No, this is not a joke. Some of you may already be familiar with a dramatic 32-year-old man dressed as and introducing himself as a "bishop," wearing a bright red (almost hot pink) cap and swishy, black cape. He has come to St. Mary's several times now, the most alarming of which was today.

Uninvited, he showed up seemingly out of nowhere and interrupted the CCD children praying the rosary and began speaking. Then he handed out flyers which say at the top, "Joseph Galante is an abortionist." (It's just a sensational headline espousing the following logic: if our Mother is the Church and the parishes are Her children, then that makes Galante an abortionist. Yeah, we get the metaphor.)

We are posting this because we have heard that he has been "making the rounds" elsewhere in the diocese, including St. Gregory's in Magnolia, where he hopes to have a rosary rally. Notably, he plans to have this outside the church in their little prayer garden.

We want it known that we at St. Mary's have nothing to do with this man. Moreover, we do not appreciate his intrusion into our church, interruption of our rosary, and assumption that it was acceptable to speak to our children without our permission.

But just who is this person? He introduces himself as "Bishop Tomas-Martin Bell, OPD" and has listed his address as 19 Willis Street in Penns Grove. (His original name, however, is George Bell.) You may find information about his Dominican order here. Although on his Blogger profile he claims allegiance to our current Holy Father, we must be ever vigilant of associating with sedevacantists (those who deny the legitimacy of the pope) and orders that espouse potentially schismatic views. To the best of our knowledge, George Bell is not a true bishop according to Rome and is not formally associated with any diocese. The #1 page you get when googling him is one which announces him as a speaker at the American Paranormal History Society. This is his myspace page.

• Is closing half the churches in the diocese "scandal?"

• Would erecting in their place quasi-catholic megachurches be "scandal?"

• Are corruption, greed, and lies from positions of authority within the Church "scandal?"

• Is needlessly causing one's church to be difficult to get to physically, logistically, or psychologically, "scandal?"

• Is closing a holy place "scandal?"

• Is seeking personal political gain by climbing the "corporate" ecclesiastical ladder at the expense of the faithful one is charged to protect, "scandal?"

• Is showing a complete indifference for the loss of souls, "scandal?"
  

• Is directly causing a decline in Catholic faith and practice, "scandal?"

• Is sending away priests by the dozen, discouraging seminarians, and then claiming priest shortage, "scandal?"

• Is saying nothing in the face of wrong, "scandal?"
  

• Most importantly, is watering down the Catholic Faith and claiming churches are "just buildings," just "bricks and mortar, wood and nails," "scandal?"

Here is what the Church says. From the Catechism #2285-2287:

Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized. It prompted our Lord to utter this curse: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his  neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." Scandal is grave when given by those who by nature or office are obligated to teach and educate others. Jesus reproaches the scribes and Pharisees on this account: he likens them to wolves in sheep's clothing.

Therefore, they are guilty of scandal who establish laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice, or to "social conditions that, intentionally or not, make Christian conduct and obedience to the Commandments difficult and practically impossible."* This is also true of business leaders who make rules encouraging fraud, teachers who provoke their children to anger, or manipulators of public opinion who turn away from moral values.

Anyone who uses the power at his disposal in such a way that it leads others to do wrong becomes guilty of scandal and responsible for the evil that he has directly or indirectly encouraged. "Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come!"

*Pope Pius XII, 1941

• Because a church is a sacred, consecrated space. Churches are permanently consecrated. The one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church has always taught this, continues to teach this, and it has been a major point of difference and contention between protestants and Catholics. While mass can be held anywhere, ideally it should not be held just anywhere. That is why Catholics have churches. God deserves reverence and this is why a beautiful and lovingly created church is best suited to His worship in the highest form of prayer, the holy sacrifice of the mass.*

• Because we love our little community. For goodness sakes, that is reason enough! If "the Church is the people," as is the popular sentiment these days, then it does matter that when I look around the church, I know the people around me. It does matter that I can notice someone has been absent awhile and I can check on them to see if they are ok. If one has not been a member of a true and united community of Faith like this, it may be hard to understand why that community is such a treasure. This treasure should not be needlessly destroyed.

• Because small is wonderful!

• Because with the loss of churches come the loss of souls who are not as strong in the Faith or who are disillusioned by the corruption around them. These souls matter to Our Lord and should not be written off as unimportant. We need to try to help them and strengthen them in the Faith. We can only do that if our doors are open and if the churches they know, love, and are familiar with are still there. Because of this, when we close our church's doors, we often close off the last possibility that a soul will return to Holy Mother Church. Those who have already left the Church--and they are many--are no longer around to tell their stories.
  

• Because in struggling to hold on to our parish, we are hope and strength and justice to others who are not strong enough to speak up. We have been confirmed in this countless times.
  

• Because in the case of St. Mary's, we are truly an "intergenerational" community, which is something the Diocese sorely wants churches to try to be and is trying to implement in its "lifelong faith formation" program. We already are, so why destroy it only to try to rebuild something that approximates it?

• Because while we are happy to do things with others, a parish has a right to existence as stipulated by canon law. Wanting one's parish to remain as it is does not make one an "isolationist." It makes one content.

• Because our forefathers and mothers worked hard and sacrificed to give us the great gift of St. Mary's and we do not take this gift for granted.

• Because the church belongs to the people of the parish. They built and maintain it and it belongs to them.

• Because St. Mary's has been financially solvent and debt-free since 1922 and there is no reason it cannot continue to be. St. Mary's parishioners have always been very generous in donating, fundraising, and contributing their time and efforts to directly maintaining the parish. This is part of our culture.
  

• Because we are obligated, by virtue of our baptism and confirmation, to defend the church from error and attack, both from within and without. See Pope St. Pius X's encyclical against the modernists for more on this. It is not just St. Mary's and other churches that are under attack here, but the Faith itself. Purporting that our churches are "just buildings" is example enough. Look at the bishop's job positions, which include audio visual technicians whose job is to install and maintain screens and sound systems, as well as the inclusion of rock bands during mass. Visit any number of "modern" catholic churches which have had their tabernacles removed from a place of prominence on the altar. Look at how many times Bishop Galante has held up Gloucester County Community Church, an evangelical protestant church, as an example to be striven towards. We could go on. Which leads to the following point...

• Because we want to remain Catholic, and that includes holding on to our traditional churches.  

• Because St. Mary's has had and continues to have wonderful devotions available to all, including Eucharistic Adoration from Wed. morning through Friday evening every week. This is something not found at every parish.

• Because our CCD program is small, personal, affordable, our kids love it, and it is worth saving.

• Because we should not have to defend our right to exist, and no parish should.

• Because there has never been a saint who became holy by closing churches, only saints who became holy by erecting them.

• Because many priests, bishops, and even popes have been wrong in the history of the Church. We have an obligation to defend Her. Many saints have been redeemed in time. Saints Catherine of Siena, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Avila, Thomas More, and John Fisher (the only bishop to defend the Faith against evil Henry VIII), ora pro nobis!

• Because keeping open or closing a parish is not a "managerial" decision. Our Church is not a corporation and should not be run like one.
  

• Because we must obey Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the teachings of His Church first and foremost, not men.
  

* We have written extensively on this in the past so we will not include references and links here. If you would like them, search our site or the Catholic Encyclopedia online (newadvent.com). You may also refer to the Catechism of John Paul II, the Catechism of Pope St. Pius X, the Baltimore Catechism, canon law, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, countless papal encyclicals, and on and on. That the church is "just a building" is a protestant view, not a Catholic one. Now this heterodox view is expediently and shamefully used by the very men charged with defending our Faith and our churches and because they are in positions of authority, people trust them, listen, and believe them.

St. John Vianney parishioners, our prayers are with you. It is time to again stand up and voice your opposition to this evil act. Do what is necessary to make your position clear.

Here is the [poor] Courier Post article in which they mislead the reader by making it appear that St. John Vianney* is much younger than it is. Also, notice how idiotic and deceptive the reasoning is. The CP only speaks to core team members, not to those unhappy with the loss of their parish. Anyone who thinks that people in the diocese, much less SJV parisihoners, are "accepting" and in favor of this merger plan is deluding themselves.

In case you haven't already guessed, St. John Vianney is a beautiful little country parish. It is small, old, and traditional. No wonder the bishop wants it gone.

