“Welcome to Our Permanent Deacons” by Bishop DiMarzio

May 27,  2015 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

As we approach the end of May, we are blessed with ordinations to both the Transitional Diaconate, as well as the Permanent Diaconate. We will ordain four Transitional Deacons now this spring and four on Nov. 7, for Ordination to the Priesthood in 2016. At the same time, I was privileged to ordain 19 permanent deacons on Saturday, May 23, at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.

In the last several weeks, I had the opportunity to personally interview the candidates for the Permanent Diaconate and their wives. These individual meetings were both a heartwarming and engaging experience for me to ascertain the motivations of our candidates, as well as to witness their enthusiasm for service to our Church. The Permanent Deacons who are married form a team with their wives, not just in the sacrament of marriage, but also in the sacrament of Holy Orders in which they participate.

Read the full text of the Bishop’s column on The Tablet website.

Congratulations Principal Rogone!

Congratulations to Maureen Rogone, principal at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Academy, for receiving The University Partnership Award for 2015 from the St. John’s University School of Education, Department of Education Specialties and Counseling. This award is in recognition of our outstanding school partnership with Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Academy through Project TIE (Training Innovative Educators). This award acknowledges outstanding principals who have successfully implemented the K-8, School-Wide ELA and Math Professional Development for initiatives in their Catholic Elementary School, working directly with St. John’s University faculty over a period of three years.

Left to Right: Maureen Rogone, Principal of Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Academy; Francine Guastello, Ed.D., Associate Professor & Chair of Department of Education Specialties and Counseling for St. John’s University; Michael Sampson, Ph.D., Dean of The School of Education for St. John’s University.

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Aquinas Expo 2015

 

Students from the Aquinas Honors Society gathered to present their work in Brooklyn and Queens at the Diocesan Aquinas Expos. Students use their “passports to learning” during the expo to visit and learn from other student expositions, in addition to presenting their own work. They sign each others passports as they go and the event concludes with Mass.

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DeSALES MEDIA LAUNCHES “MEET ME IN CHURCH” INITIATIVE FOR BROOKLYN DIOCESE

DeSales Media Group, the communications and technology arm of the Diocese of Brooklyn, has launched a new initiative entitled Meet Me in Church (www.meetmein.church). Initially launched to promote the Office of the School of Evangelization’s “Joy of Encountering Christ” program, Meet Me in Church is an open invitation to reconnect and re-engage with the Church, the community, and with God.

The Meet Me in Church website features information about the School of Evangelization’s one-day pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families, which takes place on Wednesday, September 23rd, in Philadelphia. In coming months, the website will evolve to become an online hub for all diocesan and parish level events. “Meet Me in Church is another step forward in our efforts of evangelization,” said Monsignor Kieran Harrington, Chairman of DeSales Media Group. “Our hope is for everyone to use this new website to stay connected and informed as we grow in our faith.”
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“Communicating The Message of Pentecost” by Bishop DiMarzio

May 20, 2015 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet.

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Each year, DeSales Media Group sponsors a celebration of World Communications Day with a conference inviting members of the Diocese to explore how they can become better communicators of their faith. This year, this day coincides with the celebration of Pentecost where the initial communication of faith was made by the Holy Spirit who set the Apostles forth.

This year, World Communication Day fell on Wednesday, May 13, and its theme was based on Pope Francis’ message for the 49th World Communications Day, “Communicating the Family: A Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.”

Our keynote speaker was Dr. Austen Ivereigh, journalist and author of “The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,” which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. This unauthorized biography of our Holy Father traces his development from simple Jesuit to the Office of Supreme Pontiff.

Read the full text of the Bishop’s column on The Tablet website.

Most Rev. James Massa, Ph.D., D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Rector, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers

Bishop-James-Massa

The Most Reverend James Massa was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, to the late Andrew and Irene Gilbert Massa. He attended Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Theology and History in 1982. In 1985, he earned a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Yale University, and in 1997, a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Fordham University, where he wrote his dissertation under the late Cardinal Avery Dulles.

The late Bishop Francis J. Mugavero ordained Father Massa a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn on October 25, 1986. His first assignment was as a Parochial Vicar at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in the Forest Hills section of Queens (1986-1990). He went on to serve as Campus Minister at Queens College (1990-1993) and in a number of positions at seminaries and universities as an Associate Professor of Theology. In 2005, he was appointed the Executive Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue. In 2008, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and a Member of the Joint Working Group between the Holy See and the World Council of Churches.

Father Massa returned to the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2011 and coordinated the merger of the Theologates for the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the Diocese of Brooklyn. In 2012, he was appointed Associate Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Director of Assessment and Accreditation at Saint Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.

“I receive this news of my appointment with gratitude to the Holy Father, who exemplifies in all he does ‘the joy of the Gospel,’” said the then Bishop-Elect Massa at the time of his appointment. “Aware of my own inadequacies and fears, I place all my confidence in Jesus, whose love never fails us on the journey of faith.”