July 3rd is the feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle and so yesterday evening Bishop Salvatore Matano celebrated Mass at the saint’s namesake church in Irondequoit. Father Paul English, C.S.B., concelebrated with His Excellency and Deacon Ed Knauf assisted. In choir were Fathers Morgan Rice, C.S.B., Warren Schmidt, C.S.B., and Joseph Trovato, C.S.B. Father Daniel White served as Master of Ceremonies.
I did not hear an attendance figure, but the church appeared to be at least two-thirds full.
Following is a slide show of about 70 images taken at the Mass.
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Tags: Bishop Matano, Orthodoxy at Work
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Father Frank E. Lioi was also participating. The place was pretty well packed.
I missed that, Bernie. Thanks.
I believe I saw Fr. Peter Van Lieshout serving.
Yes, I saw Father Van Lieshout serving.
The Knights of Columbus Color Corps was there, also. It appears that Bishop Matano likes to have the Knights of Columbus Color Corps with him at every stop. The Knights of Columbus is a terrific Catholic lay fraternal organization. Every man should look into possibly joining.
Also concelebrating were:
Fr. Roman Caly, pastor of St. Stanislaus
Fr. Ralph Fraats, retired; former parochial vicar at St. Thomas
Fr. Joseph Lanzalaco, CSB, Director of Campus Ministry at St. John Fisher, and former parochial vicar at St. Thomas the Apostle
Fr. Frederick Bush, retired pastor from Holy Spirit, also was in attendance.
Thr problem with the Knights is that : Gay marriage ws passed in NYY by 2 votes and those were cast by legislaters who were Knights. The knights refuse to discipline or expell those in leadership who act contrary to the teachings of the Church and this is a form of scandal.
Thanks for sharing your photos, Mike. Looks like it was a wonderful liturgy!
By the numbers…Having ushered at St. Thomas for a number of years, during the collections we always counted those in attendance. At 164 max. capacity per section, times 6, there’s room for 984 people.
If the church were only 2/3 full, that says that 325 more people could have fit in there. Those that I spoke to saw in their sections (North & West) room for perhaps 2 dozen more. That puts the attendance up between 930 – 980. There were also a dozen or more people sitting in the old choir chairs in the South East section where we were.
Colebrook Ave., and Washington Ave. were also filled with cars. We were forced to park back by the dumpster – and we arrived 13 mins. prior to the Mass begining. So a full House of God it was indeed!
Thanks for posting all these nice pictures, Mike. Nice work.
~ Regards, ORDer (in DOR)
Richard- you cannot hold the entire K of C responsible any more than you can hold the entire Catholic Church responsible – these two men were Catholic, after all.
Mouse,
It’s a leadership issue. The leadership is unwilling to discipline its members, and there are plenty of examples in scripture where members of Christ’s Church were taken to task, and the faithful were advised to shun people who did scandalous deeds.
This is an epidemic and the faithful are given a bid dose of scandal. Cannon ( I thibk it’s 450) says people of importance are to be denied The Eucharist if they are publically promoting and doing evil, yet few if any bishop or priest here in America will obey Canon lay. You just need to look at the issue of that priest in DC who denied the Eucharist to a lesbian openly living with another woman. He was disciplined, sent back to Moscow, Russia, and an apology was issued to the lesbian.
Thanks for posting these beautiful pictures of the Mass, Mike! It’s a treat to see the highlights of the liturgy all over again!
Richard Thomas -What you have stated is my concern exactly-if there is tolerance, and even acceptance of openly living a homosexual lifestyle -having sexual relations with someone of the same sex-within the Catholic church, how long will it take for the Bishops in North American to design an official policy for same sex relationships and same sex “blessed unions” to be adopted in Dioceses in the United States so as to not let these people feel left out or discriminated against? Look what’s happened to the Episcopal Church!
