Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Hello, and welcome to another edition of Big City Catholics. I'm your host, Bishop Robert Brennan, bishop of Brooklyn, serving in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. I'm joined today by Father Patrick Keating, who is the moderator of the courier here in Brooklyn and Queens. And I'll have a chance to talk a little bit about what that means with you. But why don't we begin, as we do each week, with a prayer? In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Loving mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the Sea, assist your people who have fallen, yet strive to rise again to the wonderment of nature. You bore your creator, yet remained a virgin after. As before. You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting, have pity on us poor sinners. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. I hope you're enjoying these early days of summer. We're really experiencing some great summer weather, and I hope, too, you enjoyed your 4 July weekend and had a chance maybe to celebrate a little, to relax and finding a little bit of renewal. I'm joined today by Father Patrick Keating. Father Keating and I reside in the same residence, and we're sitting, this is an interesting conversation. We're sitting in the simple dining room where we usually have dinner together. We have the images of the sacred Heart of Jesus here and the immaculate heart of Mary. As you remember, a couple of weeks ago, we spoke about the enthronement of those images, and we have done that ourselves. And so we are reminded constantly, too, when we're sharing meals of who we are and how we're connected to our Lord and the love that the Lord shows us. So, Father Keating, welcome to big city Catholics.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: You know, I mentioned your title, moderator of the courier. It sounds very fancy, but really, you are a very important assistance to me. You do a lot of work to help me. I had the job, vicar general, moderator of the courier. It was kind of melded into one when I was in Machville center. But your responsibilities are a little bit different. You have some background in business and finance. You have a background in law, so you bring a lot of skill and education to this, but also some experience. You did a lot of work with catholic charities.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Yes, I've been involved with Catholic Charities for 13 years now, starting originally in the immigration area, catholic migration services, and then being part of the larger catholic charities who actually celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. And it's a privilege to carry out the gospel mission in a concrete way. The travel works of the church, the traveler works of the bishop. I remember Bishop Demarzio describing when a bishop is ordained, that one of the tasks that were part of the ordination right. Is concern for the poor, concern for charity. So I feel part of my role is fulfilling your role to care for our sisters and brothers.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: And that's very much the case. Exactly. I'm really proud of it. I'm glad that we're celebrating this year, this jubilee year, in such an important way. We have a chance to talk more over the course of the next couple of months of the important works of catholic charities. But we see charities all around us, and we see it in the work of housing, in the care for the poor. We've seen it recently in the care for the new arrivals who are here in our city and have particular needs. And one of the things that really, really impresses me about the work of catholic charities is the way that Catholic Charities, on a diocesan level, partners with the parishes in doing some of the great work. In recent years, you were pretty involved catholic charities, pairing up with parishes, responding to the COVID needs, responding to Sandy.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Sure. So I think most recently was the experience of COVID which hopefully is a long distant memory for all of us. But charities has always been involved in many areas. We had small food pantries prior to the beginning of COVID but we stopped everything. When March of 2020 came, the city was shutting down for two weeks. It was supposed to be just a two weeks pause, and it was right around Holy Week that we began to just start seeing the need. And within two weeks of Easter, we were giving out about 17,000 meals of food a day. This was dry goods. We also were procuring tractor trailers to bring fresh produce from farmers that would normally serve restaurants that were all shut down. And so it was going to neighborhoods that had never had a catholic charity, food pantries, neighborhoods where people always worked. They may not have been the wealthiest neighborhoods, but these were hardworking people of Brooklyn, Queens, who might have had one or two jobs. And you saw, in some sense, the best of humanity and the sadness of humanity. You know, we had people, we were running out of food, and we were giving out thousands and thousands of meals, and by only a few weeks into it, get people showing up the night before, waiting 1012 hours, because they wanted to make sure they could get food for their families, particularly for their children. And there was a humbling experience. People would never ask, ruin. You're desperate and you're begging because you can't provide. But then part way to, you start seeing people helping. So you had, you know, volunteers from the Knights of Columbus to some of the union workers, from the carpenters union, electricians. They were just volunteering. They weren't working, and they wanted to help. But then you also saw people that a few weeks before were online and still needed food, but then were coming to sort and unsort, pack and distribute. And there was this. Were all in this together. And you really saw, in some sense, the beauty of humanity in the midst of really a very scary time.
