Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Hello, and welcome to a new edition of Big City Catholics. I'm Bishop Robert Brennan, your host. Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens. As I promised, we're taking you on the road again. So the National Eucharistic Congress began this week in Indianapolis, Indiana. Pilgrims are gathering from all over the country, and for the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing some experiences with you of the Congress. I thought it fitting to start with the national Eucharistic pilgrims. You may remember Memorial Day weekend, they passed through Brooklyn, coming across the Brooklyn Bridge, walking around that area in downtown Brooklyn, and going the next day on Memorial Day to Bay Ridge, before crossing by boat over across the Statue of Liberty and into New Jersey. I had the chance on that Sunday night to record with three of those national pilgrims. They were at the very beginning of their journey. They were filled with enthusiasm. Well, now we're in Indianapolis. After walking 65 days, they are still filled with enthusiasm. I'm going to share my conversations with Dominic, Zoe, and Marina. We're so glad that they made their way through Brooklyn, and we're so glad that they helped us to have this encounter with the Lord. Perhaps we can begin, as always, with a prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, we praise you, and we thank you as we make this journey of the pilgrimage of life, walking with one another, showing each other the presence of Jesus walking in our midst. We thank you for this experience of these days of revival, for our own revival in Brooklyn and queens, for the moments that we have in our own parishes and in the different apostolic movements, and for this time, together with the rest of our nation, to deepen our faith and to be inspired to bring your good news to those who long to hear from you. Bless our efforts, bless those who have put this whole pilgrimage together and those who walk the journey. Guide us always in your steps and help us to be true witnesses of your love and mercy through Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, Dominic, we started right in. I think it was day nine when you guys arrived in Brooklyn. You were at the beginning of your journey, and you were filled with excitement and enthusiasm. We had a great time together. How were you after day 65?
[00:02:48] Speaker B: You know, just like day nine. Still a little tired, but filled with joy and just loving the fact that I get to live out the Lord's work here at the congress.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: That's great. That's great. We kept telling people along the way. I'll see you in Indiana. See you in Indiana. Well, here we are in Indiana.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Here we are.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: Here we are. Tell me, how was the rest of your journey? What are some of the highlights along the way?
[00:03:10] Speaker B: We had a lot of highlights. Well, blessing the Statue of Liberty was amazing, probably more so than that. One of the most fitting places that we took the Lord was this place called Kensington street in Philadelphia. And this street, drug problems. People slumped over on the side. It's so bad there that the day we were there, two reporters from Denmark flew over to report on the drug crisis in America. But through God's providence, they were there the same day that our lord was walking through their streets. What was so amazing about taking our Lord there to a place of such poverty and such addiction was. It felt so fitting.
It was one of the most fitting places I thought the Lord deserved to be. I mean, New York was amazing with its glittering skyscrapers. But being in a place of true hurt. And bringing the light of the world to one of the darkest places was so wonderful. And it was a very moving experience being there.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: It sounded, from what I heard in the report, it was a very transformational moment for a lot of people you encountered there. I saw Father Landry, who was with your pilgrimage, wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal last week. And he gave his reflections on the whole journey. And I think he picked up on that and he said where people would actually take some of their drug paraphernalia. And toss them into the garbage. Is that your recollection? Is that. Yeah.
[00:04:36] Speaker B: People were instantly moved to realize that the same God, Jesus. That walked along the sea of Galilee was walking in their streets. That he loved them so much. That he would make it possible for him to be fully present to them to their street, to walk to their own backyards. And then invite himself right into their own hearts.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: And that's how he did it right with the apostles. He just, like, invited himself. He stepped into Peter's boat and said, pull out into the deep. I'm going to teach a little, and we're going to go fishing.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: Exactly how did it go in some of the more rural areas? I spoke with one of you about in the early part. You were in very city centered areas. And it was very dense and lots of people around. But that you would be traversing some pretty open roads. How did that experience go?
[00:05:24] Speaker B: You know, it's kind of crazy because you mostly see cows or cornfields. But for some reason there were lots of people. I don't know where they came from, where they live. But wherever we were going in these rural areas, people came out to greet our Lord. And it was an amazing experience just to see the depth of faith present in these rural areas. The faith and the church is very much alive there. And so getting to encounter more of the grassroots, the slower lifestyle, the people who are tied a little bit more to the land, to see them come out to praise the Lord, it was moving. It was moving.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Oh, that's great. That's great. And a key thing, at the opening session, Cardinal Pierre spoke about, what do you do after, he's talking about the transformational piece of this experience for us. What about you? After walking 65 days and after this congress and meeting with people from all around the country, how has this changed you, and how will it affect where you go from here?