Regarding the Knights of Columbus -You are correct regarding some members who do not uphold the formal teachings of the church and they are allowed to continue within the Knights of Columbus. In 1989, I learned firsthand from Ken Maher of his firing from the Catholic Family Center, directly after he was fired, due to actions he took as a private citizen to Protest Abortion and Support Right To Life, in particular, a phone conversation he had with Walter DeRouen, Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus due to the Knights of Columbus’ decision to lease space to Planned Parenthood at their Thurston Road Building. Walter DeRouen, Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus complained to Ken Maher’s superiors, and as a result, Ken was fired from the Catholic Family Center, citing the Knights of Columbus was one of their biggest donors and he could cause a lack of donations due to his activities out side of work. Others resigned from the Catholic Family Center in protest of his firing. Many protested his firing by picketing outside the Catholic Family Center.
(I tipped off the Catholic Courier regarding his firing so they could report the story). There is one story in the Catholic Courier on June 20th, 1989 entitled “firing reveals divisions at agency” which i could not find online. (There are questions raised in this article by some people to whether Catholic Family Center is truly Catholic agency). But I was able to find another story about the firing of Ken Maher, who worked in the Justice and Peace Department of the Catholic Family Center It is listed in the story shown below in two page pdf’.’s:
http://lib.catholiccourier.com/1991-catholic-courier/catholic-courier-1991%20-%200411.pdf
http://lib.catholiccourier.com/1991-catholic-courier/catholic-courier-1991%20-%200490.pdf
Apparently it is alright to be support abortion and further it’s activity and still be in the Knights of Columbus. And it is alright to support same sex relationships and further same sex marriage and still be in the Knights of Columbus.
Christian –
The American bishops can do no such thing apart from the worldwide college of bishops and the Bishop of Rome, with whom they are obliged to stay in communion if they wish to continue to be Catholic. So do not lose sleep over that.
Your Catholic Family Center story is simply not plausible. If you really believe events went down like that, then I have to believe you are missing germane facts.
Finally, I should think these allegations about an individual, the KofC Grand Knight (mentioned by name), not a public figure in our Church, should be redacted, for the purposes of consistently applying the rules of the site, no?
anononymouse-Did you read article written by staff reporter Rob Cullivan on pages 1 and page 14 of the Catholic Courier in pdf -the links I post to? The reporter interviewed parties involved and saw the document of dismissal that was handed to Ken Maher. There was a succession of stories written about the firing, the protests including other co-workers resignation and picketing outside the Catholic Family Center.
Where were you in 1989 when all these news stories appeared in the Catholic Courier regarding the firing of Ken Maher from Catholic Family Center due to a complaint filed by a Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus – due to the phone conversation he had with Ken Maher regarding the decision of the Knights of Columbus to lease their Thurston Road Building to Planned Parenthood?
Are you calling reporters at the Catholic Courier liers? Are you calling all the parties involved and interviewed liers? Are you asking the Catholic Courier to redact all the stories they published after properly researching facts?
Mike-Thanks for posting all those beautiful pictures – a superb job!
Christian, after reading the article, it appears that you’ve made a rather significant error and a rather significant omission in your original post.
It was not the KofC that leased space to Planned Parenthood. It was the 19th Ward Association, of which the KofC was (is?) a member, and the phone call in question between Mr. Maher and the Grand Knight was over whether the KofC would continue or not to be a member of the 19th Ward Association. That’s a rather material fact, don’t you think? I think you owe the KofC an apology.
Further, the article says that “Maher acknowledged that a number of incidents led up to his ultimate termination, including his failure to complete a series of departmental reports on time and a dispute over his pay…” – another material fact that argues rather strongly against the series of events as you’ve presented them.
So I stand by my statement that the events as you presented them were simply not plausible. And, I would continue to argue, if you’re going to besmirch an organization and its council leader (by name), you owe it to them to get the facts straight.
