Dear Editor: This is in response to your request (Feb. 7) for those priests/deacons whose love for the Sacred Liturgy and Sacred Word have edified parishioners with that same love. There is no one who stands out more in my mind than the Father Joseph Wilson. I had the pleasure of being present at many of his homilies and Masses at St. Luke, Whitestone, while he was a parish priest with us. He then moved on to St. Margaret, Middle Village.
I am not the only one of our parishioners who felt this way. I always came away from his homilies with a deeper understanding of the Scriptures and my Roman Catholic faith. He truly “spoke right to my heart and soul,” as was also voiced by many other people in my parish. Whenever we told him so, he was truly humble and never took any credit. We were so sorry to see him leave us for another parish but they were that much more blessed by God to have him.
ROSALIA M. ANTINORE
Whitestone
Dear Editor: Sacred Heart parish in Bayside has not just one, but three exceptional homilists – our pastor, Father Thomas F. Brosnan; our parochial vicar, Father Michel J. Ryu, K.M.S.; and our deacon, Bill McNamara.
It matters not, if you attend a weekday Mass or one celebrated on Sunday, you will be gifted with a homily explaining Scripture, or a tale concerning the saint of the day and how these mysteries may relate to our daily lives and how they may nourish our need to become People of God.
Come and join us some day and you will see for yourselves how lucky we are.
MARGARET RICONDA
Bayside
Dear Editor: Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (OBS) in Bayside has been blessed with Father Bob Whelan who gives very inspirational homilies. He usually starts each homily with a personal anecdote, or an entertaining story that makes us all laugh. He then delves into the Gospel, and provides us with a new and refreshing look into the Word of God, and lets us meditate on it.
Thirdly, he brings us to a place where he calls us to make that Gospel a part of who we are, and asks us to be the Light of Christ in our daily lives.
Father Bob has told us that the Mission of Christ has a Church, and that Church is us. OLBS is a joyful parish, and each week we are beckoned to follow Jesus by Father Bob through his homilies.
JUDY TOLAN
Bayside
Dear Editor: Thanks to our pastor, Father Thomas Ahern, good homilies are the norm at our parish of St. Augustine’s in Brooklyn. He teaches as well as preaches, and leaves you with substance to think about.
My husband and I often discuss Father Ahern’s homilies after Mass, and I frequently find myself remembering and thinking about some point he has made even weeks afterward. He has a great speaking voice, grabs your attention from the beginning of his sermon and usually gets his points across in less than 10 to 12 minutes! (The same can be said for our former pastor, Father Robert Whelan; the parishioners of his present location at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in Queens are indeed fortunate.)
JACQUELINE ANGELONE
Park Slope
Dear Editor: Addressing the “Need for Good Homilies” (Feb. 7), I guess we are lucky to belong to Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Bayside. When the pastor, Father Tom Brosnan, gives the homily during his Mass, he has the congregation spellbound. He is a wonderful speaker and it is obvious that he spends quality time preparing his talk.
IRENE HUGHES
Douglaston
Dear Editor: I am proud to say, as a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas in Flatlands, we have both Msgr. John Brown and Father Dwayne Davis who are well versed in the delivery of homilies.
Often in their preaching and teachings, they apply examples of their lives or experiences that give more light to the Liturgy of the Word while making it more relatable. Their inspiring teaching leaves me feeling uplifted, enlightened and blessed.
There are times that after Mass I discuss the homily with another parishioner – that is how touching and penetrating their deliveries can be.
I pray that Msgr. Brown and Father Davis may be forever blessed in their calling.
LYDIA C. REID
Flatlands
My parish, St Pancras of Glendale was blessed with a priest who gave some of the best and aspiring homilies I ever heard. Reverand Thomas Shepanzyk (Father Tom) speaks with passion and said things from the pulpit that other priests are not willing to say because they are not “politically correct’. Father Tom’s defense of traditional marriage, family values, life, and his rejection of many of the aspects of modern culture and social values were a joy to hear over the past few years. We need more priests like him. Some parishoners believe that his homilies were a little long, but they had to be in order to articulate his points and to educate the uninformed. Unfortunately, he was recently transferred to another parish. His homilies will be missed by my fellow parishoners, right now I envy Holy Cross of Maspeth.
Fr. Brosnan’s homilies while he was assigned to Blessed Sacrament, Brooklyn, were controversial and one on Christmas Eve was blasphemous. No wonder the bishops stood up his confirmation dinner. He was terrible.