"Making All Things New," Advent and Closing Churches

As I live my life, the closing of Our Lady of Vilnius simmers on the back burner like an unsolved crime.  Not a whodunnit, a whydunnit.  Today these thoughts were brought to a rolling boil by reading a review of cabaret artist Baby Jane Dexter's performance, Review: Baby Jane Dexter is Back With a Vengeance and Pungent Wit.  Here's the trigger, delivered by critic Stephen Holden:

"The show’s spiritual subtext intensified with a revelatory treatment of the Young Rascals’ 1967 hit “How Can I Be Sure,” which she interpreted as a dialogue about faith and doubt. It could as easily have been about God as about a lover, and the evocation of “a world that’s constantly changing” rang truer than ever. Mr. Patterson’s piano arrangement illustrated the musical sophistication of a song that might be a potential standard hiding in plain view."

How can we be sure in a world that is constantly changing?  Soon it will be Christmas and our greatest gift, the incarnation of our God, will be delivered.  As we wonder at the Word Made Flesh, our churches, the incarnation of our communities and love of God, are being sold.  We are supposed to be distracted and consoled by the thematic "Making All Things New."

Our churches are our enduring and still evangelists, drawing the passing eye with their character and beauty.  Does our archdiocese really need to make all things new by selling churches to developers? This process rolls on in tandem with the insults and losses inflicted on us by the values railed against by Pope Francis.  

The song referenced above is not yet available on YouTube, but we can all appreciate Baby Jane's rendition of "Everybody Hurts" as we move into the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Mercy now. Don't wait until December 8th.

Today in the Cathedral of Bangui Pope Francis opened the Holy Door for the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  The Year of Mercy is set to begin officially on December 8th, but why wait.

Hit it, Mary...

Today the Archdiocese of New York Celebrates the Feast of Small Business Saturday

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming

Thanksgiving Greeting from Archdiocese of NY: Join Us in Prayer and Visit Our Online Store!

On Wednesday I received an e-mail from the Archdiocese of New York with the subject header "Happy Thanksgiving & Pope Francis Gifts"   Table of contents for this item:

1. Gratitude quote from St. Augustine
2. Happy Thanksgiving
3. Showcasing of good works by Catholic Charities
4. Thanksgiving Prayer
5. Papal Gift Store Pitch
6. Special Small Business Saturday Offer:  Free gift bag!  Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping?

I'm not going to deconstruct this because it would be both tedious and upsetting, but I did rail against it in the semi-privacy of my living room.  When I did, my guest, who had recently seen Spotlight, peered over his newspaper and said, "I can understand why they are doing this.  They need a lot of money after this pedophilia business."

Why can't I be as complacent about this as my fellow ovines?

Happy Thanksgiving, Grant Gallicho

Now that Grant is no longer at dotCommonweal, somebody had to do it!

Spotlight on the Vatican?

Alas, no, but Nuzzi and Fittipaldi are under scrutiny for acquisition of leaked documents.

Reportage by New York Times:
November 13th - Elisabetta Povoledo titled "Vatican Investigates 2 Journalists Over Leaked Documents." 

November 24th - Elisabetta Povoledo, "Vatican trial Begins Over Leaked Documents".


Paul Moses' November 22 post at dotCommonweal, "The Vatican Indictment and Press Freedom" shares a journalist's view and is followed by a still growing forum of comments from the dotCommonweal readership.

"Spotlight" on New York?

As Spotlight opened in New York, The Daily News published Marci Hamilton's piece,  "Let victims pursue their abusers: New York's outdated statute of limitations badly needs fixing," where she states her opinion that little of the truth re bishops' cover up has surfaced.

 Four days later, The Daily News published Edward T. Mechmann's (Director of Safe Environment, Archdiocese of New York) rebuttal.

Fact checkers and mental reservation experts, welcome!

Spotlight

Last Saturday we saw "Spotlight" at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville.  The first showings offered had sold out, but we were lucky enough to get tickets for the 2:15 show, and we were glad we did.

While I didn't learn anything I didn't know, it was gratifying to see this material receive national exposure before a broader audience.  It was also a well-deserved tribute to the integrity, fortitude and resourcefulness of investigative journalists.

Dominic Preziosi's post at dotCommonweal, "The Necessary Ordinariness of 'Spotlight'" presents his experience of the film and is followed by the usual dotCommonweal forum of lively opinions, most from Catholics and many from journalists.

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Vilnius

Feast of Our Lady of Vilnius, November 2006

Our counterparts sing "Marija, Marija" at Ausros Vartu Parapija of Montreal, Canada, 2011

Paris, we're with you.

In Remembrance: Feast of St. Stanislaus Kostka, November 13

WORDS FOR THE PARISH OF ST. STANISLAUS KOSTKA
ON THE OCCASION OF ITS NINETIETH ANNIVERSARY 

I awake to the sound of water rushing north,
Past my window, as the moon, tiding in the bay,
Pulls the Hudson and pushes barges carrying wheat.
I see a sea gull diving for a frightened fish.
Down below, in the garden, a scent of lilac
Draws me. Forsythias yellow the humid air.
I watch the skywriting of Monarch butterflies.
I hear the glad ringing of the church’s bells.
For it it is spring, at last, a time of the land’s Easter,
A resurrection, the egg breaking its shell.
The black Madonna, the mother of watchful God,
Broods no longer; she knows her son has risen.
Ninety years ago, on these verdant hills,
A group of earnest Polish immigrants
Erected a church and parish, honoring
A Polish saint, a man of solemn piety,
Who loved both God and his great creation, man—
St. Stanislaus. The congregation grew
Through generations of war and prosperity,
Births, weddings, holidays, and funerals,
Encompassing in dramatic communion
All the folk of Hastings, of America,
Under the shepherding of learned priests,
From Dworzak to Daszkiewicz
And Pinto to Wenceslaus.
The bells are ringing, the children are singing, life
Is basking in the splendor that is spring,
The promise of return that the millenniums bring. 

-Stephen Stepanchev

Note: Stephen Stepanchev is Professor of English emeritus from Queens College. He is a former poet laureate of the Borough of Queens and a Hastings-on-Hudson resident. Though Serbian Orthodox, he attended St. Stanislaus Kostka in Hastings-on-Hudson regularly enjoying the liturgy and good fellowship of the Poles and honorary Poles of the parish.

Making All Thing$ (Reve)nue

570 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013

10013 is #5 on Forbes List of America's Most Expensive Zip Codes

Making all Thing$ (Reve)Nue

The Sunday NY Times Real Estate Section ran a piece titled "Luxury Condos in a Former NoLIta Orphanage"  

Salient quote:

" last year the Archdiocese of New York sold it for $30.7 million to Time Equities and Hamlin Ventures. Last month, sales began for the Residences at Prince, a seven-unit condo at 34 Prince Street to be completed next fall. Sales for the two townhouses, also part of the development, have not yet started."

The former Old St. Patrick's Cathedral School at 32 Prince Street resides in the 10012 zip code, #4 on Forbes List of America's Most Expensive Zip Codes.

According to the article selling price for the condos will start at $7.74 million.  

Velines For All the Saints From Whom Their Labor Rest

We unite in prayer with and for those from our scattered flock that have gone home to God