[00:05:27] Speaker A: And these were scary times, particular times that we experienced. But the only reason we could respond so quickly is because we're already set up to do that, because we do these kinds of things all the time. So we do have our regular pantries. We do a lot around Christmas time, around Thanksgiving time. You brought me to the site for the Thanksgiving distribution and the lines of people going, really around the block from the church where we were gathering. And it just struck me, isn't this something? There is so much need.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: There's so much need, but there's also generosity of others. You know, as I said, when we were doing these pantries, we purposely did them at all our parishes. We just parishes in Brooklyn, Queens parish that became infamous parishes in Elmhurst. Everyone remembers Elmhurst Hospital, and we were at St. Bartholomew, where they did sorrows. We were at St. Michael's in Brooklyn. We were all over the two boroughs, but we did it at churches, because whether someone knew that it was being assisted by catholic charities was secondary. The church. And this is really. This is the mission of the church. And we partnered with our parishes, and I think it strengthened in many ways something. A relationship that had been there. But I think the. We're all in this together. And so we may have brought food, they brought volunteers, we brought assistance. And many parishes, since those hades are continuing to do food pantries as a parish ministry. And it's a partnership. And I think that's something that we all saw that really grew organically because of a need, but it brought faith and works together.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: And, you know, you talk about the generosity of people. Again, it's not that catholic charities provides this big well and has all these resources to give. Catholic charities is the generosity of the people of Brooklyn and Queens. It's people in Brooklyn, queens who support, whether they support financially or through the food donations. What we're doing through catholic charities is that sharing of the donations that people bring to us. And so this is a work of all the faithful. In Brooklyn and Queens and so many people who do such good things in our parishes and throughout the diocese. And, boy, you know, I came here after Covid toward the end of it. So I'm reflecting on work that was done prior to my coming. Am I ever proud to be associated with the Diocese of Brooklyn and Catholic Charities here in Brooklyn and Queens. And I thank you for your work. And, boy, aren't we lucky for the work of Mancini Lepento, who has led catholic charities for years and years and has done such a great job of marshaling the forces and such a great staff. You have a wonderful staff of people and volunteers, people who are working in catholic charities now and serving on the board and doing such great things here in Brooklyn, Queens.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: There's a true collaboration. I think it's living out the gospel. That's what makes catholic charity. So what we. Masilo Le Pentro's vision has always been is we're not just an ngo and a government agency. We're the church, and we see people and we help people in need. And that's the message of the gospel. That's what Christ did. You know, we're driven by our faith, and it's a Jesus feeding the poor. We try to help those in need. It's Jesus walking, we try to welcome. It's Jesus caring, but also showing and sharing who we are and our faith. The church is concerned from birth, from conception, to natural death. It's the story of the church, and it's lived out in so many different ways.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Speaking of the story of the church, we've had a couple of very interesting days as we see some of the faith in action, really, in terms of worship. We had the chance over the weekend, you and I were there together to be at the gathering of the neocotecumenal way, a national gathering which took place right here in Brooklyn at the Berkeley Centre. And it was amazing. Cardinal Pierre, the pope's representative to the United States, the papal nuncio, came. This is not my doing or the diocese doing. This was a national gathering. We just happened to play host. But I have to laugh at it. But I laugh in amazement. They had long planned this event. It was the 50th anniversary of the neocatecuminal way here in the United States. It had been in Europe, and it began with the invitation of Father Donegan in St. Joan of Arc, to come to this diocese. He invited Kiko, the founder of the neocetuminal Way, to talk about his music. Many of us are familiar with the Easter song Rezu Cito and Kiko said, I'll come, but I really want to talk about the way. And that was the beginning. And from there, small christian communities have been forming here in the United States. And so for this gathering, they had more than 20,000 people in the Berkeley center. They only secured the Berkeley center two weeks before.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Yes. That was amazing.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: I couldn't believe it. They had plans to go somewhere in Newark, New Jersey. It wasn't panning out. The Barkley center became available, and in two weeks time, they put this whole event. It baffles me. It baffles me.