[00:06:25] Speaker B: So I've got a little story to tell you about this. So when we were in New Jersey, we were lucky enough to have an afternoon where we could go to the beach. We didn't bring Jesus with us, so it was just our team. We were playing on the beach. We had a great time. It was amazing. And then a few weeks later, we were talking just amongst the team, just about our experience on the beach. We were talking about how we played Uno on the beach. And then I was thinking. I was imagining just kind of the picture in my head of all of us on the beach. But what was strange, which was amazing, was the fact that when I pictured us, there was the monstrance. There was Jesus right among our crowd, right among us there as we were playing on the beach. And it's that sort of vision that I feel like I've been blessed with, is to now everything I do, everything I see, whether it's in my memories or in my present moment, I can't help but see the Lord there. That's the reality that we live. He is everywhere present, most especially in the sacrament. And so I hope that wherever I go, I continue to see him everywhere present fully there. And so wherever I see, wherever I walk, whatever I do, I hope that he is present, just like he was in that little memory of thinking back at the beach.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: In 65 days, you became so accustomed to walking with the Lord, to knowing that he's walking with you, that now you're going to have that image always. That's a powerful, powerful thing. Now, you're from the west, right? Like what?
[00:07:52] Speaker B: I'm from Wisconsin.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: Wisconsin.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: And I'll be going back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
[00:07:56] Speaker A: Okay. Very good.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: I'll be working at a place called the Catholic Ecology center, where instead of trying to get Christ, people to encounter Christ in the sacraments in Jesus body, fully present, but try to get people to encounter Christ in creation, the logos in its tangible form. And so that'll be kind of my next mission.
[00:08:15] Speaker A: That's great. That's how you got connected with the pilgrimage. They were doing the security.
[00:08:20] Speaker B: Yes, I was.
[00:08:21] Speaker A: Safety, I should say the safety protocol.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: I worked for core expeditions, which is trying to get people to meet Christ in creation, but in the mountains. And so it was just sort of a lead in, right in there to helping people encounter Christ.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Well, welcome to Indiana. Welcome. After your pilgrimage, I'm so glad you came through Brooklyn. It was a great moment to meet you. And I told the people I met in weeks. I talked about you guys a lot. I talked about the way that it was such an inspiration, and people came to me and thanked me because you came. You're very welcome.
But, you know, it was a gift to me and to all of us. Thank you for walking among us and thank you for showing us how Jesus walks among us.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: You're welcome.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: God bless, indeed. Now, listeners will remember that Zoe was one of the local people. She's part of the national pilgrimage teams, one of the perpetual pilgrims. But Zoe is here in Queens. Astoria.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: Astoria, okay.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: Very good. Very good. And so Zoe kind of passed through Astoria, even though that's home for her right now. But you kept going. How was the rest of the journey?
[00:09:28] Speaker C: Oh, it was a roller coaster. We left the diocese of Brooklyn, went into diocese Matuchin. We're in New Jersey, and then Pennsylvania. Went to DC, Virginia, back up through Pennsylvania, to Ohio, and then finally to Indianapolis here. It kind of feels unreal that we're here already.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: We had some great experiences in Brooklyn, and I remember walking at one point on Monday, on Memorial Day, the weather was mostly with us, and we stopped at St. Michael's Church in Sunset park. We had some time for prayer, but also for lunch. And while we were inside the church, it poured and we went outside. And I remembered our conversations about the rain that you had in New York. And so I was a little flippant on the walk, and I said, well, I guess God likes Brooklyn better than Manhattan.
[00:10:20] Speaker C: You said it at me.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: I learned my lesson. I learned my lesson. We made it to almost the whole thing.
[00:10:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: And I would say maybe in the last ten or 15 minutes, we were blocks away, but the skies just opened up.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: Yeah. And then it was beautiful, too, because it started pouring, but we were, like, on and off about that boat to go bless the Statue of Liberty.
[00:10:38] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: If that was gonna leave from the pier in Brooklyn. But God calmed that storm enough for us to be able to get out.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: Biblical, right?
