Pope Prays for Greek Orthodox Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Expresses Condolences for Death of Archbishop Christodoulos

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 29, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is assuring the Greek Orthodox Church of his prayers after the death of Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece.

The Orthodox archbishop died of cancer Monday at age 69.

The Holy Father sent a telegram to Metropolitan Seraphim of Karystia and Skyros.

He gave assurance of his spiritual closeness to those mourning the death “of this distinguished pastor of the Church of Greece.

“The telegram continued: “The fraternal welcome which His Beatitude gave my predecessor Pope John Paul II on the occasion of his visit to Athens in May 2001, and the return visit of Archbishop Christodoulos to Rome in December 2006, opened a new era of cordial cooperation between us, leading to increased contacts and improved friendship in the search for closer communion in the context of the growing unity of Europe.

“I and Catholics around the world pray that the Orthodox Church of Greece will be sustained by the grace of God in continuing to build on the pastoral achievements of the late archbishop, and that in commending the noble soul of His Beatitude to our heavenly Father’s loving mercy you will be comforted by the Lord’s promise to reward his faithful servants.

“The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, will preside at the funeral this Thursday at the Cathedral of Athens.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, retired president of the Pontifical Council of Culture, and Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will represent the Holy See at the funeral.

Fr. Dan Kennedy Update

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Rev. Daniel J. Kennedy
January 16, 1974 – January 27, 2008

Rev. Daniel J. Kennedy, 34, of Needham and Winthrop, died of a heart attack Sunday, January 27, 2008 at Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut.

Father Kennedy was a graduate of Catholic Memorial School, Providence College and Saint John’s Seminary and a Lieutenant in the United States Navy Chaplin Corps. He was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston on May 26, 2007 and was the Parochial Vicar at Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Winthrop. Father Kennedy was an accomplished runner who completed nine marathons, including the Boston, Philadelphia and Marine Corps marathons, and was also an avid golfer. He shared a love for God, a love for his family and friends, and a passion for the Boston Red Sox and the Catholic Memorial Knights.

He was the beloved son of Daniel J. Kennedy and Alice M. (Haggerty) Kennedy of Needham; loving brother of Kathleen M. Kennedy, Patricia A. Kennedy, Anne Marie Kennedy all of Needham, and John F. Kennedy and his wife Elizabeth of Simsbury, Connecticut, loving uncle of Ashley T. Kennedy of Needham, and loving nephew of Judith E. Kennedy of Chicopee, Eleanor Masi and Elizabeth Harlow both of Maine; he is also survived by several cousins. He was the grandson of the late Patrick J. and Eileen M. Kennedy of Springfield and Charles J. and Alice H. Haggerty of West Springfield.

Funeral Information

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated by his Eminence, Sean Cardinal O’Malley, on Friday, February 1st in Saint Joseph Church, 1382 Highland Avenue, Needham at 11:00 am. Interment will take place on Saturday, February 2nd, in Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Westfield at 11:00 am.
Father Kennedy will lie in state in Saint Joseph Church, 1382 Highland Avenue, Needham on Thursday, January 31st from 3:00-8:00 pm.

Donations Information

In lieu of flowers, the Kennedy family requests that donations be made in memory of Father Daniel J. Kennedy to Catholic Memorial School, 235 Baker Street, West Roxbury, MA 02132 or to Saint Joseph School Endowment Fund, 90 Pickering Street, Needham, MA 02492.

RIP Fr. Dan Kennedy

Posted on by Fr. Peter
News has reached the Village about the passing of one of my seminary classmates Fr. Dan Kennedy. Fr. Dan was only 33 yrs old and from what I hear he died of a heart attack at the home of his brother on Sunday night. Fr. Dan was a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and will be missed. He was ordained last May to the priesthood and was serving a parish in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

Memory Eternal!

Blog

Head of Greece’s Orthodox Church Dies

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Leader of Greece’s Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, Dies
The Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece
Greece’s Orthodox Church leader, Archbishop Christodoulos, who eased centuries of tension with the Vatican but angered liberal critics who viewed him as an attention-seeking reactionary, died Monday at his home of cancer, church officials said. He was 69.

Christodoulos, who headed the church for a decade, was first hospitalized in Athens in June before being diagnosed with cancer of the liver and large intestine.

He spent 10 weeks in a hospital in Miami but an October liver transplant operation was canceled when doctors discovered the cancer had spread. He refused hospital treatment in the final weeks of his life.

Christodoulos was elected church leader in 1998 and is credited with reinvigorating the vast institution that represents 97 percent of Greece’s native born population.

He helped create church Web sites and radio stations, and frequently issued detailed checklists on how black-clad Orthodox priests should conduct themselves in public.

In 2001, Christodoulos received the late John Paul II the first pope to visit Greece in nearly 1,300 years. They held the landmark meeting in Athens despite vigorous protests from Orthodox zealots.

The archbishop followed up in 2006 with an historic visit to the Vatican, where he and Pope Benedict XVI signed a joint declaration calling for inter-religious dialogue and stating opposition to abortion and euthanasia.