The Knights of Columbus are a fine Catholic men’s organization (I echo Bernie’s comment that they are a “terrific Catholic lay fraternal organization”) that does great good for our Church and our nation, and it is obvious (and quite fitting) that Bishop Matano has a great deal of respect for this organization, as their Fourth Degree Honor Guard appears at every Diocesan event (the recent ordinations, for instance) and were prominent at STA.
Mouse,
Here we go again. It was the votes of 2 Knights that made gay marriage in New York State legal. Now, actions like these need to be adressed. These individuals need to be called out and disciplined. It is a matter of scandal. If this is not done, then Catholics will assume that such conduct is OK. How many hundreds of times have Catholic politicians and people in positions of leadership and influence done this.
That is a BIG reason why Catholics everywhere have , not only a high tolerance for evil, but in many cases, adopted sinful beliefs.
If the Knights fail to correct fellow Knights, then I don’t want to join such a group. What good does it if Catholic opinion is not nourished by reputible leadership. You can do nice things on a local level, but the real issue is the salvation of our souls. And if an organization is deficient in this, or is causing scandal, then that group is to be avoided.
We are on this earth to get to heaven and God help any Catholic or Catholic group that interferes with or makes more dificult our purpose.
annonymouse-1. I have never downed the Knights of Columbus as a whole. *In fact, I have a number of relatives in the Knights of Columbus in various regions of the United States, and they do a lot of charity work as part of the outreach of the Knights of Columbus. One component that I do not agree with in regard to the Knights of Columbus is their clandestine nature -why there is a need for secrets and secrecy; also characteristic of some other fraternal organizations. I think if you’re above board, you have nothing to hide. Secrets and secrecy that are intended for an esoteric nature for these type organizations tend to convey a sense of exclusivity. There is such a strong bond among members of these type fraternal organizations, they will support another brother regardless of what wrong they have done, and they in no way will “turn against a brother” by reporting him or testifying against him.
The concept of a bond of secrecy can become destructive in itself. While completely different in nature, the P2 Lodge had secrecy within its organization and look how that posed a problem.
2. A minority of members that do not go along with church teachings does not reflect the whole of an organization or make that organization bad, but there should be some oversight over members’ activities with regard to how they publicly conduct their Christian witness. As with any type church-related organization, you have a lot of personalities and a variety of motives behind why an individual member joined. (I know of one (non-relative) Knight of Columbus outside the area, who is not adequately educated in the Catholic Christian faith, but joined for the camaraderie and conventions. My relatives are not concerned with rank, but with doing the charitable works associated with the Knights of Columbus).
3. I take your criticism regarding mentioning the Grand Knight by name in my post, as I should have just posted the links and let readers find out for themselves. In my opinion, once a person goes public over a private matter, and purposely uses their rank and affiliated organization to exert influence and authority in reporting a dissatisfying personal encounter with an individual to their superiors at their workplace, additionally creating duress over a potential lack of funding to bring about a desired outcome, they make themselves a public figure.
4. How appropriate is it to contact an associate’s workplace and place a formal complaint with their superiors over a personal conflict you have had with them, and use the name of an organization that you are affiliated with and your rank, and the weightiness of your organization’s funding to bring about disciplinary action? (I have never done such an action, have you?) It comes across as retaliatory, petty, and childish.
“Maher acknowledged that a number of incidents led up to his ultimate termination, including his failure to complete a series of departmental reports on time and a dispute over his pay with diocesan social ministry. He adamantly maintained, however, that it was his vocal pro-life activity that eventually cost him his job.” Others at Catholic Family Center, including at least one person who stated they were not a fan of his, agreed he was fired due to his vocal pro-life activity and the Catholic Family Center’s fear of losing funding. Ken Maher’s dismissal letter reads in part “Your precipitous actions have jeopardized this and other relationships with outside parties and community groups.” The crux of the argument to dismiss him and the immediate decision to terminate him without delay was based on a fear of funds being withdrawn by the Knights of Columbus, and any future group that Ken managed to upset over his vocal pro-life activity outside of work.
