Homilies

Homily – 7th Sunday of Easter – Fr. Smith

| Fr. William Smith

I grew up in a majority Catholic neighborhood with a vibrant Jewish minority. Recently, I met a Jewish friend from those days on a street in Manhattan. She was with a co-worker about our age. When her companion asked how we knew each other my friend said that we grew up in Blessed Sacrament parish. We all immediately laughed. The Catholic community in New York was once so strong that our parishes formed our lives and defined our neighborhoods. There is much that was wonderful about this, but we should not be overly nostalgic or sentimental, other parts were not so wonderful. St John today will help us identify and build on the good parts.

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Wedding

Sandi – Leung Wedding (Fr. Smith’s Remarks)

| Fr. William Smith

As I might never have the opportunity to address so many professional musicians again, I will use it to thank all of you. First, personally, for the pleasure you have given me over the years. Life without Mahler, Brubeck, and Ambrosian Chant would have been little better than silence. But I also wish to thank you professionally. Although music can often tragically be relegated to liturgical decoration it can also aid true worship and give real joy. Whatever your religious beliefs we are all in the transcendence business. If we can’t bring people out of themselves, we should find other work.

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 7th Sunday of Easter

| St. Charles Borromeo

Join us in person or online for the 7th Sunday of Easter. Mass times are:

  • 9 AM ET Sunday – Morning Mass
  • 11:15 AM ET Sunday – Community Mass
  • 7 PM ET Sunday – Evening Mass

Watch the video live by clicking in the window above. Automated closed captioning is available.

If you like our online masses, please Like our videos so more people can find them. Subscribe to our YouTube channel stcharlesbklyn at this link to watch on your Internet enabled TV or viewing device.

Today’s readings will be from Cycle A.

Readings/Psalms: 1080


The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – they are at the ends of the pews. Please return the missals to the end of the pew after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Scriptual Commentary

7th Sunday of Easter – Being Christ’s Real Presence

| Fr. William Smith

Stained glass window in the Cenacle (Upper Room)
Cenacle Window 2, Onceinawhile (CC BY-SA 4.0)

When [the apostles] entered the city
they went to the upper room where they were staying.[…]
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,
together with some women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
(Acts 1:13–14)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Church Fathers
Seventh Sunday of Easter
St. Augustine
May 21, 2023

The weekly commentaries after Easter have examined the Eucharistic writings of some of the greatest theologians of the early church whom we now call the Fathers. The Chuch Fathers are always worth reading but especially during the “Year of the Eucharist”. As we have seen, the Fathers have offered wonderful insights and I must admit regret that very few of the copious materials prepared for the “Year of the Eucharist” have included their wisdom. A notable exception is Cardinal Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark. The central section of His Pastoral letter on the Eucharist “Returning to Grace” is on St. Augustine, the most brilliant of the all the Fathers and the one to whom we now turn:

St Augustine (354-430 AD) is so complex a figure that providing even a superficial biography would be impossible for our present purposes. Most simply, he was a man of his time and place and wished to address contemporary questions. As we have seen, one of them was the consequences of being bodily creatures. Christians held the Jewish view that we did not have a body, we were our bodies. They are good, that the fullness of the Kingdom would be bodily, and we were not just ghosts in a machine.

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Bulletin

Holy Spirit Novena

| St. Charles Borromeo

As we prepare for Pentecost, we invite you to join in praying a Novena to the Holy Spirit. The novena begins with the same opening prayer each day, which is followed by prayer that focuses on one of the fruits or gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We started the novena on Friday, May 19 and will end it on Saturday, May 27, the day before Pentecost Sunday. We will pray it together at the start of our 5 PM parish Zoom events (rosaries on Monday and Wednesday, and Friday Vespers).

Don’t worry if you can’t join in every night. The materials are available on our parish website and in a print-friendly form in the back of the church if you want to pray one or more days on your own.