Students Get Lenten Lesson at Co-Cathedral Open Rehearsal Concert

The sounds reverberating around the Co-Cathedral of St Joseph in Prospect Heights are coming from the group “Music at Co-Cath” (MACC), gathered to prepare for a special concert centered around the story of “the little match girl.”

It tells the tale of a child who is selling matches in the cold, but must light them to keep herself warm, until she ultimately dies.

“This story grapples with suffering in a way that it invites us to not let it happen again, to not let those stories be silenced again, to do something about it,” said Music at Co-Cath Director Alejandro Zuleta.

And it’s a lesson the choir is sharing even before their big performance. Some 170 middle schoolers joined them for this open rehearsal.

“It made me reflect on myself and how sometimes we could just really help out other people,” said St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy sixth grade student, Kamila Cedeno.

As the kids learn about the meaning behind these notes, they are reminded of all they’re learning about Lent and this time of preparation.

“All the matches burned out and, and like, in Lent like you have to give up something and she gives up the matches,” said Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy sixth grade student, Douglas Hartman.

“I think that it’s a good representation of Lent because the little match girl gave up, basically her life, just so that she wasn’t in the cold,” said Holy Child Jesus Catholic Academy sixth grade student, Emmanuel Hernandez.

This has MACC thinking about the music in a different way.

“The questions they come up with are things that I don’t even think to ask. And I think it’s really great to be reminded of curiosity and wonder and being open to learning new things,” said Music at Co-Cath Associate Director, Cristina María Castro.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday 3/8/2024

“Cabrini” opens in theaters across the country today.

President Joe Biden covered a number of topics during last night’s State of The Union address.

Protesters were out this morning in lower Manhattan speaking out against the city’s plan to close Rikers Island.

Hundreds of kids from several schools converged on the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph this morning to sit in on a rehearsal.

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan Sends Some Inspiration to the Nationwide Eucharistic Revival

The video message was part of the campaign’s weekly video update called “The Pulse”.

This week’s edition also highlighted a recent stop at the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage, when 550 students gathered at Holy Family Parish to pray before the Blessed Sacrament.

To learn more about the revival campaign, and see Bishop Brennan’s full message in “The Pulse ” just go to Eucharisticrevival.org.

St. Francis Prep Student Selected as PSAT Scholarship Finalist

By Jessica Easthope

At St. Francis Prep High School in Fresh Meadows, it’s easy to blend in, but Jayden Li stands out.

For one, he was the only student to become a finalist for a scholarship that put him in competition with kids all over the country who took the PSAT. Out of 1540, he scored a 1490.

“Being in school and being the only person to win it definitely, my teachers fist bumped me in the hallways, my friends give me hugs sometimes just it’s been great having the recognition,” Li said.

Now Li’’s a senior and waiting to hear back from some of the 25 colleges he applied to, including every Ivy League. He has a course load full of AP classes. He founded Prep’s chess and competition math clubs, runs cross country, volunteers at a nursing home, and self-studies A.I., the field he hopes to work in after college.

But none of that matters when Li’s on his bike. He’s a top-level cyclist, with four national championship wins.

“I would attribute my academic success to cycling in general,” Li said “It’s a huge destressor for me and it taught me about the link between the hard work I put in and the result I get out of it.”

“He’s a complete package,” said Pat McLaughlin, principal of St. Francis Prep. “Part of our mission statement is that we form leaders who achieve academic excellence, create community, and proclaim joy and hope. He lives out that mission.”

McLaughlin said Jayden exemplifies what Prep is about.

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” McLaughlin said. “Jayden has both. That’s more important than scholarship money as far as I’m concerned.”

Prep’s college advisor Robyn Armon said the college application process has become very intense and ultra-competitive.

“It’s a frenzy, and we do the best we can here at Prep to have a realistic approach to this,” Armon said. “We tell our students right from freshman year it’s okay; it’s going to work out.”

Li was recently rejected from Stanford, his dream school. But when one door closes, another opens. He now has his sights set on Cornell. Armon said any school would be lucky to have him.

“Jayden is the future,” Armon said. “I look at Jayden and I have hope. He is the future, and on top of being smart and brilliant and he tests well, obviously he’s nice, he’s sweet, he’s polite.”

Li said the Catholic education he’s receiving allows him to look ahead knowing there’s a support system behind him.

“They really foster a community, especially based around this common faith,” Li said.

“There is a spirit in a Catholic school,” Armon said. “It’s not an accident that you can hear a pin drop in the hallways. It’s not an accident that they hold the door for each other. It’s not an accident that they say please and thank you.”

Li’s put in the work to climb the hill, and there are more coming – but for now, he gets to enjoy the ride down.

If you’re interested in sending your child to Catholic school, just visit CatholicSchoolsBQ.org or call 718-965-7380 for more information.

Papal Parish Visit: Pope Francis to Preside Over Lenten Prayer Service

For the second year in a row, Pope Francis will preside over a Lenten service and hear confessions at a parish in Rome.

“Having the Holy Father here is a wonderful thing for our community, especially because we will pray together with him before the Lord and ask for the Lord’s forgiveness together as a community,” said Father Donato Le Pera, Pastor at St. Pius V Parish. “The two basic things of a Christian life: worshiping the Lord and asking for forgiveness.”

This year, the Pope will travel just under two miles behind the Vatican to a modern Church.

Built in 1952, St. Pius the fifth is the place where Pope Francis will celebrate the 24 Hours for the Lord prayer service and, for a few lucky people, hear their confessions.

