March for Life in Rochester

A Rochester reader sends the announcement below. The goal is to get 200 marchers and local media attention (beyond the Catholic press.)

A silent March for Life to Planned Parenthood will take place Saturday, February 28, 2009. Marchers will gather in the parking lot of Our Lady of Victory Church, 210 Pleasant Street, at 1 p.m., following the 12:10 Mass there.

The March will begin at approximately 1:15, and will proceed silently through downtown Rochester to Planned Parenthood’s headquarters at 114 University Avenue. There participants will pray for an end to abortion and for healing for all those involved in it.

Among those marching will be members of Silent No More - women who have had abortions and now speak out against abortion.

For more information, contact Jose Rivera at 585-305-1224.

Learning this Lent

The February issue of the Knights of Columbus' Columbia magazine includes several pieces geared toward Lenten preparation. In Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori's latest installment of his catechesis on the Compendium, he covers paragraphs 106-112. Entitled "Christ Gave Himself for Us," we learn that "the season of Lent leads us to repent and encounter the kingdom of God." The magazine also directs readers to the Knights' lesson on Penance from Peter Kreeft's Catholic Christianity. Read the booklet here; download the podcast here.

106. What do we learn from the temptations of Jesus in the desert?

The temptations of Jesus in the desert recapitulate the temptation of Adam in Paradise and the temptations of Israel in the desert. Satan tempts Jesus in regard to his obedience to the mission given him by the Father. Christ, the new Adam, resists and his victory proclaims that of his passion which is the supreme obedience of his filial love. The Church unites herself to this mystery in a special way in the liturgical season of Lent.

(Almost) ready to launch

The Catholic Telegraph of Cincinnati is preparing to launch a new, much-expanded website during Lent. In the meantime, the editors are posting articles to a dedicated 'blog, providing more online content than has typically been available. As you can see, it's a mixed blessing:

Tony Stieritz, director of the Catholic Social Action Office, said Catholic social teaching states that participation in “our political and economic systems is part of realizing our innate human dignity given to us by God.”

“Therefore, the archdiocese supports small and moderate sized-farms having a place in our agricultural landscape,” he said. “In an age of fewer farm families and increased farmland consolidation, they promote a more widespread ownership of land and agricultural resources.”

Stieritz cited the pastoral letter from U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “Economic Justice for All,” which states, “There is a genuine social and economic value in maintaining a wide distribution in the ownership of productive property. The democratization of decision making and control of the land resulting from wide distribution of farm ownership are protections against concentration of power and a consequent possible loss of responsiveness to public need.”

"Hint" of the sacrament

From the Navarre Bible commentary for today's Gospel reading provided free by the Daily Word service:

St Mark is the only evangelist who speaks of anointing the sick with oil. Oil was often used for treating wounds (cf. Is 1:6; Lk 10:34), and the Apostles also use it for the miraculous cure of physical illnesses by virtue of the power given them by Jesus. Hence the use of oil as the matter of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, which cures wounds of the soul and even, if appropriate, bodily diseases. As the Council of Trent teaches -- "Doctrina De Sacramento Extremae Unctionis", chap. 1 -- in this verse of St Mark there can be seen a "hint" of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, which our Lord will institute and which later on "is recommended and promulgated to the faithful by St James the Apostle" (cf. Jas 5:14ff).

Remembering Michael

From Our Sunday Visitor; go -- buy now.

