November 21, 2009 |
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 November 2008 Advent wreath prayers here; where are the purple candles?
ORMOND BEACH | Judging from the downloads of the weekly prayer guides made available on this Web site last year, Advent wreath rituals are part of preparation for Christmas in many homes. The Florida Catholic is pleased to offer similar prayer guides based on this year’s Scripture readings. Lighting of the Advent wreath at home has been a tradition in my life since I was a child, when my mother cut holes into a disk of floral foam to insert four appropriately colored candles, topped it with a small plastic wreath and led my brothers, sister and I in weekly prayer in anticipation of Christmas. The challenge for me as I’ve carried that cherished memory into adulthood has been finding the purple candles each year in local stores. The rose candles are close enough to the palette of Christmas colors so as to present no problem. But the availability of purple candles seems to come and go with home decor trends. A few years ago, I found cartons of purple candles at a dollar store, 2 for a buck, and bought what seemed like a lifetime supply. But now they are gone. I’ve been back to the dollar store, to two big–box stores, two drugstores and to a party store, all to no avail. So, dear readers, I need your help. Where did you find purple candles for your Advent wreath this year? You can contact me here. Denise O’Toole Kelly | 11.26.08 | Return To Top | Advent Wreath Prayers Kids kick at Knights’ challenge
RANDY HALE | KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS The Knights of Columbus Soccer Challenge is an annual competition open to boys and girls ages 10–14. Each player is allowed 25 shots (15 on the council level) at the goal from the penalty line. Points are awarded based upon the area of the scoring zones through which the ball passes. Competition begins at the local council level, winners progress to the district, regional, state and international levels. International champions are determined on the basis of the best scores from the state competitions. Jeremy placed second in his age division. 11.21.08 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Online Home Page Farmworkers’ hardships backed by government statsThe bishops of Florida have designated Nov. 23 as Farmworker Sunday to promote solidarity with those who labor for low wages, often under harsh conditions, in the agricultural industry. The annual observance serves a reminder of the state’s bishops’ 2006 pastoral letter “Honoring the Dignity of Work: A Call for Solidarity with Florida’s Farmworkers and Other Vulnerable Workers,” in which, “We call upon individuals, corporations, institutions, government and the church herself to take concrete steps to promote freedom and justice for farmworkers and their families, and indeed for all Floridians in precarious occupations.” The U.S. Department of Labor gathers statistical information on the U.S. crop labor force each year as part of its National Agricultural Workers Survey. The information, obtained through face-to-face interviews with farmworkers, tells much about the field workers wages, families, culture and working conditions. Here are some facts about U.S. farmworkers from the latest report on the survey, released in March 2005 and based on information collected in 2000 and 2001: MORE... 11.17.08 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Online Home Page Florida Catholic writer Jacquelyn Horkan dies at 49ORLANDO | The Florida Catholic lost a family member Oct. 24 when Mary Jacquelyn “Jacque” Horkan died in Tallahassee after battling cancer for longer than two years. She was 49. Horkan, the newspaper’s legislative correspondent, continued during the course of her treatment to inform and educate readers about state public policy matters from a Catholic perspective. Friends and family members said Horkan embraced death as she lived –fully and with faith – and that the world has been transformed by her. MORE... Laura Dodson | 11.05.08 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Online Home Page Food For Our Families: Cancel the cornucopiaORLANDO | With Thanksgiving around the corner, ubiquitous are images of the harvest – a time when both food and work bringing it in from the fields are in plenty. But the pictures on the calendar page belie the truth of November in much of Florida, particularly in this year if economic turmoil. “It’s kind of a desperate situation right now. We’re just starting to plant tomatoes and a few people are helping plant, but it will probably be January or February before the harvest will be ready and in the meantime there’s not much work,” said Tom Comerford, managing director of Sacred Heart Outreach Center in Homestead, one of dozens of drop-off points around the state for the current Food for Our Families drive sponsored by the Florida Catholic newspaper and the Florida Catholic Conference. MORE... Denise O’Toole Kelly | 11.05.08 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Online Home Page Counseling men vital to abortion prevention, healingOne in an occasional series of columns about Project Rachel post-abortion ministry in Florida. Before becoming involved in abortion counseling for men, the pro-life movement had always been something of which I had been a nominal member. My thought process was, “Hey, I am a fervent Catholic youth who accepts the church’s moral authority. Therefore I am pro-life by default!” However, in this thought process existed a massive disconnect from the frightening human realities which are precipitated by legal abortion. My opportunity to bridge this disconnect came in December 2007 when the local women’s clinic, Open Door, asked male members of the Florida State University Catholic Student Union to be bold in the struggle for life and volunteer as counselors to the men who accompanied women seeking abortions. After a month and a half of role-playing with the seasoned female counselors, my first real session arrived. Butterflies gripped me and I found myself panicked over whether those role-plays would be at all helpful. Would he feel attacked? Would he have questions I couldn’t answer? Would he get belligerent? God was present, however, and immediately there was a peace between us in our conversation. MORE... Enrico C. Filippini | 11.05.08 | Return To Top | Florida Catholic Online Home Page |
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