Here and There

This was sent in by a reader about an effort by the Diocese of Syracuse, NY.

The Office of Vocation Promotion here, headed by Fr. Joe O’Connor, is holding the first annual “Men in Black” Soccer Game to promote vocations and to provide an opportunity for laity to support the priests and seminarians of the diocese.  The game is scheduled for Saturday, July 17, at 10:00am, with a family cookout to follow.

The priests and seminarians will take the field against the soccer team of Holy Cross Academy in Oneida, NY, 25 miles east of Syracuse.  One reason for the game’s location is that the HCA 2010 Valedictorian, Dan Collins, is entering the seminary for diocese this fall and will be the starting goalie for the diocesan team.  Dan was the HCA goalie for its championship soccer teams in 2008 and 2009.

Fr. Joe O’Connor thought that with the excitement of the World Cup going on now, and also the success of the “Clericus Cup” in Rome, a soccer match would offer a prime opportunity for young people to interact with priests and seminarians.  The “Men in Black” theme also has been used for annual basketballs games which pit the priests and seminarians against local parish teams.  With the success of the basketball games, Fr. Joe decided to move on to another popular sport in Upstate New York – soccer.

Fr. Joe has been the Vocations Director since 2008, was ordained in 2005, and is a graduate of Franciscan University.  He has done great work here in Syracuse and I hope Bishop Robert Cunningham plans to keep him around for a while!

Sounds like a great idea as long as there is no blessing of the Vuvuzela.

Here is a cool new radio show with Dolores Meehan co-founder of the Walk for Life West Coast and Gibbons Cooney in the San Francisco area.

• On June 28 and July 5, Dolores Meehan will interview Fr. Michael Sweeney, President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, on “Authentic Catholic Education—and the Impact of the Land O’ Lakes Conference.”

• July 12: Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, of Oakland, on “The Manhattan Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience.”

• July 19: Fr. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, on a neglected area of Catholic social teaching “The Principle of Subsidiarity and the Service to the Poor.”

• July 26, bioethicist/author Dr. Janet Smith, of Sacred Heart Major Seminary on “The Right to Privacy.”

Future guests include:

• Father Joseph Fessio, SJ;

• the very interesting Ave Maria University Professor of philosophy Maria Fedoryka on “The Gift of Woman”;

• a fascinating (and scary) three-part interview with Mr. Brian Fairchild, an expert on Salafist Islamic groups in the U.S.;

• and the renowned authors and thinkers Mrs. Mary Eberstadt, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, and Dr. Anthony Esolen.

Here’s Dolo’s mission statement:

“Bay Area Catholics are some of the strongest Catholics in the country. Reclaiming the Culture grew out of the desire to show that the Catholic Church in the Bay Area has the resources to confront the prevailing secular culture. Our purpose is to introduce great thinkers to listeners who may not have the opportunity to pursue an authentic, classical, Catholic education at, say, the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley. We see this as a chance to share the wisdom of the Catholic Church, which is far greater than many people realize, and is easily up to the task of engaging the prevailing secular culture. We want to move beyond catechesis and apologetics, important as they are, and enter into the arena where faith meets reason.”

In other news the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming are working to build a gothic monastery in the Rockies.

Plus here is a blog that details the making of a Rosary with a 30 foot loop and beads created by a ceramic artist.