Franciscan Friars Pray at Replicas of Christian Sites in America

By Jessica Easthope

It’s one of our country’s hidden secrets, a little piece of the Holy Land.

Tucked into the nation’s capital, it’s been there since 1880.

The Monastery of the Holy Land in America, where Franciscan friars have built 85 replicas of some of the most important Christian sites.

“You will find a replica of the Holy Sepulchre and a replica of Calvary, that are at the same distance as in Jerusalem,” said Father David Grenier, the commissary of the Holy Land. “And the height of Calvary is the same. Then in Jerusalem, you have the Grotto of Bethlehem, the Grotto of Nazareth, the Grotto of Gethsemane, the place of the Ascension. I mean many, many replicas that you can see in the Holy Land. So that’s why we are called the Holy Land in America.”

Each year on special feast days, like Christmas and Good Friday, the friars celebrate services in the American counterparts of the Holy Land’s holiest places.

“We try to take advantage of this beautiful legacy that we have here with the possibility to have the people to experience some things special that we do in the Holy Land because that’s the whole idea of the place, to have the people experience how it is in the Holy Land as much as we can,” Father Grenier said. “On Good Friday, we do a celebration that is done at the Holy Sepulchre, which is the burial of Christ. We take the body of Christ from Calvary and with songs, we bring Him into the tomb, reproducing the rites that were done at the time.”

Throughout the year, the monastery helps financially support Franciscan missionaries serving the Christian community in the Holy Land.

30,000 People Sign Up for Eucharistic Congress

Turning now to the National Eucharistic Revival.

We have an update on the main event for the yearlong campaign.

Thirty thousand people have signed up for the National Eucharistic Congress.

The five-day event is happening in Indianapolis this July, and organizers say tickets and hotel accommodations are going fast.

Every day of the event will have a unique theme designed to help participants get closer to Christ through the Eucharist.

Among the things attendees can expect include breakout sessions — an expo — liturgies in both English and Spanish as well as a huge Eucharistic procession in downtown indianapolis.

The executive director of the congress, Tim Glemcowski, said he hopes those going to Indianapolis take its message back home.

One million dollars in scholarships are available for people that want to attend but can’t afford it.

If you want to go to the National Eucharistic Congress, you can see tickets options and everything you need to know about it at EUCHARISTICCONGRESS.ORG

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 1/11/2024

The Monastery of The Holy Land in America has actually been there since 1880.

As war rages on in the Holy Land, historic sites and priceless landmarks in Gaza are being destroyed.

The goal of this year’s march for life is to work toward a culture of life in America.

The National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this July.

Group Offers Rosary Prayers During Rush Hour at Grand Central Station

by Katie Vasquez

Amid the sounds of evening rush hour at Grand Central Station, with thousands of people heading home from a busy day at work and in the middle of the hustle and bustle, one group stops, taking their time to pray.

“The rosary, as Padre Pio said, is the greatest weapon of all time,” said rosary prayer group member Ray Reyes.

For almost 40 years, members of the Legion of Mary at the Church of St. Agnes in Manhattan have come every Tuesday to recite the rosary outside the entrance to the 4, 5, and 6 trains.

The former associate pastor at St Agnes, Father William Shelley, started the rosary prayer group in the transit hub to help spread the faith.

“To stand up and represent the Catholic Church in public and, you know, in front of people of different walks of life, you know, and say, I’m proud to be Catholic,” said rosary prayer group member, Richard Harris.

Before he passed in 2012, Father Shelley entrusted them to keep the prayers going.

“When he knew that his time on earth was coming to a close, he asked Harris and myself to please continue this subway rosary,” said Reyes.

Over the years, as trains rushed by and the city changed, the rosary group has remained.

“You know, we’ve given out a lot of rosaries along the way,” said rosary prayer group member, Virginia Hill.

They even picked up some new members along the way, some temporary.

“I remember one time one of the police officers came over to me and said, ‘you know, would you pray for my father? He’s in the hospital.’ And she stayed and said a decade with us as well,” said Hill.

Some felt called to come back.

“One day I was coming out of the train station and I saw a group praying the rosary and I was so touched and inspired. I said, Oh, I got to come back,” said rosary prayer group member, Patrick LeBlanc.

No matter what the reason for their prayers, “you pray for peace, you pray for the sick,” said Reyes. The message has stayed the same.

“I really think it’s a way of telling people, you know, there are people, people of faith in this city,” said Hill.

You can join the rosary group, just enter the Grand Central Terminal through the Lexington Avenue side, they will be near the subway entrance around 5:45 pm.

You can also meet the group at the Church of St. Agnes on 43rd Street, they will meet after the 5:10 pm mass and walk to Grand Central together.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday 1/10/2024

There’s a whole group of people who say prayers every week at one New York City subway station.

New York City’s Comptroller launched an investigation into an eviction policy announced by Mayor Eric Adams last July.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholics marched in Manila for a centuries-old religious tradition in the Philippine capital.

Students in grades 1st through 12th in Brooklyn and Queens are invited to express their faith through art with the theme “Keep Christ in Christmas”.

Largest Collection of Brooklyn History Available to the Public

If members of the Diocese of Brooklyn want to take a look at their own past, the largest collection of Brooklyn history in the world is now available to the public.

The Center for Brooklyn history features tens of thousands of books, photos, maps, artifacts and more, detailing life in the borough going back to the 1800s.

