CSVF Blog

Tonight, Saturday 27th at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a “Vigil for All Nascent Life” coinciding with first vespers of the First Sunday of Advent. The Holy Father has also requested that “analogous celebrations involving the faithful [take place] in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements.”

This Vigil, which will comprise prayer for human persons in their earliest stages of development, also takes place, the Pope says, in “the period of preparation for Christmas…a fitting occasion to invoke God’s protection on all human beings who have been called into existence, as well as to give thanks to God for the gift that each child is to his parents.”

In league with our friends, the Sisters of Life, St. Vincent Ferrer, at 7 PM will join in this global act of prayer, in union with the Pope. Fr. Walter will give a spiritual conference and preside over the celebration of Solemn Vespers.

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Two Great Events:

This Sunday
World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra

The World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra is an ensemble of young musicians (ages 10-21) from Manhattan’s most prestigious music programs including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes.

The aim of the World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra is to inspire international cooperation. Reflecting the ideals of the World Youth Alliance, this ensemble aims to engage audiences in an experience of human dignity, authentic freedom, and solidarity.

The World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra will present its debut public performance Sunday, September 19th, 2pm, at the Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan (869 Lexington Avenue).

The program will include works by Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and internationally renowned 18-year composer Jay Greenberg (“Bluejay”).

To order tickets, please email alexis@wya.net.

Next Monday
Theology on Tap

The first talk of Fall 2010! Heather King is an author and a convert to Catholicism. She will talk to us tonight about her amazing conversion but also about her road from alcoholism to redemption. You won’t want to miss this event!

Slattery’s Midtown Pub – 36th St., btwn 5th & Madison Aves, 7 pm.

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This Thursday, there are two special events.
First:

Thursday, August 26th, 2010
9:30am – 11:00am
at
The Yale Club of New York
50 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

On August 26, at The Yale Club of New York, the Susan B. Anthony List will engage a panel of scholars in “A Conversation on Pro-life Feminism” that will examine this contention from an intellectual and historical perspective. This exchange could not be timelier: August 26, 2010, is the 90th anniversary of the day the final state ratification was forwarded to Washington, D.C. and Women’s Suffrage became the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Nine decades after that historic-event, the 2010 midterm elections are emerging as the “year of the pro-life woman.”

“A Conversation on Pro-Life Feminism” will feature five distinguished scholars, led by
Helen Alvaré, M.A., J.D. of George Mason University’s School of Law.

She will be joined by:
Catherine E. Wilson, Ph.D. Political Science and Villanova Center for Liberal Education, Villanova University
W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D. Department of Sociology, University of Virginia
Jennifer J. Popiel, Ph.D.History Department, Saint Louis University
Laura Garcia, Ph.D. Philosophy Department, Boston College

You can Register for the Live Webcast on August 26th, 9:30-11:00 am.
Seating is Limited. To R.S.V.P., please send an email to events@sba-list.org

Second, (and not without an evocative connection):

At 12:10 pm, Archbishop Timothy Dolan will celebrate a Mass in honor of Bl. Teresa of Calcutta and the 100th anniversary of her birth at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Later that day, beginning at 6 pm, there will be a Holy Hour and Mass (7 pm), followed by a Eucharistic Procession and recitation of the Holy Rosary. These festivities are gathered around St. Rita of Cascia Church in the Bronx, at 448 College Avenue, just off of East 145th Street.

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Today culminates several days of celebration leading up to the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at St. John Martyr parish, on 72nd Street off of York Avenue.

The celebration begins at 7 PM. There will be a Solemn Mass, a distribution of brown scapulars, and enrollment in the Confraternity of the Brown Scapulars.

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Our friends over at the Respect Life office of the Archdiocese alert us that the Reproductive Health Act (S.5808) could very likely come to a vote in the next few days.

This is a bill that, if passed, would undoubtedly increase the percentage of abortions in NYS, which is already at the abominable level of %33 – that’s right, close to a third of pregnancies in our state are terminated.

Similar to FOCA, it is designed to establish abortion as a fundamental right of the human person as such. This means it would expand the range of abortion practices, promoting late term abortions of fully formed infants and even authorizing non-physicians to perform abortions, for example. This means it is also aimed to compel hospitals to provide abortions.

