As Kentucky’s Disaster Relief Operations Continue, Sisters of Charity Work To Meet Need of Community

Currents News Staff

Since the tornadoes touched down last week, Kentucky has been mostly dry. That weather allowed storm crews to conduct damage assessments throughout the Bluegrass State, as well as let families and first responders begin the clean up process. But turbulent weather has once again lined up in the state’s forecast.

Currents News spoke to Tablet and Crux National Correspondent John Lavenburg about the latest weather developments in the area. Lavenburg is in Bowling Green, Kentucky, a city north of Nashville, Tennessee.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 12/16/21

Supply chain disruptions are causing product shortages everywhere – including Christmas trees and secular holiday decorations. But what about religious decorations?

Some good news out of Haiti: the remaining twelve Christian missionaries being held hostage there have now been released.

A series of record-setting storms slams the Midwest, from the Rockies to the Great Lakes Wednesday. It comes on the heels of the deadly tornado spree that left at least 90 people dead and devastated parts of Kentucky and other states.

J.J.’s Christmas Trees Sells More Religious Decorations this Christmas

By Jessica Easthope

The shelves look fully stocked, but the staff at J.J.’s Christmas Trees says the store is empty. Supply chain issues put a kink in their inventory – but sales are up – and the items flying off the shelves go much higher than reindeer.

Maria LaRosa has been the manager at the Dyker Heights store for three decades. She says this year, more than any other, she’s selling more religious than secular decorations.

“They’ve never really asked for them before as much as they have now and because of the pandemic and losing so many loved ones, everyone’s looking up to God and going back to their roots,” Maria said.

Sales on religious items are up 20 percent. The store started with 24 small nativity scenes and now they’re all gone. When they opened on Black Friday, they had around 20 large nativity scenes that were costing a pretty penny: An outdoor nativity goes for $400.

But Maria says people are willing to pay the price of keeping Christ in Christmas.

“There’s always Christ around at Christmas in our house,” said customer Christine Anant.

Christine was shopping for a cross to put on her parents grave. She says her home is already full of religious decorations – and she can see why others would want the same.

“I think that needing your faith more would be validated by having these items around and on the top of your tree,” she said.

Nick Badolato was browsing for some validation of his own after turning toward his faith during the pandemic.

“It really brings it home, especially what’s happened the last year and a half or so,” he said, “so I think a lot of people are looking toward their faith and looking around for items that bring us closer to the reason for the season.”

Buying these decorations might make customers feel closer to God – Maria says she feels that way just selling them.

“I’m born and raised Catholic and for the last few years,” she said. “You don’t go to church, and now, I think I’m going to go back.”

Maria says next year she’s planning to stock up on more religious items after learning this year what people want and need.

The Pope Used to Work as a Club Bouncer and Dreamed of Becoming a Butcher

Currents News Staff

Pope Francis is celebrating his 85th birthday on Dec. 17. Eighty-five years that began in the Flores neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Holy Father has occasionally shared snippets from his past, including from his time in school. Once he shared a memory of a teacher he remembered especially fondly.

“She was a good teacher. She taught us how to write and read, she was great. Then, always, when I finished school, I always remembered her, because remembering one’s first teacher is very important, because he or she is the one who sees you off into life first. And I would call her on the phone, as a kid, then as a priest. Then as a bishop, I helped her when she fell ill,” he said.

Besides Argentina and the Vatican, the pontiff has lived in Chile, Spain, Ireland and Germany. He is fluent in Spanish, Italian and German, and conversational in a number of other languages, including French and English.

As Pope, he’s often surprised the world with his unusual way of doing things. For example, he was the first Pope since the first century who chose a name not used by a predecessor.

And during his first Holy Thursday celebration as pontiff, Pope Francis made headlines when he celebrated it with inmates at a prison in Rome.

But for him, it was nothing new. Already in Argentina, he had made it his custom to celebrate the washing of feet in places like jails, hospitals, retirement homes or slums.

During his first canonization celebration, on May 12, 2013, Pope Francis surpassed Pope John Paul II’s record in canonizing the most saints in a single pontificate. He did this when he canonized the 813 Martyrs of Otranto, who had been executed by the Ottomans in 1480.

But before becoming Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio held a number of very different jobs, from a bouncer at a club to a chemist in a lab. In fact, when he was younger, he had a very different idea for his future.

“I changed my mind, obviously. But to answer your question, when I was little, I wanted to be a butcher. I would have loved that,” he once said.

Now, at 85 years old, Pope Francis continues to surprise the world with his words and actions.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday, 12/15/21

President Biden is getting an up-close look at the devastation caused by this weekend’s deadly tornadoes that killed more than 70 people in Kentucky.

The Holy Father is praying for the victims of a fuel tanker explosion in northern Haiti.

Keechant Sewell will become the NYPD’s first female police commissioner.

Retired 9/11 First Responder With Terminal Cancer Battles NYCERS Over Disability Pension

By Jessica Easthope

Mike Earley walks around knowing his days are numbered. That’s because he has stage four pancreatic cancer and was given one year to live – that was seven months ago.

