#Feature: Films on Irish TV over Christmas 2016
Yogi Berra A Lesson In Weathering Frailties Through Humor
Former New York Yankee Yogi Berra stands at home plate before the final regular season MLB American League baseball game at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21, 2008. The Hall of Famer is the subject of a recently released documentary, "It Ain't Over." (Reuters photo/Mike Segar) Unfortunately, Yogi Berra never played for the Phillies. But he was a Catholic. At his funeral in 2015, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York reportedly compared Yogi and Pope Francis' humble beginnings, their humility and, jokingly, their large ears.
An amiable and unpretentious man, the baseball Hall of Famer would have been delighted. Once, when told he was ugly, he responded, "So what? I don't hit with my face."
This is Yogi's recollection of a conversation he had with Cardinal Francis Spellman, former archbishop of New York: "When I returned home from Italy, Cardinal Spellman asked me if I had an audience with the pope. I said, 'No, but I saw him.' Then I was asked what I had said to His Holiness. I couldn't remember exactly, but he said, 'Hello, Yogi,' and I responded: 'Hello, Pope.'"
A recently released documentary focuses not only on Yogi's baseball career but also on his family life and his fundamental decency. This was a man who was wounded in World War II but didn't apply for a Purple Heart because he didn't want to worry his mother.
The film, "It Ain't Over," takes its title from Yogi's endlessly quoted observation, "It ain't over till it's over." Such "Yogi-isms," as they came to be called, are often met with an amused "Huh?" A pause. Then an understanding nod of approval.
For example, "The future ain't what it used to be."
"It Ain't Over" opened in theaters in May, just a few weeks after another film about a famous athlete. "Air" recreates the story of Nike's endorsement deal with the future basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Yet Jordan is barely in the film. Instead, the movie focuses on the world that surrounds him. It's a world of agents and salesmen, persuasion and intimidation, business and celebrity culture.
At a climactic moment, a Nike sales executive (Matt Damon) gives an impassioned, impromptu sales pitch to Jordan. He says that everyone gathered at their meeting will be forgotten soon, but he, Jordan, who is going to be a spectacular athlete, will be "remembered forever."
"The rest of us just want a chance to touch that greatness," he says.
Touching that "greatness" – even from the ankles down – generates staggering sums of money.
For those (like me) who have a hard time understanding America's near-reverence for its best athletes, consider former Chicago journalist Bob Greene's 1992 book about Jordan, "Hang Time." In the second chapter, the author describes the book's origin.
Greene was not a sports writer or even much of a basketball fan. He had been covering the story of two brothers horrendously abused by their mother and her boyfriend – Lattie McGee and Cornelius Abraham. Cornelius was 6 years old when Lattie, 4, died from torture. Cornelius had to testify in court against his own mother. He was 9 by the time his tormentors were sent to prison.
In one of his newspaper stories, Greene mentioned that Cornelius had a passion for basketball. That led to an invitation from the Chicago Bulls for Greene and Cornelius to sit court side at a game and to meet Jordan beforehand.
"You have to understand, for a long time, the only adults Cornelius had any contact with were adults who wanted to hurt and humiliate him," Greene writes. "And now Michael Jordan was saying, 'Are you going to cheer for us today? We're going to need it.'"
During the game, when Jordan made a spectacular shot, Greene describes Cornelius laughing out loud with joy.
But the night was also was a turning point for the writer. Twenty years of reporting on the harshness of life had taken a toll on him. After that first game with Cornelius, he started following Jordan and the Bulls, and he claims the sport became an "escape" from the ugliness that had consumed so much of his time.
Like music, sports can be not just a distraction from life's hardships, but a way to endure them. An athlete at the top of his game can be a symbol of hope, a flesh and blood example that – before our eyes – thrillingly demonstrates what an individual can achieve with mental discipline, physical training and the help of teammates.
Another way of dealing with life's blows is with humor. While sports emphasizes human potential and ambition, humor can bring us down to earth. It can remind us of our shared frailties and weaknesses.
Put the two together – outstanding athletic achievement and good-natured humor – and you have Yogi Berra: a five-foot, seven-inch power hitter who drank Yoo-hoo, read comic books and believed, "If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be."
Carl Peters is former managing editor of the Catholic Star Herald.
Final Mass Comes For Dozens Of Catholic Parishes Across The St. Louis Region
ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Longtime parishioners of St. Andrew Catholic Church in the Lemay area gathered in the pews Wednesday night to share memories and a prayer of lament.
"In a land where faith was strong, stood a parish proud and long. Named for St. Andrew's guiding light, a beacon shining through the night. ... As we bid farewell in sorrow, we'll keep your memory bright tomorrow."