5. I stand corrected regarding the rental arrangements. The Knights of Columbus voted to remain a member of the 19th Ward Association after that association had decided to rent one of its properties to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a mixed bag. They provide Rape Crisis- medical care and counseling for victims of rape, and they also provide gynecological exams and pre-natal care, BUT they also dispense birth control to anyone, regardless of age, so they can engage, in most cases, in promiscuous sexual activity. And WORST OF ALL, they perform ABORTIONS. The innocent, unborn are brutally killed without being given a chance for life, so another is not inconvenienced, shamed, or put through the self-sacrificing, uncomfortable, physical and emotional demands of pregnancy and the pain associated with labor (and/or surgery) to give birth. The unborn are not the only victims. The mothers of these fetuses are not given the crucial information as to how their baby looks in their uterus and how they move about and perceive. They also are not informed of the physical and emotional long-term outcomes following an abortion.
And the mothers of these fetuses which are aborted receive no follow-up care. There is the risk that they could hemorrhage to death or die from infection. Due to the controversial nature and secrecy associated with abortion, yet the accessibility of services regardless of age and the legally imposed confidentially, women-mothers could hemorrhage to death or die from infection, without parents and significant others being aware of the situation.
One has to wonder why the Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus was so upset over the disclosure of their vote to remain in the 19th Ward Association after the 19th Ward Association was planning to lease a building to Planned Parenthood. The news would have come out anyway after they renewed their membership and interested parties put two and two together. *Planned Parenthood did come into the 19th Ward years back, and I was invited to join the protest at its opening, and I did.
annonymouse- Once again , I encounter your disparaging remarks to others on Cleansing Fire who are making a valid point. They are speaking the truth or citing a news story from the past which was well covered by The Catholic Courier as well as other newspapers. The issues that these two make has been public knowledge for a number of years. Where have you been , that you don’t know any of this ? You are on the attack with Richard Thomas and christian regarding their disclosure of more than public statements and events regarding 1. the unjust firing of Mr. Maher by The Catholic Family Center and 2. the lack of censure or discipline by The Knights of Columbus of it’s members whose public decisions or conduct run contrary to The Catholic Church or Catholic teaching. It is especially important to note that both Richard Thomas and christian are citing not only examples of violations of Catholic teaching and doctrine but severe trespasses in Christian morality and Christian conduct.
I find it objectionable that you counter them on their criticism of very public actions of members of the Knights of Columbus who are suppose to uphold Catholic teaching and Catholic values. If these very public actions by Catholics who identify themselves as members of The Knights of Columbus aren’t censured than the group has has lost it’s standing in the community as a Catholic Fraternal Organization of integrity and becomes nothing more than an ” old boy’s club “.
What you are proposing is nothing short of secrecy which is morally wrong and not part of true Catholic teaching and Christian conduct. If you bother to read The Gospels, the letters of St. Paul , the writings of St. Augustine and The Early Church Fathers , being a Christian puts one in the public sphere as a ” city set on a hill”. Early converts to Christianity were forced to lose their professions that were involved with the pagan culture of their day. Many Christians have lost their lives by their confession of Christian faith and being unwilling to compromise. There are still Christians in this world who sit in prisons and are regularly martyred for their allegiance to Christ.
Confidentiality protects innocent victims while secrecy protects the deeds of the guilty from coming to light. While you waste your time attacking and criticizing other Christian churches that aren’t Roman Catholic over ” pure theology of the Eucharist as it is in the Roman Catholic Church ” the Coptic, the Eastern Churches or the Orthodox Church, etc. you overlook greater issues of Christian conduct , Christian character and public declarations by those who are supposed to represent the teachings of Christ and His Church to the world.
True faith – read Christian’s post, my response, and then read the article. As I pointed out, Christian has been burdened for 25 years! unerd the misconception that the Knights rented space to Planned Parenthood. A rather significant mistake, if you ask me. Further, he has been biases by his friendship with one of the parties, ignoring facts to which Mr. Maher admitted. Another significant omission. Now if he omits facts and believes things that are erroneous, all in an effort to besmirch the reputation of a fine, thoroughly Catholic fraternal organization, WHY exactly are you attacking ME? I stand by my statement – Christian owes the entire KofC an apology.
