Homilies, Videos

24th Sunday Ordinary Time – Homily (Fr. Smith)

| St. Charles Borromeo

Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-730437.

Transcript:

St. Matthew was a pastor. He is writing his gospel to a community in which he himself is a leader. I have found him a great support and inspiration since I became a pastor myself but never more than now. His whole gospel has great relevance for parish leadership especially the 18th chapter which we proclaim today. Reading it urges me to act differently for the near future and I hope that you will feel the same.

Continue reading “24th Sunday Ordinary Time – Homily (Fr. Smith)” →
Family Faith

Congratulations to Our Newly Confirmed

| St. Charles Borromeo

The following students from the Family Faith Program after finishing their preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation in the spring, were finally confirmed by our pastor Father Smith on September 12. Please pray for them that they will always be willing to bear witness to the Catholic Faith.

ROSE “ELIZABETH” ARMSTRONG
LILLIANNA “JOAN” INOSANTO
JACK “JOSEPH” KEANE
MADELINE “MARY” MCAULIFFE
NICHOLAS “THOMAS” NAPOLI
EMMA “JAMES” SKILLMAN
GABRIEL “IGNATIUS” TRAMONTANA

Events, Videos

Community Mass – 24th Sunday Ordinary Time – 9/13 11:15 am EDT

| St. Charles Borromeo

Please join us for our Community Mass for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday, September 13 at 11:15 AM EDT. It will be a public Mass celebrated in the church and also streamed online.

Instructions to view the Mass are available here. You can also watch the video via YouTube Live in the window here.

Stay on after Mass for our quarterly leadership meeting. In person and Zoom attendees will be able to speak and participate.

Messages from the Pastor

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Bringing Truth from the Head to the Heart

| St. Charles Borromeo

Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Claude Vignon, 1629, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Romans 14:7-8
September 13, 2020

Paul has given the Romans many important insights into the meaning of Christ and his church. We must however keep in mind that he is as much interested in giving the Romans an insight into himself. He wants their help in several enterprises and his reputation is justifiably complicated. He has proved that he is neither a lawless person nor one seeking to eliminate Judaism. Indeed, he has shown both those born Jews and those born Gentiles that he has their best interest at heart. The Christians of Rome at very least know that their view of the new life offered by Jesus has been immeasurably deepened. Yet, there may be some suspicion about how Paul will behave when he gets to Rome. Will he become involved in their daily church life and what will that mean? They have reason to be concerned.

Although the Acts of the Apostles will not be written for several decades the incidents that it relates will have been known. The Romans would probably have known that Paul and Peter had a major disagreement in Antioch and that the Church was very much disturbed indeed divided by it. This was so serious that it required a council of the leaders in Jerusalem to address it. We find a description of this in Acts 15 but more interestingly Paul’s version in Gal 2 especially 2:11-15. The matter remains unclear, but Peter seems to have been trying to create harmony and that his was disturbed by Paul.

The Roman church was hard to hide and had already experienced persecution. They did not want to expose themselves again to this kind of conflict. Paul today is telling them how he would approach their situation. Continue reading “24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Bringing Truth from the Head to the Heart” →

Events

9/11 Brooklyn Heights Interfaith Observance

| St. Charles Borromeo

The traditional 9/11 memorial service that many of us have attended on the Promenade in years past will not be held this year, but members of the Brooklyn Heights Clergy Association will be present on the Promenade at Montague Street and ribbons and prayer cards will be distributed to honor those lost that day 19 years ago. More details are below:

Friday, September 11 between 8:30-10:00am and 5:30-7:00pm 

Brooklyn Heights Promenade at Montague Street

So many events this year have invited us to rethink life and community in the wake of the current global pandemic and racial uprisings — that includes gathering to remember those we lost 19 years ago to a horrific terrorist attack. While health concerns prevent us from holding a traditional service this year our 9-11 memorial will be no less meaningful. Please join the Brooklyn Heights Clergy Association any time between 8:30-10 am and 5:30-7 pm to leave a written tribute on the Promenade at Montague Street. In our sacred distant way, we will honor those we lost and we will remember.

Ribbons and prayer blank cards will be distributed at the corner of Montague Street and the Promenade during the following times: 8:30am-10:00am & 5:30pm-7:00pm