Operated by the Brooklyn Public library, you can see bits of the Diocese of Brooklyn within the collection,

like photos of an Italian-American Catholic family in Williamsburg in the 1950s, or school work from Holy Cross students in Flatbush from the late 1800s.

You can also see some old editions of the Tablet, going back to its founding in 1908.

Archivist Dee Bowers says even if you’re not from Brooklyn, you can still find a connection to the collection.

“This statistic is oft repeated, not necessarily proven, but a lot of people say as many as one in seven Americans have history in Brooklyn. So that is a huge part of our national identity and our regional identity here. Another thing to note is that Catholic history and the history of faith in Brooklyn is integrally intertwined with immigration. And that’s another huge part of Brooklyn history, the Brooklyn story and, of course, the American story at large,” said Center for Brooklyn History at Brooklyn Public Library archivist, Dee Bowers.

The Center for Brooklyn history is located in Brooklyn Heights and is open to the public.

Archivists encourage you to come explore and even donate to the collection!

The Brooklyn Public library is accepting artifacts, personal records and other items from the public.

To contribute head to their website:

https://www.bklynlibrary.org/cbh/collections/contribute

Mary of Nazareth Church Parishioners Share Experience of National Catholic Youth Conference

by Katie Vasquez

The season of giving may be over, but for young parishioners like Jamie Rodriguez from Mary of Nazareth Church in Fort Greene, giving happens all year ‘round.

“Personally, it just gives me a good feeling,” Rodriguez said. “It feels like, it feels warm, feels nice.”

That charitable spirit was one of the many reasons why Rodriguez and four other young people were picked by their pastor for the experience of a lifetime.

They went to the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, which brings young people from across America together for an encounter with Christ.

“I feel it changed my life in a very significant way,” said Lewis Pena, a parishioner at Mary of Nazareth.

The conference is a three-day experience of prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, service, and empowerment for Catholic teenagers.

As young people listen to some or the best speakers in the Catholic space and music from award-winning artists, they also celebrate Mass and sit in adoration.

The goal, according to Father Henry Torres, is to find a faith all their own.

“We get our kids to see that this faith is fun. This faith is alive and this faith is as much theirs as it is their parents’ as it is ours,” said Father Torres, pastor of Mary of Nazareth.

Whether they were returning to the conference or this was their first time, each young parishioner at Mary of Nazareth took their own special message.

“I started becoming a lector in the church, and that’s like something I was scared of doing,” Rodriguez said.

“A message I want to focus on is if someone is in need, you should always try to lend a hand,” Pena said.

But Father Torres says it’s now up to them to bring the message of Christ to their community.

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 1/9/2024

The teens from Mary of Nazareth Church in Fort Greene attended the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.

As New York City braces for a major storm to blow through, there are reports Floyd Bennett Field will be evacuated.

Former NYPD Chief of Department Joe Esposito has died after a battle with cancer.

The Center for Brooklyn History has the largest collection on the subject in the world.

New Jersey ‘Superman’ Takes on Hero Persona, Feeding the Hungry at Church Food Pantry

By Jessica Easthope

When Phil Stafford pulls up to WaWa and jumps out of his van, he takes on a new persona.

It comes with a cape and a lot of compassion. He’s there to pick up excess food to give to the hungry.

“More people know me as ‘Superman’ than know me as Phil,” Stafford said. “Basically I started off by helping a food pantry years ago and I saved Thanksgiving for a lot of people and they said ‘you’re Superman’ and then it’s stuck.”

Stafford quit his job as a painter and interior designer 10 years ago to be “Superman” full time.

Now, he feeds more than 2,000 families a week as the executive director of his nonprofit, New Jersey Food and Clothing Rescue.

During the week Stafford hits up around 10 grocery stores taking whatever they don’t want and giving it to those who do want it. Every day in New Jersey, 4 million pounds of food gets thrown out.

“The supply is there; there’s plenty of food for everybody and even enough to give some away. The problem is the logistics and that’s where we come in, they say hey, can you pick up on a Tuesday or Friday or Sunday or a holiday? And we say ‘yes’ and we pick it up.”

It all leads up to Saturday, when New Jersey Food and Clothing Rescue runs a pop-up food pantry at Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Wallington, New Jersey. Stafford isn’t Catholic, but his heart and mind are aligned with what the Church says about charity.

His life’s purpose is to do for others.

“I’ve always believed in helping people, and the Church has always taught to help people so it aligns. There’s no way you can put a monetary value on the feelings that you get when you see someone in trouble and you help them out.”

Over the years Stafford has realized that his cape has given him super powers.

“I don’t think I’m Superman,” Stafford said. “Other people call me Superman and it’s cool and I wear a cape to fool around, but it’s a very serious thing and people need help more than anybody realizes. It’s really becoming a crisis, so the more help we can give out the better off they’ll be.”

What makes him a hero isn’t the ability to fly, but the ability to be kind.

If you too would like to be a superhero and donate to New Jersey Food and Clothing Rescue, just go to NJFOODCLOTHINGRESCUE.ORG.

Bishop Brennan Celebrates Three Kings Day Masses

Saturday, Jan. 6, marked the Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day.

And on Sunday, Jan. 7, hundreds braved the bad weather in Bushwick in order to celebrate two Masses with Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan at two different churches.

At one of those celebrations that included the three kings themselves.

Three magi reenacted the giving of gifts to baby Jesus at All Saints Church.

Bishop Brennan said he was impressed by all the young people who “made it a priority to adore Christ the Lord”.