REQUESTS FOR KEYSPAN

                     TICKETS ‘OVERWHELMING’                    

            Calling the number of requests for tickets “overwhelming,” Msgr. Francis J. Caggiano said Monday he would try “to the best of our ability” to accommodate parishioners who have registered to take part in the Diocese of Brooklyn’s closing celebration of the Special Year of the Eucharist at KeySpan Park in Coney Island Saturday, Oct. 15.

            In a message faxed to pastors and administrators of the 216 parishes in Brooklyn and Queens, he asked them not to accept new registrations and to examine lists of names they submitted and remove those of parishioners who may have found subsequently they would not be able to participate.

            KeySpan can seat 9,000 participants, and on Monday park officials gave the Diocese permission to issue 1,000 standing room tickets for those who wish to attend the 1:15 p.m. Mass only.

            “We will encourage teenagers and young adults in seats to offer them to older attendees of the Mass,” said Msgr. Caggiano, Vicar for Evangelization and Pastoral Life, who chairs the celebration’s organizing committee.

            Noting that he was “astounded” by the response of parishioners, he said that parish representatives picked up tickets for their respective parishes this week at two locations in Brooklyn and Queens.

            Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will be the principal celebrant of the afternoon Mass, with some 155 diocesan and religious order priests concelebrating, according to Msgr. Caggiano. The theme of the observance is “One Bread, One Body, One Family in Christ.”

            Msgr. Otto L. Garcia, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia, will open the day’s program at 9 a.m. with a message of welcome, which he will deliver in English and Spanish. Musical selections from a 90-voice combined choir from Nazareth Regional High School and Xaverian High School, both in Brooklyn, will follow.

            Auxiliary Bishop Rene A. Valero will preside at an Opening Prayer Ceremony at 9:30, which will include a “Blessing of Families Present.” A family from a parish in the Diocese will offer a short “witness talk” on the elements of a sound Christian family life.

            At 10:15 seminary student Brother Isaac Spinharney, C.F.R., of Youth 2000 NY will offer a reflection on the Living Rosary, followed by the assemblage’s recitation of the five Glorious Mysteries in ten languages. Instrumentalists and singers from Youth 2000’s music ministry will be heard during this time.

            As the Living Rosary draws to a close, a Eucharistic Procession from nearby Our Lady of Solace Shrine Church, led by the pastor, Father Patrick J. West, will approach the stadium, arriving at 11:45. At that point, retired Bishop Thomas V. Daily will accept the monstrance bearing the Blessed Sacrament from Father West and continue the procession onto the grounds of the park for Exposition. The monstrance will be one blessed by Pope John Paul II in Rome last October.

            For the Eucharistic Exposition, Adoration and Benediction ceremony, Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius A. Catanello will preside and Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., will preach the homily with the theme: “Be Surprised at the Eucharist.”

            A break for lunch at 12:15 will precede the beginning of Mass an hour later. The homilist will be Father Caleb Buchanan, parochial vicar of St. Ephrem’s Church, Dyker Heights.

            The 80-voice Vicariate Choir, a seven-piece brass ensemble and two percussionists, directed by Charles Mallia, will perform during the Mass. Fifteen singers from the Brooklyn-based Hispanic youth group, Jornadas de Vida Cristiana, will sing a Communion song, “Mensa Jero de Dios.” The group’s director, Howard Crespo, collaborated in writing the music.

            The spiritual events at KeySpan Park will provide “a unique opportunity to celebrate both our diversity and unity in Christ,” wrote Bishop DiMarzio in his column in The Tablet this week.

            “Our diocesan family is made up of a rich mosaic of families from all cultures and ethnic backgrounds,” he observed. “May our celebration strengthen the bonds of unity among us as a diocesan family of faith.”

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