Non Tasarmi, Fratello!

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!” Hillaire Belloc

Saturday, November 28, 2015

This Guy Is Still a Priest?

From "Father" Michael Pfleger's Twitter page:
Today was a GREAT Success...The MAG MILE was shut down!!!! We are still a little divided, but the fact was we shut it down and their was NO VIOLENCE...What's sad and tragic is that in 2015 we are still fighting these battles of Corruption and Racism.....Who knew what and when and for How long....IT'S A DAMN SHAME.....The System isn't Broken, it's working just like it wants and it's Corrupt!!!!!....




 From WIkipedia:

On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, the homepage of the website of the Archdiocese of Chicago released a statement from Cardinal Francis George in the form of a letter, temporarily suspending Father Pfleger from administering any of the sacraments (save for the administration of the Sacrament of Penance in an emergency, which even laicized or excommunicated priests may do) and from his active ministry as pastor of St. Sabina's Parish. George had recently suggested that Pfleger take the position of president at Chicago's Leo Catholic High School, but Pfleger said he would consider leaving the Catholic Church if forced to leave his parish. Cardinal George replied, in part, "If that is truly your attitude, you have already left the Catholic Church." Cardinal George lifted the suspension on May 20, 2011.

Labels: ,

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Poignant, but....STOOPID

What do Barack Obama and the auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles have in common? The massacres in Paris mean more to them because, well they were there. A long time ago....

 Breitbart reports:

President Obama used a press conference with French President Francois Hollande to recall a moment he shared with the First Lady in France.
“By my bed in the residence is a picture of me and Michelle in Luxembourg Gardens, kissing,” Obama said. “Those are the memories we have of Paris, as early on I had no gray hair.”


From Jihad Watch:
 
 Barron began with a self-reverential response that carried a hint of conceit for having been placed among the great and the good. Our new bishop has ascended above even just anger. The massacre aroused no outrage, not even a wince of distaste. Rather, his first words were on fire with . . . nostalgia. He found the atrocity “especially poignant” because he had studied in Paris for three years. And because he remembered some of the locations involved, the attacks were “moving and poignant.”



So the problem with radical Islam is that it messes up your happy memories of long ago? Geez...no wonder we're losing.

I Do Not Feel Nostalgic!



Labels: , , , ,

The Time the Franciscans Saved Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Looks Like the Dog Ate It

Last January, Geoffrey Smith, a scholar of early Christianity at the University of Texas, noticed something startling: an eBay listing for an ancient Greek papyrus fragment of the Gospel of John — with an opening bid of only $99.


“I thought, This can’t be allowed to sell on eBay,” Dr. Smith said. “It will just disappear into a private collection.”
Dr. Smith contacted the seller and urged him to halt the online auction — apparently the first on eBay for a Greek New Testament papyrus, he and other scholars said — and let him study the fragment. The seller agreed, and now, on Saturday, Mr. Smith will present his research at the annual conference of the Society of Biblical Scholars in Atlanta.

There's a market for this? 

Many scholars refuse to study manuscripts that may have left their country of origin illegally, and some refuse to study material in private collections, on the grounds it helps drive the market.
That market is certainly robust. A third-century fragment of Romans on vellum, Dr. Jones noted, sold last year at Sotheby’s for nearly $500,000. The seller of the John papyrus, meanwhile, was “harassed by collectors offering him absurd amounts of money,” Dr. Smith said, declining to cite a specific figure.

PSST...Wanna buy some papyrus?

Labels: ,

The Trouble With the Congregation of the Holy Cross


NOTRE DAME, IN — We are obliged to inform our subscribers that Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., is no longer associated with the website NDCatholic.com, which we established to house Father's recommendations of Notre Dame faculty whom students could count on for an authentic Catholic education.  The radical reduction of Catholic presence on the Notre Dame faculty makes such information essential. Nevertheless, two days after the inauguration of the website Father sent us this message: "I regret that I can say only that I am required to end my involvement with the NDCatholic site and am not at liberty to say why." 



