This was sent in by a reader about an effort by the Diocese of Syracuse, NY.<\/p>\n
\nThe Office of Vocation Promotion here, headed by Fr. Joe O’Connor, is holding the first annual “Men in Black” Soccer Game<\/a> to promote vocations and to provide an opportunity for laity to support the priests and seminarians of the diocese.\u00a0 The\u00a0game is scheduled for\u00a0Saturday, July 17, at 10:00am, with a\u00a0family cookout to follow.<\/div>\nThe priests and seminarians will take the field against the soccer team of Holy Cross Academy<\/a> in Oneida, NY,\u00a025 miles\u00a0east\u00a0of Syracuse.\u00a0 One reason for the game’s location is that the HCA 2010 Valedictorian, Dan Collins, is entering the seminary for diocese this fall and will be the starting goalie for the diocesan team.\u00a0 Dan was the HCA goalie for its championship soccer teams in 2008 and 2009.<\/div>\nFr. Joe O’Connor thought that with the excitement of the World Cup going\u00a0on now,\u00a0and also the success of the “Clericus Cup” in Rome, a soccer match would offer a prime opportunity for young people to interact with priests and seminarians.\u00a0 The\u00a0“Men in Black” theme also has been used for\u00a0annual basketballs games<\/a> which pit the priests and seminarians\u00a0against local\u00a0parish teams.\u00a0\u00a0With the success of the basketball games, Fr. Joe decided to move\u00a0on to another popular sport in Upstate New York – soccer.<\/div>\nFr. Joe has been the Vocations Director since 2008, was ordained in 2005,\u00a0and is a graduate of Franciscan University.\u00a0 He has done great work here in Syracuse and I hope Bishop Robert Cunningham plans to keep him around for a while!<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nSounds like a great idea as long as there is no blessing of the Vuvuzela.<\/p>\n
Here is a cool new radio show with Dolores Meehan co-founder of the Walk for Life West Coast and Gibbons Cooney in the San Francisco area.<\/p>\n
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\n\u2022 On June 28 and July 5,\u00a0Dolores Meehan\u00a0will interview Fr. Michael Sweeney, President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, on \u201cAuthentic Catholic Education\u2014and the Impact of the Land O\u2019 Lakes Conference.\u201d
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\n<\/span><\/span>\u2022 July 12: Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, of Oakland, on \u201cThe Manhattan Declaration: A Call to Christian Conscience.”
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\n\u2022 July 19: Fr. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute, on a neglected area of Catholic social teaching \u201cThe Principle of Subsidiarity and the Service to the Poor.\u201d
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\n\u2022 July 26, bioethicist\/author Dr. Janet Smith, of Sacred Heart Major Seminary on \u201cThe Right to Privacy.\u201d
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\nFuture guests include:<\/p>\n\u2022 Father Joseph Fessio, SJ;<\/p>\n
\u2022 the very interesting Ave Maria University Professor of philosophy Maria Fedoryka on “The Gift of Woman”;<\/p>\n
\u2022 a fascinating (and scary) three-part interview with Mr. Brian Fairchild, an expert on Salafist Islamic groups in the U.S.;<\/p>\n
\u2022 and the renowned authors and thinkers Mrs. Mary Eberstadt, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, and Dr. Anthony Esolen.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span>Here’s Dolo’s mission statement:<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cBay Area Catholics are some of the strongest Catholics in the country. Reclaiming the Culture grew out of the desire to show that the Catholic Church in the Bay Area has the resources to confront the prevailing secular culture. Our purpose is to introduce great thinkers to listeners who may not have the opportunity to pursue an authentic, classical, Catholic education at, say, the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley. We see this as a chance to share the wisdom of the Catholic Church, which is far greater than many people realize, and is easily up to the task of engaging the prevailing secular culture. We want to move beyond catechesis and apologetics, important as they are, and enter into the arena where faith meets reason.\u201d<\/span> <\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/span>In other news the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming are working to build a gothic monastery in the Rockies<\/a>.<\/p>\n