Information about the bill and about how to contact our state and assembly members can be found here, at the New York State Catholic Conference website.

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The text below is from our Archbishop’s latest entry on his blog, “To Whom Shall We Go?”, which makes for provocative reading, and not just because our school receives mention. (Bold lettering added.)

When it comes to the Catholic Church, so goes the popular logic, if something happens to make you angry, always blame the Pope (or the Vatican), or the archbishop (or that darn archdiocese).

Every problem in the Church, in this view, whether the decline in Sunday Mass attendance, the closing of a school or parish, or the shortage of vocations, is the fault of the Pope or the archbishop.

That’s because the perception is that the Catholic Church is a “top-down” organization — at least according to most newspapers, magazines, and radio/TV news — where decisions are always secretly made way at the top, and the “little guy” is ignored.  That’s not only true of the secular media.  In a recent edition of a prominent Catholic journal, published in New York, I counted six blasts at bishops and the Pope in the first six pages!

Want some recent examples?

A newspaper on Staten Island blames the recent controversy about the proposed sale of an unused convent to an Islamic group on — guess who? — that autocratic, aloof, mean, clandestine archdiocese!

Sorry, editors, but the Archdiocese does not micromanage.  I trust our pastors, religious, and lay administrators to run the day-to-day details of our nearly 400 parishes, hundreds of schools, healthcare institutions, and charitable programs.

A decision to sell any parish property initially rests with the pastor of the parish, who should act in close concert with his parish and finance councils and must act in close concert with the parish trustees.   In the current case, the pastor concluded after prayerful reflection that the sale would not be in the best interests of his parish and recommended its withdrawal.

But, never mind all this.  The editors know better.  It’s the fault of that mean-old “archdiocese.”

You want another example?  For years, the pastor and people of St. Michael’s Parish have scraped, saved, and sweated to keep their excellent parish high school open.  Even though not one student in the school actually lived in the parish, the pastor and people fought to save their school, giving $400,000 annually to keep it going.

Finally, reluctantly, early in the spring, with only thirty new students enrolled for next school-year, the pastor and parishioners sadly decided they were out of money, and couldn’t do it anymore.  They asked “the archdiocese” to confirm their decision and, after being reassured that every girl could be welcomed at nearby St. Jean Baptiste High School, St. Vincent Ferrer High School, and Cathedral High School, at the same tuition, “the archdiocese” agreed that the good pastor had made the proper, albeit sorrowful, decision.

Who’s to blame?  The alumnae?  The pastor and parish?  Those who did not reply to frequent appeals for new students or donations?

Surprise, surprise!  The nasty, money-hungry, mean-old “archdiocese” is to blame, according to a source in another, this time, Irish newspaper.  See, this source explains, the property of the high school is valuable, so the stingy, money-grabbing, high-handed archdiocese has callously disregarded the kids to get the money.

Had anyone asked, “the archdiocese” would have let him or her know that there were no plans to sell the structure, and that, even if such happened, the money would stay at the parish, not the selfish “archdiocese,” according to Church law.

Experts in leadership style tell us that, as a matter of fact, the Catholic Church is probably the best example around of the principle of subsidiarity; namely, that a decision is best made at the level closest to the people who will have to live with the results.

To be sure, there have been, are, and will be instances where controversial decisions are made by “the archdiocese,” or by me as archbishop.  When that is the case, I’m not about to “pass-the-buck” and blame somebody else.

But, that’s not the case in the two tough situations mentioned above.

Who likes criticism?  Nobody.  But I figure it comes with the job, and have to face it when it’s legitimate.  That happens often enough.

But I don’t like seeing “the archdiocese” blamed for something not its fault.

It’s so easy, popular, juicy — and sells papers — to blame the “corrupt Vatican” and “money-hungry archdiocese.”

It’s just that it’s not accurate.

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Our Dominican brothers over at St. Catherine of Siena are beginning to have a monthly day of prayer and information for couples that struggle with infertility. Due to the overwhelming attendance and positive response to the event in May, the friars who run the Health Care Ministry decided to offer the day of recollection and intercession every month.

The next occasion is TONIGHT,Thursday, 17 June.

