Posted on 06/27/2005 1:42:52 PM PDT by Coleus
| Parents miss Mass, kids get ax |
|
|
|
The Rev. Michael Cichon, pastor of St. Joseph/St. Thomas in Pleasant Plains, used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance. He's tossed about 300 kids from classes and told them not to reapply until next April. Without the classes, children cannot receive the sacraments, meaning some youngsters who thought they'd be making their First Communion next year will have to wait. The suspensions, legal under church doctrine, were a shock to many parents with kids enrolled in the 1,400-child program, which caters to kids who don't attend Catholic schools. "It's hurtful," said Joseph LoPizzo, 38, whose 6-year-old son was booted. "I've been a parishioner at that church for 23 years - longer than he's been the reverend." LoPizzo said he paid the $150 for his son's Thursday afternoon classes last year, but his father-in-law's illness hampered the family's church attendance. "I've just never heard of a church kicking you out," complained Lisa Nicol, 36, who got a letter saying her 7-year-old twin daughters had been barred from classes. "They should be more welcoming and sensitive." The pastor said he suspended kids from the 2005-2006 after-school program because Mass is an "essential" component of the Catholic faith. The affected families were attending church less than once a month, he said. Cichon insisted that the move has nothing to do with the lack of a donation. "There are many families who put absolutely nothing inside the envelopes they submit," he said. |
And you know this how? (In the case of school, though, I would suspect state compulsory education laws play a part, plus free transportation where necessary.)
I never really thought about it in terms of tracking for school children. But that seems like a way to do it.
The primary reason is to help track donations so receipts can be prepared for tax reasons. And if computers and bar codes are used to facilitate this, I don't think it's a sign of the apocalypse.
We use all kinds of modern-day inventions in the Church today. We're not Amish. Are those who are stuned by the use of bar codes similarly stuned when they encounter a Church with a PA system or a furnace?
SD
hmmm, so by your words, infants can go to Jesus on thier own volition?
YOu are taking this way to deep...The scriptures are literal, not hidden code to be deciphered.
Actually, the most extreme priest I remember used to give numerous sermons on how "no woman who has borne children" should ever wear slacks -- that's ever, not in church. But even he didn't stand at the church door like a bouncer.
Your contention is that all of these children on Staten Island are without the means to travel to "the mall, friend's houses, sports events, concerts, etc." as well as to Mass, and that they are only transported to school cause it is state-mandated?
Now, I haven't been to Staten Island personally, but I bet if I went I'd see children at all off these places.
SD
I'm not worried about what I did in the past! I know that He's put my sin as far away as the east is from the west. As for the "blaspheme" charge, all I've done is to declare Him Lord of my life. One day everybody we'll have to declare that Jesus is Lord. Our choice is whether to do it now voluntarily, or to wait until we are forced to do so! I chose to declare Him Lord the day I walked to the front of the church and publicly confessed my faith. If you really consider that "blaspheming" then you have serious problems. I'll pray for you!
Second. He sent His Son Jesus, God incarnate... This is the Mystery. How can a young girl be impregnated with out having sex...Well, God designed the body, He can modify it anyway he sees fit for His Glory. Though God manifested himself in Man, he did that for the remission of sins. Jesus dying on the cross was the final sacrifice. No more sacrifices are needed to attone for man's sins.
No other sacrifice was good enough for God. Therefore, He had to send Jesus for that purpose. As for the Eucharist... Man made items will not be good enough for God to manifest himself. God only manifested himself in the Holy of Holies... not in a wafer. The Holy of Holies wasn't to be entered into by man unless he was Chosen by God to enter. God will not allow his son to be "crucified" again.
I haven't been to Staten Island either, so I wouldn't speculate about who goes where. (I personally don't know any people who drive their children at the children's wishes. But that may be just me.)
You have serious problems with telling the truth.
I specifically said that your second baptism was a blasphemous act, which it was.
Don't put words in my mouth.
Wherever one draws the line, the east and west lie right next to each other.
"The Catholic Church doesn't care a whit what it says or does not say in the Bible about attending Church. The Catholic Church KNOWS what Jesus and the Apostles left it in the Deposit of Faith, and this includes the obligation to attend Mass every week on Sunday."
You say the Catholic church" doesn't care a whit what it says or does not say in the Bible" about attending church depending instead on some mystical statement regarding the "Deposit of Faith" and obligations to attend Mass.
