beast of the east
Active member
Yesterday morning, the Brooklyn Queens Diocese laid to rest one of its finest priests, Monsignor Larry Hinch.
I heard about his passing on Friday and decided to drive to Queens for his funeral mass.
Father Hinch was one of three priests to found the Brooklyn Cursillo and Christian Awakening retreats. Along with Father Jim Tugwood, Father Doug Brown, and Professor Michael Brown of St. John's University, they restructured the Spanish language Cursillo for adult men and adult women. They also created versions of it that were for high school boys, high school girls, and co-ed for college students, Bishop Mugavero helped to underwrite the costs, and a permanent retreat center was opened on Humboldt Street in Greenpoint. Thousands of high school and college students made the retreats, and area Catholic high schools strongly supported it by sending students. It is a retreat that is transformational and life changing for many people, and many people will point to their Cursillo or Christian Awakening as renewing or initiating their faith journey.
Jesuit high schools and colleges adapted this retreat, calling it Kairos.
I'm posting this because many of our poster on Redmen.com went to area Catholic schools and may have made this retreat. Father Hinch ran the girls high school weekends and the women's Cursillo weekends. They are referred to as weekends because the format begins on Thursday nights and continue thru Sunday afternoons.
Monsignor Hinch was a deeply spiritual and loving man, and devoted Catholic. After St. Paul's Center, he was also pastor of Holy Child Jesus parish in Richmond Hill, where his funeral mass was yesterday. Monsignor Tom Caserta, also a former Cursillo priest, and one of the most highly regarded priests in the diocese as well as faculty member of St. John's University and Immaculate Conception Seminary, preached the homily. If you've never heard Father Tom speak, I'd advised it. He is a powerful speaker, and amazing person, and a brilliant guy. The main celebrant was Bishop Bob Brennan, also a St. John's alum. One of the other celebrants (there were more than 20) was Monsignor Bob Romano) who is the NYPD chaplain. Monsignor Romano also has his roots in the C.A. and Cursillo programs, and although lesser known than Father Michael Judge, was present at 9-11, and every other tragedy involving NYPD officers (there are far too many of those), I cannot think of a finer person to bring comfort to the aggrieved family of NYPD officers than Father Romano. He was a concelebrant and the televised Rivera funeral.
About ten years ago, Monsignor Hinch and Father George Cowan did an in parish two night retreat, which I attended in my home parish. They spoke about their own faith journeys, and some of the painful life events they had to endure, bolstered by their faith.. To remember the specifics ten years later is a testimony to how powerful their examples were. I spoke to Monsignor Hinch afterwards, and remarked to him, "You did some really great work while at St. Paul's Center in the Cursillo movement." Before I could continue, he sharply rebuked me. "No!!!" he said emphatically. "God did all the work."
After a few contentious days on redmen.com, and before our game yesterday afternoon, I thought the mass would provide me with a break from St. John's. Instead, I found reminders of our great school, in our Bishop, in the homilist, as well as some in the congregation. We have a great presence in the Brooklyn Queen diocese, and undergrad seminarians study at St. John's and have for decades since Cathedral College closed.
This is an unusually long post but I thought that at least some of you may have made a CA or Cursillo, and have known Monsignor Hinch. I have a friend who passed away last year who would refer to such priests as "The real stuff.", men who lived their faith well and lived and shared the Gospels.
R.I.P., Monsignor Hinch..
I heard about his passing on Friday and decided to drive to Queens for his funeral mass.
Father Hinch was one of three priests to found the Brooklyn Cursillo and Christian Awakening retreats. Along with Father Jim Tugwood, Father Doug Brown, and Professor Michael Brown of St. John's University, they restructured the Spanish language Cursillo for adult men and adult women. They also created versions of it that were for high school boys, high school girls, and co-ed for college students, Bishop Mugavero helped to underwrite the costs, and a permanent retreat center was opened on Humboldt Street in Greenpoint. Thousands of high school and college students made the retreats, and area Catholic high schools strongly supported it by sending students. It is a retreat that is transformational and life changing for many people, and many people will point to their Cursillo or Christian Awakening as renewing or initiating their faith journey.
Jesuit high schools and colleges adapted this retreat, calling it Kairos.
I'm posting this because many of our poster on Redmen.com went to area Catholic schools and may have made this retreat. Father Hinch ran the girls high school weekends and the women's Cursillo weekends. They are referred to as weekends because the format begins on Thursday nights and continue thru Sunday afternoons.
Monsignor Hinch was a deeply spiritual and loving man, and devoted Catholic. After St. Paul's Center, he was also pastor of Holy Child Jesus parish in Richmond Hill, where his funeral mass was yesterday. Monsignor Tom Caserta, also a former Cursillo priest, and one of the most highly regarded priests in the diocese as well as faculty member of St. John's University and Immaculate Conception Seminary, preached the homily. If you've never heard Father Tom speak, I'd advised it. He is a powerful speaker, and amazing person, and a brilliant guy. The main celebrant was Bishop Bob Brennan, also a St. John's alum. One of the other celebrants (there were more than 20) was Monsignor Bob Romano) who is the NYPD chaplain. Monsignor Romano also has his roots in the C.A. and Cursillo programs, and although lesser known than Father Michael Judge, was present at 9-11, and every other tragedy involving NYPD officers (there are far too many of those), I cannot think of a finer person to bring comfort to the aggrieved family of NYPD officers than Father Romano. He was a concelebrant and the televised Rivera funeral.
About ten years ago, Monsignor Hinch and Father George Cowan did an in parish two night retreat, which I attended in my home parish. They spoke about their own faith journeys, and some of the painful life events they had to endure, bolstered by their faith.. To remember the specifics ten years later is a testimony to how powerful their examples were. I spoke to Monsignor Hinch afterwards, and remarked to him, "You did some really great work while at St. Paul's Center in the Cursillo movement." Before I could continue, he sharply rebuked me. "No!!!" he said emphatically. "God did all the work."
After a few contentious days on redmen.com, and before our game yesterday afternoon, I thought the mass would provide me with a break from St. John's. Instead, I found reminders of our great school, in our Bishop, in the homilist, as well as some in the congregation. We have a great presence in the Brooklyn Queen diocese, and undergrad seminarians study at St. John's and have for decades since Cathedral College closed.
This is an unusually long post but I thought that at least some of you may have made a CA or Cursillo, and have known Monsignor Hinch. I have a friend who passed away last year who would refer to such priests as "The real stuff.", men who lived their faith well and lived and shared the Gospels.
R.I.P., Monsignor Hinch..
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