Freeper Canteen ~ Sunday Chapel Thread ~ CARDINAL JOHN J. O’CONNOR ~ September 26, 2010

The Canteen Crew ^ | September 25, 2010 | Serving The Best Troops In The UNIVERSE AND BEYOND!

[Brad’s Gramma]

 

 

 

 

CARDINAL JOHN J. O’CONNOR

Cardinal John J. O’Connor passed away May 3, 2000 at the age of eighty. Much has been said and written about this remarkable man of faith. Most obituaries mentioned that he served as a Navy Chaplain, but failed to mention that at one time he headed all Chaplains in Vietnam, and then later served as Chief of Chaplains with the rank of Rear Admiral. As Cardinal for New York he reached out to people of all faiths and to people who had no faith. He cared for the homeless, AIDS victims, the destitute, as well as influencing the halls of power as a moral voice. When learning of his appointment to New York City, instead of basking in the media attention that attends such an appointment, he disappeared for three weeks to learn Spanish in an immersion program so he could better reach out to New York's Hispanic community.

He possessed a keen, intellectual mind and was able to clearly articulate complicated ideas in a way everyone could understand. He was kind and understanding, but no pushover, and he did not suffer fools gladly. It was said to be no picnic being a staff officer for him when he was Chief. He demanded excellence and he got it. Yet, he was tougher on no one than he was on himself. He routinely slept only four hours, using the other night hours for prayer, study and writing. His influence on the Chaplain Corps and the Navy reaches us to this very day. He forced the Navy to take a hard look at how it was doing on civil rights issues and brought about much-needed reform. We are all beneficiaries of many of the ideas he pushed through to become policy.

He was a remarkable man who deserves our deepest gratitude. This vignette from the life of Cardinal John J. O'Connor tells a lot about who he really was...

Four of the most liberating words that exist are "I’m sorry" and "I forgive." Here is a poignant reminder of how true this really is. . .

JIMMY CAGNEY’S FAREWELL

Jimmy Cagney, the famed actor, left his faith as a young man. His father took ill in a flu epidemic in 1918. He was dying and the family sent for the Priest. He never showed up. This incident remained with young Jimmy, and it was a spiritual roadblock that the actor could not overcome. Mr. Cagney died in 1986. At the funeral Mass in New York City, Cardinal John J. O’Connor (former Chief of Naval Chaplains) stepped forward to give the closing prayer. He then broke with tradition and said these words to Willi Cagney, Jimmy’s 86 year-old wife: "I feel a real obligation to say this. I want to tell you how sorry I am for any incident with an unkind Priest, anything that hurt your husband." Cardinal O'Connor then leaned over and kissed Willi. There was audible sigh in the congregation and many people were weeping, including political dignitaries and Hollywood celebrities.

Chaplain Mitch Schranz

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[Brad’s Gramma]

LOL!!!!

I love you, JJ....

Have a restful and BLESSED Lord’s Day!!

[Jet Jaguar]

You as well.

[Kathy in Alaska]

A Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours, Idaho.

[left that other site]

(((HUGS)))

[Kathy in Alaska]

Shavua Tov and a Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours, ML.

[Publius]

John O’Connor was a Philadelphia boy, coming from a mixed Irish and Italian neighborhood at 47th and Chester. My late godmother remembered him as the paperboy during the Depression.

He went to the seminary at St. Charles Boromeo during World War II, and the formative experience of those years came when he sat in a darkened movie theater and watched “Going My Way” with Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Young John saw himself as assistant to an experienced – but inebriated – pastor, who learned the ropes from him and finally earned his own parish. His desire was to become a pastor, and he gave little thought to any career within the hierarchy.

After ordination, when he got his first assignment, it was a posting to a school for retarded children in Upper Darby, and O’Connor was disappointed. When the Korean War broke out, Father O’Connor received an audience with Cardinal Dennis Dougherty of Philadelphia and asked for permission to enter the Navy as a chaplain. It ended up being a marriage made in Heaven.

