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Dear Friends,
During the pandemic we have seen heroic actions by our front-line healthcare and service workers. People have stretched to get to essential jobs, at times with risk to themselves and their families. Many have acted with a moral imperative to care for “the other” in keeping our communities supplied and safe. Others have done the small but necessary kindnesses of looking after neighbors and those most isolated. For what each of you has done in service, prayer and generosity. Thank you.
The period of pandemic has exposed, yet again, underlying inequities in our world and society including access to appropriate health and medical care, economic disparities, and systemic bias based on race or country of origin, to name several. The gratuitous and tragic killing of George Floyd underscores the tremendous need for soul searching in our nation and communities that will lead to changes in how we, as a people, view, understand and treat others individually and in sharing of societal goods. The recent protests, which are justified, have become riotous and violent, which cannot be justified, sowing seeds of fear, often with negative consequences for marginal communities. Jesus, victim of systemic violence and oppression, told his followers violence cannot be the way for us. With the recent feast of Pentecost, we witnessed in our scriptures a prophetic moment, indeed a prophetic movement, where difference by race and origin was acknowledged and overcome. The infusion of the Spirit in the community of disciples, was not only in word and speech, but in transformation and change. May the same Spirit provide words and meaning to the Church today to bring needed transformation and change. Come Holy Spirit.
Fr. Michael Callaghan, c.o. and Fr. Mark Lane, c.o.
Pray for Peace
The US Catholic Bishops have issued a statement about the tragic killing of George Floyd and the ensuing demonstrations. Click this link for further reading: http://www.usccb.org/news/2020/20-84.cfm
Archbishop Gomez quotes the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “riots are the language of the unheard.” He adds, “The killing of George Floyd was senseless and brutal, a sin that cries out to heaven for justice. How is it possible that in America, a black man’s life can be taken from him while calls for help are not answered, and his killing is recorded as it happens?“ Please read the entire text.
The Parish Pastoral Councils and Social Justice Committee are working on a statement today and suggesting some lines of action. stay tuned. Please pray for peace and justice in our land for all our sisters and brothers.
Welcome Home Assumption
The Oratory Church of the Assumption will begin hours for personal prayer on Wednesday, June 3 from 10:00am-12:00 noon. Everyone must wear a mask at all times and stay socially distanced. We will host individuals with limit of 10 at a time Monday to Friday 10:00am-12:00 noon.
On Sunday we will also host up to 10 individuals at a time with live music provided by Joe Vanderpool.
Please watch the Welcome Back Assumption Video for more details:
https://youtu.be/z2cA4IiFUX8
https://oratorychurch.org/news/welcome-home-to-assumption
Welcome Back St. Boniface Parishioners
The Oratory Church of St. Boniface will begin opening for private prayer on Tuesday, June 2. Weekday hours Monday-Friday 12:00-2:00pm and Sundays from 10:00am-12:00 noon. Closed on Saturdays. We can only host 10 individuals at once during this time.
We are asking that you please follow social distancing protocol.
https://oratorychurch.org/news/welcome-home-st-boniface
Jericho Road
Submitted by Marybeth Zeman
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's road side, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. Compassion sees that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.
Let us pray:
Ever present God, you called us to be in relationship with one another and promised to dwell wherever two or three are gathered. In our community, we are many different people; we come from many different places, have many different cultures. Open our hearts that we may be bold in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us. We pray in faith.”
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Excerpted from the Riverside Church Speech
April 4, 1967
Save the Date - June 14, 11:30am, Virtual Coffee Hour via Zoom
Please keep the sick of the community in your prayers:
Kyle McCluskey, Estelle Miller, Dolores Leon, Phyllis Condon, Rita Stumbo, Deacon Rich Gilligan, Ed Acerra, Marie Smith.
Rest In Peace:
George Floyd, Michele Grant, Dick and Nancy Schiup, Suzanne Redda, Domenico Creanzo, Helen Potenzano and sister, Br. Joe Guyon from the Rockhill Oratory, Fay Milea, Joseph and Rosemary Rontino, John Walter.
If you would like add someone to the prayer list email the parish office at [email protected] or go to the website /contact-us and complete the information there.
Stewardship
Please remember, if you are able, to keep supporting our parishes as we try to maintain staff, clergy and operations during this time. You can make your donation online through PushPay by clicking on one of the links.
For Assumption https://pushpay.com/g/oratorychurch?src=hpp
For St. Boniface https://pushpay.com/g/oratorychurchbrooklyn?src=hpp
Or mail checks to:
64 Middagh St Brooklyn NY 11201
Attn: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary or St. Boniface
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Upcoming Collections
• Monthly Utilities – Assumption
• Father’s Day Remembrance
• The Holy Fathers’ – Peter’s Pence, June 28
Donations for special collections can now be made via Pushpay.
Zoom Instruction Upon Request
Need Zoom instruction? Feeling disconnected from a “virtual” world? Patient & loving instructors available. Contact [email protected]
New Mailing Address for the Parish Offices
The Brooklyn Oratory Parishes of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary & St. Boniface
64 Middagh St.
Brooklyn NY 11201