Editor Emeritus of The Tablet, Ed Wilkinson, joins Currents News to discuss the origins and history of the paper’s Bright Christmas Fund and shares some of his favorite moments over the course of his five decade career.
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Currents News Special Edition: Because of You
Inflation is wearing out Americans – many wondering how they’ll afford their next meal – much less the holidays.
But The Tablet newspaper has a plan for a Bright Christmas: a special fund to make sure every kid has a gift under the tree.
Homilies in Your Home: Matthew 11:28-30
Most Reverend Robert J. Brennan’s Homily from Wednesday’s Mass on 12/7/22
Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 12/06/22
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
It’s Election Day in Georgia, again. Voters are hitting the polls for a Senate runoff that has national implications.
The MTA has a plan to beat the fare beaters at their own game.
Diocese of Brooklyn Christmas Tree Arrives in Grand Army Plaza
By Jessica Easthope
A final festive piece to the Christmas season has landed in Brooklyn. Like its famous cousin in Midtown it’s also a Norway spruce. But even without lights and decorations, standing at 28 feet tall it stands out. This year the tree is honoring unity and will be decorated with multicolored lights reflecting the diversity of the Diocese of Immigrants.
“It’s a great way to represent the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, with more than two dozen multicultural Masses it’s actually the foundation of the Diocese,” said director of programming and production for DeSales Media Group Alexandra Pina.
On Tuesday the tree made its journey from a family-owned farm in Pennsylvania that values DeSales Media Group, NET-TV’s parent company’s mission. It was sold to the Diocese of Brooklyn for a fraction of its original cost.
The spruce was cut, transported and set up by the Torsilieri family, their business does the same for the Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park Christmas trees.
“It’s very important that we align ourselves with mission driven vendors, the people that helped us this Christmas season are family-owned businesses that have operated for more than 30 years, it just brings a stronger message.”
Next Wednesday you can join Currents News as we flip the switch on 16,000 multicolored lights on the tree and celebrate the birth of Jesus in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Pope Francis Returns to Public Veneration of Mary for Feast of Immaculate Conception
To mark the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, Pope Francis will place flowers at a statue of the Virgin Mary in Rome.
The tradition dates back to 1953 with Pope Pius XII. Normally, it is open to the public. But the last two years were different due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, Pope Francis made personal visits to the statue early in the morning without the public.
This year’s visit signals a return to normalcy. The Pope is scheduled to pray in front of the monument and leave flowers at a public ceremony.
This is a very special tradition for the people of Rome. It is one of the few times that the Pope makes a visit out in the city as the Bishop of Rome.
Murdered Louisiana Priest, Father Otis Young, Remembered as a ‘Reconciler’
In Louisiana hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of a murdered priest. Father Otis Young was remembered as a devoted priest and man of deep faith. The Covington congregation is now relying on their own faith to deal with their loss.
Parents of Late Diocese of Brooklyn Priest Donate to Bright Christmas Campaign
By Jessica Easthope
The first thing you see when you walk into Lou and Joan Gancila’s house are toys. They belonged to their son, Joseph, or as he was known in the Diocese of Brooklyn, Father Joe.
“His love for the children and the way he made them feel on Christmas, they would start asking him in September who’s coming to Christmas and he would say I’ll never tell,” the couple said.
Father Joe used the toys every Christmas as a way to relate to the children at his Masses, right up until Christmas of 2019, 10 days before he died.
“I couldn’t believe it, sometimes we still can’t believe it we just expect him to walk through the door, you’re not supposed to be burying a child,” they said.
Like Father Joe, his parents know how impactful toys can be in a child’s life, which is why they’ve been donating to the Tablet’s Bright Christmas campaign for more than 25 years.
“The people of the Diocese of Brooklyn are special to us because that’s our home and when we get the mailing every year it’s like yes, absolutely,” said Lou.
Joan and Lou have since moved away from the Diocese of Brooklyn and their home parish the Basilica of Regina Pacis.
“We’ve attended there all our lives, we saw the church being built, we received our sacraments there, we saw our children married there and our son celebrate his first mass there,” Joan said.
But for them it will always be home.
“Anytime we go back to visit our son we have that feeling we’re home, this is our home, we go to church here and it’s fine but that is our home, our roots were there and in a way they still are,” they said.
And giving to Bright Christmas is a chance to make that home a better place for those who really need it.
“If we have the ability to help those people, we want to do it and Bright Christmas is one of the charities that we use to give us a little satisfaction that we’re giving back to those who aren’t as fortunate as we are,” Lou said.
Losing a child changed the Gancila’s forever, but their faith and connection to the Diocese of Brooklyn has sustained them.
“We still get The Tablet and we see all the letters that say thank you so much for donating and for what Bright Christmas gave to us and that makes us feel good,” said Joan.
And with a new year and a higher goal, the Gancila’s are giving a little more.
The Church of Saints Simon and Jude Celebrate 125 Years of Faith
The church of Saints Simon and Jude celebrated 125 years over the weekend with Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan and former parishioner, Bishop Frank Caggiano. The now bishop of Bridgeport grew up in Gravesend right near the parish.
Bishop Caggiano even mentioned during his homily that he remembers seeing the current church being built while in class.
The original church was built at the turn of the 20th century to minister to the predominately Irish immigrant population.
As the diocese of immigrants grew more diverse and more parishioners began to pack the pews, the parish decided to build a bigger church and that’s the one that stands there today.
Xavier High School Celebrates 175 Years of Catholic Education
A New York Catholic High School is celebrating almost 2 centuries of providing a quality education.
Xavier High School, a Jesuit school in Manhattan, culminated it’s 175th anniversary year with a Mass at the church of St Francis Xavier on Saturday. The Mass was followed by a gala with New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
Jesuit Father John Larkin founded Xavier as an all-boys school in 1847 with only five cents in his pocket. Back then it was called “The School of the Holy Name of Jesus.”