“Loving your family is one of the most important things in life. They will always be there for you through your best and worst days, and they will never stop loving you unconditionally, even when you go through rough patches in your life.” — Bryn Nagel, junior, Fontbonne Hall Academy in Youth Views
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“Sacrificial love is a habit that we learn through our family life. It was not a mistake that God came into a family.” — Karen Ann St-Cyr referencing a workshop at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, Pa.
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“The most important person here, with all due respect, is my mother, Wloclawa, who gave me the gift of my life and the gift of my priesthood which she nurtured in me.” — Bishop Witold Mroziewski in remarks on his ordination day
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“As a parent I realize that I can’t give my children faith, I can only show it to them. It’s like love; you can’t make your kids love you, you can only show them love.” — musician John Angotti who performed at Diocesan Family Day
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“I love to work with young kids, especially those that are interested in baseball. … As long as they enjoy themselves and have a good time, that’s the whole key. As long as they love the game, I’m going to be there to help them.” — Ed Kranepool, 1969 New York Mets World Series champion on helping at a parish baseball clinic
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“It’s been a year to think about our vocational call. Why are we serving… We offer our availability to all through the gospel. To use what we know as a doorway to God.” — Sister Maryann Seton Lopiccolo, S.C., on the Year of Consecrated Life
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“I came through that door and I felt extremely blessed. It’s a spiritual thing that came over me… it was beautiful.” — Mary Ann Tango upon passing through the Holy Door at Regina Pacis
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“I am proud to say that I am a Catholic. I know now that my life is an ongoing conversion process.” — Curlene Nelson of Springfield Gardens, on receiving her first sacraments at the Easter Vigil
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“When I receive Holy Communion, I believe that God is inspiring me to live a moral life and trusting that I will follow in the footsteps of Jesus. I hope that when I administer the Eucharist to someone else, it does the same thing for them.” — Enza Yoo of Bishop Kearney H.S. on becoming an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist
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“There is no denying that there are fewer of us than there were 50 years ago but I think that the same values that had been part of religious life are still present today. We are still trying to serve the people of the diocese … the best we can.” — Brother William Boslet, O.S.F., on the World Day for Consecrated Life
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“I don’t know if they (Knights of Columbus) realize that in their support, they are actually evangelizing people.” — Brooklyn seminarian Uriri Melchizedek Okrokoto on the Knights’ providing moral and financial support to seminarians
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“When we are in training to become a priest, we know that we are going to become a priest. But becoming a bishop? No one is prepared for that.” – Queens resident, Father Emery Kibal Mansong’loo, C.P., on being named a bishop in the Democratic Republic of Congo
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“Both are pastoral men. Both are smart. Both are close to the people. Both are loyal sons of the Church. But neither of them saw it coming.” — The Editor’s Space on the appointment of new Auxiliary Bishops James Massa and Witold Mroziewski
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“(Pope Francis) is special to me because he teaches other people, including me, about God.” — Omodele Ojo, of Salve Regina Catholic Academy, East New York, on learning he’d meet Pope Francis
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“I kissed his ring and he put his hands on my forehead and he looked at me. I feel like a miracle will happen. … I feel that he brought the Holy Spirit to me.” – Julia Bruzzese, a Dyker Heights girl confined to a wheelchair, on meeting Pope Francis in New York
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“With the problems of the world today – difficulties in the Middle East, persecution to Christians – it is so easy to … believe that violence is the solution. Monseñor Oscar Romero shows that there is more than that.” — Father Robert Robinson on Archbishop Romero’s beatification
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“It means that your home can be taken – your land, your memories, even your dreams – only because you are Christian and only because you have a holy cross inside your church.” — Syrian-born Brooklynite Iyad Alcheik on Christian persecution in his homeland
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“(Haiyan) was so big that we wanted to hold the hand of God.” — farmer Artemio Plana on the 2013 typhoon that brought widespread destruction to the Philippines
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“More than ever, our task, our vocation, is to carry the cross, the Cross of Christ, the cross of the victims and their families.” — French native Father Paul Anel at a candlelight vigil after Paris terrorist attack
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“Being a burden is part of what it means to be human, and to deny that is to deny an incredibly important dimension of what it means to love one another and to be dependent on one another.” — Father Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., at conference hosted by Catholic Charities on end-of-life care
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“Suffering is the price that we pay for love; love and suffering are two sides of the same coin. This is the great message St. Alphonsa gives us.” – Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius on the feast of the Indian saint
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“It doesn’t matter what the size of your gift is; what matters is that you’re the gift.” — Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello on the diocesan Generations of Faith capital campaign
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“It is in the plan of God that some things be granted through prayer.” — Mother María Del Redentor, S.S.V.M., about the diocese’s new website for prayer requests
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Put Out Into the Deep: Bishop DiMarzio Speaks
“Yes, the Father does indulge us. He showers us with mercy and forgiveness. Take the opportunity during this Jubilee of Mercy to become people who are converted and changed; changed in attitude and action, more merciful towards others, more willing to ask for God’s mercy.” – Pastoral Letter for the Year of Mercy
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“Our common home is our Earth, created by God, and, as we know from Genesis, it is given to the domination of man. That domination, however, is not something to be wasted or abused. Rather, we have great responsibility and stewardship for our common heritage.” — on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’”
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“As I travel throughout the Diocese, everyone asks for priests. … There is no lack of respect and desire for the priestly ministry. All we lack, however, are the priests themselves. Only God can give us the priests we need.” — on the ordination of 10 new priests for the diocese