Memory Eternal!

Fire Update

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I spent a few hours yesterday getting my truck back in service after the fire the other night. I also noticed that my comments on the fire brought in the most hits on this blog and the most comments on a single posting since I began this blog. I want to thank all of you for your comments and those who did not comment thanks for reading my words.

My good friend and department photographer Alan Bracket has a website of photos of various fires in the area. Alan is a retired fire fighter from Sturbridge, Massachusetts and he takes photo’s for our department and others. Here is a link to his photos of the fire the other night. If you look close you can even see pics of me. I am the one with the cross on his helmet standing around with nothing to do! Anyway thanks to Alan for taking the pics and sharing them.

Fire

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Yesterday started out like any other day would have and things were right on schedule as I had planned them. Fr. Greg and I met for breakfast and a podcast session and then I set about to take care of office work. About 5pm the fire radio went off about a house fire not far from the church. I have blogged before about being a fire chaplain and this is part of the job. The radio is on 24/7 and you actually get used to it. So I went to the front door of my house and yep there is was two streets away, and big house fire.

This is what I saw when I arrived. This photo comes courtesy of the Telegram and Gazette newspaper in Worcester.

Now the point of telling this story is simply this. Fire fighters risk their lives everyday. Human beings had to go in that house and put that fire out. These brave men and women do things that normal, and I use that term in a good way, people would not do. As people are running out, they are running in not knowing if they will come back out or not. They have to trust their training and trust each other. Fire fighters in this area have taken a hit in the last few weeks with the stories coming out of Boston and some other places about drugs and alcohol on the job. It is very easy for us to look at fire fighters and think all they do is sit around the fire house and sleep. Well look at that picture again and think about it. That is a three family house. If you look close on the porch of the second floor you see people, those are the men and women we think just sit around and do nothing. They train for this stuff everyday. Just like the police officer who rides around in his/her car during a shift, these are highly trained, and under paid, professionals.

Now I like sports. I like to watch sports. But when I see what these people get paid it makes me sick to think of them versus they guys in that picture. In this area fire fighters start at around $35,000 a year. Okay not a bad salary, but in my department we only have six full time the rest like me are call fire fighters who make maybe $2,500 a year doing this. They do hold jobs or go to school but you get the idea. One of the departments that responded yesterday is a volunteer department. That’s right, they run into that building for FREE!

Don’t get me wrong I think people should be able to make as much money as they can but, when we pay a pitcher $40 million a year and fire fighter $35,000 a year something is wrong. We pay all of our public servants, police, fire, teachers, emts’s, snow plow drivers, etc. way to little and we need to look at how we structure our budgets. No one wants to pay more tax but come on people!

Next time you drive by your local fire house remember that photo and say a prayer for the men and women who happen to be on shift that day. Remember their families who pray every time the bell rings until they hear from their loved ones that they are okay. Next time your making cookies or something make an extra batch and take it by the fire house they love it and will even let you sit in one of the fire trucks, by the way that is cool! Thank the men and women of the fire service for all that they do and for risking their loves to save your 42″ flat screen LCD TV that they can’t afford themselves.

Okay, rant over.

Quick Note

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Just a quick note as I ready myself for a Fire Chaplain meeting today. This is our quarterly meeting and training session and today’s topic will be very serious and somber. Line of Duty Death notification. This is training that I hope I will never have to use. So I am off in a half hour with another chaplain from the area for this meeting that will last most of the day.

Tomorrow the plan is to podcast with Fr. Greg and to try and get on some schedule again. We have been trying to keep to a set schedule but it becomes harder as each of us get busier with our respective parish duties and other such things.

Yesterday I was at the local radio station recording promos for the new radio ministry I mentioned in the previous post. Very weird recording in front of another person. Podcasting is one thing but doing radio spots is very different. But it is done. I still need to get the press release done and I will post that when it is released.

General Assembly Follow-up

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Well the events of the day went very well. We were able to make some plans for the next year and I hope and pray that we acted in the way that God is calling us to act. It is always difficult to make plans when one is not sure of what the future holds. So much of what we do as church depends on many factors that are out of our control. We have an older parish here and most are on a fixed income so it is difficult to plan finances. After the assembly we had a discussion at coffee hour about raising funds. It always turns to the easy things like raffles and other forms of gambling. We have several of those events here each year and I am not keen to add more. So what is the answer? We have begun a discussion about Stewardship. You will be hearing more about that this year as we move in that direction.

So I announced a new ministry yesterday. We have become an affiliate of Come Receive the Light National Radio Program. We will be syndicating the national weekly talk show on our local AM radio station. The show will air from 8:30-9:00 on Sunday morning and will end with an invitation from me to come to church. This is a very large undertaking for us from a financial position but we have made the commitment to reach out. The cost for this new ministry represents about 5% of our total budget for the year but we have to do it. We will be the only religious programing of any kind on the station. This could be good. So that is the news from the Village.

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