Remembering Michael Dubruiel

The news came Tuesday evening that Michael Dubruiel, an acquisition editor for Our Sunday Visitor for nine years, had died after collapsing at the gym. He was 50 years old. Mike had left Our Sunday Visitor last April to go to work for his long-time friend, Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham, Alabama. In my encounters with Mike after he left, he seemed enthusiastic about the work in the diocese. He was responsible for several areas of concern, and the challenges appeared to energize him. Mike was always a hard worker. He was also a prolific and gifted author. Among his titles for Our Sunday Visitor were: The Church's Most Powerful Novenas The Power of the Cross The How-To Book of the Mass, Expanded How to Get More out of the Mass How to Get the Most Out of the Eucharist A Pocket Guide to Confession A Pocket Guide to the Mass Praying the Rosary [with Amy Welborn] The titles reveal his deep concern for the fundamental practices of the faith by Catholics. He sensed a great pastoral need in this area, and he had a gift for deepening the appreciation of ordinary Catholics for the encounters with Christ that occurred in Mass, during the Eucharist, in Confession. Mike was also a gifted acquisition editor who oversaw the development of a host of successful books for us. He also took the lead in the editorial management of our pamphlet line. Mike will be missed by all of us here at Our Sunday Visitor. He was a man dedicated to serving the Church in his work, in his writings, in his talks. He was a real gift to the Church in this country, and his death is a great loss for the Catholic community. Mike's wife, Amy Welborn, in response to many offers of help, wrote on her blog, Charlotte Was Both: "Many have asked what they can do. All I can say is to simply buy his books. Not from me, because I am in no position to fill orders, but from anywhere. He long ago promised God that he would give all the royalties of The How To Book of the Mass to the children's college funds, which he did faithfully. Buy them, read them, and give them away to others. Spread the Word. That is what he was all about." In response, Our Sunday Visitor will be contributing to Mike's children's college fund by doubling what would have been Mike's proceeds from book sales on all of his OSV books through the month of February. Please join us in offering prayers for the Dubruiel family. Gregory Erlandson Our Sunday Visitor Publisher

Sloping downward

One bright spot in the nonstop parish closures in Rochester is that at least one distortion of paragraph 23 of Vatican II's "Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy" is among the casualties:

Steady growth paved the way for the opening of Annunciation's new building in 1967, on the occasion of the parish's golden anniversary. The impressive structure, built in conjunction with liturgical norms established by the Second Vatican Council, features amphitheater-style architecture with the floor sloping downward in a nearly full circle around the altar. Even with a 700-person capacity, the design enabled all worshipers to have a clear view of Mass.

"What is wrong with socialism?"

Church historian and Son Rise Morning Show regular Kevin Schmiesing answers a very timely question:

I can hardly do better than Pope John Paul II, who wrote in Centesimus Annus, “the fundamental error of socialism is anthropological in nature,” because socialism maintains, “that the good of the individual can be realized without reference to his free choice.”

The socialist experiment is attractive because its model is the family, a situation in which each gives according to his ability and receives according to his need—and it works. Unfortunately, the dynamics of family life cannot be replicated at the level of society.

The contention that socialism is unsustainable because of its inherent misapprehension of human nature is supported by the historical record. To my recollection, socialism has only been successful to any significant degree and for any significant amount of time in one institution other than the family: consecrated religious life (e.g., monasteries). Needless to say, there are some rather peculiar dynamics involved there as well, which cannot be replicated across a society.

This lack of success is not for lack of trying. We’re all familiar with the grand national attempts in, for example, the Soviet Union. But socialism has failed on smaller scales as well: in the communes of Brook Farm, Massachusetts; Oneida, New York; and New Harmony, Indiana, to name just a few American instances.

Can a socialist experiment ever succeed? History casts doubt.

Pizza and ... what!?

Archbishop Pilarczkyk has publicly criticized University of Cincinnati officials over their support for an especially bizarre approach to student "wellness."

Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk is no fan of “Pizza and Porn” night at the University of Cincinnati.

While that news is hardly shocking, the leader of the Catholic Church here took the unusual step Wednesday of publicly criticizing UC officials for their support of a week-long sex education program called “Sexploration.”

“I find the ‘Sexploration’ program … to be profoundly disturbing,” Pilarczyk said in a statement. “The gross disregard of the moral sensibilities of many in the university community is troubling in the extreme.”

The program, promoted by UC’s Wellness Center, features several out-of-town speakers, a partnership with the Pure Romance sexual aid company and events such as “Got the Hook Up?” and “Pizza and Porn.”

