Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington-Garden Tour

One of the many things I do is to support the Seminarians studying in Dunwoodie, at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.  The organization I belong to that helps the Seminarians through our prayers and fundraising also helps the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, Long Island which is now a learning and retreat center. In any event, I belong to the "Friends of the Seminary" a volunteer group of men and women who have been in existence for 25 years. I joined them about 8 years ago. My term as "President" just ended but I am still involved and love going to the Seminary in Huntington since it is such a beautiful, peaceful and spiritual place.  I love the chapel it is magnificent.
Yesterday we held a Garden Tour and Luncheon which we've done for the past three years.  Three homeowners in the area gave us permission to have "friends" tour their beautiful gardens and then everyone (over 140 people) went to the Seminary to see the beautiful rose garden and then have lunch and fun as there were raffles and auctions

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Everyone had a great time. Msgr. Richard Henning, the rector was there to offer thanks and lead us in prayer.
Here are some pictures from the day: I'm not in any picture in case you're wondering...just friends.

Pope Francis Wants Peace, God Wants Peace in the World! Do Those Involved Try Hard Enough?

Pope Francis, acting as a peacemaker,  held a prayer summit in the Vatican Gardens today on the Feast of Pentecost. He brought together Isreali President Shimon Perez and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the spirit of hope, prayer and respect. Having the prayer summit on the feast of Pentecost is bringing the God of peace and reconciliation into the prayer event in a powerful way. But are hearts and minds open to the will of God and open to negotiation? That's the key.
Unless we are open to the will of God and willing to think out of the box, then peace in the Middle East will always remain elusive. But if all parties are willing to be open, to compromise and be mindful that we are all God's children, then negotiations can move forward.
Pope Francis told the two men that he hoped the prayer summit would be a "new journey for peace."
From his mouth to God's ears! He told them that too  many children had been killed because of war and violence. So many scars, both physical and psychological.
I went to the noon Mass today and our pastor spoke about the prayer summit in his homily. He asked us to pray for its success and be mindful that it would be taking place at 1:00 PM Eastern Time. And so we prayed and I continued to pray as I left Church.
If only, through some miracle on the Feast of Pentecost, hearts will be softened, new ideas thought of and gestures of peace made, to finally bring peace to that troubled, holy land.
NJA

Prayer has a political strength that we maybe don't even realize and should be exploited to the full....Prayer has the ability to transform hearts and thus to transform history. 
(Cardinal Pietro Parolin-Vatican Secretary of State--quoted at the end of the Middle East trip)

Please God may prayer transform the hearts of those who can really make a difference and bring peace to the Holy Land!

Pope Francis in the Holy Land-Bringing Hope Through Words, Gestures, Prayers and an Invitation

When I watched the video of Pope Francis in the Holy Land leaving his vehicle to pray at the concrete wall that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem, I was deeply moved.  That gesture took courage, boldness and deep faith. It's a powerful image seeing the Pope praying against that graffiti-filled wall that divides and inflames feelings. It's an historic image.
As if that wasn't enough of an amazing gesture, the Pope invited to a prayer summit, at the Vatican, both the Israeli President Shimon Peres and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Both accepted the invitation which will take place in June.  Who knows what miracle can come of this? Perhaps what man has been unable to do, in bringing peace to this troubled land, God can accomplish, through joint prayer.  It's a start, a beginning that is desperately needed.  With prayer and openness to the will of God,  perhaps a process to bring a peaceful, negotiated, just settlement  to that region of the world will begin again.
I hope and I imagine it will happen that the Pope will ask people all over the world to pray at the time of the prayer summit. Prayers from the people of the world's three major world religions, all praying at once for peace, that would be a miracle in itself.
This is a Pope full of surprises who is not afraid to be himself, to stand up for what he believes is right and he just keeps winning more and more respect.
What a gift during the Easter Season!
NJA