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: You see, in some ways, the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You know, you look at these major events, and I've been involved in planning and organizing, and in some ways, it was maybe a little boastful, prideful for us to be in Brooklyn. You know, as you mentioned, the neocotequin away was invited by Messr Donegan, who was a priest of broken serving in Queens. And 50 years ago, they were invited. And in some sense, they came back to wasn't their original plan, but God has a funny way of just taking around life, and we were open to the spirit. It came back to Brooklyn, and it was an amazing day, not knowing what to expect, and you just saw a celebration of the past, but also great hope for the future.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, I talk about my amazement at what they were able to accomplish, but through some of our dioceses and contacts and sales media, they worked with the police. Even when we went to dinner with the organizers that evening, they were amazed. They were so grateful for the help of the police department. I mean, to think about getting all those people in, it wasn't just like a basketball game where people just arrived, but they were coming in large groups, and buses were being coordinated and people coming in by public transportation. They had been on pilgrimages all throughout the United States, and the police departments here did such a great job of making people feel welcome and safe. And the staff at the Berkeley center, it was so accommodating. It was really amazing. It was really amazing.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: No, it was everyone. We're just close to arriving there. And saw large groups of people walking down Atlantic Avenue, walking down flatbush, and you saw buses that you would see probably at an event, but you saw parish groups and community groups just all wearing the same t shirts. And you said, oh, we know where they're going. Nowhere they're going. But you also saw, unlike a sporting event, there's people excited, you know, if you're a sports fan. But there was something deeper, and I think that's we saw that, I think, inside, but you saw that even on the streets of Brooklyn. And I'm sure you saw that as they were traveling around the country, coming.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: To Brooklyn, and there was such a joy and an exuberance in the arena that afternoon, but also a great reverence that everything would quiet down as we prayed. That's one of, to me, the catholic marks. I love when you do that, when you have a big event and people are all excited and they're loud and exuberant, but then all of a sudden, okay, it's time for mass, and you.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: Could hear a pin drop.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: You can hear a pin drop. It was just amazing. The neocatic human way has its own particular spirituality. And I know it's not for everyone, but it really does speak to many, many people. I said before we had people, thousands of people from all around the country. We had large groups of people from Georgia, from the west coast, from Texas, Boston, from New Jersey. Locally, here in Brooklyn, there were large contingents coming from Walmart over. And you can see the reach of this movement. And the movement really consists of small groups. So they do a catechesis, and a group is formed, a group of maybe couples and individuals, and they meet regularly, and they have the Eucharist together, usually on a Saturday night, and they have a particular way of celebrating that. And it has its provisional approvals for what they do. But you know what people say about it. This is what really is striking. When you ask somebody what drew you to the way sometimes people tell some stories of how they were really enslaved by difficulties, addictions, family problems, marriages that were in peril. And somebody brought the good news of the gospel, the good news that God loves you. And through that experience and the catechesis, they would say their lives were changed radically. Radically. And they gave themselves over to trusting in the Lord. Don't be afraid to give yourself entirely to God and let him guide you. The experience of faith and the witnesses that we hear are just amazing, aren't they, pastor?
[00:14:03] Speaker B: They are. And as you were saying, that small community, I think if you look in some sense, its roots in the birth of the church, the small communities, you know, you have Paul particularly read that throughout the New Testament, from going, finding these communities, coming back, writing to these communities. It's similar to what even happens in our parishes, where people are preparing for the sacraments and adults come in. And there's that encounter to a certain extent, but it's that idea of community in how often do your people say they're alone? If you live in Brooklyn or Queens, you live in New York City, there's millions of people. You take the bus, you take the train, you drive around. There's probably too many people. And yet people feel lonely. And these witnesses that they spoke, they said they were like, as you mentioned, major difficulties in life, major struggles. And there was that invitation in some sense. You almost can picture the apostles. You can picture our Lord. Just come follow me. And gradually, time. And you see that relationship develops. You see the trust that develops in that smaller community and yet part of the larger church. You know, it's not. They're separate. They're part of the larger church, part of a larger community.
