Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome to another edition of Big City Catholics. Thanks for joining us. I'm Bishop Robert Brennan, bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens. And I'm so glad that you're with us this day. Today we have a special treat. We're going to be talking with Father Joseph Giobino, who is pastor at St. Charles Church in Brooklyn, St. Charles Borromeo, but is also our vicar for evangelization and catechesis. And we're going to be talking about the national eucharistic procession that will pass through Brooklyn this week. We begin with prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We live in that moment of Pentecost and celebrate the living, ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Welcome, Father Giovino.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Thank you. Always a pleasure.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Pleasure is mine. And boy, I think we have some informative things to share today, but we're coming up. This is released on Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I have to confess, my memorial day will have already started. My weekend will have already started at this point because we're going to be busy on the other end of the weekend, going to take Friday, do some personal errands and visit with my father and just take a nice day. And then Saturday we have a family baptism. My nephew and his wife will be up from Washington, DC, and I'll be baptizing their child at a lady of perpetual help, my home parish. But where my nephew, the baby's father, was baptized. So.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Oh, nice.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: So it'll be a nice family occasion. But these days, Memorial Day is the beginning of summer in a sense, and it's a nice three day weekend. We take a breather. We've had a pretty busy liturgical year, haven't we?
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Oh, it's been really something. From Easter to Pentecost was really an.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Exciting time and that came from the heels of. I keep repeating myself, but a three week advent, a very shortened Christmas season, just the way the calendar fell, an early lent, and then, like you say, action packed through Lent and Easter, especially filled with graces. I'm not complaining at all, it's great. But I kept saying, through it all, I hope that the early Pentecost means a relaxing summer, a longer summer.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Well, it's interesting that you say that in Brooklyn we always have so many baptisms at Easter vigil, so it keeps our parishes busy. And just yesterday, the USCCB, the bishops conference, released the new norms for the order of christian initiation for adults. So even now we are finishing with Pentecost and the Easter season. But we're looking to nets Easter already, so that's great. Our eyes are always moving forward, moving forward.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: And that's what the christian life is about. We're really. This whole life is a pilgrimage through this time on earth, pilgrimage on our way to heaven. Always looking forward. Always looking forward. Exactly. On the other hand, as we return to ordinary time this weekend, relaxing as it is or celebratory as it is, it's also a somber weekend here in the United States. It's a time for us to remember those who have given their lives in the service of our nation in the cause of peace. We pray for those who have died, and we can never, never forget the sacrifices that so many individuals and families have made.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: And for my family, Memorial Day always was a rather serious weekend because my uncle was killed in the second world War. So that was always a time we went to the cemetery and we prayed for my uncle Sam, who was really a Salvatore. But when my grandparents came to this country, Salvatore became Sam because they were going to be Americans. This was a big time for my.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Family and so many families. And, you know, there are events at the national cemeteries and all kinds of remembrances here in Brooklyn, Brooklyn and Queens, as in so many dioceses, have masses at the cemetery, field masses on Memorial Day and on All Souls Day. Memorial Day, you have the greater possibility of being a little more comfortable outside than on November 2. You know, even Memorial Day can sometimes be a little damp and chilly. But we remember. We remember with gratitude. But as the scriptures tell us, remembrance is also an act of faith because we believe that life is beyond. Here in the book of Maccabees. If we weren't meant to live forever, if we didn't have the hope of resurrection in mind, it would be pointless to remember and to pray. It's an act of love, it's an act of thanksgiving, but it's also an act of great hope. Our faith is enlivened.
