that Heather undertakes, this was no easy feat to host the additional teens that came to enjoy a spiritual uplift with worship and praise music, Holy Mass and a number of other wonderful activities during the day. I hope that all those who participated in the rally will be “spiritually charged” as they return to energize their own parishes and parish youth programs.

Our one act Advent-Christmas musical presentation “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” is rapidly approaching. We will have one performance only, on Sunday afternoon, December 6th at 2:30 P.M. in our church. Our choir and cast have been rehearsing their parts so as to make this a most memorable presentation. We invite you to invite your families to witness this spectacular program in our sanctuary. No tickets will be sold, and no special seating will be reserved. A free-will collection will be taken up that day to assist in defraying the costs. We guarantee you will be moved by the beauty and content of the message contained therein (you may want to bring some Kleenex along!).

We welcome Mother Hedwig Cierpinska and her assistant, Sister Dorothy Baranowska in their official visit to our parish this week. Like all good religious superiors, it’s necessary to go out to the various missions of their congregation periodically to “inquire and inspire.” May they feel most welcome by our hospitality.

Fr. Jimmy’s reception will take place next Sunday in Kelleghan Hall, after he celebrates the 11:30 Mass in our church. This will be a special opportunity to thank him for his service here and to wish him well in his new assignment at St. Joan of Arc Parish. At a special commissioning ceremony this past week, we had several new Altar Servers receive their blessing as servers in our parish. I congratulate them, and especially thank Chris and Susan Grant, as well as Lee and Alice Levenson, who help prepare the new servers and keep watch over them in their service to our parish.

Please keep in your prayerful remembrance Claudia Hilaire, the 29-year old sister of one of our two Haitian seminarians, Wesler Hilaire, who worked here this past summer. She died suddenly, two weeks ago in Haiti. In the past year, Wesler has lost his father and sister, preceded three years earlier by his mother. During all this, he continues to study and to advance toward priestly service in our diocese. May his resolve to be a good priest be strengthened by God’s grace as well as his own efforts to persevere through all the difficulties that he must face.

Next September, I am planning to make the pilgrimage to the Alpine areas of Germany and Austria, to see the famous Passion Play in Oberammergau (given once every 10 years), and to travel the “Sound of Music” tour in and around Salzburg. I hope to include a side trip to the infamous concentration camp at Dachau, the birthplace of Pope Benedict, and several beautiful shrines and other sights in that area. If you are interested in joining in the pilgrimage, please contact me or submit your name through our parish office. The duration of the trip will be about 12 days, depending on how many special side trips we will make. More information will follow.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-11-05T15:50:45-05:00

With much gratitude, I want to thank the many women and men who helped prepare the great Auction-Dinner-Dance on Saturday night, November 7th. They made a full fledged effort to bring about beautiful results, including preparing the elegant setting, gathering and preparing the gift baskets and other prizes, sending the invitations, and more. There is another part of this bulletin that’s been set aside to list the names of the people who were responsible for its success.

We have something of special pre-Christmas significance to bring to your attention that will be taking place soon. St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Delray Beach will be one of the only churches in southeast Florida this year to host this special type of religious-themed musical event. Join us on Sunday, December 6th at 2:30 in the afternoon, as we host a beautiful Advent-Christmas themed musical performance in the church sanctuary. This one-time, hour-long presentation is a modern- day take on several medieval mystery plays performed in the churches before Christmas, such as “Herod” or “Daniel,” and is produced as an English-language opera. The popular work, entitled “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” tells the apocryphal story of a penniless widow and her young crippled shepherd boy who are visited by the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem. The opera composer was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, Gian Carlo Menotti, who died less than three years ago in Monaco. The roles of the shepherds and the chorus will be sung by members of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish Choir. We offer this program as both a timely form of spiritual preparation for Christmas, and a meditative reflection on the ongoing conflict between virtue and vice in life. We guarantee that the lasting sentiments generated by this performance will stay with you for a long time. There is no admission charge, but a suggested donation of at least ten dollars will be received during that performance to cover the production costs. A light-snack reception will then follow in the parish center, whereby you can meet the performers.

Friday night of the previous weekend was a delightful occasion for a lot of the young people of our parish, as their parents sponsored “Trunk or Treat,” a tail-gate type of Halloween gathering in our parking lot. The children safely went “trick-or-treating” from car-to-car, to garner goodies, while their parents enjoyed the camaraderie that such a gathering engendered. We hope that this type of fellowship will continue to build up the spirit of the parish and its school. Thank you to all who put this one together. May your next ventures be as enjoyable and successful!

On Sunday, November 22nd, following the 11:30 A.M. Mass, which he will celebrate, Father Jimmy will receive well-wishers at a parish-sponsored reception in Kellaghan Hall, as he says his farewells to the parish where he has spent almost two years in service. Right now, he’s on a trip to the Holy Land. We wish him well in his new assignment at St. Joan of Arc in Boca Raton.

Catholic critics have reacted to a HBO Sunday night show called, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” that recently had a scene showing a painting of Jesus being urinated on, and which also mocked Catholic devotion to Jesus. They have questioned an apparent double standard in the treatment of religions and have called for an apology from the show’s producers. Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, criticized the episode, accusing HBO of only liking to “dump on Catholics.” “Last night’s episode demonstrates that Larry David’s best years are behind him. He ought to quit while he’s ahead.” Deal Hudson, editor of InsideCatholic.com, wondered why people are allowed to show such public disrespect for Christian symbols. “If the same thing was done to a symbol of any other religions -- Jewish or Muslim -- there'd be a huge outcry! It's simply not a level playing field," Hudson told Fox News. "When is it going to stop?” I believe it will stop when you notify HBO that you’re cancelling our subscription because of such blatantly anti-Christian productions on its network! Know for sure that we don’t subscribe!

As of this printing of this bulletin, I’m not sure if any Health Care Reform bill will make its way through Congress, but you can be sure that the one being rammed by Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts is not acceptable. Genuine health care reform should protect the life and dignity of all people from the moment of conception until natural death. The U.S. Bishops’ Conference has concluded that all committee-approved bills are seriously deficient on the issues of abortion and conscience, and do not provide adequate access to health care for legal immigrants and the poor. The bills will have to change or the bishops have pledged to oppose them. You can tell Congress: “Remove Abortion Funding & Mandates from Needed Health Care Reform!” You can contact Members through e-mail, phone calls or FAX letters. To send a prewritten, instant e-mail to Congress, go to www.usccb.org/action. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: 202-224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices. MESSAGE to SENATE: “During floor debate on the health care reform bill, please support an amendment to incorporate longstanding policies against abortion funding and in favor of conscience rights. If these serious concerns are not addressed, the final bill should be opposed.” MESSAGE to HOUSE: “Please support the Stupak Amendment that addresses essential pro-life concerns on abortion funding and conscience rights in the health care reform bill. Help ensure that the Rule for the bill allows a vote on this amendment. If these serious concerns are not addressed, the final bill should be opposed.” Both House and Senate are preparing for floor votes now. Act today! Thank you!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-10-30T12:40:00-04:00

Our 10th Annual Auction Night – THE BIG GALA for this year to benefit our school, will be celebrated this Saturday evening. Come join us for a fun evening, and help us reach our goal for the coming year of maintaining and even improving upon the top quality education that our parish school provides for our future generation! Tickets are still available at the parish office. This is a wonderful event that should be a must on the calendar of anyone interested in our kids!

Most of the children in our parish have now received their own Sunday collection envelopes to participate in the third aspect of Stewardship of Time, Talent and Treasure. Even with quarters or a dollar each week, the money will go a long way to indicate that they are grateful for the various gifts God has bestowed upon them. In this way, they can show that they appreciate the value of these gifts by their support of God’s Church. This form of stewardship goes hand-in-hand with the other two, and is not to be neglected any more than the other forms. Though each one of us should dedicate some of our time and talent to help serve the cause of building up the community of faith here, it also takes our gift of treasure to pay the bills and fund the programs needed to promote this “building up of the Body of Christ in our midst.” That’s why it’s good stewardship on the part of parents to teach their children not just to put money in the envelope, but how to make it a sacrificial offering back to God, who blesses us in so many ways. Likewise, the family gets credit for their annual contributions through the assistance of their children’s offerings.

Father Jimmy will be back for a farewell Mass and reception after he has returned from his next trip to the Holy Land. We have scheduled the party for him following his 11:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, November 22nd in Kellaghan Hall. I pray that many of you who have benefited by his services to our parish will turn out in good number and join us in bidding him adios!

On November 3rd, our replacement for Fr. Jimmy, Father Michael Parrotta, will officially take up residence in our parish. Father Mike hails from Queens, N.Y., and was ordained for the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, from which he is now retired. Prior to his priesthood, he had been married, is the father of two sons, and his remaining son lives in the Archdiocese of Miami. Prior to coming here, he was at St. Martin de Porres in Jensen Beach. We welcome him!

Our DSA goal is getting closer to being reached without tapping into the general fund to make up the shortfall. Thank You to each one who has contributed and fulfilled their pledge. Check out the giving thermometer, and let’s try to reach that goal in the Appeal’s remaining few weeks.

Though our Bishop some months earlier issued precautions in avoiding the Swine flu through unnecessary contact during Mass, it’s still good to revisit these precautions every once in a while for the sake of personal safety. You may avoid direct hand contact during the Sign of Peace by just tuning and nodding or giving a wave to your neighbor. The Communion cup containing the Precious Blood still will be withheld from the general populace during this precautionary period of time, and the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are to use the sanitary liquid dispensers found in the sacristy before they administer Holy Communion.

Inside this week’s bulletin are some photos of the closing Mass of our Diocese’s Silver Jubilee celebration. It was a spectacular event, and several of our parishioners had special roles in that event. Many of the diverse ethnic groups that make up our diocese wore beautiful costumes and performed their traditional ceremonial dances on that occasion. The websites of our local media covered the events quite well, and you can still download some of them to your computer.

A special big “THANK YOU” to the members of our Development Committee who made themselves available after all the Masses last weekend to answer questions about our finances after the issuing of the annual financial report. They also handled the rumors that abound when false information or misinformation is carelessly dispensed without checking on the facts.

Mother Jadwiga Cierpinska, Provincial Superior of the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in New Jersey (Superior of our Sisters Maria and Dorothy), will be visiting the Sisters and our parish for a week, starting November 13th. It will be the first time since I came to St. Vincent’s four years ago that a Provincial Superior of Sisters teaching in our school came to visit. We welcome Mother Jadwiga (accompanied by another Sister Dorothy)!

November is the Month of the Holy Souls. We will remember our loved ones, especially those who died this past year, in a beautiful way this coming Monday evening, with a Special Mass of Remembrance at 6 p.m. Please consult the bulletin elsewhere for more information.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-10-23T15:08:19-04:00

Last weekend, we published the annual financial report of our parish for the past fiscal year, a tradition that we have continued at this time of year over the past three years. Throughout the past few years, we have made substantial improvements on our campus, including updating our facilities, new features in the church, school and youth center, new programs and ministries, additional personnel and the maintenance and beautification of the grounds. I’m very grateful to the volunteer members of the Finance Council and the new Parish Development Committee for their close scrutiny of our fiscal records, recommendations, and willingness to communicate further with members of our parish, including the several new members we have registered since the summer. This weekend, several members of our Parish Development Committee will be on hand after Masses to answer queries concerning the financial report and other pertinent matters that are of concern to all of us. Following Saturday afternoon Masses, they welcome you to the Conference Room in the parish office across from the east door of our church. Following Sunday morning Masses, you are welcome to partake of some coffee and donuts in Kellaghan Hall while meeting with our Development Committee members. After the LIFE TEEN Mass, we will once again be in the Conference Room. This is a great opportunity to discuss with the people who are working so hard to keep this parish a special community it is. We still have more work to do, including the replacement of worn-out air–conditioning units and additional measures to economize on the use of our facilities and equipment. Hopefully, we’ll be able to count on your support to meet the expenses by increasing our level of giving so that the needs of our parish facilities and parish family members will not have to be compromised.

Thank you to all of our parishioners and friends who partook of last week’s pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. It was a great opportunity to socialize while enjoying an inexpensive, yet tasty breakfast.

Thank you for all of your generous response to our recent call to help us meet our goal in this year’s Diocesan Services Appeal. If everyone honors their pledge and makes their commitment count, we will not only reduce the remaining $15,300 shortfall, but will reach our goal and not have to take the balance from the parish operating funds in the Sunday collection to make up the difference. May all those who have contributed to this campaign be blessed by the people who are in most need of diocesan services, including seminarians, the aged, the poor, the migrants and the school children who attend in Catholic schools that cannot otherwise sustain themselves.

Thank you to the parish members who came to the closing of the diocese’s 25th anniversary observance this past Saturday. Everyone who went came home with special memories of the gala event. Those who carried banners, or dressed in special regalia to mark the occasion gave our parish a special presence in the midst of the 49 other parishes and 4 missions. It will certainly be a special remembrance in the minds of those who were part of the beginnings of our diocese. We look forward to the next twenty-five years, and may they be blessed, too!

Thank you to the parents and teens of our LIFE TEEN and EDGE programs for making the Haunted House a success. The many hours of preparation were possible because of a real stewardship of time and talent by so many. Under the leadership of Heather Hackett and the continuous cooperation of our Maintenance Crew, a larger setup became a reality this year, and the talents of our many young volunteers made the “creepy” areas even more so!

Don’t forget to turn your clock back one hour next Saturday night in observance of the end of Daylight Savings Time; that way, you’ll get an extra hour of sleep. Otherwise, you may arrive an hour early for Mass!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-10-15T20:07:13-04:00

The annual parish Financial Report is posted in this week’s bulletin. This was prepared and by members of our Parish Finance Council (most of them being CPAs) and reviewed by the Parish Pastoral Council and the School Advisory Committee, each of whom had their input into the final product. I urge you to read it, and if you have questions you need clarified, please contact the parish office, so that we can try to arrange for a suitable response. What we show on the report is that even though a number of people think of this parish as a “rich” parish, we have been experiencing what many families and businesses have during the past few years’ recession and economic slump. Many of our people have been hurt because of unemployment or cutbacks in salaries or working hours, also. We have reduced both staff salaries and working hours, as well as given some people their “pink slip.” Wonderfully, some of our members have opted to continue their ministry on a voluntary basis, enabling us to continue our various levels of outreach to our parish and community. May God reward them!

Father Jimmy Hababag, our Parochial Vicar for the past two years (and mine before this in my previous assignment for another two years), is being transferred to St. Joan of Arc Parish in Boca Raton, where the needs of a parish almost twice our size are particularly acute. They have a large hospital, for which they are responsible, a school that’s twice the size of our school and a parish that numbers around 5,000 families. We all will miss Father Jimmy, who has served us well with his kind and gentle manner and unique spiritual dimension, and know that he will take this with him to his next assignment. Perhaps, after a “tour of duty” there, the will be managing his own parish somewhere in the diocese. At a date to be announced next week, we will host a farewell reception for him in our parish hall. His replacement here will be announced next week.

This Sunday, October 18th, is World Mission Sunday. For the sake of maintaining the most impoverished missions that our Holy Father needs to sustain in different parts of the world, we will have our second collection set aside for the needs of the poorest of God’s people. Your generosity in this matter is always excellent. A simple donation will always help, but a sacrificial one will be of even greater value in the eyes of God. “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all he has done for me?”

We’re getting excited about our 10th Annual Parish Auction, scheduled in our Family Life Center for Saturday, November 7th. The Committees have been very busy in making this another success to benefit the children of our school. Their members are selling raffle tickets outside of church on Sundays, and your support of their efforts is a real blessing as they struggle to keep the costs of a Catholic education at a reasonable rate, especially through providing scholarships and tuition grants. Thank you for your kind support; it means so much to our 271 students!

