Around Brooklyn....Bushwick

The Brooklyn Born Believer was in Bushwick, Brooklyn last week. (That's a tongue twister!) I was amazed to see Bushwick, at least the part that borders East Williamsburg, which is where I was, booming with new developments, condo's and new buildings going up. It seems young people are attracted to Brooklyn and all it offers and continue to move to Brooklyn from all over the country and even parts of the world. They also move to Queens. On a Spring Saturday afternoon, in nearby Williamsburg, the streets are packed with young adults (known as hipsters) strolling along Bedford Ave. In case you are not familiar with the term hipster, according to Wikipedia, hipster is a slang term which first appeared in the 1940's. In the 1990's and 2000's it was used to describe young, recently settled, urban, middle class adults and older teens in non-mainstream fashion and culture. Creative, trendy and artistic are words that are used to describe the young adults who have moved into Williamsburg and are also moving into parts of Bushwick. These neighborhoods are attracting artists and musicians and people who gravitate to creative people. 

 Pope John Paul II described missionary activity as the greatest and holiest duty of the Church (quoting Vatican II). Perhaps the Church in Brooklyn needs creative, artistic missionaries in Brooklyn, in neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook and Bushwick for creative, urban evangelization.  How can art, music and drama be used to reach the young  people (some are believers, some are Catholic),who are living in these vibrant, growing neighborhoods? 

During the Easter Season, when we hear about the boldness and courage of the apostles, especially St. Peter and St. Paul, we should be inspired to seek new and creative ways to evangelize the young adults in our midst. The gospel writers, stress the missionary mandate in their writings, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...........I'll change that just a little, Go therefore and make disciples of all urban neighborhoods....and of course enlist the help of the Holy Spirit because it's not an easy task. 

NJA

Brooklyn, New York-One of a Kind

I was born in Brooklyn, NY. I grew up in Brooklyn and that was a tremendous learning experience. Children who grow up in a city get two educations, one in school and one on the street. Street knowledge is very valuable, especially if you are going to live in New York.
My father met my mother on Bond Street in Red Hook (now Carroll Gardens), where she lived. My father lived on Clinton Street. My aunts (my father's two sisters) still live in the brownstone on Clinton Street that my grandfather bought when he arrived in this country from Italy, in the 1920's. I explored the Ellis Island website and found my grandfather's signature on the ship roster, a picture of the ship he arrived on and the name of his sponsor in America. I was baptized in Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen Parish, in Brooklyn, not far from where my parents met. We then moved to Lunar Park, Coney Island for the first two years of my life and then my aunt and uncle (with their two daughters) bought a two-family house in Old Mill Basin, Bklyn and they lived on one floor and my family lived on the other. That house on 52nd Street was always filled with family, friends, neighbors, good Italian food and stories, lots of interesting stories. My brother Arthur, my only sibling, was a little genius. Three years younger than me, my little brother, he was my playmate and friend. We were always very close. Arthur was very smart, always reading, he would become a forensic psychiatrist one day, with a private practice. When Arthur died, at the young age of 42, on the exact day as Princess Diana, I would take his death very hard. I lost my brother, my friend and my confidant, all on the same day. That is one of the reasons I have such a strong, deep faith. My faith is strong because I've gone through some very difficult times in my life, I've had to suffer loss and though it was difficult, my prayers (or sometimes people had to pray for me and carry me through), made a difference. The prayers helped me. Prayer makes a difference, that's not something I've read in a book (well, actually I have read that in many books) but more importantly it's something I've experienced for myself. I know how much prayer has helped me and others and it's something you have to experience to know it's real. I have a sign on my desk, which states, "Prayer Changes Things" and it does. That's the truth.
NJA