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, this Memorial Day weekend, we're going to remember and celebrate our very eucharistic theme for this Memorial day.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Indeed. Nice segue. That's right. So for better or for worse, we got the luck of the draw and we ended up a Memorial Day weekend. But the National Eucharistic procession actually, there are four national eucharistic processions, different routes through the country, and they're making their way to Indianapolis. And tell us a little bit about what's going to be happening in Indianapolis, because that's a great gathering for the.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: United States, and it's the National Eucharistic Congress, and it's the first congress in almost 80 years here in the United States. So we will be gathering on July 17 to July 21 in Indianapolis for a series of eucharistic liturgies, adoration, catechetical workshops, but also leadership workshops presented by a number of our national organizations, really spearheaded by the bishops. So it's really going to be both a time of prayer and retreat and spirituality, but a time of study and discernment, which is so important as we move forward, how are we discerning the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist? And then after our encounter with Christ, how do we witness to the real presence in the world? And that's the strength of the national eucharistic processions, because we will literally be witnessing to our faith on the streets and here in the streets of Brooklyn, it's going to be very exciting.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: That's right. So we're on what's called the Seton route. So that began last week in Hartford. Well, Hartford diocese, but really New Haven. Right.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: New Haven.
[00:06:46] Speaker A: New Haven, where Father McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, the blessed Father McGivney, began his work with the Knights of Columbus. And they're going to begin there and walk across and pass through New York, through Manhattan, but cross the bridge through Brooklyn before making their way back to New York and over to Jersey. So tell us a little bit about the New York and Brooklyn portion of the pilgrimage.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: It's really very exciting because I think those of us who live in New York and the greater area forget that we have two women saints who walked on our streets. So the Seton route, named after Elizabeth Anseton, is actually going to leave the cathedral and process through Manhattan on a very interesting route because it is Memorial Day. It's fleet week. There'll be tourists in the city. So the route is a little convoluted, but we'll be stopping at the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann. That procession will head to the Brooklyn Bridge, where mid span, you will take the Eucharist from Big Bishop Colachico after benediction and process, to Our lady of Lebanon Maronite Rite Cathedral, which is very exciting because we forget, as you have said, there are two cathedrals in the diocese of Brooklyn. And so Bishop Mansoor will be joining us, and we'll have a chance to pray there. What we will then do is go to the co cathedral here at St. Joseph's for adoration and the end of the day on Monday, we will begin at our cathedral of St. James, and there's an exciting piece we will actually process to Mother Cabrini park. We will have an image of Mother Cabrini with us, and we will pass the mother Cabrini wall mural and be processing on the streets that Mother Cabrini walked when we were in Manhattan, it was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Here it's Francesca Cabrini. And that is such an exciting piece.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: It really is. First a confession, two and a half years now in Brooklyn, and then having lived on Long island almost all my life, I've never been to Cabrini park in this mural. This is a chance for me. I'm really looking forward to it. The other thing is that since seeing the movie Cabrini, and again, I highly recommend it at confirmations, I often talk about that movie. I tell a little story, and I say to the young people, imagine this. We have had visits from saints. Saints have walked through Brooklyn and Queens, Mother Teresa, Saint John Paul II, and they've visited us. But we've actually had a saint who worked in Brooklyn who, like you say, walked our streets, but she established a school and cared for the then italian immigrant community here in Brooklyn. The saint who contributed to the life of the church in Brooklyn, who walked among us. It's so easy to take that for granted, but that's pretty impressive.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: Matthew Kelly has a wonderful little book called the greatest Lie, and in it he talks about the greatest lie that we are told is that we can't be holy.
Well, Mother Cabrini, here in Brooklyn, walking the streets of Brooklyn Heights and Columbia, reminds us we are called to holiness and we can be holy if we walk the walk. And here's our opportunity on Memorial Day to walk the walk of holiness. It's really thrilling to think about it.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: It is. It's great. So we'll be processing. We'll visit Mother Cabrini park. We'll have a moment to pray there, and then we'll continue heading south along Brooklyn. Right.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: We'll go to Sacred Heart, St. Stephen's Church. We'll have a rest break and some water in time for adoration. And that was very important. At each one of our stops, there is a practical peace, but also we needed time to have adoration and gather people for that quiet reflection and silence in the presence of the Lord. So there'll be short prayer services, but really, it's a moment of adoration to pray for peace in our world on Memorial Day so that others don't have to die for the sake of peace.
[00:11:01] Speaker A: Isn't that something? How powerful. I didn't even think of that portion of it. That's incredible. And then finally, we'll go down toward Our lady of angels eventually in that general direction, making stops along the way. And then the procession will continue back to New Jersey. But they'll be going by boat, right?