This past Friday marked the actual anniversary of our Sister Dorothy’s 25th anniversary as a professed religious. Though she began some of the celebrations in June with Mass at the tomb of John Paul II concelebrated by her pastor, the joyous event continues. We offer her our heartfelt congratulations and wish her continued best wishes in her work and additional graduate studies.

Our diocesan observance of our own Silver Jubilee as a diocese concludes on this coming Saturday, October 24th, at 11:00 a.m. in the Palm Beach Convention Center. Because of the limitations on auto parking, we are providing bus transportation, and the diocese will provide a light meal to follow – all for $5 per person. If you have not done so, please contact the parish office this Monday to arrange your trip/meal. Already a year in the works, the Mass will be a very celebratory occasion, attended by numerous archbishops, bishop, priests, deacons, religious men and women as well as hundreds of laity. I hope you can join us!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-10-08T16:05:44-04:00

God bless the 70 + people who came to last Sunday’s annual LIFE CHAIN on Linton Blvd. and Federal Highway, praying and giving living witness for one hour to the Gospel of Life, as well as the 21 people who couldn’t come, but prayed in church for the same intention during that time. I’m told by the ‘veterans’ of this event that this was the best turnout ever for our parish (certainly the best of the 4 times I’ve been here). The witness was impressive, especially on the part of the youngsters who came and held signs. Most people tooted their horns in favor of our pro-life messages (while a few obnoxious ones showed the level of their intellectual capacity to understand that abortion is the taking of innocent life). God bless all who sacrificed an hour of their time to pray for a change of hearts and minds of the pro-abortion mentality crowd.

God bless our Knights of Columbus and the teens from our Edge and Life Teen youth programs under the energetic leadership of Heather Hackett, for their successful First Friday Fish Fry (4Fs) last weekend. Our next Fish Fry will be on December 4th (there’s none in November because of the Parish Auction). We look forward to seeing you at our next 4-F get-together!

This past Thursday, a number of our parents took up the invitation to join the Chairpersons and Underwriters of the Annual Auction, and tour our school, as they enjoyed a tasty breakfast meal, and asked many pertinent questions on the status of our parish school’s future. They liked what new and exciting changes they have been witnessing lately, and certainly showed their interest in the future of their children in our school, pledging their support of our program, our staff and our plans for the future. They also inquired about the special monthly collection envelope for support of the school, and whether particular goals were achievable through each month’s supplement. The response was a full “YES.” Our new approach is what we call our S-O-F-T program: more Scholarships, upgrading Operations, maintaining Facilities and updating Technology. Now, for instance, with this month’s offering, we would like to purchase one or two more “smartboards” for our classrooms (cost is about $1250 each). It’s “do-able,” and if we look at the benefits derived from the investment of these funds, our children will be linked up with the technology of the 21st century. That’s why these next two groups of people are vital, and linked to one another.

Our Legacy Society Committee is displaying a passion, purpose and pride for our parish and school, especially when it comes to continuing the competitive academics and facility upgrades at St. Vincent’s Parish School. Among them, we currently number Jacqueline Didier, Louise Glover, John & Begona Krane, John Krolikowski, Jan Kucera, Mimi Meister, Dolly Steinman and Carla Zorovich (Chair). Since they will be working alongside our Parish Development Committee, you’ll notice a number of names in both. May God bless them and their efforts!

Our Parish Development Committee has been working feverishly to help us put together a strategy and develop a plan of action for the next several years to help stave off cutbacks on necessary services to our church and school, and to prepare to endow the parish with funds to meet the ever-encroaching financial drains on our parish revenues. With great gratitude, I thank the following who have offered to serve on our Parish Development Committee: Jayson & Vicki Chung, Don Pfeil (Chair), Tad & Julie Gibson, Bill Gillis, John Glover (Co- Chair), Chris Grant, Lisa & Mark Hargrove, John Krane (Secretary), John Krolikowski, Rob Mannweiler, Mimi Meister, Susie Roegiers, Carolyn Roehm and Frank Vilcnik. God bless them all!

What is so special about these two groups is that instead of complaining about the dwindling availability of funds to run the church and school, lamenting the financial losses we sustained because of the market and overall economy, or sensationalizing their disagreements in the media or other venues, they are seizing the proverbial “bull by the horns,” and are working very hard to build up a reliable endowment fund and sources of revenue for both the immediate needs and the future life of our parish. Like so many men and women of good will in our parish, they are being wise and true stewards of God’s gifts of time, talent and treasure! May God bring their good efforts to fruition, and may He continue to draw them closer to Himself!

From the bottom of our hearts, my family and I would like to thank you for all of your kind words and expressions of support as we recently observed the first anniversary of Mom’s death. Mrs. Vikki Delgado and her family express the same, since her Mom went before the Lord the day after mine. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord…. Very Rev.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-09-29T11:30:40-04:00

A few weeks ago, I spoke at all the Masses regarding the serious need we have to make good on our assessment by the diocese for our 2009 Diocesan Services Appeal. With gratitude, I must thank the several individuals and families that made an immediate response to this follow up of our original appeal. Almost instantly, our deficit went down a bit, and the amount we must make up to the diocese is beginning to shrink. If we can keep up the momentum, we may solve our problem. Thank you for using the special envelope, or for marking out your pledge on different envelopes. This should help us keep down the assessment for next year as well as lower the final amount needed to make up the deficit. Understandably, this is not an easy task for many people. Yet, as Catholics, we are called upon to be steadfast in our Faith. So many people are counting on our ability to help them in their desperate situation. So we sacrifice – maybe a weekend visit to the local movie theatre (admission, large popcorn & drink, or candy = $$), or a less expensive restaurant, and park the car ourselves to save on even the tip). “To give alms is a work greater than miracles. To feed the hungry in the name of Christ is a work greater than raising the dead in Christ’s name. When you work miracles, you are God’s debtor; when you give alms, God is your debtor.” (St. John Chrysostom)

Despite many great challenges that we face today, we must find patience when we encounter difficulties that, at first, seem to be beyond our grasp. We can no longer continue to count on funds from our already depleted operating and investment accounts to meet our needs. Though there are some indicators that the nation’s overall economy is starting to show some signs of improvement, some of that won’t trickle down fast enough to shore up our own shortfall. Our parishes operate much like our own households. When our own household is unable to make necessary ends meet, we cut back on certain expenses and make the necessary sacrifices to see that it does.

By October 1st, at the strong recommendation of our Parish Finance Council, we will reduce our parish office hours, Gift Shop hours, employee working hours, and the size of our office and maintenance staff (not to mention the salary freeze and the cutback on virtually all salaries). In addition, we are completing recommendations for putting a freeze on the hiring of anyone for new ministries, and will look upon a pool of volunteers to do what needs to be done; after all, this is “The Year of the Volunteer”.

Reflecting upon volunteers, it was so good to see a band of our mothers gathered this past Wednesday in our Youth Center, folding, stuffing, labeling and overall preparing the mailing for our 10th Annual Auction, which we’ll have on Saturday, November 7th. I hope you’re planning to be with us in our Family life Center for that annual fundraiser for our parish school.

Next Sunday, we will “gather our forces and make a stand,” in a one hour commitment for Respect For Human Life. We will gather (priests, sisters, deacons and interested laity) at 2 p.m. at the intersection of Federal Highway and Linton Boulevard for this demonstration for the cause of human life (park your car on the NE corner - the lot where Carrabba’s restaurant is). We will be praying, and holding placards, ignoring the catcalls, obscene gestures or foul language of the people in cars who are violently against the pro-life movement; in fact, we’ll pray for them and the conversion of their hearts, as well as those in the $8 billion abortion industry, and the poor men and women who fall victim to the Culture of Death’s enticements.

This weekend, we are called upon once more, to open our hearts and checkbooks to help the people in another region of our universal Church (India) to meet their basic needs. Our annual Mission Appeal will be conducted by Father Thomas J. Kallumady of New York City, formerly from Balasore, India, a region where Christians are being persecuted,
their homes and churches are being burned, and financial resources are being drained because of the trouble there. May his message make us more aware of our fiduciary responsibilities in our stewardship of God’s gifts to us in this “land of the free and home of the brave.”

“To our shame, we must admit that people fear neither expense, nor even going into debt when it comes to satisfying their pleasures; but, if the poor ask them for help, they have nothing at all. This is true of so many: they have everything for the world and nothing at all for God because to them, the world is everything, and God is nothing.” St. John Mary Vianney, the parish Cure of Ars

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-09-04T12:36:39-04:00

We remember with sadness again that day that we now refer to as “9-11.” As we pray for the memory of those who were killed in that tragedy, let us also remember in special prayer the men and women who serve each day in our armed forces all over the world, especially in those “hot spots” of Iraq and Afghanistan. They are there trying to secure freedom for people in those parts of our world that are continually under assault, often because of fanatical leaders and their mindless followers. They are always grateful for our prayers and remembrances of them.

This Monday is Labor Day, a national holiday in honor of the working force of our country. Traditionally, up north, it was the last of the summer holidays before school resumed. However, this is Florida, and the force of the holiday can easily lose its appeal because, for many, the summer vacation period has ended and our focus is removed from the season when most people take some kind of a vacation. Since it is a legal (the Office is closed) and school holiday, there is an opportunity to begin that day with morning Mass (no afternoon Mass that day). How pleasing it would be to the Lord if we were to take the time, brief as it is, and make the sacrifice of celebrating Mass instead of sleeping a little bit later. This would be a most appropriate time to come to Mass in advance of the day “9-11,” when many cannot get to church. Remember how full the churches were when we felt the pain of that day? Wouldn’t it be great to do that again? What a way to honor those who have gone on before us on that day of infamy eight years ago.

On Tuesday, September 8th, we mark the annual celebration of the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A special Rosary that day in her honor and for your intentions can go a long way in seeking her motherly care. She is a true mother who never abandons her children. Thank you to the Knights of Columbus and to our Middle School students from our EDGE program who helped serve up a delicious dinner on this past Friday’s Fish Fry. It was the first of the season, and we’ll try to keep this monthly event as much as possible (not in November due to the Auction, and not in January because it’s New Year’s Day!).

While we’re in the praying mode (and mood?), let’s also remember to pray for all priests in this “Year for Priests,” as Pope Benedict XVI has asked of us. Too often we may sell short the call to priesthood in the life of men who have tried to dedicate their lives to service to God and His people. When was the last time you prayed for priests? While we pray daily for you, we need your prayers, too! Please pray for us. Here are some prayers that you may want to clip and preserve in your wallet, pocket or prayer book.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-08-28T15:03:55-04:00

It brightens my heart and it’s always so nice to see our parents and grandparents bringing the little children to weekday Mass, especially after dropping of the older children at school each morning. While we know of our serious Sunday obligation to attend Mass, weekday Masses provide us with additional opportunities to spend time with the Lord and to feel the power of His grace alive in our lives. It also presents us a means whereby the youngsters learn, by our good example, what we mean by “speaking to the Lord and listening to what He has to say.” The “little ones” learn so quickly from us that God’s House is a “House of Prayer.”

This coming Saturday, September 5th, is the 1st Saturday of the month, the day each month when faithful pro-life people come to the abortion center on Village Blvd. just above 45th St. to pray for the conversion of hearts – for those contemplating the crime of abortion and those assisting in procuring them. The Rosary begins at 9:00 a.m., and goes for a little over an hour. Some will also stay for the Divine Mercy devotions that follow. During this time, we sometimes are able to witness young, frightened women who receive our prayerful message and counseling and who then make a decision to keep their unborn baby. Some of them will even join us in prayer for their “sisters” to change their hearts, too. It is a safe environment, because police are always present, not to protect us, so much as to assist the cynical protagonists in their murderous work. Your presence is a great witness to respect life in all its stages: from the womb to the tomb. If you cannot travel that far to witness, then please pray for us in our mission there.

Please mark your calendars for our annual "LIFE CHAIN" in support of all human life. We will gather and pray for an hour at the corner of Linton Blvd. and Federal Hwy. in Delray Beach on Sunday, October 4th, from 2 to 3 p.m. We will gather about 15 minutes earlier on the N.E. corner of that intersection to distribute the necessary signs and give instructions on how to carry out a safe demonstration for LIFE. Please invite your family member, friends and neighbors to join us. Thank you for your support, and if you need more information, or have questions or suggestions, please call our Parish Respect Life Coordinator, Dan Holthouse, at 358-1016.

Soon, in the next few weeks, you will receive reports concerning the financial concerns and future plans for our parish, and the pains we have to work through in these hard economic times that affect so many of us, including the operation of our parish and its school. Recently, at the recommendation of our Parish Finance Council and with the “go-ahead” approval of our Parish Pastoral Council, we began implementing a multipronged program that’s already working to reduce expenses and increase revenue for the operation of our parish plant (church, school and other ministry buildings and grounds). So much of this is based on an appreciation of our role as stewards of God’s gifts to us, and how we can use and share these gifts with others. For instance, members of our St. Vincent de Paul Society Conference that works out of our parish expressed their own gratitude to many of our parishioners who have been helping to serve as members and volunteers in its charitable outreach programs, especially your donations last week to build up a basis for helping the increased numbers of parishioners who are really “down on their luck.” Likewise, the younger members of our family are being asked in a serious manner to show their love for God, His people and their surroundings, and to do what they can to show that support and love of their parish.

While it takes a lot of funding to build buildings, it is very easy to overlook the costs in maintaining them to quality standards. Fortunately, we’ve had an excellent team of workers in our maintenance crew. Unfortunately, the difficult part during these times of economic stress is cutting back in manpower, hours, or programs (or any combination of these), in order to save money for other vital operations. Like so many other organizations, we have begun to do so, evaluating the needs of the parish and, as well as we can, the needs of our employees. This isn’t an easy task! So, we commend a lot more in prayer to Our Lord, and ask Him to give the strength and wisdom we need to do our best in sorting out all factors on the playing field of life.

Our first Fish Fry of the season, brought to us in a partnership by our Knights of Columbus and our parish Youth Ministry, will be held this Friday. Both organizations benefit from any profits realized. With all due respect to our parishioners in the restaurant business, this may be the “best deal in town,” for that day. More information can be found elsewhere in this parish bulletin.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-08-22T12:54:48-04:00

Last Saturday afternoon, we were happy to host Bishop Barbarito (who celebrates his 15th anniversary as Bishop this Saturday, August 22nd). He came to celebrate Mass for us and then bless the renovations that have taken place in our church and on our campus in the past 3 years. He loved the new crucifix over the main altar, and he especially praised the beauty of the four stained-glass doors on the east and west entrances of the church. Then he proceeded to the Adoration Chapel, which he blessed, and called it a special place of love that Our Lord pours out upon those who spend time with Him there. His emphasis on the Eucharist in his homily and during the blessing spoke of the unity that draws us all together, as we celebrate our New Beginnings by
our living out the Comm--union of Christ.

Since the rain began to pour down fiercely as he tried to visit each building, he sent his blessings from the entrance to our chapel, and then, when the rain stopped, made his way to each of the renovated buildings to inspect what your generous support of our parish these past three and-ahalf years has made possible. He was particularly impressed with the Youth Center for our EDGE and LIFE TEEN programs, and learned of the good use that the former two-storied convent provides for the homeless program, “FAMILY PROMISE,” and the Catholic Charities Counseling Center in the same building. He met with most of the people who came, and spent hours with us until he had to leave, quite late into the evening. I join my thanks to his, to all of you who made that day such a special one in the history of our parish and help to bring about the renewal of our parish through Jesus Christ.

