{"id":264967,"date":"2026-06-12T22:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/264967\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T22:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:00:41","slug":"diocese-of-brooklyn-celebrates-mass-for-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/264967\/","title":{"rendered":"Diocese of Brooklyn Celebrates Mass for the Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"Parishioners joined the clergy in praying aloud the prayer of consecration, which included the words, \u201cWe celebrate the abundant gifts that you have given this nation, founded on the self-evident truths that our Creator has endowed all people with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d (Photos: Paula Katinas)<\/p>\n

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN \u2014\u00a0Jim Connell is a parishioner of the Oratory Church of the Assumption\u00a0of the Blessed Virgin Mary\u00a0in Brooklyn Heights, but every year on\u00a0the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, he makes a pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in\u00a0Downtown Brooklyn to attend Mass.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sacred Heart is special to me,\u201d he said, explaining that he worked years ago with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and appreciated the\u00a0love of God they conveyed to everyone they\u00a0encountered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The solemnity brought Connell to the\u00a0cathedral\u00a0basilica again this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, this time it was different.\u00a0The Mass celebrating the solemnity\u00a0on June 12\u00a0also marked the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s\u00a0participation\u00a0in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops\u00a0(USCCB)\u00a0Consecration of the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: U.S. Bishops\u2019 Spring Public Meeting Culminates With Charter Vote, Consecration to Sacred Heart<\/a><\/p>\n

The consecration, which took place in anticipation of the nation\u2019s 250th\u00a0birthday,\u00a0means that the\u00a0people of the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0will be entrusted to the loving care of Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Connell called the consecration \u201ca perfect opportunity for us to give thanks for God\u2019s love for us as a country.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. has been given many gifts, but\u00a0Americans should\u00a0also \u201ctake the\u00a0time to ask for forgiveness for those times in our country\u2019s history where we haven\u2019t lived up to what God\u2019s love means to us,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0USCCB\u00a0announced\u00a0at its Fall Plenary Assembly<\/a> in November of 2025 that it planned to consecrate the\u00a0country\u00a0to the\u00a0sacred heart of Jesus\u00a0on June 11.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The date was selected because\u00a0the\u00a0nation\u2019s\u00a0bishops\u00a0would\u00a0be\u00a0gathered\u00a0there for\u00a0their\u00a0spring\u00a0plenary\u00a0assembly in Orlando, Florida.\u00a0The consecration service took place at the Basilica Shrine of Mary, Queen\u00a0of the Universe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cIt\u2019s a surrender to God\u2019s will. It\u2019s an understanding that God is the creator and we are the created,\u201d said Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi (right), explaining the meaning of the consecration. He is processing into the cathedral basilica for the Mass behind Deacon Ronald Rizzuto.<\/p>\n

The USCCB urged dioceses around the country to hold their own\u00a0consecration\u00a0Masses.\u00a0Bishop Robert Brennan decided\u00a0that the Diocese of Brooklyn\u2019s service would take place on June 12\u00a0\u2014 the date of the solemnity<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a letter to the diocese\u2019s priests, Bishop Brennan urged them to\u00a0\u201cpromote special devotional practices,\u00a0particularly\u00a0the Corporal Works of Mercy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Msgr. Joseph Grimaldi, vicar general for the diocese, celebrated the Mass of Consecration at the cathedral basilica\u00a0and said\u00a0that in setting the consecration, the nation\u2019s bishops are hoping to bring the nation together during a time of great division.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the hope of the bishops that this division that we see can somehow be healed and that it can somehow find a new path, because\u00a0war and violence, as we know, is never the answer,\u201d he told The Tablet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that healing starts with treating all people with respect and dignity, Msgr. Grimaldi added. He\u00a0referred to a message Leo XIV delivered during his apostolic trip to\u00a0Spain. \u201cWe live in a world\u00a0that\u00a0is s\u00a0torn apart by\u00a0war, and\u00a0violence, and dissension because, basically, we don\u2019t fully appreciate the dignity of every human person and that peace is what we strive for,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0cathedral\u00a0basilica houses a striking image of the Sacred Heart. The historic\u00a0cathedra that belonged to the first bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop John Loughlin (1817-1891)\u00a0contains\u00a0an image of the sacred heart embedded in a clock \u2014 a sign that the faithful should be devoted to Jesus at all hours of the day. The chair was built in\u00a01853;\u00a0the year Bishop Loughlin was appointed to head the diocese.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The consecration was deeply meaningful to Althea Forde-Jobe,\u00a0who said she prays to the Sacred Heart of Jesus every morning. \u201cWe need God. We\u00a0need God and his son to bring the country as it should be, because it\u2019s not getting better every day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parishioners joined the clergy in praying aloud the prayer of consecration, which included the words, \u201cWe celebrate the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-264967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}