“There will be 10 people who will confess: five we chose from our community and five the Dicastery for Evangelization have chosen,” Father Le Pera said. “I tried to choose people who need encouragement, who want to restart their journey after a difficult situation or simply because they feel the need for reconciliation.”

Father Le Pera said the church can hold about 600 people. But there have been more requests than seats available.

He explains this initiative is important because it builds on a challenge Pope Francis made many years ago.

“Always with open doors,” said Pope Francis in 2015 “The churches, the parishes, the institutions with closed doors cannot be called churches, they must be called museums.”

“When the Pope talks about the outgoing Church, he is the first one to make this gesture of going out of the Vatican and meeting with a community, even if for a short time,” Father La Perla said. “But, it is nice that it is done in an atmosphere of prayer. Praying with the Pope before the Lord strengthens our unity in the Church, with the Lord and with the Pope.”

Pope Francis won’t be staying for the full 24 hours of prayer, only the service launching the event.

This is always a busy time for the Holy Father, let’s take a quick look at his schedule for Holy Week and Easter.

It all kicks off with Palm Sunday Mass on March. 24, then on Holy Thursday, March. 28, before the prison visit, he’ll celebrate Chrism Mass.

On Good Friday, March 29th, Pope Francis will again lead a way of the cross at the Colosseum.

On Saturday, March. 30, he’ll preside over the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday, March 31, he’ll celebrate Mass and give an “URBI Et Orbi” blessing.

You can watch those Masses, plus see all the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Easter services live, right here on Net-TV.

Archbishop Speaks Out Against Military Decision to Provide Abortions

A Catholic archbishop serving the military is speaking out against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ decision to provide abortion under certain circumstances.

The policy change allows service members and their relatives to get the procedure in instances of rape, incest, or when the life or health of the mother is at stake.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of Military Services called the decision “at odds with the notion the military protects the innocent.”

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 3/7/2024

A St. Francis Prep senior has beaten out hundreds of thousands of students across the country, scoring high enough on the PSAT to become a finalist in the running for a scholarship.

President Joe Biden will deliver his State of The Union address tonight.

In Alabama, IVF treatments are resuming, after the governor signed a bill to protect in vitro fertilization and provide immunity to patients and clinics during services.

Pope Francis’s holy week schedule has been made public.

Lenten Pilgrimage: Bishop Brennan Greets Students Arriving at St. Clare Academy

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan and the other pilgrims visited St. Clare Church in Rosedale, Queens, on Wednesday, March 6.

Bishop Brennan celebrated Mass with the pilgrims after he stopped at their Catholic academy, and greeted the kids arriving for school, along with the Mass, Bishop Brennan also prayed the rosary with pilgrims.

To see all the stops the pilgrims will make, download the Lenten Pilgrimage App. Search “Lenten Pilgrimage” on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

If you can’t be there in person, the app helps you there too. You can join the prayer community from the palm of your hand.

From Helping Mount Everest Climbers to Embarking on a New Faith Journey

by Katie Vasquez

Sitting in the first pew at St. Sebastian’s church in Woodside, Queens, is Shekhar Giri and his wife, Arlene Allam Assi.

They’re a staple for the 10:30 am Sunday mass, but what you probably couldn’t tell is that Shekhar is not Catholic, at least not yet.

He is one of the 447 catechumens in the Diocese of Brooklyn or people who will be baptized at the Easter vigil.

At this particular mass, he received the first scrutiny, when a priest lays their hands over someone to be baptized and the parish prays they may reject anything that is contrary to a christian life.

“The father removed the exorcism, the bad spirit from the body, that’s the reason we are there. I feel blessed,” said Giri.

Shekhar’s journey to this point has been filled with twists and turns.

He was born into a Hindu family in Nepal and for years, would help climbers trying to scale Mount Everest.

“I went up to the base camp because of, you know, a group of people and they need some time for medical help and they had frostbite,” said Giri.

It was while teaching in a business school that he met his wife Arlene, who was raised Catholic in the Philippines.

On their first date she insisted on showing him her faith.

“It happened to be Christmas, and we attended the midnight mass at St. Patrick’s cathedral. And if I’m not mistaken, that was his first introduction to the church,” said Shekhar’s wife, Arlene Allam Assi.

26 years later the pair are still going to mass together every Sunday.

But it wasn’t until recently that Shekhar felt called to become part of the church.

“I started to read the bible and some kind of power spirit, you know, tells me to baptize. all the time, you know. So that’s why I chose baptism,” said Giri.

The pastor of Saint Sebastian Church, Father Patrick West says Shekhar’s story is a great lesson.

“Almost like the blind man who comes to a healing, you know, step by step. Some people, you know, say this is the time now. others take, you know, longer in their journey,” said Father West.

And the couple is looking forward to a fresh start with his baptism.

“Reborn. New life. and you, all your sins will be removed and that’s the way to live your life,” said Giri.

“He will be the same Shekhar. but I think he will be a happier person, a more generous individual, and more open to people,” said Allam Assi.

Bishops Against Bill That Would Allow Terminally Ill Patients To End Their Life

New York’s bishops are warning lawmakers about the dangers of an assisted suicide bill.

The prelates recently released a statement arguing against the “Medical Aid in Dying Act,” a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to end their life.

The bishops say assisted suicide is wrong and this measure does not contain adequate safeguards.

National correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg, joins Currents News to talk more about the New York bishops’ fight against assisted suicide.