[00:11:21] Speaker B: Right. The procession will, technically, our portion end at Our lady of Angels, however, it continues. And the Eucharist will be placed in a boat that will pass by the Statue of Liberty. And parishioners from all over the area have been invited to go to Battery park, get on the ferry boats to go to the Statue of Liberty, Liberty park. And there will be a pass by blessing. So again, in front of something so iconic as the Statue of Liberty, we are going to have a chance to profess our faith to the nation, that we believe in the blessings that come from the Eucharist. It's just such a beautiful memorial day of pulling nation and religion and faith and practice altogether. It'll be quite extraordinary.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure Bishop Colachico from New York has been involved in all that. And do I understand, will Cardinal Dolan be part of that portion of it? The Statue of Liberty?
[00:12:26] Speaker B: Cardinal Dolan was able to clear his calendar, which in itself is a feat, and able to participate. So he's going to actually do benediction at St. Patrick's. That will begin the procession route through Manhattan and then join us again at the pier in Brooklyn to bring the Eucharist to Perth. Amber.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Oh, so he's coming over here to.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Yes. Oh, well, that's as of today.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: I know, I know this is an ever moving target, but you're dealing with a lot of complicated realities. You're dealing with what the pilgrims need to do. You're dealing with three diocese, the archdiocese, Diocese of New York, Diocese of Brooklyn, and then the Diocese of Metuchen, which is the next destination. But then there's all the civic responsibilities that we have along the way, traffic and safety and transportation. So it is quite an undertaking, and I thank you. You've been really great with coordinating all of this.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: It was a real learning process. And the fun piece of the learning process was I never realized that to get from up here in Brooklyn by the Statue of Liberty to Prithamboy, that I would need to deal with two states, the federal government and waterways. I had no idea that there were legitimate waterways like there are roads, and you just can't navigate wherever you want. It was quite an interesting process.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: Again, another confession. I will conclude my portion of the pilgrimage right here in Brooklyn. As we conclude in a lady of angels, I have the opportunity, the 200th Hornada. So that's a youth group for spanish speaking families, although it's all in English. But the Hornada is a great youth movement that's been in our diocese for many years. Many years. And it's one of those transformative experiences people talk about. I was in the 35th Hornada back in 19, whatever.
So the 200th h nada is this weekend also, and I'll be able to do their massive closing after the procession continues on to the Statue of Liberty. But it sounds like a great thing, and I think that'll be most profound and enjoyable. But there is a time to say goodbye and to breathe a sigh of relief. Right.
[00:14:45] Speaker B: It's a very interesting point you just made indirectly, which is the Hornada, which has produced so many vocations to religious life and priesthood, but also represents now so many of the new immigrants. As we're going by Cabrini park with the italian immigrants and the irish immigrants of last century, now you're going to end your day with so many of our new immigrants. So for you, it really is the history of our diocese that is so ongoing.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: Well, I thank you. You just wrote my homily for that mess.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: I want a footnote.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: That's great. That really is. But you're right. This is memorial, as though you're looking back, but this is a lived reality. And even the sense of the Eucharist processing through our streets. We're bringing our faith. We're walking with Christ, who always walks with us through the streets of Brooklyn. Sorry, folks. This is really for the entire diocese, actually, it's beyond. I've invited the diocese. Oracle center is going to have a contingent. This is really a visit through Long island. So it's Brooklyn and Rockville center connecting with New York. But this experience is now we take in the local churches here what we live and believe. We bring it out into the streets. You know, you spoke about the Easter season being so busy, and we had such a profound experience at the tennis arena in Flushing Middle park for our eucharistic event. Just so moving, so uplifting for me. But the real challenge is not just to have a nice day and not just to make a nice walk, but to take this out. Now we are sending forth missionaries.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: And, you know, Bishop, we've spoken earlier, too, that we're going to run into a couple of parades on Memorial Day. But for us, who will be in the procession? I love a good parade, but this is more than a parade. This is our claiming, our faith in the streets. And that's such an important part. As you said, we're missionaries, and Pope Francis always talks about missionary discipleship. And we really are going to be on the road to Emmaus with our procession.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. It'll be an exciting time. The Lord is walking with us, and.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: The key has been, and we recognized him in the breaking of the bread. There for us is the key. And we will be walking by a number of very good italian bakeries. So no stopping.