Lieutenant (j.g.) O’Connor discovered that being a chaplain aboard a Navy vessel was like having his own parish, except that his parish floated and moved around a lot. He moved up through the ranks over the years. A FReeper served on board ship with Lieutenant Commander O’Connor in the late Fifties and remembered him as a football addict and a Giants fan who made a beeline for a television whenever the ship docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

He made it to the rank of Rear Admiral as head of all chaplains in the military, and when it came time for him to retire in 1980, he sent out resumes to all the Catholic bishops in the US, figuring that somewhere in America there was a parish that could use an old salt as a pastor. Then one day, he received a phone call from Rome. They wanted to make him a bishop and send him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He discovered that being a bishop was a lot like being a pastor, except that his parish was pretty big and had a lot of people reporting to him. In other words, it was a lot like working at the Pentagon.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is a training ground used for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of freshman bishops, and former Admiral O’Connor made enough of an impression to get the top job in the Big Apple after his tryout.

In New York, O’Connor’s best friend ended up being Mayor Ed Koch. Every other week, the two of them would dine together, either at the archbishop’s residence behind St. Paddy’s, or at Gracie Mansion. Following dinner, the two men would open a bottle of brandy, light up cigars and discuss the world. Even after Koch left office in 1989, the two men maintained that friendship.

When his friend John O’Connor died of brain cancer, Koch began the Jewish ritual of going to O’Connor’s grave on the anniversary of his death and leaving a pebble on his niche in the crypt under St. Paddy’s. That ritual continues to this day.

[left that other site]

Happy Sunday!

Thank You, Kathy, For Your Prayers, And Your Lovely Blessing!













El Kabong





ML/LTOS

[Brad’s Gramma]

What a WONDERFUL story...thank you, Publius. A FRer, huh? ;)

May you have a restful and Blessed Lord’s Day..

[Gapplega]

Amen. G-d won’t abandon Israel.

[MarineMom613]

What a wonderful story. I truly loved Cardinal O’Connor. What a terrible loss his passing was to most New Yorker’s.

May God Bless all of our Troops and bring them home safe. Prayers for their families also.

[SevenofNine]

OH Yeah you telling me that bottom line no women what going happen to China if these guys can’t get mates join the miltary YOU THINK

[SevenofNine]

OH Yeah you telling me that bottom line no women what going happen to China if these guys can’t get mates join the miltary YOU THINK

[SevenofNine]

OH KATHYYYYYYYY have you check Barrow webcam speaking of Fairbanks AK my uncle think he may get his snow soooonnnn

http://seaice.alaska.edu/gi/observatories/barrow_webcam

[AZamericonnie]

Grammie thank YOU for Chapel & a very blessed Lord’s day to you & yours! *hugs*

[oldteen]

Evenin' Connie! *hugs*

A most blessed Lords Day to you and yours!

[Kathy in Alaska]

A Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours, Dubya.

[SkyDancer]

Ya, the full picture is on my profile page here ... (((HUGS))) back ... miss the good ‘ol USA, but ...down here I’m having an experience that’s great ....

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening to you, teen. A Blessed Lord’s Day to you and yours. Sunny all day here in the mid 50s.

I see it is still warm at your house. With or without allergies? We had a HUGE wind storm yesterday and into the evening. Out in the valley, Wasilla and Palmer, is was REALLY bad...gusts up to 75mph. We had one 5 or 6” birch go down and my Dad and I dragged it out of the creek today. He will start cutting it up with his new electric chainsaw.

[oldteen]

It is VERY warm with allergies...they will stick around for quite some time...eventually the weather will change...lol.

I read yesterday about the high winds up there. That's one of those weather things I don't like. High winds always bring something down!

The only tree I have in my yard is a pine but I'm forever raking neighbors leaves from the front yard! I don't think they know what a rake is!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Israel does indeed need our prayers. We need to start removing the obstructers in November. A Blessed Lord's Day to you and yours.