The parish founded in 1905 is one of 34 that will permanently close on Tuesday in the largest restructuring in the history of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. While the churches are to remain open for worship, the parish names and geographic boundaries will disappear. Another 15 parishes will be merged into five new parishes with different names. Sacramental records will transfer to the archdiocese.
The implementation phase of the downsizing plan called "All Things New" will also see the reassignment of 155 priests. There are 27 groups of two or more parishes that will share a lead pastor.
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Monsignor Raymond Hampe, 95, a retired priest in residence at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, gives a 60th wedding anniversary blessing to Fran and Frank Scheetner after morning Mass on Thursday, July 27, 2023 in St. Charles. Under the St. Louis Archdiocese's All Things New realignment plan, the St. Robert Bellarmine parish will close on Aug. 1 and become part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.
Christian Gooden, Post-DispatchChristian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
In Lemay, St. Mark will absorb the boundaries and finances of St. Andrew, St. Bernadette, St. Martin of Tours and St. Matthias to form the sixth largest parish out of 135 in the archdiocese. A temporary schedule to ease the transition indicates all weekday and five weekend Masses will be celebrated at St. Mark, with one weekend Mass at each of the other four churches through the end of the year.
While parishioners are encouraged to change their registrations, it will not be automatic. Their offertory checks can go in the old envelopes, but they must be made out to the new parish.
"What you will bring to the new parish is the spirit of St. Andrew. You owe it to your history, to yourselves and to your children to keep that spirit alive," the Rev. Allen Boedeker said at the gathering Wednesday. Boedeker, who came to St. Andrew as a deacon in 2001, will become an associate pastor at St. Mark.
There were plenty of tears as St. Andrew's parishioners passed the microphone to share their memories and inside jokes. Many in the crowd of 60 graduated in the 1950s from St. Andrew Catholic School, which closed in 2003.
"So many became successful and did things for the world and not just themselves," said Lee Burkemper, class of 1952.
Now in their 70s and 80s, the St. Andrew classmates mourned the loss of their parish and a bygone era, when nuns watched from the convent as hordes of children walked to school along Hoffmeister Avenue.
There was the time schoolboys were shooting BB guns at pigeons on the church roof. Sister Oliver soon ran outside, dazzled them with her own marksmanship, then told them to scram. On another day in the churchyard, some hapless kid's pants were hoisted up the flagpole. The parish once had bowling lanes, dance shows and a drum corps. Mothers baked oatmeal cookies with the nuns every Christmas.
"It was just a real community," Burkemper said.
Still changes to come
While several churches in closing parishes will continue to host at least one Mass a week, commemorations will be held around the archdiocese this weekend before the changes start Aug. 1.
St. Barnabas in O'Fallon, Missouri, will be converted to a new Hispanic parish called St. Juan Diego. On Sunday, St. Barnabas will host a "Bounce Out" event after the final Mass with a bounce house, balloon artist and tractor pull.
"Go like a Barnabas, by wave, turmoil, fuss — tossed. We hope, we pray, we fear. Yet, God is ever dear," the Rev. Linus Dolce wrote in an elegy for St. Barnabas printed in the final bulletin. Dolce has said he will return to the St. Louis Abbey.
About 80 parish jobs from secretaries to music directors were eliminated through a combination of layoffs, retirements and transfers. One of the few remaining parish nurses, Peggy Baker at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in Florissant, will retire but continue to host exercise classes and blood drives on the church campus. Sacred Heart in Florissant is taking on the parishes of St. Rose and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in Ferguson after they close.
Deborah Knecht, a parishioner at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, attends Mass on Thursday, July 27, 2023, in St. Charles. Under the St. Louis Archdiocese's All Things New realignment plan, the St. Robert Bellarmine parish will close on Aug. 1 and become part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.
Christian Gooden, Post-DispatchOther changes coming to closing parishes:
• Immaculate Conception in Maplewood will keep its community food pantry open after being absorbed by St. Mary Magdalen in Brentwood.
• St. John the Baptist and Immaculate Heart of Mary will host separate prayer groups, fundraisers and social clubs for the near future after merging into St. Stephen Protomartyr in south St. Louis. The choirs of the three parishes will combine.
• This month, St. Nicholas parish in downtown St. Louis hosted its last St. Ann Novena, held for the past 97 years.
The timeline for changes will be slower for the more complicated process of merging 15 parishes into five new parishes. St. David and Immaculate Conception in Arnold will keep their current Mass schedule for the next six weeks, with new times and locations to be determined.
Parishioners have completed first-round voting for a new name for the merged parish of Holy Name of Jesus in Bellefontaine Neighbors, and St. Angela Merici and St. Norbert near Florissant. Finalists include Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Victoria. A final round of voting will take place by the end of the month.
