Today we sang at communion "See How the Virgin Waits," with a Slovak folk melody. It saddened me to discover that its composer, Fr. Willard Jabusch, of Chicago, died this December 8th, age 88. You may read an obituary in the Chicago Tribune HERE. Many hymns he authored were based on hymns in Christian cultures in other lands and languages.
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Some of his eighty hymns are listed HERE. His talent helped us worship and praise.
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Today's hymn is certainly an appropriate Advent song. I have not yet discovered whether it is also a translation from Slovak or whether he has Slovak ancestry. Please comment below if you know!
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May the choirs of angels welcome him.
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Collection for Retired Religious
This Sunday, December 9, 2018, parishes will receive collections for the Retirement Fund for Religious, as organized in the diocese of Rockville Centre. Some years back, there was a fund for two dioceses, Brooklyn and Rockville Centre. It appears from the brochure and letter from Bishop John Barras that the funds will be send onward to the USCCB for its National Religious Retirement Office. Congregations of female or male religious apply for specific grants from the NRRO. The website retiredreligious.org contains an Annual Report and Financial Statements that details the distribution. (I complain that some praiseworthy charities fill their annual reports with photos and narratives, but avoid listing details of distribution. The NRRO link is outstanding for its explanation of distributions.)
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I generalize that most congregations that built colleges or academies are better off financially than those that earned stipends by teaching in parishes or doing more localized work. In the Direct Care Assistance table, the fourth column states the percentage of the congregation's (or province's) retirement needs not funded. Some U. S. religious orders, congregations, or provinces are listed in a separate section, titled Congregation Contributions.
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A state-by-state listing within the Direct Care Assistance table offer important information, namely the number of members. Knowledge of the provincial structure of the larger congregations is helpful in reading these numbers.
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As for Long Island, these member numbers are given for 2017:
Brentwood Josephites, 460 Sisters.
Amityville Dominicans, 367 Sisters.
Huntington, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, 33 Sisters.
Daughters of Wisdom, 72 Sisters.
Ursulines of Tildonk, Blue Point, and Jamaica, 36 Sisters.
Halifax Sisters of Charity, 53 Sisters.
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I generalize that most congregations that built colleges or academies are better off financially than those that earned stipends by teaching in parishes or doing more localized work. In the Direct Care Assistance table, the fourth column states the percentage of the congregation's (or province's) retirement needs not funded. Some U. S. religious orders, congregations, or provinces are listed in a separate section, titled Congregation Contributions.
---
A state-by-state listing within the Direct Care Assistance table offer important information, namely the number of members. Knowledge of the provincial structure of the larger congregations is helpful in reading these numbers.
---
As for Long Island, these member numbers are given for 2017:
Brentwood Josephites, 460 Sisters.
Amityville Dominicans, 367 Sisters.
Huntington, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, 33 Sisters.
Daughters of Wisdom, 72 Sisters.
Ursulines of Tildonk, Blue Point, and Jamaica, 36 Sisters.
Halifax Sisters of Charity, 53 Sisters.
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