Uniting Mind, Body and Soul with SoulCore

By Melissa Butz

Movement and prayer combined: this is the idea of SoulCore, an exercise which nourishes body, mind and soul.

The company’s founder, Colleen Scariano, said she was inspired with the concept in a difficult moment after her mother, father and brother died within three months.

It was at this point that she had a deeper conversion and started praying the rosary

“So it really became this instrument of healing for me. Then I started to combine the rosary with running,” she explained. “The combination of the physical exercise and the prayer was just this beautiful time of prayer. Grief also takes a physical toll on your body. So it was really healing both, you know, body, mind, and spirit are all three. So that’s really the seeds of soulcore.”

“God has placed with me from a very early age, that desire to unite body and soul, and in prayer,” explained Deanne Miller, who leads classes. “Really, I would say, starting my twenties, after not caring for my body in a healthy way. Then Him revealing to me the gift of our bodies, the miracle of our bodies and how we are to nurture it.”

This nurturing of body and soul has not only gained momentum throughout the United States in its four years of existence, but is expanding worldwide. Colleen and Deanne are traveling and leading training courses for men, women and religious to participate in parishes around the world.

“It really helps us elevate the prayer a little bit and it engages the mind and allows us to reflect a little more deeply on the mysteries,” said Colleen, “particularly for SoulCore on the mysteries and the virtues of the rosary.”

“I wanted to share a key distinction between SoulCore and any other sort of fitness or exercise discipline is that it is Christ-centered,” added Deanna. “It’s about a filling up of oneself of God’s word of the Holy Spirit and always oriented to Christ and meditating on these mysteries. Really, again, prayer focused, so it is not yoga. There are no yoga positions. There’s no Sanskrit, you know, and it was never again intended to be compared.”

That’s why they say the practice cannot be carried out in any sort of yoga studio, so the focus remains prayer and the rosary. Yet, they assert non-Catholics and those unfamiliar with the rosary are free to attend. It’s a way for everyone to stretch the body’s core, while the roots of one’s faith are also growing to new depths.

Coronavirus Fears Affecting Local NYC Restaurants

By Tim Harfmann

At Gargiulo’s Restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn there appears to be less cutting in the kitchen, due to a cutback in customers.

“I wouldn’t say a drastic decrease,” explained co-owner Nino Russo, “but I would say a concerning decrease.”

Local businesses like Gargiulo’s are feeling the impact of the coronavirus, as New Yorkers opt to stay home instead of going out.

Russo’s not sure how much business he’s lost, but can tell patrons are parting ways.

For customers still coming in, the outbreak is on their minds.

“Most people that come in, it’s probably the first thing they’re questioning, and avoiding shaking hands and whatnot,” he explained.

Russo said the restaurant is always cautious, with hand sanitizer at almost every door and gloves for employees handling food.

Alexandra Silversmith, executive director of the Alliance for Coney Island, works closely with more than 350 businesses in the community.

“It’s empty, like the corridor is just empty,” she said. “And there’s always people out and about here, especially on a day like this. People are usually anxious for spring, and they come out, and we’re not seeing that right now.”

For his part, Russo believes the neighborhood is still Brooklyn Strong, especially after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

“We’re resilient in Coney Island because we went through Sandy, so we just got to be prepared and do the best we can to keep everything moving forward and keeping clean and safe around us,” he said.

Hopefully, those are the ingredients for a restaurant rebound.

Coronavirus Forces Pope Francis to Celebrates Mass Behind Casa Santa Marta’s Doors

Currents News Staff

Obligated to celebrate Mass behind closed doors, the pope decided to live-stream it so everyone, not just a few people, could participate. He offered the Mass for coronavirus victims.

“In these days, I will offer Mass for the sick because of this coronavirus epidemic, for doctors, nurses, volunteers, who help so much, for family members,” said Pope Francis

A few people were present to help him during the Mass. During the homily, he reflected on confession and on the need for humility to approach the sacrament of reconciliation.

