As a young priest, I was blessed to be assigned to Saint Helen’s Parish in Howard Beach. It was a wonderful parish, led by an exemplary pastor, Msgr. Joseph Pfeiffer. Although the parish was established in 1960, the parish church itself was not built until 1979. When it was built, it was decided that on the wall of the sanctuary, there would be a large bronze Risen Christ in lieu of a crucifix (today that Risen Christ is placed on the outside wall of Saint Helen’s Church).
Author: settinger
Christ Lives in Us
As this Easter approaches, I am recalling an experience I had more than 60 years ago when I was a student in the major seminary. I was reading in chapel a book entitled “Christ in His Mysteries,” by Dom Abbot Marmion. I even remember the color of the book’s cover.
Sister Joan Verner, S.C.
Sister Joan Verner, S.C., formerly Sister John Christopher, a Sister of Charity-Halifax for 66 years, died on March 17, at Mount Saint Vincent, Wellesley, MA. She was 83.
Sister Eleanor McDonnell, C.S.J.
Sister Eleanor McDonnell, C.S.J., a Sister of St. Joseph for 71 years, died on Feb. 22 at Maria Regina Residence, Brentwood.
St. Andrew Avellino Parish Historian and The Tablet Contributor
Joseph Raymond Brostek, St. Andrew Avellino parishioner for 50 years, who was a Lector, Pastoral Council member, Parish Communications Chair, Editor of the monthly Andrean bulletin and the parish’s historian passed away on March 25. He was 87.
First American Superioress General of the Daughters of Charity
Sister Kathleen Appler, D.C., Superioress General of the Daughters of Charity, died on March 18, at the Daughters’ Motherhouse in Paris after a long, courageous battle with cancer. She was 68.
This Quarantining Is Deeply Biblical
The coronavirus pandemic forced us into quarantine and instituted a new normal that is far from our old normal. Non-essential workers remain in closed quarters due to logical, scientific justification: to contain the spread as much as humanly possible. But even logic can’t completely quash our very human and very real fear of the present moment.
Remembering Father James Sweeney
Dear Editor: I was truly sad when I read about the March 5th passing of Father James H. Sweeney (“Brooklynite Priest, ‘Incredibly Talented Artist’, Dies at 64,” Obituaries, March 21).
Was St. Christopher a Real Person?
Dear Editor: I read with interest the article “Holy Helpers: Saints in the Time of Coronavirus” (March 21). I was confused that the listing of “Fourteen Holy Helpers” included St. Christopher.
There Is Hope for the Future of Religious Orders
Dear Editor: March 8-14 was Catholic Sisters Week in the US. While the last 50 years have seen a dwindling number of religious vocations there is much hope for the future.