 In more detail, the facts are these:
On November 9, 2015, we unveiled the NDCatholic.com website, which is designed to assist students seeking a Catholic education at Notre Dame.  They need this sort of help because of the alarming reduction over recent decades in Catholic representation on the faculty.  The faculty no longer comes close to meeting the University's own Mission Statement test of Catholic identity: a majority of committed Catholics on the faculty.  Perhaps 25% to 30% of the faculty fit this description, as we will show again in a coming bulletin using the most recent data available.
The consequences of this steep decline in Catholic faculty have been described in concrete terms by Professor Emeritus Walter Nicgorski, who retired recently after more than forty years as one of Notre Dame's most highly regarded teachers and scholars:
It is increasingly the case today that a young person going through the critical and formative years of a Catholic education at Notre Dame might not encounter a practicing Catholic informed and engaged by the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Father Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., prepared the instructive recommendations of faculty and courses that appear on this website to assist students in making the choices necessary to insure that they receive an authentic Catholic education.  As a long time Notre Dame professor and  a nationally recognized historian who has served as chairman of the History Department and rector of Moreau Seminary, Father Miscamble was admirably suited to this task.  

Father Miscamble


So why did Father Miscamble give for his disassociation? 

Father responded: "Dear Bill, I regret that I can say only that I am required to end my involvement with the NDCatholic site and am not at liberty to say why. 


UND administrators and CSC superiors determined that Fr. Miscamble was engendering dissension within the UND and CSC communities by agitating for a more demonstrably Catholic UND.


Labels: , , ,

Monday, November 23, 2015

History Repeats Itself

Remember the story about the priest killed in Mexico (see the post, "Will The Last Sane Person to Leave Mexico Please Turn Off the Lights?" ? This is old news in Mexico. Here's the video story of Blessed Miguel Pro, who is honored today in the Church calendar.




 From the Knights of Columbus website:

The 1920s brought a revolution to Mexico, along with the widespread persecution of Catholics.
Missionaries were expelled from the country, Catholic seminaries and schools were closed, and the Church was forbidden to own property. Priests and laymen were told to denounce Jesus and their faith in public; if they refused, they faced not just punishment but torture and death.
During this time of oppression and cruelty, the Knights of Columbus did not retreat in Mexico but grew dramatically, from 400 members in 1918 to 43 councils and 6,000 members just five years later. In the United States at the time, the Knights handed out five million pamphlets that described the brutality of the Mexican government toward Catholics. As a result, the Mexican government greatly feared and eventually outlawed the Order.

Labels: , ,

The Puritans' Revenge


Labels: ,

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 43

 From the Cardinal Newman Society:


Fordham University (ed. Jesuit university)recently approved the removal of common restroom signage indicating use for either the male or female sex at one building on the Lincoln Center campus, embracing part of a student-led campaign to make the University more “gender inclusive.”


According to The Fordham Observer, the changes to signs in the Leon Lowenstein building were pushed by The Positive, a student activist group. The restroom signage initiative started during the 2015 spring semester when The Positive reportedly entered into dialogue with Fordham’s administration and student government.he Positive’s student leader, who identifies as a transgender male (a woman living as a man), told the Observer, “Having a restroom I could use without fear was definitely something I wanted.”but the student readily noted that “this was never about bathrooms … this was always about more than that.”he Observer reported that new signs were installed in single stall restrooms in the Leon Lowenstein building’s third floor. The new signs are “void of gender icons, include braille, the latest New York State handicap symbol and simply say ‘restroom.’”



- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4512/Fordham-Changes-Restroom-Signs-as-Part-of-%E2%80%98Gender-Inclusive%E2%80%99-Campaign.aspx#sthash.9iq1Lsve.dpufFordham University recently approved the removal of common restroom signage indicating use for either the male or female sex at one building on the Lincoln Center campus, embracing part of a student-led campaign to make the University more “gender inclusive.”
According to The Fordham Observer, the changes to signs in the Leon Lowenstein building were pushed by The Positive, a student activist group. The restroom signage initiative started during the 2015 spring semester when The Positive reportedly entered into dialogue with Fordham’s administration and student government.
The Positive’s student leader, who identifies as a transgender male (a woman living as a man), told the Observer, “Having a restroom I could use without fear was definitely something I wanted.”
But the student readily noted that “this was never about bathrooms … this was always about more than that.”
The Observer reported that new signs were installed in single stall restrooms in the Leon Lowenstein building’s third floor. The new signs are “void of gender icons, include braille, the latest New York State handicap symbol and simply say ‘restroom.’”
- See more at: http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/4512/Fordham-Changes-Restroom-Signs-as-Part-of-%E2%80%98Gender-Inclusive%E2%80%99-Campaign.aspx#sthash.9iq1L

