CNN’s Piers Morgan asked Penn Jillette, author of Every Day is an Atheist Holiday, what he thought of the pope’s resignation. His response?
“I think I may be somebody who believes in the Pope’s position more than most Catholics. . . . if you have someone who is a conduit to God and is speaking God’s word, even if you can’t understand exactly what God’s plan is . . . that still doesn’t mean you get to vote on what God actually believes.”
Valary Bradley was a busy woman during her 76 years, active and giving.
“Val loved her family first, served God through St. Joseph’s second and served her country through government at all levels in her adopted town and the veteran’s organizations. Golf was a close fourth love,” Town Clerk Eloise Salls said in summing up Bradley’s wide-ranging interests and involvement.
Bradley passed away Jan. 31 (see obituary, page 22), having moved to Berlin and becoming an integral part of her adopted community.
Margaret Sardell, secretary to the Board of Selectmen, who worked with Bradley for years, noted her impact on the town and her personally.
“It was just immeasurable,” Sardell said. “She cared so much about the town.”
Echoing the sentiments of many, Sardell said, “She’s irreplaceable. She’s going to be missed by a lot of people.”
Sardell added that besides being very involved, “she was an active participant if she joined something. She was an incredible lady.”
And Bradley shared her wisdom.
“She was always there for me,” Sardell said. “If there were any problems I could call, and vent, and she would give good advice.”
“We all knew she was a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother,” Father Robert Spellman said. As pastor at St. Joseph the Good Provider Church, he saw Bradley’s spiritual side.
He said her role in her family was important to her.
“She did that faithfully,” he said. “She was always there for them. That’s the thing I remember most.”
Spellman noted she was “an outstanding member of the St. Joseph’s family, a very faithful, very active member. She loved God and her church.
“She was there when you needed her or for people who needed help,” Spellman said. “She was just a good friend to everyone here. She’ll be missed by all.”
Spellman also remembered her pies.
“They were good pies,” he recalled. “She was always making pies here and working in the kitchen downstairs,” he said of her involvement in the Parish Fair and First Communion breakfast.
“She did serve her town in many capacities,” Salls said, reaching back to when Bradley was first elected to the Board of Selectmen in 1978, filling a one-year post before being re-elected to a full term. After a break, she returned to the board and had served ever since.
“She had a great love for veterans and was a driving force to get the Vietnam plaque done during the Bicentennial and boy did she love the Bicentennial parade,” Salls noted. “She hosted a large family get-together on her front porch. She saw the fireworks from her house and it brought her pleasure.
“I will miss her,” Salls said.
“She was always full of common sense,” Evy Dueck said. Dueck first met Bradley when Dueck was a library trustee, then worked with her through the 1870 Town Hall and the current community center project.
“She asked the hard questions,” Dueck recalled. “It made me trust her as a town official.”
Although not born in Berlin, “She clearly came to this town and made it her town,” Dueck said. “That’s very inspirational.”
Carol Young, a first-grade teacher at Berlin Memorial School, recalled Bradley’s work with children.
“Let me begin by just saying she was a remarkable woman,” Young said.
“Val had been reading with boys and girls in my first-grade class since the program began more than 10 years ago,” Young said of the SOAR (Senior Outreach Assisted Reading) program.
“This was the first year that she was unable to do so. She came in every week and listened to a boy or girl read a book to her. She would discuss the book with that child and sometimes even talk about how the book reminded her of events in her own life,” Young said. “The children loved reading to her and the impact of this not only lasted for the time they were with her, but long after that. She gave each child invaluable one-on-one time; each child had the opportunity to practice their reading skills and had special time to talk with Val. She would then write me a quick note about the time she spent with each child. Her notes were always positive.
“Val loved this school and supported both the children and the staff. She will certainly be missed,” Young said.
Principal Carol Bradley called Val Bradley “a dear friend of the Berlin Memorial School community. In addition to the many leadership roles she held in town, Val was a devoted parent and strong advocate of our school. She volunteered her time as a SOAR reader for many years and was always among the honored and respected guests at our special events.
“One of my fondest memories was standing beside her during our Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies, so proud of her role in the military service,” Carol Bradley said.