Our 40 Hours Eucharistic Adoration will take place in the Blessed Sacrament Perpetual Adoration
Chapel this upcoming Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It begins after the 8:30 A.M. Mass on Thursday and concludes on Saturday afternoon at 3:45 p.m., before the 4 p.m. Mass. You will have the opportunity to spend some precious time with Our Lord in the Eucharist, as the Host will be exposed in the special monstrance on the altar. Groups of adorers are welcome, such as school children, prayer groups and organizations of the parish, to pray aloud during this special time, or to spend it quietly in adoration, asking the Lord to hear your special needs. Even though our church building is closed after the last Mass of the morning to prevent vandalism and worse, our Adoration Chapel is always open for you to spend a few moments in prayer with God.

Bring your children or grandchildren, too, and teach them about the Real Presence of Jesus there.
Our children returned to school this past week for the start of a great year. An Open House for the Pre-K parents and children last Monday evening, and a “Welcome Back” breakfast on Wednesday morning helped us to inaugurate our new year. Thank you to the Home and School Association under the leadership of Irene Hey who put on an excellent presentation. Our parents were introduced to the SCRIP program that will enable us to earn money for ourselves and for our school.

Thanks to the information that Sister Maria gave us earlier this year, we will be able to purchase gift cards through the school office that can be used like cash for a wide variety of store purchases, such as at Publix, Winn-Dixie, Albertson’s Walgreen’s CVS, Sears, Target and many, many more merchants. The percentage that we receive by using these gift cards for our purchases will
come back to help us as individual families and our school. Even if you have no children in our school, your use of these will go a long way to help fund our programs.
At the recommendations of our Parish Finance Council and our School Advisory Board, and with the encouragement of our Parish Pastoral Council in an effort to build up our parish funding for church and school use, and to teach our younger generation how to responsibly share in supporting the Church and its vast work, we will be introducing the Sunday envelope system for Parish Stewardship to our youngsters, both in our parish school and our Parish Religious Education Program (PREP). This is an excellent teaching moment for them to be good stewards of the gifts given them, and to share in the upkeep of our parish.

Sometimes they don’t get the opportunity to really understand what stewardship of time, talent and treasure is all about. In this way, they can learn to budget and share their own resources for the good of others, and learn from Mom and Dad how to share in some of the other family responsibilities. Envelope packets will be distributed in school, or sent through the mail in the coming week. May the youngsters learn the best of traits from the good examples of their parents!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-08-13T18:34:28-04:00

The Catholic Church does not generally favor any particular form of government of itself. While some forms have been more consistent with the Church’s teachings concerning the common good of society, and others have even defended moral values in the face of fierce opposition, there are still those forms that run contrary to Christ’s view of His Father’s Creation, and, hence, contrary to the Church’s point of view. But the ultimate aim of the Church is always what is best for the human person in order to achieve salvation. Therefore, it’s important to remember that what the Catholic Church puts forth as “social encyclicals,” are those that should address the state of human society. This is often done by attempting to rediscover for us the courage to plan the future of all humanity, not with the illusions of worn-out ideologies, but with the synthesis of all the elements that a dynamic, living organism --the Church-- can offer society itself.

In this “Year For Priests,” I continue to reflect more deeply on the writings of our High Priests on earth, Benedict XVI, and his predecessor, John Paul II, for they are filled with the witness of Jesus Christ the High Priest, whom they serve(d) as Chief Vicar. On July 7th, shortly after I arrived home from Rome, Pope Benedict XVI published his latest encyclical letter, “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth). As we know, the Church always seeks to apply eternal truths, which do not change, to the realities of modern life, which do change. Each time we read the homilies or addresses of the current pope, we notice that he possesses a very remarkable awareness of the realities of the modern world, with all of their strengths and weaknesses. Today, some people attribute the extremely large number of pilgrims recently going to Rome, including many non-Catholics, to the fact that they want to see and hear Pope Benedict XVI, most especially because of the ability of the average person to listen to and understand his exhortations and challenges. John Paul II was also a great teacher, but some of his writing style had been hard to follow because his deep philosophical, theological and practical reflections have been lost in the translation of his works.

One of the observations Pope Benedict makes in his encyclical in “Charity in Truth” concerns the dangers of sentimentalism. He clearly points out that if charity is not understood in the light of truth and with a proper understanding of the human person, it can easily lead to an arbitrary sentimentality, with a very weak foundation. It can also be manipulated for various purposes by appealing to the emotions alone. So the Pope tries to make this clear when he writes: “Truth needs to be sought, found and expressed within the economy of charity, but charity, in turn, needs to be understood, confirmed and practiced in the light of truth. In this way, not only do we do a service to charity enlightened by truth, but also help give credibility to truth, demonstrating its power to persuade and authenticate in the practical setting of social living. This is a matter of no small account today, in a social and cultural context which relativizes truth, often paying little heed to it, and showing increasing reluctance to acknowledge its existence.”

The Pope is saying that we do have a solution and we have to begin with love that expresses itself in truth. He rightly observes that without a firm foundation in truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality and love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. He also points out the tendency of our modern society to think that it can accomplish things on its own. Therefore, it can plan and control success or failure based upon its own programs and ideas, often seen without the light of objective truth. This real temptation is summed up at the end of the encyclical with the Pope’s heartfelt exhortation to view charity in truth and not apart from it.

Too many people have fallen prey to this fallacy and need to re-examine their fallacious notions and humbly come back to their wise and loving God, the author of all creation. May we always be vigilant- constantly aware that we are subject to the temptations all around us and be careful to listen to God speaking to us in our heart of hearts, “He who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”

For your information, there is a Catholic-oriented radio program each weekday morning from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. broadcast over the Family Values Radio station WLVJ (1040 AM). It’s titled “Religion, Politics and the Culture.” The host is Dennis O’Donovan. It’s repeated on the weekday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Often they will advertise news concerning our parish activities or those of other parishes in the Metro area. You might find its format very interesting.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-08-07T17:00:02-04:00

In recent conversations and in the confessional, I’ve come across quite a number of people who say they “follow their consciences” in making moral decisions regarding their actions and that puts them at odds with traditional moral teachings of the Church, whether it’s concerning the use of artificial means of birth control, or abortion, or another major moral problem. Though it may seem “politically incorrect,” I’d like to set the record straight regarding the Church’s teachings on these matters.

Those who embrace the idea of “supremacy of the human conscience,” by definition discard objective truth, because the incorrectly formed human “conscience” is notoriously flexible, compromising and rationalizing when temptation strikes. Just as important, since a person whose conscience reigns supreme will inevitably fall into sin and then accept that sin, he will also be more tolerant of sin in others.

People who dissent from the teachings of the Church are very fond of quoting the Vatican II document on the “Declaration on Religious Freedom” (Dignitatis Humanae), in support of their contention that we should be able to do anything our “conscience” does not object to. However, the late Jesuit theologian, Father John Courtney Murray, principal architect of that document, anticipated this kind of dishonesty. In a footnote to the text, Father Murray stated: “The Declaration does not base the right to the free exercise of religion on “freedom of conscience.” Nowhere does this phrase occur. And the declaration nowhere lends its authority to the theory for which the phrase frequently stands, namely, “that I have the right to do what my conscience tells me to do, simply because my conscience tells me to do it.” This is a perilous theory. Its particular peril is subjectivism – the notion that, in the end, it is my conscience, and not the objective truth, which determines what is right and wrong, true or false.”

Dissenters also conveniently neglect to mention paragraph #8 of the Declaration, which notes that “…not a few can be found who seem to be inclined to use the name of “freedom” as the pretext for refusing to submit to authority and for making light of the duty of obedience.” The correct connection between freedom and truth as it should be perceived by the conscience, and the role of the Magisterium (Teaching authority of the Church), is outlined in the encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” (“The Splendor of Truth”) by Pope John Paul II (paragraphs #61-64):

[“Consequently “in the practical judgment of conscience,” which imposes on the person the obligation to perform a given act, ‘the link between freedom and truth is made manifest.’ Precisely for this reason, conscience expresses itself in acts of ‘judgment,’ which reflect the truth about the good, and not in arbitrary ‘decisions.’ The maturity and responsibility of these judgments (and, when all is said and done, of the individual who is their subject) are not measured by the liberation of the conscience from objective truth, in favor of the alleged autonomy in personal decisions, but on the contrary, by an insistent search for truth and by allowing oneself to be guided by that truth in one’s actions.

Christians have a great help for the formation of conscience ‘in the Church and her Magisterium.’ As the (Second Vatican) Council affirms: ‘In forming their consciences, the Christian faithful must give faithful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of the Church. For the Catholic Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of truth. Her charge is to announce and teach authentically that truth which is Christ, and, at the same time with her authority, to declare and confirm the principles of the moral order which derive from human nature itself.’ It follows that the authority of the Church, when she pronounces on moral questions, in no way undermines the freedom of conscience of Christians.”]

It can be said with good authority that dissenters don’t really believe that “all Catholics have the right to follow their informed consciences in all matters,” because, when loyal Catholics “follow their consciences” and oppose abortion, homosexual marriage and contraception, their opponents will stridently condemn them and ridicule their views. For dissenters, the “glorification of conscience” is a mere smoke screen that they use to further their goals, much like their twist on the concepts of “non-judgementalism” and “tolerance.”

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-07-30T13:40:48-04:00

The Knights of Columbus are back from Ak’Tenamit! It was an exciting nine day trip to our mission in Guatemala, and we came back quite healthy and with no broken bones, scorpion or snake bites (just mosquitoes – Florida’s state bird!) having accomplished quite a bit of work. During that time, the men built 10 picnic style tables with benches. Each will hold ten students for study periods outside of the classrooms of the school.

Additionally, several bunk beds were built for the efficient use of sleeping space in the boys’ dormitories, and we built a large cement outdoor basketball court. Though a bit tired each night from the long days’ work in the heat, the men were able to “kick back” a little after Mass and supper, and reminisce about each day’s activities. The food was good, the views were fantastic, and the people are very gracious. The weather was very cooperative – almost no rain in the “rain forest” that week – and the local people helped us on the various construction projects. There’s no question about it—the local population is very appreciative of our work with and among them, and they are getting to know us more each year that we return. They look forward to the visit as much as we do. We happily distributed over 1,000 Rosaries to the students and villagers we met, and celebrated Mass in one of the remote villages, crossing over the swampy lake edge via a quarter-mile long boardwalk.
The chapel was filled with people and beautiful singing in the local dialect, as I offered Mass in Spanish and had the homily translated on-the-spot by a local leader into their native Q’ek-chi. Obviously, the Catholic people were overjoyed that they could have one more Mass this year than the usual three times. Thank you for
your support of our efforts, through your prayers and sacrificial giving in the annual appeal for our Guatemalan mission, especially the parish council of the Knights of Columbus and the numerous people who provide annual sponsorships.

“School days, school days, good ol’ back to school days….” It’s not far off, and some of the excitement at our school begins with a new program called “SCRIP.” It’s a fundraising program that works while you shop. It really means “substitute money.” In other words, SCRIP will be the gift certificates from many national and local retail stores. They’re the same gift certificates that you buy at the store, only they will benefit St. Vincent School if you buy them through the SCRIP program. Some of the more popular retailers are Wal-Mart, Albertson’s, Winn-Dixie, Shell, Pizza Hut, JC Penney, The Gap and Red Lobster. There are many more, too!

Scrip-participating retailers agree to sell gift certificates to our school at a discount. Families, such as yours, buy the certificates for full-face value, then, redeem them for full-face value, and our school keeps the difference as revenue. Everybody wins in this program! The beauty of SCRIP is that you put your regular household shopping dollars to work for you and us. You earn money for our school and your family account without spending a single extra penny! The retailer gets cash “up front” and repeat business…. You get a powerful fundraising alternative that involves no selling….Our school gets a regular source of revenue, and will split it with you 50/50, which you can then turn around and use towards tuition, registration and/or fees. Our school will hold two brief informational meetings about our new SCRIP program, and we urge you to attend one of them: August 19 at the “Welcome Back Breakfast” (Kellaghan Hall) after drop-off, or September 1st at “Meet the Teacher Night.” We’ll go over all of the facts about SCRIP, provide enrollment forms and answer your questions. Get ready to earn money towards your child’s tuition as you shop for everyday necessities!

As we promised, we will have a special Mass and blessing of the numerous renovations that have taken place on our campus over the past three years. Bishop Barbarito will celebrate our 5:30 p.m. Mass on August 15th, and then bless the Crucifix over the main altar, the new stained-glass memorial side doors and the
Perpetual Adoration Chapel (and the new roof!) of our church. Then, he will bless the St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Mary houses, the Youth Center and the 2nd floor of the Old Convent (which houses the Diocese of Palm Beach Counseling Center and the Family Promise Program). This Mass will mark the beginning of the new
school year and our own new beginnings – signs that we are “moving ahead” after some difficult times that are now behind us.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-07-23T13:58:16-04:00

The Dynamics of Celibacy (by a priest-friend and son of the Palm Beach Diocese, Fr. Tom Euteneuer)
(In this “Year for Priests,” we might reflect more deeply on the role of celibacy in the life of priests.) Some
recent high-profile priest scandals have put celibacy back in the limelight as a topic for the pagan world to
rage about, but rarely will you hear what the Catholic Church actually teaches about it. I hope that the following
insights will be a short-course in the dynamics of a marvelous life of grace: namely, celibate chastity. The
world needs to hear “the other side” of the story.
Number one: Celibacy is a gift to the world, not a rule imposed by the Church on a few seemingly-abnormal
men. Celibacy initiates men into a life of spiritual fatherhood in a strikingly positive way for others. We are
called “father” for a reason: we bring spiritual life to our people through the sacred mysteries which we handle,
and they thereby are drawn into a spiritual family. A truly dedicated priest has thousands of spiritual children
who sometimes make immense demands on him—I often wish I had only seven children like my father!
In an age where men have massively renounced their sacred duty to generate, protect and nurture families,
there are myriads of selfless, celibate men sacrificing themselves in a truly manly way for the sake of God’s
family and, indeed, even for the sake of many individual families. The fact that some priests fail at it does not
make the gift of celibacy anything less than a true blessing; in fact, its failures force us to reflect more deeply
on its quiet successes. It’s hypocritical to think that we should throw away the gift of celibacy (i.e., make it
“optional”) based upon a miniscule percentage of failures of its practitioners. We don’t say the same thing
about the much higher percentage of failures in marriage. Should we allow polygamy just because some married
men can’t stick to one woman? This is the time to reaffirm the genuine beauty and value of celibacy, not
change this immense gift to us.
Number two: Celibacy is the personal renunciation of the legitimate goods of marriage and family as a fruitful
sacrifice for the kingdom of God. The astonishment of this generation that a perfectly normal, red-blooded
male could make that particular sacrifice is exactly the point of celibacy. The world needs to know that there
are some men walking around who are not bound either by the expectations of society or by the terms of our
fleshly human nature. They are bound by only one concern; that of a kingdom that is not of this world, and
they are willing to sacrifice everything for it. The presence in society of men who make this sacrifice is profoundly
challenging to a culture that wants to reduce everything in life to the pleasure principle. Such a total
renunciation is truly counter cultural: it’s like choosing to live with a permanent wound in the heart that never
heals but out of which flow “rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:38) that heal countless others. Celibacy is not easy
for anyone to live, in fact, it is a constant death to self; but it is enormously life-giving to others, and the
Church has not lost sight of that for two thousand years.
Number three: vows are vows. Married men make vows and so do priests. A vow is a promise before God of
fidelity to a particular person or state in life. From a spiritual point of view a vow in marriage has the same significance
as a vow of celibate chastity: it is permanently binding on the individual and requires total fidelity.
We all know that vows are broken by weak and fallible men, but we also know and have seen that vows can
be repaired, sins repented of, amends made and forgiveness granted to those who have offended others.
Who of us does not depend in some way on the Mercy of God and those we have hurt when we have fallen?
The return to fidelity breaks our pride and chastens our passions. What we must never do is make excuses or
justify our compromises with “pop cultural moral relativism.” For example, the fact of “falling in love” with
someone is no more an excuse to abandon the celibate priesthood than it is to abandon a wife and family for
another woman. I have known many married men who have had that experience and, then, in a more rational
moment, picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and returned to fidelity—sometimes at a great cost.
Thankfully, God gave us a rational will, in addition to our lower passions, so that we have something other
than whimsical feelings to govern our actions. Fidelity is always possible for those who desire to return to their
deepest commitments. Well, although a short article on celibacy isn’t enough to explain such a beautiful mystery,
it is just enough to witness to a very dynamic way of life whose adherents have given life to millions
throughout the centuries. In this time of great secular challenge to our faith, let us pray for the celibate men
and women who have served us so well in this life, and especially for those who are still trying to return to fidelity.
Sincerely,

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-07-16T19:06:42-04:00

As you read this article, twelve of us Knights of Columbus (some with sons) are making our way, once again, into the rain forest of eastern Guatemala. Among the numerous projects at our own mission in Ak’Tenamit, that will occupy our time and efforts, will be the building of study tables for the students, bunk beds for the dormitories, and repairs to some of the earliest projects built over ten years ago (various elements of that jungle environment have ways of gradually eroding some of the earliest efforts at establishing a permanent school and clinic in the jungle). Though it’s not an easy trip because of the climate, terrain and lack of some necessary materials, the men make the most of their time in that country, bringing the good will of our parish, the Catholic Church and this country to God’s people in this remote area.

