A Priest of Class of ’57

Dear Editor: As I read through the annual Priests Jubilarian section (May 19) of The Tablet, I was reminded of a member of the Brooklyn ordination class of 1957 who will not celebrate 50 years in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Msgr. Edward “Wes” Offenheiser, ordained a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn on June 1, 1957 served this diocese well for over 31 years before his untimely death in 1988.

I had the privilege of working at St. Joseph’s Rectory in Astoria for several years when Msgr. Offenheiser was pastor there and I was a student from the parish at Cathedral Prep. Because of that special relationship, I got to know Msgr. Offenheiser well both as a priest and as a person. More than any priest I had ever known, it was he who inspired and encouraged me to continue seminary studies at the college level. His contentment in his own priesthood (even before he was named a monsignor), and his love of the priesthood of Jesus Christ itself, helped to encourage me to seek the priesthood for myself.  

Obviously, I never reached ordination; but to this day, Msgr. Wes Offenheiser remains one of my role models in life. He was a well-read, well-disciplined man who could talk authoritatively on diverse subjects, from corporate finance to the importance of Marian devotion to the significance of the etched-glass windows in the school auditorium. He committed himself fully and unapologetically to what he believed in. He also had tremendous admiration for the Sisters of St. Dominic who served St. Joseph’s parish at that time, as Father Michael Himes noted at monsignor’s funeral.

Msgr. Offenheiser’s personal humility extends to the grave. His tombstone, which lies next to his parents’ in Southold, N.Y., reads “Rev. Edward W. Offenheiser” leaving no perpetual mention of his papal honors.

As the members of Brooklyn’s ordination class of 1957 celebrate their 50 years of service to the Church, I hope they remember Msgr. Wes Offenheiser and any other classmates who shared their ordination date but not their longevity in service.

Michael Vekassy
Brooklyn Heights

Don’t Ignore Fatima’s Message

Dear Editor: The events at Fatima, Portugal, on May 13 – Oct. 13, 1917, are of historic importance, not only for Catholics, but also for the world given their link to the collapse of government-sponsored atheism in Russia, which happened when the Soviet Union was dissolved on Christmas Day, 1991. Yet, I searched in vain the May 12 and May 19 issues of The Tablet for any mention of the 90th anniversary of the May 13 event. If the Catholic press won’t remember these events, who will? If the witnesses don’t have their story repeated and their testimony documented in the Catholic press on anniversaries, who will remember what happened? 

The Fatima events reflect the glory of God, His continuing involvement in the affairs of mankind, and document that miracles occur in modern times, a powerful antidote to secular culture.  Isn’t this a golden opportunity to communicate and evangelize? 

Philip Lehpamer
Brooklyn

Editor’s Note: Our Around the Diocese section has been printing notices of the local observance of Fatima’s 90th anniversary.

Beware of False Tolerance

Dear Editor: C.S. Lewis said the cowardice, stupidity, close-mindedness, and intolerance a mind will embrace trying to prove that it is courageous, intelligent, open-minded, and tolerant is without limits. In what are generally cultural wastelands like television, movies, and the Internet, vitriolic contempt is routinely directed towards the Catholic religion fortified by levels of historical understanding that seldom exceed the intelligence level of a comic book. And yet we can always find Catholics eager to be understood as supporting the anti-Catholic bigotry. They demonstrate an obstinate refusal to consider that tolerating bigotry towards their own might actually be characteristic of phoniness rather than courage.

Catholics were involved, for example, in promoting the recent tomb of Jesus deception. James Cameron apparently didn’t learn anything from the millions he paid out in lawsuits after defaming the image of several Christian men who acted bravely but were depicted as cowards in the dishonest film he made about “The Titanic.”

