Someone threw a construction cone through a window near the rectory entrance at St. Rita’s Church in Long Island City.
Two local bishops are offering prayers for the victims of the shooting that happened at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade yesterday.
U.S. bishops are applauding the passage of an anti-human trafficking bill.
The scaffolding surrounding Notre Dame was removed this week revealing the cathedral’s new spire.
By Jessica Easthope
The Diocese Of Brooklyn’s Pilgrimage officially began on Ash Wednesday at the Cathedral Basilica of St James. Parishioners launched their applications, a digital component to a Lenten journey that starts here but can reach every corner of the globe.
“There’s a section here called prayer intentions and you’re able to submit your own prayer intention and I think that’s a lovely way to connect with fellow Catholics and there’s a like button but it’s a prayer button and you tap on it and see that people prayed for you,” said Tim Dieterichs, a participant of the Lent Pilgrimage. “That’s my favorite part of the app.”
Dieterichs and Edgar Ochoa downloaded their apps after Mass on Wednesday, Feb. 14th, and got started, hoping to make as many churches as they can.
“That’s one of the things that attracted me to it, I always like going to new churches whether there’s a service or not,” Ochoa said. “So I’m hoping I can discover other ones and that’s one thing I’m hoping I can do this Lenten season.”
Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan is hoping people check in on the app, but during his homily said Lent is a time to check in with Jesus and leave behind all of the things that distract us from our relationship with him.
“Visiting those churches in digital, kind of way being united with one another, but it’s something new and something interesting, using modern technology to do traditional things,” Bishop Brennan said.
The app can serve as a digital diary this lent, and for Father Joseph Gibino the vicar for evangelization and catechesis, it’s a way to get in tune with your faith.
“Today we remember that prayer is the first wireless connection so even though we’re using an app and our cell phones,” Father Gibino said. “It’s the power of prayer directly to God that is so important and our hearts become the cell phone for our prayer our open hearts to the Lord.”
This year’s pilgrimage is dedicated to Sister Maryann Ambrose who made it to every stop last year. She was there Wednesday to kick start her journey, this time the sacrifice will be much harder.
“Last year it was a challenge and in August I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer so it’s a true pilgrimage,” Sister Maryann said. “Lent is a whole new journey this year. I have all of Brooklyn and Queens on my list. My oncologist said you plan your journey and we’ll work around it.”
You can download that Lenten Pilgrimage app now.
Just search “lenten pilgrimage” on the app or google play store, and you can prepare for your journey across Brooklyn and Queens.
by Katie Vasquez
It’s been 50 years of good mornings for Kevin and Patty Harold.
Patty says this is the life she’s wanted since she first met Kevin in October of 1971.
“I just looked at him and he turned and he looked at me and I said to myself, that’s the man I’m going to marry,” said Patty Harold, a parishioner at St. Helen Church in Howard Beach.
Patty was going for a job interview at the bank Kevin worked at.
She knew immediately she’d found her soulmate, but for Kevin it took some time.
“After we gone out a couple of times, I realized, you know, she’s the one that’s for me,” said Kevin Harold, a parishioner at St. Helen Church in Howard Beach.
The couple tied the knot on October 6th, 1973 at St. Thomas the Apostle church in Woodhaven.
“I remember how happy we were, how he was making us laugh,” said Patty Harold.
And while it hasn’t always been happy times.
“We’ve been through a lot, like all couples, ups and downs, financial, everything,” said Patty Harold.
The couple never gave up on each other.
“We never, ever thought about divorcing. Never. it never entered my mind. I know it never entered your mind,” said Patty Harold.
“We worked through it,” said Kevin Harold.
Father Michael Panicali, the parochial vicar at their current parish of St. Helen church in Howard Beach, believes the Harolds are an example of what a faith-filled marriage should be.
“You can make this tremendous commitment and make this courageous step to marry in the church and to stay together, that it can be done,” said Panicali.
The Harolds say it’s that commitment to God and each other that has kept their love going for half a century.
“I firmly believe that God sent him to me because he’s been so good, so great and fabulous,” said Patty Harold.
So after 50 years, two kids, and one grandchild, the Harolds can’t help but feel every morning is a good morning, because they have each other.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated the Lunar New Year on Sunday, Feb. 11.
