March 28, 2009

Dear friends in life and in ministry . . .

Last night we honored our parish volunteers and presented a special gift from our parishioners to Paula Gardner. Paula volunteers over 40 hours a week in our parish office handling our social ministry outreach, editing our bulletin, scheduling our facilities and typing our Mass scripts are only a part of what she does for the parish.

Recently Paula had a stroke or some other mysterious event that caused her to lose the use of her right leg and arm. With PT and OT things were starting to come back - only to leave again when she had some heart problems that hospitalized her.

A few months ago, Paula considered joining Pat and I on a cruise we'll be taking next January to the Western Caribbean - but after discussing it with her spouse realized that on their very limited incomes they would not be able to afford it.

When we secretly decided to honor Paula as our parish volunteer of the year, we also decided to see if parishioners would want to help Paula fulfill a lifetime dream of taking a cruise. Since she was in the hospital (and later a nursing home for rehab) we posed the question at Mass and invited anyone who wished to contribute to the cause.

Within two weeks over $1,100 was donated to the Paula Surprise fund. Last night, we surprised Paula with the news that she would cruise all expenses paid (including a passport since she's never been out of the country).

She was blown away. What a parish. What a blessing.

Congratulations to my friend (and former parishioner at St. Patrick's Corning) Deacon Dave LaFortune who Bishop Clark very wisely appointed to replace me as pastoral administrator of St. Mary's, Bath when I retire at the end of June. Dave is currently pastoral associate at St. Mary of the Lake in Watkins Glen. His wife Trish holds a similar position at All Saints Parish in Corning. Fr. Jim Jaeger will continue as our Sacramental Minister, another great blessing. God is so good.

May God abundantly bless you and those you love during the holy season of
Lent.
Deacon Ray

HUMAN DIGNITY & CONSCIENCE PROTECTION

A few months ago, some of you inquired as to what had happened to the Freedom of Choice Act postcard campaign that the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, Pro-Life Secretariat endorsed earlier this year. The most common question was “Why is the Diocese of Rochester not participating in the campaign?“

In fact, the Diocese of Rochester was not alone in delaying participation in the post card campaign which was aimed at opposing efforts of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services to rescind federal regulations that protect health care providers from being coerced into performing abortions.

When the Bishops and the Cardinal of New York State met in late December, a strategic decision was made to postpone political action until later in the legislative year. Political analysts at the state and federal level suggested that the changes to the regulations would likely not occur in this legislative session. It was decided that the passage of the Reproductive Health Act was far more likely than the FOCA.

The Bishops were concerned that the introduction of the Reproductive Health Act in the New York State Legislature was imminent and likely to need rapid education and opposition. They believed that if the resources available in the Dioceses of New York State were directed against FOCA, the needed resources for effective opposition to the state Reproductive Health Act would be unavailable.

But now, New York State’s budget crisis has apparently caused our elected officials to defer immediate action on either the state Reproductive Health Act or the federal Freedom of Choice Act. That said, with all the publicity generated by the USCCB campaign, it is now generally agreed that at least basic education and action should be taken on both bills.

To achieve the aforementioned public policy education and advocacy goals, Bishop Matthew Clark has asked that you be made aware of the issues at hand and what you can do to help address them.

Here’s a brief summary of the issues that are of great concern to the Bishops and to health care professionals and all who object to abortion as a matter of conscience.

The current regulations enforce laws making it illegal to insist that a doctor, nurse or other health care provider participate in acts that violate their moral or religious principles. Rescinding these regulations puts providers at risk of either violating their consciences of leaving the medical field.

That’s why Bishop Clark and the Bishops of New York State are now urgently seeking your support in voicing opposition to the proposed change in the regulations spelled out in the Freedom of Choice Act. Here’s what to do:

Before April 9, 2009, contact the Department of Health and Human Services with your objections to the proposal to remove conscience protections.

Send your comments to the following email address:
proposedrecission@hhs.gov.

In your email, use the following or similar text: “Please retain the conscience regulation and enforce the laws protecting the right of health care providers to serve patients without violating their moral and religious convictions.”

To see how the US Catholic Conference of Bishops is speaking out on this issue go to: www.usccb.org/conscienceprotection.

Make a Lenten resolution to take action to protect our religious liberty before April 9.

Have a blest week. Serve each other well

.Deacon Ray

Lands of the Bible Cruise

On November 11, 2009, you are invited to join Deacon Ray and Pat Defendorf and pastoral leaders from throughout the Diocese on a twelve-day Cruise to the “Lands of the Bible”.

Our itinerary includes an over-night flight to Athens where we will visit the Acropolis and the biblical city of Corinth before boarding the mv Cristal, a new 471 passenger cruise ship. We’ll dock at Port Said for a visit to Cairo (the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids at Giza) then on to the port of Ashod in Israel. For two days we’ll visit sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem returning to the ship each evening for dinner and overnight.

Our next port is Haifa where we’ll disembark to tour the Galilee with stops at the Mount of the Beatitudes, Tabgha (the site of the miracle of the loaves and fish), a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and renew our baptismal vows at the Jordan River.

After a day at sea we’ll visit the Isle of Patmos where John wrote Revelations and then to Ephesus, Turkey where St. Paul established a Christian community on his first missionary journey. After a visit to Piraeus we’ll return to Athens for our return trip home.

The price of this journey of a lifetime(including roundtrip airfare, chartered cruise ship, guided shore excursions, daily breakfast, lunch and dinner while aboard ship, study guide, entrance fees and deluxe motorcoaches), starts at $2398 plus taxes, tips and fees.

Follow this link to download our itinerary:
http://www.deaconray.com/travel.htm

This cruise is expected to sell out so early reservations are very important. For more information and a brochure, please contact me by email or phone (607-426-1100).

Serve one another well!

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Bulletin: March 28, 2009