“Val’s great sense of humor came with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, including the first time we met. She greeted me by saying, ‘Bradley – hmmm. We must be relatives.’ And then she gave that little chuckle.”
“Val’s presence here at Berlin Memorial School will always be felt. She touched the lives of our children, our staff, and this administrator, and she will be deeply missed,” Carol Bradley said.
Sean Considine, a safety for the Baltimore Ravens, is with his family.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (CNS) — Sean Considine, a safety for the Baltimore Ravens, is the first to point out that he belongs to some important families — God’s family, the family his parents began, his hometown community, the family he shares with his wife and four children, and the NFL.
“My Catholic faith has played a huge role in my family and career. I thank God every day for a beautiful wife and kids, for the game of football that helps make that possible and that I am part of a game that brings enjoyment to others,” Considine said in a phone interview from Baltimore, where he was preparing for the Feb. 3 SuperBowl XLVII in New Orleans.
He spoke to The Observer, newspaper of the Rockford Diocese. He and his family live in Byron, Ill., where he has been a member of St. Mary Parish since he was in the fourth grade.
Considine is quick to talk about his faith and how important it is to his career, to the kind of man he aspires to be off the field and how it guides him as a husband and father.
“I’ve always had great examples. I idolize and respect my father. I was taught to think of others before yourself,” he said. He tries to bring that philosophy to his game of football and his life off the field.
“My faith has always been important and I am so blessed to have a woman that wanted to share that with me,” Considine said. His wife, Nicole, was baptized a Catholic but raised in the Baptist Church.
“When I met Sean, his faith was one of the things that I found so interesting about him,” Nicole said in an email interview. “When we began to talk about marriage, it was very important to me that we could practice our faith together and raise our children with the same beliefs and traditions.”
Considine attended RCIA classes with Nicole.
“It was neat to have him by my side throughout the process,” she said. “It showed me that this was just as important to him as it was to me. It was something very special to share together as we were about to enter marriage.”
The Considines built a house in Byron “so we have somewhere to call home no matter where we are during the season,” Nicole said. The couple has a 5-year-old son and 19-month-old triplets, two boys and a girl.
Sean Considine gives much credit to the community of Byron, where he was a star player on the Byron Tigers football team in high school helping lead the team to the state championship his senior year in 1999.
He took his football talent to the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where he stood out on the field and earned a degree in marketing.
In 2005, he was a fourth-round draft pick for the Philadelphia Eagles. After three years there, he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and then landed with the Ravens in 2012.
“You can’t believe what a good family the NFL is. There are negative headlines that cloud (people’s) attitudes, but most of these guys are stand-up guys from lives of faith,” he told The Observer. “You want to see commitment and faith, you’ll find it in an NFL locker room.”
The NFL provides a Mass, just not every Sunday.
“I have had a lot of opportunity to not only maintain my relationship with God, but as a Catholic,” he said.
And of course there are always game-day prayers. However, Considine said he doesn’t pray for winning or losing in the traditional pre-game prayers.
“I start off giving thanks for my wife and for energy and health to represent my team with the blessings I have been given,” he said.
He said the team recites the Our Father before every kick-off and even “the unchurched pray.”
Considine said being in the NFL brings some pressure but it’s not so much about the game.
“There is some pressure to be a role model,” he said. “I guess players are on a platform, whether that’s right or wrong, there is a responsibility. To have success in faith and life and your career you have to look at the core fundamentals of faith and humility and try to be better than you were the day before and share that with others.”
Considine will go back to Baltimore after the SuperBowl, then drive back to Byron, where he will stay until April before he starts traveling back and forth until the season starts in August.
After that, Considine said, he will just take things day by day and year by year.
“I am 31 and that’s pretty old for the NFL. I have always been interested in business and real estate stuff. Who knows? I may get the opportunity to start a business or buy one,” he said.
“We’ll just see where the good Lord takes me. He took me this far and it’s been in a good direction. As long as I have my family to fall back on, there is no stress.”
He was a Marine, a manager, a city councilor, a conservation commissioner, a husband, a father, a grandfather and even a great-grandfather.
He was Edward Callahan, and he died on Jan. 1 at the age of 80.
Born on Feb 5, 1932, Callahan lived in Waltham his entire life. Callahan served in the Korean War, and after being hospitalized he was moved to Hawaii. Shortly after that he started corresponding with his wife-to-be, Joan.