Most of the men on the trip have been here before, and will note the progress that has been made by the local people even since our most recent foray into the wilderness. The mission’s school enrollment has gone up, and the Guatemalan government is encouraging Steve Dudenhoefer’s program to be replicated in several other areas of that country. This is a significant step, because previously, that nation’s constantly changing governments didn’t express much interest in Ak’Tenamit. The only real help came from a few groups, such as U.S. parishes, the Knights of Columbus, Rotary International and some organizations from foreign countries. Now that much attention on the success of this program has gone international, the Guatemalan leaders cannot ignore the significance of the Father Tom Moran Educational Center, and on the large region it serves. It’s encouraging to know that your support, both moral and financial, has helped to have a significant impact on our work and theirs. I thank you for your continued efforts to help the local people develop their own talents and resources to stay and serve the local community. Your gifts and sponsorships really do make a difference! May God bless you for your generosity, and may His hand protect us on our trip and prosper the work of our hands!

Though we are living in difficult economic times, I especially want to thank all those parishioners who have committed themselves to helping us draw closer to our parish goal in the annual DSA (Diocesan Services Appeal). The charitable network of our many diocesan agencies and organizations cannot function unless we are ready to assist them with our stewardship of God’s gifts to us. May He continue to bless those who make and honor their commitment!

On the weekend of August 1st and 2nd, Katie Bowie, a young parishioner, deeply involved in the Catholic based ministry called FOCUS (a Fellowship of Catholic University Students), that brings together Catholic
students on secular campuses of colleges and universities, will speak to us after Communion. She will tell us of the work of her stewardship in the organization, as well as the ways that we can assist in promoting that worthwhile work.

We welcome Spring Transleau, long-time leader of our parish youth program, to her new role in forming
and directing our new Catholic Women’s Apostolate, a multi-dimensional ministry that promotes the social, educational and spiritual growth of women beyond high school years. We also welcome Heather Hackett in her new role as director of our parish youth ministry, including the EDGE and LIFE TEEN programs for Middle and High School-aged children. Both of these women will be seeking your assistance in their work in these ministries.

Our seminarians for the summer, Wesler Hilaire and Jude Jean-Pierre, have completed their English language courses at FAU, and are preparing to enter their respective seminaries for the Fall term. Wesler will enter St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, and Jude will enter St. Jean Vianney in Miami. We thank them for their service over the summer, and pray that God will bless their coming year with an abundance of grace to persevere in their calling. May God bless our diocese with an increase in vocations to the priesthood, religious life and diaconate. May He also inspire the young men and women of our parish to consider these, too.

This Sunday, after any of the first 3 morning Masses, i.e., from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m., we invite you to have some coffee, donuts and fellowship. I thank our own parish Knights of Columbus for sponsoring this monthly get-together, and invite the men of our parish to consider becoming a Knight of Columbus. Congratulations to our new Grand Knight, Chris Grant, and his fellow officers who were just elected to their positions.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-07-10T09:13:27-04:00

The second part of our trip took us to Poland, where we visited Radom, and participated in the ceremonies marking the farewell of my friend, their former bishop, from his diocese in Radom. He now takes up his new position in heading one of the Vatican Pontifical Councils and receives the promotion the rank of archbishop. His two predecessors in this Council (both living) have received the red biretta of a cardinal, so we might expect to hear that he, too, will someday wear the same color biretta. The Sunday afternoon farewell at the cathedral began with an overpacked cathedral, and Mass concelebrated by over 350 bishops and priests. There were presentations from Church officials, religious communities, parishioners and government officials. In his seven years there, he had become endeared to the people, and a lot of emotion was shown in the faces of the people and their departing archbishop.

A reception followed at the new diocesan seminary, and we had a chance to spend some time with the archbishop before we left. The remaining days were spent visiting the famous icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, also popularly referred to as “The Black Madonna,” because of the darkness of the skin tones in the painting of our Lady and Jesus. These were caused by an attempt at burning the icon when some vandals tried to steal the painting. Two sword slashes also mar the picture, the results of other plunderers trying to steal the icon, which miraculously remained at the monastery because the horses would not pull the icon in the wagon. It was my privilege, again, to offer Mass before the miraculous image. Here, we climbed the famous bell tower of the monastery that dominates the entire countryside (300 steps up – no elevator!).

A side trip to Lublin took us to the only Catholic university that remained open in the former communist world, a tribute to the deep faith of the people of Poland, which today is sending forth many of its numerous priests to countries all over the world, in particular, France and Germany (no longer sources of vocations the way they once were). We took time to visit the infamous and stark Majdanek concentration camp, where tens of thousands of people, specifically Jews, were executed during the Second World War. We saw the crematoria there, and the vast
array of many of the possessions of the prisoners, objects which were not spirited away before the liberation of thebcamp. Surely, doubters of the Holocaust would have a hard time explaining away what our eyes beheld!

Krakow, the long-time residence of the late Pope John Paul II, is a very ancient and beautiful city, and here webvisited the famous Wieliczka salt mines, with entire chapels carved in the salt, several hundred feet below thebearth’s surface. National Geographic recently presented a special television feature on these mines and their fascinatingbhistory and legacy. Likewise, we visited the famous Marian Church of the Trumpeter of Krakow, then thebArchbishop’s Residence (once the dwelling of Pope John Paul II and now his successor and former secretary, CardinalbStanislaus Dziwisz) and came to a special shrine in nearby Lagiewniki district, the final resting place of St. Sister Faustina, the religious sister who fearlessly introduced the devotion of the Divine Mercy to a very skeptical world. The new, large basilica near her convent and grave can accommodate large numbers of pilgrims, and there, on two successive days, I included your intentions in the Masses I celebrated.

The last part of our trip to southern Poland included a visit to Wadowice, the home town and birth place of our previous pope, Karol (Charles) Wojtyla. The church where he was baptized, made his First Holy Communion and was confirmed sits along the beautiful main square of this small city. We were able to pray there, touch his baptismal font and view the papal thrones once used by the former pope and the present one on their visits to this lovely town. Many pilgrims and tourists find their way to this spiritual oasis while on journey to the Auschwitz concentration camp, not far away. Since we had already visited Majdanek, we were not ready to stomach any more scenes of “man’s inhumanity to man.” It was better to leave this region on a more positive note, and see the many wonderful roadside shrines dedicated to Our Lord or Our Lady that dot the Polish countryside in numbers that seem, at least to me, to be greater than any other in Europe. This is truly a testimony to the faith of a people that has been able to withstand many terrible invasions and treacheries upon the Catholicity of Poland. That is why Pope John Paul II, a man who made a real difference in the way he presented Catholicity in our lifetime, was well prepared to take on the task to which God called him.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-07-02T11:53:15-04:00

The past few weeks have allowed me a much needed rest while observing some very special feasts of the church. In our own parish, we had a very beautiful Corpus Christi celebration, with a traditional procession after the last Sunday morning Mass. The priests carried the Holy Eucharist from altar to altar erected on the grounds of our campus. This represented a somewhat smaller version of what takes place in some of the great Catholic countries of Europe, such as Italy and Poland, where the Holy Eucharist is processed through the local streets, stopping at magnificent altars set up in very public areas of the towns. In Krakow, Poland, diocese of the late Pope John Paul II, over twenty-thousand people annually participate in this celebration, which twists its way through the town for over a mile from the cathedral, on top of the Royal Castle Hill, to the main city square.

This year, I was able to partake in two such ceremonies. One was in the city of Orvieto, Italy, where the universal Feast of Corpus Christi was actually started as a result of a special Eucharistic miracle there centuries ago. Here, the townsfolk dressed in traditional medieval costumes, and were present for the Saturday afternoon Mass in the Cathedral. At the end of the observances, they exited the church in their finery to the enthusiastic applause of the crowd gathered on the main square of the city. On Sunday, beginning at Assisi’s cathedral, we processed with the Eucharist through the streets of the town, as we walked on roadways that had been artistically decorated that day with flower petals and seeds depicting scenes from Our Lord’s life. These beautiful portraits and geometric designs were not to be stepped on until the bishop carried the Blessed Sacrament over them. Though Assisi, the burial place of St. Francis and St. Clare, is only an hour from Orvieto, it took on its own flavor for these rituals. In each place, the people showed great reverence for the Holy Eucharist, acknowledging their belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the appearances of bread and wine.

Likewise, we had an opportunity to visit the famous abbey of Monte Cassino, rebuilt after being destroyed during the Second World War. It is the burial place of the founder of the Benedictines, St. Benedict, as well as his sister St. Scholastica, and is on top of a strategic mountain position between Rome and Naples. Nearby are the different national cemeteries for the troops involved in the battle at the abbey. It was at the beautiful Polish cemetery closest to the abbey that Pope Benedict recently made a special memorial visit. His path crossed again with us when he seemed to follow us to San Giovanni Rotondo, the burial place of St. Padre Pio. There we offered Mass at the altar where the saint had regularly celebrated Mass. An adjacent church now houses his incorrupt remains, which can be viewed through the glass casket; and a new, very contemporary basilica was just dedicated by our Holy Father to better serve the large number of pilgrims flocking there.

But, of all the beautiful celebrations we had, the one I found most moving was the chance to offer Mass on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the day which began the universal celebration of the Year of the Priest, recently proclaimed by Pope Benedict. This Mass was offered by the tomb of Pope John Paul II, not far from the tomb of St. Peter. What additionally was special was that, as I looked upon the faces in attendance at that Mass,“what to my wandering eyes should appear but” Sister Dorothy, our Kindergarten teacher at St. Vincent’s. She was there marking her Silver Jubilee (25 years) as a religious sister. May God grant her and her fellow sisters many years of loving service in religious life!

As the music provided by those in attendance echoed throughout the chambers of the crypt, and gave a special touch to the observance, my thoughts were filled with gratitude for the great example of priestly witness given us by the late Pope John Paul II. He had certainly inspired me in my vocation. My intentions that day included you and your family, and I was filled with a feeling of hope that this next year will be a special one for all of us, as we pray for ALL priests, beseeching Almighty God to strengthen them in their vocation, and to grace them with the wisdom and fortitude to preach and live the Word of God,“whether in season or out of season.”

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-06-25T15:00:27-04:00

In place of my usual weekly article, while I’m away in Poland, is this one by pro-Life activist, Deirdre A. McQuade. Her timely article came out when a lot of comments were being tossed around concerning President Obama’s reception of an award and graduation speech at Notre Dame. Several years ago, the abortion advocacy organization NARAL decided to drop the word “abortion” from its name. Originally founded in 1969, as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, NARAL changed its name in 1973, to the National Abortion Rights Action League when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide.

In 2003, the “A-word” must have become too distasteful or ineffective in promoting “reproductive rights.” NARAL dropped mention of abortion altogether but kept its acronym, calling itself “NARAL Pro-Choice America.” Now “NARAL” presumably doesn’t stand for anything. It seems increasingly clear that “Pro-Choice America” doesn’t stand for anything either. According to recent nationwide opinion polls, support for abortion is waning, and America is trending decidedly pro-life. The trend started in the early '90s during the public debate on partial-birth abortion – in which the Catholic community
was highly visible. Support for Roe peaked in 1991 and has been falling ever since.

The Gallup Poll’s Values and Beliefs survey released May 15 shows that Americans are taking a dramatic turn toward greater opposition to abortion. For the first time, a 51% majority of adults identified themselves as pro-life – an 8-point increase over the previous year. Only 42% called themselves pro-choice. Women have embraced the pro-life position more, and this is the first time in nine years that significantly more men and women are pro-life than pro-choice. A total of 75% think that abortion should be either illegal under all circumstances
(22%) or legal only under certain circumstances (53%). Only 23% think abortion should be legal under any circumstance. Thus fewer than one in four agrees with the current status of abortion law under Roe v. Wade, which allows “abortion on demand” throughout the nine months of pregnancy. Other polls conducted by Gallup, the Pew Research Center, and Quinnipiac University have similar findings. It’s encouraging that we live in “Pro-Life America.” This is a real sign of hope for women and their children. But the polls are not surprising because we’re seeing these results confirmed by an upsurge in grassroots pro-life activism. Pro-Life America has mobilized in three recent major campaigns thanks to the hard work of
a small crew at the bishops’ partner organization, National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA).

Over 34 million postcards to Congress were distributed during the campaign against the introduction of the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) or similar legislation. Millions spoke up to defend the hard-won pro-life laws that have saved countless lives since Roe – laws like public funding bans and parental involvement requirements. Then Pro-Life America got to work again, sending over 340,000 messages to the Department of Health and Human Services urging continued protection for the conscience rights of health care workers. Over 73,000 of these were sent through NCHLA’s online Grassroots Action Center. In May, that same action center facilitated tens of thousands of comments to Congress and NIH opposing destructive embryonic stem cell research and calling for ethical alternatives.

As we raise our voices to our policymakers, we must also pray that they will make wise decisions for the common good. It’s time to be boldly and lovingly pro-life – not just because we’re in the majority, but because families are literally dying to hear the hope we have to share.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-06-21T21:06:42-04:00

In place of my usual weekly article, while I’m away in Rome and Poland, I would like to present this article
for your consideration.
“The Little People on Death Row”
by Tom Grenchik, Executive Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Americans had until May 26, to intervene in the death sentences of countless members of our human family. Unless we spoke up, some of our youngest sisters and brothers may now be destroyed because their parts are valued more than their very lives. It’s all about stem cells. Stem cells are biological building blocks that can be manipulated to replace many other types of cells, in the hope of repairing the human body and curing disease. Stem cells can be taken from adult tissues and from newborn babies’ umbilical cord blood without any harm to the donor, and without any moral dilemma. These are loosely called “adult stem cells.” But stem cells can also be immorally harvested from a human embryo, destroying the un-consenting “donor.” These are called “embryonic stem cells.” Adult stem cells have been used to regenerate areas of damaged organs, restore eyesight, repair heart damage and treat rare blood disorders. Embryonic stem cell treatments, on the other
hand, have chiefly resulted in growing tumors and killing laboratory rats.

Following President Obama’s March 9 executive order, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed new guidelines for federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The guidelines would – for the first time – use taxpayer funds to encourage the killing of embryonic human beings for their stem cells. This is morally wrong! Even if an embryo may be at risk of being abandoned by his or her parents in a fertility clinic, that
does not give researchers or the government a right to kill that human being – much less a right to make the rest of us subsidize that destructive agenda! These guidelines mark a new chapter in divorcing biomedical research from its necessary ethical foundation, respect for human life at all stages.