Richard Thomas – canon law provides discipline that bishops may employ for politicians who egregiously violate Church teaching; I highly doubt that the KofC has such a responsibility to discipline its membership. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree, and needlessly besmirching the KofC here as well.
Folks, prayers have been answered in Bishop Matano’s appointment. Resist now the urge to devour our own. Is it simply boredom or some primal urge that prompts you to prey on the good reputation of the KofC?
But Mouse,
The bishops never discipline anyone concerning, I think it is cannon 450, the public criticism of high ranking Catholic public figures that act contrary to church teaching.
O really. Then, according to your idea, the Knights, or any other Catholic lay orginazation can support an anything goes philosophy concerning conduct and expousing belief. But then, if there is an organization that calls itself Catholic, then it is BOUND to uphold the teachings of the faith especially when involving its members. Any secular organization can be a “good ol boys and girls club, with fraternity and performing good social deeds but when you take on the name “Catholic” then you have a special responsibility to uphold Catholic teaching and to avoid scandal. You may not like that but it’s part of the job! St. Paul’s concept of criticism is valid, even today. It’s unfortunate few adhere to that principle.
annonymouse- You are the one who has not read comments of my post and answered the question if you -would call someone’s workplace of which you had a personal and private conflict with, and use your affiliation with a particular group that happens to donate money to their cause and existence, additionally using your rank to exert prestige and authority, to file a complaint with their superiors?
I do not consider the actions of that Grand Master of a Christian nature. The higher you become in an organization or hierarchy, the more you must humble yourself. Those in higher office are suppose to set an example for those below them. I feel sorry if that is the only example of leadership some Knights received.
The Knights of Columbus should censure its members who have obviously violated church teaching. The Knights of Columbus are supposed to defend the Church with their life. I hope all of the Knights understand what that means. {I once had a sword drawn on me when I showed up late for mass at a special event. It hit me strangely to be treated in this manner like I was an enemy of the Church of Christ. My pastor at the time was very displeased at that gesture and thought it was over the top}. To me, defending the Church with your life is being able to take the hard road in standing up for the moral teachings of the Catholic Church regardless of what others may think or what the consequences might be.
I would think members of the Knights of Columbus would have a problem with anyone who would purposely vote in favor or further the cause of any policies or conditions that are against the Catholic Church.
Christian – with all due respect, I’ve got no dog in this fight. You are admittedly a friend of Mr. Maher. That friendship is preventing you from looking at the situation rationally. You have been laboring under a serious misconception (that the KofC leased space to Planned Parenthood) for 25 years! Neither you nor I was a party to any of the goings on among Mr. Maher, the KofC Grand Knight (not Grand Master), and the Catholic Family Center. So neither you nor I knows what happened. You ignore the article’s quotes of three different CFC representatives as to why Mr. Maher’s employment was terminated. You do not know what Mr. Maher said on that call, whether it was fitting for a representative of the CFC to say such things (and you do not know if “private citizen” Maher identified himself as a CFC representative or not). What we have is the termination of employment of a CFC employee, possibly in part due to the influence of a single person (the KofC Grand Knight) and you wish to besmirch a worldwide fraternal organization of over 1.8 million men over it. That is not rational.
My advice – let it go! 25 years is a long time! And why bring this up now, in a post that CELEBRATES our new bishop and his fondness of the KofC? Let it go!
To your second point, every one of us violates Church teaching every time we sin. So censure us all. It is up to the Church’s shepherds to discipline Catholics who publicly persist in grave sin, and that is well provided for in canon law. The KofC is (I presume) under no such obligation.
You and Richard Thomas are bending over backwards to stain the sterling reputation of this fine CATHOLIC fraternal organization. I have no more to say, because I suspect you and Richard will persist in your unfounded disdain.