“Going to confession is not simply telling the priest a list (of sins): “I did this, this, this, this.” Then I leave. No, it’s not this. A step, another step, is needed. This is confessing our own misery, but from the heart. In other words, may that list of bad things come from the heart,” said Pope Francis.

The Vatican announced that Mass will be celebrated in this way for upcoming days.

Catholic Mass Celebrated in Churches Hit by Deadly Nashville Tornadoes

By Emily Drooby

It’s not every day you would hear the sound of a Catholic Latin Mass being celebrated in a Methodist church.

But that was the case on Sunday, March 8, as the congregation of the Church of the Assumption used the church across the street as an alternative place to pray.

Their parish was hit hard by Nashville’s tornadoes.

The church’s pastor, Father Bede Price, explained, “We’re trying to keep the schedule as consistent as possible and not omit anything, we even had Stations of the Cross without the Stations of the Cross.”

Parishioner Layla Krog and her family are grateful for the tenacity shown by the clergy.

“I feel very blessed that we’re still able to come together in our community. We were still in our parish, even though we weren’t in our building” Krog said.

Two other local Catholic Churches were also damaged by the tornadoes: St. Vincent de Paul and the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

Mass could not be celebrated at St. Vincent de Paul on Sunday because all of the roads leading to the church were blocked off as crews picked up debris and fixed power lines.

The tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee early Tuesday morning. At least 24 people were killed, over 500 homes and businesses were destroyed and over 100,000 were left without power.

The Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus lost power, but refused to let it stop them from celebrating Mass.Instead they relied on candles.

“We come together as a community to celebrate and to thank God and to ask him to continue to grant us the healing to recover from this,” explained Father Theo Ebulueme, the church’s pastor.

Father Ebulueme said, fortunately, his church was mostly spared from severe damage.

The celebration of Mass in the midst of so much wreckage was a beautiful display of resilience and of faith.

Church of the Assumption parishioner, Mary Langdon, was thankful for the moment.

“Amen, thank you God, thank you Lord, thank you Blessed Mother and all of the saints and angels,” Langdon said.

Director: Church Leaders Find It Easier to Praise Dorothy Day in ‘Historical Lens’

By Christopher White and Currents News Staff

NEW YORK – Dorothy Day was once considered by the FBI as a “dangerous American,” but the Catholic Church may one day soon declare her to be a saint.

In his new documentary film, “Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story,” filmmaker Martin Doblmeier takes a new look at why the twentieth century social activist and author was one of the most polarizing public figures in her lifetime to now but is now considered a hero to Catholics on both the left and the right.

The film includes new interviews with the likes of Hollywood star Martin Sheen, Day’s family members, Senator Tim Kaine, and dozens of others who were personally shaped by her ministry.

Doblmeier spoke with The Tablet about why he believes Day was “one of the most outspoken Catholic conscience for America in the twentieth century,” how her activism was shaped by her own experience as a journalist, and who he believes are the Dorothy Day’s of our time.

The Tablet: Plenty of ink has already been spilt on Dorothy Day. What made you decide to make her the subject of a new documentary?

Doblmeier: Without question, Dorothy Day was one of the most courageous and inspiring women of the twentieth century. I first came to know about her in the mid-1970’s when I was a young writer at the Catholic newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island and we often reported stories about Day in our newspaper. I admired her then and my admiration has only grown over the years.

During the process of making the film I have thought often about the courage it took for a young woman to open houses of hospitality for the poor during the Great Depression – how many desperate people would show up at the door everyday. How can you not admire her inner strength and personal conviction?

Over these last many weeks leading up to the start of the broadcast of the film I have been traveling the country doing public screening events. What has been gratifying is to hear people say how much “we need Dorothy Day’s voice today.” The way she lived the Beatitudes without compromise, the way she rose to become the greatest champion for the poor of her day, and how she welcomed the stranger in her midst makes her a model of faithful living that we rarely see today. She embodied the prophetic life and lived it radically.

You’re a journalist yourself. How did Day’s own experience at a journalist shape and inform her activism?

