H1N1 process slow

Well, I was at North York General yesterday visiting patients and there’s been a rush at the ER with people with flu-like symptoms. People are especially concerned about kids and teens. I’m going to see about getting the vaccine at the hospital before I visit too many more people. I don’t want to bring H1N1 back to the parish!

I find though, that the process for getting the shot is rather not well organized. When you think of the city of Toronto and the millions who live here… 10 sites does not make sense. Add to that the complicated process of mixing the vaccine before injection and you’ve made the lines a lot longer. What were people thinking? I know one of our docs was thinking of having a clinic at the church but it seems way too complicated.

Keep you posted if I can get the shot. And yes, I’m getting it.. as soon as possible. It’s the right thing to do for me, and it’s even more important for those around me to whom I could pass it on if I should be in contact with the virus.

Vandalism at our church

On Thursday morning last week,  Oct 22, our custodian, Luigi, mentioned to me that the small statue of St. Francis that we have in our gardens was missing. I thought maybe someone had taken it indoors already. We do every Fall. However Luigi also mentioned that the flowering vines growing on the walls of our courtyard had all been ripped down. Again, I figured maybe it was just the cold weather. They probably naturally just fell off the walls.

Well, Saturday morning one of our parishioners discovered that our new statue of Mary had been stolen. I went over to discover that all that was left of Mary was the base of the statue and her feet. The 1.5 metre  resin/fibre-glass statue is made in Italy and cost some $5000. I loved it because it was of a young, barefoot Mary. We had her positioned so that young children could meet here and feel close to her. The setting was quite beautiful, a small sheltered niche area in our courtyard.

The police were called and our limited security tapes were examined. We found that there was someone walking around the church several times at about 3:00 am on Friday morning. We don’t have any cameras on the statue, but that’s the only suspicious activity we could see. It’s all be given over to the Police.

Late Saturday night the police recovered a portion of the statue. It had been seen by a parishioner (my dentist) while on a run. The statue was decapitated and the hands cut off. Ugh!! It makes me so sick and so angry. It does not seem like just kids fooling around. It feels like more than that. Considering how accessible our church is and how long our office hours are, I am concerned about the safety of our parishioners, staff and clergy at night. We are looking at increasing our security without decreasing our hospitality!

Anyways…. we move on. The insurance will cover the theft. The statue will be replaced… maybe with real bronze? But the emotional shock is still great. Pray for us and for the person who did this. If only they knew that they are worth more than a million statues. Hopefully our care and concern for our “things” will be a shadow of our care and concern for our neighbours.

US Citizens need to hear this!

A song about the need for the “public option” in health care. Quite good.

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Ghanian Cardinal moves up

Here’s some news from Archbishop Terry Prendergast’s blog about Cardinal Turkson. The Cardinal studied theology my Conventual Franciscan provinces own St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary. (The school eventually closed in 1987 and we moved to be part of the Washington Theological Union).  From the friars who remember Cardinal Turkson, they say that he is a great guy. Read on:

CARDINAL TURKSON TO “JUSTICE AND PEACE”

Yesterday, the last working day of the Synod, the Holy Father named Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana to succeed Cardinal Renato Raffale Martino as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
A scripture scholar who received his doctorate at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute, His Eminence is a charming man who speaks an elegant Italian. We worked together last year on media relations at the Synod on the Word of God.

Archbishop Mancini on the crisis in Antigonish

Here’s a short but interesting interview where Archbishop Anthony Mancini speaks on what has happened in Antigonish and how he is making sense of it.

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Why the liturgy was renewed

If you’ve ever wondered why the liturgy of the Roman Rite needed renewal to return to it’s simpler origins you need only look at this picture of a “bishop” of the SSPX which is seeking to return to the Catholic Church. We’ve moved on from the Bishop as feudal lord to the Bishop as Shepherd. It may take them a while yet to get there.

"Bishop" Fellay

Room for Anglicans in RC Church

Vatican creates new church structure for Anglicans who want to join Catholic Church

By Associated Press

2:27 AM PDT, October 20, 2009

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Joseph Levada, the Vatican’s chief doctrinal official, said Tuesday the new legal entity will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining their Anglican identity and many of their liturgical traditions.

Levada said the new structure is a response to the many requests that have come to the Vatican over the years from Anglicans who want to join.

The Meaning of the Cross?

Stephen Colbert takes on the outrageous remarks by Justice Scalia of the US Supreme Court on what the Cross symbolizes. Colbert is the only one I know who can recite the Creed of Nicea on a major TV show!

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Salt and Light scores again!

Salt and Light just had a great gala where they garnered support from the Weston family of Toronto and the Desmarais family in Montreal. Congratulations! Here’ the latest video on Salt andLight TV. It is quite moving.

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Priests in a digital world

“The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word” is the theme that Pope Benedict XVI has chosen for the upcoming 44th World Communications Day in 2010. Ac…

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