[00:10:45] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:10:45] Speaker C: Yeah. Truly.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: So I received the monstrance and welcomed you over the Brooklyn Bridge from Bishop Colachico, who was part of the national pilgrimage leadership team, but is also an auxiliary bishop in New York. And then I returned the monstrance handed off to Cardinal Dolan on the pier, and then you all sailed away. We watched you head out toward Liberty island, and that must have been a powerful moment.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Yeah, it was so beautiful. It was like living the gospels, like being on a boat with the successors of the apostles, getting to pray with them and getting to share some of the. Our kind of charism as a group, our little. Our praise and worship and get to do that, pray the rosary, hear a reflection from Cardinal Dolan, and, yeah, then getting to bless the Statue of Liberty, a statue that represents freedom with the God who truly sets us free, that was just surreal, honestly. And I live in New York, and I've never been to the Statue of Liberty. I was the closest I'd ever gotten.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: I went when I was in fourth grade. I haven't been there in a long, long time. And, you know, it's interesting you say that, because I learned recently the Statue of Liberty, I always knew it was a gift from France. It was given to the United States at the time of the end of slavery. And so it does represent an acknowledgement by another country of our recognition of freedom to face something we had to face as a nation, but also to value freedom, value human dignity. And so it's so interesting that you use that language of freedom, and we see that in Christ, we find that freedom.
And you spoke about the path. But the other tie in is, I know you spent six days in Columbus, and I heard from a lot of people from Columbus. They were sending me notes that they had met all of you and how exciting it was. And I spent some time with Bishop Fernandez, who's a friend here in Indianapolis these last couple of days, and he said it was just a moment of real grace.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It was beautiful to see him be a shepherd in his community. He welcomed us into his rectory. We got to see your picture everywhere.
And he shepherd us just in community, getting to speak with him, but also the way that he ministered to his people and how he really prioritized all of his flock. We got to go to picuay correctional facility one day, and then after that we went to a nursing home and to get to see. Yeah. How he was with the men in the prison, how he loved on them and how we were able to worship Jesus in the holy hour. We hope we got to have mass with these guys, get to spend some time with them, do a procession through the grounds.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Isn't that amazing?
[00:13:16] Speaker C: In this prison, it felt so right that Jesus would have desired. He wants to be with the people in the deepest suffering and to be with the people that are on the wayside, that these are his people, his flock.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Again, it goes back to the biblical moments that he went to seek out those who lost, those who were looking for conversion, for a new life. When John the Baptist preached repentance, it wasn't that he was shaking a finger. It's. He's saying, yeah, mercy is possible, and he was preaching something new. And that's Jesus. He brings that something new. And he went. And he went into the deepest, darkest places, and he still does that today.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: Yeah, praise God.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: And then you mentioned the nursing home. The carmelite sisters were also in Queens, in Osnim Hall. I knew about them in Queens, but I really got to know them over there. They have the mother Angeline, the nursing facility, the independent living and the assisted living. And that's just a place of, again, human dignity. It just shows tremendous care for people. The sisters are so dedicated. So what was it like bringing the blessed sacrament there to have a procession within.
[00:14:22] Speaker C: In the nursing home? It was, again, just so breathtaking to be in a place of true, like, of true, I guess, awareness of life and, like, the end of life and awareness of the deep suffering of those people there that so long for Jesus to get to walk by their rooms and then spend the holy hour. And we actually did a eucharistic healing procession. So Father Landry went around and got to bring Jesus personally to everyone in this room. And I was providing some music with Brother Lazarus, one of the CFRs. And I remember just, like, getting choked up because it was so beautiful to see how deeply these people that have lived much longer than me, how deeply they just longed to be with Jesus. Like people reaching out and trying to grasp the Mandarin so they could just be close to him, to just witness to their deep faith and deep knowledge and truth, that they knew that that was Jesus and that they wanted him so, so deeply. It was a witness to me. I learned so much just in being that room with them and getting to see how they worshiped him.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: You know, we're recording on the first full day, so we had our gathering last night, and we started with mass today. Cardinal Dolan spoke about that sense of being hungry, the soul that hungers for Jesus in the Eucharist. And that image, you saw it very much come alive.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: Yeah. It's something I'll never forget.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Celebrated his 25th anniversary there.
[00:15:39] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:15:39] Speaker C: In Columbus, too. Columbus was packed. Oh, goodness. It was so special to be invited into that as well, to get to celebrate with his family and with the diocese of Columbus, with Liz Christie and Bishop Earl and. Yeah, all these people that are just celebrating the gift of our priests and the gift of a man who just wants to give it all to Jesus.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: You started in Somerset, which was always very special because that's where the first mass was celebrated in Ohio. So that's how you entered. Right. You came into Somerset first.
