Saint Joseph Parish: $963.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $91.00 from the second collection (plate); $50.00 from the Dues envelopes; $50.00 from the Christmas flowers envelopes; $134.00 from the loose. Thank you.

Saint Vincent DePaul Parish: $1,246.00 from the Sunday envelopes; $108.00 from the second collection (plate); $45.35 from the loose. Thank you

CHARLES M. [“Zenny”] ZENDROSKY,
a member of St. Vincent dePaul Parish, died on Tuesday, 30 December.
Born on 30 March 1950, he was 58 years old.
He was baptized in St. Vincent dePaul Church on 9 April 1950 by Fr. Michael Daumantis.
Charles is a son of the late Michael and Anna (Balsavage) Zendrosky.
He is a brother of Robert Zendrosky and of Mary Anne Zendrosky Middleton.
He is the father of four sons and two daughters: Shannon Zendrosky Bendrick; Michael M. Zendrosky; Eric H. Zendrosky; Stephen C. Zendrosky; Charles Zendrosky; Katherine Anna E. Zendrosky.
He has four grandchildren: Tyler Bendrick (deceased); Sydney Bendrick; Tanner Bendrick; Wyatt M. Zendrosky.
Fr. Connolly conducted a memorial service in the Richard W. Fritz Funeral Home, Ashland, on Saturday, 3 January.
The interment will be held at a later date.

Eternal rest grant unto Charles, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

24 Dec 2008
DEAR ABBY:
I hope you can help with an etiquette question. With same-sex marriage becoming more commonplace, how should I address a letter to a same-sex couple?
Example: Now that Ellen DeGeneres has married Portia de Rossi, would I write to "Mrs. and Mrs. Ellen DeGeneres"? "The Ellen DeGeneres Family"? or "Ellen and Portia DeGeneres"? None of the manners books that I have checked has been able to provide an answer, and I have not seen the issue in print. What do you think?
STRAIGHT, NOT NARROW IN GLENDALE, ARIZ.

DEAR STRAIGHT, NOT NARROW:
Because this topic is so new, there isn't one hard-and-fast answer to your question. Some couples keep or change their individual names, some join their names together with a hyphen, others select a name together and adopt it.
If you have a question about how a particular couple would prefer their mail to be addressed, my advice is to ask them.
ABBY

DEAR STRAIGHT, NOT NARROW:
Allow me to commend you on your sense of humor — as indicated by the fact that you refer to yourself as “Straight, not Narrow”. That’s a cute play on words. You take the common phrase “straight and narrow” and give it a little spin. Quite obviously, you are telling us that, although you are heterosexual — i.e. “straight” — you are, nonetheless, a person who is open minded — i.e. “not narrow” — in regard to homosexuality.
How very generous of you! How sophisticated! How urbane!
Apparently, you feel good about yourself that you are an enlightened person — not a redneck, not a fundamentalist, not “homophobic”, not bigoted, not judgmental, not condemnatory.
I’m sure you have run across more than a few persons not nearly as enlightened as you. I imagine you feel distressed at them and wish that they would take a cue from you.
There is at least one person I know who is not as enlightened as you on the subject of homosexuality (including lesbianism). I refer to the eminent Rabbi Saul of Tarsus, known more popularly as Saint Paul. He made reference to God handing certain persons over to “impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies”. He wrote about “degrading passions”. He wrote, “Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another.” (Cf. Romans, 1, 24 - 26)
I amuse myself by picturing myself sitting in a room with St. Paul during a Q&A session after one of his discourses. I picture myself asking him the following question: “Paul, you are a prolific letter writer. You can probably advise me on this etiquette question. Could you tell me, please, the proper way to address a letter to two women who are married to one another?”
I laugh (actually I shudder) to think what Paul’s answer would be! I think I might find myself on the receiving end of some memorable Pauline thunder. That would be if I were lucky. More likely, I would be thrown out on my ear!
Actually, there is someone who outranks Paul who is, likewise, not as enlightened as you. Have you heard of Jesus of Nazareth? He had something to say about the advantages of narrowness and the corresponding disadvantages of broadness. Check out the following: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7, 13 – 14)
If I understand those verses correctly, it is not a good idea to be open-minded and tolerant and open-ended in all matters at all times! Sometimes we do well to be narrow and constricted — most especially in matters that are settled and that are founded in Natural Law and in the Divine Positive Law.
Let me give it to you straight, dear Straight, Not Narrow: Homosexuality is always — at all times, under all circumstances and absolutely without exception — a perversion. Persons who commit homosexual actions need to repent. Persons who find themselves caught up in a web of homosexual deeds need to throw themselves on the mercy of God. God loves sinners. Christ died for sinners. God’s grace is stronger than any temptation, including the temptation to homosexual activity. Persons who flaunt and glorify homosexuality — persons like Ellen DeGeneres — are in peril of their souls because they are calling evil good. Unless Ellen repents, there is no hope for her salvation.
Someone might say that I am being ungenerous towards Ellen and that I am being “judgmental” towards her. Someone might say that I have absolutely no right to say whether I think she is worthy to go to heaven or not and that I had better worry about myself and not about Ellen DeGeneres, etc., etc.!
I’ve heard it all before. It is the world’s way of trying to intimidate anyone who tries to tell the unpopular truth. (And we keep in mind that “the world” is part of an infamous trio, the other two members of which are “the flesh” and “the devil”.)
Do you want to know what the real problem is with Ellen DeGeneres? I’m referring to a problem that is even deeper than her widely publicized lesbianism. Ellen’s most profound problem is that she does not believe in God.