Labels: , , ,

Friday, November 20, 2015

I've Got a Whale of Tale

 From Catholic World News:

 In its annual message for World Fisheries Day, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People called for greater attention to labor conditions in the fishing industry.“In recent months, because of the number of tragic happenings especially in South East Asia, the issues of trafficking, forced labor, exploitation and abuses of fishers have been reported in several mass media, but sadly this did not attract much of attention and interest from the people in general,” the pontifical council stated.“We appeal to the consumers to be vigilant and more conscious not only of the quality of the seafood that they are buying but also of the human and labor conditions of the fishers.”

I don't know...they look OK to me.






Labels: , ,

Hair Club for Men Feast of St Edmund of East Anglia, November 20

 A severed head, a wolf....can't get a better story.




Labels: , ,

Thursday, November 19, 2015

It's All Fun and Games

Until you have to explain your religious (non)beliefs when you shuffles off this mortal coil....

Woman wins fight to wear spaghetti strainer on her head for driving license photo

The Registry of Motor Vehicles has allowed a Massachusetts woman to wear a spaghetti strainer on her head in her driving licence picture as an expression of her “Pastafarian” religion. Lindsay Miller fought the RMV to wear the metal headgear as a sign of her religion. The RMV does not allow drivers to wear hats in their pictures, unless it is for a medical or religious purpose. Miller won her appeal with the RMV thanks to the help of an attorney associated with the American Humanist Association.

 As a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I feel delighted that my Pastafarianism has been respected by the Massachusetts RMV,” Miller said. “While I don’t think the government can involve itself in matters of religion, I do hope this decision encourages my fellow Pastafarian atheists to come out and express themselves as I have.” When Miller initially applied for her driving licence, she was denied the ability to wear the colander.

A friend of Miller’s contacted the American Humanist Association on her behalf, and the group helped file an administrative appeal. Miller was due to attend an October hearing on the subject, but it was postponed and the RMV opted to let her obtain a drivering licence wearing the colander on Thursday. The American Humanist Association said Pastafarians believe the existence of a Flying Spaghetti Monster is “just as probable as the existence of the Christian God.”

Labels: ,

The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 42

 The Washington Post reports:


Georgetown University will rename two buildings named for school presidents who organized the sale of Jesuit-owned slaves to help pay off campus debt in the 1830s, the university’s president announced.


 Mulledy Hall, a new student dormitory named for the president who authorized the sale of about 272 slaves to a Louisiana plantation owner in 1838, will be called Freedom Hall until a permanent name is chosen.
McSherry Hall, which houses a meditation center and was named for another university president who served as an adviser on the slave sale, will be called Remembrance Hall until it is renamed.

In a letter e-mailed to the Georgetown community Saturday evening, President John J. DeGioia said he was changing the names based on a recommendation he received Friday from his Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation. DeGioia appointed the panel of 16 administrators, faculty and students in September to examine slavery­-related sites on campus.

“As a university,” DeGioia wrote, “we are a place where conversations are convened and dialogue is encouraged, even on topics that may be difficult.”


I had no idea. Turns out the place was called St. Thomas Manor which sounds like an amzing place to visit.

From Wikipedia:


During the years of slavery and after the American Civil War, when most southern governments classified people as only black or white in a binary system related to the racial caste of slavery, St. Ignatius was among the Catholic parishes that continued to record their Native congregational members as Indian, regardless of whether they were of mixed race. In colonial and United States records, by contrast, the tribal identities of some Native Americans were lost when they were classified by outsiders as free people of color, "colored," or "white," regardless of how they identified ethnically. Research in Catholic records has helped some tribes document their continuous cultural history and identification as Native American, and to gain state and federal recognition as tribes since the late 20th century.

Labels: , ,

A Priest, A Bulldog, and a Bull Walk Into a Bar

Turns out they have something in common.