“I knew who he was practically my entire life,” Joan said. “He lived on one end of Lake Street and I lived on the other end. When he was in the Marines, my sister married his brother who was a couple years older. My brother-in-law asked if I would like to write a letter to Ed. So I wrote him a couple of letters and when he came back he was stationed in Charlestown Navy Yard and then we dated and that was the end of anyone else.”
Joan and Ed were married for 57 years before his death. They were both lifelong members of the Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Parish – both were baptized, took their first communion and confirmed in the church, and they were married there as well. Ed was also an usher for the church. City Councilor Diane LeBlanc, also a member of Our Lady’s, attended school with Callahan’s daughter and she said he was an important member of the parish.
“When I think of Ed Callahan I think of a life well-lived. He served God, he served his country and he served the city of Waltham as well as anyone could,” LeBlanc said.
After leaving the Marines, Callahan worked for ATT for 32 years, working his way up to be a manager. After he retired, he decided to enter local politics and became the Ward 2 councilor. He served on the council from 1987 to 1999 where he also served as council president. Many who have worked on the council remember Callahan well.
“He was such a nice man. I knew him for a long time politically and in the community. One thing about him was that he was never afraid to tell you whether he agreed with you or disagreed with you but it never stopped him from talking with you and having kind words,” former city councilor Sally Collura said.
The current Ward 2 councilor Edmund Tarallo came onto city council with Callahan. Tarallo said Callahan was a great resource for Tarallo while they were working together on the council and also after Callahan left. Tarallo said over the years he and Callahan were able to create a positive relationship in which Tarallo could turn to Callahan for questions and support.
“He was a person who cared deeply about what went on in the community. He held his views and principles very strongly and never hesitated to express his views,” Tarallo said. “We were able to collaborate to bring many improvements to our community.”
After leaving the council, Callahan served as on the Waltham Conservation Commission after retiring from the position in 2009. He was an avid gardener and admirer of tools.
Callahan left behind an enormous family, including Joan, who remembered him fondly as a family man.
“He was a very, very good person right down to his core,” she said. “He loved helping people. He was a devoted councilor as he was a devoted husband and father.”
Eli Sherman can be reached at 781-398-8004 or esherman@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @eli_Sherman.
Brothers and sisters:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
The Scripture says, No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone to preach?
And how can people preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!
But not everyone has heeded the good news;
for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?
Thus faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
But I ask, did they not hear?
Certainly they did; for
Their voice has gone forth to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11
R. (10) The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. (John 6:63) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.
or:
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
Gospel
Mt 4:18-22
As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.
I am writing to urge everyone to hold up in prayer the Rev. Gary LaMoine of Barnesville, as he is about to be attacked for standing firm on our Catholic faith.
It seems that some who come forward to confirm their faith want to tell God, “I’ll confirm only what I want.”
I question why, if you do not believe what the church teaches, you are even bothering to confirm it. You do not seem to grasp what confirmation means.
In spite of all the derogatory letters sent to the editor regarding your efforts to carry out your responsibility to teach the Catholic faith, there are plenty of us in your flock who realize that you are our shepherd and are leading us in the way of truth. So, take courage! When Christian doctrine wasn’t always palatable, even some of Christ’s disciples turned away from Him also, but the true ones persevered in their faith. Even when Peter tested Jesus, he was told that he was not thinking as God thinks.
We are sorry for all those people who call themselves “Catholic” but refuse to be instructed in the Catholic faith. You are not espousing the Republican platform. Rather, it is the current Republican philosophy that happens to be espousing Christian teaching much more than the current Democratic philosophy.
We need you to continue to guide us in our faith, and we believe that you are on the right path. Being a Christian is not always easy, but we must remain faithful to our God and to His commandments.
The question of whether Gonzaga is “too Catholic” or “not Catholic enough” has been kicked around for a while now. It’s a complex issue. As a humanistic university, we must create an environment of true respect that encourages diverse opinions to flourish. At the same time, as a Catholic university, we must give students helpful instruction in the faith on which we are based. To be honest, we don’t do that well at all. In fact, it seems to me that Catholicism is not a very popular view to uphold at Gonzaga, especially among its professors — and that is a big problem.
