Brooklyn

Bishop DiMarzio’s Christmas Luncheon

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Christmas_LuncheonOn Tuesday, December 9, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, and Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens will host the 2014 Christmas Luncheon at Russo’s on the Bay in Howard Beach. The event, which begins at 11:30 a.m., is being held in honor of our Award Winners, Anthony and Gina Argento, John C. and Jeanette Walton, and Msgr. David Cassato.

If you would like to attend this luncheon, kindly RSVP by November 21, 2014 by calling (718) 965-7375 or email lmccormack@cfbq.org.

There are also a variety of sponsorship opportunities available.

See catholicfoundationbq.org for further details.

“A Chance For Immigration Reform” by Bishop DiMarzio

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November 12, 2014 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Nov. 13 was the celebration of the Feast of St. Frances Cabrini, the patroness of immigrants, a saint to whom I have a special devotion. I have kept a small statue of Mother Cabrini on my desk for the last 40 years. Every day, I look upon the face of that brave and noble woman who courageously defended not only her native Italian immigrants but others as well. She had the courage to challenge the bishops and pastors of her day when they ignored the pastoral needs of immigrants. She is truly known as the “Mother of Immigrants,” since her life and the order which she founded, The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, have done so much to assist immigrants.

My own pastoral work as a priest began in the Newark Archdiocese assisting Italian immigrants. But soon the needs of others became quite clear, and, as someone once told me, you cannot love one person without loving everyone. Love knows no boundaries or distinction; the love of one immigrant must be extended to all.

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

You Can Understand the Bible!

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2014-11-06_16-31-29On Saturday, November 22, The School of Evangelization will sponsor “The Bible Timeline” Seminar. During thie seminar, you will learn how the key people, places, and events in the Bible fit together to reveal God’s plan, how Old Testament events are fulfilled in the New Testament, and to gain a great appreciation for the scriptures you hear at Mass. The seminar will take place at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Brooklyn. Registration begins at 8 AM and the seminar begins at 9 AM and concludes at 3 PM.

Also, don’t miss the Friday Night Talk that leads into the seminar. On Friday, November 21, Jeff Cavins, the creator of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Study Program and director of the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute, will deliver a talk titled “I’m Not Being Fed: Discovering the Food That Satisfies My Soul.” The talk takes place at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston at 7 PM.

Click here for full information and a Group Registration Form. You can also contact Sister Alice Michael, S.U.S.C., at (718) 281-9583 or amichael@diobrook.com for further information.

 

 

 

Smart Schools Bond Act Passes Referendum; Will It Help Catholic Schools?

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Yesterday, voters across New York State passed the Smart Schools Bond Act, also known as Proposal 3, with 62% of the vote in favor. The Act would allow the state to borrow (from bond investors) up to $2 billion for school capital projects, including:

  • computers, servers, interactive whiteboards, tablets, high speed Internet, wireless Internet
  • high-tech security systems
  • new pre-K classrooms
  • the replacement of classroom trailers.
Of this $2 billion, New York City would receive approximately $783 million, with roughly $310 million expected to go to Pre-K programs and the remainder to other capital projects. The Act was structured so that both public and nonpublic schools, including parochial schools and academies, would be eligible to receive these funds.

“Honoring Service to the Nation” by Bishop DiMarzio

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November 5, 2014 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

This coming week we celebrate Veterans’ Day, which originally was named Armistice Day. The armistice, or ceasefire, between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, marked the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I and took place at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. This civil holiday reminds us to honor all those who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, whereas Memorial Day is a day in which we remember those who have died while serving our Nation.

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, celebrated Mass on Sept. 13, commemorating the 100th anniversary of World War I, at Italy’s largest war memorial in Redipuglia, a town in northeast Italy near the border with Slovenia. Pope Francis said, “Above the entrance to this cemetery hangs in the air those iconic words of war. ‘What does it matter to me.’ Each one of the dead buried here had their own plans, their own dreams … but their lives were cut short. Why? Why did humanity say, ‘What does it matter to me?’ Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction…”

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

Catholic Migration Services Receives Major Citizenship Grant

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Catholic Migration Services (CMS) announced today that it was one of only 40 organizations nationwide chosen to receive a citizenship grant from U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The federal grant is awarded on a highly competitive basis and comes with an award of $250,000 dispersed over a two-year period to fund legal and educational services for lawful permanent residents interested in applying for U.S. citizenship.

