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Some of the top student musicians from across New York City performed at the High School Honors Music Festival, showcasing talent, dedication and collaboration.
Among the performers were 23 students from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. For senior Myles Bryant, the experience left a lasting impression.
“It was amazing to see all those band people come together to a common goal, to do something great and spectacular,” Bryant said.
Fellow senior Josiah Celius credited consistent practice and strong support from the school for helping them stand out.
“Many of my friends were saying how we felt like we were some of the most skilled or most prepared people there,” Celius said.
For junior Adam Delinois, participating in the festival was especially meaningful, considering he only began playing a few years ago.
“Actually, my first day coming to school my freshman year, I came down to the band room and asked one of the teachers if I can join their band. So they put me on trombone,” Delinois said. “Originally I didn’t want to, but the more I kept playing it, the more I started to enjoy it.”
Participation in the festival has become an annual tradition for the Catholic high school. It is also a point of pride for faculty, especially since the school does not have an established performing arts program.
“The fact that Bishop Loughlin did get so many students involved, I think that’s an amazing thing and a testament to all of us in the music department,” said Everett Wilson, chair of the music and visual arts department.
Students said the experience was both inspiring and rewarding.
“It was honestly really refreshing to just be surrounded by a whole bunch of kids who had a common goal and wanted to do well in that program,” said junior Mercedez McCray.
Students and staff alike say the performance is one they will cherish for years to come.
Students from Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School performed alongside some of New York City’s top young musicians at the NYC High School Honors Festival.
They came in with the largest group — and left with an experience they won’t forget.
A Queens parish brought the Passion of Christ into the streets on March 27, as dozens of faithful took part in a Via Crucis, or Stations of the Cross, procession from St. Leo Church to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
The walk became a symbolic road to Calvary, drawing parishioners together in prayer and reflection. The tradition began just last year and mirrors similar “Friday of Sorrows” processions held in many countries.
Bishop Robert Brennan said the public witness is a powerful way to share the faith with the wider community.
“It’s really a matter of go out and get and bring in,” he said. “It’s nice that we stand at the doors and welcome people, but we also have to go out there to bring people in, to invite people in.”
Parishioners described the experience as both emotional and unifying.
“It was very emotional. It was beautiful to see not only the community come together, but a lot of the youth,” said Nixaliz Espinal. “And just openly share our faith and be vulnerable out there.”
Isaias Castillo said the procession created a meaningful connection among participants and those watching nearby.
“It’s definitely an encounter with Christ and the community,” he said. “It was nice to see people around Flushing Meadows Park either do the sign of the cross or show a sign of devotion.”
Diana Grande said the public expression of faith can inspire curiosity in others.
“I feel like the procession is beautiful — a way to show your faith,” she said. “That would also get other people to admire what we’re doing so they could know or be curious of who God is.”
Following the procession, Bishop Brennan celebrated a Spanish-language Mass and blessed a new crucifix outside the parish, marking another moment of reflection during Holy Week.
ASTORIA — Experiences, expected and unexpected, unfolded during the Diocese of Brooklyn’s 2026 Lenten Pilgrimage stop on March 28 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish.
Faithful pilgrims from all over the diocese pushed through cold, windy weather to attend the 9 a.m. Mass, followed by the rosary, Eucharistic adoration, as well as other opportunities for prayer and reflection.
In addition, because Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a “Special Franciscan Jubilee Year,” visiting a church named for St. Francis allowed Lenten pilgrims to participate in the process of receiving a plenary indulgence, which includes Communion, confession, and Eucharistic adoration.
Msgr. Ralph Maresca, the pastor, said St. Francis of Assisi was happy to accommodate the pilgrims.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “As we prepare to enter Holy Week, the holiest week of our Catholic faith, it gives us that opportunity to reflect on all that the Lord has done, out of love, for us, and the humiliation and the suffering that he experienced.”
Pilgrims got an unexpected break from the activities when the Jornadas de Vida Cristiana’s annual Lenten procession, called the Caminata, passed at 11 a.m. on 21st Avenue in front of the church.
About 200 youthful “Jornadistas” sang and cheered as they followed their band that performed praise music from the back of a flatbed truck.
The surprised pilgrims assembled on the front steps with Msgr. Maresca to greet them.