One of reasons I am personally drawn to Dorothy Day is because she was a journalist. In journalism school we were always encouraged to remain detached from our subjects so we could keep some hope of objectivity. But Dorothy Day approached her journalistic talents as a way to champion the cause of the disenfranchised. Over a half century the newspaper she founded, “The Catholic Worker,” always spoke truth to power. She was unflinching in her demands for justice and fairness in the name of the powerless.

Day never once voted in a U.S. election but she believed Catholics should be deeply involved in political life. Why did she refrain from extending this activism to the ballot box?

In the process of making the film one of the great surprises was to learn throughout her life Dorothy Day never voted. That was even after she joined the suffragette movement and was even jailed and beaten for participating in public marches.

But while she never voted, throughout her long life she was always politically active. When I asked family members how Day lived with that contradiction no one could offer a viable explanation. Dorothy Day was clearly the most outspoken Catholic conscience for America in the twentieth century yet she did it without participating at the ballot box. She did think of herself as an anarchist, so I can only assume that while you castigate the power structures you can’t at the same time support them with your vote.

You chronicle the fact that early on no members of the U.S. hierarchy wanted to associate with her and some actively tried to silence her, but by the time she died, bishops were in attendance at her funeral and now Cardinal Timothy Dolan is leading the effort for her canonization. When did this shift and why?

Dorothy Day was a controversial figure in her day and today remains a thorn in the side of many. I have already received emails from people upset with me for doing a film on someone with known communist sympathies. I can only imagine how much pressure she felt during her own times, particularly during World War II when so many turned away from the Worker Movement because of its pacifist position.

Saints are much easier to recognize and celebrate through an historical lens than when they are right in our midst. Those who challenge us and break us out of our comfort zones, don’t make life easy for themselves or those around them. But looking back, we often recognize how courageous they really were.

I think that while the hierarchy was often reluctant to stand beside Day and the Catholic Worker a few generations ago, Dorothy Day herself has stood the test of time. I think the Church leadership is now squarely on her side, recognizing her prophetic voice. I think there is universal support for her canonization. Imagine, a former communist sympathizer, mother of a child born out of wedlock, who was arrested eight times and spent much of her life the FBI watch list as a “dangerous American” being named a saint. That is a leap of faith.

Day wasn’t an immigrant herself but she had a deep passion for welcoming migrants. What’s responsible for this aspect of her ministry?

Dorothy Day was brilliant in her simplicity and didn’t tend to overthink situations. The description that comes up again and again is that she was “instinctive” in her response to the needs around her. If she saw a hungry person, she fed them. She simply did what she felt God was calling her to do.

And when she looked into the eyes of the many immigrants who flooded into the Catholic Worker houses, especially during the Great Depression, she saw in their eyes the face of God. It was that simple. And then instinctively responding to their basic needs becomes not only social work but an expression of faith.

What did you learn about her in the process of making this documentary that surprised you?

Surprises usually come in two forms: good ones and bad. One of the good surprises was in re-reading much of Dorothy’s written work and I was reminded what a potent writer she was. Whether it was for her books or countless articles – she was always clear, succinct and forceful – the hallmarks of good journalism.

But another surprise for me was to learn that not only did she refuse to vote but she refused to pay federal taxes. Dorothy Day was fearful her federal tax monies would go to supporting America’s military machine and she would have none of it. Not only did she refuse to pay taxes but she was publicly defiant about it.

As someone who struggles every year to pay my own taxes, I take issue with that form of resistance. Dorothy Day’s great mentor, Peter Maurin, often talked about building a new world “within the shell of the old.” But someone has to pay to support that outer shell.

When you survey the American religious landscape today, who are the Dorothy Day’s of our own time?

Two years ago I did a film on the great public theologian of the twentieth century, Reinhold Niebuhr. When I did public screenings with that film I always asked the audience “who are the Reinhold Niebuhrs of our day.” Very few names surfaced. The same may be true with Dorothy Day – there may never be another quite like her.

But I do admire the work of Sister Norma Pimentel at the U.S.-Mexico border who is doing something very much in the spirit of Dorothy Day – meeting the immediate needs of the disenfranchised. And Sister Simone Campbell of “Network” reflects that political savvy and courage to speak truth to power that Dorothy Day expressed so well. Hopefully the film will help surface new Dorothy Day’s already in our midst and even inspire a new generation of service in the spirit of her legacy.

