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 Census Shows Need For More LearningNOVEMBER 12, 2009 | Included in this edition of the Florida Catholic are the findings of a census of black Catholics that was taken in the Archdiocese of Miami last year. The census revealed some interesting information about the people who self-identify as black Catholics in south Florida and what they need or want to receive from the Church. • • • New Bishop And More ‘Good News’NOVEMBER 4, 2009 | Delivering “good news” is what the Church is all about. Therefore it is doubly good timing that in this first edition of our weekly newsletter, I get to congratulate Bishop-elect Fernando Isern on his appointment as bishop of the Diocese of Pueblo, Colo. • • • More news coming your wayOCTOBER 23, 2009 | The Florida Catholic you have come to know is changing its format, at least in Miami. At the end of this month, the Archdiocese of Miami will no longer be part of the statewide publication that is currently mailed to your home every other week. • • • Believe it: After death, comes resurrectionOCTOBER 9, 2009 | I attended a magnificent event last Wednesday: a joyous procession through the streets of Wilton Manors, from Divine Mercy Haitian Mission to St. Clement Parish. It featured flatbed trucks adorned with Haitian flags and colorfully dressed parishioners bearing some very special treasures: a larger-than-life painting of Jesus’ Divine Mercy, a statue of St. Michael the Archangel, and the mission’s weighty tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament inside. Music accompanied the procession all along the two-mile route. • • • Debate health care reform, but keep it civilSEPTEMBER 25, 2009 | The proposed health care reforms currently being considered in Congress have raised the ire of many people, who have protested loudly at town hall meetings and marched on the streets of our nation’s capital. • • • What we believe about the ChurchSEPTEMBER 11, 2009 | The final section of the Nicene Creed deals with the Church and life after death. In the Nicene Creed, we say: “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” • • • What we believe about the Holy SpiritAUGUST 28, 2009 | The third section of the Nicene Creed deals with the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. We say: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.” • • • From me to you, my brother priestsAUGUST 20, 2009 | On the occasion of the Year for Priests, Archbishop John Favalora exhorts his brother priests to recall the moment of grace when God first called them, renew their priesthood during this ‘year of grace’ • • • A mis hermanos sacerdotes20 DE AGOSTO DE 2009 | En este Año Sacerdotal les pide recuerden el momento cuando Dios los llamó al sacerdocio, y a renovar ese sacerdocio durante este ‘tiempo de gracia especial’ • • • What we believe about JesusAUGUST 14, 2009 | “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through him all things were made.” That is the second part of the Nicene Creed. Here is its equivalent in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.” • • • What we believeJULY 17, 2009 | We repeat it every Sunday at Mass. We call it the creed or profession of faith, and it dates back to the apostles. The problem is we say it by rote every Sunday, so we probably don’t stop to think very much about what we are saying — and in doing so, we don’t stop to think very much about what we believe, either. • • • Wants versus needs: a year of re-evaluationJULY 3, 2009 | I am pleased to present the financial report of the Archdiocese of Miami for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. This annual report reflects the financial stewardship practiced in the Archdiocese of Miami. When I wrote to you last year regarding finances, little did we know the magnitude of the challenges to come for our entire country. I will not go into all that has happened to the financial markets since then, as the media reports daily on the economic recession we are all facing. • • • On the ‘power’ of bishopsJUNE 5, 2009 | Cardinal Francis George of Chicago was recently quoted as saying, “Catholics sometimes seem to think that if they complain to bishops their own responsibilities cease.” • • • Beware the gospel of ‘it can’t be done’MAY 22, 2009 | There are many out there who do not believe in God. There are many out there who do not believe in Jesus. And there are many also, unfortunately within our own Church, who profess to believe in both but whose faith is weak. These are the people who, unknowingly perhaps, follow the gospel of “it can’t be done” rather than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. • • • Of mothers, priests and MaryMAY 8, 2009 | For years it has been our custom to celebrate priestly ordinations the Saturday before Mother’s Day. It is no different this year. This Saturday, May 9, I will ordain three men to the priesthood at St. Mary Cathedral. A day later, on Sunday, we will celebrate Mother’s Day. • • • Ignoring the facts on sexualityAPRIL 24, 2009 | Pope Benedict XVI was harshly criticized recently for saying that the distribution of condoms is not only ineffective in fighting AIDS in Africa but might very well make matters worse. He called for a more holistic approach, “a humanization of sexuality … that brings with it a new way of behaving with one another.” • • • Lent, Easter lead us to true conversionAPRIL 10, 2009 | It seems our whole nation has been marking a kind of Lent this year. The economic news is terrible. People are suffering. Even those who have not experienced any financial losses are reconsidering the lifestyles they led and opting to live more frugally. • • • Church leads the way in child protection effortsMARCH 27, 2009 | Last fall, an Orlando Sentinel article revealed that in Florida at least 150 public school teachers have been disciplined in the past three years after being accused of sexual misconduct. • • • Time to diet, exercise – spirituallyMARCH 13, 2009 | On Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, we listened to the words of the prophet Joel calling everyone to repent, from the temple priests to couples on their honeymoon to grandparents, parents and even “infants at the breast.” • • • Time to take a deep breathFEBRUARY 27, 2009 | The Vatican’s announcement that Pope Benedict XVI had lifted the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops, members of a society that refuses to accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, has caused confusion. • • • Church remains committed to educating the poorFEBRUARY 13, 2009 | With regard to the recent school closings in the archdiocese, I would like to share with you this column written by Msgr. Vincent T. Kelly, our archdiocesan vicar for education, who is also supervising principal at St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons high schools in Fort Lauderdale. The column was printed in the “Issue and Ideas” section of the Miami Herald on Feb. 1. • • • Money woes: Church is not immuneJANUARY 30, 2009 | The “perfect storm” of economic adversity has come to pass. Everyone is feeling this storm, from bankers on Wall Street to autoworkers in Michigan to struggling homeowners throughout Florida and the rest of the United States. Billions of dollars in wealth accumulated over decades – retirement funds, 401(k)s, stock market investments and dividends – have simply vanished in the past few months. • • • Mr. Obama: Remember the lessons of historyJANUARY 16, 2009 | The coming week will be a historic one for our nation. On the positive side, on Jan. 20, we will inaugurate our first African-American president, less than 50 years after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I have a dream speech” from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. On the negative side, on Jan. 22, we will be marking the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand throughout all nine months of a woman’s pregnancy. • • • Florida Catholic vital to Florida’s faithJANUARY 2, 2009 | Back on Oct. 31, 1958, the Florida Catholic urged Catholics to renew their subscriptions because, in its columns, “the enemies of the church – your enemies – are unmasked and tirelessly fought.” I don’t think anyone would use those words today to describe the need for a Catholic newspaper, although we could certainly agree with the sentiment. Today’s “enemies” of the faith are not the “reds” of the Cold War, but ignorance, indifference and a secularist mentality that has seeped into our very souls. |
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