It is sad that its pastor, a priest we happen to like very much, has not supported his parishioners and the rights of the parish to its existance as stipulated by canon law and Church history. This has been the case throughout the diocese. Some care too much for the stability of their status and their standing with the bishop and not enough for the tending of their flock and standing in opposition to that which is overtly wrong.

They hope to "get people back" by closing their parish??? What kind of reasoning is that? The only people who buy this line of reasoning are some on the core teams. By doing this, they are effectively slamming the door in the face to those who ever thought of returning to the Church, but that's just as well to Galante, who has a "new church" in mind that bears little resemblance to the Church we know. Scroll down to the comments.

Snip:

The parishes -- St. Margaret in Woodbury Heights and St. John Vianney in Deptford -- are to merge Jan. 13, Galante said. The new parish will be called Infant Jesus....

The merged parish, with its seat in Woodbury Heights, will serve 3,300 families. It will be led by the Rev. Joseph T. Szolack, the current pastor of St. Margaret's.

St. John Vianney Church will serve as a worship site "as needed by the new parish," the diocese said in a statement.

St. Margaret's Parish was founded in 1961 during a period of suburban growth in Woodbury Heights. St. John Vianney became a parish in 1971.

Merger preparations began in November 2008 when a "core team," with members from each parish, held an initial meeting with Szolack. Parish members since that time have worshipped together and shared social activities, such as a carnival and pancake breakfasts, the diocese said.

"Initially there was some uncertainty as to how this would all work," said Mark Cipolone, a core team member from St. Margaret's. "Now, parishioners are accepting and looking to moving forward."

Cipolone acknowledged a desire to see the survival of St. Margaret's, which was founded in 1961, and St. John Vianney, a parish since 1971.

"Given the realities, we have to do it," he said. "We have to get people to come back."

Galante's announcement came two days after the merger of three parishes in Camden County. Those parishes -- St. Luke in Stratford, St. Lawrence in Lindenwold and Our Lady of Grace in Somerdale -- are now Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.

The next merger is to take effect Dec. 23, when two Cherry Hill parishes -- St. Pius X and Holy Rosary -- are to become Holy Eucharist Parish.

So far, 17 parishes have merged since late July, reducing the diocesan total by nine.

Comments:

Replying to armageddon:

Bishop Galante is in the wrong pew....
He should be our next Governor......

Yes, he should merge public school districts but leave our churches and parishes alone.
12/12/2009 8:12:25 AM

Maybe the parishioners at St. Margaret are coming to "accept" it but I can assure you those at St. John Vianney, which incidentally has been there long before 1971 (as St. Agnes), are not "accepting" it. And before anyone says anything, St. John Vianney is a full parish on Sundays and in the black.
12/12/2009 12:39:37 PM

Replying to watertoo:

Maybe the parishioners at St. Margaret are coming to "accept" it but I can assure you those at St. John Vianney, which incidentally has been there long before 1971 (as St. Agnes), are not "accepting" it. And before anyone says anything, St. John Vianney is a full parish on Sundays and in the black.

It is not fair that they are closing a fully self-sufficient church like St. John Vianney. I wish that the Courier Post would interview other church goers besides core team members.
12/12/2009 1:28:02 PM

Geographically, how do they justify elderly parish members that live in Deptford traveling to Woodbury Heights? It is not around the corner!! This is one of many reasons I have left my catholic background. There is no thought to the people just to the politics!!
12/12/2009 6:16:53 PM

The obese bishop must be removed. He is uneducated and stupid. Anyone who puts money in the plate is a fool. Remember the house of charity is the bishp's home.
12/12/2009 8:06:04 PM

* The SJV website has been significantly downsized from what it once was. It was once one of the best church websites in the diocese. Guess they were told to downsize it to only the absolutely essential information. Are the parishioners being told it's time to roll over and die?

One should never make haste to do a thing which is evil.

"For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood." -Proverbs 1:16

For we must remember that our allegiance is first and foremost to God and not to erring man, no matter who that man may be. Blindly following man can lead us hastily to the abyss of hell.

"Had I but served my God with half the zeal had served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies." -William Shakespeare, Henry VIII

"We cannot all be masters, nor all masters can be truly followed." -William Shakespeare, Othello

"And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ." -Matthew 23:9-10 (Douay-Rheims commentary: The meaning is that our Father in heaven is incomparably more to be regarded, than any father upon earth: and no master to be followed, who would lead us away from Christ.)

"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." -Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24

In rushing to do what is wrong, we delude ourselves.

"With devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself." -William Shakespeare, Hamlet

In serving false masters, we run the risk of losing our very soul.

"What's done cannot be undone." -William Shakespeare, Macbeth

Justice is the treasure of those who serve God. Justice is never the treasure of liars.

"And in the midst of the church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. She shall heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name. But foolish men shall not obtain her, and wise men shall meet her, foolish men shall not see her: for she is far from pride and deceit. Lying men shall not be mindful of her: but men that speak truth shall be found with her, and shall advance, even till they come to the sight of God."  -Ecclesiasticus 15:5-8

Therefore the Lord tells us to "fear not" for He is with us 236 times throughout the Bible. In choosing to do right and resisting evil, He gives us strength against all enemies. No, fear not evil man,

"but I will shew you whom you shall fear: fear ye him, who after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, fear him." -Luke 12:5

We should fear only God himself, our just judge. He will separate the sheep from the goats. Which side do you choose? Good or evil? There is no middle ground.

So many today, St. Mary's included, are sheep without a shepherd but Jesus the Good Shepherd Himself. We have been left to the wolves, to fend for ourselves.

"Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves." -Matthew 10:16

Yet if we follow in His ways, we will not be led into error.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid?" -Psalm 26:1

While I'm not really a "crafty" person and generally avoid projects that appear to be too messy (aside from Save St. Mary's), I threw caution to the wind and decided it would be fun to make an Advent calendar with my 6-year-old. (And yes, he is in his pajamas in the picture. Bad cold that day.)

I thought I'd share it with you because I realized, when trying to figure the best way of making the calendar, that this particular activity would be especially good for a family with two or more school age children. The more children you have, the less the parent has to do ahead of time. The older children can do the more complicated aspects (like looking for appropriate pictures).

I've been saving up some of my Catholic catalogs in anticipation of some sort of craft project. Last week when I decided it would be a good idea to put together an Advent calendar, I was trying to think of a way that wouldn't require that I do 90% of the work. Not the most attractive way, perhaps, but a simple one. So here's what we did:

1. I cut out a whole bunch of small pictures (saints, crosses, nativity scenes, rosaries, icons, a monstrance, etc.). Many of them were incredibly beautiful. I tried to find pictures most appropriate for Advent. I did all this while the kids were in bed, by the way.

2. Next, I grabbed some pink and purple construction paper and glued the pictures to the paper. After the glue was dry, I cut rectangular shapes around the pictures. Then I folded all these rectangles in half so as to make little doors. These first two steps probably took around two hours, but then again, being fairly late, I wasn't going very quickly.

3. The next day, with my son, I put a dab of paste on each little door so as to hold it shut (he didn't want to catch a glimpse of any of the pictures ahead of time). After I put the paste on the door, I would hand each one to him and he would write the dates on them.

4. As you can see, we pasted all the little doors to the large piece of paper. (I did put faint lines on the paper so the little doors would be vaguely straight.)

5. At the end I had my son put the words on the calendar and I let him decorate the bottom. The parts we did together probably took about an hour.

As it turned out, we had so many of the little door/pictures left (I cut out too many) that we had enough for a "12 Days of Christmas/Epiphany Calendar" (right). Knowing I had too many, I saved the three wise men pictures, some nativity scenes, and baby Jesus pictures for this.

As we open the doors each day the calendar actually looks much more attractive. And who doesn't love the excitement of an Advent calendar? The whole thing, simple as it was to make, has been a huge hit. We plan to make another one next year. He said to me, "Mama, I'm never going to forget this day!" Isn't that funny? Just goes to show, it doesn't always take pain-staking or costly gestures to give your children a sense of satisfaction. Mostly, they just like spending time with their parents.

This year's Christmas Bazaar will take place this Saturday December 5th from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Come one, come all!

