Oh, to have been a shepherd or a king
and to have heard those angels sing
or to have seen that star so bright
upon that holy Christmas night.
But Christmas transcends both time and place
and we can share in that night’s grace
when like those humble ones back then
we heed God’s call and proclaim, “Amen.”
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
A Christmas Poem
From Rochester 'blogger Lee Strong:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
21 comments:
As thousands of food baskets and presents including coats and hats are being delivered to the poorest of the poor in the Diocese of Rochester, it must be nice for our Bishop Matthew Clark to live in the Sacred Heart Cathedral Mansion like a "King". Some of the food baskets and presents are being delivered in Bishop Clark's own neighborhood.
Over one million dollars of parishioner money was recently spent on the mansion's renovation.
Try to knock on the mansion's door and ask for a few dollars for a poor man or woman and see what you get. You will be lucky if they even answer the door.
Remember that Bishop Fulton Sheen refused to the in the cathedral mansion because he thought it was too elegant.
Our Lord was born in a farm manger and our bishop lives like a "King", at the parishioner's expense, of course.
Anon.,
Make it a prayer and open the inn of your heart to Jesus; now is not the time to nurse a grievance, even a legitimate one.
Thank you Rich for your reply to anon.
May God bless us all on this holy night.
Peace on Earth and good will to ALL men and women.
Have you ever had your precious parish or Catholic school closed down against the will of the Parishioners?
How would you like it, if I came over to your house on Christmas morning and took your manger scene? I don't care if it is inside your house or outside, I am taking it. I am going to sell the beautiful statues and put the chipped ones in the dumpster. Sorry, little Jesus may be going in the dumpster. I am going to sell the manger building.
Just as Bishop Clark came in and closed so many parish schools and parishes, against the will of the Parishioners.
Our grandparents sacrificed to pay for the buildings. Our parents and my brothers and sisters, sacrificed to maintain the buildings for many years and now Bishop Clark marches in and closed our beautiful community down and sold everything. Many dumpsters were also filled with good material that didn't sell.
Where did the money from the sale of the buildings go? Did Bishop Clark take the money for himself? He refused to talk about the money trail.
If Jesus decided to appear to Bishop Clark today, I wonder how he would explain his negative actions against our Lord's parish and school communities?
Is there ever at time to "to nurse a grievance, even a legitimate one"?
If not now, why then?
I would like to make some corrections to the initial post. First, the renovation of the Cathedral rectory was not paid for by the parishioners of Sacred Heart Cathedral but by private donations from parishioners at St. Thomas More in Brighton, and St. Louis and Transfiguration in Pittsford. The reason I know this is that I am one of the donors.
Second, Bishop Sheen chose not to live in the former Bishop's Mansion on East Avenue (now condominiums) because Bishop Kearney was still living there. Sheen desired to live "in the heart of the city" and so had two floors of 50 Chestnut Street renovated into a very luxurious, New York City styled apartment complete with a a private television studio/chapel where he would tape himself preaching (and also had seminarians come to practice). The cost of the apartment was enormous. While a great preacher, Sheen was a horrible administrator of the diocese.
Once again, this villifying of Bishop Clark on this website is very disturbing. He has been a bishop of the church nearly 30 years. You may not like him, but there is such a thing as Christian charity to be extended to our clergy and hierarchy.
Once again, this villifying of Bishop Clark on this website is very disturbing. ...
It is rather amusing to be lectured about Christian charity by an excommunicant. Mr. Grosswirth, if you want to continue posting here, please sign your name.
Of course the so called Sacred Heart Cathedral "mansion" was originally built to house several priests who were assigned to the cathedral. Like any house or building, you have to do maintenance on it. The asbestos removal alone was very expensive.
The only Rochester priest that I can remember who refused to move into a "mansion" was a young Fr. Jim Callan in the 1970's.
As he has done since he became bishop, Bishop Clark celebrated Christmas morning mass today at the Monroe Co. jail. I hope the inmates acted better than some of the Christmas/Easter catholics that I saw in church last night.
Merry Christmas!
