From the Pastor
March/31/2010
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
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