Since it began its Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in 2009, USCIS has awarded a total of $43 million to immigrant-serving organizations in 35 states and the District of Columbia, helping more than 93,000 permanent residents prepare for citizenship. Thanks to this grant funding, CMS will expand its existing naturalization legal services, while at the same time its partner and sub-grantee, Brooklyn Public Library, will offer free citizenship instructional courses at several local library branches located throughout the borough.

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“Voting Is a Sacred Obligation” by Bishop DiMarzio

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October 29, 2014 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, New Yorkers will go to the polls to vote for our Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller as well as members of Congress and State legislators. Citizenship confers on us all many rights and also burdens and some obligations. We, who are fortunate to live in a representative democracy, have a special religious obligation to take seriously our patriotic duty to vote.

My grandfather, who came to the U.S. in 1913, did not become a citizen until 1945, a pattern followed by many old immigrants. My grandmother waited until she was 85 to become a citizen. One of the proudest days of her life was when she took the oath of citizenship with me standing by her side. She could not wait to exercise her right to vote now that she was a citizen. Both were proud to be U.S. citizens.

When I became 18, my grandfather wanted to give me a voting lesson. He said, “Go into the booth, when you see an Italian name, pull down the leaver.” In the past, voting was an exercise in ethnic loyalty or voting for party loyalty. Today, however, we need to go beyond the past and be truly discerning Catholic voters.

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

“A Pastoral Approach to Moral Principles” by Bishop DiMarzio

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October 22, 2014 – Excerpted from Put Out Into the Deep, Bishop DiMarzio’s column in The Tablet:

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

As the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family came to a close last Saturday, Pope Francis beatified Blessed Paul VI at the concluding Mass, praising him as a “humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his church.” Pope Paul VI, the writer of “Evangelii Nuntiani” and “Humanae Vitae,” confronted the great need for evangelization in the modern world, noting that the Church exists to evangelize. It is certainly not a coincidence that Pope Francis chose to beatify Blessed Paul VI on the last day of Part I of the Synod on Marriage and the Family.

The official midterm report focused on the challenges and virtues of traditional families, expressing solidarity with Christian families around the world, and offered possible new pastoral approaches to a wide-range of family and relationship situations. We must remember the process of a synod, with its final working document now presented to the Holy Father, who will review the suggestions offered to him by the synod. Pope Francis will then write a Post-Synodal document, which has the full teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff. Can the Pope use all of the suggestions that he receives, and does he agree with them? That is an unanswered question, whose answer we will not know until the Post-Synodal document is released, most probably sometime before next year’s World Meeting of Families to be held in Philadelphia in September.

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

Futures in Education on FOX 5

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On October 24, 2014, Futures in Education held their annual fundraiser at the Grand Ballroom of The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Manhattan, raising a record of over $2.2 million in scholarships for the deserving students of low-income families of Brooklyn and Queens to attend Catholic elementary schools and academies. Rosanne Scotto, host of Fox 5’s morning news broadcast, Good Day New York, was on hand to do her part to help raise money.

Below is a Good Day New York report about the fundraising dinner and the $2.2 million it raised.

New York News

Futures in Education Raises Record Amount Benefitting Impoverished Students of Brooklyn and Queens

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On Tuesday, October 14th, Futures in Education, the scholarship fund of the Diocese of Brooklyn, hosted its annual Scholarship Fund Dinner at the Grand Ballroom of The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Manhattan, raising a record of over $2.2 million in scholarships for the deserving students of low-income families of Brooklyn and Queens to attend Catholic elementary schools and academies.

The dinner, the biggest event of the year for the non-profit organization, welcomed more than a thousand guests.

“Your generosity has a goal, and the goal is to help our children in Brooklyn and Queens. I thank you personally from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful show of support for our mission,” said the Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn.

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