“It’s bringing the youth out into the street to show the world that the Church is young,” explained Father Jose Henriquez, the Jornada movement’s spiritual director for the diocese. “The Church is alive.”
This year is the diocese’s fourth annual Lenten Pilgrimage, in which everyone in the diocese is invited to visit a designated church each day during Lent.
They attend Mass, participate in Eucharistic adoration, Stations of the Cross, and more.
Msgr. Maresca said this year was the parish’s first to host a Lenten Pilgrimage stop — a blessing for the parish since the 2026 Lenten Pilgrimage is dedicated to the Jubilee for St. Francis.
Pope Leo proclaimed the jubilee year to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi in 1226. During the jubilee year, which began Jan. 10 and continues through Jan. 10, 2027, indulgences are available for pilgrims visiting Franciscan churches worldwide.
However, plenary indulgences are often misunderstood, even by faithful Catholics.
Simply put, if a person dies in a state of grace and friendship with God, but with temporal punishment still needed for sin, they undergo purification in purgatory. Plenary indulgences allow them to avoid this purifying state.
To receive this indulgence, a person must also go to confession, receive the Eucharist, pray for the pope’s intentions, and be completely detached from sin. Seekers must also do penance. Examples include Eucharistic adoration, the Stations of the Cross, at least a half-hour of scripture reading, or saying the rosary.
All these activities were offered at St. Francis Assisi during the stop on the pilgrimage.
Kimberly-Ann Kateri Ragonese said she would offer her indulgence to a soul in purgatory.
“I give it up to the one who’s most in need of it,” she said. “I’m not looking to be first. I just want everybody to get to heaven.”
Other activities during the pilgrimage stop included a noon Angelus, a Divine Mercy Chaplet, and an evening Benediction and closing led by Bishop Robert Brennan.
Nancy Gaetani described this pilgrimage stop as “absolutely beautiful.”
Gaetani is the chief of staff in the superintendent’s office for Catholic Schools of Brooklyn and Queens. She lives on Long Island and regularly attends Our Lady of Peace Parish in Lynbrook.
While working for the Diocese of Brooklyn, she learned about the pilgrimage and wanted to join it. This is her third year participating. She praised her fellow pilgrims.
“It’s really special,” she said. “We’re praying with people who are here for the same reason that I am here. I just feel like during Lent, I’m the best version of myself.”
The diocese’s 2026 Lenten Pilgrimage concluded on April 1 at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary-St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Parish in Ozone Park, Queens.
Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn processed through the streets on Palm Sunday, marking the start of Holy Week.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, delivering a message of peace to the world.
Pilgrims gathered at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Queens for a Lenten Pilgrimage stop during the Franciscan Jubilee and the opportunity for a plenary indulgence.
After a journey marked by hardship, family, and faith, one man is preparing to join 1,200 others as they receive their sacraments as new Catholics at the Easter Vigil.
On the morning of March 29, Palm Sunday was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square. It’s the first one presided over by Pope Leo XIV, with the recent memory of Pope Francis still present among the faithful.
Pope Leo focused his homily on peace, reflecting on how Jesus, the King of Peace, entered Jerusalem unarmed, without physically defending himself.
Full homily of Pope Leo XIV:
“Dear brothers and sisters: As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps. As we walk with him, we contemplate his passion for the sake of humanity, his broken heart, and his life as a gift of love.
We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms abounds him. He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence. He offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs.
He is the light of the world, though darkness is about to engulf the earth. He came to bring life, even as plans unfold to condemn him to death.
King of Peace.
Jesus’ desire is to bring the world into the Father’s arms, tearing down every barrier that separates us from God and from our neighbor, for “He is our peace” (Eph 2:14).
King of Peace.
Jesus enters into Jerusalem not upon a horse, but upon a donkey, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that calls for rejoicing at the arrival of the Messiah: “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations” (Zech 9:9–10).
King of Peace.
When one of his disciples drew his sword to defend him and struck the high priest’s servant, Jesus immediately stopped him, saying: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52).
King of Peace.
While he was burdened with our sufferings and pierced for our sins, Jesus “did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent” (Is 53:7). He did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war. He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence.
Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history.
Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.
He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).
As we set our gaze upon him who was crucified for us, we can see a crucified humanity. In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today.
In his last cry to the Father, we hear the weeping of those who are crushed, who have no hope, who are sick and who are alone.
Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.
Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!
In the words of the Servant of God, Bishop Tonino Bello, I would like to entrust this cry to Mary Most Holy, who stands beneath the cross of her Son and weeps also at the feet of those who are crucified today:
Holy Mary, woman of the third day, grant us the certainty that, in spite of all, death will no longer hold sway over us; that the injustices of peoples are numbered; that the flashes of war are fading into the twilight; that the sufferings of the poor are breathing their last.
And grant, finally, that the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up like frost beneath the spring sun.”
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Led by Bishop Robert Brennan, more than 100 Catholics on March 29 walked a half mile from St. Teresa of Avila Church to the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph for the Palm Sunday procession.
This year marked a change in the procession’s starting point. The faithful began their journey at St. Teresa of Avila on Classon Avenue instead of Grand Army Plaza, as they had in past years. The Co-Cathedral and St. Teresa of Avila are part of the same parish.
The decision to begin the journey at St. Teresa of Avila was a deliberate one, said Father Patrick Keating, rector of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
“One of the options in the general instruction of the Roman Missal speaks of gathering in one church and processing to another,” Father Keating Told the Tablet, noting that because the parish has two churches it was important to include them both in the celebration of Palm Sunday.
But while the route changed, the destination was the same — the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph on Pacific Street, where the faithful, with palms in hand, attended a Spanish language Mass celebrated by Bishop Brennan.
As she waited at St. Teresa of Avila, Ailyn Cruz said she was looking forward to the procession “and walking together, all of us in faith.”
Cruz said this year’s Palm Sunday was different fromyears past, not just because of the change in the procession route. “I’ve been praying more this year,” she said.
Before setting off on the procession, the faithful raised their palms so that Bishop Brennan could bless them.
With their palms blessed, the faithful, many of whom were Spanish-speaking parishioners, then followed Bishop Brennan out of the church to begin the procession.
As they walked the streets, they chanted “Viva Cristo Rey!” and sang hymns.
“We are witnesses to our faith, walking with Jesus because he walked the way before us and lives the way with us,” Bishop Brennan told The Tablet.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem and the palms the faithful held aloft symbolized peace and victory.
The day also marks the beginning of Holy Week, which includes the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Way of the Cross Procession across the Brooklyn Bridgeon Good Friday, the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, and culminateson Easter Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of the risen Lord.
For Rosalinda Rosario, a parishioner of the co-cathedral, the Palm Sunday procession was the chance to send a message of love to the public.
“The faith that I have, I hope everyone encounters,” she said.
At several points during the procession, onlookers stopped walking, gazed at the participants, and smiled. Some took pictures of the procession.
“When they see the procession, they know that Jesus is alive,” Rosario said. “He is resurrected and they should have faith.”
Just to the left of the sanctuary of the Oratory Church of St. Boniface, an unfinished space is beginning to take shape as a future hub for parish life.
Though still in its early stages, the raw concrete area is filled with promise, according to administrative vicar Father Anthony Andreassi.
“It’s been hopeful and exciting,” Andreassi said, recalling a Dec. 8 visit from Bishop Robert Brennan and members of his staff. “It’s still obviously raw — it’s just concrete — but envisioning how things are going to start to lay out and look.”
For longtime parishioner Mary Maloney, the project represents more than construction — it’s about restoring a sense of community.
“After Mass, we used to go there and have coffee and all of that,” Maloney said. “We can’t do all that. We have it on the sidewalk, and so you miss out on a lot of things.”
The renovation also addresses a challenge caused by nearby development. Three stained-glass windows in the downtown Brooklyn church have been left dark due to new construction. Andreassi said the redesign will incorporate lighting solutions.
“The space will actually get a little natural light, but not any direct light,” he said. “So it’s going to still need artificial light to support it.”
Residential tenants moved into the building’s upper floors over the summer, allowing church leaders to now focus their attention on completing the space intended for parishioners. Plans include an event area, a garden, and a campus ministry.
“At this point, we’re fully finished with the design of the ground floor, about to finish the design of maybe the next three floors,” Andreassi said.
Maloney said she is hopeful the final result will meet the community’s expectations.
“I hope they give us something good,” she said.
Andreassi said he is optimistic the parish will begin using the new space by the end of the year or in early 2027.