Thank You for Your Varela Coverage
Dear Editor: Permit me to express my thanks on the recent articles published in The Tablet about the Venerable Father Felix Varela (“Life of Father Varela, & a ‘United Ireland,’ Featured at Great Irish Fair,” Sept. 23) on the occasion of the Great Irish Fair and on the recent visit of the president of the Cuban government to the parish of Transfiguration in Manhattan (“Cuba Honors Father Varela,” Sept. 30) celebrating the 200th anniversary of Father Varela’s arrival to New York City.
In light of the Sept. 30 article “Joining the Cause,” we recognize that there is still so much work to be done to fight for the protection of the vulnerable and the human dignity of all. We are consoled knowing that Christians throughout the world continue this great work.
The Christian and priestly message of Father Varela still resounds today as the poor and the immigrant arrives in New York.
As Father Varela’s message of truth and freedom was for the Irish immigrant and the poor in his time, so is it for the Cuban, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and so many others today. May his priestly and saintly example illumine us in our present age.
Bishop Octavio Cisneros
Richmond Hill
Coverage of Animals
Dear Editor: More and more, The Tablet amazes me as to the scope of its coverage of the animal kingdom world.
Your recent full page article on the carriage horse situation really comes down to money (“Yea, or Neigh, on Horse Carriages?” from Sept. 23).
What New Yorker would spend over $100 for a carriage ride for less than an hour?
Tourists come to NYC to patronize museums, restaurants, and the theater. The cost of a carriage ride has never been mentioned in the newspaper/media.
Please continue your coverage of all aspects of people and God’s creatures living on one earth. Climate change or not, we’re all in this together.
Joan Silaco
Queens Village
In Honor of a Priest
Dear Editor: On Sept. 10, the members of the church I attend “mostly” every Sunday, St. Teresa of Avila, were invited to the Co- Cathedral of St. Joseph for an anniversary gala in recognition of Father Pascal Louis.
The Mass was very fulfilling that day. I liked the invitation and the “alliance” the churches showed in coming together to touch home on positive grounds, and to make the commencement a true and honorable occasion.
The gala was a beautiful event and a blessed one that I will never, ever forget!
Sharon A. Chapman
Prospect Heights
Kudos to Father Lauder for His Column on ‘A Tale of Two Cities’
Dear Editor: I want to commend Father Lauder’s column on the classic novel “A Tale of Two Cities” that takes place at the height of the French Revolution, and whose indefatigable characters portray the Christian message of sacrifices and unconditional love on a grand scale.
Sydney Carton, who willfully and selflessly gives his life to save his friend from the horrors of the guillotine, portrays the “sacrificial lamb.”
Miss Frost, the irrepressible governess whose grit, fidelity, and courage triumphs in the face of evil, secures the family’s safe passage back to England.
Yes, it is an extraordinary novel with Christ-like characters not only to emulate, but ultimately to ponder on our Lord’s central message to love one another.
Kudos to you Father Lauder for encouraging us to explore yet another masterpiece that champions the triumph of the human spirit.
Antoinette Lightbourn
Glen Cove, NY
Father Lauder’s Dickens’ Classics
Dear Editor: Every morning I check the listing of movies being shown on TCM that day.
My favorites weigh very heavily on the side of 1930’s and 1940’s black-and-white films made from classic novels and stories.
In Father Lauder’s column (“Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ Classically Adapted in 1935,” Sept. 23) he praises the adaptation of Dickens’ novel “A Tale of Two Cities.”
Yes, truly a great film. May I also recommend to readers a few other fine Dickens adaptations: “David Copperfield” (1935), “Great Expectations” (1946), and both the 1938 and 1951 versions of the classic “A Christmas Carol.”
You won’t be disappointed watching any, or all, of these!
Msgr. Steven Ferrari
Southbury, CT
A Fontbonne Thank You
Dear Editor: The whole Fontbonne Hall community, as well as Sister Tesa Fitzgerald and the members of our Leadership Team, are so grateful for the recent coverage The Tablet gave to our “facelift” work here at Fontbonne.
We did a tremendous amount of work the past two summers (one roof is still in progress for another week) to restore the school’s beauty and are so grateful that you allowed it to be showcased.
We hope to have “Carols on the Narrows” this December, staged at our new campus entrance on Shore Rd., and make it a nice neighborhood event for the people who live all around us.
Sister Maria Pascuzzi
Bay Ridge