The Wellness Center handed out condoms and safe-sex kits Monday and plans to provide interested students with pamphlets and other educational materials throughout the week.

UC officials say the program focuses on education and was created in response to demand for more information on the topic.

“The issue of sexual wellness and sexual health is a matter of concern to the students, and the program is reflecting that student interest,” said UC spokesman Greg Hand.

The archbishop, who earned a doctorate in classics from UC, said he is offended as an alumnus and as a leader of the church. He said university money and resources should not support such program that offers little academic value.

“Academic freedom is not an issue here simply because the program being offered is not academic,” Pilarczyk said.

Hand said the Wellness Center is supported by student fees – not by tuition or tax dollars – and that the center runs a wide range of programs throughout the year. He said those programs focus on issues of interest to students, such as health, diet and responsible drinking.

Kudos to His Excellency for taking this stand and targeting UC officials specifically. It's refreshing to see him act so forthrightly and unambiguously.

Proud of its ongoing relationship

Rochester has a large, thriving Jewish community on the East side of town, and the Diocese of Rochester has engaged in valiant efforts to build interfaith relations. (Would that they engaged in other efforts with the same zeal.) Growing up, we were privileged to count the members of a Jewish family as dear friends; I took the oldest daughter to her prom! So while there is a tinge of opportunism and self-congratulation in this press release from the diocese, bear in mind the local context.

Rochester, New York, Feb. 2, 2009 -- Bishop of Rochester Matthew Clark and the priests, deacons and people of the Diocese of Rochester join with Pope Benedict XVI in affirming our love for and solidarity with the Jewish people throughout the world, and our absolute repudiation of Bishop Williamson’s historically inaccurate and shameful remarks denying the Holocaust.

The systematic murder of more than 6 million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators remains a tragedy of indescribable proportion and evil. To deny that the Holocaust occurred or to attempt to lessen the scope of this evil that is historic fact is monumentally wrong. Indeed, people of all faiths and all generations must work unceasingly to remember the Holocaust and the millions of children, women and men who perished, not only to honor their memory but to ensure such unspeakable crimes never can or will happen again to any people.

The Diocese of Rochester is proud of its ongoing relationship with the Jewish Community, one which led to the historic Rochester Agreement of Understanding in 1996 – a joint declaration of solidarity and mutual defense that was signed by both Jewish and Catholic officials locally and one that has borne much fruit in bettering interfaith relations.

Pray hard

When you're at a loss for words, it's the best response.

The SCHIP straight face test

As the public policy activists for the Diocese of Rochester hail Congress's passage of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a Buckeye Institute editorial reminds us of who pays and who receives under this effort:

The reason that the program needs new money is that many states are using this federal money -- intended for poor children or those near the federal poverty line -- to pay for the coverage of children who are well into the middle class. Ohio, for instance, recently expanded coverage in its SCHIP program that would allow a family of four to make almost $62,000 and still qualify for assistance. In other states, a family of four can make almost $83,000 and qualify. Some states are also using it to pay for health care for adults.

Some in Washington, D.C. -- including Ohio's junior Senator Sherrod Brown -- want to reward these states for flouting the spirit of the SCHIP program by giving them more money. These politicians also want to expand the program to cover millions of new Americans. In fact, according to a recent study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation, almost 60 percent of American children would be eligible for government health care under a proposal being pushed by some Senators. Can anyone say with a straight face that this is really about "poor kids"?

And how do the backers of expanded government health care plan to pay for it? With an increase in the cigarette tax, which mainly comes from the pockets of the poor. According to a Tax Foundation analysis, those who pay cigarette taxes are disproportionately in the lowest economic brackets.

"Obama preserves renditions as counter-terrorism tool"

ObamaCaths, many of whom cited President Bush's support for torture (real and imagined) to justify their vote, will undoubtedly come up with a clever way to explain this headline.

