Today I witnessed the Archdiocese celebrate the “Feast of the Epiphany”:http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/holidays/epiphany.htm
Epiphany is a Christian feast celebrating the ‘shining forth’ or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ
It was especially odd way to celebrate with the novelist “Poppy Z Brite”:http://www.poppyzbrite.com/ getting hauled away in handcuffs along with other parishioners.
After Howard Hunter Jr and Poppy Z Brite were dragged out there was a long period of time while representatives of the Archdiocese attempted to locate Harold Baquet who was somewhere inside the Church.
Because the parishioners had a more intimate knowledge of the Church than the Archdiocese officials they were able to secret themselves away inside the sanctuary.
Eventually Harold, who suffers from cancer came out in prayer and handcuffs.
At the end parishioners stood in front of the police car which took Mr. Baquet to central lock up.
UPDATE
I found this video of Sarah Comiskey, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese..she talks here about social justice.
You are the first person I’ve seen put these events in the context of the feast day on which they occurred.
Good eye, as they say.
Lord Hughes will find himself on the closed side of the door, soon enough. When asked if he allowed His children to worship in His house, he will say… what?
Luke 13:23-30
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?
And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate:
for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door,
and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door,
saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us;
and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
Then shall ye begin to say,
We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are;
depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets,
in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
And they shall come from the east, and from the west,
and from the north, and from the south,
and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
And, behold, there are last which shall be first,
and there are first which shall be last.
Interesting how Comiskey talks about the role Catholic schools have in New Orleans when there is a shuttered school building on the premises on OLGC that could be used by the archdiocese. Put their money where Comiskey’s mouth is, why don’t they?
Quite the epiphany for those folks at OLGC and St. Henry’s. Ugh.
liprap, the archdiocese does use closed churches for pastoral purposes, like the former st. cecilia’s in the bywater which is now the PACE (program of all-inclusive care for the elderly) program, the first of its kind in louisiana.
my name links to the site re: PACE
Alli, how best to explain Catholic Charities occupying a house and running a nursery school right next to an empty OLGC building that served as a school for many years, other than that Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese seem to be operating completely independently and, on occasion, at cross-purposes? Some of the decisions made concerning building usage have not been the best in these parts.
Just sayin’…