“The pandemic caused by the coronavirus has created difficulties for many parish communities, but it has also awakened the inventiveness of many priests. Such is the case of Fr. Christopher Heanue of Holy Child Jesus Church in Richmond Hill, New York, a parish belonging to the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Fr. Heanue, a young man of 32 years of age ordained by the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2015, is the administrator and parochial vicar of Holy Child Jesus Parish in Queens. He doesn’t consider himself an athlete, but with Christ he became a rather daring one for a day, performing a feat that was covered by various media outlets, including in a recent article by Catholic News Service (CNS).
On the morning of July 27, he began by celebrating Mass at 5 a.m. and then embarked on a 100-mile bike ride that he called ‘100 Miles of Hope’ to raise funds for programs that help the needy in his parish.
Accompanied by two parishioners from the neighborhood—Paul Cerni and Tom Chiafolo—Fr. Heanue set out to bike the 100-mile itinerary with a two-fold purpose. He wanted to bring hope and optimism to his parishioners, and of course, to raise funds for their outreach programs. Fr. Heanue told CNS that this was the longest bike ride he’d ever done.
The day was very hot. The three cyclists left Queens at 5:45 a.m. and arrived at their destination, Holy Trinity Church in East Hampton on Long Island, around 4 p.m.: approximately seven hours and 45 minutes of pedaling, plus necessary stops for meals and hydration.”
View the whole story here: https://aleteia.org/2020/08/29/cycling-priest-raises-funds-and-hope/