 At the Bazaar, you will find

• Chinese Auction (donations of new toys/gifts for needy children enters you in the raffle)
  
• Bake Sale
• Christmas & Gift Items for sale
  

as well as good food, including

• Soup
• Meatballs
• Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches
• Pasta in the evening

and, not to be missed,

• free lunch with Santa Claus at 12:00 noon
  

as well as entertainment

• the Junior Choir and Young Musicians will be appearing between 1:30 and 2:30

and, for no extra charge, as per the bishop's requirements*

• we guarantee a vibrant time
  

See our beautiful church and pay a visit to Jesus while you're there.

Volunteers are still welcome. Call Marlene at 856-694-3154 if you're interested in helping or would like to RSVP for the lunch with Santa.

See ya there!

*whatever!?!

I admit that watching the show, "Little House on the Prairie" is one of my guilty pleasures. I've liked this show ever since I was a small child. While traveling across the country once, I accidentally (but happily) found myself following the same trail that the real Ingalls family once followed and visited one of the museums associated with the famous pioneer family. Now my husband and I are reading the book series aloud to our children, and this nicely coincides with a homeschooler class my son is taking entitled, "Westward Ho."

In any case, I think that one of the central attractive qualities of this series is the real life struggle between good and evil. While members of the Ingalls family do not always make the right choices initially, with the help of God and by strengthening each other, in the end they always chooses the side of right.

I was reading a quote from one of the writers of the show the other day. He was commenting on the episode, "The Bully Boys" (see last few minutes of episode and transcription below). In this episode a group of thugs threaten the way of life of the entire town. By the end of the episode, virtually the entire town has been abused in some way. The writer states that what makes this episode different from many is the fact that it is acknowledged that some people are essentially bad. The soft-spoken and Christ-like Reverend Alden sums up the sentiments of the writer in his sermon, which precipitates the driving of the thugs from the community.

The reason why I am bothering to share this with you is that I think we face a similar situation on a much broader scale here in our diocese. While some bullies stand outside a church or community, some appear to be a part of it. They wield their membership and, in some cases, their authority in abusive ways. They lie, threaten others, and may even steal what does not belong to them.

Unlike the villains in this Little House episode, there are some in leadership positions in our diocese and throughout the Church who are basically just thugs and bullies. Like the tv show bullies, they think nothing of pushing people and communities around. The common street criminals, the thieving corporate CEOs, the scheming Washington politicians, and certain corrupt Church officials have one thing in common: they are out for only themselves and do not consider the wellbeing and rights of others, much less the propagation of the Faith and the Gospel. They are career-oriented opportunists. Therefore it is imperative that we pray daily not only for ourselves and our parishes, but for the conversion of all Church leaders to Christ and His Church.

In a simple and straightforward way, this episode manages to relay a few very important truths:

1. Contrary to the modern world's popular opinion, good and evil exist. Good and evil are not subjectively determined. They are not matters of perception, but are objectively true.

2. In all of our lives, we have a choice to make. We must daily choose between good and evil, right and wrong, Jesus Christ and The Deceiver. Every day when we wake up in the morning, this is the choice that is before us. We must choose our side. This is called free will. However, we cannot be on the side of both Christ and The Evil One simultaneously. When we fall, when we have made a wrong decision and sinned, we confess it, we disown it, and we choose Christ's side again.

3. "Turning the other cheek" is indeed noble, but as demonstrated by Our Lord, does not automatically exclude the necessity of resisting the devil and "those who do his bidding."

4. A real community does not "stand alone against those who do the devil's work," but is unified by God in its insistence that evil be thwarted and right defended.*

Though the show depicts a protestant congregation, I think a valid fifth point may also be taken:

5. A pastor has an obligation to defend his flock from those who mean to harm it, from the attacks of the devil.

Transcription:

Rev. Alden: With your indulgence I would like to dispense with the hymn and go directly to my subject this morning: Heaven and hell. Sometimes we forget, in our contemplation of our reward in Heaven, that there even is a hell. But we might do well this morning to remember that hell has a purpose too. And the devil doesn't sit down there all by himself. Now I've told you that there's good in all people. But that doesn't mean that all people lead good lives. There are those who lie, who steal, who abuse those around them. Last week I told you that it was noble and courageous to turn the other cheek. Well, that's true, but this week one of you reminded me that there are times that the devil is in our midst; that no endurance, no nobility, will defend us against those who do his bidding.

Thug #1: Reverend, all that talk about the devil, you wouldn't be slurring me and my brothers, would ya?

Rev. Alden: More than that. It's strange that it took the children in this town to teach us the lesson: that we are a town, we're a community, we're a congregation. And no man should stand alone against those who do the devil's work.

Thug #2: What are you planning to do, preacher?

Rev. Alden: I intend to see you out of this church and out of this community.

Thug #2: Well that's pretty hard words but it looks like you're still standing pretty much alone.

[Reverend Alden and Isaiah Edwards slam the thugs against the wall.]

Rev. Alden: Am I?!

Thug #2: All right, all right, we'll be out of here by nightfall.

Rev. Alden: You'll go NOW. And you'll take only those things you brought with you. And maybe next time you'll think twice about taking advantage of good, decent people.

Thug #1: Tell him we'll do it, Sam, we'll do it.

Rev. Alden: [to Isaiah Edwards] Isaiah, your men can handle this?

Isaiah Edwards: Amen, Reverend!

Rev. Alden: [to Caroline Ingalls] Caroline, if you'll lead the ladies in a hymn, we'll be right back.

[Rev. Alden, Isaiah Edwards, and the men of the community march the thugs out of town. The congregation sings, "Onward Christian soldiers..."]


* St. John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood, Book II:

(Regarding pastors): ...but he who has human beings entrusted to him, the rational flock of Christ, incurs a penalty in the first place for the loss of the sheep, which goes beyond material things and touches his own life: and in the second place he has to carry on a far greater and more difficult contest. For he has not to contend with wolves, nor to dread robbers, nor to consider how he may avert pestilence from the flock. With whom then has he to fight? With whom has he to wrestle? Listen to the words of St. Paul: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

(Regarding wolves in sheep's clothing): ....even should they capture the whole flock, they do not leave the shepherd unmolested, but attack him all the more, and wax bolder, ceasing not until they have either overthrown him, or have themselves been vanquished. Again, the afflictions of sheep are manifest...

This was originally posted January 31, 2009. We thought it was worth republishing.

Catholic theology and Church teaching are not accidental. Holy Mother Church teaches unchanging, eternal Truths. Moreover, these Truths are all connected and interconnected. Like all systems, each Truth depends upon the other; they are the structures that support the building. We do not, after all, have an atomistic system wherein one truth may stand up as a pillar without the others. Generally speaking, it is not possible, nor is it logical, to accept one teaching of the Catholic Church and dispense with the others, as if one was unrelated to the next. Once we begin to do this, the structure loses its supports and comes tumbling down.

Take, for example, our church buildings and chapels. They are designed for the worship of Christ, the King of the Universe. They are supposed to give us a glimpse of heaven. They are to surround us with examples of how we should live (depictions of the lives of Christ and the saints), who we are and were designed to be (holy sons and daughters of Our Lord), and the physical and spiritual means of getting there.


As Catholics, we believe that Christ is truly and physically present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and that his Eucharistic Presence resides in the Tabernacle. If the King of the Universe resides in the Tabernacle, it only makes sense that that Tabernacle be located in a prominent place, front and center.


If the King of the Universe in the Tabernacle is located front and center in our churches, it only makes sense that we reverently face Him. If the King of the Universe is located in the Tabernacle, front and center, and we are all facing His Majesty, it only makes sense that we be able to kneel before Him in humility and out of love and devotion to Him.


If we truly believe that Jesus Christ, King and Redeemer of our fallen race has come to be with us sacramentally in the Holy Eucharist and that He resides in our Catholic churches, then our souls and minds ought to be elevated, our whole selves reminded of Him while we are in church, whether mass is going on or not. Throughout most of human history, people have not been literate, and even today we need reminders of what it means to live the Christian life. God allows us to use our senses to know Him. To glorify God and for the help of our souls, we are given works of art in the form of paintings, stained glass windows, statues, and other things within our churches.


Consider this. When you have a guest coming to your house, you clean up. You make ready. You prepare. If you were to have an "important" guest come to your house, you would want it to look good. In this case we have an important guest--the most important Guest possible, our Creator--coming to be with us, so great is His love for us. We should want all around us to remind us of His loving and sacrificial Presence.

Says the Catholic Church of England and Wales:

A Church for us is more than a building - it is a Sacred Space, filled with God's presence. Everything within that space - the paintings, the statues, the stained glass - exists for a spiritual purpose.