Three south city parishes merging into one will host their traditional events for at least this calendar year, including the homecoming festival at St. Joan of Arc, craft fair at St. Mary Magdalen and breakfast with Santa at Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Mass schedule will include Sundays at all three churches except for one weekend in September, October and November when Mass will be held at one of the three. The limbo period without a name or main worship site is likely to last at least through June 2024, said the Rev. Brad Modde, the new pastor who plans to keep three offices and work out of each location at least one day a week.
Another element of uncertainty is tied to the Vatican, which has received a handful of appeals from parishioners over the closures. The appeal process through canon law can take years to complete.
At least one closing parish, St. Roch in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis, decided to recruit volunteer priests to celebrate Mass while awaiting a decision.
Monsignor Raymond Hampe, 95, a retired priest in residence at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, says Mass with Deacon Phil King on Thursday, July 27, 2023, in St. Charles. Under the St. Louis Archdiocese's All Things New realignment plan, the St. Robert Bellarmine parish will close on Aug. 1 and become part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.
Christian Gooden, Post-DispatchParishioners attend morning Mass on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in St. Charles. Under the St. Louis Archdiocese's All Things New realignment plan, the St. Robert Bellarmine parish will close on Aug. 1 and become part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.
Christian Gooden, Post-DispatchDeacon Phillip King, the parish coordinator at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, carries the Monstrance from the altar after Mass on Thursday, July 27, 2023, in St. Charles. Under the St. Louis Archdiocese's All Things New realignment plan, the St. Robert Bellarmine parish will close on Aug. 1 and become part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.
Christian Gooden, Post-DispatchMonsignor Raymond Hampe, 95, a retired priest in residence at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, leaves the sanctuary following morning Mass on Thursday, July 27, 2023, in St. Charles. Under the St. Louis Archdiocese's All Things New realignment plan, the St. Robert Bellarmine parish will close on Aug. 1 and become part of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.
Christian Gooden, Post-DispatchThe St. Louis Archdiocese says it must close churches in the area in order to meet the needs of a changing congregation of Roman Catholics.
The St. Louis Archdiocese says it must close churches in the area in order to meet the needs of a changing congregation of Roman Catholics.
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Cecil Bryan Cate
Cecil Bryan Cate of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, left this life peacefully and surrounded by his family on July 29, 2023.
Born in Covington, Ky., on Nov. 22, 1939, Cecil was a beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather and friend. He brought laughter, adventure, determination and love to all of those blessed enough to be in his life.
Cecil's life and impact on those he loved was shaped by his strength and perseverance, strong work ethic, deep Catholic faith, sharp sense of humor, and abiding kindness and loyalty. He loved spending time with his family, telling stories and laughing, boating and fishing, playing tennis and being active, dancing and music, and cooking and sharing a meal with those he loved. He never met a stranger and had a zest for life that brought fun to nearly every situation and made him a beloved friend to many.
A graduate of Thomas Moore University in Crestview Hills, KY, Cecil worked hard nearly his entire life. He was a successful food service salesman for more than 30 years and was also a former police officer and City Councilman in Ludlow, Ky. He was a lifelong member of the Roman Catholic Church and most recently was a member and usher at Resurrection Catholic Church in Miramar Beach, Fl. And previously St. Jude's Catholic Church in Hixson.
Cecil is preceded in death by his parents, Cecil Lester Cate and Helen Bauer Cate of Newport, Ky., his brother Jerry Cate of Fort Thomas, Ky., and his wife Beverly Cate of Ludlow, Ky., and Chattanooga.
He is survived by his five children, Mark Cate of Houston, Mary Debord (Mike) of Hixson, Mitchell Cate (Nicole) of Hixson, Michelle Harte (Kevin) of Santa Rosa Beach, Fl., and Molly Cate of Nashville, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. In addition, he is survived by his loving caregiver, partner in crime and best friend of the past year, Tyler Henry of Rossville, and his sisters, Barbara Aichele of Cincinnati, Carolyn Menning (Darryl) of Dayton, Ky., Jean Cate of Fort Thomas, KY and multiple nieces, nephews and cousins.
His family sends their deepest gratitude and appreciation to his dedicated caregivers at Hospice of Chattanooga and Story Point Assisted Living. Together, they loved him, cared for him, and shared their gifts with him.
Visitation will be Friday, Aug. 4, from 5–8 p.M. At Chattanooga Funeral Home - North Chapel. A funeral mass will be held at St. Jude's Catholic Church in Hixson, on Saturday, Aug. 5, at 11 a.M.
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