Guardian Angel Mass: Catholics Honor Service Members in Law Enforcement

All of New York City honored their guardian angels at a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Monday, Oct. 2.

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan was the main celebrant for the annual guardian Mass for the preservation of peace and justice.

The liturgy, which saw dozens of service members from agencies such as the NYPD and the FBI, was to celebrate the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.

Bishop Brennan said the feast is a fitting place to thank the officers and agents as they are always sworn to serve and protect.

Favors of Faith: Students Prepare Bags for Diocesan Eucharistic Revival

By Katie Vasquez

Each bag is packed with precision and filled with information packets, magnificats, a prayer card, and a pin.

The 6,000 bags will be the favors handed out at the diocese’s event for the National Eucharistic Revival, an effort started by the U.S. bishops, so people can get to know Christ through the Eucharist. Different parts of the Diocese of Brooklyn are all coming together to participate in the national campaign.

Nearly 7,000 people will go to Maimonides Park in Coney Island for a day of Mass, a Eucharistic procession, and family catechesis.

The packing of the gift bags is a group effort among the young people hailing from Mary Queen of Heaven, St. Bernard Clairvaux, Resurrection, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Edmunds, and St. Bernard’s.

“I am excited for the revival,” said Melissa Wagner, director of faith formation at St. Bernard Clairvaux. “There’s been a lot of talking about it, so now as it gets closer, doing something like this has really kind of made it come alive,” Wagner said.

Students are doing their part and showing their faith to help the nationwide campaign.

“It’s good to help out people around us, to get to meet new people too,” said Faith Perlowitz, a parishioner at St. Bernard Clairvaux Parish.

“It’s good to be closer to Jesus, and to know himself, his life, and what he did for our lives, and his sacrifice, which was very important,” said Laleshka Alvarez, a student at St. Mark Catholic Academy.

If you want to watch the Mass from the Diocesan Eucharistic Revival event you can watch it live on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 9:45 AM on NET-TV.

Be sure to stay tuned to Currents News and read The Tablet for continuing coverage of the revival, the local preparations, for both the Diocese of Brooklyn’s event, and the national campaign.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday 10/2/2023

Preparations are being made for the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Eucharistic Revival.

Bishop Robert Brennan was the main celebrant at the guardian Mass for the preservation of peace and justice.

Bishop Brennan was in Queens on Sunday for the “Senor De Los Milagros” Mass and procession.

Pope Francis created the cardinals in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.

Excitement Fills St. Peter’s Square as Pope Francis Creates 21 New Cardinals

It had been a long time since a consistory for the creation of new cardinals had been held in St. Peter’s Square.

The elected cardinals were present, coming from 15 different countries and more than half of them non-European. Pope Francis explained why it matters to him that the College of Cardinals be so universal—so that those who now wear red do not forget where they received their faith.

“Faith is transmitted “in dialect,” don’t forget this,” Pope Francis said. “Faith is transmitted in dialect, that is, by mothers and grandmothers. Indeed, we are evangelizers to the extent that we retain in our hearts the amazement and gratitude of being evangelized.”

The Pope also pointed out what should be the style that marks the relationships within the College of Cardinals: similar to that of an orchestra. He said this is important for understanding the inner workings of the Church.

“A symphony thrives on the skillful composition of the tones of different instruments,” Pope Francis said. “Each one makes its contribution, sometimes alone, sometimes joined with someone else, sometimes with the whole ensemble. Diversity is necessary, it is indispensable. But each sound must contribute to the common design. And for this, mutual listening is essential: each musician must listen to the others.”

With this statement, the Pope went a step further in defining the style of the Synod. On other occasions, the Pope had pointed out that this assembly was not a parliament. And recently he emphasized its character as a religious event by introducing more moments of prayer during it. In fact, the rule that the press could not have access to the assemblies in order not to disturb the atmosphere was maintained.

In any case, there was an atmosphere of universal celebration in the consistory. One by one, each cardinal knelt before the Pope. Many of the parishioners from the dioceses of the new cardinals burst into loud applause.

One of the cardinals could not be present for health reasons—96-year-old Capuchin Luis Pascual Dri. He is the simple confessor at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Buenos Aires. The Pope created him as a cardinal as a recognition for his exemplary life.

Committed to the Cause: Pro-Life Students Will Continue Outreach After Incident

.By Katie Vasquez

LENOX HILL — Student members of the Catholic Student Association at the City University of New York’s Hunter College are optimistic about their pro-life advocacy opportunities this fall semester.

They have faith that what happened to them last semester won’t ever happen again.

They came under attack by a professor after setting up a pro-life information table at the school back in May.

Professor Shellyn Rodriguez can be seen screaming and cursing at the students and swatting the pamphlets off the table, knocking them to the floor in a viral video.

Rodriguez could even be seen on video questioning club member Patrick Rubi on whether he could even have an opinion on abortion because he’s a man.

“Abortion is a women’s issue,” Rubi said. “But it’s also a man’s issue, and it’s a family issue.”

Although the junior was anxious about returning to campus, he said he felt that he was called to continue sharing his pro-life views.

“We want to have conversations with people that touch the matter of the heart like we’re speaking to people’s hearts to people with sufferings and different problems in their lives,” Rubi said. “We’re not just debating issues.”

Since then the college has taken steps to ensure these young Catholics feel safe.

“Now we have the option of adding security,” said Sol De Leon Cruz, president of the Hunter College Catholic Student Association. “So, we make a note that we believe that the topic that we’re tabling about is going to be one where we need campus safety present.”

The incident hasn’t slowed the club’s efforts to inform students.

Club Vice President Jorge Tavares plans to be out on campus this fall with other members.

“There’s still a chance the students will yell at us,” Tavares said. “But I’m determined that we can get across the message. Maybe a few people can change their minds.”