6:00pm: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament And Confessions.

6:25pm: Litany and Prayers to Saint Gianna

6:35pm: Mass

7:30pm: Infertility Support Group and A talk by Dr. Anne Mielnik of Gianna Health Care Center on Napro – Technology

Our Archbishop, Timothy Dolan, has written very positively of Dr. Mielnik and her colleagues at the Gianna Health Care Center.

Many men and women feel demeaned after having employed kinds of In Vitro Fertilization, due to the means of obtaining the male’s sperm and the woman’s ova, and of attempting implantation of the embryo.

Moreover, to say nothing of the countless embryos (i.e., persons) who are either frozen or discarded and aborted, a staggeringly high percentage of children who are conceived through IVF suffer from birth defects (which is why so many of the fertilized embryos are aborted to begin with).

The psychological and physiological effects of IVF, along with its intimate relationship to the abortion industry, corroborate the Church’s objective judgment (based on an analysis of the act) that such technological intrusion and disruption of a couple’s conjugal life is gravely reprehensible and always to be avoided.

Of course, the children that do issue from such methods are as fully human and beautiful as those conceived naturally, with or without the legitimate aid of procreative technologies.

Nevertheless, there are scientific methods of ascertaining the latent fertility of a woman’s cycle. Indeed, women who have unsuccessfully attempted to conceive through IVF, only to have eventually conceived naturally are not few in number.

If you want to pray for yourself or loved ones who are suffering the trial of infertility, or if you want to learn about the little-publicized NaPro Technology (Natural Procreative Technology), please visit our sister parish a few avenues over this Thursday.

Here is a helpful and moving video from the FertilityCare Centers of America website about infertility and a couple’s options for help.

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Our union with God is begun in faith and lived through the sacraments. This life is necessarily aided by devotion. Through our devotional practices, our affections and imagination are inflamed and opened up to serve God and be united with Him more spontaneously and creatively. Thus, through devotion, we can become better disposed to receive more fruitfully the graces of the sacraments we receive in faith.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart both manifests and electrifies in a particularly beautiful and stirring way our faith in the incarnate love of God and His sacramental plan.

Nevertheless, in the classic, papal explication on devotion and worship of the Sacred Heart, Haurietis Aquas (1956), Pope Pius XII makes clear that this devotion is not merely one brand of piety amongst others, but an eminent act of religion. Through the wounded heart of divine love, that is, through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the supreme act of atonement was offered for humanity. And because the Father and Son have sent us their personal bond of love, the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts, our own charity can beat with the pulse of expiatory love.

This week, there are a number of ways to foster our appreciation and prepare for our celebration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

Archbishop Timothy Dolan offers brief reflections and helpful practical suggestions regarding the devotion in Catholic New York.

This Saturday, the Church of Our Savior in midtown will be offering a daylong conference by an eminent group of lecturers on the Sacred Heart. There will also be a Solemn High Mass according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite (i.e., the 1962 Missal) at the Church of Holy Innocents.

Regarding the extraordinary form of the Mass, our neighbor, the Church of St. Jean Baptiste, is hosting His Excellency Francois Gayot to celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass for the feast on Friday evening.

Finally, the Church grants a plenary indulgence to the faithful who, on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, publicly recite the act of reparation (Iesu dulcissime).

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In preparation for the 100th anniversary of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta’s birth, her Missionaries of Charity begin their preparations today, 7 June, at the Cathedral of St. Patrick. (See article by Catholic New York)

Today, between 2 and 4:30 pm, relics of Mother Teresa will be on display for public veneration, including her crucifix, rosary, and sandals.

At 7 pm, Archbishop Celestino Migliore will celebrate Mass.

Also present will be the editor of Mother Teresa’s letters and writings, Come Be My Light, Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, M.C.

Many Dominican friars around the world have worked closely with the MC’s. This summer, two student brothers from the House of Studies who will be residing at St. Vincent Ferrer will be serving with the Missionaries in the Bronx.

Renowned spiritual author and Irish Dominican, Fr. Paul Murray, O.P., has written a book on the saint of Calcutta, I Loved Jesus in the Night. A short reflection by Fr. Murray based on his book can be found on our provincial website here.

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