Labels:

Pope Benedict XVI on The Shroud of Turin

 Not LITERALLY. The Pope was making a speech about it.
 
 The Anchoress provides an excerpt from the book,"The Vatican Prophesies" by John Thavis:



 As one might expect, Pope Benedict, who was often called “the pope of reason,” was much more circumspect on the [Shroud, than Pope John Paul II.] He, too, was interested in the Shroud and had stood before it as a cardinal. As pope he ordered the extraordinary exhibition of the Shroud in 2010. Benedict himself flew to Turin to venerate the cloth and gave a speech in which he described the Shroud as an “icon,” a term that disappointed some of its devotees. In the code language of the Shroud, “icon” denotes just a holy image, while “relic” is the genuine object. But this was an icon with a capital “I” — literally, in the official text of the papal speech — which signaled some support for authenticity. Benedict added that the Shroud was “a winding-sheet that was wrapped round the body of a man who was crucified, corresponding in every way to what the Gospels tell us of Jesus.” That appeared to reject out of hand the theory that it was a medieval artistic creation. 



The pope then went o to speak of the Shroud in dramatic and poetic language that moved many of his listeners: “The Shroud is an Icon written in blood; the blood of a man who was scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and whose right side was pierced The Image impressed upon the Shroud is that of a dead man, but the blood speaks of his life. Every trace of blood speaks of love and of life. Especially that huge stain near his rib, made by the blood and water that flowed copious from the great wound inflicted by the tip of a Roman spear. That blood and that water speak of life. It is like a spring that murmurs in the silence, and we can hear it.”

Labels: , , ,

Will The Last Sane Person to Leave Mexico Please Turn Off the Lights?

A priest who went missing in Mexico has been found dead on an isolated country road.
The priest is the latest victim in a string of murders in the country.

The body of Fr Erasmo Pliego de Jesus was discovered in Nopalucan municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla on Monday.

According to the state prosecutor he was found with head injuries and burn marks on several parts of his body.

His death brings the number of priests killed in Mexico since 2013 to 11, with another two still missing.

The motive for the killings is unclear but it is thought that some priests have been targeted for opposing drug cartels and criminal gangs.



 From the CIA World Factbook, the religious make-up of Mexico:


Roman Catholic 82.7%, Pentecostal 1.6%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.4%, other Evangelical Churches 5%, other 1.9%, none 4.7%, unspecified 2.7% (2010 est.)

Labels: ,

Islamic Outreach, Part LXXV

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Meanwhile......


Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Potential for Terrorist Attacks
November 18, 2015

U.S. Embassy Rome informs U.S. citizens that the following locations have been identified as potential targets in Rome and Milan for terrorist attacks:
  • St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (Rome)

  • the Duomo and La Scala in Milan
  • General venues such as churches, synagogues, restaurants, theatres, and hotels in both cities are possible targets as well.
Terrorist groups may possibly utilize similar methods used in the recent Paris attacks.  The Italian authorities are aware of these threats.
U.S. citizens are advised to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings.  We encourage U.S. citizens to monitor media and local information sources and factor updated information into personal travel plans and activities.

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Shut Up, I Explained

Just when you thought Chris Matthews (MSNBC, of course) couldn't possible get any dumber...





CHRIS MATTHEWS: There is 1.75 billion Islamic people in the world. There are Islamic people who are as far from Arab as you and I are far from Arab. They are not Arabs: they happen to be Muslims. They live in India. They live in Pakistan. They live in Indonesia. Why do we want to declare war on them by calling our terrorist opponents Islamic? 

 EUGENE ROBINSON: Well we don't. Or we shouldn't. In fact, George W. Bush did not. Right after 9/11, George W. Bush, in a moment that actually filled me with pride, George W. Bush came right out and said we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with this crazy al Qaeda group. We're going to get them, and we're going to get them good. But we are not at war with one of the world's great religions. And it is a ridiculous thing. I sincerely hope that none of these characters, if they were to become president, would repeat such a thing. Because it is a sentiment that no President of the United States who is responsibly discharging his duties would ever utter. 


MATTHEWS: I don't think Franklin Roosevelt, as angry as he was at Mussolini, never declared war on the Catholics. Anyway, that would have been a stupid thing to say.

