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?

How do you know it's Saint Joseph?

There are two traditional depictions of St. Joseph.

Saint Joseph is always a man with a beard. He can either be seen with Jesus as a child in his arms while holding a staff with a flower at its end. Or, he can be seen without the child, holding the tools of his trade as a carpenter. St. Joseph is usually symbolized by a flower which tradition says grew from the top of his staff as a sign, to whom Mary should marry, from God.  

On Saturday the Universal Church will celebrate the feast of its patron, Saint Joseph. The chief sources of information on the life of St. Joseph are found in the first chapters of the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Known to be a carpenter and the husband of Mary, St. Joseph carries the very large burden of protecting the Christ child and the Blessed Mother in an unassuming manner. It is for this reason that the protection of the Church has likewise been placed in his care to protect. While not much is written in the offcial texts of the Church, many stories on the life of St. Joseph can be found in the various writings of the early church such as "Story of Joseph" and among the apocryphal texts.

The cult of St. Joseph has become great in th eItalian community. Among the traditions marking the feast day of St. Joseph have been eating St. Joseph Pastry or Sfinge and the traditional St. Joseph Table. This ancient tradition goes back to the middle ages. At that time there was an exceptionally sever droughtin Sicily. No rain fell for an extended period of time, no crops would grow, and countless people died of famine. The peasants prayed to God for rain, and they also prayed to St. Joseph to intercede with God on their behalf. They promisedthat if God caused it to rain, they woudl have a special feast honoring God and St. Joseph. By miracle, the rains came and the crops were planted. With the harvest, the people prepared a feast of foods from their crops. This has become known as the Tavola di San Giuseppe.

In the Diocese of Brooklyn there are 4 parishes dedicated to St. Joseph. The nearest to us is also the oldest, St. Joseph Church on Pacific Street off of Vanderbilt. I would invite you to check out this colossal building, which many have rumoredmay soo n become the Co-Cathedral of Brooklyn, as it can seat twice the number of people as St. James Cathedral.  

While it has not been done annually, the tradition of displaying a sculpture of the “Dead Christ” is one which Sacred Hearts Parish has observed since 1884. It was in 1884 that a new church for the Italians was built on President Street. Beneath its main Altar was placed a wooden representation of the Cristo Morto behind glass. Below you can see the original Altar – at the very bottom is the “Dead Christ”.

The representation of the Cristo Morto which has been displayed in the church during lent since 2010, was traditionally placed on display at Cabrini Chapel during Holy Week. Upon the closure of Cabrini Chapel, on Strong Place, the image was brought to Summit Street where it has been used off and one since 1999. This image is very old and has visible signs that it was once used in procession. 
Some may say “why display such a horrific or morbid representation of Christ?” The display can be for us a visible reminder of the challenge that Lent brings, to die to our sins in order to be raised to a newness of life with Christ on Easter Sunday. In our American culture we do not like death. We even go so far as to prepare those who die to look healthy and alive in their caskets. However, the reality is that Christ died so that we may not only live today, but also tomorrow with him in heaven. At Mass we recite the line that Jesus “suffered, died and was buried”. We must face the death of Christ and understand his suffering with the realness of our own lives. Only if we do this will we be able to rise with him on Easter Sunday.

Days of Fast (eat less) and Abstinence (no meat):

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: Limit one full meal without meat and two lighter meals on those days for all who have completed their 18th year and have not reached their 60th year.

Days of abstinence (no meat):

All Fridays during Lent for all who have completed their 14th year.

Weekdays of Lent:

There is no obligation to fast. However, voluntary acts of self denial are recommended. These may include prayer, participation in daily Mass, spiritual readings, works of charity.

Easter Duty:

After they have been initiated into the Holy Eucharist, Catholics are bound by the obligation of receiving Communion at least once a year. This precept should be fulfilled during the Easter Season (First Sunday of Lent to Holy Trinity Sunday). Catholics are also bound to confess serious (Mortal) sins at least once a year, but this is not confined to the Lenten/Easter Season.