...The Upper Room reminds us of friendship. 'No longer do I call you servants, (Jesus said to the Twelve), but I have called you friends' (John 15:15). The Lord makes us His friends, he reveals God's will to us and he gives us his very self........(Pope Francis-Upper Room-Jerusalem-5/26) 

Twenty-Three Priests of Rockville Centre Diocese Send Bold Letter To the Pope

In an interesting and somewhat puzzling article I read in NY Newsday titled, "Choosing Long Island's Next Bishop," by Bob Keeler apparently 23 priests of the Diocese of Rockville Centre have signed and sent a letter to Pope Francis (with a copy to Bishop Murphy) asking how the priests can have "concrete guidance about how we and others here can meaningfully participate" in helping to choose Bishop Murphy's successor when he retires. Next year Bishop Murphy will reach the retirement age of 75, at which time he will submit his retirement letter to the Pope.
Firstly I don't understand why the priests didn't wait until next year. Seems like they are rushing things a bit, and perhaps I don't get it but I do think it's a little disrespectful to Bishop Murphy, but that's just my opinion.
I think the idea that priests, nuns and laypeople of a Diocese can offer suggestions as to the state of the Diocese and potential bishops who would be a good fit, is worthy of consideration, but timing is everything. It seems like the timing is off on this letter.
In the letter it stated, "We're looking to understand how the process works and how, not just us priests, how other groups in the diocese, like sisters and lay people, can insert themselves in the process."
Since Pope Francis might not accept the Bishop's retirement immediately, which has happened in other Dioceses' in the past, the letter seems premature. But to each his own.
NJA

Senator Rubio--How Can You Deny Human Activity Is Tied To Global Warming?

I don't mean this post to be political. This is not a political statement.  I am an environmentalist who cares about God's beautiful creation and hopes humankind has enough sense to protect it, before things spiral out of control As reported in the news, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida on Sunday in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC said that he doesn't believe that human activity is causing the dramatic changes to the climate as climate scientists are suggesting. I find that baffling. There is so much scientific evidence that global warming is caused by human activity and that the situation is worsening.
What I think Senator Rubio should do (and I don't mean any disrespect) is to turn on his TV, like I just did. I saw horrific and frightening images of wildfires across Southern California which is also in a severe drought. They have had unusual record breaking heat for the last week and combined with severe drought and wind, wildfires are spreading, destroying homes and businesses.
Scientists keep saying that global warming will create droughts in some places and heavy downpours and rainstorms in others. That's happening already, not in some distant future, but now.
People who are standing in front of their burned out homes, who are confronting severe drought and record high temperatures are standing in the future and the future has come upon them, in an apocalyptic-type scenario.
All politicians and all business leaders must confront that global warming is real and everyone must do their part, because no one is going to flee the disastrous effects of global warming, once the scale is tipped.
Senator Rubio said that "I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy."
Well I think the drought in California, where so much produce is grown could threaten our economy as food prices rise.
I think what could destroy our economy is wildfires, drought, floods, water restrictions, high food prices and rising sea levels which will effect coastal areas.
But I'm not an economist, just someone who reads a lot and pays attention to the signs of the times. I also respect intelligence and if the majority of climate scientists say that action is needed and soon, I believe them. I turn on my TV and I see homes up in flames and I see what the scientists have been predicting becoming a reality in real time. How can you deny what is already in front of our eyes?
NJA

Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P. Preacher-Like Style

I went to Cure of Ars Church in Merrick, LI for the past two evenings to hear Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P., speak during a Parish Mission.  I've also seen his program on Telecare-"Live With Passion." Fr. Cedric is an excellent speaker, he connects with the congregation or audience and has a preacher like style. He travels throughout the U.S. and Canada giving Parish Missions and if he comes to a parish near you, I suggest you go.
He has written 17 books and on Monday evening he sold over $2,000 worth of books. He said that he uses the money from the sale of his books to help his TV ministry. There was also a collection which was for his Passionist community and their works in Houston, Texas. Fr. Cedric has a likable personality and he tells some funny jokes.  He has a good message and some catchy phrases that are easy to remember such as -"Trust is a must," Doubt your doubts," and "We inherit the promise through faith and patience." He also spoke about the Divine Mercy and had us repeat a few times, "Jesus I trust in you." Such powerful words.
He also talks about believing in yourself, never giving up and about not giving up on your dreams.  He's like a Catholic priest version of Joel Osteen.
The adoration chapel in Cure of Ars is just beautiful and I spent sometime in the chapel admiring it's beauty and the peace within.
Fr. Cedric was signing books on Monday night and talking to participants and I went up to him and spoke for a few minutes. I suggested to him (as if he's not doing enough already!) that he should consider helping priests become better speakers and perhaps he should work with Fr. Robert Barron on an endeavor to help priests prepare more engaging homilies.
He said he had been thinking about it and I hope he does some work in the future with priests, I think it would be helpful to them. (It wasn't until the next day that I realized that St. John Vianney is the patron saint of priests, so perhaps he put me up to the suggestion!)
He will be returning to Long Island in a few months and I hope to go again to his parish mission. He's worth listening to.
NJA

"You have to endure. Don't give up on your dreams"  Fr. Cedric

UPDATE: Fr. Cedric sent a thank you note to the parish of Cure of Ars, which was published in their bulletin. I've taken the liberty to print some of it here. It said the following:
I want to thank all of you who attended the mission I preached.....On behalf of my Passionist community thank you for the $6,500 that was so generously donated to us.  Also you bought $10,000 worth of my resources....Thank you from the bottom of my heart." Fr. Cedric
(That is truly amazing and goes to show that when people's hearts are touched and they are given Christian truth with love and enthusiasm, they respond generously and appreciatively! )

Pope Francis' Inequality Tweet-And the Housing Crisis in NYC

On Monday, Pope Francis tweeted the following, "Inequality is the root of social evil." It was retweeted over 10,000 times by the afternoon. Some think the Pope may have read or heard about Thomas Piketty's best selling book about capitalism titled, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century?"
There happens to be an interesting article on Huffington Post about what's happened to NYC real estate over the last decade. Recently it reached the absurd point.  One bedroom apartments in trendy NYC neighborhoods are selling for $500,000 -$800,000, that's for one bedroom.  The article at HuffPost Business titled, "NYC Is Even More Unaffordable Than You Think In 6 Charts," reports about the rents in NYC which have skyrocketed over the last decade, along with prices for homes and apartments while incomes have remained stagnant  or fallen.
I know about this firsthand. I hear about the frustrations that young people in NYC are facing as well as others, from my sons, whose friends have the same problem they have. Everything is too expensive and overpriced and whatever comes on the market, if someone is looking to buy, is difficult to purchase because sellers get multiple offers. The whole situation is absurd and frustrating. It's so sad because the middle class is being pushed out of New York. The poor are in an even worse situation and there doesn't seem to be any solution.
The artists, writers and artistic communities which add to the cultural interest and vitality of NYC can't afford Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn such as Williamsburg and Bushwick and trendy areas of Queens anymore, unless they're rich and famous.
Unless more affordable housing is built, the cultural and ethnic diversity that makes NYC great will be greatly affected and harmed.
Young people continue to find NYC a great place to live, and they're still moving here, but unless they have rich parents or grandparents or a trust fund, there aren't too many options. Or they try to find a neighborhood alittle further into the boroughs, that's not on everyone's radar yet.
I think greed, besides being a deadly sin,  is the root of social evil. And if you dig deep enough you'll find that greed is a part of the problem.
I still believe in capitalism, and America is still the greatest country in the world, in my opinion.
But something has to be done to improve the housing situation in America's popular cities. I'm not sure how it can be fixed but something is very broken when rents and prices of apartments and homes are unaffordable for most of the population, except for the rich.
NJA

"NYC has gotten less affordable much faster than the rest of the U.S."
"Brooklyn had it the worst. Rents rose there more than any other borough."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/25/nyc-charts-housing-unaffordable_n_5210739.html