Please read the bulletin for March 15, 2020 here.
Praying at Mass While Being Smart About the Coronavirus
Below is guidance from the Diocese of Brooklyn to parishes and parishioners about the coronavirus. We have implemented all of the precautionary measures recommended below at St. Charles Borromeo. Please also see Fr. Smith’s message about the other steps being taken at our parish.
BEFORE LEAVING HOME
1. Ask yourself how are you feeling? Use common sense, if you are not feeling well you should not come to Mass. If you are genuinely sick you are not obligated to participate in the Sunday Celebration of Mass. You should stay home and rest so as not to risk getting yourself even sicker or spreading germs to others in their church. If you are sick you also should not go out to a mall or movie theatre.
2. Wash your hands. Health care professionals are consistent persistent that washing one’s hands is the best practice during flu season as well as this period of concern about the Novel Corona Virus.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty. Continue reading “Praying at Mass While Being Smart About the Coronavirus”
Ability to Attend Tonight’s Flannery O’Connor Meeting Remotely
Flannery O’Connor for Lent
Tonight is the second in our four-part discussion series with Grace Church on Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. We will discuss You Can’t Be Any Poorer than Dead (first chapter of the Violent Bear it Away). Tonight’s meeting will be held at Grace Church (254 Hicks Street).
There is an option to join tonight’s meeting remotely via your computer, tablet, smartphone, or by dialing in: [Zoom meeting details removed from website for security reasons]
We’ll open the online meeting at 7 PM. The full schedule is:
6:30 – Soup dinner
7:00 – Opening prayer and brief introduction
7:10 – Small group discussion
7:45 – Continued discussion with everyone
8:00 – Closing prayer
We continue to monitor the evolving impact of the coronavirus in New York City. Currently, all our weekend Masses and activities are planned to proceed. Since some of us may not be able to attend Mass in person, we have an option to stay connected to the parish by streaming the Mass from a computer, tablet, or phone, or by dialing in. More information will follow in the weekly email.
2nd Sunday Lent – Fr. Smith Homily
The scripture readings for Lenten Masses are well chosen and effective. They are listed in the parish bulletin and I suggest that you read them beforehand. This is a wonderful way to enrich your experience of Mass. The prayers, however, are also beautiful and can teach us a great deal. Today in the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, that is the prayer said immediately before the Holy, Holy, Holy, we will hear: ‘for after he had told his disciples of his coming death, on the holy mountain he manifested himself to them in his glory… to show that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection”. This refers to the passage before today’s selection. They are connected by a common theme, the same characters but also by the experience of fear. Let us look at the last item.
We come upon Jesus and the disciples at a rather frustrating time for Jesus. He has been preaching to large crowds, but they have failed to understand his message. This is understandable. I doubt I would have understood Him in their place. Jesus was self-consciously fulfilling all the requirements of the Messiah but in completely unexpected and for most people incomprehensible ways. It is therefore remarkable that when he asked the disciples who they thought He was Peter, always the spokesman, responded “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” Jesus recognized that this insight came from the Father and told his disciples that he “must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised”. (Mt 16: 21) Continue reading “2nd Sunday Lent – Fr. Smith Homily”
2nd Sunday Lent – 7 pm (Msgr. LoPinto)
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-730437.