By Currents News
St. John’s University is reportedly in negotiations to sell its Staten Island campus. According to the borough president, talks are underway with neighboring Wagner College for the 16.5-acre site.
While the university declined to comment on the reported deal, a previous statement says St. John’s is seeking a partner that can continue the site’s educational mission.
By Currents News
From Brooklyn to Queens, pilgrims showed up day after day for prayer, reflection, and community during this year’s Lenten Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Check out some of the most powerful moments from along the way — a look back at a journey that brought pilgrims closer to Christ.
By Katie Vasquez and Paula Katinas
OZONE PARK — Cheryl Charles walked into Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Ozone Park on April 1 feeling a sense of accomplishment.
She reached the final church on the final day of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage and recalled the journey she had been on. “It has been an eye opener,” she said, adding that it has brought her closer to her faith.
The 2026 Lenten Pilgrimage was the first in which Charles participated, and she managed to get to 27 of the 37 churches on the route.
“Each church is more beautiful and more unique,” said Charles, a parishioner of Our Lady of Miracles Church in Canarsie.
This year marked the diocese’s fourth annual Lenten Pilgrimage. Bishop Robert Brennan introduced the pilgrimage in 2023 to help Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens grow in their faith as they marked Lent and prepared for Easter.
Under the pilgrimage, the diocese designated a different church each day for Catholics to visit as that day’s pilgrimage station. Beginning with the Cathedral Basilica of St. James on Ash Wednesday, the faithful were invited to visit as many of the station churches as they could to attend Mass or take part in things like Eucharistic adoration, Stations of the Cross, and praying the rosary, among other opportunities for prayer and reflection.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary-St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Parish was the final stop, with the Masses and services held at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.
Bishop Brennan closed out the day — and the Lenten Pilgrimage — with Benediction.
“I hope today was a day of prayer, a day of grace and renewal for the whole parish,” he told pilgrims and parishioners. “That’s been our experience. And I hope that was the case for you.”
“Thank you for hosting us,” he added. “Thank you for making us feel so welcome. Thank you for providing an atmosphere of such beautiful prayer in the presence of Jesus Christ.”
Father John Tino, the parish’s pastor who celebrated Mass in the morning, said he was happy to welcome pilgrims.
“They usually go to the same parish,” he said. “And so, (the pilgrimage) gives them an understanding of the universality of the church.”
Lorraine Collazo, a parishioner of St. Teresa Church in Woodside, was at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church on April 1, just as she had been at all the other churches for this year’s pilgrimage. Collazo is a veteran, having participated in all of the pilgrimages from the very beginning in 2023.
“It’s been an interesting journey, both spiritually and physically,” she said, adding that crisscrossing the two boroughs made for long days that forced her to keep her energy up. “It’s the hardest part, I think, of the journey.”
Looking back on her pilgrimage experience, Collazo said she loved visiting the churches because they gave her the chance to be “in the presence of God.”
As she left the church following the morning Mass, Charles said she planned to take part in the pilgrimage next year.
“Yes, definitely,” she said. “And hopefully, I’ll do all the churches.”
The Diocese of Brooklyn’s annual Lenten Pilgrimage is coming to a close and as parishioners prepare for the Resurrection they’re reflecting on what the journey has meant to them.
At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV is preparing for the Easter Triduum – he will wash the feet of priests on Holy Thursday and carry the cross during the entire Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday.
During the Chrism Mass in Brooklyn, Bishop Robert Brennan blessed the holy oils that will be used during the upcoming liturgical year and offered words of encouragement to the clergy of his diocese.
By Katie Vasquez
Over the course of the Lenten season parishioners from Brooklyn and Queens have been traveling to neighboring churches as part of a special pilgrimage lasting 40 days.
As the Resurrection nears, the faithful are approaching the final stop along the route in Queens.
By Currents News
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Bishop Robert Brennan delivered his homily during the chrism Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights on March 31, 2026.
Below is the full text:
2026 March 31
Chrism Mass
“Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Confirmation Season started a little early — for me it was about a week and a half ago.
It is always nice to greet the young before and hear a little from them. In one particular parish, the candidates were asked to write an essay explaining 1. Why they wish to be confirmed, 2. How they have prepared and 3. How might the experience of the Holy Spirit affect their lives.