Everyone has their own style. And what do we do? The Eucharist at the Holy Communion. It's the body and blood of our savior. It's that connectiveness, but rooted in Christ. That's, as I said, when you saw 20 to 22,000, I'm not sure the exact number. And then mass began and you could hear the pin drop because Jesus was coming. And there was a joyfulness, euphoria, yes, a celebration, 50 years. But there was a reverence. And as you said, you could really see. You saw all ages. But there was a phenomenal amount of young people, teenagers, an openness to the faith and a joyfulness. That's the word I think I kept saying to you. There was a joyfulness in an arena that people used to go to see sporting events, and they were there because of Jesus. They were there because of their faith, but also the commonality and the community.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Right, exactly. And that's it. These small communities are centers of prayer. So they pray together, they encourage each other. People will say they go into the community and they can be themselves and never be judged. Yet at the same time, they hold each other accountable. They call each other to the gospel. It really is amazing. You mention the young people. Traditionally when they have big events, they have a vocation call, and they invite people who might be considering priesthood. They invite the young men to come forward and be blessed, and they invite. Do the same with the young women who might consider being sisters. It's just amazing to see so many respond with such enthusiasm. And you could see different levels of response. You could see some who are just coming right down, but you could see a real seriousness in some of the young people. The point is, they're asking the Lord to help them determine what should I be doing with my life? How can I respond to the call of the Lord in my life? And, you know, they are great for family life and for vocations, the neocetuminal way. They have their own seminary formation program. They have redemptoris mater seminaries. We have one here in Queens. The fellows who are studying the Redemptoris Material Seminary here in Queens study at the college level at St. John's and at the seminary with our men at St. Joseph's and Dunwoody. So we have a number of vocations directly from the seminary here and then through the redempturist material. It's a little bit different because there are a number of vocations who have come from here in Brooklyn and Queens who are now serving in other parts of the country. And then we take in people who, from other places who are serving here in Brooklyn. So it really is a missionary movement.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Yeah. In fact, you know, our semi is called the Brooklyn Diocesan Missionary House of Formation. And that idea of being sent and being called, there's a richness in culture, I think, in exchanging. And there are priests, those that will be ordained for our diocese, our priests, just as I'm a priest of this diocese incarnated. But it's also no different than if you look at the history 100 years ago, you think about how many countries, you know, you look at Italy or Ireland that had all these seminaries that were not for the local church. You know, all Hallows was specifically designed specifically for mission, you know, and I remember my family in Ireland, and I remember passing by now, that was the seminary where priests would go, or seminarians or people felt called. But there was too many vocations in Ireland, or they had a calling to the priesthood and to serve. And how many priests in our own diocese came through that system because they served, they were ordained in Ireland, or studied in Ireland and came here or in Italy and other places. And then of serving the church, you.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: Look at religious orders, you see it in Marino. Yeah, Marino is a great example of missionary endeavors, but it's not only the priests who are the missionaries. And I think this is an important part of the neocete. They see themselves, everyone is a missionary, and they're bold. I talk about being bold, joyful and unapologetic. That is certainly a catechumen away. They actually see their role as evangelizers, and they go on these trips and they singing and dancing in the street, and then they just talk to people when they do a catechesis. They come into the neighborhood, they do catechesis, they speak at the parish over the course of several weeks, but they're going knocking door to door inviting people to come to just experience these catechesis, to hear the good news and to know that God loves you. And maybe it's casting a wide net and they catch a few fish, but a few fish and together with a few other fish turn into, wow, quite a catch. And we saw that.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: You saw that. And just celebrating the 50 years. Like I said, they were invited, particularly for the music, and they said, marcened on and said, all right, well, tell me about the way. And they told about how they went over to the archdiocese, the cardinal cook, they met with him and started saying. And he gave him a list of parishes. Well, maybe try these places. And no, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you. And they kept going through the list. And it was really the last parish that the priests met with them and said, oh, this is for all people. I think the idea.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: This is new. Yeah. Is this for sinners?
[00:19:49] Speaker B: And then I want to be part of this. And the idea that all of us are sinners and all of us are in need of God's redemptive mercy. And you just saw that there's a lesson there and that I learned that just from hearing them speak on Sunday, that how many doors are slammed or maybe a little more gracefully in this door slamming, but sometimes the door slammed, yet they felt compelled by Christ to keep going.
[00:20:10] Speaker A: And we're going to hear that in Sunday's gospel. You know, there are two parts of being an apostle. In the early part of Mark's gospel, Jesus chose twelve to be with him. First rule, you have to be with Jesus. And then in the gospel, we're going here this week, he sends them out two by two. He sends his apostasy out two by two. And I love the way he says, don't bring a lot of stuff with you. Don't bring a lot of heavy baggage with you. I'm always intrigued by what he tells them to bring. He says, make sure you're wearing sandals and bring a walking stick. In other words, what does Jesus say?