Currents News full broadcast for Fri, 3/6/20

On the newscast: President Trump bringing comfort and support to the people of Tennessee after an awful storm ripped their lives apart; Sad news in Queens as a beloved Catholic Academy is closing its doors after serving the community for more than 100 years; We learn a lot more about Dorothy Day; Why a would woman want to go to jail.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

Catholic School in Ozone Park to Close in June

By Emily Drooby and Allyson Escobar

OZONE PARK — Facing a budget deficit and declining enrollment, St. Mary Gate of Heaven Catholic Academy, Ozone Park, is closing in June.

“We feel terrible about this news and of the decision — it’s just terrible for our children. It was difficult for everyone,” said Philip Heide, the principal.

Enrollment has fallen by about half since 2015, and the school is projecting a $750,000 deficit by the end of the school year, according to a March 6 press release from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

“The Diocese of Brooklyn is committed to making sure that each child currently enrolled in St. Mary Gate of Heaven Catholic Academy will be able to continue receiving a Catholic education,” Thomas Chadzutko, the diocese’s superintendent of schools, said in the release.

“As you can imagine, this is an emotional time for this school community because closing a school greatly impacts the lives of students, parents and faculty. The decision was reached after intense analysis of enrollment trends and the financial status and forecast of the academy,” he said.

Enrollment has fallen to 163 students this academic year from 321 in 2015, according to the school, which was founded in 1904 by the Montfort Fathers and Daughters of Wisdom.

The Catholic Foundation and Futures in Education has invested more than $500,000 through tuition assistance to families, and St. Mary Gate of Heaven Parish has given $1.5 million to the school to help pay for operating expenses and building repairs, according to the diocese.

“When resources are constrained, it affects all aspects of the learning environment, which eventually impacts students and their needs,” Chadzutko said. “Our children always remain our first priority, and it is our goal to place all students who wish to continue their Catholic education in one of our neighboring academies.”

Frank Gulluscio, chairman of St. Mary Gate of Heaven Academy’s board, said that it has been an emotional time for the community.

“After 120 years, we have an enormous legacy,” Gulluscio said. “But it’s been very difficult to enter each school year with a deficit. Because that happened, a decision had to be made. We want to grow [Catholic education]; we don’t want to be stagnant.”

Students can transfer to neighboring Catholic academies, and they will receive a $500 tuition-assistance grant from the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Trust, if they attend an academy or parish school within the diocese and meet financial obligations.

Parents were notified of the closure at a meeting on March 5. An information and school registration session, featuring several neighboring Catholic schools, will be held next week.

Vatican Faces First Case of Coronavirus, Suspends Hospital Visits

By Melissa Butz

The coronavirus has infiltrated the smallest country in the world, the Vatican City State, with its first positive case.

Papal spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists the Vatican’s hospital is temporarily not accepting new patients for normal visits. Instead, it is sanitizing the hospital, after the coronavirus case was confirmed March 5. The emergency room will remain open, for any serious injuries or illnesses.

The Vatican’s Health Department is working with Italian authorities to make sure the illness doesn’t spread.

The hospital is totally separated from all pilgrimage sites.

Special care will especially be given to make sure the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, who both reside inside the Vatican, are not exposed to the sickness.

The Vatican is also investigating what to do for the Holy Father’s public events, like the Sunday Angelus and Wednesday General Audience. Both are scheduled to be carried out in the upcoming days, granted that Pope Francis is back to normal health after his bad cold.

One idea is to broadcast the events for the public, while Pope Francis remains safely in the confines of his home in Casa Santa Marta.

Elizabeth Warren Announces End to Presidential Campaign

Currents News Staff

Senator Elizabeth Warren announced March 5 that she is ending her presidential campaign.

“I will not be running for president in 2020, but I guarantee I will stay in the fight for the hardworking folks across this country who have gotten the short end of the stick over and over,” she said.

