Our Lady of the Skies Chaplain Father Chris Piasta

From The Record:

“There’s no average day here. Most of my ministry happens on the go,” Father Chris Piasta said in an interview at the airport, located in Jamaica in the New York borough of Queens.

He is a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Jamaica and is now in his 10th year as the face of the Catholic Church at the nation’s busiest airport.

“It’s a ministry of presence,” Father Piasta said. “At its core is being an open and friendly human being to someone else, being open to the humanity of others and simply embracing their needs at a particular time.”

Sometimes that entails giving arriving passengers directions to connecting flights or answering what he says is the most common question, “Where is the nearest restroom?”

Once he found himself washing dishes in a sushi restaurant when a hurricane prevented employees from getting to the airport. That encounter started with a challenge from the overwhelmed proprietor of the eatery and ended with a deep conversation with two of the 60 million people who pass through JFK each year.

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