Some in Congress and the Administration want an even broader policy. They want to obtain stem cells by destroying human embryos specially generated for research through in vitro fertilization (IVF) or cloning procedures, a “create to kill” policy. While the president’s executive order gave the NIH the leeway to push to that extreme, so far these initial guidelines have not done so. Patients suffering from devastating illnesses deserve
our compassion and our committed response, but not at the cost of innocent life. The Church supports ethical stem cell research and treatments that do no harm and respect the inherent dignity of persons, such as the morally acceptable medical advances that are already benefiting patients with dozens of conditions in clinical trials.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a new “Oppose Destructive Stem Cell Research” campaign, equipping citizens to contact Congress and the National Institutes of Health to oppose embryonic stem cell research and support ethical and effective cures and treatments. The campaign homepage, www.usccb.org/stemcellcampaign, explains why the proposed NIH guidelines are unacceptable,
provides links to USCCB resources, and helps web users to contact Congress & NIH by e-mail. Go to www.usccb.org/prolife to learn more about the Bishops’ pro-life activities.

I also take this time to wish all of our fathers and soon-to-be dads a very Happy Father’s Day! Dads are often the silent, unsung heroes of our families and our society. May God bless and keep and watch over and protect each of them each day of their lives. My He keep them faithful to their spouses and families, and help them to be living examples of His love!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-05-31T12:47:20-04:00

Graduation ceremonies and parties are the highlight of this time of year for many of our families. We mark the occasions with celebrations that are as varied as the occasions themselves. Even the 11 Apostles graduated from their three-year course in the first Christian school of learning, at the feet of Jesus Himself!

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, traditionally called the “Birthday of the Church.” The title for this feast derives from the Greek word for fifty, since the Apostles received the Spirit that many days after the Passover. Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus promised the Apostles “another Paraclete,” or Advocate, to guide them. Obedient to the Lord’s command, the Apostles remained in Jerusalem all this time, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would fill their minds and hearts with His gifts. That Spirit would empower the faithful followers of Jesus to continue the work He began on earth. So they spent much time in prayer, choosing a replacement for Judas (in the person of Matthias), bringing their number back to twelve, significant for their witness to God as the renewed Israel (remember the 12 tribes of Israel?). While the Third Person of the Trinity is most often referred to as the Holy Spirit in the teaching, worship and devotional life of the Church, He has other titles as well. Throughout the New Testament, and especially in the letters of Paul, we read about “the Spirit of Christ.” He is also referred to as the “Spirit of glory” and “the Spirit of promise.” In the Nicene Creed, we profess He is “the Lord and Giver of life.” These titles indicate the close interrelationship of the Holy Spirit with every aspect of
Christ’s life, teaching, miracles and, most especially, His death and resurrection. We affirm that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. This does not mean that the Spirit is third in rank or importance, or that he came to exist at a later time. Rather, He is “third” because He eternally “proceeds from the Father and the Son.” We profess that He is “worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son,” with whom He is co-equal and co-eternal. While the Trinity remains a mystery of faith, it is a very special and splendid, life-giving mystery – the secret of God’s inward communion of life and love.

Unlike the eternal Word who became flesh, the Holy Spirit remains invisible. Yet, we know the presence and power by His manifold works. It is the Spirit who allows us to be adopted sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, who opens our hearts in faith, and who sanctifies and guides us in the daily following of Christ. It is, likewise, the Holy Spirit who guides us andacts in the Church’s teaching office and Sacramental life. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the “driving force” of the Church’s life. He enables us to pray and proclaim the saving Gospel of truth and love. The events of Pentecost, described in two of this weekend’s readings, certainly seem to have elements of the fabulous in them, and tough critics of Christianity have surmised that the whole “cult of Jesus’ followers” that developed in the first century Palestine (and soon spread far beyond) was rooted in the “overheated imagination of a few diehard disciples,” who wanted to believe that their Jesus somehow survived death. To counter that criticism, we can point to the Gospels’ emphasis on the historical “reality” of the risen Lord who appeared to His disciples. Additionally, having heard of how God’s Spirit was given to the first followers of Jesus, we must accept our commission to keep that Spirit alive in the world today. It is that same Spirit that we invoke to come upon us to continue the task given the first Apostles. The question is, “Are we ready to accept the responsibility and power that come to us from the Spirit?” If so, then we shall accomplish much work for God’s people.

I already see that Spirit working in our parish school and throughout much of our fine parish. For instance, it was a great joy, this past week, for me to be at the “rite of passage” of our Pre-K children to Kindergarten, and our Kindergarten children to upcoming First Grade. Along with our parish school Principal, Mrs. Delgado, our teachers of these classes, and proud parents of the students, we witnessed a delightful program from each of the classes. What a great year we have had in our school, beginning with these little ones and ending with the Class of 2009, our eighth grade graduates, who celebrate with us at this Saturday afternoon’s 4:00 P.M. Mass! It has been a real delight for me to be able to partake in so many wonderful events of this school year.Also, many parents remarked how a wonderful spirit has penetrated our school this year, and I must give credit to the leadership of our new Principal, who has done a tremendous work with the talented faculty and staff with which we are blessed. I also thank those parents who cooperate with us, and the Home and School Association under the leadership of Irene and Byard Hey and their fellow officers. They make a difference!!!

I am sure that this same spirit will extend into next year. To continue the theme of “New Beginnings,” I have asked Bishop Barbarito to mark the opening of our next year with a special Mass, and he has consented. There will be more information forthcoming on this celebration as we draw closer to that time. We will also bless all the new additions and renovations of our parish at that time that we have prepared these past two plus years. May all of you who have made this possible enjoy that upcoming occasion! I sincerely thank you for your continued support of our parish, your willingness to move forward in our parish and your affirmation of all of our priests, sisters and staff. May God’s blessings come upon you in great abundance!

Congratulations to all of our graduates of the Class of 2009 from our parish family in elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities, nursing schools and other graduate schools. We are proud of you and your accomplishments! We hope that you stay close to the Lord, showing appreciation of all the gifts He has bestowed upon you. Your thanks to the Lord can be made manifest in prayer, worship and in the development and use of these gifts from God for the sake of His people, and thereby giving Him glory. May God watch over you and your family!!!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From The Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-05-24T12:38:32-04:00

CAUTION! I believe that due to these difficult financial times that we are experiencing, there are many people who are resorting to desperate means to obtain money. On the last two Sundays, a young man (blond hair, early twenties, wearing cargo shorts) was boldly seeking money from our parishioners who were entering and leaving church. He claimed he needed money “to return to Buffalo.” He even shed crocodile tears (through bloodshot eyes) to plead his case, but was not willing to work with our St. Vincent de Paul Society that handles these cases for us. Though we caught him in this same act two weeks in a row, this week I saw him walking along Federal Highway, casually smoking, and not noticing me (incognito) pass by. If he should return again, kindly notify one of our ushers or the police posted for outside parking duty. Above all, please, DO NOT GIVE HIM MONEY, for you only will be abetting his abusive habit.

It is even sadder when our parishioners and guests in church are not immune to shameless acts made against them while praying in the presence of Our Lord. Ladies, especially, always watch your pocketbooks. Please do not leave pocketbooks or other valuables in the pews when you come to the altar to receive Holy Communion. Also, please be aware of your surroundings inside as well as outside of church.

For these reasons, especially the potential for repeating some acts of vandalism we found in the past, sadly we have to close the church after morning Masses. However, for your adoration of the Lord outside of Mass, we have the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Perpetual Adoration open to serve your spiritual needs. There you can spend peaceful time under the careful watch of Jesus (and our security cameras), thanking Our Lord for His many blessings upon you and your family. Our new roof on the church is almost completed, and after the heavy rains of his past week, it looks as though we will finally get our money’s worth. Thank you for considering an increased offering in your envelope to help with the unforeseen expense of $180,000, for the new roof. May it last many years and protect our
building and our people as they come here to worship.

Our 8th Grade students have completed their classes and a recent retreat this past Friday. We are proud that so many of them will be the bearers of financial scholarships and grants that will enable them to continue their studies in Catholic high school next year. Their Graduation Mass will take place next Saturday at the 4:00 P.M. Mass. Please ask Our Lord to protect them.

Sister Dorothy Hrywka, our Kindergarten teacher, is celebrating her 25th anniversary as a religious sister this year! We’re grateful that she accepted her call from God, even though her heart’s first desire was to enter the professional field of dentistry. In time, she submitted to the call of the Lord and abandoned her studies in medicine to learn the ways of a religious life and becoming a religious sister. We will celebrate with her after she returns from her trip, in September.

Thank you to Jack Foley, who assisted us in many ways, to see that last week’s production of “NUNSENSE” was a great success. We had a barrel of laughs as we partook of a light-hearted spoof, filled with humor and great talent in that musical comedy. The Parents of our Home and School Association, along with Patrick Albano and Tyler Flood, sure did their part to assist and carry out tasks that brought about this
success. We’re grateful to the actors and musicians and staff, all from Our Lady Queen of the Apostles Church
in Royal Palm Beach, to entertain us. May God bless them all!

This coming Monday is the official observance of Memorial Day. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served in our Armed Forces to keep our country free and strong. Their dedication and bravery made the difference in making our land the home of the free and the land of the brave. Please remember them in prayer, and make your celebration a fitting one that truly commemorates the real reason for the occasion. Because of the holiday, the office will be closed, and there will be no 5 P.M. Mass on Monday, only the 2 morning Masses at 7:00 and 8:30 a.m. May you have a nice and appropriate holiday.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-06-14T18:25:31-04:00

What a great evening we had at the 1st Annual “Crawfish Boil,” put on by the Committee for the Underwriters for the next Parish School Auction. The rain and thunder didn’t scare away the good number of people who came out to help support our kids and their parish school. There was plenty of shrimp and crawfish and corn, and the beverages and pure
Cajun music made it a great evening! Our usual good cooks always know how to have fun behind the scenes and create quite a sensational feast. Our wonderful women really outdid themselves in planning and executing this bash. May God bless the hard-working Moms and Dads and those members of our Home and School Association who came to support us as well as our maintenance crew and all others who helped to make this new event a success!

Our annual Vacation Bible Camp concluded this past Friday. Once again, our little children thoroughly enjoyed themselves while learning how they too can become an apostle by following the example of St. Paul. I offer a heartfelt “Thank You”, to the core team of Julie D’Addio, Cathy Fradkin, Jennifer Levenson, Marjorie Robinson, Kim Weber, and to the may volunteers, adults, teens and youngsters, who assisted them in making this a memorable experience
(their names mentioned elsewhere in the bulletin).

This Sunday marks the Solemn Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Though we have the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed all year long in our beautiful Perpetual Adoration Chapel, we have a chance as a parish family to celebrate this feast in a special way. There will be a special Eucharistic Procession following this Sunday’s 11:00 Mass. Come join us in this celebration.

The Vatican has announced that during the “Year for Priests,” which will run June 19, 2009 – June 19, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI will grant plenary indulgences to priests and the faithful. The year begins with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 19th), “a day of priestly sanctification,” according to a press release from the Vatican. On that day, the Holy Father “will celebrate Vespers before relics” of St. Jean Marie Vianney, patron saint of priests. The Year will end in St. Peter's Square, in the presence of priests from all over the world "who will renew their faithfulness to Christ and their bonds of fraternity." The means to obtain the plenary indulgence are:

(A) All truly penitent priests who, on any day, devotedly pray the official Morning or Evening Prayer of the Church before the Blessed Sacrament exposed to public adoration, or in the tabernacle, and offer themselves with a ready and generous heart for the celebration of the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance, will be granted a Plenary Indulgence (a full remission of the temporary punishment due to sin), which they can also apply to their deceased confreres, if in accordance with current norms they take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. Priests are furthermore granted a Partial Indulgence, also applicable to deceased confreres, every time they devotedly recite the prayers duly approved to lead a saintly life and to carry out the duties entrusted to them.

(B) All truly penitent Christian faithful who, in church or oratory, devotedly attend Holy Mass and offer prayers to Jesus Christ, Supreme and Eternal Priest, for the priests of the Church, or perform any good work to sanctify and mold them to His Heart, are granted a Plenary Indulgence (a full remission of the temporary punishment due to sin), on the condition that they have expiated their sins through Sacramental Confession and prayed in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. This may be done on the opening and closing days of the Year of Priests, on the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Marie Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month, or on any other day established by
the bishop of the diocese for the good of the faithful.

(C) The elderly, the sick and all those who for any legitimate reason are unable to leave their homes, may still obtain a Plenary Indulgence ( a full remission of the temporary punishment due to sin) if, with the soul completely removed from attachment to any form of sin and with the intention of observing, as soon as they can, the usual three conditions,* "on
the days concerned, they pray for the sanctification of priests and offer their sickness and suffering to God through Mary, Queen of the Apostles."

(D) Additionally, a partial indulgence will be offered to the faithful each time they pray five “Our Father,” “Hail Mary” and “Glory Be,” prayers or any other duly approved prayer "in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to ask that priests maintain purity and sanctity of life." I will be celebrating these feasts in Rome and Poland, and certainly will include your intentions as I offer Mass in those special shrines: St. Peter’s in Rome, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, and at St. Faustina’s tomb and at the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Czestochowa. * = Sacramental reception of Penance, the worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist, and the three prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions: Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-05-17T16:09:02-04:00

Though it was “far beyond our control,” I offer a thousand apologies for the inconvenience of last weekendinto-
this-week, when you couldn’t get a phone call into the parish office as well as the school. Our system was
all down, and you thought that the phones were just “ringing off the hook” without any voice, human or mechanical,
to answer them. We’re about 95% up to speed, and we hope that all will soon be rectified. In the
meantime, our parish manager, John Krolikow-ski (most recently physically disabled due to an accident) and
our parish maintenance head, Jay Flood (who buried his Dad this Saturday), were trying their best to restore
things to as normal as possible (we’ll forgive them in Confession for all the anger expressed to the communications
personnel). We hope that we’ll not have to see this type of problem for a long, long time to come.
We’re sorry if any emergency phone calls did not reach their intended destination to a priest on campus (What
did they ever do in emergencies before the advent of the telephone?!).

Bishop Barbarito, in concert with the entire United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is
asking all the faithful to oppose the proposed federally funded research that will require destroying live human
embryos for use in embryonic stem cell research. Following President Obama’s March 9 executive order to
this effect, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed guidelines to implement this research. The draft
guidelines are now open for public comment through May 26th. Letters of opposition may be sent to members
of Congress and to the NIH. More information and a simple procedure for making your feelings known to both
groups can be found on the website for the USCCB’s campaign “Oppose Destructive Stem Cell Research”:
www.usccb.org/stemcellcampaign. Once you’re on the website, click on “Contact Congress & NIH NOW.
Let’s join forces to call for the proper type of stem cell research and cures that “we can all live with.”

Thank you for your support of our school by purchasing a ticket for this Saturday’s hilarious musical comedy,
“NUNSENSE.” I thank the members of our parish church and school staff and our parents and students
who helped make this show possible. I’m sorry if you didn’t get to see it, for it was a great opportunity to have
some fun while rendering two worthwhile organizations an assist from the profits derived from the sale of the
tickets.

We also had our Spring Music Concert, performed by our parish school students this past Friday, under
the direction of Mr. Pablo Falcon. There was a lot of effort put into this program by our teacher and students,
and the talents of many are beginning to show signs of great promise here at our school. May the support of
our parents and parish-family-at-large encourage the many young members of our school community to open
their minds and talents to the greater challenges and wonders that lie ahead in their lives.

