Saint Patrick Summer Camp & Youth Ministry

Thank You for Wonderful Summer!

As camp comes to an end we would like to thank the families who filled our summer with good memories and fun.  For the past eight weeks we have worked together to learn the importance of teamwork, the excitement of competition, and the love of God.  Each year we are sad to say goodbye but look forward to the beginning of new programs and to welcome new and old friends to join our family.

A special thank you to our adult staff as well as the office staff for the countless hours of preparation and dedication to making our program a success.

The Youth Community at St. Patrick has a long past and a bright future.  We are preparing for the kick-off of the 2010 – 2011 program (details on the following page).  We are excited to begin our new program with previous and new “family” members.

Each day we look forward to the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of “our kids” through the variety of programs we offer including Youth Ministry, Folk (Music Ministry) Group, Enrichment Center, and sports programs.  Thank you for your support of our programs and St. Patrick Youth.

May God bless you and your families and bring you closer to Him in all you do.

Morgan Woods & Susan Murphy Youth Ministry & Summer Camp Directors

This week Catholic Charities held its annual review meeting which gives the leadership and Board of Directors the opportunity to report to the Bishop on the many extraordinary projects that our Diocesan Catholic Charities carries on in behalf of the vulnerable and needy in our midst.  The largest social service network outside of the government in all of Long island, this is the face of the Catholic Church to pregnant teens, elderly couples, special needs children and their families and a host of other persons and groups who depend on the Church to help them cope with life and become self-reliant with dignity and meaning in their lives.

In the past three weeks, there were graduations from our three diocesan high schools, McGann Mercy in Riverhead, Holy Trinity in Hicksville and St, John the Baptist in West Islip.  Almost 1,000 seniors received diplomas and are going on to some of the best colleges in the area and in our country, thanks to the dedicated faculty and administration at these three Catholic schools.

In May it was my privilege to ordain ten men to the permanent diaconate and assign them to serve in parishes around our diocese.  On June 12, the cathedral was filled with family and loved ones and parishioners of the three men ordained to the priesthood after completing their years of formation at our seminary in Huntington.  A fourth, whom I ordained last year, has completed his studies in theology at the Gregorian University in Rome last week will join them in parish assignments to St James. Seaford, St Brigid, Westbury, St Joseph Ronkonkoma and St. Patrick, Smithtown.

A month ago, 65 men and women received graduate degrees in theology, divinity and pastoral studies after completing their work at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington.  With great joy many will gather in the Cathedral of St. Agnes this week for graduations from the Pastoral Formation Institute for all those who will receive their certificates from the PFI in various areas of religious studies.

In the meantime throughout the year, almost every weekend has seen a charismatic retreat which gathered Spanish speaking members of our parishes for prayer, and deepening of their spiritual lives.  On our campuses, adult and peer ministers attuned to the spiritual and special needs of Catholics in the colleges and universities that make Long Island so attractive to the young collegians of our parishes and those from other parts of the country.  I pray we may find vocations to priesthood and religious life among some of them which is why Fr. Brian Barr and his cohort of priests have made themselves available to offer Mass on these campuses and to conduct retreats for college age students throughout the school year.

In the meantime, my colleagues who oversee the needs of the clergy, the coordination of social outreach in our parishes, the efforts at communications in all the media from this newspaper to Telecare to our website, the various organs of diocesan life like the Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council, in short, all those who assist me in the many activities that help the fifth largest Catholic Church in the United States function, will gather with me next week to review the year’s efforts and to begin preparations for what we will undertake as a diocese when the summer holidays are over.

What do all these have in common?  Many things not the least of which is that they are all aspects of a healthy and vibrant expression of the Spirit who animates this Diocese of Rockville Centre.  They also are the many ways that the office of bishop is carried on in service to the People of God, a service offered in strict union and collaboration with my brother priests, your pastors and their staffs. But, what all these, including the parishes, all have in common is that they all are assisted by the annual Catholic Ministries Appeal.

None of these could continue to function without your support of the Catholic Ministries Appeal (CMA). The Diocese has only two real sources of income. One is the annual assessment, called the Cathedraticum, to which every parish contributes a small percentage of its income so that the Bishop and the Diocese can carry on essential work of the Church, only a portion of which I have mentioned above.  The second source is your generosity to the CMA.

Unfortunately the number giving has decreased and, while the average gift is somewhat greater every year, the overall donations through the CMA have grown little and seem to be flat or a little behind last year.  Our pastors are working hard to make their goals.  Many lay people continue to offer their efforts to encourage parishioners and others to give to the CMA which literally touches the lives of all the Catholics on Long Island and many thousands who are not Catholic.

So as we start to look ahead in anticipation of some summer days on this most beautiful part of God’s earth, I would like to ask each and everyone of you to help me.  This week or next or any day before you go on vacation, stop and ask yourself if you can give a little more to the CMA before you and your family go off on your holidays.  If you have stopped giving, for whatever reason, think about this fact: no money from the CMA enriches anyone or adds to anyone’s salaries or benefits who work in this Diocese beginning with your bishop on down to every other person who serves you.  The CMA contributions go exclusively to the five areas of the Diocese that are so much more in need because today’s needs are greater than yesterdays.  So, even if it is only a small amount, that doesn’t matter.  What matters is the generous heart that makes a sacrifice to help others.  And that sacrifice, however large or small, will multiply itself because of your goodness and your care.