Warren made the announcement outside of her Cambridge, Massachusetts home this afternoon. Although she came in third on Super Tuesday in her home state, she said she’s grateful to the people of Massachusetts.

“They’re the reason I’m in this fight, and the reason I’m able to stand here today,” she said.

The Democrat, who’s represented her state for the past eight years in the Senate, said she has no regrets. She also has no endorsement announcement, yet.

“Not today,” she explained. “I need some space around this, and I want to take a little time to think a little more. I’ve been spending a lot of time right now on the question of suspending, and also making sure that this works as best we can for our staff, for our team, for our volunteers.”

Warren also mentioned the little girls who will have to wait four more years for the possibility of a female president. Another former candidate — Senator Kamala Harris — talked about the challenges of women running for president.

“The reality is, that there’s still a lot of work to be done to make it very clear that women are exceptionally qualified and capable of being the Commander in Chief of the United States of America,” she said.

Meanwhile, the current Commander in Chief had this to say in a tweet:

“Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren, who was going nowhere except into mini Mike’s head, just dropped out of the Democrat primary…three days too late. She cost crazy Bernie, at least, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas. Probably cost him the nomination! Came in third in Mass.”

Chief Justice Roberts Responds to Schumer’s Remarks on Abortion Law

By Currents News Staff and Carol Zimmerman

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Chief Justice John Roberts, accustomed to writing in-depth opinions on court cases, penned a rare statement March 4 denouncing remarks made earlier that day by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, at a rally outside the Supreme Court.

“Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter,” Roberts said in a statement released by the Supreme Court.

Roberts was responding to remarks Schumer had made earlier that day at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while the justices were hearing oral arguments about a law requiring Louisiana abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges. Before and during oral arguments, people on both sides of the abortion debate had gathered on the court steps holding signs and defending their cause.

Speaking into a microphone at a podium, Schumer specifically spoke about President Donald Trump’s two appointees to the court — Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — saying they have “released the whirlwind” and “will pay the price.”

“You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” he said, referring to their potential votes defending the Louisiana law restricting abortions the court was hearing oral arguments about.

On the Senate floor March 5, Schumer said: “I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didn’t come out the way I intended to.”

The senator added that he feels “passionately about this issue, and I feel so deeply the anger of women all across America about Senate Republicans and the courts working hand and glove to take down Roe v. Wade.”

Neither Gorsuch nor Kavanaugh were on the Supreme Court in 2016 when the court heard arguments about a Texas case nearly identical to the Louisiana law before them March 4. In the Texas case, the court said state law requiring abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges imposed “a substantial burden” on women who were seeking abortions and wasn’t necessary to protect women’s health.

Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Schumer, said in a March 4 statement reported by The Associated Press that the senator’s comments referred to the “political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.”

The statement also questioned why Roberts had not responded to Trump’s recent questions about the impartiality of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor during a Feb. 25 news conference in India and in tweets.

The president said both justices should recuse themselves from cases involving his administration. Trump’s comments directed at Sotomayor came after she wrote a dissenting opinion criticizing the court’s conservative majority for granting a number of the Trump administration’s emergency stay requests. The president has criticized Ginsburg for comments she made — and apologized for — against Trump during his 2016 campaign.

Trump also weighed in on Twitter about Schumer’s remarks outside the Supreme Court, accusing the senator of making “a direct & dangerous threat to the U.S. Supreme Court” and saying that if a Republican had made those remarks, “he or she would be arrested, or impeached.”

Roberts, who rarely gets involved in public statements responding to political criticisms about the Supreme Court or federal courts, spoke out in 2018 when Trump was critical of someone he described as an “Obama judge” who had ruled against the administration.

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts said in a statement issued by the court. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Roberts is said to be a potential swing vote in the Louisiana case. More than 70 friend-of-the-court briefs were filed on both sides of this issue with health care professionals, researchers, lawmakers, states, and religious and advocacy groups alike weighing in.

Catholics groups that filed briefs in support of the state law included: the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Thomas More Society and the National Association of Catholic Nurses along with the National Catholic Bioethics Center.