We encourage you to read the Ecclesia de Eucharistia encyclical issued by St. Pope John Paul II in 2003. The Eucharist builds the Church. As we emerge from the pandemic, we will center our renewal of the Parish on the Eucharist.

The encyclical begins:

The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfilment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity. Ever since Pentecost, when the Church, the People of the New Covenant, began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly homeland, the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of her days, filling them with confident hope.

The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life”.¹ “For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ himself, our passover and living bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men”.² Consequently the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love. 

In January, Pope Francis established this Sunday as World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly saying “we forget this wealth of preserving roots and passing on” what grandparents and the elderly have received. He emphasized “young people, drawing strength from their grandparents, will go forward and prophesy.”

Prayer for Grandparents by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Lord Jesus,
you were born of the Virgin Mary,
the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne.
Look with love on grandparents the world over.
Protect them! They are a source of enrichment
for families, for the Church and for all of society.
Support them!  As they grow older,
may they continue to be for their families
strong pillars of Gospel faith,
guardians of noble domestic ideals,
living treasuries of sound religious traditions.
Make them teachers of wisdom and courage,
that they may pass on to future generations the fruits
of their mature human and spiritual experience.

Lord Jesus,
help families and society
to value the presence and role of grandparents.
May they never be ignored or excluded,
but always encounter respect and love.
Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed
in all the years of life which you give them.
Mary, Mother of all the living,
keep grandparents constantly in your care,
accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage,
and by your prayers, grant that all families
may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland,
where you await all humanity
for the great embrace of life without end. 
Amen!

Please note this Sunday, July 18 is the last Sunday we will be also streaming the Sunday Mass on Zoom.

Most remote participants now attend via YouTube (where the picture quality is higher than Zoom). Instead of having someone dedicated to administering the wait room and monitoring the Zoom meeting, we would like to focus on other needs in the parish.

Our Online Community Mass is streamed live via YouTube. You can watch the Mass live at 11:15 AM on Sundays by visiting our YouTube channel or https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/youtube/. Recordings will be available on our YouTube channel for later viewing.

This streaming change pertains only to our Sunday Mass. It does not affect our interactive parish events, such as the weekday prayer groups and book clubs, which are and will continue to be available on Zoom. 

Our Sunday faith sharing is back for the summer. We join together to pray, reflect on the Sunday readings, and discuss our faith. It is a low-key gathering and there’s no need to read in advance or join every week. 

We meet each Sunday at 5 PM on the parish Zoom channel through the end of August. All are welcome, especially first time participants.

Next Sunday, July 11, we will be visited by a missionary from the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. Their ministry focuses serving those in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, especially the homeless, street children, the orphans, children with disabilities, children living with HIV-AIDS, refugees, elderly, youth, single mothers and those affected by the pandemic, which is currently surging in Africa.

The Little Sisters ask for our prayers and financial support of their ministry for the marginalized children who have been impacted greatly by COVID-19 pandemic. If you would like to contribute, you can do so through our online giving site, https://stcharlesbklyn.weshareonline.org/ws/opportunities/LittleSistersofSaintFrancis.

Below is more information about the Little Sisters of St. Francis.

Shape the future of our parish! We are recruiting volunteers to participate in an ad hoc Governance Committee to decide issues regarding parish leadership. In particular, the committee will meet just a few times on Zoom between now and September 30 to develop a plan regarding the number of members of the Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council, the term limits of those members and our lay Trustees, and how to apply the limits to the current membership.

If you are willing to serve in this important, but not time-consuming, role, please contact the rectory by this Friday, July 2.