Feast of the Holy Archangels

Saint Michael being one of them, and the my patron as well as my son's.

End of an Era 2

I used to work for Fr. Skehan, liked him a lot and I think he was well loved by his parishioners. Having said that this latest news is not a shock, and I think if similar accounting and audits were done others would find themselves in the same kind of hot water he finds himself in...I also think if he gets a good lawyer he will be able to beat this charge...because quite frankly people often say..."this money is for you Father, do with it what you want"...now they may mean one thing when they say that, but you could certianly take it at face value--an old time pastors did run their parishes like a little kingdom.

Police: Former Delray priests stole $8.6M from church

End of an Era

Saint Meinrad alum will remember the Shady Inn, for many it was something to be passed by in a hurry, but for others it was a frequent haunt--I was one of the "others." From its shoot the duck game on the wall, to the local workers at the book plant that hung out there after work it provided a dose of "reality" to some. The night Lenny, the owner pulled out his shot gun and shot a round for the roof to run off someone barred from the joint is ingrained in my memory forever.
Now it is gone--tore down for the television show Extreme Makeover--so a lot of people will get to see its demise, where only a few ever enjoyed its respite.

From the Saint Meinrad Alumni Newsletter:

One of the first projects Monday night was to tear down The Shady Inn,
which has sat unused for several years, to provide a larger building site. Many
alumni will remember this "hangout," which was located across the street from
the post office.

Once when taking a friend there on our way to Chicago, the owner's wife was heard to say to a patron (about ten times while we were there) "They don't call it 'shady' for nothing."

Catholic Author and Soon to be Married Catholic Priest

Dwight Longenecker's blog I worked with Dwight on several of his early books (all excellent spiritual reading by the way) while he was still living in England. Then I put him in touch with a bishop friend of mine who will likely ordain him in the coming year(as soon as they receive final approval from the Vatican). Here are the books:

Pope on Saint Thomas the Apostle

From the Vatican:

The Pope explained that Thomas's personality is characterized by "his determination in following the Master" and gave as an example the Apostle's exhortation to his companions to accompany Jesus to Jerusalem, even knowing the dangers involved. This determination "reveals total availability in adhering to Jesus, to the point of identifying one's fate with His (...) Christian life is defined as a life with Jesus Christ, a life to be lived with Him".
Thomas also intervenes in the Last Supper when he asks Christ which is the way, because they do not know it, and Jesus responds "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life". The Holy Father said, "Every time we hear or read these words, we feel that our thoughts side with Thomas and imagine that the Lord speaks to us as He did to him. At the same time, the question also confers us the right, so to speak, to ask Jesus for explanations. This way we express the shallowness of our ability to understand, at the same time we set ourselves in an attitude of trust, like those who await the light and strength from the one able to give this to us".
The most well-known scene is the one when Thomas is doubtful, when the Apostle says to the Risen Jesus that he cannot recognize Him until he places his hand in the wound in His side. "In the end, these words demonstrate the conviction that by now Christ is recognized not as much by His face but by His wounds. Thomas believes that the qualifying signs of Jesus are above all, now, the wounds, which reveal to what point He loved us. As to this, the Apostle is correct".
Benedict XVI said: "The case of the Apostle Thomas is important for us for at least three reasons: first, because it comforts our insecurities; second, because it shows us that each doubt can achieve an enlightened result beyond any incertitude; and, finally, because the words said to him by Jesus remind us of the true meaning of mature faith and encourage us to follow, despite the difficulties, our path in adhering to Him".

Review of Hunting for God...Fishing for the Lord

From the St. Louis Review:

The priest’s talent for storytelling comes through when he describes an
overnight fishing and camping expedition in March on a Mississippi island with a
friend and the friend’s father when the boys were high school freshmen. They
were awakened by an unexpected storm that turned from rain to sleet to snow. The
storm forced them to make their way off the island, paddling their boat with
two-by-fours after the engine wouldn’t start and they had lost an oar.

While that story was a bit harrowing, other times in the book he simply
tells of the solitude of nature. "I see the outdoors as a catalyst for getting
into the nuts and bolts" of spirituality, he said.

Review of Masonry Unmasked

From Spero News:

And so we are at this time when bishops accept awards from Masons and Catholic facilities are rented to them and Masonic emblems are on cars in church parking lots and few realize what occurs in this organization that some believe is similar to the Elks or Moose Lodge or even the Knights of Columbus when in fact it goes beyond that into the realm of dark mystery.

Such is brought into sharp focus by a powerful new book, Masonry Unmasked, by John Salza, a book worth mentioning not only because it is well-written and extremely informative -- a book that, without histrionics, or overwrought conspiracies, tells you everything you need to know about the Masons, their structures, and their beliefs -- but also because Salza, a lawyer, is a Catholic and also a former Mason himself.

Recommended? Highly. "An insider reveals the secrets of the lodge" says the subtitle, and indeed he is the first Catholic known to write a major book after leaving the secret organization.