Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a parish blessed with enthusiasm and community. Named a basilica in 1969 for its large membership and special devotions to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Brooklyn parish has a lively make up of 2,250 English, Asian, and Hispanic families. The pastor, Fr. Sean McGillicuddy, C.Ss.R., is joined in ministry by 12 priests, three deacons,18 St. Joseph Sisters, and over 420 lay parish volunteers. They also have a school with 260 students in Kindergarten through eighth grades. "Our parish has a wide variety in its cultural and economic backgrounds," says Fr. McGillicuddy, "we want everyone here to find nourishment for their relationship with God and an active place in our parish family." Their worship, offered in Chinese, English, and Spanish, is at the heart of this goal, as are their ministries of RCIA and religious education, led by Chinese, English and Hispanic ministers. A youth ministry also offers weekly meetings for prayer and fellowship, as well as quarterly retreats led by Chinese, English and Hispanic youth ministers. Perhaps their most remarkable effort bringing people together across cultural lines is found in their sports program for youth. The enormous project teaches kids and adults in the parish to integrate prayer, fun and teamwork. One hundred sixty adults in the parish volunteer as coaches and assistant coaches, training teams in baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming, and twirling, while 200 to 300 youth in Kindergarten through 12th grade play on the teams, competing in local leagues. The teams begin all practices and games with a prayer and kick each season off with a mass. "The great thing is," Fr. McGillicuddy says, "the teams are something anyone can participate in. The program is one of the most ethnically mixed groups we have; everybody is playing." The parish members also reach out to those in need through many volunteer ministries. Some staff the St. Vincent de Paul center at the parish, welcoming upwards of 60 disadvantaged people per day and giving them food parcels to take home to their families. The parcels reach approximately 164 people in these families, feeding them for three days. Others operate a sharing network that locates items like wheelchairs for elderly parishioners who cannot otherwise afford them. Another ministry hosts showers at the Life Center to provide necessities like cribs and clothes for mothers in need. These ministries are some of the ways the parish helps the needy of their community. Fr. McGullicuddy says, "we are blessed to have so many opportunities to find God through service. It is especially rewarding to come together as a diverse group, with many different gifts and needs. There is tremendous opportunity to live our practical Redemptorist spirituality."