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Go.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Go out and seek people. Seek the people who are lonely, who are hurting, who are struggling, who need to know that Jesus loves them very, very much. And, you know, I'm glad for the presence of the neocotchumen away here and for really, really moved by the celebration this weekend. We're blessed here in Brooklyn, Queens, with the presence of a number of ecclesiastical movements. The groups we met with earlier this week were movements that are taking place. Same kind of thing. Small groups of people who are really trying to deepen their faith and encourage each other. Along the way, we have charismatic renewal in English, Spanish, Creole, Haitian Creole, but in all different languages. So there were all kinds of charismatic movements here. Then the casillo, again, there's an English and spanish speaking. When we were gathered this week, it was mostly the Spanish speaking, because one of the great needs here is retreat space, affordable retreat space. And we're trying to do what we can to meet that need. But I was moved that night as we heard from the leadership of the people, of how people, and often people who don't have great resources, but they struggle to pull it all together. And they're going to invest a whole weekend trying to develop and deepen their faith, and then also to be something missionary.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: You know, that was when you just heard the thousands and thousands of people just in our local diocese that are trying to deepen their relationship with the Lord, trying to celebrate. So there's mass, clearly, there's the sacrament of confession. There's talks in terms of deepening and catechesis and larger prayer experiences, and whether they were large groups. And some of these groups were having retreats of 100 people, 20 times, 30 times, you know, 30 weekends, 30 weekends. You know, they would have more. And the one. And then you had other groups saying, well, we're doing 40 young people or 50, or. But the thing they all said, we could have more events and we have more people, but space and the need of it was, yes, a meeting just to kind of get a little more of the lay of the land. But you really saw a lot of good things taking place. And these are people from our parishes. They want to deepen, and they're part of these movements that want to deepen their relationship.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: And a lot of these movements are national and international movements. So they're part of much broader ecclesial experiences. Some of them talk about deepening your own personal spirituality, growing closer to the Lord, deepening your prayer life. Some of them are involved couples fostering holiness, couples living. How do you live marriage and holiness in marriage? And some of them are the entire family. Some of them are youth oriented. So, like, the casilla would be for the adults, the Hornada movement would be for the youth. And that's been a force here. Some of our priests have found their vocation going through that Hornada movement, and they're now giving to that. We heard about a movement that really helps people to be strong in their resolve against either addiction or struggles, being faithful to what they commit, to do some really, really very good things. And it's all, again, rooted in the gospel. Going back to our early conversation, we're not just clubs of people who gather for social reasons. We're not just self help groups or support groups. The key word is ecclesial. These are ecclesial movements. They're rooted in the experience of the church, they're rooted in the gospel, they're.
[00:23:59] Speaker B: Rooted in the sacrament and the idea of prayer and the idea of spending time. It's something I think we can learn from. You speak so often about the new apostolic movements going from christendom to apostolic mission. But when you think about how the church over centuries has grown, developed and evolved, it's that relationship with the Lord. And it's the idea of, for the first 300 years, we didn't have grand buildings. You think about when you look at really the acts of the apostles, they're gathering in small communities. Whether it's similar to the way the neo catechinian moon was, it's small communities, like many of these apostolic movements, are gathering together in prayer, sharing, you know, what did the early truths. They gathered with the disciples and our blessed Mother. They broke the bread. They shared the teachings, they sought the.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Power of the Holy Spirit together.
[00:24:47] Speaker B: And so you see that maybe not visible, not a big splash. This past Sunday clearly was a big splash. 22,000 people in the Barclay center is a big. But so much of this is taking place in Brooklyn and Queens, and that's what really came out of that meeting with all these other groups. And that wasn't all the groups in Brooklyn or Queens. This was a sizable of the leadership that we met with. And there's a commonality, even though there's a very different spirituality with all of them. And the commonality is Christ and sharing that. And that's the part, it's not just, oh, I have Jesus. No, I want to share Jesus, and I want my neighbor, who may not be aware of it, not force it, but share it. And it's. I'm going back to that word, that joyfulness, and that's the commonality. I think many of these, that's what attracts people. You know, you look, you celebrate the right of welcome for those coming into the church, and you think about all those people, well, why are they there? I'm in the church of Richie because my parents brought me to church and they baptized me. My grandparents was a couple of days old, and. But I learned my faith through my family. You have adults that come into the church, in our diocese, in our nation, in the world, there's thousands of people and hundreds of thousands. You look across the United States that are adults that make a conscious effort to say, well, I want to join this church. I want to be part of something. And that's.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: And they've experienced that call from another credible catholic witness. Yeah, exactly. You make a good point, and I thank you for raising it. In terms of that move from Christendom to apathy mission, we had Muncie Nixie here, and I've been using that a. A lot when I've talked at the deanery levels. And really, as we're doing parish planning, things are not necessarily the same. We can't keep doing things the same way with the new needs. But it's really not about shutting down, actually. It's about doing things in new ways. And it's about growth, exponential growth, I think. But that's going to happen by our outreach, by these new ways of doing things. It's the same gospel. It's rooted in the same sacraments. I was thinking of the Sierra Christo, and they're focused around music and prayer, but also adoration and the Eucharist. There were so many ways that we're rooted in the same things. It's the gospel that never changes. It's the gifts that Jesus gave us in the sacraments never changes. But what we do is the way we invite people, the way we engage people. Jesus is always going out and engaging people in new ways. And I, for one, I just consider myself pretty fortunate to be here in Brooklyn and Queensland and to witness it, to share in it, maybe, hopefully to serve that energy in my own ministry. Boy, I can say that God has blessed us in so many ways. I'm just excited about what the future holds. Nervous, you know, because I don't know. There's a lot of things we don't know. But I do know that the holy.