While essays were terrific, there were a few that really stood out. Let me read the beginning of one:
“There are many reasons why I want to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, but the main reason is that at this point, I can’t imagine life without God.” He continues with an amazing testimony. But isn’t that something, I can’t imagine my life without God.
In the gospel just proclaimed, Jesus stands before the crowd in the synagogue, bringing good news to the poor and afflicted. He tells them they need not imagine their lives without God. He is standing right before them. God emptied himself that they/we would not need to imagine life without Him. Jesus lives and we are loved. “This scripture passage is fulfilled in their hearing.”
Just a year ago, shortly after we gathered for this Mass, God called our beloved Pope Francis home to himself. While we mourned his death, the election of Pope Leo brought new excitement initiating a new era in the Church.
At his inaugural Mass, the new Holy Father drew upon the image of the calling of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew “to be like Jesus, ‘fishers of men; to cast their nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into the ‘waters of the world, to sail the seas of life so that all might experience God’s embrace.”
The Holy Father asked, “How can Peter carry out this task? The Gospel tells us that it is possible only because his life was touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God, even in the hour of his failure and denial.”
Friends, while this image speaks powerfully to all of us gathered here, permit me to speak directly to the priests.
Today, at this Mass we will together renew the promises of our Ordination as priests.
Why did you want to be a priest? How did you experience God’s call? How did you realize that your life was touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God?
Through some of our Project Andrew Vocation events, I’ve had the privilege of hearing some of your stories. Today, as we renew these promises, and on Thursday as we will celebrate the institution of the Priesthood and the Eucharist at the evening Mass of the Lord’s supper, the Church asks us: REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE. Let the Lord speak to you again. Let him stir into flame the grace of your ordination. Yes, your life was indeed touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God. Remember your first love.
With that in mind, as St. Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, the love of Christ impels us. Does it not? Jesus asks us to cast our nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into this world, so that those whom we serve might experience God’s embrace.
Please know brother priests, how much your people appreciate your steadfast and generous ministry; the gift of your life in humble loving service, your integrity, your humility, your love for God and for them. I appreciate it. The Church appreciates it.
To all gathered here and to all joining us by way of NET TV or livestream, the Church of Brooklyn — here in Brooklyn and Queens: yes, the Lord stands in our hearing through his Church, through the Sacraments. We need not imagine life without God. Today I will bless the Oils which we will use for the Sacramental life of the Church. Listen to those prayers. Let them remind you of the Lord’s desire to work in you and through you.
Today this Scripture is fulfilled in our hearing. And now the Spirit of the Lord rests upon you. Through Baptism and Confirmation, we are anointed and sent to bring glad tiding to the poor, to heal the broken hearted — God is doing amazing things in Brooklyn and Queens.
Let me go back to my young friend. The young theologian.
“There are many reasons why I want to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, but the main reason is that at this point, I can’t imagine life without God. I know this may come as a surprise to my teachers, as well as to my pastor, because, sometimes I talk too much to my friends and I don’t always listen in class – but I have listened at least 95% of the time. And, to tell you the truth, God has spoken loud and clear 100% of the time.”
Friends: “To him who loves us and has freed us of our sins by his Blood, who has made us into a kingdom of priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen”
By Christine Persichette
What looks like chaos quickly turns into something deeply peaceful at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Bayside.
Each Lent, Sister Kathleen Masterson transforms a parish hall into a prayerful labyrinth — an ancient spiritual path inviting people to slow down, reflect, and encounter God.
A longtime pastoral associate, she has spent decades serving her parish community through ministry, outreach, and spiritual guidance — becoming a steady and energetic force in parish life.
By Currents News
A St. John’s University professor is stepping onto the global stage. Meghan Clark, vice chair of theology and religious studies, has been appointed by Pope Leo XIV to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.
By Currents News
Pilgrims have been going on a physical journey of faith all throughout the Lenten season.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrating a Mass and leading pilgrims in Eucharistic adoration at St. John the Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Tuesday, March 31.
It’s the second to last stop of the Lenten pilgrimage. All throughout Lent, pilgrims have been visiting a new church, seeing the beauty of the diocese through the pews of Brooklyn and Queens.