[00:17:18] Speaker A: Trust me. I tell you, many times, I'm off to carbohydrates. I gave up carbohydrates in Columbus when I was in Ohio. And then the Holy Father had some fun, and he sent me to the land of pasta, pizza, and pastry.
Yes, I guess maybe I was prepared so that I wouldn't fall into that temptation all along the way.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: It is a temptation here. And it is exciting to think now, too, that as we're processing together, I was told that there's going to be a number of first communicants. Now, mass begins at 07:00 a.m. at St. James. For me, 07:00 a.m. is very early for first communicants, but they want to be there, and they want to celebrate with the diocese, and they want to walk the whole route.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: And again, and we may have some other students and high school students along the way. So it's really a celebration of local church. Father GiobinO, as we get close now to the date, people can find information, because, really, this is a 24 hours event beginning Sunday afternoon, going to Monday afternoon, there are different stops. People are very welcome to join us at any part for the whole procession or any part of the procession. How can people find out exact information?
[00:18:33] Speaker B: The exact information is in the tablet. It's also available on the diocesan website. It's available also on the St. Charles Borromeo website. And it's an invitation to come for a part. All, whatever a family would like to do. We'd love this to be a family event, also for Memorial Day.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: So if you have a barbecue to go to, come and pray for part of the day and then celebrate.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: I think that's what some of our priests are doing. An interesting custom I discovered here is that a number of priests have barbecues, really, to build up the fraternity of priests and encourage one another. And some of the priests are kind of making that part of the day, doing part of the pilgrimage. Pilgrimage and then landing in a spot for a barbecue. Yeah. Come join us for any part. If you're up to walking. Wow, this could be a really enjoyable day, but come join us for adoration in one of those sites. Wait for us to arrive and pray with us for a little bit. And pray for us. And that's the other thing. If you can't be part of it. I was starting to say before, sorry, people in Queens, we normally speak of Brooklyn and Queens. The route just takes us through Brooklyn. We only have 24 hours, but wherever you are, please know that you're very welcome. Please pray for us. If you can't be with us, join us in prayer. Take a look at the schedule, perhaps, and be united with us in prayer during one of those moments.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: And when we designed the route, bishop, we designed it so that people could use public transportation. Also, almost every single one of our parishes is right off a subway line or bus route. So for the people in Queens, if you've never been to Brooklyn, here's a chance to come spend a little bit of time in prayer and then enjoy the pasta, the pizza, and the pane. Come see the best of Brooklyn on Memorial Day.
[00:20:24] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Pray and then play a little.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. So, looking forward to celebrating these days. And then, of course, liturgically, we come this weekend to Trinity Sunday. I love that reading from the book of deuteronomy that we start off with on Trinity Sunday. Moses, after experiencing everything they experienced in the desert and before they're heading into the promised land, Moses basically says, hey, everybody, let's just stop for a second again. Remember, stop. Can you ever imagine this happening before? Can anybody else claim what we claim, that God, who is all powerful, almighty, has done great things for us. Now we have the benefit of the rest of the story of salvation. We've seen that God sent his son to live among us, and they sent the Holy Spirit. So God, Father, son, Holy Spirit, imagine that God, who created everything, loves me, loves you. So we're coming into a powerful weekend in so many ways. Father Giobino, thank you so much for joining us today on big city Catholics.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: You're very welcome.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: It's always a pleasure when you're here. We have good conversations, and thank you for joining as well. Please join us next week for another edition of Big City Catholics. And, and in the meantime, have a wonderful weekend. A great memorial day weekend and renew that invitation to join us either physically or in prayer for this national eucharistic procession. The Lord be with you and with your spirit. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he look upon you with kindness and grant you peace. And may the blessing of almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever and ever. Amen.