“It’s debilitating,” Mike said. “I haven’t been able to leave the house much. I have very, very bad weakness in my legs.”

But his battle with cancer isn’t the only one Mike feels like he’s losing. After working tirelessly since June to get the New York City Employees’ Retirement System – commonly known as NYCERS – to approve his disability pension, Mike was approved. The pension would give him and his family 75 percent of his salary, but his work and his waiting is far from over.

“They’ve been running me in circles since June,” he said. “It’s not fair to the people who are waiting. I made it six months, what if I don’t make it another six months?”

Mike served the city of New York as an EMS captain for nearly 30 years. His cancer is 9/11 related.

“They really didn’t push masks at the beginning,” Mike said, “then it got to the point we had to wear masks. Was it too late at that point? I don’t know.”

Now Mike wants to make sure his wife and two daughters are taken care of when he’s gone. After saying there wasn’t enough proof of just how sick he was, NYCERS could take up to another eight months to get Mike his full pension.

“In six months if I don’t make it past the prognosis date what happens to my family?” he asked. “What happens to the house we just bought, are they homeless? At this point all I care about is my family.”

The agency says 58 percent of applicants seeking disability pensions get an answer within four months. But World Trade Center Liaison for Local 2507, Gary Smiley, who’s also battling NYCERS, says the system is broken.

“In 2021, no one wants to be a World Trade Center first responder,” Gary said. “Every day you’re looking over your shoulder wondering what’s going to happen to you medically. We’re all sick.”

Mike says now all he can do is pray.

“I don’t have the strength to go to church, but I pray to God all day long and I’m a firm believer He knows what I’m going through and He’s going to help me,” Mike said.

His hope is that the city does right by him.

“What more do you need to know? To say ‘okay this guy worked 28 and a half years with the fire department taking care of the city’, how about the city takes care of him? At this point all I care about is my family.”

President Biden Visits Tornado-Devastated Areas in Kentucky to Survey Damage

Currents News Staff

As residents in Kentucky cope with death and destruction in the wake of tornadoes and severe storms, President Joe Biden traveled to the Bluegrass State Wednesday – getting a first-hand look at the devastation. One survivor recalled the tragic moment.

“It was really difficult to breathe,” said Jim Douglas, who survived the Candle Factory collapse. “I was definitely being crushed.”

The president arrived in Fort Campbell for a briefing – followed by visits to Mayfield and Dawson Springs – two of the towns hardest hit.

“The way people just come out of nowhere to help as a community, and that’s what it’s supposed to be, that’s what America’s supposed to be,” said President Joe Biden. “There’s no red tornadoes or blue tornadoes, there’s no red states or blue states when this stuff starts to happen.”

Over the weekend, at least 88 people were killed in the storms impacting parts of the Midwest and the South – including at least 71 in Kentucky, according to the state’s governor. More than 100 people in Kentucky remain missing, with thousands more still without power.

“We are now delivering life sustaining support, search and rescue operations, the delivery of food, water, blankets and emergency shelter, providing generators to get nursing homes and medical facilities up and running again,” said Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.

Kentucky Catholic Community Worried About Rebuilding Costs After ‘Gut Wrenching’ Aftermath

Currents News Staf

As Currents News reported yesterday, the tornado in Kentucky wiped everything in one Catholic church except for a statue of Mary. It’s the only church for miles.

National Correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg is also in Kentucky surveying the same areas as the president.

Lavenburg reported from Dawson Springs at Resurrection Church. He joined Currents News to discuss details on what the devastation aftermath looks like and the pulse of residents and churches.

If you’d like to lend a helping hand to Resurrection Parish and others affected by the tornadoes, just head on over to owensboro.org/give and make sure to click on “tornado relief-catholic charities” for the donation destination.

Kentucky Parish Spared from Tornadoes Serves as Relief Site with Help from High School Students

Father Carl McCarthy from Christ the King in Madisonville, Kentucky says his church was spared from the path of the tornadoes.

Now, with the help of some local Catholic high school students, his parish is organizing and distributing relief supplies to neighboring areas.

He joins Currents News to discuss the aftermath of the storms and how the Catholic community is pitching in.

To find out how you can help visit: https://owensborodiocese.org/give/

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan Visits Catholic Academies in Queens

Currents News Staff

Bishop Robert Brennan got to see several Catholic school students in action on Tuesday, Dec. 14 as he made his first official school visit as Bishop of Brooklyn.

Bishop Brennan went to Holy Family Catholic Academy in Fresh Meadows, Queens and St. Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Academy in Jamaica.

He went classroom to classroom and even read to 1st and 2nd graders. The Bishop of Brooklyn says visits like these will help him with his plans for youth ministry.

“It’s all based on human interaction. We meet people and we meet people where they are. So, it’s the first step in any relationship is getting to know each other,” said Bishop Brennan.

Bishop Brennan also received some drawings from the young students.