We DARE you, FDR!

Mussolini was a fascist. He founded a POLITICAL party called the National Fascist Party. The National Fascist Party was rooted in Italian Nationalism and the desire to restore and expand  Italian territory, which Italian Fascists deemed necessary for a nation to assert its superiority and strength and to avoid succumbing to decay. Italian Fascists claimed that modern Italy is the heir to ancient Rome and its legacy, and historically supported the creation of an Italian Empire to provide spazio vitale ("living space") for colonization by Italian settlers and to establish control over the Mediterranean Sea.

Ancient Rome....as in the reign of the Caesars. Not very Catholic, that. And Julius Caesar died in 44 B.C., so the Catholic Church had not even been founded yet.

You can't spell ISIS without "Islamic".





CHRIS MATTHEWS: There is 1.75 billion Islamic people in the world. There are Islamic people who are as far from Arab as you and I are far from Arab. They are not Arabs: they happen to be Muslims. They live in India. They live in Pakistan. They live in Indonesia. Why do we want to declare war on them by calling our terrorist opponents Islamic?  - See more at: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2015/11/16/matthews-fdr-didnt-declare-war-catholics-so-dont-blame-islam#sthash.npKAEnjZ.dpuf
CHRIS MATTHEWS: There is 1.75 billion Islamic people in the world. There are Islamic people who are as far from Arab as you and I are far from Arab. They are not Arabs: they happen to be Muslims. They live in India. They live in Pakistan. They live in Indonesia. Why do we want to declare war on them by calling our terrorist opponents Islamic? 
EUGENE ROBINSON: Well we don't. Or we shouldn't. In fact, George W. Bush did not. Right after 9/11, George W. Bush, in a moment that actually filled me with pride, George W. Bush came right out and said we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with this crazy al Qaeda group. We're going to get them, and we're going to get them good. But we are not at war with one of the world's great religions. And it is a ridiculous thing. I sincerely hope that none of these characters, if they were to become president, would repeat such a thing. Because it is a sentiment that no President of the United States who is responsibly discharging his duties would ever utter.
MATTHEWS: I don't think Franklin Roosevelt, as angry as he was at Mussolini, never declared war on the Catholics. Anyway, that would have been a stupid thing to say.
- See more at: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2015/11/16/matthews-fdr-didnt-declare-war-catholics-so-dont-blame-islam#sthash.npKAEnjZ.dpuf
CHRIS MATTHEWS: There is 1.75 billion Islamic people in the world. There are Islamic people who are as far from Arab as you and I are far from Arab. They are not Arabs: they happen to be Muslims. They live in India. They live in Pakistan. They live in Indonesia. Why do we want to declare war on them by calling our terrorist opponents Islamic? 
EUGENE ROBINSON: Well we don't. Or we shouldn't. In fact, George W. Bush did not. Right after 9/11, George W. Bush, in a moment that actually filled me with pride, George W. Bush came right out and said we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with this crazy al Qaeda group. We're going to get them, and we're going to get them good. But we are not at war with one of the world's great religions. And it is a ridiculous thing. I sincerely hope that none of these characters, if they were to become president, would repeat such a thing. Because it is a sentiment that no President of the United States who is responsibly discharging his duties would ever utter.
MATTHEWS: I don't think Franklin Roosevelt, as angry as he was at Mussolini, never declared war on the Catholics. Anyway, that would have been a stupid thing to say.
- See more at: http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/mark-finkelstein/2015/11/16/matthews-fdr-didnt-declare-war-catholics-so-dont-blame-islam#sthash.npKAEnjZ.dpuf

Labels: , ,

Monday, November 16, 2015

The Parking Spot Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland, November 16





Saint Margaret (she was born in Hungary) was queen consort to Malcolm the Third of Scotland. She had 8 children - 3 of the boys eventually were named King of Scotland and one of her daughters was queen consort to England..

Two interesting facts:

1) She established a ferry to carry pilgrims across the Firth of Forth to Dunfermline Abbey. She was buried there in 1093.

The refectory of Dunfermline Abbey


2) Near the ferry dock there was a cave where St. Margaret used to seek solitude for prayer. The cave is still there, and you can visit it...but it's now under a parking lot.