[00:27:29] Speaker B: Spirit is very much alive and there's hope. You know, we are people. We are people of hope, and.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: And we share that hope joyfully. Yeah. Next week, you and I are going to be part of a delegation going to Indianapolis for the Eucharistic Congress. This is a big, big deal. It's part of this revival, and the revival is starting to show its fruits here in Brooklyn and Queens. We had a wonderful experience of that a couple of weeks ago at the.
[00:27:55] Speaker B: Tennis station in Queens, taking the train, and I took the seven train many times growing up in Queens. And it was a wonderful experience going from Brooklyn to. To Queens and then joining with people.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: From the parish along the way and.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: Then getting that one of the, you know, when we got off right at this little ballpark on the other side, but gutting out of side, they normally don't go out, which is where the tennis is at fleshing Meadow. And then you just saw people, and it was a little rainy, a little misty. And once again, there was people from our parishes, and there's a joyfulness and just coming out and coming out into the train station and walking through. And then, but also seeing, you mentioned earlier, the police officers, the NYPD, and we came down and there was a large contingent at how respectful they were. I remember when we came over the Brooklyn Bridge, when you went over the, when you.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: And then the national pilgrimage, and that's.
[00:28:44] Speaker B: Right through, and it came from New York to Brooklyn and how the fire department, the FDNY, greeted us. And then we passed another one, and then they led us to the co cathedral, St. Just. And they wanted actually to be blessed. And you just saw people sometimes think, the police officer, firefighters, but you see their faith and they want, there's a hunger for the Eucharist and a great, deep respect. And I think the pilgrims then, whether it's our own event in fleshy meadow or our participation in that larger event, people, I think we're amazed. And people sometimes don't realize how we're fortunate in New York with our FDNY and the NYPD, how faithful, and they do so much to protect us as they made the event for the neocetum, in a way, almost seamless. But you saw hunger there.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: Exactly. And a woman said to me, I love telling the story, how a woman came up to me during that pilgrimage, that national pilgrimage, and just looked around at all of what you described. And she says, bishop, the faith is deep.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: And I thought about it.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: I said, you know, she's right. Faith is deep. I joke, I say, I wish it were wider. I wish more people embraced it. But we're seeing, we're getting there. But where there is faith here, it's deep. And so we're going to now catch up with that national pilgrimage. People were walking from Hartford to Indianapolis, passing through Brooklyn and Queens. So we're now going to catch up with them in Indianapolis. They're going to be joined by the other roots from other parts of the country, and we're looking forward to being part of this national celebration of who we are as catholic people. You know, again, I often call to prayer, how wonderful are the works of the spirit revealed in so many gifts. Yet how marvelous is the unity the spirit creates from this diversity as he dwells in the hearts of your children, filling the whole world with his presence and guiding it in his ways. But you know what? We are united with many different people, and it's not just ethnic diversity, it's life experience. But we're all united in Jesus Christ and in the gift of the Eucharist. And that's what we're going to celebrate next week. So, friends, I invite you to join us next week and in the weeks to follow, because I hope to be able to record a few of these podcasts from Indianapolis sharing with one of our apostolic movements, the Shalom community. Young adults, they're going to be part of this, hopefully to talk to the pilgrims I spoke to a couple of weeks ago. I spoke to them at the beginning of their journey. I'm looking forward to talking to them at the end of their journey and just sharing some of the experiences of this Indianapolis gathering. So be sure to follow some of the experience of the Congress through currents and through NET tv. Until then, thank you, Father Keating, for joining us today on this podcast.
[00:31:20] Speaker B: No, thank you, Bishop. It was a pleasure.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: And thank you for listening. Hope you enjoy the continuing days of summer. And let's just ask the Lord's blessing. The Lord be with you 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 his peace. And may almighty God bless you, the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