Messianic secret

One of the key concepts presented by the Gospel of Mark is the "messianic secret," whereby Jesus instructs various people to keep silent about his true identity. In today's Gospel reading, for instance, He tells the exorcised demon to "Be silent" when it calls Him "the Holy One of God." Jesus does not want His mission to be interpreted in an earthly or political way. (Nor does He want His identity announced to the world by such a foul creature!) Hence his preference in this Gospel for the title "Son of Man" over other messianic titles, as this designation from the Book of Daniel has no political overtones. In his Angelus address today, Pope Benedict takes up the theme of this secret:

This year, at Sunday Mass, the liturgy proposes the Gospel of St. Mark for our meditation. A special characteristic of this Gospel is the so-called “messianic secret,” the fact that, for the moment, Jesus does not want anyone outside the restricted group of his disciples to know that he is the Christ, the Son of God. This is why he often admonishes the apostles and the sick people whom he heals to not reveal his identity to anyone.

For example, the Gospel passage this Sunday (Mark 1:21-28) tells of a man possessed by a demon, who suddenly cries out: “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the holy one of God!” Jesus answers him: “Be quiet! Come out of him!” And immediately, the evangelist notes, the evil spirit came out of the man with a loud cry. Not only does Jesus chase demons out of people, freeing them from the worst slavery, but he prohibits the demons themselves from revealing his identity. And he insists on this “secret” because the fulfillment of his mission is at stake, on which our salvation depends. ...

Whither the CCHD collection

Some of you may have noticed that thank you bulletin 'blurbs from the Catholic Social Action Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for the CCHD collection ran this weekend. As most of my readers know this "Catholic Campaign for Human Development" was suspended by a number of dioceses around the country due to its support for ACORN and other organizations with dubious connections to Catholic social teaching. Does anyone know if the collection was off its projection?

Joan the Baptist

From a Rochester reader:

I recently posted a question to the Canon Law experts at EWTN about the validity of the Baptism in the video at St. Anne Church this past fall. I mentioned how Sr. Joan did all the preliminaries, including making the cross with holy oil on the infant's head, and how the deacon later in the Mass did the actually pouring of water.

Here is the response I received from Rev. Mark J. Gantley, JCL yesterday:
"No. This is certainly not licit. If a priest is present, he should have celebrated the entire baptism."
Link: http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?Pgnu=1&Pg=Forum9&recnu=3&number=567386

So from what Fr. Gantley wrote, Sr. Joan should not have done the preliminaries and the deacon should not have done the actual baptizing with the priest being present. I'm still not sure whether the Baptism was valid, or whether the way it was handled was just inappropriate (perhaps you can make a better conclusion that I can given the response), though it sounds like my first thought may be the right one.

(Editor's note: Liceity should not be confused with validity; I suspect this child was baptized.)

(I attached two images- the first showing Joan doing the annointing, the second showing the deacon in the back for the Baptism, while the priest is nowhere to be seen).

It's sad that things have gotten so bad here in the DoR.

A more honest view

While we were eating a quick lunch at McDonald's just before the March for Life began, in walked a huge contingent of high school students. "Great timing," I said to my friend Trey, as a line extending from the counter to the back door soon formed. We then realized they were from Cincinnati's McNicholas High School and conversed for a few minutes with their gracious chaperon. She told us there were 52 students in all, up from the usual 10-12. Her letter appears in this morning's Cincinnati Enquirer:

I’m writing to do a service to my fellow Cincinnatians that may have been scouring the newspapers for some news of the March for Life Rally in Washington last week.

I was one of the estimated 300,000 people of all ages and color that marched, and what a wonderful experience it was to be with so many diverse people from all over America marching for the rights of the unborn.

I especially like the elderly couple that marched the whole way with signs on their backs that claimed “Til natural death do us part.” To see approximately 500 photos of the marchers (including the enthusiastic McNicholas High schoolers I chaperoned), please go to www.mommylife.net. That link will give you a more honest view of the people that attend the march every year.

Kate Tucci

Anderson Township