Thank you to Beth Liou, James Maleady, and Alsatia Ragusa, who are joining the Parish Pastoral Council to serve our parish. Below are brief bios to help you get to know the new members.
Beth Liou has been a parish member at St. Charles since moving to Brooklyn Heights with her husband Eric in 2002. She has served in various roles, including as a catechist, an usher during reopening, and currently as a lector. Her sons Frank and Paul attended the Family Faith program and received their sacraments at St. Charles while also serving as altar servers. With the boys now grown, Beth is able to devote more time to parish activities, and is eager to serve the community in helping to increase opportunities for fellowship, outreach and faith development. Outside of parish activities, Beth works as a senior markets editor at Bloomberg News and is an avid runner, reader and Yankees/NY Giants fan.
Alsatia Ragusa is a Film and Media Studies student at Brooklyn College. She’s been a Brooklyn Heights neighbor since 2021 and has been attending Mass at St. Charles Borromeo since Ash Wednesday of that year. Alsatia was baptized and had her first communion at Holy Cross Church in Hell’s Kitchen, and had her confirmation at St. Charles Borromeo last year. Alsatia loves classic Hollywood movies, pasta recipes of all kinds, and going on long walks around the city.
James Maleady
About ten years ago, I stumbled into the 7 PM Mass on a spring Sunday in the early evening. I had learned of the Mass through the internet and masstimes.org. It was right before Lent and I found a new parish and community. I was greeted by several people and felt at ease in a welcoming environment. Fr. Ed Doran, the pastor, gave a great and amazing homily and the music with Sergio and Ulysses was transforming. I felt like I belonged and when John O’Malley and Fr. Ed at the end of Mass welcomed me and asked if I was new to the neighborhood and added we hope you come back regularly I was sold on coming back next week. That week Lent began and there was a group that shared their faith experiences and it was helpful in preparing for Easter I remember Fr. Ed stressing that “belonging came before believing” and that the parish should be a home and a parish needed to be dynamic place that its members. I have been involved in various other events including the food pantry, the fish fries and the cookouts and am currently working with the Fundraising Committee on the 175th parish anniversary.
I have lived in Greenpoint, Brooklyn now for almost half my life with my wife and her parents and have been active as St Charles in the last decade. I work in Brooklyn as a litigation attorney which provides many challenging days and I am sustained by my belief in a loving and merciful God who reaches to every person and wishes us to assist others. My goal as a member of the Parish Council is to foster a sense of community in Christ and spread his message of love and service to others. My vision of the Parish is a welcoming community that includes each person and emphasizes God’s love for all. I hope that I will be successful in bringing God’s love and a sense of belonging to every person.