I could relate many stories to support this. I once wrote an essay in a non-religious class in which I included a quote from my professor relating God to a text we’d read. The professor underlined the quote and wrote in the margins, “Did I say that? I could lose my job for that!” I’ve had professors in religion and philosophy classes sit totally silent while their students explain Catholic theology to the class; or simply divert the discussion to “safer” waters. I’ve talked to professors who have written publicly about their beliefs in various forums and received so much negativity in response that they simply stopped trying.
Other students have told me even more troubling stories along these lines. I’ve heard of religious studies professors who preface any theological explanation with “The Catholic Church says …” before doing their best to debunk that view. I’ve heard of cultural professors who subtly criticize the entire Church for the actions of a few in the (distant) past. In general, whenever I hear Catholicism mentioned at all in class, it isn’t mentioned as a legitimate authority but simply as a “possible approach” to a problem.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule. We do have some required religion courses that do touch on Catholic beliefs. Some professors will pray before classes. Some professors will engage in theological debates with gusto, encouraging diverse opinions while also articulating the Church’s own. This week I had a professor work us through a complex philosophical issue and then add, at the end, “and that, incidentally, is where the Catholic Church stands on this.” I appreciated this more than I can say.
As far as I know, there has been no study of GU’s professors to see how free they feel to articulate their convictions, Catholic or otherwise, in the classroom. But from my own experience and from those of other students, it looks like Catholic professors who truly embrace their faith are, for the most part, quiet. The irony of this can hardly be overstated. Have we so crippled our professors of faith that they do not feel free to express their own beliefs at GU — at an institution that is supposed to hold those same beliefs?
It is a good thing to expose our students to many different viewpoints. After all, we don’t live in a single-religion world. Different perspectives are even a blessing, because they challenge us to reflect seriously upon our own. But at the same time, an institution that claims to be Catholic should actually teach about that faith in a manner that is constructive, informative and respectful. We all voluntarily chose to pay a great amount of money to attend a Catholic institution. It’s ridiculous to be offended at learning something about the Church to which it claims allegiance. And professors should take the lead in this — not students.
Since coming to GU, I’ve learned more about Catholicism than I ever have — and it has been nearly entirely on my own. I’ve read from the Catechism, read bishops’ letters, talked to my parents, read books and listened to talks by Catholic thinkers. Only one or two professors have actually helped me to learn about the faith I thought Gonzaga professed. Other students of faith often say the same. That seems wrong.
Perhaps this odd silence on matters of Catholicism (or on matters of religion in general) comes from believing that to talk about it would be to “alienate” students who do not share that faith. I’ve certainly heard that view expressed. I don’t agree with it. We alienate students more if we lack the strength to articulate what we say we believe. We will gain more respect if we explain, with courage, understanding and compassion, the “why” behind our faith.
One of the most popular teachers I know is a history professor whose strong faith is obvious not only from what he teaches but the way he does it: with true compassion, understanding and respect for differing opinions while gently offering his own. His example proves that it’s possible. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose from standing up for who, and Whose, we say we are.
Our profesors of faith shouldn’t have to write “I could lose my job for that” in the margins of returned essays. They shouldn’t have to fear retaliation from expressing their faith in an email, in print or in front of a class. To put it bluntly, GU needs to find the strength to teach what it claims to believe.
ROME, NOV. 19, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Mark Riedemann for Where God Weeps in cooperation with Aid to the Church in Need interviews Fr. Emmanuel Asi, Executive Secretary of the Catholic Bible Commission in Lahore, Pakistan. Fr. Asi is a biblical scholar who, for over 20 years, has been teaching theology to ordinary people – and this in a country were Christians make up no more than 2% of the population.
[Chosen Lady:]
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth
just as we were commanded by the Father.
But now, Lady, I ask you,
not as though I were writing a new commandment
but the one we have had from the beginning:
let us love one another.
For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;
this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,
in which you should walk.
Many deceivers have gone out into the world,
those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;
such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.
Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for
but may receive a full recompense.
Anyone who is so “progressive”
as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;
whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Gospel
Lk 17:26-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left.”
They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”
He said to them, “Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather.”
Anyone who is so progressive as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son
(9)
(11)
(10)
