Well done, Father Krische

Dear Editor: Re: Father Jim Krische’s July 28 article in The Tablet.

Father Jim’s main concern was the great sacrifice our mostly volunteer Army and their families face while the men and women are serving overseas. They all need our prayers.

The many chaplains, Catholic, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, are there to keep the servicemen grounded in their faith and pray for their safe return and place in this terrible war.

Audrey M. Holzknecht
Forest Hills

Dear Editor: Father James Krische’s columns from Iraq deserve publication not pacifist cant.

The political philosophy of pacifism essentially lacks all appreciation for the courage and sacrifice displayed by ordinary Americans in the military.

Father Krische, like Father Francis Patrick Duffy before him, did not run from his fellow Americans in war time.

Well done, Father K.!

Good luck in Rome, and thank you for serving as a military chaplain.

Tom Phillips
Brooklyn

The Altar Server’s Privilege

Dear Editor: Altar servers make my Mass observance more meaningful. I remember my years as an altar server. Father Damien, Sister Terence and Sister Ann taught us church Latin and the different postures during Mass. I remember the celebrant facing the tabernacle and the servers trying to see him covering the chalice to announce the consecration.

When I got accustomed to serving funerals, I tried to give a bit of solace to the bereaved. I never served a funeral just to get out of class for an hour.

Mass in the vernacular brought a breath of fresh air to the liturgy. Young ladies, including the altar server at our wedding, bring a special grace to our worship.

There is a prayer that angels crowd the sanctuary during the consecration. But no one is closer to the Lord than the altar servers.

Steven Allured
Flushing

Tradition of Singing Hymns

Dear Editor: Recently, I purchased a book of Polish hymns which I gave to my neighbor from Poland. The next day, he saw my wife and started to sing. My wife joined in and a duet was done in Polish and English of “Immaculate Mary.” The song book is over 100 years old.

Like Tevye of “Fiddler On the Roof,” they know the strength and value of “Tradition.”

Si vales, valeo.

Joseph T. Klonowski
Middle Village

Praise, Please the Lord

Dear Editor: Over the weekend, I attended a two-day Evangelization Seminar at the St. Bartholomew Church in Elmhurst, Queens. I have nothing but admiration for the hard work and dedication of the people who organized it. There was a lot of singing, praying, dancing and eating too.

However, I felt there was too much “Praising the Lord.” That phrase was tainted by the scandalous antics of Jim Baker a few years ago. Of course, there is nothing wrong with praises unless it is done to excess, otherwise it loses its real meaning and value.

Personally, I believe that praising the Lord with all your heart no matter how brief it is once a day is enough. Isn’t it better we simply “please” the Lord? There are countless ways and means of serving Him. It is my contention that if we “Please the Lord, the Lord will end up praising us.”

I would be interested in knowing what your readers say about this.

Salvador A. Avendanio
Elmhurst

Hail, Rams of Fordham!

Dear Editor: Recently, a couple of rating agencies released their evaluations of American universities, which noted that four Catholic institutions were counted among the top 70, led by Notre Dame, followed by three Jesuit schools — Georgetown, Boston College and Fordham.

One of the raters - Kaplan - further highlighted this evaluation by citing what it called the hottest 25 colleges and included Fordham, which attracted over 20,000 applications last year and could only accept less than half. Interestingly, the National Catholic News Service’s recap published by The Tablet left Fordham’s name out of some of the summaries. An unintentional oversight, I am sure, but one which should not go unremarked, hence this note.

As one of four generations of my family to attend Fordham over the last eighty years, including a Professor of History there for almost 40 years, a female patent attorney and a granddaughter, who’s a happy senior at Rose Hill, I couldn’t let this omission slide by. Go Rams! The Bronx is no longer burning and the campuses at Lincoln Center and Tarrytown are booming as well.

A few straws in the wind. The present president of the International Association of Catholic Universities, Dr. Cerena, also president of Sacred Heart University, garnered a few degrees from Fordham as did a recent president of New York University and a past president of Columbia. William J. Flynn ’51, chairman emeritus of Mutual of America, has been vitally instrumental in such diverse activities as the Holocaust Memorial in Washington and the northern Irish coalition government just installed in Belfast. These are but a few of the worthy successors of Father Robert I. Gannon, president of Fordham from 1936 to 1949, who headed up the New York State organization of college presidents for many years, elected again and again by his secular peers to that prestigious post. Governor Rockefeller heard Gannon speak once and commented — where have they been hiding this man? He was at Fordham, the quiet, mannerly university at the heart of arguably the most important city in the western world.

Jim O’Donnell
Flushing

Two Sent by God

Dear Editor: I love to sing. In fact, I’m presently a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church choir. One of my favorite songs is “How Great Thou Art.” So many incidents in my life have proven God’s greatness. Let me share two with you.

One happened in 2006, when my friend and I joined the Holy Week Silent Retreat at the Carmelite Sisters’ Convent in Mahwah Valley, N.J. We had to be there at 4 p.m. to register. A few minutes before boarding the PATH train, I felt the call of nature. It so happened that the nearest ladies room was out of order, so I had to look for another one. That delayed my return to the train station. My friend was signal6ing to me to hurry up. I saw him board the train, carrying my luggage.

Before I could reach the door, it had closed and the train was about to move. My friend was signaling to me to go back home. I told myself, “Why or should I? God will take care of me.”

On the opposite track I saw another train. I told the conductor my problem. He said that I shouldn’t worry because the train was leaving soon. It didn’t take so long and the train arrived and started to move. I told the conductor that my ticket was with my friend and he believed me.

When I reached Suffern, I had to take a cab going to the convent. I kept praying. No cab in sight! Someone told me to go to the gas station. I was about to do so when a tall guy came along to get his car parked where I was standing. I told him that I couldn’t get a cab for the retreat house. He said that he heard about the place but he had never gone there. To my amazement, he offered me a lift. Without a second thought, I gratefully accepted his offer. What a good Samaritan! He truly was God-sent.

Another incident that has proven God’s greatness happened when I was going to the train station after the Holy Mass at St. Francis Church. It was raining heavily so I covered my head with a plastic shopping bag. To my amazement again a young guy in a black suit stopped me to give me his black folding umbrella. I appreciated his offer but hesitated to accept it because he himself needed it as he was going a long way to Penn Station. But he insisted so I took the umbrella and thanked him. I told myself, “Another God-send.”

Rosalia G. Heng
Long Island City