This is to provide people with a focus for prayer and an insight into God: literally a 'glimpse of heaven'. The word 'Patrimony' describes the Church's cultural inheritance in terms of architecture, art and artefacts. All witness to our Catholic past: a history of persecution, struggle and ultimately, revival. We are just custodians, with a duty to preserve these sacred treasures for the future. Today we also create the Patrimony of tomorrow by commissioning high quality Sacred art.

But now, after roughly two thousand years of Holy Mother Church teaching us

• about the sacredness the church building,
• about how we must be ever vigilant of the possibility of sacrilege not only personally but also in our churches and shrines,
• about how Our Lord would be with us even until the end of time both spiritually and in the Holy Eucharist in our churches and sacred places,
• about Christians sacrificing all they had materially and even their own lives for the sake of their holy churches erection and continuation,
  
• to fall on our knees before God in our beloved churches,

now, in late twentieth and early twenty-first century America we are told to believe that our churches are "just buildings" and we ought not be attached to them. I don't know about you, but my mother taught me when I was just a child that this is one of the most important things that distinguishes us as Catholics from the protestants: our churches are open because we believe that they are holy places, that Our Lord is there, and that they are not just buildings. My mother was no liar.

Places where Our Lord has come to us sacramentally in His unbloody sacrifice, day after day after day, we are now told to believe are buildings like any other. That isn't Catholicism. That is materialism. And that, my friends, is precisely what the devil himself would have us believe. To believe our churches are only buildings would be to deny Our Lord's Eucharistic Presence, our ultimate and eternal destiny, and that for which we were created--the worship of God. In fact, to claim that our churches are just buildings would be to deny our spiritual nature, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and even our sacred baptisms and confirmations. To claim that our churches are just buildings is to deny the validity of their consecrations and blessings. To claim that our churches are just buildings is an insidious lie. And a lie is a lie no matter who says it.

By a decree of the Council of Trent (Sess. XXII), Mass should not be celebrated in any place except a consecrated or blessed church. Hence it is the wish of the Church that at least cathedrals and parish churches be solemnly consecrated, and that smaller churches be blessed (Cong. Sac. Rit., 7 Aug., 1875), but any church and public or semi-public oratory may be consecrated (Cong. Sac. Rit., 5 June, 1899). Both by consecration and by blessing a church is dedicated to Divine worship, which forbids its use for common or profane purposes. Consecration is a rite reserved to a bishop, who by the solemn anointing with holy chrism, and in the prescribed form, dedicates a building to the service of God, thereby raising it in perpetuum to a higher order, removing it from the malign influence of Satan, and rendering it a place in which favours are more graciously granted by God (Pontificale Romanum).  (From New Advent, the Catholic Encyclopedia.)

In the past, Catholics and Catholic buildings alike have been the targets of hatred and persecution. I need not list the litany of specific examples, but priests have been tarred and feathered, buildings blown up, altars desecrated, the Sacred Body of Our Lord maligned, churches vandalized. The history of anti-Catholicism in this country is well-documented and is, in fact, alive and well today. Of course in this country Catholics not even permitted to run for public office (and even when they were, there was serious doubt about their "patriotism"). Catholics have experienced horrible persecution in this and other countries, and by extension our houses of worship desecrated in the worst possible ways. Suffice it to say that many of you have likely heard the stories of your own ancestors and what they went through to preserve the faith, or even just to get to mass. I know I grew up hearing these stories of perseverance in the Faith, and my own family sacrificed much and for that I am so proud and so grateful. It is a great privilege to be born into a good Catholic family and to receive the benefits of our patrimony. The fruit of all that sacrifice is made real to us by virtue of worshiping in the places bequeathed to us by our ancestors and by the grace of God.


It is amazing that at this point in American Catholic history, instead of the Catholic Church being the object of hostile attacks from without, our church buildings and even the Church itself is being attacked from within. Sadly, our shepherds are leading their sheep astray, and many souls will be lost. Instead of protecting our churches, our patrimony, they are being closed (and often the contents sold on ebay) and when faithful Catholics hold tight to the timeless teachings of their Faith, they are called all manner of things from "disobedient" to "unchristian" and worse. Sometimes these attacks are leveled, shamefully, by their own priests and bishops. Yes, many of the very bishops who

• harbored child abusers, shuffling them from one parish to the next
• affiliate themselves and do business with the likes of criminals who would steal churches and schools right out from under unsuspecting Catholics
• allow the rampant sexual impropriety of priests in their diocese
• advocate such unorthodox doctrine as married, gay, and "womyn" priests; as well as downplay of the sacrificial nature of the mass and many other things
• repeatedly lie to the faithful in matters ranging from real estate transactions to canon law to theological Truth
  
• justify closing churches by claiming there's a "priest shortage" and then persecuting and sending away priests by the dozen...
  

...yes, some of the very same bishops would be so blind and arrogant as to criticize the faithful Catholics who merely want to worship their Lord and Savior in the manner they always have: in their own churches. This is an outrage, and it should not be tolerated by any thinking Catholic.

I admit that I've had the movie, Molokai: The Story of Father Damien, sitting around at home for months. I rented it from Netflix. It's a gorgeous movie with a star-studded cast, the acting superb, the cinematography wonderful, period clothing impeccable, script well-written, the events historically accurate. There's not a thing wrong with this movie. The problem? The subject matter.

Fr. Damien, who I just discovered was canonized less than two weeks ago by our holy pontiff (YES!!!!), was a Belgian Sacred Heart priest who worked among the lepers on the island of Molokai in Hawaii during the mid to late 1800s. When considering the topic of leper colonies--something I never thought much about, to be honest--it simply never occurred to me that children found to have the disease would be forcibly separated from their parents, wives from husbands, and so forth, never to be seen again. To be shipped off to Molokai was itself like death.

They were treated more like criminals than innocent victims of disease. The infected were hunted out, often by police and officials, and put into forced segregation. Torn from family and friends and lost in the grim strokes of despair and death, the unwanted existed in their damp seclusion....most of the patients' ceilings were only the canopy of the sky.*

To witness this barbarism even in movie form was simply heart wrenching. That's why it took so long to finish the movie.

Another effect of exile I had never considered was that of vice. Apparently, faced with one's inevitable demise and death, and lacking the mores and expectations of a larger society, many felt they had nothing to lose in debauchery. Fr. Damien, who volunteered and was not sent to live among the lepers, had all these difficulties to face and more. The only priest on the island, and disallowed to leave, he was not permitted to go to confession for long periods of time. Refused permission to board a steamliner with a priest (Fr. Modeste) aboard, and the ship not allowed to dock on Molokai, Fr. Damien was forced to make his confession while screaming from a rowboat. (This true event is portrayed in the movie.)

Though he repeatedly requested and prayed for not only a priest to come hear his confession, but also material and human aid for the more than a thousand sick and dying people on Molokai, he was refused time and again by his bishop and superiors. Although there were nuns and others willing to come help, they were refused admittance to the leper colony by the bishop and Board of Health, and money and materials were withheld from the saint and needy lepers. He had no doctors, no nurses.

Additionally, the protestants on the Board of Health had a hand in forcing Fr. Damien to remain on the island, supposedly for fear of spreading the disease. They thought that "by forcing him to stay he would leave  the settlement altogether. Jealousy had prompted them to destroy a hope that they would not fulfill themselves."**

Because Fr. Damien had no doctors or nurses, grave diggers, construction workers, maintenance men, farmers, teachers, and children were without parents, he became all these things. "Everyone looks on me as a father. As for me I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ," the great saint said. His sermons began, "We lepers."

As if all this was not enough, he also established sodalities, a brass band, trained interested people in church music, evangelized voraciously the many non-Catholics (he baptized over a thousand people), administered the sacraments, established perpetual adoration, and built orphanages. Needless to say his favorite saint was the great missionary Francis Xavier.