From a small building in the corner of the car park, 84 steps lead down to a tunnel, echoing with Gregorian chants. In the sides of the tunnel are displays giving the history of the cave which turns out to be a single chamber 10 feet long by 8 feet wide and 8 feet high. There are two raised seats on either site and a well at the far end which was once used as drinking water, now covered. To complete the illusion there is a statue of Queen Margaret.

Labels: ,

Friday, November 13, 2015

Amazing Grace

Played on a bagpipe. In the International Space Station. By a Korean guy raised in England. Named Kjell Lindgren.





Labels:

Thursday, November 12, 2015

We're the Knights of the Round Table!


The Knights were founded by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, P.C.P.A., on July 25, 1998, feast day of St. James. The spirit of St. Francis, the “Knight-Errant of Assisi,” became a role model for the new Knights; this spirit was demonstrated by St. Francis’ deep sense of faith, fiery enthusiasm for Christ, and readiness to battle for His kingdom on earth.
The Knights of the Holy Eucharist are single Catholic men seeking to follow Christ more closely through a life lived in community and dedicated to the service of God. The primary focus of this service is the fostering of reverent devotion to Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Blessed John Paul II states that the Church “draws her life from the Eucharist”. 
“The Knight Shalt Be a Man of Honor and a Man of Prayer…”


Wish to break away from the noise of the world to discern your call?

Join our community of brothers for a TOUR OF DUTY at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Partake in our life of service and adoration. It's a unique opportunity to "pilgrim" with us at the awesome Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
To become a Knight of the Holy Eucharist, a young man must meet the following requirements:
  1. Be a single Catholic in good standing.
  2. Have no legal responsibilities.
  3. Have good physical and mental stability.
  4. Be a high school graduate 18-30 years old.
  5. Have the ability to perform strenuous manual labor.
  6. Have a desire to serve and not to be served.
Men between the ages of 18 and 30 interested in our community are welcome to visit for up to two weeks at no charge.

Labels:

Defining WISDOM

Today's reading from the Book of Wisdom:

In Wisdom is a spirit
intelligent, holy, unique,
Manifold, subtle, agile,
clear, unstained, certain,
Not baneful, loving the good, keen,
unhampered, beneficent, kindly,
Firm, secure, tranquil,
all-powerful, all-seeing,
And pervading all spirits,
though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle.
For Wisdom is mobile beyond all motion,
and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity.




From George Will:


Were the lungs the seat of wisdom, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly would be wise, but they are not and he is not.

Labels: ,

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

CHOPPED!

"Chopped" apparently is the name of a cooking show.

From the Chicago Tribune:

 Sister Alicia Torres became the "Chopped" champion on the Food Network’s reality TV cooking show, winning $10,000 for Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, which feeds its Humboldt Park neighbors with frequent home-cooked meals.
“The Lord gave me this talent," Torres told the judges, who ribbed her for harboring some secret culinary training. "I believe the kitchen is my canvas where I get to express myself creatively."
Torres, 30, was one of four chefs cooking with some version of conventional Thanksgiving ingredients -- turkey, green beans, potatoes and cranberries -- on the special volunteer edition of the show that aired Monday. Bonnie Kepplinger, 74, a volunteer for The Crib, a homeless shelter for LGBT teenagers, survived one round but lost the entree portion (ed note: SNORT!).
 
Sister Alicia Torres

 In the appetizer round, Torres transformed leftovers into Mexican-style quesadillas. Kepplinger made deep-fried turkey croquettes and potato balls with a green bean salad and cranberry dressing. Torres made a Mediterranean-style entree with curry turkey, a sweet potato cranberry hash and a dipping sauce with goat cheese and green beans.  Kepplinger braised turkey, green beans and created a tart cranberry salad but failed to get the potatoes on the plate.
“I think time did get the best of me, but I also think my muse just conked out,” Kepplinger said on the show.
In an interview Monday, Kepplinger said she was so impressed with Torres that she expects the “cooking nun” to be a regular on TV soon.
Torres helped found the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago on the city's West Side and recently professed vows. The new Franciscan community is devoted to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, evangelization and serving Chicago's poor.

Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago

Labels: , ,