My Goodness, our Saviour should have admonished his disciples for plucking and shucking the green corn and eating it with unwashed hands on the Sabbath as the pharisees had demanded that he should, but Jesus being the Lord of the Sabbath, healed also on the Sabbath, and declared that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
I think certain Catholics would be happy if the church adopted the motto(borrowed from the NY Times)...The Catholic Church "Using any of the Bible that's Fit to Use!(at the appropriate time and not violating any man-made traditions; void where taxed and licensed of course)"
I agree - old enough for confession means old enough to be responsible for their own behavior. But there is a big difference between getting oneself to Mass as a 7 yr old and, for example, resisting the temptation to steal from a classmate. One is out of their control, the other is fully within their control. Here in my area, parents rush to take their little 'stars' to sporting events, some of the kids are unwilling to go. Many do not always take their kids to school, the parents actually go to work before the kids bus picks them up (a neighborhood parent or grandparent keeps an eye on them). Many of the kids walk the 3 blocks to the boys & girls club for afterschool programs until someone in mom & dads carpool picks them up. For kids in very rural areas like ours, getting themselves to Mass is quite difficult. Mom & Dad sleep in or work on Sundays and even when asked by their child, will just as likely not bother. For an action to be a sin, one has to have some control over it. Sin = doing (or failing to do) something one knows is wrong, sinful on purpose. Kids who ask parents, relatives, and are denied can't be culpable. That behavior is not in their control.
There is no difference for parishioners or non-parishioners. The schools are regional not parish schools. There are no breaks on tuition for any reason. There is financial aid available for those who qualify.
The Archdicese acquired the land and built the schools. They provide no additional financial support and I think (not positive) that the schools actually pay a small amount towards the use of the buildings each month. Schools are 100% supported by tuition and fundraising. There are no parish schools in Atlanta (that I know of) only regional schools.
They are wonderful schools. Even given the high tuition, I am thrilled to have my children in such great schools.
You've never heard of a perent dropping a child off at a mall or at a friend's house on the child's request?
SD
Hermann wait! Stop! Zavien read the Bible and it seems we don't have to crucify Jesus again.
So it's just burgers and dogs and fireworks for the Fourth. No re-crucifying.
SD
Hmmm, a strong case of "do as I say, not what our faith is supposed to be based on"
The Pharissees held thier faith/belief in the letterof Law and traditions...Just as the Catholic Church does, and not into the spirit of the law
If you do not have the Bible, the only true book of books that are the standards of the faith, then your foundation is on the sand and the waves of tradition and dogma will wash it away.
There isn't any record that church was on Sunday.
Sabbat/Sabbath is on the 7th day/Saturday...
Remember the Sabbat and Keep it Holy!
So, do you keep Saturdays Holy for God and rest? That is the only reference to giving a day to God. And, none of it says you must attend church. The early Christians were converted Jews, they still followed thier holidays and kept the laws. The only thing that has changed is the sacrificial law... Jesus came and fulfilled that Law!
The Crucifix and Eucharist are a daily reminder of a constantly dying Christ... Jesus isn't Dead... He is Alive! He has Risen! And he didn't establish a church, he is the redeemer for all mankind! I would rather follow God's laws that are written for us, before just taking someone's word for it. God's plan for salvation is simple. Read your Bible. The path is even in your Catholic Bible, too bad you are told not to read it.
Exactly:
"Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption" Hebrews 9:12
"not that He should offer Himself often, as the High Priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of another" Hebrews 9:25
So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many" Hebrews 9:28
Believe me, going to Mass every Sunday won't sanctify you. Praying the rosary, receiving the sacraments... they won't sanctify you either! Paul tried to follow the Law and found out he could't so he cried in despair "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Romans 7:25
The answer? Read Romans 6, the whole chapter. It has all the answers.
I don't think anyone is arguing elsewise.
The question is, do we admit someone to Communion for the sake of a ceremony and a photo op, thereby imposing on that child a sure future of spiritual starvation?
SD
The ratio of Catholic churches to square miles on Staten Island is less than 1:3, and even less than that if you exclude the uninhabited Fresh Kills Landfill - the largest landfill in North America.
There are at least 40 places to attend Sunday Mass on SI. Probably more than 50 if you include retreat houses, convents and college chapels.
It does apply...and you know it does...if you are at all sensitive to your conscience you know it does!
So wishful thinking can change the definition of Greek words? Interesting perspective.
Literal King James English? Funny, I thought they were written in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic.
Silly me, what did I know!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.