The bilingual Mass at St. Michael’s Church in Flushing helped kick off the Year of the Dragon, which symbolizes strength, power, good fortune, and success.
Following the liturgy, Bishop Brennan joined the community in an ancestor veneration ritual, where the congregation gives thanks to God and their ancestors. It includes bowing to God nine times and offering fruits, flowers, and incense.
Bishop Brennan also gave out red envelopes with money inside, which symbolizes good luck.
The National Eucharistic Congress, a big event in the Catholic community happening in July, has become more accessible.
The U.S. bishops conference has announced the “Solidarity Fund,” which will cover registration costs of the five-day event in Indianapolis for those in need.
The scholarship does not cover the cost of transportation, housing, or meals.
The bishops have already raised nearly $1 million for the fund, and they are accepting donations.
If you’d like to attend the congress in Indianapolis this summer, and you want to apply for the solidarity fund, just go to eucharisticrevival.org for more information.
By Jessica Easthope
It might be one of the newest apps available, but its impact could last a lifetime.
The Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage app is moving parishioners down a path toward the future of faith.
“We’re going to have the digital passport, which is going to give everybody the opportunity to download the app,” said Father Joseph Gibino, the vicar for evangelization and catechesis. “It can be a global experience.”
Father Gibino said the goal of the app isn’t downloads and clicks, but to become a tool for engaging with the Lenten season.
“Some people have the advantage of being able to literally walk the journey of the pilgrimage by visiting the station, churches, others, especially the younger members of our community who are still working, who still have jobs will now have the opportunity to digitally make the pilgrimage,” Father Gibino said.
The app, which is free of charge and available for download on iPhones and Androids, was developed by DeSales Media Group, the communications and technology arm of the Diocese of Brooklyn that operates Currents News and The Tablet.
It allows you to get direct updates about the Lenten Pilgrimage and set goals and milestones as you pound the pavement to more than 35 churches across Brooklyn and Queens. Visits will be automatically tracked using QR codes posted at each church.
“We will be creating a community of intentional disciples through the app,” Father Gibino said. “So even though one might not physically be able to get everywhere, one can login, ask for prayers, join in the experience, and this is just step one of our digital growth.”
Plus, there’s a built-in prayer community. Users can post special intentions asking for prayers on the app that has a potentially global reach.
“We all know that real physical presence is the best, but this is a way for people to share, and to know that we can pray together and experience each other’s growth in the Lord through all these different means,” Father Gibino said.
This year’s pilgrimage is dedicated to Sister Maryann Ambrose who Father Gibino said exemplified Lenten sacrifice and made it to every single church on the pilgrimage last year.
“She was such a driving force last year, making every one of the pilgrimage sites. She drove other pilgrims to the churches,” Father Gibino said. “She talked about it, she wrote about it, and she just became one of the human faces of the pilgrimage.”
It’s the start of the Lenten season for Catholics and the start of a Lenten Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
But this year, the diocese is unveiling an app to guide Catholics on their journey.
You can download that Lenten Pilgrimage app now, just search “Lenten Pilgrimage” in the App or Google Play store, and you can prepare for your journey across Brooklyn and Queens.
It’s the start of the Lenten season for Catholics and the start of a Lenten Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated the lunar new year yesterday at St. Michael’s Church in Flushing.
The U.S. bishops have unveiled a “solidarity fund,” which will provide financial aid to those in need.
It’s time for two bishops to settle their Super Bowl bet.
Super Bowl Sunday is just two days away and Catholic Charities in both Kansas City and San Francisco are getting in on the fun.
On a more serious note, one non profit is highlighting the correlation between major events like the super bowl and an increase in human trafficking.
Bishops in the U-S are backing a human trafficking prevention bill that’s being considered on Capitol Hill.
A senior living facility in Kentucky is hoping to be flooded with valentines next week.
The Senate’s border spending package failed to pass on Wednesday Feb. 7, but that could pave the way for a bishop-backed bill.
The original package contained international humanitarian aid and border provisions that the bishops said would cause “potentially life-threatening harm.”
The revised version only contains humanitarian aid, which the bishops do support.
The National Correspondent for The Tablet and Crux, John Lavenburg, joins Currents News to talk more about the two bills.