Despite Fr. Damien's tireless efforts, his bishop said this, "I regret that the admiration for this work of charity is erroneous. I see with displeasure that the newspapers who admire you exaggerate by putting things in a false light."*** Both his provincial superior and his bishop were not only discouraging, they treated him horribly and undermined his efforts to do the Lord's work among people who needed so much help. Finally his superior, Fr. Leonor (depicted in the movie by Derek Jacobi) admitted that the bishop was "suffering from the disease of jealousy. Public esteem for anyone other than himself is his torment." The bishop did not wish donations to be given to Fr. Damien on Molokai but all to be lavished instead on him. Again we see how greed undermines God's will. But the provincial superior, Fr. Leonor, was no better. In fact as time went on the Board of Health relaxed somewhat in restricting Fr. Damien's movements, but Fr. Leonor continued to restrict him and severely limited his ability to go to confession.

Finally Fr. Damien contracted leprosy, a natural result of his coming into direct contact with the disease for so long. Adding insult to injury, he was accused of "impious activity," shall we say, in contracting the disease. This was completely without foundation, meant only to drag down his reputation.

It seems Fr. Leonor treated Fr. Damien with disdain until the great saint's death. As Fr. Damien lay dying (left), Leonor even refused to send him a crucifix for the leper's chapel. It is unfortunate that throughout Catholic history, despite physical and spiritual need, there have been too many bishops and prelates who care little for the salvation of souls. We need only read the lives of countless saints to see how many struggled with their superiors and bishops. We find ourselves living in another of these eras in which material and corporate logic trumps spiritual need, an era in which not only are we being deprived a crucifix but our entire churches are being stolen away. May the good Lord bless his very many faithful servants throughout our blessed Church's history. And may Fr. Damien, saint of the lepers, faithful despite all opposition, pray for all of us.

Thankfully by the time of his death he received some human assistance and increased supplies, and his reputation has of course been vindicated. The great saint was only 49 at the time of his death.

No description on my part could ever do St. Damien of Molokai or the movie justice. I highly recommend renting or buying the movie. Also, supplement your viewing by obtaining for $2 the From the Housetops periodical (link below) with a succinct but ample biography of this great new saint of the Church. He is yet another saint who, in the face of persecution from both his immediate superior and bishop, was able to build chapels, spread the Faith, and act as a true father as shepherd of all to a people without hope.    


*From the Housetops, Volume XVIII, No. 2, Serial No. 39, page 2. Note: I noticed that this particular issue is not linked on the website of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I bet if you give them a call they may send it to you or copy it for you. It is excellent. Here is the wikipedia entry on Fr. Damien: click here.
**Ibid, page 8
***All quotes are taken from historical account or from From the Housetops, not from the movie. 

Just a brief update for all of you. CCD is now underway. In the event there are any unregistered children out there, please register as soon as possible. Should you have any difficulty in contacting the "office staff," please feel free to call Julie at 609-561-4992 and I will make sure you get registered. (I'm now the Religious Education "liaison" or whatever you want to call me.) In case you are unaware, CCD at St. Mary's is far different from any other parish I've observed. It's very small, personal, and not standard "classroom," as my own was, if for no other reason than the fact that we have no actual "classrooms!" It begins with the rosary in the church. Rosaries will be provided for children without their own. After the rosary the children split up to their various classes and often it ends with a hymn singing in the church led by our music director and/or choir members. St. Mary's CCD doesn't just aim to teach the Faith, but to implant a love of it.

On Sunday night we had a Parish Council Meeting, which was very well attended. Happily we are moving forward in increased organization of the parish. Very soon we will be holding a vote to elect three officeholders: president, vice president, and secretary. Nominations are welcome. Rather than nominate and vote on members at the Parish Council Meeting, we preferred to instead have the entire parish take part in this process. (After all, real "processes" have no veils of secrecy.)

In addition, we have established various committees to aid in the running of the parish. Some of the committees are familiar, others will seem new. We have the finance council, the religious education committee (RCIA, CCD, Adult RE), the spiritual life committee ("liturgical ministries" such as altar boys, Legion of Mary, Eucharistic Adoration, Knights of Columbus, etc.), the social events committee, the maintenance committee, and the "ad hoc" or "special events" committee. (The "ad hoc" committee is not a permanent committee. It will take various forms as the need arises. For example, the feast committee and the Christmas Bazaar committee are "ad hoc committees" because it is not needed all year round.)

Of course we always have the music ministry and choirs, which are always looking for members, so if you are interested in music please contact Mr. Jim Wilson, music director. In addition, one of our parish members will be tackling the food pantry, which will be a committee unto itself. If you would like to help in any way please contact the church. We also have the evangelization committee,

In addition, the need for a sacristan was expressed. However, as a small parish we certainly cannot afford to have this be a paid position. We hope to train some of the older altar servers to take on some of the duties of a sacristan. We also hope that perhaps some adults from the parish will volunteer. We anticipate creating a monthly schedule in which different individuals would be "sacristan" on certain days. The sacristan's responsibilities would include making sure the sanctuary lamp remains lit, the candles are in ample supply, and other church and liturgical needs are met. It goes without saying that this is an extraordinarily important responsibility.

Officially under the heading of the spiritual life committee, the altar boys will be trained very soon. This will, of course, be an ongoing thing. Those wishing to serve as altar boys should have already received their First Holy Communion. Remember that altar servers do not have to be children. Traditionally adult males have served in this position.

If you are interested in joining any of these committees, please contact the church.

In closing, various members of St. Mary's reiterated our intention to resist the unnecessary merging and closing of our parish. In this we are of one mind, moved by the Holy Spirit. We believe what we read in the Bible, pertaining to obedience to GOD above all things. In opposing error there is no wiggle room.

But the Pharisees hearing that he had silenced the Sadducees, came together: And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him: Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. Matthew 22:34-40. See also Deuteronomy 6:5

In the [newest] Catechism we read:

Since they express man's fundamental duties towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart.

There can be no doubt that it is God's will that St. Mary's remain open. All parishes--and Catholic faithful, for that matter--have integrity and rights. These rights are currently being violated not only in our own diocese, but all over the country in the form of forced parish closings. In our case, we have been incredibly privileged in that Our Lady has sent us a miracle in the Rosary Garden, one which many have witnessed. We take this as a message for our parish, that Our Lady is with us. For those who prefer strictly secular verbiage, we are indeed hopeful that our ever increasing "vibrancy" will, as always, shine through!

A friend of mine who's my age (early 30s) recently moved with her husband and little daughter to a new town in a nearby state. They were over our house yesterday. In her words, she wanted to start "living right." She wanted to have her house blessed, begin going to church again, and have her daughter baptized. She also hoped to have her daughter attend the local Catholic preschool. She went to the church hoping to schedule a date to have her house blessed. When the priest opened the door, before she even had the chance to introduce herself or tell him why she had come, he said to her, "I can't help you financially" and closed the door.

Needless to say, my friend was devastated. Here was a woman who has not had the easiest time of it in life. She once was very devout. She had fallen away from the faith for awhile and wanted to start over, so to speak. I don't think she was expecting much from the priest at this church, but she did not expect to be treated so rudely. It occurred to me that even if she had been a "vagrant" looking for a handout, what harm would it have done this man to say, "I'm sorry that I can't help you out right now, but please allow me to give you a blessing?" Is it to be assumed that any youngish person who comes to a Catholic church in the middle of the day is just looking for a handout? Anyway, she's so upset. And this happened months ago.

I feel terrible for her. But worse, I don't know what to say to her. I have no practical advice for her. The most I could come up with was something along the lines of, "Hey, at least it ain't 16th century England. Much worse has happened in the history of the church. This is small potatoes in the vast scheme of things," to which she responded, "It still sucks. It still makes me feel nauseous." And you know what? She's absolutely right. It might not be the worst thing that's ever happened in the history of the world, but it still feels like crap.

I hope this was just a case of someone waking up on the wrong side of the bed. But whatever it was, if a man of God, a priest of Christ, can treat someone he's never met so horribly, what does that say about his Faith, about THE Faith? We cannot afford to make these kinds of mistakes.

For those of us "on the inside," who are able to persevere in the Faith by the grace of God, it may seem silly to consider that such an interaction could so upset a person. But it does. It's only natural.

She's not so strong in her faith, but she wanted to grow in it. She is hurt, and she is very, very angry. Now she and her family are considering attending a church of a protestant denomination, but she said, "I don't want to go there. I want to be Catholic." But she's so hurt and conflicted she doesn't know what to do. She does seem to know she needs God and needs a community of faith to help her know Him. We are all made to know God, but if she can't even get in the door of the church, she's got to go somewhere.

