2018: The Year in Quotes
“There are no magical answers for a Christian living in and trying to transform a secular culture. The only miracle we can expect is the miracle of grace.” – Father Lauder, Jan. 6
“When we reach out to sisters and brothers in need, we are Veronica all over again, wiping the face of Christ.” – Sunday’s Scriptures, Oct. 20
“I lost a lot of respect for myself. Addiction is a disease. It’s easy to get hooked, but it’s hard to not be.” – Norman, recovering heroin user, Jan. 6
“Marriage is not a crime-prevention program. And the data on the society-wide plague of sexual abuse suggests that most of these horrors take place within families.” – George Weigel, commenting on clerical sexual abuse and the idea of changing the Church stance on celibacy, Dec. 8
“What is it about the Catholic definition of justice that makes many persons of that faith progressive in their attitude toward the poor in Central America, but reactionary toward the poor in black America?” – Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown, Ohio, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, Feb.10
“We have long rested in the idea that Americans are more tolerant of racial differences today, that racial antipathy is an aberration. However, tolerance of others doesn’t erase antipathy or disregard for them” – Donna Grimes, assistant director of African-American Affairs in the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Feb. 24
“How can abortion be celebrated as essential to female empowerment when it leads to such horrible degradation of our own gender?” – Kathleen Gallagher, director of Pro-Life Activities, NYS Catholic Conference, Feb. 24
“I discovered that when you find hope and love in the smallest of things, you’re finding God in the ordinary” – Bridget Harte, St. Edmund Prep H.S. alumna, May 26
“Everybody wants to win, but it’s how you win, or how you lose. It’s competition … somebody’s gonna win and somebody’s gonna lose. How you handle that is going to dictate how you act in your life.” – Former baseball coach at Msgr. McClancy M.H.S. Nick Melito, June 16
“We are more than neighbors, we are brothers and sisters in the family of God.” – Father Zwolenkiewicz during an Oplatek dinner, Jan. 20
“I love God.” – Eighth grader Amanda Channer, from St. Laurence, East New York, at Brooklyn Catholic Youth Day, April 28
“The history of faith and culture of the people of the diocese has to be remembered and celebrated and no one does that better then he [Ed Wilkinson] does.” – Bishop Cisneros on Wilkinson receiving the St. Francis de Sales Distinguished Communicator Award at the 27th annual diocesan celebration of the World Communications Day, May 19
“God thought this world would be special if you were born in this time.” – Father John McKenna, C.Ss.R, International Children’s Day at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Sunset Park, June 16
“We live in a world where the word ‘love’ is abused because we use it in so many ways, but we look upon Jesus on the cross and see an innocent man took on hell for us and that is love.” – Father Sean Suckiel, diocesan vocation director, June 30-July 7
“Sometimes we see racism as a black issue. Racism is not a black issue. It is a real issue.” – Auxiliary Bishop Neil Tiedemann, C.P., during a listening session on racism, June 23
“First is God. And after God – all comes after, and there is time for everything.” – Neysa Tejeda parishioner of St. John the Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant and mother of three, July 14
“ I guess that’s what a conversation with God was like – just having someone there to listen to you, even if you might be yelling about your problems on the inside.” – Ethan Jameer, freshman at John Bowne H.S., Flushing, and attends St. Clare Church, Rosedale, Aug. 25
Put Out Into the Deep Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio Speaks
“The Holy Spirit lights the paths of holiness to which the Lord is calling us. Prayer to the Holy Spirit is important, not just on the Feast of Pentecost, but every day of our lives.” – May 19
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“Learning the faith is a process both of conversion of heart and an expansion of mind and intellect regarding the teaching of the Church.” – Feb. 17
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“In our so-called sophisticated society, the world may scoff and tell you there is no Devil… The fight against evil and the Devil is always like putting out into the deep, in understanding that the Sacraments, personal prayer, and the prayers of the Church can liberate us.” – March 3
“Our world today is one characterized by unbelief. People tend not to believe in what cannot be proven to them. Science and reason has overtaken faith. But faith does not deny reason or science. Faith goes beyond what can be humanly proven, as it bases itself upon the Word of God and tradition, which are the ultimate truths for all of us.” – May 5
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“Life is a journey that is never clear, nor whose duration do we know. It is in God’s hands when the journey of life ends and we put out into the deep mystery of eternity. It is God who calls us, it is not a call of our own initiative.” – June 23
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“Trust is a personal gift that we give to others. We must learn again how to trust the Church, especially its ordained ministers. We must regain that trust by what we do, by how we handle any present or future acts of abuse of persons or authority.” – Oct. 3
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“The road from being a victim to becoming a survivor of sexual abuse is a long one. It is like putting out into the deep recesses of one’s past pain and suffering and finding relief and comfort.” – April 21
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In the past, the United States has been a beacon of freedom and hope for many generations of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. If we lose this understanding of our great nation, we will become a very different country. We will become a fortress into which we will admit no one in need of help, under any circumstances.” – Nov. 10