The Vatican issued a strong document addressing the issue of the legalization of same-sex unions. The link is below. Hopefully, individual bishops have spoken, at least in the internal form, to those legislators who are considered to have committed a grave sin. This was done with the Catholic governor Hugh Carey many years ago because of his adhering to his party’s policy of supporting the legalization of abortion. Later in life, he changed to a pro-life position and publicly acknowledged the discipline and said that he was thankful for it. Perhaps if the bishops had reiterated Church teaching more consistently and emphatically, the yea votes would have not cast by those Catholic legislators. Catholic kings in Belgium and Spain have signed bills legalizing same-sex marriage with no apparent repercussions except, perhaps, in the internal forum.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20030731_homosexual-unions_en.html
Mouse,
I am staining the reputuation of any organization. But if it fails to uphhold the teachings of the Church and police its members, then all the good it does is tainted because of the scandal it produces.
I am not denying the Knights do a lot of good work. And their presence at mass is very edifying, especially in their uniforms. But when such an organization allows scandal, and does nothing to correct the problem, it takes away from the good it does.
You can’t do good and yet at the same time allow a tremendous evil to exist in your organization.
It’s all about the salvation of souls.
Mother Angelica once said she would rather blow up EWTN rather than allow it to be used to promote heresy and evil.
Thank you, Gaudium. I presume that we can all agree with your post.
We are in dire need of strong, courageous Catholic bishops to provide discipline to Catholic lawmakers, in the interest of caring for their souls, for their spiritual welfare. And to provide clear, consistent and emphatic teaching from the pulpit.
With all due respect and a little LOL…what have all of these K of C posts have to do with Bishop Matano’s celebration of the Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle on July 3rd? Maybe these discussions are best posted at another forum. Talk about getting off topic! The Mass was beautiful, and I sure hope that Bishop Matano sees St. Thomas Church for what it’s worth…a very large and beautiful structure that should be rescued from the chopping block!
Jim, this post has been hijacked. Let’s end this discussion here and return to the original topic.
I was very happy that St. Thomas the Apostle Church was used for mass, and it was very fitting and a special blessing that the mass of St. Thomas the Apostle was celebrated in St. Thomas the Apostle Church. And it was a special blessing to have that saint’s feast day at their namesake church celebrated by our new bishop, Bishop Salvatore Matano.
The Apostles’ sacrifices in order to spread the Word Of God and Build Up the Church of Christ is not mentioned that often, so this mass was a great honor to Jesus Christ and His Apostle St. Thomas. It would be edifying and also a special honor to celebrate all the Apostles’ Feast Days in a special way. And we shouldn’t forget St. John the Baptist.
I think celebrating a saint’s feast day at their namesake parish in a special manner has tended to “level off” in years past. There may be a number of reasons responsible for this, including, but not limited to, the merging of multiple parishes and name changes of the new cluster. Even if there are merged parishes, I think it would be advantageous to celebrate the particular saints’ feast days of that clustered parish. It is a fitting way to honor those saints and it would be a great opportunity to educate parishioners on the lives of the saints, particularly young people. It would be cause for great celebration and it would encourage people in their daily walk of faith.
I know St. Joseph’s Feast Day is not a holy day of obligation in the United States, but it would be a great honor to Jesus Christ and St. Joseph, to celebrate the feast of the foster father, protector, and teacher of our Lord and the chaste spouse and protector of St. Mary in our local churches. So often, St. Joseph is forgotten, yet he is the Patron of the Universal Church. Pope Francis chose the Feast of St. Joseph to be installed as Pope and gave quite a profound homily of this saint and protector of the Holy Family at his installation mass. On May 1st, 2013, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the decree was promulgated to insert the name of St. Joseph in Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. (St. Joseph had been already included in Eucharistic Prayer I by November 13th, 1962 by Blessed Pope John XXIII). The insertion of the name of St. Joseph to Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV was made public on Tuesday, June 18th, 2013. It was noted that Pope Benedict XVI supported this insertion as well as Pope Francis. One source actually stated that Pope Benedict XVI had initiated the change and Pope Francis confirmed the change.