Next Sunday, we will observe the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord throughout our part of the
country (not necessarily in the dioceses of the northeast and some Midwestern states).
So, this Thursday is not a Holy Day of Obligation in our state (or diocese), as that celebration has been transferred
to the following Sunday.
I
t’s that special time of the year when we celebrate the wonderful happenings in the lives of people dear to
us: Mother’s Day, Graduations, First Holy Communions, Weddings and priestly and all other sorts of Anniversaries.
Let’s also remember the wonderful people who have bravely served our country and have gone to their
reward as we come to observe another Memorial Day on May 25th. They have honored us and made our nation
a true “land of the free and home of the brave.” May we always take time to honor their memory by the
way we live in and respect this wonderful country of ours. May we also whisper a prayer to God on their behalf
in the hope of sharing in the glory of the Resurrection!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-05-07T16:16:32-04:00

While I was away with the priests and our Bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach for the early part of this past week, at our annual priestly convocation, I noticed the great variety of cultures represented in our common priesthood. The majority of priests present were not born in this country; they are from Vietnam, Latin America, Italy, Poland, Ireland, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. This may be telling us something about the future of the Church in our country in the next thirty years, especially as the Hispanics will become the majority group of the Catholic Church in America by that time. Though our bishop ordained two American-born men this year (and no others) to the priesthood here, the future of priestly vocations seems to depend on contributions from foreign countries. Though that may mean we will have more priests for a while, there still is a
crisis in vocations that will not be solved with reliance on men from other countries. The scandals that plague our Church have certainly “hurt the cause,” but we cannot rely on just more and more priests to pour into our country to solve the vocation crisis.

It's with a great amount of sadness that we read again in the news about another priest who has hurt many
people in and out of the Church by his indiscretions. He has been a well-known and well-liked figure in the
Miami area, especially among the many Hispanic-American Catholics of that community, where his many
God-given talents had been utilized to draw many to Christ. Sadly, we hope that his actions will not have sent
many in the opposite direction. Though many of the faithful have placed their trust in him, human weakness
and folly now have caused him to tarnish his priestly image and damage the possibility of drawing more men
to consider the priestly vocation. Yet, the Church will continue in its mission to enlighten the whole world
with the message of the Gospel, and to gather together in one Spirit people of every race and culture. You may
ask, how will it do so? The answer lies in the fact that each of us, not just clergy, is called, by our Baptism, to
build up the Body of Christ; that's our vocation.

If our human vocation is to go on searching for new and deeper ways of belonging together, and new ways of working together and speaking with one another, then we can realize our capacity for building up the Body of Christ in our midst. But, achieving these goals can only really be reached in union with Jesus and His Church. Unfortunately, our concept of Church is not always crystal clear in our own minds, and often we run into difficulties in explaining our vocation – our way of life as true Christian believers – to others.

Such a mission requires us, first of all, to create in the Church mutual self-esteem, reverence and harmony. This we can do by acknowledging our unity under the authority of the successor of St. Peter – the Pope – without giving up our legitimate diversity. All of us who constitute the one People of God ideally should be able to engage in fruitful dialogue about those matters that help tie us more strongly into a unity in Christ. Realistically, we understand that there are those who have difficulty in dialoguing because they come with a closed mind, or with an altogether different way of understanding and even communicating what Christ was trying to explain to the first leaders of the Church – the Apostles, with Peter as their leader.
There seems to be an alarming division in Catholicism in America, for example, that might be very accurately characterized by the term “polarization.” This phenomenon is not merely that Catholics seem angry with one another – and not just laity with their clergy – but that they increasingly seem to be speaking separate languages.

When you bring people from these two “camps” into the same room for conversation or dialogue, they have moved so far down separate paths that even if there is good will for conversation, quite often a shared intellectual and cultural framework is missing. Maybe we can use “fragmentation” as a better word for the reality, since there is no such concept as “the liberal Church,” or the “conservative Church,” or even “the American Church.” It is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, whether it exists, in part, in America or anywhere else. Its common vocation is given it by Christ through Baptism, and is strengthened by Him through Communion.

“Union with Christ [in the Eucharist] is also union with all those to whom He gives Himself. I cannot possess Jesus Christ just for myself; I can belong to Him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become His own. Communion draws me out of myself towards Him, and thus, also, towards unity with all Christians.” (Pope Benedict XVI, “Deus Caritas Est” 14.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-05-04T18:37:00-04:00

As we continue our seven week celebration of the great Feast of Easter, we’re reminded that “the Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #638). It confirms all Christ’s works and teachings and gives “the definitive proof of His divine authority” (#651), while fulfilling “the promises both of the Old and New Testament and of Jesus Himself during His earthly life (#652). “The mystery of Christ’s Resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness” (#639). “

Given all these testimonies, Christ’s Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order,” for it is an “historical fact” (#643). The Resurrection completes the two-fold aspect of the Paschal Mystery: “By His death, Christ liberates us from sin; by His Resurrection, He opens for us the way to a new life” (654).

Congratulations to Fathers Brian Campbell and Thomas Lafreniere who were ordained to the diocesan priesthood this Saturday morning in our Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola for service to our Diocese of Palm Beach. Fr. Campbell will be assigned as Parochial Vicar to St. Patrick Church in Palm Beach Gardens, and Fr. Lafreniere will be Parochial Vicar at St. Luke Parish in Palm Springs near Lake Worth. Please remember to pray for them, that their fervor will continue throughout their priesthood; and pray for more vocations to the priesthood, religious life and the diaconate in our diocese. Next year, God willing, two more men will be ordained for priestly service to our diocese. Maybe, in the future, God will call some of our young people to seriously consider service to Him and His people in these ministries.

As you may realize, there are no more Sunday 12:30 p.m. Masses, as the season has ended. Likewise, beginning with
the first Sunday in July (July 5th), the Sunday morning Mass schedule will be revised, and we will then begin the first morning Mass at 7:00 a.m., and we will begin Mass every ninety-minutes thereafter (7:00, 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30 a.m.). This is the 2nd reminder of the upcoming change in our Mass schedule beginning July 5th. No other Mass times are altered in the change.

On Saturday evening, May 16th, at 7:30 p.m. in our Family Life Center, we will have the hilarious Little Sisters of
Hoboken in their Broadway presentation of “NUNSENSE.” Tickets are $20, are available in our parish office, and will
help to benefit our parish school. They have been rehearsing furiously for their one-time show at our parish. Please don’t confuse them with our own Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (also from New Jersey)! But you’ll certainly enjoy the program, no matter what.

As we have begun May, the month of Mary, our school children participated in their annual crowning of the statue of
Our Lady of Fatima (feast is May 13th). It’s so nice to see our children participate in these school Masses. May they
come each Sunday to Mass and formally worship their God present here.

Congratulations to our 5th Grade along with those of our Middle School students who recently spent service time
cleaning up the public beach area in Delray Beach. Their project was well received by our city leadership, and the kids
seemed to enjoy themselves in the process. Most of all, they continue to make us proud of them when they use their time and talents to make our world a better place!

This Sunday afternoon, we are welcome to participate in the annual Diocesan Marian Rosary Festival and pilgrimage,
to be held at Emmanuel Catholic Church at 2:00 p.m. Join Bishop Barbarito and many pilgrims from all over the
diocese as we honor Mary, during her month of May. Following the services, there will be ethnic presentations of food, song and dance from the different ethnic groups that make up our diocese.

During this coming week, Fr. Danis and I will be away for several days from the parish to attend the annual Diocesan
Convocation of Clergy with our bishop and our fellow priests. Fr. Jimmy has chosen to take the major part of his vacation during this time, and will also be away for a bit longer than this week. The weekday Masses will be offered by Father Barrett and other visiting priests not expected to attend the convocation. Father Barrett will be “on call” during this time of our absence. Please pray for the success of our clergy gathering. I will be praying for you. And I give special thanks to God for all of you that make up this special parish of St. Vincent Ferrer. It is a tremendous gift and honor to be your Pastor.

May God continue to bless you and your family for your generous support of our church and school! Again, we’re very sorry for the temporary inconvenience caused by the renovation to the roof of our church building, but hope that the improvement, this time, will be long-lasting. We hope that there will be no more leaks in the roof for years to come.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-04-23T20:59:48-04:00

Congratulations to our 2009 First Holy Communion Class! In that very moment when they first received the Body and Blood of the Lord, they became even more precious in the eyes of the Lord. May they be surrounded by good examples of Catholic living so that they may grow stronger in their faith and love of God. My first hope and prayer is that they will stay close to Jesus, by receiving Him every week. My second hope is that their parents will set the good example for them by accompanying them to church each week, and, where possible, receive the Eucharist with them.

Sadly, as is often the case, those who are supposed to lead by good example, fail in that special obligation to set the high standards that are needed. When reminded of their failure, they may even recoil and sometimes attack the good intentioned person with a vengeance that is most unbecoming of one who claims the name of “a follower of Christ.” Though their conscience may have shown them the error of their actions, they will not change, they will not repent; instead, they entrench themselves in their wrongdoing and respond with an attack that poorly attempts to hide their evil doings and dodge the real issue at hand, by using ‘ad hominem’ arguments.

So, if you should find yourself in such a situation in your own family, or community or even your profession or occupation, let me suggest to you to read the Psalms of the Old Testament for solace and consolation. In particular, I draw your attention to Psalm 37, especially these excerpts that follow, from which I have often drawn inspiration: “Do not fret because of the wicked; do not envy those who do evil, for they wither quickly like grass and fade like the green of the fields……Commit your life to the Lord, trust in Him and He will act, so that your justice breaks forth like the light, and your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait in patience; do not fret at the man who prospers; a man who makes evil plots to bring down the needy and the poor. Calm your anger and forget your rage; do not fret, it only leads to evil. For those who do evil shall perish; the patient shall inherit the land. A little longer - and the wicked shall have gone. Look at his place, he is not there. But the humble shall own the land and enjoy the fullness of peace. The wicked man plots against the just and gnashes his teeth against him; but the Lord laughs at the wicked. For He sees that his day is at hand. The sword of the wicked is drawn, his bow is bent to slaughter the upright. Their sword shall pierce their own hearts and their bows shall be broken to pieces……for the power of the wicked shall be broken and the Lord will support the just….But all the wicked shall perish and all the enemies of the Lord. They are like the beauty of the meadows… they shall vanish, they shall vanish like smoke.”

You may have noticed that we are putting a new roof on the church; hopefully, this will stop the intermittent leaking that occurs during the more severe rainstorms. If you remember, a new one was put on a few short years ago, shortly before I took over the reins of the parish. Most unfortunately, that roof was done with an inferior quality of workmanship, and we have taken the necessary steps to rectify that flaw and to seek restitution from those responsible for such a mess. In the meantime, we’re glad to be cooperating with the diocesan overseers of any renovations to an existing parish facility or structure. I only wish that I could have taken charge of the parish a bit earlier than I did in order to prevent several such situations from occurring, thereby saving more money and avoiding more headaches.
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-04-16T18:31:49-04:00

This Sunday, known as Divine Mercy Sunday, is a rather recent feast that was instituted to proclaim the love and mercy Our Lord willingly pours out on those who need it and love Him. It was promoted primarily by St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish religious woman, who received revelations from Our Lord about His offering of mercy to the whole world. Though I wrote at length about this last week, I wanted to draw your attention to it once again, and ask you to consult the devotions we offer this weekend, listed elsewhere in our bulletin. Our Holy Father has granted a Plenary Indulgence (a full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin) to all the faithful who participate in the celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday, go to Confession, receive the Eucharist, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father that weekend. In addition, a devout prayer offered to the merciful Jesus is to be recited (e.g., “Merciful Jesus, I trust in You!”).

Keith Skinner, a very active member of our parish (familiarly known to so many of us here as “Rusty“), will be called, this Sunday, April 19th, to Candidacy at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary. This is another step in his journey to become, hopefully, a Permanent Deacon. With his equally active wife (Wanda) and his daughters (Wendy, Amy and Cindy), and with all of us to support him, may God grant the fulfillment of that desire he has been pursuing. He and his family were quite involved in making the church sanctuary so attractive for Easter. In this, they were joined by Deacon Lee Levenson and his wife (Alice) and their grandchildren (Cole, Mark and Alice Robinson). The Levensons and their teaching team also prepared the newest members of our parish family for full reception into the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday. What a great team we have for doing so much good and showcasing the positive aspects of our parish.

Our Holy Week and Easter celebrations were so beautifully enhanced by the fine quality of music which our choir, our Director of Liturgical Music, our accompanists and our soloists prepared for so well. So many of our guests and parishioners commented very favorably on the wonderful quality of the music, both, in the church and in the parish Family Life Center, that was presented on that occasion. All of our many talented musicians, including surprise soloist Dennis Alsgaard on the violin and the golden voice of Christine Delgado, are to be congratulated on using their God-given talents to praise God in gratitude for His gifts to them. Especially, I thank the Life Teen band group that played so well for the two overflow Masses in the parish center.

Our little children of the parish will make their First Holy Communion this coming Saturday morning at the 10:30 a.m. Mass. This is a most important day in their life and I hope it will make a lasting positive impression upon their minds and hearts about how much Jesus loves us that He gives Himself to us in order to help us draw closer to His Father. I offer special thanks to Deacon Nick Nowak and Sister Maria and their teaching team for their superb work in preparing our “little ones” for their great day in their special encounter with the Lord. May the little children, so loved by Jesus, stay close to Him. “NUNSENSE,” that hilarious Broadway musical that made us all roar with laughter when it first came out, will return to the stage at St. Vincent Ferrer on Saturday, May 16th. It’s a humorous spoof on the “Little Sisters of Hoboken``” and the dilemma in which they find themselves. Tickets are on sale in the parish office now, and the proceeds will benefit our parish school scholarship program.

Thank you for your generous contribution to the parish at Easter; this is a special help to the parish in which we count on the help of so many people to meet our annual budget. The amounts are published (as always) elsewhere in this week’s bulletin. May God reward you according to your return to Him of His gifts first given to us. Steve Dudenhoefer, our lay missioner in Guatemala, has asked me to thank you – and, so I do – from the bottom of our hearts, to all of you who contributed so generously to his recent appeal on behalf of our mission at the Father Tom Moran Educational Center in Guatemala. Your generous response to this appeal has so far produced a total of $27,758 in cash and child sponsorships for the mission. May God bless you for your kindness and generosity. Also, during the second half of July, thirteen fathers and sons (Knights of Columbus) will accompany me to Guatemala, to help make these gifts become a reality.

After consultation with the Parish Pastoral Council and its unanimous approval, we will be changing our Sunday morning Mass schedule, beginning on the first Sunday of July. It was decided that to allow for a sufficient chance for cars to clear the parking lot, an hour and a half between the start of each Mass would be sufficient on most Sundays (Palm Sunday and Easter may still present problems). For all of those who are headed north and will be returning next season, the new Sunday morning schedule will be 7:00 a.m., 8:30, a.m., 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The rest of the weekend Masses on Saturday, and the Life Teen Mass on Sunday afternoon will remain the same. Though this may inevitably create a scheduling problem for some (and there will always be some who may not like the change), we hope that it will alleviate it for others, and space the crowds accordingly.

The days of three associates in a parish in the diocese are long gone, and unless there is an increase of priestly vocations, two associates in a parish will soon be considered a luxury. “Pray the Lord to send more laborers into His harvest.” The annual diocesan Marian Rosary Festival will be celebrated on Sunday, May 3rd, beginning at 2 p.m. at Emmanuel Church, on Military Trail above Linton Blvd. We welcome you to join Bishop Barbarito and so many people of various ethnic backgrounds for this combined religious and social gathering in honor of our heavenly mother, Mary, during the month dedicated to her.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor Happy Easter!

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-04-08T12:45:46-04:00

Every year we celebrate the joyous season of Easter, and every year our churches are filled to more than overflowing on the first of these seven Sundays of Easter. Next Sunday, we will observe the Feast of Divine Mercy (always on the 2nd Sunday of Easter), with special devotions to the merciful Son of God. Though, by then, the crowds will be noticeably reduced, that day has at least as much significance as does the previous Sunday. Our most recent popes have acclaimed this as the fuller celebration of the Easter season, with the richness of Jesus’ mercy being manifested in a wonderful way during this season.