As for that professor, at first she was allowed to continue teaching, but then when a New York Post reporter attempted to interview her, she allegedly threatened him with a machete and it was caught on camera.

When that came to light Hunter College fired her. Rodriguez was charged in the machete incident and is due back in court in October.

But these students say they don’t harbor any bad feelings toward her.

“I sympathize. Actually, I pray for Shellyn, that somehow she encounters the love of Christ.”

John Paul I Legacy Remembered as Smiling Pope

Cardinal Albino Luciani took the names of his two immediate predecessors–John XXIII and Paul VI — to become John Paul I and the 264th successor of St. Peter on August 26, 1978.

He explained that he chose these names to honor the popes who made him a bishop and a cardinal. Pope John Paul I became the first pope to have two names.

But this was not the only “first” of John Paul I’s brief papacy. He was also the first to not use the papal tiara and he often spoke using an Italian dialect. Both made the papacy more human and more relatable to people.

“Dialect is a familiar language, and the liturgy proposed by the Second Vatican Council, which gave local languages a central role, required an absolute change,” Stefania Falasca, Vice President of the John Paul I Vatican Foundation, said. “In this way, the message of Christian truth could reach everyone. And he, with his humility, embodied this.”

As the bishop of Vittorio Veneto, Albino Luciani attended all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

“We have a journal with notes from the Second Vatican Council and a notebook with his personal reflections on what it means to be a bishop,” Flavia Tudini an Archivist at the Vatican Apostolic Archives.

Soundtrack of the Diocese: Diocesan Choir Includes 40 Singers from Both Boroughs

by Katie Vasquez

This is the soundtrack of the Diocese of Brooklyn. From the installation of a bishop to the welcoming of a Pope, they are the diocese’s main choir and they provide the music at every major event.

“Benedict, John Paul, Francis in Manhattan, all of them,” Miriam Soto-Miranda, a diocesan choir member, said.

The group is made up of 40 singers, their voices hailing from all over Brooklyn and Queens. A fact director of music ministry Steven Vaughn said is actually unique.

“Normally it’s the cathedral choir that sings at the diocesan events but we have a separate one where members come from all over the diocese,” Vaughn said.

But picking up the right voices to hit the right notes is actually a selective process.

“If you can’t read music, you have to at least be able to have a good ear and we want people who have good voices obviously,” Vaughn said. “It’s not just anybody [who] can come sing with us, you have to be committed and you have to be able to make music with the others.”

Once a week, the singers come to St. Kevin’s Church in Flushing to hone their craft.

“The people here really enjoy singing so it’s always nice to hear a choir that believes in what they’re singing and does it with soul,” Vaughn said. “They’re preparing for their next big performance.”

On October 7th, the choir will sing at the Diocesan Eucharistic Revival event at Maimonides Park.

The group says praising the lord through song is the best part of the job.

“Giving of yourself, you’re talking to God and the words, they sort of flow from you,” Kevin Flaherty, a diocesan choir member, said.

“It lifts you up and fills you up with all the beauty that the church has to offer you,” Soto-Miranda said.

They encourage everyone coming to the Coney Island stadium to do the same.

If you want to watch the Mass from the Diocesan Eucharistic Revival event you can watch it live on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 9:45 AM on NET-TV.

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 09/28/2023

The former Hunter College professor who threw a tantrum on pro-life students, then threatened a reporter with a machete, appears to have landed a new job.

The pro-life students she targeted at hunter college say they won’t be intimidated.

A special group of singers in the Diocese of Brooklyn is rehearsing for a pretty big upcoming gig.

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul I.

Pulse of the Parish: Linda Gatti, St. Adalbert Church

ELMHURST — Linda Gatti has been the secretary at St. Adalbert Church in Elmhurst, Queens, for 24 years.

She is also in charge of the bulletin and the church website, making sure parishioners are kept up to date on everything happening in the parish.

“You have to wear different hats,” Gatti said. “I’m secretary to all the Friars here, whatever they need, parish records, parish masses have to be taken in, the record books have to be kept up.”

Gatti has been a parishioner herself at the church for the last 40 years and says she enjoys her job.

“It’s a family, the Franciscan friars are more like family to you,” Gatti said. “They’re down to earth. They help you with anything. The parish, the people, you come to Sunday Mass and it’s like you know everybody and everybody knows about you and they ask you about this and that.”

Gatti also volunteers as one of the directors of the church-sponsored camp. She starts planning for it in February, but says seeing the kids smiling and having fun makes all of the work worth it.

“I am really blessed to have such a dedicated person who helps us on a daily basis, sometimes on the weekends in the summer months,” Father Miroslav Podymniak, pastor of St. Adalbert Church, said. “So we are really blessed with Linda.” Father Podymniak or Father Mirek, as he’s known, calls Gatti his right hand.

For Gatti, she’s just living out her faith.

“It comes down to giving back. The more you give, the more you get, the more you give the more satisfied you are, and it keeps you happy inside,” she said.

Linda Gatti, of St. Adalbert Church is The Pulse Of The Parish.

New President Installed, Bishop Robert Brennan Celebrates Mass at Brooklyn Jesuit Prep

EAST FLATBUSH — Bishop Robert Brennan was on hand to install a new president at a Brooklyn Catholic school on Friday, Sept. 22.

The Mass at Brooklyn Jesuit Prep was the official welcome for President James Kennedy, who began his position in July.

The East Flatbush middle school serves low-income families of different races and faiths.

Parents of the fifth through eighth graders are only asked to pay $75 per month, the rest of their tuition is subsidized.

During his visit, Bishop Brennan got a tour of the school and found out from their new president that 100% of last year’s graduates are now attending a Catholic high school.