Father Leo - Seminary Teacher and Chef

Roman Catholic priests deal a lot with spiritual food, but Father Leo Patalinghug (Director of Pastoral Field Education, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland) works with food of a more earthly nature as well. He is a chef with his own Internet-based cooking show, Grace Before Meals.

This weekend's edition of PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly is re-running an interview with Father Leo and why he says food is very much part of his priestly ministry (originally broadcast on 4 September 2009).

To view this interview, please visit:

PBS: Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly: Father Leo

To read more of the interview with Father Leo  and watch him talk about his television cook-off with celebrity chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay, please visit:

PBS: Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly: Father Leo Extended Interview

Praying for work: Parish groups support the unemployed

"Rich Brouillette was among the thousands of people across the country and the state of Massachusetts who lost his job during the current economic downturn.

"When he lost his job, he utilized numerous sources to pursue job leads and other helpful job search information - including unemployment support groups that have formed at local parishes.

"'There were a lot of people, including myself, who needed help at the time,' said Brouillette, a parishioner at St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in Westford. 'For me, it was important to get the spiritual piece and to have fellowship with the men and women who joined us.'

"Several parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston, including St. Catherine's have formed networking and support groups that have helped professionals like Brouillette through the job-hunting process. Groups have also formed at parishes such as St. Ignatius Loyola in Newton, St. Athanasius in Reading, and St. Robert Bellarmine in Andover."

For the rest of this article from the Boston Pilot, visit:

Boston Pilot: Praying for work: Parish groups support the unemployed

Report Links School Leadership to Improved Student Learning

Learning From Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning, a recently released report, considered to be the largest in-depth study of school leadership to date, demonstrated that education leadership has a strong impact on student achievement, as measured by student test scores.

The study, commissioned by the Wallace Foundation and carried out by the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (University of Minnesota) and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto), showed that leadership makes its mark largely by strengthening a school’s “professional community” – an environment where teachers work together to improve classroom instruction.

It also found that rapid turnover of principals reduces student achievement. In addition, the study showed that although the principal remains the central source of leadership in schools, the highest performing schools operate by a “collective leadership” that involves many interested players, including parents and teachers, in decision-making.

To view the complete report, visit:
Wallace Foundation: Learning From Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning (July 2010)

A Reflection from Saint Francis De Sales

Today’s “Daily With De Sales” reflection from Salesian Father Francis J. Klauder:

Be careful and attentive to all the matters God has committed to your care, but if possible do not be solicitous or worried; that is, do not burden yourself over them with uneasiness or anxiety. This worry only disturbs reason and good judgment and prevents you from doing well the very things you are worried about...A job done anxiously and hurriedly is never done well; we must do things with coolness and calm.

Two Firefighters Die in Bridgeport Fire

Two Bridgeport, CT, firefighters died, and three others were injured in a fire in a three-story wood frame residential building at 39-41 Elmwood Avenue.

Lieutenant Steven Velasquez and Firefighter Michel Baik were on the third-floor of the fire building, checking for hot spots and conducting a search for possible occupants, when they sounded their personal alarm safety systems to alert other crews that they were in trouble.

Built as a two-family house in 1909, a third-apartment had been added, a move that was done without a building permit.

Media Reports:

WTNH-TV: 2 CT firefighters perish, probe begins (25 JUL 10)

Connecticut Post: Bridgeport blaze leads to 2 firefighter deaths (26 JUL 10)

Connecticut Post: Did firefighters' oxygen tanks run out? (25 JUL 10)

Connecticut Post: Neighborhood in shock as news spreads of firefighter deaths (24 JUL 10)

Connecticut Post: House in fire lacked permits for apartment conversion (26 JUL 10)

WTNH-TV: Firefighter died of smoke inhalation (26 JUL 10)

Connecticut Post: The paper trail connected with firefighters' breathing equipment (27 JUL 10)

WTNH-TV: Bridgeport's illegal apartment problem (28 JUL 10)

WFSB-TV Slideshow: 2 Bridgeport firefighters killed in line of duty

Background Information:

Bridgeport Fire Department website

Facebook: Bridgeport Fire Department

Bridgeport Firefighters Local 834

Wikipedia: Bridgeport, Connecticut

Google Map: 39-41 Elmwood Avenue, Bridgeport, CT

A Reflection on Waiting

Emilie Wolf, Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Associate, Paterson, NJ, offers a reflection on "Waiting":

I think sometimes we get confused. And one of the things we confuse is waiting and anticipation. In Luke we read about Annah, the widowed woman who lived her life in prayer and fasting in the temple, waiting... What does that mean?

I remember visiting my parents in Santa Fe early one summer. My Dad asked one if his mechanics is there would be a dance at the Pueblo that weekend. "No," was the reply. Late that Friday evening the man called and said, "We will dance this weekend. You can come. But you can tell no-one."