I believe in God. I think that God is everywhere. Every morning I look outside, and I say, "Hi, God." Because I think that the trees are God. I think that our whole experience is God. (Ellen DeGeneres)

I don't believe the god that I believe in is judgmental. I think whatever works for you is right. Heaven or hell is what you create right this minute where you are. You have a choice to live in joy or not. And that's my belief. If I'm wrong, then I'm wrong, but I'm not hurting anybody. (Ellen DeGeneres)

Absolutely essential to what we call “going to heaven” is that a person believe in God and that a person believe that God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. In other words, a person must believe in a God who is judgmental!
When we say “believe in God”, we do not mean believe in any sort of thing that we choose to identify as “god”.
We mean believe in the one and only God — the One Who is and was and always will be.
In the long run, militant homosexuals forfeit their salvation, but only incidentally because of homosexual actions. The primary reason they forfeit their salvation is that they do not believe in God!

EBC

A little boy goes to school one day. While he is gone, his cat runs out onto the street and gets hit by a car. The cat is dead! The boy’s mother is very concerned about how the little lad will take the news. Upon his arrival home, she explains what happened. She tries to console the boy saying, "But don't worry, your cat is in heaven with God now."
The boy replied, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?"

Kateri wants everyone to know that she does NOT think this so-called joke is the least bit funny! She is disappointed in Fr. Connolly that he (apparently) thinks it is funny. She wishes that people would tell him that he is to put no more “dead cat” jokes into the bulletin! However, she said that she has no objection to “dead dog” jokes and wouldn’t mind seeing a few of them in the bulletin from time to time.

RECEIVING COMMUNION ON THE TONGUE

On 9 December 2008, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Antonio Cardinal Canizares Llovera to the post of Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship.

Cardinal Canizares is now the highest ranking official in the Catholic Church (next to the Pope himself, of course) in the area of liturgy.

On 14 December 2008, Cardinal Canizares was interviewed by a Spanish newspaper, La Razon. He was asked about kneeling for Communion and about receiving Holy Communion on the tongue. Here is an excerpt from that interview:

Interviewer: Benedict XVI has reiterated at various times the propriety of receiving communion kneeling and in the mouth. Is this something important, or is it a mere matter of form?

Canizares: No, it is not just a matter of form! What does it mean to receive Communion in the mouth? What does it mean to kneel before the Most Holy Sacrament? What does it mean to kneel during the consecration at Mass? It means adoration, it means recognizing the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it means respect and an attitude of faith of a man who prostrates before God because he knows that everything comes from Him, and we feel speechless, dumbfounded, before the wonder, before his goodness and his mercy.
That is why it is not the same to extend the hand and to receive Communion in that fashion, as compared to doing it in a respectful way. It is not the same to receive Communion kneeling or standing up, because all these signs have a profound meaning. What we have to grasp is the profound attitude of the man who prostrates himself before God, and that is what the Pope wants.

My comment: Always do the right thing, even and especially when the right thing is not the popular thing. Truth has a way of vindicating itself.