This year’s USCCB fall meeting may be over but work on many of the issues they discussed is just beginning.
Currents News got an inside look at some of the conference takeaways with the Bishop of Brooklyn, Robert Brennan.
He explained this meeting was different than previous ones because of changes to the overall process.
Thanksgiving is just two days away and a Brooklyn parish wants to make sure everyone has food on the table. Our Lady of Refuge is teaming up with firefighters to hand out turkeys and other food to families in need.
By Jessica Easthope
They made a promise to give back and on Tuesday they kept it. The Timothy Stackpole Foundation and firefighters from several houses across Brooklyn showed up with hundreds of turkeys. Stackpole was a firefighter who died on September 11, 2001 and now his family carries on his legacy of service and faith.
“Timmy was very devoted to St. Francis, it is in giving that we receive, I think this means more to us that it does to the people, it helps us to give back,” said Stackpole’s wife, Tara.
“Timmy’s grandpa Timmy said the greatest high you can get in life is helping other people and that’s the spirit we try to carry on right? Yes, that’s right,” said Lt. Patrick Nash, vice president of the Timothy Stackpole Foundation.
According to No Kid Hungry, a national campaign working to end hunger and poverty, one-third of Brooklynites are food insecure. The food pantry’s weekly operation feeds nearly 400 people, but ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the need soared right along with the inflation that’s stopping people from picking up their turkeys in a store.
“It’s been rough between the pandemic and trying to get back on our feet it’s been a blessing to be able to get some food considering the inflation that we’re facing,” said Melissa Wu.
Our Lady of Refuge promised that if all their turkeys and chickens run out no one would leave empty-handed.
Monsignor Sean G. Ogle’s Homily from Tuesday’s Mass on 11/22/22
By John Lavenburg
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Bishop James Golka on Monday afternoon offered his “deepest sympathies and prayers” to all those affected by a mass shooting in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Nov. 19, saying it’s especially troubling that the shooter appeared to target the LGBTQ community.
“Anytime specific members of the population are targeted for violence, we should all be concerned,” Bishop Golka, of Colorado Springs, said in a statement. “As Christians and Catholics, we believe in the intrinsic dignity and value of all human life. We commit ourselves to protecting and defending that human life.”
“We extend our deepest sympathies and prayers for the victims, their families, and friends,” he said.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, was identified as the suspect in the shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, that killed five people and injured at least 18, 17 of whom had gunshot wounds. The motive of the attack is still under investigation, but Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers told NBC on Monday that it has “the trappings of a hate crime.”
In the statement, Bishop Golka highlighted the need to both strengthen gun-control restrictions, and address mental health challenges people face in society. He cited statistics from the Colorado Springs Police Department that it had been investigating 34 homicides since the beginning of 2022, which is a 100% increase in killings from last year. He also noted that Colorado ranks seventh in the nation in suicide rates.
“For years, the U.S. Catholic Bishops have supported policies to strengthen gun-control restrictions, such as universal background checks and limiting sales of high-capacity magazines,” Bishop Golka said. “This is not a political issue, but rather a humanitarian issue that affects innocent lives.”
“But we need more than this. We need to offer support for vulnerable families and for those suffering from mental health issues,” he said. “I believe we also need to continue shedding light on the cultural roots of this increased violence, such as the lack of civility and increased polarization in our country.”
Bishop Golka noted the possible financial hardship people may face coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well, saying that during this time “we must work to ensure that hurting people have help. We must work to ensure that life-giving options become more viable than violence and killing.”
Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver said on Nov. 20 that “while the motives are unclear, what is clear is that evil incidents like this have become far too common in our society.”
“The random acts of killing innocent human beings must be condemned by a civil society,” Archbishop Aquila said in a statement. “As we seek to overcome evil with good, we must promote the dignity of every human being created in the image and likeness of God.”
Other organizations offered prayers and support for those affected by the attack, and called on Catholics to stand with the LGBTQ community. Outreach, an America Media initiative that provides resources for LGBTQ Catholics said in a Nov. 20 statement that religious leaders must condemn stigmatizing language against the LGBTQ community.
“Such language leads only to further harassment, beatings, and violence,” the statement reads. “Churches and other religious institutions are called to stand on the side of all who are in any way persecuted, including LGBTQ people.”
Father René Constanza, president of the Paulist Fathers, said in a Nov. 21 statement that “violence targeting our LGBTQ sisters and brothers must stop.”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry — an organization that works to bring together the Catholic Church and LGBTQ community — on Nov. 20 called on all bishops to condemn violence against LGBTQ people.
“Such a message can deter future perpetrators, and it also expresses pastoral support to LGBTQ people in their communities,” DeBernardo said in a statement. “We call on bishops and Catholic leaders to join in the many demonstrations and vigils in support of LGBTQ people which will emerge over the coming weeks.”
Bishop Golka concluded his message calling for prayers.
“Let us pray that all our beloved deceased will know the fullness of life in heaven,” he said. “Let us pray and work so that through our actions and attitudes, God may bring peace and healing to our world and to our local community.”
By Jessica Easthope
Andrew McVeigh never met his Uncle Jack but today he buried him.
“He was a presence in my family without being physically there and by that I mean I was always being confronted by him,” Andrew said.
John Joseph Heffernan Junior was considered a hero long before he enlisted in the Army Air Corp in 1942. An altar boy who graduated St. John’s University at the top of his class. He had dreams of being a doctor if he survived the war.
Andrew and his wife Amy received Jack’s remains, a few of his teeth, skull fragments and a shoulder bone at Newark Airport. He’s Jack’s only family and he’s standing by his side during his last and final mission.