So it seemed ironic when I read the pastor's column in the St. Mary's bulletin today. Fr. Namiotka wrote about the importance of community:

So when people tell you that they can "pray alone without a church" remind them that they are meant to be a part of something much bigger than themselves. Jesus didn't mean for us to go it alone. He established the Church for us. We are called to be a part of it. The priest is meant to be there for his people and the people are supposed to support their priest(s).

Our pastor is, of course, absolutely right. Fr. Namiotka goes on to encourage us to invite people to attend mass with us. And I did this yesterday with my friend, but St. Mary's is special, our pastor is (thank God) orthodox, and the people kind and friendly. Not all Catholic churches are like St. Mary's, and besides, she doesn't live nearby.

Well, I would like to say that this experience is merely an isolated incident. However in the course of the past year and a half I have heard way too many stories like this to count. Lately I think I'm averaging one a week. I heard another one only this past Thursday about a parish (actually several parishes that are supposedly merging into one massive church) in our own diocese. A mother in this parish had worked very hard to establish a youth group intended for high school age kids, only to suddenly lose the support of the pastor. He had, apparently, decided that this youth group was "not necessary" and that instead he would like to establish a youth group for the younger children, six and up. She was mystified, frustrated, and said she wouldn't be volunteering her help anytime again real soon. To add insult to injury, this capable mother and college graduate was told that they needed to find "qualified" people to teach CCD and head up such groups...certified school teachers and persons with advanced degrees. Uh-huh.

I do not want to perpetuate any stereotypes about young adults or young families as religiously indifferent, because I believe this is far from the truth. In case you wonder why there aren't more young adults and young families in your parish, though, let me assure you, this kind of stuff is why. I'm not saying every younger adult has had a "run-in" with a priest or an "incident" at their parish. Not at all. But what I am saying is that people want to be treated decently. If they can't even get in the door, there's not much chance they're going to keep coming back.

Further, if we don't start supporting people's efforts to help young adults, kids, and all Catholics to grow closer to the Lord in the context of their own parishes, the fall-off is going to continue. Frankly, we ought to be nothing short of amazed to witness any religious and priestly vocations at all.

Finally I'd like to mention something I've noticed about my generation. It's been my observation (and I know I'm not alone in this) that my generation, for whatever reason, has a desire for the authentic and a general distaste for the hypocritical. If they catch a whiff of hypocrisy, they're outta there. Maybe it's because they are a generation that grew up in broken families and divorce, who knows? We can leave that to the sociologists. But whatever the reason, they are realists. They want to live their lives authentically--in whatever way that may be to them. They dislike people and organizations, be they religious or secular, that say one thing and do another. This is why--at least in part--we see such personal devastation when someone representing the church behaves so badly. It stinks of both inauthenticity and hypocrisy. It's just yucky. So I think the resistance of younger people to institutional religion, as they may see it, is not accidental. It is not intellectual or religious laziness. It is deliberate, and it is often well thought out. They have their reasons. And yes, sometimes they are understandable. After all, what good is a religion that turns us into mean people, liars, or worse, totally corrupt people?

So let's all try to remember that, whether we're lay or religious or priest, we all represent the Church. People will enter its doors based--at least in part--on how we treat them and how we live our lives. If we want people to come into the Church, we have to act like people matter. 

There are some bishops and priests in this country who are all gloom and doom when it comes to hope for the future of the Church, hope for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and belief in evangelization. Well there is a monastery of traditional Carmelite nuns in Nebraska and they are bursting at the seams. I tell ya, so often people of my generation and even younger don't want nonsense, which means they want all or nothing, and total honesty, total authenticity. Why waste your time with anything else?

These Carmelites--God bless them!--have so many girls wanting to enter that they have had to make a second foundation in Pennsylvania just the other day! Jesus Christ be praised! Keep praying for vocations!

Here is a video link to a news piece about it. Here is a link to the Carmel in Nebraska (not great but it gives you some info). Here is an article about the new monastery. This is a blog entry about the Nebraska monastery.

Most interesting to me, here are the comments of a father whose daughter is in the Nebraska Carmelite monastery [my clarificatios in italics and emphasis in bold]:

Our daughter is at Valparaiso, [Nebraska]. The scoop on this place is that it is overflowing with vocations, even with the Mass and all seven offices in Latin. Young people evidently are looking for authenticity, and here they surely have it.

There are something like 28 [actually now there are 33] women here, of whom only about ten are solemn professed. The novitiate is overflowing with postulants and novices. If someone leaves, her place is taken immediately.

Ordinarily a Carmelite convent is supposed to have only 21 nuns max, unless they are planning to launch a new foundation in the near future. That, in fact, is the plan, but Mother Theresa says she has to see more black veils first. The black veil is received at solemn profession.

***
[This is the end of another comment in which he talks about having spoken to Mother Theresa from the Carmel:]

I forgot to ask how many nuns are going out to Pennsylvania, but whatever the
number is, obviously just as many spots are opening up for new vocations at
Valparaiso.

[There are so many girls wanting to enter at this traditional Carmel that whenever there's an opening someone is immediately available to take the opening. I can personally attest to this since I myself know a young woman who wants to join this group.]

***
[Finally a young girl inquires of this father on the blog as to how to contact these nuns. Among other things, he responds:]

To give you an idea of this group, the monastery in Valparaiso has 18 young women in the novitiate!!! And more entering all the time. Entrances are scheduled for this month and September, that I know of.

My daughter is very happy there, and that seems to be the case with everyone whom we have met.

...all they got was that crappy sign? And yikes, all they could come up with for a name was "Catholic Community of Christ Our Light?" Sounds like a new age temple. It's not even a "church," mind you, it's a "Catholic community." For goodness sakes, let me stick my finger down my throat right now. Someone please tell me, what in the world is suddenly wrong with the word "church?" And why are we replacing actual communities with concocted ones?

In any case, two pretty big churches in Cherry Hill, of all places, merge and all they can get for their first mass was 100 people? That's not exactly a rousing endorsement. Maybe people were put off by the lame sign.

The worst part of the article (link below) are, sadly, the quotes, from their new pastor:

"We stand after great visionaries who've come before us, and blazed a path."

Of course, the statement begs the questions, which visionaries? And where's your blazin' path headed?

I guess he tries to answer the questions by saying,

"The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made." What the heck does that mean? If he's saying that there isn't a path to be found, one that does, in fact, already exist and was "blazed" by Our Lord and Savior, but only the one we make, I think the lot of them are headed someplace I'd prefer not to go.

It's pretty simple really. We don't need to go blazin' our own paths, because Our Lord said this:

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Yes, the good father, well intentioned I'm sure, seems to have contradicted Jesus' own words. Our Lord instructed us to FIND the path and to FOLLOW Him on it. In the very next chapter in Matthew, in fact, Jesus said, "Follow me." And not long after this, in Matthew 8:28-34, Jesus cast out demons and they entered instead into a herd of swine, which "rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water." Guess those piggies blazed quite a path.



 Click here to read Star Herald piece.

Tonight I went to a farmer's market with my kids, my sister, and nieces. I just happened to be wearing my St. Mary's Malaga t-shirt (as seen on left). While checking out some of the great things one of the women at the market was selling, she asked me,

"Is your church one of the ones slated to close?"

I was taken by surprise because I forgot that I was wearing my St. Mary's t-shirt.

I replied, "Yeah, but not if we can help it."

She said, "Good for you!" and continued to express her general disapproval of everything that was going on in the Diocese. She said, "I'm just lucky that my church is not one of the ones he wants to close. They built a new one. It's ultra-modern on the inside and I'm not sure I like it."

I said, "That's why we love our church. People really sacrificed to build it. It's old and traditional, dating from 1922, it's got beautiful stained glass windows, and it's just gorgeous."

She said, "I hope they don't close your church."

I said, "We're fighting, and we'll take it all the way to Rome if we have to."

She nodded enthusiastically in agreement and said, "Yes! That's what you should do. It's not right."

We talked a little more before browsing more around the market. The woman was very nice, but she seemed a little depressed about the way things were headed in the Diocese, and what they'd done with her parish. My impression is that, for a lot of Catholics in the Diocese, churches like St. Mary's mean a lot to them, even if they aren't members there. They represent Catholicism as they know it. (Which is probably part of why we are being persecuted in favor of a "new catholicism.") Even to visit a church like St. Mary's helps them feel closer to God. I guess some of the larger, more sterile, "theater-in-the-round" churches (see below) just don't do the trick, so to speak, but it's what they've got.