Then we had the head of Jesus hoax of five years ago. You remember when an artist contrived a drawing of a rather ugly Jesus based on skeletal remains from a man of a similar region and era? Although the mainstream media breathlessly promoted it as an important discovery, little effort was made by these pliable minds to consider that the premise made as much sense as finding an image of a Civil War soldier and saying this is exactly what Abraham Lincoln looked like. Many Catholics, who ordinarily congratulate themselves for being non-judgmental, were so impressed by the hoax, they judged those who were not so impressed as guilty of pride “for clinging to old ideas about Jesus.”
And who can ever forget how numerous Catholics lined up to prove their “open-mindedness” by supporting the preposterous junk history of Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code.”

The softest of criticisms of anti-Catholic bigotry are frequently dismissed as “an attempt to censor.” Remember the comical spectacle of a Disney CEO defending the film “Priest,” a vicious episode of intolerance and bigotry towards Catholicism, by saying, “It is intolerant and bigoted to not allow us the choice to not tolerate any religious beliefs we choose. Christ, after all, taught tolerance, which some of those in the Church sorely lack.”

 Actually, Christ never preached anything as mushy and undefined as tolerance, let alone Hollywood-style tolerance. He taught mercy, patience, charity – which cover a lot of ground, but are a long way from Hollywood. He also condemned divorce, adultery, and even looking at women with lust. Pretty intolerant, according to Hollywood thinking. “Go, and sin no more.” These are sweet but stern words of forgiveness, even encouragement, but far from “anything goes.”

Unless we want to say that everything is tolerable, there must be limits; and we should ask ourselves questions about human nature about which Hollywood thinking is itself none too tolerant. Do we have immortal souls? If so, are we at risk of damnation? And what sins increase the risk? Could sexual sins be among them? Are people severely damaged in this life by sin? Contemporary Hollywood answers such questions in the negative; or rather, it presumes negative answers.

Christians take these questions seriously. If we are essentially creatures of God, they have to be confronted. Aside from the poor, diseased, and deserted losers of the sexual revolution, let alone the dead unborn, how does Hollywood view the winners? Outside of Hollywood and those influenced by Hollywood, does anyone really look up to pornography moguls?

We now live in the ruins of false progressive hopes, in moral as well as in political matters. Yet such is the sway of commonplace ideas masquerading as boldness that hardly anyone dares suggest that we reconsider the merits of such alleged advances as divorce and contraception for example, whose effects are worse than any pessimist predicted. False tolerance may yet be the death of us.

Dionne Joyner
Jamaica

Recognition in College Point

?The picture shows Joan Colombo, her husband, and the seventh-grade teachers on the day of Confirmation at St. Fidelis parish, College Point. From left, are: Maria Sausa, John Colombo, Jennifer Colombo, Joan Colombo, Pat Obdienzo, and Susan Grossman.

Dear Editor: The Director of Religious Education of St. Fidelis Church in College Point, Mrs. Joan Colombo, is retiring from her position after 24 years, and I and the other teachers and staff would love to see her receive well-deserved recognition for the wonderful job she has done.

Joan is truly an outstanding individual. Her strong faith in God and His teachings has been a model to all whom she met over the past 35 years in our program. (Joan was a volunteer for 11 years as a Religious Ed. teacher in the program before taking the director’s position.)

Joan is a very caring, very compassionate person. She is very organized and all aspects of the program run smooth from registrations to sacraments. She gives her all in everything she does. Her interactions with the children, parents and staff are highly commendable. She is not only the director, but also a great teacher, an advisor, and an inspiration to all.

St. Fidelis teaches children from grades one through seven hosting multiple classes for each grade level. It is a large program with a lot of teachers, many of whom like Joan’s daughter, Jennifer, following her mother’s example, have been volunteer teachers of their faith for over 20 years.

Joan’s husband, John is also a volunteer. It is not a coincidence that the teacher/staff turn around is so low and that a large majority of the staff has been there for over 10 years. Working with Joan has been a pleasure.

I realize this may not be newsworthy enough for a full article, but it would mean a lot to everyone in the program if you could at least print a picture of her in the newspaper acknowledging her retirement and service to the parish. Joan would be so surprised and touched. I have enclosed a picture in case you are able to print it.

Susan Grossman
East Atlantic Beach