Everyone has heard the slogan about keeping Christ in Christmas, but what about Easter? How can we celebrate the real meaning of Christ’s glorious Resurrection in the midst of bunnies, eggs, hams and lambs? The key is to help everyone understand that these seemingly “secular” Easter traditions were once based on meaningful ways to celebrate the Good News that Jesus rose from the dead. For in the Church’s liturgical year, Easter is more than one day. The Easter season, beginning on Holy Saturday evening and concluding on Pentecost, celebrates Christ’s victory over sin and death.

Perhaps we’ve lost the symbolism over the years. For instance, colored eggs, once a pagan symbol of rebirth at springtime, was easily adapted by Christians, with the egg as the symbol of new life that comes out of the grave at the Resurrection. The dyeing of eggs in bright colors became popular in the Middle Ages, and the more intricate “pisanki” of Poland, Ukraine and Russia carried it one step farther. The tradition of the Easter baskets began in the same area of Europe where people brought food to church on Holy Saturday that would be blessed for the Easter Sunday meal (we still maintain this custom in our parish). The Easter bunny represented the new and abundant life in Christ, and jelly beans represented a candied version of the colored Easter egg. Using white lilies as Easter decorations in church and homes came into practice in the 19th century. The white flowers are a symbol of purity, and the lily’s trumpetlike shape heralds the triumph of Jesus over death. But for too many, the victorious triumph of Christ isn’t seen too readily.

Let’s face it: we are living in difficult economic times. If Jesus had issued an order to worry constantly, many of us would have achieved complete compliance. Jesus’ command is just the opposite: “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself.” (Mt. 6:34) Jesus isn’t saying that we shouldn’t think about the future, but He is telling us that we must not worry about things that haven’t happened – and may never happen – that would ruin our lives. Now, more than ever, we need to remember that, as Christians, we are called to be a sign of the resurrected Christ to the world.

So we need to see how we can find hope in hard times. Pope John Paul’s admonition of “Be not afraid,” needs to become ours as well. If we truly believe that God is the source of all good, then He can and will provide for us in every situation. We must remember to stay close to him in thought and prayer. St. Paul, in his first Letter to the Corinthians, offers the following advice, that we have the ability to control our thoughts; they do not need to control us. When fear begins to creep in, breathe deeply, and pray, “I am never alone; God is with me. Therefore, I will not be afraid.” All too often, we consider prayer a measure of last resort. Instead of waiting until panic prevails, ask God for help in every situation, and ask with hopeful confidence. Then, look expectantly for His answer, for Jesus follows that advice with “For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Mt. 7:9) When things are going well, it’s easy to feel uplifted. But joy and hope are not contingent upon the economy. They don’t come from bank accounts and financial investments, but from a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord. “Consider the lilies of the field – how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. Yet, I assure you, not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these.”(Mt. 6:28b, 29) “Your heavenly Father knows all that you need. Seek first His dominion over you, His way of holiness, and all these things will be given you, besides.” (Mt. 6:33)

Congratulations and WELCOME to the newest full members received this Holy Saturday evening into the Catholic Faith: Shelley Fiorini, Donald John Gilchrest, Andrea L. Hodgens, Kyle Robert Hodgens, Gary C. Jones II, Chase Christian Kelly, James Lesane, Jonathan Blake Wagner Murphy, Pamela Anne Peifer-Murphy, Susan Roegiers, Terry Lynn Carlson, Patricia Sullivan, Yida Zhao, and (infant) Colin Blake Murphy. Additionally, Allison Marie, Joseph Thomas, and Stephanie Marie Giacomaro will make their First Holy Communion. Many thanks to Deacon Lee Levenson, his wife, Alice, and the entire RCIA team for their many hours spent in preparing our newest members for the full reception of Christ into their lives!

As our “snow-birds” begin to head back North, may I take this opportunity to wish them a safe journey home and thank them for their wonderful support of our parish during their stay. We look forward to their return to us again in a few months. In the meantime, they can keep up with us on our website. To all our parishioners and friends, may you and your loved ones enjoy the blessings of this most holy season, which lasts for fifty days! Joyeuses Paques! Wesolego Alleluja! Felizes Pascuas! Frolich Ostern! Buona Pasqua! Chrystos Voskres! Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay! Happy Easter!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-04-02T18:17:33-04:00

From Your Pastor

How uniquely special is this time of year for those of us who are members of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish! Palm Sunday marked the day when the people joyously greeted Jesus on the streets of Jerusalem, only to mock or abandon Him there a few days later. How lonely and betrayed He must have felt by Friday.

As your Pastor for the past three and one-half years, I want to thank all of the many good people who have continued to support our parish throughout these past few difficult years. Though we know that there have been a significant number of people who have left the parish (and even the Catholic Church) as a result of the damage suffered here, or in some other situations, those who have remained deep in their faith do so because they know our faith is not built upon individuals, but upon Christ and his numerous beautiful teachings. Among these teachings is Christ’s own example of how to walk along with Him, carrying the Cross that He allows to be placed upon our shoulders.

Many parishioners in our hospitals and nursing homes have been offering their own sufferings for the sake of the good of our parish family. So many others, too, parishioners and non-parishioners, have spent numerous hours in prayer before Our Lord in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, asking for the true healing that only His love can bring.

As we begin the process of healing and “moving on,” may the continued efforts on the part of so many people of good faith encourage others in our midst to stay firm and steadfast in the faith of our Baptism and to walk with Christ, knowing that it is only with Him that we can accomplish all that He asks of us. May those many good and loyal staff members, parish volunteers and hard workers who have not “abandoned ship” serve as examples of strength to continue to build up the Body of Christ in our midst. May we also remember to keep in our prayers all those who have gone in other directions, those who have hurt us, and those, including Fathers Skehan and Guinan, who are, in some way, in great need of our prayers; that through the meritorious suffering of Jesus Christ, God may draw all closer to Himself.

May the grace of this most Holy Week of the year be a sublime opportunity to offer our sufferings, weaknesses and failures up to the Lord on the Cross, and hope to be taken, as the Good Thief once was, to be, one day with God and our loved ones who believe in Him.

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-03-26T14:49:14-04:00

Last weekend, you heard Steve Dudenhoefer speak on the wonderful accomplishments in our mission that your very generous offerings have made possible. This weekend, we take up a second collection for Ak’ Tenamit in Guatemala. Thank you, again for your stewardship of God’s gift of treasure to you. May your sharing in the work of missionaries in the rain forest of Guatemala bring you blessings, and may it bring more of God’s children closer to Him. For sure, here you know your gift is going for a great cause!

Next weekend, with Palm Sunday, we begin the holiest week of the year. To prepare ourselves for this solemn observance and Easter, we will have our annual Lenten Penance Service this Thursday evening (April 2nd) at 7:00 p.m. Several priests will be available to hear your Confession and reconcile us once again with the Lord. May you take the opportunity to confess to the Lord and receive His pardon for offenses committed against Him directly (blasphemy, neglect of
Sunday obligation, etc.), or through His people (so many ways a bit too numerous to publish here).

This week I would like to share with you a letter from a good Catholic named Tom Mealey. His road to conversion had not been easy, but he came to the Faith through what we might call the “back door.” “When we first married, my wife, Misty, and I were the typical secular couple. We relied on hormonal contraception. Due to bad side effects, that didn’t last long. Then, Misty found out about Natural Family Planning (NFP) through a Catholic friend. Admittedly, I was suspicious of all the “hocus pocus” involving thermometers at o’ dark-thirty in the morning and observations written down in cryptic symbols on the NFP chart. That would all change in surprising ways once we got into living the NFP lifestyle. Before having children, Misty had been an atheist, and I had been an agnostic. With our first child, the miracle of life spurred a spiritual awakening in us. We realized the Holy Spirit had already been leading us into a Catholic life. Even after our conversion, however, NFP enriched our relationship with each other and with God in ways we never expected.

We studied Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” and became excited about living out our faith and sharing it. It was thrilling to learn the compelling reasons behind the Church’s beautiful teachings on sex and marriage. Much to my surprise, I also learned how grateful my wife was that I was willing to learn how her body worked. I shared the responsibility in planning our family, and also found non-sexual ways of expressing affection and intimacy when we had good reasons to postpone pregnancy. This strengthened our marriage and made me a better husband and father.

When we became Catholic, I knew I wanted to be the spiritual leader of our family, but I didn’t understand what that entailed besides bringing our children to church on Sunday. Through NFP and Scripture, I discovered
that I had a choice in the kind of man I was going to be. We often blame Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. But in Genesis, we learn that after taking a bite, she turned and offered the fruit to Adam, who was with her. Adam didn’t stop her and say, “This is a bad idea, let’s go.” He did not protect his wife, but stood by silently while the serpent convinced her to surrender her holiness and damage her relationship with God.

Then there was St. Joseph. When Joseph obeyed the angel who told him to bring Mary into his home, he was accepting the public shame and embarrassment of a pregnant fiancée. He sacrificed his personal honor
and reputation to obey God and protect Mary and Jesus. The choice for a husband is clear: either he can be his wife’s Adam, or he can be her Joseph. A man can stand by silently and allow his wife to suffer the physical and spiritual consequences of contra-ception; or he can defend her virtue, body, and soul by using NFP. Today, sadly, contraception is so commonly accepted and expected. And if a man forgoes it for NFP, he may likely be exposed to some ridicule and criticism. But
as St. Joseph taught us, there are some things more important than the opinion of others. May we husbands choose to be Joseph to our wives!”

If you would like to hear more about enriching your marriage preparation or married life, based on Pope John Paul’s teaching of the Theology of the Body, you may contact Meaghan Hildebrandt of the Diocese of Palm Beach at 803-7692, or e-mail at meg615@gmail.com. Please don’t forget that our school children are collecting long-sleeved shirts for the migrant workers who labor in the fields of the counties of our diocese. The laborers need to be protected from pesky mosquitoes and other insects. You may drop your donations at the main school door during morning “drop-off” time or afternoon “pick-up” time. This drive will run until April 3rd. God bless you for helping the needy of our community!
Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-03-22T23:08:37-04:00

This Sunday, we welcome our Bishop Gerald Barbarito to celebrate the 12:30 p.m. Mass, and to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to over 30 of our teens and one adult. They have been preparing for a long period of time, and are now ready to express their faith more profoundly and to practice and to offer their service to God’s people. We congratulate them on embarking upon this stage of their journey in life in order to show that they profess the belief made for them in Baptism!

This Sunday, we also welcome Steve Dudenhoefer, lay-missioner and founder of our Guatemalan mission in Ak’Tenamit, Guatemala. There, we are continuing to expand the Father Tom Moran Vocational High School serving 6,000 Mayan people in the rainforests of Northeastern Guatemala. Steve is again asking us to support the school where over 500 children from 100 villages are being educated. Since the average family income is less than $100 per month, this hands-on training of students will be the only way that they and their families and villages will be able to overcome poverty. That second collection will be taken up next weekend (March 28-29). Checks may be made payable either to the “Guatemalan Tomorrow Fund,” or to St. Vincent Ferrer Church, with the appropriate memo: “Guatemalan Mission.”

There’s a new Marriage Preparation program based on the Theology of the body that has been exciting to young couples preparing to live their marriage in a Christian covenant. Based on Pope John Paul II’s revolutionary new insights found in his Theology of the Body, “God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage” explores the “whys” behind the “whats” in a non-threatening and convincing manner. It has helped thousands of couples come to a more profound understanding of marriage. The weekend program will be conducted on Saturday, May 16th and Sunday, May 17th at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center in North Palm Beach. “God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage “ is an interactive seminar that offers married and engaged couples a compelling vision of God’s glorious plan for marriage, love and human sexuality more than perhaps any other program available today. When people think of Christian teaching on sex and marriage, they often
think of a list of prohibitions. “God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage” offers a refreshing, liberating vision of marriage and marital love – one that helps couples fully embrace God’s glorious plan for their lives. For more information, contact Meaghan Hildebrandt at meg615@gmail.com or call at (561) 803-7692.

God bless all of our parishioners who participated in the recent 40 Hours Eucharistic Days. This was a “first” for our parish, celebrating Jesus’ Presence in the Blessed Sacrament on our altar as part of a diocesan-wide observance marking the 25th anniversary of our establishment. We hope to make this an annual Eucharistic occurrence in our parish. With Lent moving along so swiftly, Easter will soon be upon us. Our parish Lenten Penance Service will be on Thursday, April 2nd at 7:00 p.m. There will be several priests available to help us that evening, and I would like to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to go to Confession in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation that evening.

Our Lenten Fish Frys are proving to be a very popular and successful joint endeavor on the part of our Knights of Columbus and our Teens from our Middle School “Edge” program. Each Friday evening, up to and including April 3rd, from 5 to 8 p.m., you’re invited to join us in a delightfully delicious dinner in our Parish Center for a most reasonable price. The dinner helps support the two sponsoring organizations.

The 4th annual Long-Sleeve Relief Drive, sponsored by the Florida Catholic, will run until Palm Sunday, April 5th. In consideration of these stressful economic times, we greatly appreciate all the personal commitments you will make in helping to feed and clothe our brothers and sisters in Christ. The demand on organizations to help the unfortunate victims of our economic circumstances is immense, so our school children will once again help in collecting these usable clothes with long sleeves that will help protect our migrant workers against the mosquitoes and other critters which prey upon them during their work. You may drop off your articles of long-sleeved clothing at the large box by the front door of the s c h o o l a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f e a c h s c h o o l d a y m o r ning. God bless you!

Very Rev. Canon Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-03-13T15:55:16-04:00

March 15, 2009

As we draw closer to Easter, we pause in our regular schedule of Lenten observances to see the impact that the Holy Eucharist has in our lives. We set aside approximately Forty Hours this coming week for special prayers, meditations and reflections on the great gift of God to His people. He gives His very self to us, unlike any other god in recorded history, and offers his life for our sake.

Most historians say the practice of Forty Hours Devotion originated in Milan, around the year 1530, as a means of stirring up the faith of the people. The custom of having this devotion in one church after another in that diocese began in 1537, and soon it spread all over Italy and even beyond its borders. Then, St. John Neumann (1811-1860), the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, introduced the custom to his diocese and following that, it spread throughout our country. At the Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the devotion was approved for all the dioceses of our country.

Following the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, many parishes dropped Forty Hours as well as novenas and other pious practices. The post-Vatican world focused more on the reception of the Eucharist and on the celebration of the Mass. Pious devotions were often but on the back burner. But, in recent years, a resurgence of devotional life has come about again in the Church, as many Catholics miss and yearn for some of the traditional devotions practiced in their youth.

The Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion is a special period of rather continuous prayer made before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. It usually begins with a Mass of Exposition and concludes with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. During Mass, the Sacred Host in the monstrance (golden and elaborate vessel that shows the host through a glass container in the middle of the vessel, often shaped like a sun burst) is reserved in the tabernacle. After Mass, until the solemn conclusion (or each night’s ceremony), it is exposed again for adoration by the faithful, until put away at the end of the day.

While the number 40 is one of the most significant of Biblical numbers, most historians attribute the number of hours to the time that Jesus spent in the tomb after His crucifixion. Pope John Paul II highly recommended this devotion, as well as the procession of the Eucharist on the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ). Since the Eucharist was called “the source and summit of the Christian Life” (Vatican II), the faithful are urged to pray during these devotions for the grace of God to flow into their lives and that of their neighbors.