As I said, I've had conversations almost identical to this any number of times. Not once have I heard someone say, "Well the bishop's probably got good reasons," or "Your church is too small anyway," or "There's a priest shortage you know," or anything like that.

A couple weeks ago a man who helps run a local pool where I took my son to swimming lessons found out I went to St. Mary's. He told me how much he loves that church, even though he's not a member there, and that I could return to the pool anytime I wanted, even though I'm not a member, just because he holds the church in such high regard.

A little over a year ago I visited a South Jersey historian who happened to be a Methodist. She said, "Well I'm not a Catholic, but there's just something special about St. Mary's. You can feel it when you walk in the door."

Without exception we have experienced popular support and, frankly, disgust over the bishop's intention to close our church and other churches. Most frequently, people disapprove of what they see as a discrepancy between church closures and diocesan real estate holdings, scandals, and, well, as one man put it to me the other week, "corruption and hypocrisy in the Church." Take the pulse of the people of the Diocese of Camden and the people on the street, and I think you'll find they are jaded to say the least. Evidently what people respond to are not grand "restructuring" schemes in which their churches are stolen from them, but bishops who obviously live the Gospel and love Jesus, who show that they really care about those entrusted to them, who are honest, and who are not politically involved. People are not stupid. They see right through all these things.

The point is, if these are the sentiments we are hearing expressed from people whose churches are not expected to close, and in many cases the sentiments expressed by non-Catholics or nominal Catholics, can you imagine what people think of the plan whose churches are in a limbo state (a la "secondary worship site," a status which supposedly no longer exists) or whose churches are supposed to get the ax? Maybe it's time for some more "listening sessions," huh?

I sometimes think Our Lady never rests! She is constantly interceding for us and sending us messages and even favors, whether it be at Lourdes, Fatima, or in somewhat smaller ways in less notable places like Malaga. She is so concerned about the spiritual welfare of all her children.

Our Lady constantly warns us about the dangers of error and secularism taught from within the Church and how we must be constantly on our guards! This is a large part of the reason why we must pray for our priests and bishops daily. Do not miss even a single day to offer your prayers for them! For many souls are entrusted to their care, and they could guide souls into the life of grace and truth or into error. It is so crucial that we know our faith so that we may not be easily misled by any person.

Please continue to pray and work for good, sound catechesis and for the church leadership, that they lead all souls in the Truth according to God's will and not their own. May God continue to bless all our parishes and keep them safe from all malice.

It is so difficult to face the reality that there are those within the Church--even within its leadership--who do not truly believe in all the Truths of our Holy Catholic Faith. It is sometimes hard to overcome selfish motives and to submit to true Church teachings, to the will of God above seeming "good ideas," and to the pope. We should all have a healthy fear of hell and desire for Heaven, our true home.

Unbelief in our eternal destiny and egoism is why we are seeing such carnage inflicted on our blessed Diocese instead of a renewed desire to evangelize and to support vocations to the priesthood and religious life!

What does Our Lady want us to do? We should pray the following prayers of reparation that were given in Fatima:

• O God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you.
  

• O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

Our Lady, please continue to intercede for us.

This article is part of a multi-part series and will continue over the next couple weeks.

#1-3, the Theologically Obvious Reasons

1. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19 The biblical commentary that follows the Great Commission is this:

"All power"... See here the warrant and commission of the apostles and their successors, the bishops and pastors of Christ's church. He received from his Father all power in heaven and in earth: and in virtue of this power, he sends them (even as his Father sent him, St. John 20. 21) to teach and disciple, not one, but all nations; and instruct them in all truths: and that he may assist them effectually in the execution of this commission, he promises to be with them, not for three or four hundred years only, but all days, even to the consummation of the world. How then could the Catholic Church ever go astray; having always with her pastors, as is here promised, Christ himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life. St. John 14.

In destroying parishes, which are active communities of the baptized faithful, erected for the permanent* and proper worship of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the priests and bishops that help to suppress them are in effect doing the opposite of what is outlined by Our Lord in the Gospels.

* According to the Council of Trent, consecrated churches "it may never be transferred to common or profane uses." (All parish churches should be solemnly consecrated.)

2. As believers in Christ Crucified, we shall not succumb to the sin of despair, one of the greatest sins against Almighty God. In closing down and consolidating churches, we are in effect saying that there is no hope that souls can be saved in the future, no hope in the promise of evangelization, no hope that the Church will increase. We will have said that God is no longer the supplier of hope to His people! As Bishop Galante famously said, we cannot sit around and wait for a miracle. Well we definitely cannot just sit around. But miracles are What God Does! Miracles are God's Business. If He saves one soul in all the souls He ever created, it is a miracle. If after His Son's gift of the Eucharist (a miracle), His subsequent death and resurrection (The Single Greatest Miracle of All Time), He gave us just one saint, one visitation from His Holy Mother, it would be a miracle. He has given us countless miracles. We must not despair that, with our help and the help of even a few priests on fire for the Lord, the Church cannot grow. The growth of the Church is, in fact, the Promise of God.

3. Instead of catechizing, being true preachers zealous in evangelizing God's Word, they have decided to tuck their tails between their legs and sulk away, citing [inaccurate] demographical data and not the Gospel They've chosen to give up and pack it in. But is that what Christ told us to do. NO! In all three Synoptic Gospels it is written, "And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off even the dust of your feet, for a testimony against them." In other words, keep on going!

Contrast this with what was written in this week's Star Herald. The Star Herald reprinted the CNS article, "Reconfigurations evolve in rapidly changing church." Bishop Lennon, the Merge Master of the Cleveland Diocese and elsewhere, says, "It's not just about downsizing...that's just a partial view of what we are about." Doesn't it make you wonder...has this Bishop Lennon read Christ's words? Our Lord did not say, "Go therefore, and downsize, should the demographic data appear to warrant that."

These articles (scroll down for links) were sent to us by a few people. Quote:

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Regional School in Barrington has closed its doors for good due to low enrollment.

Big surprise...as if Bishop Galante, Roger McGrath, Peter Joyce, and the rest of the Administration didn't predict this kind of thing would happen. People get nervous, confused, and uncertain when things get shaken around this much. And people don't want their kids caught in the thick of it. It's no wonder attendance declined precipitously.

Let's face it. If merged entities close (like churches, for example), that's all the more rationale for building giant, evangelical protestant-style "McChurches." And rather than make Catholic schools what they should be--truly Catholic schools that are affordable and provide quality education--then let's just consolidate, merge, close 'em down. Why not invite in an order of teaching sisters to open or teach at a school? Yes they exist! But does our Diocese want them?

One person who sent us a link said this:

I am shocked and saddened by this news. Practically speaking, a Catholic school cannot run with only 79 students. However, my son graduated from that school and I remember the faith and dedication of the sisters and lay teachers as they taught, in word and deed, not only the 3Rs but the many aspects of our faith. I believe that they were hurt by the huge tuition increase and having the parish face a demotion as a secondary worship site. Many parishioners believe that the church will close soon as well.

Please pray for the people of Barrington. This is a great loss. 

A total aside regarding religious education: I remember being in the car driving to Sunday School, watching our pastor, Msgr. Coyne, walking the not-so-short walk to Holy Spirit High School, where we had CCD classes, after mass on Sundays. He did this at least once a month. We knew that that Sunday he would be checking up on us, popping into the classrooms, asking randomly selected children questions. It was a little scary, but we all loved him anyway. And we knew he cared about us and about our Catholic education. He wasn't trying to consolidate our CCD program or shut down our church, he was trying to grow them! And let me tell you, things weren't necessarily perfect, but that parish did prosper and grew tremendously under his care.

When was the last time you saw a priest do something like that? I do know of a couple, but it's not very common. We need priests and pastors who take a genuine interest in the religious instruction and education of those in their charge not because it's their job as a principal, president, teacher, or what have you, but because they are the shepherds of their flock who would lay down their lives for their sheep. No, it is not necessary that a priest or pastor participate in the CCD program each and every week. But they should show their concern and interest for those in their care, even if that only means a periodic visit, say a pop-in once a month or so.

Anyway, there's an absolutely beautiful statue of Our Lady holding the Infant Jesus that was being transported from the closed school in the Philly.com article. Another person who sent us a link said this:

"This picture is of the statue of Mary being transported from the school in an old van. It really sums up Bishop Galante's reign in the Camden Diocese."

