Diocesan
youth embark on
first-ever Quo Vadis Days
By Kenneth J. Souza, Anchor Staff
WAREHAM, Mass. — While many families were traveling to summer vacation
hot spots last week, a group of 22 teen-age boys from across the Fall River
Diocese descended upon the scenic Sacred Hearts Retreat Youth Center in Wareham
to participate in the first-ever diocesan Quo Vadis Days retreat.
The five-day program, held July 5-9, was an inaugural effort by the
diocesan Vocation Office to help young men discern their vocation in life and
perhaps answer a special calling to serve God as priests.
“It’s basically geared to help them think about some of the practical
things involved with vocations,” said Father Kevin A. Cook, associate director
of Vocations and Seminarians for the diocese. “If they’re trying to discern
what God is calling them to do, we hope this week will help them examine their
relationships with others.”
To that end, Father Cook noted the retreat experience was designed to
include prayer and reflection but also fun and social activities for
participants.
Cape
Cod Baseball League: More than
‘Where the stars of tomorrow shine tonight’
By Dave Jolivet, Editor
HYANNIS, Mass. — It’s considered by many baseball gurus as one of the
premier amateur baseball leagues in the country. The Cape Cod Baseball League,
an entity consisting of 10 teams strewn across the Cape, can trace its roots
all the way back to 1885. There is a flyer in the National Baseball Hall of
Fame in Cooperstown advertising a game between Sandwich and Barnstable at 3
p.m. on July 4, 1885.
Since its inception, the CCBL has produced nearly 800 players who went
on to play Major League Baseball in some capacity. Some of these “stars” became
supernovas that went on to or are still in the middle of, illustrious careers
on the diamond. Others didn’t burn quite as brightly, but still left a mark on
the national game, on their former CCBL squad, and on themselves.
Some of the notables to make it from east of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges
to MLB ballparks include Red Sox standouts Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby
Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Nomar Garciaparra, and Mo Vaughn. CCBL alums playing
outside the friendly Fenway confines are many: Frank Thomas, Joe Girardi, Mark
Teixeira, Evan Longoria, Eric Hinske, Barry Zito, and Tim Lincecum.
Incredibly, according to the CCBL website, one in seven MLB players were
on a CCBL team, and in 2009, 217 were on Major League rosters.
encourages prayer
By
Deacon
James N. Dunbar
NORTH EASTON, Mass. — A fascinating new website that uses an animated
rosary that not only teaches the basic elements of prayer but offers video and
audio programming on the rosary as well as inspirational worldwide interviews,
has been launched by Family Rosary, a member of Holy Cross Family Ministries.
Seen as offering online evangelization 24/7, the recently opened website
(www.FamilyRosary.org) encourages Internet visitors to share their faith
stories, submit prayer requests, invites others to join them in prayer, and
even provides rosaries.
The site includes sections such as “Get Involved,” which offers tips on
encouraging rosary prayer at home, at school and in one’s parish; “Get
Inspired,” which features stories on how others live and daily pray the rosary;
and also “Prayer,” which explains many other forms of Catholic Christian
prayer.
There is also a full media section offered, which includes video
programs and social media opportunities in order that contributors can share
what they find and what they submit.
Visitors to the site can also order free rosaries for themselves, their
families, or any schools, parishes and organizations.
Newly-revised,
updated
Catholic Directory in the works
FALL RIVER, Mass. — A new and updated 2010-2011 Catholic Directory for
the Diocese of Fall River has been completed and will be released next month.
This annual information resource, published by The Anchor, is the go-to
reference guide for all parishes, offices and apostolates within the Fall River
Diocese.
“Every year the directory just seems to get bigger and better,” said
Kenneth J. Souza, staff reporter for The Anchor and coordinator of the
directory for the past three years. “We keep trying to pack in as much
pertinent information as we can while making it a user-friendly resource for
everyone.”
As in past years, the directory will provide updated telephone and
address listings of all diocesan offices, personnel, archives, priests’
residences, councils and apostolates ranging from the AIDS Ministry to Catholic
Social Services and its many offices, Campus Ministry, summer camps, Catholic
Charities Appeal, the Development Office, Chancery, Cursillo, Family Ministry,
Insurance, Legal, Communications, Scouting, Shelters, Vocations, and Youth and Adult
Ministry, along with a necrology of diocesan priests and deacons.
By
Christine M. Williams, Anchor Correspondent
BOSTON — In a continuing effort to chip away at the uniqueness of the
natural family, President Barack Obama’s administration has interpreted federal
law to allow homosexual partners the right to take time off work to care for
their partner’s children.
In June, the U.S. Department of Labor clarified the definition of son
and daughter in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), saying in a statement
that employees who care for a child should receive parental rights to family
leave “regardless of the legal or biological relationship.”
The Labor Department hailed the news as “a win for all families no
matter what they look like.”
“This action is a victory for many non-traditional families, including
families in the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community, who often in the
past have been denied leave to care for their loved ones,” the statement said.
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