So in closing, it was wonderful to have the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle celebrated on his feast day, in St. Thomas the Apostle Church, celebrated by the new bishop of Rochester, Bishop Salvatore Matano. And I hope will have more such occasions.
Thanks, Monk. You are right about the hijacking. Thank you too, Christian for your thoughts on having the Church’s celebrating their Patronal Feast Days. Since the IPPG combined the Irondequoit parishes into the “St. Kateri Cluster”, the individual Churches have lost their original identities. There was a St. Margaret Mary, and a St. Cecelia, and a St. Salome, and a St. Thomas the Apostle, and the Celebration of Christ as the King of Heaven and earth. To merge all of these parishes under one umbrella name, is both confusing, and is contributing to a lose of the memory of those original parishes. They were built by the original founders of the churches, whose blood, sweat and money made the parishes into the church communities that they were supposed to be! I’m glad that Bishop Matano is going to celebrate the Patronal Feast Days in all of the churches that form the cluster.
Oh, this is news to me. I didn’t hear Bp. Matano say he was going to celebrate the Patronal Feast Days in all the other churches which form St. Kateri. Did he actually say that?
It would be great if Bishop Matano does that-celebrates the Patronal Feast Days of all the churches that form that cluster. I know that he can’t be at all the churches in all the clusters of Rochester during a 6 month or one year period, but I hope he strongly encourages celebration of Patronal Feast Days of incorporated churches into a cluster.
It would be a holy, educational, and joyful undertaking by celebrating these feast days with mass, education in the homilies, and dinners/receptions afterwards.
I think “that connect” with our Catholic heritage is sorely missing nowadays – a chance for special celebration of a Patronal Feast Day. There are a lot of social justice programs and charitable outreaches to our neighborhoods and communities within our churches, which is very good, but we have lost our sense of identity and source of nourishment if we don’t take time out to have a celebration as a parish and a cluster, of our Catholic customs and heritage, namely Patronal Feast Days in a joyous manner.
Blessed be God. Blessed be His Holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart. Blessed be His Most Precious Blood. Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy. Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her Glorious Assumption. Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother. Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.
Pope Francis made statements near his installation regarding the importance of Faith, the Love of Christ, and the Eucharist, in our ministry and warned the Catholic Church to not become “a compassionate NGO.” “The Catholic Church is not a shop, a humanitarian agency, an NGO.” “The proclamation of the Gospel must follow the path of poverty. The testimony of this poverty: I have no wealth, my wealth is the gift I received, God: this gratuity is our wealth! And this poverty saves us from becoming managers, entrepreneurs,” – Pope Francis.
I think Pope Francis would be pleased to know the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle was held on his Feast Day in his namesake church and such a Beautiful Mass and Glorious Celebration was observed by Bishop Matano, priests, deacons, acolytes, servers, Knights of Columbus, religious, and lay faithful.
If this post ws hijacked, then I am partially responsible. But my intentions were not for that purpose. They were merely a response to a statement and from there it took off.
On the other hand, there has not been much activity on this site lately and at least, there was a lot more participation than what has been recently happening.
I am very happy that Bishop Matano celebrated Mass at St. Thomas. It’s yet another encouraging thing he has done. I can only imagine he uses the Knights in the spirit of who they are SUPPOSED to be, what they are SUPPOSED to represent.
I am glad that Richard Thomas tells us here the truth about failure of the leadership of Knights of Columbus to correct its own. Its a scandal and it should be pointed out.
If the argument that ensued on the Knights here in the Comment Section seems like a long “hijacking”, that’s because one of the parties in this argument was deliberately misleading us. Then necessary corrections and clarification ensue, leading to a wall of text that many do not read. Some of those will assume its a silly argument or that both parties must have equal points.