So please let’s make an end of the year, beginning of summer effort to give a little more, give a little extra, give something from your heart to the CMA before you go off on vacation.  And may the God who watches over us watch over, protect you and your family during these summer months wherever you may be relaxing and being refreshed by the beauty of God’s creation and the joyful fun of family and friends together.

If you can help, please do so.  Contributions can be made using this form and sending it to:

Catholic Ministries Appeal
Diocese of Rockville Centre
P.O. Box 4000
Rockville Centre, NY 11571-4000

Gifts to the Catholic Ministries Appeal may also be made via your credit card.  Make your donation online by visiting www.drvc.org/make-a-donation.html .

St. Patrick’s currently has received $85,339.09.00
in pledges from 388 families toward our goal of $130,000.00.

Bishop William Murphy  

One of the blessings we have as human beings is the  history of those who have gone before us.  We see what worked and did not work, who did good and who did evil.  The challenge we face is not just to learn about history, to know the facts, but to learn from history.  We continue to thank and admire our veterans who have given of themselves, some the ultimate sacrifice, and those who continue to make efforts to make our nation a better place.  But at the same time we must be humble and honest about what is not good and make efforts to eradicate what is evil and undermining the very moral fabric of our nation.  As much as history is a blessing, we seem in so many ways doomed to make the same kinds of mistakes of those who have gone before us.

The following is a quote from the prophet Amos (chapter 2) that I read in the breviary a few weeks ago: “Thus says the Lord: for three crimes of Judah and for four, I will not revoke my word.  Because they spurned the law of the Lord, and did not keep his statutes; because the lies which their fathers followed have led them astray, I will send fire upon Judah to devour the castles of Jerusalem.”  The Jewish people did not want to hear these words.  Their leaders basically told Amos to get lost, they did not want to listen to what he had to say.  Amos responded that he was not a prophet, but was called by God to speak these words of warning to his people.  The refusal of the people to listen led to disaster and the demise of their nation.  They did not listen.  There is a parallel here between ancient Israel and twenty-first century America.  We do not always listen to the voice of the Lord.

The past two weeks I have been speaking about the evil of abortion which methodically and constantly takes the lives of innocent children each day.  Why?  It is legal in our nation and the people we elect continue to support this evil.  I have mentioned that our current congressman who claims to be Catholic publicly supports abortion and consistently votes for abortion rights.  That is heresy, hypocrisy and clearly sinful for a Catholic.

To put abortion, the unjust and evil taking of human life, into perspective within the last 100 years:

• Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, 11 million people were put to death: 6 million Jews and five million others that included gypsies, the handicapped, and people singled out for religious or political beliefs or sexual orientation.
• Under Josef Stalin, in the 1930s and 1940s, between 20 and 40 million people were killed.
• Under Pol Pot in Cambodia, from 1975-79, two million people were killed.
• Under Saddam Hussein in Iraq, up to 290,000 were killed.
• Under Slobodan Milosevic in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo, over 100,000 were killed.

All of these men are seen in history as horrors.  Yet what they did pales in comparison to what the leadership of our nation has made legal.  Since January 22, 1973 more than 50 million children have been killed through abortion.  In an issue of Life News, a monthly Pro-life newsletter it says: “According to the New York State Department of Health, reported induced abortions for 2008 in Nassau and Suffolk totaled just under 8300.  That is nearly one baby terminated each hour every day all year long.”  This coming election day we have the choice to elect those who openly support this evil or to send them a clear message that their rhetoric and efforts to defend abortion must stop.  How much longer will we allow our ignominious place in the history of the human race to be solidified?  On July 16, 1977 Archbishop Oscar Romero said, “Not just purgatory but hell awaits those who could have done good and did not do it.  It is the reverse of the beatitude that the Bible has for those who are saved, for the saints, who could have done wrong and did not.  Of those who are condemned it will be said: They could have done good and did not.”

Last week Chris Cox, the man seeking the Republican nomination to run for Congress against Tim Bishop came to speak with Fr. Regan and myself.  It was refreshing, hopeful and encouraging to hear his Pro-life stance and beliefs.  We also spoke about the issue of illegal aliens and the need for following the law as well as showing compassion, a very complex issue.  Chris is a young man who wants to serve our district and to make out nation a better place morally, especially for our young people.  There will be clear choices when we go to vote in November for our congressional representative.  The crux of the matter is to look beyond our personal concerns and needs, to the need our nation has for leaders who are people of integrity, willing to speak and defend the truth, to do what is right and just, not what is popular or the opinion of the press or those who have put themselves beyond and above the basic morals of human life.  It was privilege to speak with both Chris Cox and Randy Altshuler who are running against Tim Bishop.  I wonder if Congressman Bishop would come and speak to us as these men took the time to do?

Father Walden