I used to play and sing for those jail Masses. It's an important and wonderful ministry for him to go there. (I'm no longer at the parish that supplied the musicians, so i no longer play there).
We all know what happened to that humble-residence loving Father Callan!
Sorry that my humble Christmas poem allowed for some unChristmas-like comments. Rich - thanks for posting it.
Merry Christmas to all.
Bishop Sheen was a TV star in the 50's and a great preacher. His narration of the Easter Tridentine Mass from 1941 is priceless. Catholics still purchase that video to this day. It's one of the more popular catholic videos on youtube. His TV show can still be seen on EWTN.
I'm 49 years old and can still remember the night I heard him preach in Elmira almost 40 years ago. Truly a blessed moment.
Nothing against the Diocese of Rochester, but Bishop Sheen being sent there was like being sent to catholic Siberia. He wasn't a good administrator, but he tried to do his best. But I believe horrible is too harsh of a word to describe somone who was only in Rochester a short time. The term "horrible" also shows a lack of christian charity toward a man who may one day be Rochester's only link to a saint.
Thanks, Interstate. Anyone interested in a short story of Bishop Sheen's time in Rochester should read the chapter "Exile" in Thomas Reeves's book America's Bishop.
"The only Rochester priest that I can remember who refused to move into a "mansion" was a young Fr. Jim Callan in the 1970's."
Correct, Interstate Catholic. Mr. Callan found the St. Ambrose living quarters to be too luxurious. Instead he wanted to be transferred to a struggling parish where he could make a name for himself and satisfy his own selfish desire for fame.
God bless our former, and always Bishop Fulton Sheen!
~Dr. K
Dr. K.,
If I remember correctly, Bishop Hogan suspended the young Fr. Callan for refusing to move into the rectory.
Then Bishop Hogan reinstated him and exiled him to a city church named Corpus Christi and the dissent was on.
Nice info, Interstate Catholic. Thanks.
~Dr. K
"short story" = short history, above
People should definitely do the research on Sheen. He was a good man, but just ask the old parishioners of St. Brigit's about him. If you're going to condemn Clark for closing churches that are struggling to survive, what about Sheen wanting to close the parish and give away the property to the city for low income housing? He never even told the pastor he was going to do it - they all learned about it when reading the Democrat and Chronicle.
He also never did one confirmation while he was bishop of Rochester. He thought no one should be confirmed until they were 17 or 18 years old. So he stopped Kearney's policy of 8th grade confirmations.
I liked Bishop Sheen's homilies and television shows, but did not find him to be a great bishop.
Do you know he rarely said mass at the cathedral? He didn't like Sacred Heart, so he said mass there as little as possible. Fr. Michael Hogan, his old secretary told me that.
If anybody wants to know more about Archbishop Fulton Sheen, here is a good website:
www.archbishopsheencause.org
Anon 7:04 - "what about Sheen wanting to close the parish and give away the property to the city for low income housing?"
Though Clark didn't close St. Bridget parish, he was the man in charge when the church was more or less forced to vacate its deteriorating structure in favor of moving to St. Theresa's (which was closed under Clark). Now the old St. Bridget is going to be used as a concert hall for a non-denominational church, "Rochester Christian Church Ministries."
I'd rather have the low income housing than turning a former Catholic church into an advertising tool for our competition.
~Dr. K
I'm surprised to hear that the old St. Bridget Church building is still standing. I remember reading where half of the building was considered unsafe. And that was before the catholics moved to St. Theresa's (now the new St. Bridgit).
It must have been quite an expensive renovation for this Christian Church. I know there were several groups/individuals in the past that tried to use the church but didn't have the money to fix all the problems.
Thanks for the update Dr. K.
Link for the new performing arts center being built using the old St. Bridget church: http://www.lighthouseartscenter.org/
~Dr. K
Dr.K,
Went to the website. I love the way they kept calling the church St. Bridget's Cathedral when discussing the history of the church. 2300 parishioners at its peak. How many catholic churches can claim that today!
Next time I'm in Rochester, I'll have to take a drive by the new arts center. Then it will be off to St. Stan's for the Tridentine mass.
Post a Comment