I just want to say the points are not equal, nor are the parties in the argument equal. See this:
Annonymouse presents as evidence for her case a quote by Maher from the Courier. Here it is:
“Maher acknowledged that a number of incidents led up to his ultimate termination, including his failure to complete a series of departmental reports on time and a dispute over his pay…”
The quote is cut off, so, it must not be important? But annonymouse lets us know what we are supposed to glean from this quote. She tells us that this quote “argues rather strongly against the series of events as [Richard Thomas] presented them.”
But Thomas gives us the rest of the quote:
“Maher acknowledged that a number of incidents led up to his ultimate termination, including his failure to complete a series of departmental reports on time and a dispute over his pay…
[This is where anonymouse cuts it off!]
… with diocesan social ministry. He adamantly maintained, however, that it was his vocal pro-life activity that eventually cost him his job.”
Wow.
That looks like a deliberately aborted quote. Pretty underhanded, annonymouse. What IS at the root of your bias, anyway?
Eliza 10- I doubt you will get an answer from annonymouse as she has deliberately eluded a direct question asked twice, previously in this post. I suspect she has a direct link to the source in question.
Also, I was the one who quoted the rest of the quote which had been abridged by annonymouse. Richard Thomas’ concern is justified.
Not wanting to deviate from the subject of this post – I will only conclude that from this day forward, if anyone has any complaint regarding activity on the part of a Knight of Columbus from the Diocese of Rochester, which they deem not inline with moral and ethical behavior of the Catholic Church, make your report directly to Bishop Salvatore Matano, 1150 Buffalo Road, Rochester, New York 14624. Ph:(585) 328-3210. Since Bishop Matano has taken such an interest in the Knights of Columbus, we should allow him to censure individual members when necessary.
As far as the subject of the post: I look forward to celebrating more Patronal Feast Days in the Diocese of Rochester.
As far as
The only disappointment I had was that we didn’t get to receive Communion at the altar rails.
militia-And there are such accommodating altar rails at St. Thomas the Apostle Church – padded and encompassing the sanctuary/altar area. Perhaps Bishop Matano might facilitate Communion being given at the altar rail at such masses in the future -or-the Faithful might request a Mass in the Extraordinary Form to be said at St.Thomas the Apostle Church.
St. Thomas the Apostle Church is such a beautiful, inspiring church building -it is a shame that has fallen into regular disuse -But it is a blessing that it was not sold and it has continued in use for special occasions. I have to commend all those involved with fighting to keep that church from being sold. I hope their efforts prevail with the arrival of Bishop Matano. (I still think it is INTERESTING the choices of churches that were picked [ahead of time] to close by Buffalo Road; orchestrated by a carefully led process among laity). May St. Thomas the Apostle Church continue!
My understanding is that Canon Law permits complaints (petitions) to be made even well after the offending event. It is not like the statute of limitations in civil law. As long as damage continues to be done by the act of the offender, it is still on-going. Since, for example, Alesi’s vote for same-sex marriage continues to damage the common good and our Church and its reputation, causing scandal, it is not wrong to ask the Bishop to review the case. I think this could be resolved (and taken off Cleansing Fire) by sending all the available information to the Bishop, and simply asking him to review it and to take appropriate action. I trust Bishop Matano to do just that. We are all still getting used to how to behave when we have a righteous bishop whom we trust. Heads up!
@ militia…yes I did hear that the Bishop is suppossed to celebrate Masses in the churches on the Patronal Feast Days in the cluster. I also agree that I wish we were able to use the Communion rail that night.
Re K of C secrecy: Much ado about nothing. Don’t believe me? Join the Knights and see. If there is something devious going on you are not bound by the oath of secrecy. You’ll feel a little bit silly ever worrying about it.
Speaking of His Excellency’s visiting parishes for their patronal feast days, I see that Bishop Matano will be at Saint Anne’s for theirs on Saturday at 4 pm.
Isn’t this the lair of Nancy DeRycke herself? Should be interesting…