Since the Eucharist is understandably the heart of our diocese’s 25th Anniversary celebration, during this entire year each parish will have the opportunity to celebrate, for its particular community, this special devotion. In each place we are asked by Bishop Barbarito to thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon our five-county diocese, as well as to make atonement for the various sacrileges and sins committed against

Jesus in the Eucharist, and the various other sins connected with our relationship to our God and our neighbor. The law of God is our guide through life, and each time we disobey God’s law or, worse yet, ignore Him, we place ourselves in difficult straits regarding our salvation in Christ. This week’s Readings try to show us that God’s laws are meant to free us, not hinder us. Jesus tries to teach us that He is here to help save us and from sin, if only we’d believe in His Father’s law of love for all His children. In Scripture, the laws of God are described as perfect, refreshing, giving wisdom to the simple, trustworthy, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eye, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey, just, right and true.

Not once do we even have a hint that they may be burdensome, difficult, unpleasant, partial or impossible. If only we’d look closer at God’s law, perhaps we would come to appreciate it as the writer of the Psalms did. Then we would look upon it as deserving of more attention than mere human law. May you and your family find peace, nourishment and consolation during these next few days of increased love for Our Lord in the Eucharist!

Very Rev. Canon Tom Skindeleski

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-03-02T20:59:09-05:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Pastor’s Letter this week begins with an important statement from the diocese. Please read it carefully. STATEMENT OF THE DIOCESE OF PALM BEACH REGARDING THE CRIMINAL CASE OF FATHER GUINAN The Diocese of Palm Beach has been informed that the jury has found the Rev. Francis P. Guinan criminally guilty of charges of grand theft. While respecting the rights of the accused, and not wishing to interfere with the criminal process, the diocese is relieved that the jurors were not swayed by the inaccurate presentation of the defense. This defense portrayed a false notion that diocesan policy permits priests to spend up to $50,000 of parish funds for personal use. This is blatantly false! The policy referred to is one that gives pastors the ability to spend up to this amount exclusively for church purposes, such as parish building renovations and the like. Above this amount, diocesan permission is required.

When diocesan officials received credible evidence against Fr. Guinan regarding financial impropriety at St. Vincent Parish, which pointed to using parish monies not in keeping with his priestly ministry, Bishop Barbarito immediately withdrew his ability to administer financially the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer, and approved a diocesan investigation, including an independent audit. The Delray police, who had simultaneously received an anonymous complaint about Fr. Guinan, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched a separate lengthy investigation with which the Diocese of Palm Beach fully cooperated at all times. In the course of the investigation, evidence was also uncovered against Father John Skehan, Fr. Guinan’s retired predecessor at St. Vincent Ferrer. Because of the evidence uncovered at St. Vincent Ferrer, Bishop Barbarito also authorized an investigation at St. Patrick Parish, where Fr. Guinan has previously served as pastor.

Bishop Barbarito wishes to assure all that, independent of this matter, a policy of regular thorough biennial reviews of every diocesan entity by independent audit firms, and a system of handling parish funds were established and promulgated in March, 2005. Parishes are required to follow these policies. The current policies and procedures are intended to assist parishes and finance committees in complying with diocesan norms. They are also intended to assist pastors in the financial administration of their parishes.

In light of Fr. Guinan’s conviction and Fr. Skehan’s recent guilty plea, Bishop Barbarito will continue to restrict Fr. Guinan and Fr. Skehan from public ministry. They will be expected to lead lives in reparation for their actions.

The trial and conviction of Fr. Guinan today may be a painful reminder of the feelings of betrayal and anger, especially for the parishioners of St. Vincent and St. Patrick Parishes. Bishop Barbarito wishes to commend the people of these parishes and the diocese for their patience and continued faith in the long period since this matter began. On behal of all priests, the Bishop apologizes for the scandalous behavior which has occurred. The Diocese of Palm Beach has successfully sought and intends to continue to seek restitution of stolen funds. We will continue to do our best to right a wrong that should never have occurred and is a grave aberration from the upright conduct of the majority of the good priests of our diocese. The Bishop asks for your continued prayers for all involved, including Fathers Guinan and Skehan. Relying on God, the ultimate judge and source of healing, let us move forward with the same faith that is the hallmark of our diocese. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +++++++++++++++++++++++
On a big positive note for our parish this week, we have our 43rd annual Parish Festival this weekend. It’s a BIG fundraiser that goes for the benefit of our school. Some special news comes in the way of our St. Vincent Ferrer School Girls’ Soccer team completing an undefeated season recently, winning the league championship in the process. Congratulations!

St. Vincent’s defeated Saint Mark’s team 3-2 in the big championship game on Feb. 18th.Our Vikings advanced to the title game with a 3-1 win over the Gulfstream School in the league semi-finals. We finished the season with an 8-0 record, and are very proud of our girls. This is just another good reason we hope you’ll continue to support our school and help maintain our high standards and top quality education. Thank you to the many Moms and Dads and Volunteers who help make our annual Parish Festival such a wonderful success. You help me to maintain a very vibrant and great parish. May God continue to bless you and your family as you strive to work for the peace and unity of us all!

Msgr. Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-02-26T21:04:08-05:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Lent begins this (ASH) WEDNESDAY! The annual Lenten season is the fitting time to “climb the holy mountain” toward Easter. It has a double character, namely, to prepare both the faithful and the catechumens to celebrate the Paschal (Easter) Mystery. This solemn time extends from Ash Wednesday up until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. During this time of year, we have, once again, made available, “The Word Among Us” booklets for your taking, to meditate on during the holy season of Lent. They are available at the church doors as you leave at the end of Mass. They will help guide your thoughts toward Jesus as you make this sacred journey toward Calvary and the Resurrection. May they help to increase your faith, service to, and love of the Lord.
Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week have precedence even over feasts and solemnities; and even the Alleluia is omitted from the beginning of Lent until the Easter Vigil. During Lent, the altar is not decorated with flowers (except for some on the Fourth Sunday of Lent). If any marriages are to take place during this season, couples are reminded that wedding plans should respect the special nature of this season, be simple, and refrain from too much pomp or display.
On Ash Wednesday, a day of universal fast and abstinence in the Catholic Church, ashes are blessed and imposed after the homily. Priests and deacons are assisted by Extraordinary Ministers (of Holy Communion) in the imposition of ash, especially for the sick and shut-ins. For your additional spiritual preparation for Lent, Confessions will be heard after the 7:00 p.m. evening Mass on Ash Wednesday.
Regarding the abstinence from meat, ALL Catholics from age 14 throughout life are obliged to abstain on Ash Wednesday, All Fridays of Lent and Good Friday. Regarding fasting, all Catholics from the day after their 18th birthday to the day after their 59th birthday, are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The law allows the partaking that day of one full meal only. The combined quantity of food taken at the two lighter meals that day should not exceed the quantity taken at the full meal.
Mass on Ash Wednesday will be at 7 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 12 Noon, 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (An additional Mass is added each weekday during Lent at 12 Noon for your participation and spiritual advancement).
Thank you most sincerely for your kindness, to all of you who made your DSA commitment, especially last weekend, when you made the real kick-off to the Diocesan Services Appeal very special. Last year, we fell short of our parish goal, and so, the balance of money due had to be taken from the collection we put forth each week to serve the needs of our church and school. I ask that you will honor your pledge for the coming year and commit your sacrifices to making this coming year’s goal a reality. Our goal for the coming year is slightly over $201,000, and though we do find ourselves in rough economic times, the notion of sacrifice that was a valuable principle of Christian living to our grandparents and parents can again carry us through these difficult times. We are ONE BREAD, ONE BODY, ONE WITNESS.
Our 42nd Annual Parish Festival begins this coming weekend, and the rides, prizes and booths have increased this year in order to make it more successful than ever. Again, we will have “Paddy’s Pub,”and will add a “Cucina Italiana.” Once again, the $100 raffle tickets (limited to only 1,000 sales) will be sold again after Masses this weekend and during the festival. But, please, don’t wait until the last minute to purchase your special ticket (some people like special lucky numbers!). Also, we are always looking for volunteers to serve in the booths; but you’ll need a special volunteer name tag this year, so come to the volunteers’ booth to get your tag. This is a must for the purposes of security and the avoidance of bogus people who would try to “rip off” our parish.
Finally, the Palm Beach Diocesan Council of Catholic Women and the Office of Respect Life invite everyone to join them in “Catholic Days at the Capitol,” March 21-23. Catholics from all over the state of Florida will gather with their bishops in Tallahassee to meet with legislators, to promote legislation that supports the teaching of the Church, and to attend the annual “Red Mass” at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in the capital city. Registration forms for hotel accommodations and bus-ride details are available at our parish office, or you may get information through KATHLEEN MULLER at (772-468-2893) OR, e-mail, ffeathersnest@msn.com.

Msgr. Tom

From the Pastor

contact@ricamarketing.com — 2009-02-13T21:00:00-05:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

          Have you seen the new movie, Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise? I ask this because, I believe, we find ourselves in an eerily similar situation as the German people nearly 70 years ago. The movie presents the true-life story about a large-scale conspiracy within the German army to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The heroic German Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg led the coup. The assassination attempt in July 1944, failed because the detonated bomb only injured Hitler. Von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators were executed for treason. Now, of course, they are honored as heroes who tried to stop the madness of Hitler.
Yet, unknown to most people today, is another hero living at that very time, who courageously opposed Hitler and his plans. His name was Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber, the Catholic Archbishop of Munich from 1917 until his death in 1952 (An interesting side note is the last man that the Cardinal ordained to the priesthood was one Joseph Ratzinger, our present Holy Father!). As you might imagine, the years between 1933 and 1945, when Hitler was in power, were especially difficult for Cardinal von Faulhaber, because he courageously chose to speak out against the Nazi regime and its policies, rather than remain quiet out of fear of the Nazis. At every opportunity, he condemned the crimes of the Nazis, risking his life every time he did so. His Advent sermons of 1933, delivered in the beautiful Cathedral of Munich, drew thousands- with standing-room only. They came to listen to him fearlessly challenge National Socialism, to assert the rights and freedoms of the Catholic Church and to call for the protection of the Jewish people. Of course, Hitler wanted the Church to remain silent in the face of all the atrocities of the Holocaust, all in the name of progress and pride of a nation. Fortunately, a small group of great Christians, such as Cardinal von Faulhaber, Prof. Dietrich Bonhoffer, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and others stood up and shouted in defiance. Ultimately, their voices were heard, but not before 7 million innocent people lost their lives in the Holocaust. What made Cardinal Faulhaber so courageous? He heard Jesus' invitation to "come and see" who Jesus was, and that encounter changed his life forever. From that moment, Cardinal von Faulhaber followed Jesus faithfully, never wavering in his dedication, despite incredible hardship and a not-so-subtle persecution of himself and his character!

Among the most troubling questions facing the German people after World War II were, “How was it possible that a Holocaust of so many innocent people went on without a huge protest? How was it even possible that a great people, such as the intelligent Germans, could have been fooled by an evil leader with such a diabolical political agenda? How could so many Germans, especially Christian Germans, have supported Hitler?” It was because some of them viewed their economic prosperity, their comfort, the strengthening of their institutions and army, and the pride of a restored nation after the devastations of World War I, as more important than certain groups of people; for others, it was because they became part of the conspiracy of silence. They were confused, deceived, or intimidated. Yet, the Holocaust happened!

Today, we find ourselves facing a similar, and even more horrible holocaust of innocent people. I say more horrible because over 45 million innocent people - the most innocent and defenseless of all -- babies - have been aborted since the Supreme Court ruling of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. Why is this happening? Because some people in this nation really do believe that the end justifies the means. They believe that the evil means of abortion, euthanasia and genetic engineering justify the good end of a better nation and society, better health, and a more convenient life. This also includes manipulation of stem cells harvested through abortions, and the termination of life of our elderly through euthanasia -- solely for the purpose of a national agenda of convenience, economic prosperity, and creating another race of people who will not get sick, who will be as beautiful as the models and movie stars we see on TV or in the movies, or who will be the brightest and most talented in the world - a super race. It’s also because so many people have become part of a conspiracy of silence. They have been confused, deceived, or intimidated.

It began in the late 1960s, when anti-life fanatics in America began their drive to make abortion legal. One of the chief architects of the strategy to legalize abortion was Dr. Bernard Nathanson (this same man now has become a member of the Catholic Church and an outspoken champion of the unborn). He now tells about what it was that allowed his fellow abortion extremists to succeed. By his own admission, he killed thousands of babies. Nathanson was anything but pro-life! He helped launch NARAL, and played a major role in devising the strategy that paved the way for Roe v Wade, that has legalized “abortion-on-demand” throughout all nine months of a woman’s pregnancy. That strategy was to vilify the Catholic Church, because he knew that it was the major obstacle blocking the path to legalized and socially-tolerated abortion. So he and his cohorts set out to silence the bishops and undermine the Church’s moral teaching authority. They attacked the Church relentlessly. They portrayed the Pope, the bishops and the priests as villains. They fed outrageous lies to members of the news media (who then reported those lies as facts): lies about the number of women who died in so-called “unsafe” abortions; lies about the number of illegal abortions taking place in America; most of all, lies that claimed that most Catholics wanted reform of the nation’s laws against abortion.

Yet, in spite of their bravado, Nathanson admits that he and his fellow abortion supporters feared that the clergy would mount a massive, nationwide outcry that would challenge the false claims the abortion supporters were making and ultimately defeat them--which leads me to the secret he revealed --words that haunt me to this day-- and the reason why I’ve been so opposed to those politicians – Catholic or otherwise – who claim to be “personally opposed” to abortion: “We would never have gotten away with what we did if (the clergy) had been united, purposeful, and strong.” The Catholic clergy was SILENT!

Well, unlike the abominable silence and inaction of forty years ago, today’s clergy are speaking out! Many bishops and priests now have been making strong pro-life statements. The last several popes have been very clear about the Church’s teaching on abortion and euthanasia. There is no confusion, no ambiguity in their teaching. It is only unbelievers and “fair-weather Catholics” who try to dilute the message. But there is still a large number of Catholics out there who are good and trying to be faithful, but who have been intimidated or confused into silence.

Sadly, our new President has stated publicly that the one of the first things he will do when he gets into office is to the sign the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) when it comes to his desk. For those who do not know, FOCA (which may come before this Congress and was sponsored by then-Senator Barack Obama), will roll back all restrictions on abortion that the majority of Americans want and have voted on during the past 36 years. FOCA will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion, including parental notifications, waiting periods and even partial birth abortions (yes - the brutal killing of 9-month old fetuses while they are in the birth canal, ready to be born). FOCA also will attempt to force Catholic hospitals to adopt these evil measures.

Thank God, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, has told President Obama and his team that if FOCA is signed into law, the Catholic Church will close their Catholic hospitals rather than participate in evil (By the way, Catholic hospitals make up one third of all hospitals in the nation). Do you know what President Obama's team said to Cardinal George? "That's OK! We'll just buy your hospitals." To which Cardinal George replied, "You didn't hear me! I said that we will close our hospitals. You will have to build your own!" Good for him (and all the Cardinals and Bishops standing with him)! They are the new Cardinal von Faulhabers, standing up against today’s evil! Hitler tried to intimidate Cardinal Faulhaber and many others into silence during the first Holocaust. The secular world tries to do the same now with this holocaust.

We Catholics make up one-fifth of the population of America. If we stood together as dedicated disciples of Jesus and faithful witnesses to His teachings, we would change the entire moral fabric, fiber and direction of our country. We need to stand up! We need to speak out for all those unborn or elderly citizens who have lost their voice in our sleek, chic, sophisticated world. Don't be intimidated, confused or deceived. Jesus is very clear what He wants us, his faithful disciples, to do. So, I urge you not to be afraid; act with courage and faith! If we don't, we will rue the day, as the German people still do now about the first Holocaust. If we don't stand up and speak out, then we will stand condemned by future generations, and maybe even before God, because we failed to heed Edmond Burke's admonition, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men and women to do and say nothing." By the way, have you done your part in sending the FOCA postcards yet, or brought them to church for us to send?

Msgr. Tom