To read the rest of this reflection, please visit:

  Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception: Waiting

BlackBerry-linked Officers Find Suspect in Providence Bank Robbery

Within two hours of a Providence, RI, bank robbery, a suspect was apprehended due, in part, to a department policy and a federal grant that has equipped officers of sergeant rank and above with BlackBerries.  Investigators were able to copy the pictures from surveillance cameras and send them department-wide so that supervisors in other sections of the city could show them to patrol officers.

For the complete Providence Journal article, visit:


Providence Journal: BlackBerry-linked officers find suspect in Providence bank robbery

Council of Chief State School Officers Releases Core Teaching Standards for Public Comment

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) recently released for public comment new draft core teaching standards. The release of the standards signals the beginning of the public comment period which will run until 15 October 2010, during which time CCSSO seeks broad input from the education community and the public at large.

The Model Core Teaching Standards: A Resource for State Dialogue (Draft for Public Comment) was developed by a committee of the Interstate Teacher and Assessment Support Consortium convened by CCSSO. This committee included practicing teachers, teacher educators, and state education agency staff. These standards comprise a set of principles of effective teaching, revised from the 1992 model standards, and designed to demonstrate a new vision for teaching. The 2010 model core teaching standards are intended to help policymakers and educators achieve their education reform goals.

In updating the model core teaching standards, efforts were made to ensure they align with other national and state standards documents that were recently revised or released. Specifically, these standards have been reviewed to ensure compatibility with the recently-released Common Core State Standards for students in mathematics and English language arts, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards accomplished teaching core principles, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education accreditation standards, the National Staff Development Council professional development standards, and the Interstate School Leader Licensure Consortium 2008 Policy Standards and CCSSO's companion document Performance Expectations and Indicators for Educational Leaders.

Consistency among all these professional standards is meant to ensure an orderly, logical, continuous set of expectations for teachers from beginning through accomplished practice, as well as the conditions necessary to support professional growth along this continuum. It also is designed to increase the probability of building systems of teacher development and support that begin with recruitment and preparation and run through all of the different levels of teaching, as well as related leadership roles.

"I hope that members the professional education community will take the time to critically review these draft standards and provide input so they truly reflect what teachers should know and so policymakers will know what needs to change in order for teachers to be supported in their quest to reach the new vision laid out in the standards," Gene Wilhoit, CCSSO Executive Director, said in a prepared statement.

The draft standards will be circulated until 15 October 2010 to gather comments and feedback which will be used to refine and finalize the standards. Individual and focus group feedback is planned.

To download and review the document and to submit comments, please visit: 

CCSSO: Model Core Teaching Standards

To view a video webcast of the release, please visit:

Model Core Teaching Standards Webcast

St. Francis de Sales: Try to Nourish the Spirit of Gentleness

A reminder from Saint Francis de Sales: "Try to nourish within yourself the spirit of gentleness, of holy joy and humility, which is the most apt path toward union with God. Do not get upset about this or that but walk in the way of union with great confidence in the mercy of God, Who will lead you by the hand right to your heavenly home. In the meantime, keep well clear of arguments and avoidable disputes."

The Seed

The Seed (Author Unknown)

A successful Christian business man was growing old and knew it was time
to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to
do something different. He called all the young executives in his
company together.

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued."I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO"

To read the rest, please visit:

     The Seed

"Amazing" Off the Wall Golf Shot

Praise the Lord for the many ways He encourages us to use the creative abilities He has given each of us.  Here is a golf example from the 2010 British Open:

     Pastor Tim: Amazing Off the Wall Golf Shot

The Christophers: Farm Fresh Feast

Today's "Three Minutes a Day" reflection from the Christophers:

July 23, 2010

Farm Fresh Feast

A handful of chefs are busy - on a truck with a stove, a smoker, refrigeration and a sink. It’s time for Dinners at the Farm.

The brainchild of Connecticut chefs Drew McLachlan and Jonathan Rapp, the events serve up gourmet meals from local foods. The tab paid by diners benefits local non-profits.  Some 160 people turned out for the first dinners held in 2006, netting $17,000 for charity. These days, dinners happen three days in a row each month for four months.

“It’s a win-win to have local produce, local meats and so forth, as well as you’re helping something local out,” says Brian Carey, a contractor, who attended two dinners. Adds Pauline Lord, whose farm served as a host, “It’s such a great combination of elements.”

Each of us is created to contribute just the right ingredient to make the world around us a better place.


"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one. . . wisdom, and to another. . . knowledge. . . to another faith. . . to another gifts of healing." (1 Corinthians 12:7,8,9)


Prayer: You give us from Your bounty, Eternal Father. May we reverence the works of Your hands.

For more information about Dinners at the Farm, visit:

      Dinners at the Farm

(This year's Dinners at the Farm will be held at Barberry Hill Farm in Madison on the first two weekends in August and at White Gate in East Lyme on the last two weekends in August.)