“I feel that I owe this, I just feel a very strong debt that I have to do this and in particular to him given that my greater understanding I didn’t have before we got all this word, it’s an obligation on my part, it’s something I have to do,” said Andrew.
Before he was buried next to his mother in St. John’s Cemetery in Middle Village, he was buried beneath ten feet of mud in a peanut field in Myanmar. Where his B25G bomber was shot down over Burma on February 22, 1944 – he remained, for a lifetime.
“This was a real scar, the degree of loss the family felt over this guy was just incredible,” said Andrew.
DNA technology, the persistence of the United States Military and a mother’s love brought Jack home. In the years after the war Jack’s mom Mary sent letters to the Pentagon, to Congress, even to the Bishop of Mandalay, begging someone, anyone to look for her son.
“In the letters my grandmother wrote she would say at the time he was MIA she said I’m going to see him again so there’s an aspect of reuniting that was very important to me,” Andrew said.
Without remains a funeral and burial weren’t possible. But on Saturday, Jack’s remains were escorted in a flag-draped casket over the George Washington Bridge to the Diocese of Brooklyn.
When given the option between Arlington and burying Jack next to his mother in Queens – Andrew says there was no clearer choice.
“This is a journey of return, the loss created such a hole in the family and when given the opportunity to fill the hole it wasn’t even close, the decision was very easy,” he said.
Jack was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart. His life and his sacrifice honored at last.
“The Gospel of St. John chapter 15 verse 13 says greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. He probably knew he wasn’t going to come out of this but he was doing it because he was defending his family, his friends, his neighbors and his country,” said Andrew. “He probably knew he wasn’t going to come out of this but he was doing it because he was defending his family, his friends, his neighbors and his country.”
Jack is back where his life began and with his mother who never gave up on finding her son. Jack is home.
By Paula Katinas
EAST FLATBUSH — The record-breaking level of inflation currently gripping the U.S. economy has taken a huge toll on Yvonne Roman’s food budget, so much so, she said, that “I haven’t bought meat in ages. It’s too expensive.”
But Roman will be having a turkey for Thanksgiving, despite the high price for the bird — nearly $2 per pound according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (73% higher than last year) — thanks to Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens (CCBQ), which distributed free turkeys at her church, Holy Innocents in Flatbush, on Monday, Nov. 21.
Bishop Robert Brennan came to the church that morning to offer a blessing and help hand out turkeys to the hundreds of people who lined up in the cold on the sidewalk around the church.
Roman, who brought her shopping cart with her to put the turkey in, said she was grateful for the food donation.
“It means the world to me,” she said. “I will be able to have a Happy Thanksgiving because of this.”
More than 1,000 people — including many who arrived before sunrise — stood on a line that wrapped around the entire block of Holy Innocents and patiently waited to receive turkeys. The distribution, which took place inside the church’s front gate, resembled a smooth-running assembly line, with an army of CCBQ folks moving the recipients along.
Debra Hampson, senior director of community outreach services for CCBQ, said the organization was prepared to distribute 650 turkeys Monday, but she added that no one would go away empty-handed because when the turkeys ran out, people would be given vouchers to enable them to shop for Thanksgiving food.
“There’s such a great need. We’re seeing even more this year between inflation and gas prices,” Hampson said. “Our pantry numbers have more than doubled, and turkeys (have) skyrocket in price as well. So we’re very grateful that we’re able to do this.”
The cost of the Thanksgiving meal, including the turkey and all of the side dishes, has increased 20% this year over 2021, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The turkeys were donated to the CCBQ by Al and Maria Catanese, who are continuing a seven-year family tradition of making the contribution. Also making donations to ensure the success of the day were Ace Endico, EJ Electric, Empire BlueCross/BlueShield, the New York City District Council of Carpenters, the Steamfitters Union, and Univision Nueva York Contigo.
Bishop Brennan said he noticed the long line as soon as he arrived.
“As we were driving up well before the distribution was to begin, we could see the line.,” he said. “I thought, ‘That’s a pretty long line.’ And I realized that actually, the line went around the corner and down the next block.”
Bishop Brennan, who was distributing the turkeys here in the Diocese of Brooklyn for the first time, said that while the turkey distribution was notable, it was par for the course for CCBQ.
“This is kind of special because it’s a holiday, Thanksgiving Day. But the reality is that Catholic Charities, through our parishes and various different programs here in the churches, are present to people all the time,” he explained. “This is a special event for a special day, but it’s a year-round relationship.”
After receiving her turkey, Yvette Payne said she was relieved that the worry over how to pay for Thanksgiving had been lifted from her shoulders.
“It is nice that they do this for us,” she said.
Monday’s Thanksgiving turkey giveaway was the third this month for CCBQ. On Nov. 15, The organization went to two sites — Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Jamaica and Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona. Between the two locations, a total of 2,100 turkeys and vouchers were distributed.
Father Patrick Keating, deputy chief executive officer and chief financial officer of CCBQ, said the organization “is just trying to live out the Gospel message, ‘I was hungry, and you fed me.’ ”
It’s Bishop Robert Brennan’s first Thanksgiving in the diocese and it could be the most expensive one yet. Today more than a thousand families got a turkey and a food voucher for the fixings at a Catholic Charities event.
Monsignor Sean G. Ogle’s Homily from Monday’s Mass on 11/21/22
Migrants on the Mexico side of the border with the U.S. are on the move as a federal judge has ordered the end of the Trump-era policy, Title 42. The policy has been used to quickly remove migrants from the country. Aid workers at the border estimate about 2,000 migrants are mobilizing to cross over in the United States.