Breakdown of the Palm Sunday Altar:

This year for Palm Sunday the Altar was decorated with three types of plants: 4 Areca Palms used by the pulpit and behind the sanctuary lamps, 2 Yucca plants placed in the narrow niches on either side of the main Altar, and 6 Dragon Trees which were placed in the middle six niches of the main Altar.  We also incorporated Dried Natural Fan Sun Palm Fronds in 6 urns mixed with palm strips to accent the Altar Table the Tabernacle and the Pulpit and Lectern stand. Below the Dragon Trees was placed red stain material to bring contrast to the green of the palms and gold pot covers. Red banners were hung behind the Altar to make the sanctuary warm and emphasis the liturgical color Red which reminds us of the Blood spilled for all. Lastly upon our Lenten cross was hung a statue of the crucified Christ as a point of refection during the reading of the passion. This particular statue is the same one that formally hung on the large oak cross above the Altar at Cabrini Chapel, Strong Place and Degraw, before its closing. The statue which had historically been placed on the cross, until the 1970s, is the one which is now permanently placed in the glass coffin and used for the Good Friday Procession.

It is not too late to sign up for the Brunch with the Easter Bunny...

and Please be sure to come for the Blessing of the Children at 10am Mass on Sunday by Bishop DiMarzio.

This Thursday, March 31st at 7:30pm in the Rectory Hall

Guest Speaker: Fr. Claudio Antecini, Koinonia John the Baptist

Fr. Claudio is the superior of the Koinonia Community based in the parish of The Visitation of th Blessed Virgin Mary in Red Hook.  Fr. Claudio explains his own faith journey, "I was born in Italy. At age 20 I met the founder of the spiritual movement of Koinonia, Fr. Ricardo in Camparmo. There I felt this is my home. I left everything to follow Jesus who called me. I was the fifth brother to be called to this community at its very beginning. I lived with no water, no electricity, no telephone, in material poverty - but extraordinary spiritual wealth."

•To inspire the faithful to evangelize, bringing others into the church 

•To minister using the charisms and powers of the Holy Spirit

•To create faith-filled Christian communities throughout the world.      

The word “koinonia” is the Greek word used in the original gospel to describe the first Christian community.

The Koinonia John the Baptist was born in 1979 when a catholic priest Fr. Ricardo Argañaraz, together with a small nucleus of two brothers and one sister, answered the Lord’s call to leave everything and to follow Him. They ascended to a small mountainous area in Vicenza (Italy), called Camparmò. They began to live a consecrated life, dedicated to prayer, listening to the Word of God, work and study. In the solitude of the beginnings a strong experience of prayer, listening to the Word of God, fraternal love and of the Father’s providence in the details of their everyday life became deeply rooted in them. During the years the Koinonia John the Baptist spread out from Camparmò into Europe and to many other countries such as Africa, South America, the United States of America and India. After many years of friendship with believers in Israel, the Koinonia John the Baptist became aware of the need for unity among Christians. For this reason the community is present for some years now in Jerusalem, where the members are part of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community.

Join us this evening as Bishop Frank Caggiano celebrates a special memorial Mass for the Knights of Columbus of the Long Island Chapter at 8pm in our church. 

History of Knights of Columbus from their website.

Thanks to the efforts of Father Michael J. McGivney, assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven and some of his parishioners, the Connecticut state legislature on March 29, 1882, officially chartered the Knights of Columbus as a fraternal benefit society. The Order is still true to its founding principles of charity, unity and fraternity.

The Knights was formed to render financial aid to members and their families. Mutual aid and assistance are offered to sick, disabled and needy members and their families. Social and intellectual fellowship is promoted among members and their families through educational, charitable, religious, social welfare, war relief and public relief works.

The history of the Order shows how the foresight of Father Michael J. McGivney, whose cause for sainthood is being investigated by the Vatican, brought about what has become the world's foremost Catholic fraternal benefit society. The Order has helped families obtain economic security and stability through its life insurance, annuity and long-term care programs, and has contributed time and energy worldwide to service in communities.

The Knights of Columbus has grown from several members in one council to more than 14,000 councils and 1.8 million members throughout the world.

This past weekend everyone was given an envelop for the Annual Catholic Appeal in their bulletin. As most of you know the ACA is more than a fundrasier, it's an opportunity to respond to our Lord's call to be a vibrant church and good stewards. When you commit to the ACA, you are helping to do God's work throughout out neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens.

If you read through the laws of the Church, Cannon Law, and look up what it means to be a parish and a diocese, you will not find references to buildings and structures. Instead you will find them defined as people, and their relationships to each other...This is becuase you, are the church, and we are the diocese and its care is up to us.

Take a look at the appeal envelops and you will find a chart breaking down just how your contributions to the Annual Catholic Appeal make it possible for the church in Brooklyn and Queens to grow. When you donate to the ACA we are able to support agencies like Catholic Charities, Faith Formation, Catholic Education, Catholic Migration Services, Chaplains, Our Senior Priest and Vocations.

We are truly blessed in our diocese to have outstanding priests, as Catholics we know how important the priest is to our faith and church - simply put No priest - No Eucharist...How many of us can remember a time when a parish church had more then one priest? Today that is more of an exception then the rule. Seven years ago when Bishop DiMarzio came to our Diocese there were only 27 young men in our seminaries. The Bishop relaized the seriousness of this and understood that in order to receive you must give, and that is why the diocese now invests 1.6 million dollars of the ACA funds, that you donate, into its vocation programs...As a result we noe have 62 young men in our seminaries preparing for the priesthood.

As you can see my sisters and brothers, the ACA is very important for the faithful and families of Brooklyn and Queens. You should also know that supporting the ACA also helps this wonderful parish. Every parish in our diocese has a goal that they must reach for the ACA - any money over that goal goes back directly to the parish.

Each year the ACA raises over 10 million dollars. Over 4.5 million comes from those donating $1000 or more. However, we also depend on those who can only give $10. Bishop DiMarzio often reminds us that here in Brooklyn 20 nickels still qual a dollar, it truly takes everyone to reach our goal. We also strive to challenge those who do not give to participate in the appeal no matter what level they can give at. Currently over 125 people contribute to the ACAfrom our parish. This means that the diocese is only seeing participation from a small percent of the parishioners that we know love their church. Remeber we are the church and it has been put in our care- Only you can answer- How will we ensure it is here to serve the future generation?