Read CP article by clicking here.

See Philly.com picture with links to 2 pieces by clicking here.

Another article here.

Ant the most comprehensive article is here.

We know that the church closures are not about money. Truly, whatever is lacking could surely be found. (The Diocese owns so much unused real estate and has plenty of money.) And besides, some of the most financially viable churches in the Diocese have been slated for closure. But many persist in believing the closures are about money.

Worse still, there are priests and pastors out there who claim that if a church cannot support itself, it has no right to exist.

(Keep in mind that debt is sometimes incurred due to the necessity of paying assessments to the Diocese and certain amounts to support local Catholic schools, whether or not parishioners actually make use of or can afford tuition at these schools. Barring these two things, most churches do not have any problem paying their utility bills and maintaining their properties. We should also remember that by virtue of threatening certain churches with closure, the bishop has scared off many Catholics from the Faith or their parishes altogether, causing a great deal of confusion, despair, and decreased church attendance, all of which affect collections.)

In any case, what we need to ask ourselves is this: As Christians, should it be the case that those churches who are wealthier deserve to exist, while those who are poorer do not? What kind of an attitude is that? Is it Catholic? Is it even Christian?

In fact, it is neither. Our Lord did not recommend that the poor go out and attempt to become rich, but that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that the treasure of the poor would be great in heaven, and that the Kingdom of God belonged to them, that the heavenly banquet would be theirs!

The burden of coming to the aid of the less fortunate parishes in a Diocese falls upon the wealthier ones. And it is the job of the shepherds--the bishop and priests--to see to it that all the faithful have churches in which to worship. The effort to evangelize, not consolidate, should be in the forefront of all of our minds.

If it is believed that a prior pastor lacked the ability to financially manage his parish, then is it fair that the laity be forced to lose their church as a result? We of course know that this is only an excuse to do something we all know to be wrong, but the point is this: shepherds of  flocks in need should help them find ways to subsist.

Let us not delude ourselves. The role of a true pastor is not to persecute his flock, but to help them grow in Christ. He should be acting as a healer and not a henchman. No priest who plans on closing churches may be construed as a prophet unwelcome in his own country.

Let us look to St. St. John Vianney, one of the most unlikely saints of all. Thought to be a poor student, and having failed his seminary exams, he was finally ordained due only to his piety. He was sent to a teeny tiny French village called Ars:

Two decades after the French Revolution inspired massacres of 300 priests in France, there was a desperate need for priests....In a village of 40 houses, there were 4 taverns. Church attendance was very low, the farmers worked on Sunday, everyone spend their time drinking and swearing. It was a 'punishment parish' and the people laid bets on how long this new priest would last. But the new Cure of Ars surprised them all.

Someone peeked in his window and saw that he prayed all night. Others noticed that he removed all the fine furniture from the rectory and turned the parlour into a woodshed. He gave his clothes away to the poor and ate only two potatoes a day. Others reported that though his voice seemed to hurt their ears, his sermons stirred their hearts. He became part of the village life as well, visiting all the homes, and helping the villagers with their daily lives. He helped a shop owner with his bookkeeping, prescribed remedies for whooping cough, and when a tavern closed for lack of business, raised money for the owner to buy a farm, then tore the tavern down.

Twelve years later, people would say 'Ars is no longer Ars.' Everyone went to the three hour masses. The farmers prayed the rosary as they worked in the fields. When Father Vianney heard confessions, people would stand in line for hours....People travelled for miles and from around the world to make a confession to him. Sinners were converted at a few words from him. By the end of his life, he spend 16 to 18 hours a day in the confessional, and he was mobbed whenever he appeared. He heard 20,000 confessions a year, up to 300 a day.

In a country that had murdered great numbers of its priests, and discouraged the practicing of the Catholic faith John Vianney moved like a bright light, restoring faith and healing hearts....

The heroes of his youth were those priests who refused to submit to the French revolutionary government's nationalization of the Church, and risked martyrdom to celebrate Mass in secret in houses and barns of the faithful. John began to practice mortifications in imitation of these priests and as sacrifice for sinners from an early age.

When he was ordained and sent to Ars, he continued these austerities. He disposed of the fine furniture in the rectory, and used the money to help the poor of the parish. He spend hours in prayer, hours in the confessional and more hours serving the day to day needs of his parishioners.

In the entire village in which St. John Vianney lived, there were only a couple hundred people. Now a parish with 250 families is said not to have a right to exist! Oh how far we have fallen. This saint of saints and priest of priests spared nothing for his flock. What are the priests who should be imitating this great saint doing today? Busy figuring out how to close churches? We hope not. Let us pray that all priests, pastors, and bishops see the Light and heed the commands of Our Lord, to "preach the gospel to the poor."

Just one month ago I was privileged to receive a letter from Bob Nardelli. You know Bob. He's the "Chairman and CEO of Chrysler LLC." There's good news from his end, it turns out. He tells me he's "very pleased to announce that Chrysler LLC has signed an agreement in principle to establish a global strategic alliance with Fiat to create a vibrant new car company." Wow! Vibrant! I know all about that now. Vibrant is good. Peppy. Positive. A breath of fresh air. Pulsating growth. Good joojoos. It should be interesting to see what the new Fryslers look like.

I thought, though, that the letter might be of use to the Diocese in trying to shill their merger packages. So I took it upon myself to revise where necessary. I guess Fryslers may be something like "Catholic family faith communities," now that we're moving away from the term "church." Church is so...churchy. So uncool.

For the past couple years we have worked tirelessly to reach agreement with key parties on concessions that would allow the Diocese to complete its alliances and closures and proceed with its plans without any need for actual transparency. Despite substantial progress on many fronts, largely due to lay complacency and a willingness to believe those in positions of authority, our own continual spinning and bending of information, and the use of heavies, outright political propaganda, and the like, we have been able to receive concessions. As a result, to facilitate these alliances and create new merged entities we will be proceeding with what is typically referred to as "structured" consolidation and closure.

In doing this, we have submitted motions under Section 1234567890ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ in Subsection EENYMEENYMINYMO under Canon Law #1UKMA in order to carry out this plan. With or without the approval or consensus of Catholics within the Diocese, and with or without the guidance of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the scheduled mergers, closures, and consolidations are expected to be completed in an undisclosed time period.

Rest assured that there will not be a moment's interruption in our work to meet the needs of all Catholics in the Church of South Jersey. The new entities will seamlessly transition so as to accommodate all. The new "faith communities," "parish families," and the like--as we will henceforth be calling them--will continue to produce and support quality spirituality over the long term, under the "Catholic," "Christian," "Church of South Jersey," and several other brands.

Some may be wondering if remaining or becoming a Catholic at this time, amidst all this turmoil and confusion, is a wise decision. Beginning today, the Diocese of Camden can look forward to the future with great optimism. In most cases your new local "faith family community" will have programs you will find attractive, including various varieties of coffee products, scones, and in some cases trendy pop spiritual products such as labyrinth walking workshops, Deepak Chopra CDs available to borrow, or even "A Course in Miracles." All products and programs will be well-priced and attractively packaged. Your local worship leader or lay minster would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about today's products--not that old, stodgy and medieval Catholicism--but spiritual products for the modern Catholic, which have the highest quality rankings in the history of our Church.

We are profoundly grateful for the support of the gazillions of Catholics in South Jersey who support our program. We take enormous pride in the contributions we have made to the religion industry, are honored by the trust you have placed with us for the past several years of the Galante Administration. We look forward to continuing to serve you for many years to come.

Again, I thank you for your support and look forward to serving you with outstanding Catholic spiritual products and services from a strong, new, and most importantly a significantly shinier Diocese of Camden. We aim to make vibrancy something you can sink your teeth into! To show our appreciation, we would like to extend the attached coupon incentive that will admit you and any three family members, free of charge, into any of our newly merged "parish community" entities, to any Sunday "liturgical celebration" taking place in the coming 24 months. (Offer expires July 2011.)

Update: Just yesterday Jimmy, Bob's bud, sent me a letter. You'll be happy to know that "Chrysler LLC has successfully emerged from our restructuring as a vibrant new car company called Chrysler Group LLC." It's reassuring to know that the "Church of South Jersey" is in such good company. Who knew that "vibrancy" was something Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was shooting for when He established the Church upon earth? I feel shiner already.