[00:16:08] Speaker C: The Dominicans. Yeah. That was beautiful. We had done, like, a procession in the graveyard next to, I believe, is it St. Joseph's? Yes, the dominican parish. And so we went from the grounds of this graveyard up into the church, and just to know that this is. This is really sacred ground, where this.
[00:16:24] Speaker A: Is the beginnings of church.
[00:16:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: And it's a beautiful story that the people of Somerset, there was a little small community. There were themselves hungering for Jesus in the sacraments. They knew he loved them. They knew he would be close to them in their heart, but they were longing for the sacraments. And they asked Bishop Carol, first bishop in the states, could we have a priest here? And eventually the Dominicans came, and that's where they started, right there in Somerset. So all the way through, you just see the roots of our faith, and then you see how it's flourishing even now.
[00:16:58] Speaker C: Yeah, it's so beautiful to see again. Like, we went through, like, huge cities, and we also went through really, really small communities and to see just how deeply each community, regardless of where we were, how when Jesus is enthroned in their hearts and Jesus is, like, lifted high, how the deep roots of these communities, of their grandparents, and we got to hear, like, so many people would be like, oh, yeah, that's my grandfather's grave over there in this, like, small country parish. Like, we've been at this parish for centuries, for generations, just to see the beauty of the Catholic Church in America in a new way and to see the hearts of our faithful. It's been a gift to receive.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: Well, that brings me, then, to my next question, and that is, where do we go from here? So how has this been transformational for you? What do you take away from this experience?
[00:17:44] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been really special to have so much time in adoration. So there's just so much time to, like, continue to process this with our Lord, even though I feel like I'm still processing, like, week two and a half at this point. But I really, what I've truly experienced is just how deeply our Lord desires to be with us at all times. How he desires to be with us when we're grumpy in the van at 630 in the morning. And we're kind of short with our teammates. But Jesus is still there and he is ready to receive us. And how he just desires to be with us there. He desires to be with us while we're walking through Washington, DC. He desires to be with us when we're praying a holy hour with a parish in rural Pennsylvania. How at all moments, our Lord continues to desire us and how, I don't know, what can we continue to do to repay him for all the good he's done for us? So I'm really excited to go back to Astoria, to go back to New York, to pour out my heart to my friends and my family and to the people that I know that are far from the church, that we have witnessed truly the goodness of our Lord. And I just want to continue to invite them to taste that.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: And that was one of the hopes you expressed early on. You said that hopefully people will see, you know, hear music and say, oh, that's familiar or something, that connection, see the faith and just say, see that as an opportunity themselves to return. But now you come back as a full witness of that, to draw them in.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: I'm so excited. Yeah. Because so many people were like, what are you doing for two months? Are you going? And I'm like, yeah, we're gonna do it. And now that it's happened and now that we get to celebrate here at the National Eucharistic Congress, it feels like we're at one of our other pilgrims said, the epicenter of grace, like an earthquake is happening. And the ripple effects of that, of all of us now being sent on mission to our communities to bring the Lord to proclaim his name. Yeah, it's gonna be crazy.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: Well, you know, I consider myself pretty fortunate, and I consider the church in Brooklyn, Queens, to be pretty fortunate that we have you. You didn't just pass through our midst, but you're going to remain with us and continue to be a witness. And I know I look forward to future encounters together, but I'm going to take a liberty here and do this without checking with anybody. But we have regular gatherings, monthly holy hours with our youth and monthly holy hours with our young adults. And I would love it if you would come and share this experience with some of the people in Brooklyn and Queens, because I know it would be such an inspiration to so many.
[00:20:07] Speaker C: It would be my absolute pleasure, bishop, to share with our. With our community. Yeah.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Thank you, Zoe. Thank you for making this pilgrimage, and thank you for bringing the fruits back to Astoria.
[00:20:17] Speaker C: Thanks, Bishop.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: So, Marina, welcome to Indianapolis.
[00:20:20] Speaker D: Thank you so much. It's great to be here.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: You know, it's funny that's we've been saying to one another along the way, we'll see you in Indianapolis. And here we are. Right. Here we are. Actually, I got here. I arrived just around the same time as you were entering into the church. My flight landed on Tuesday around eleven ish, 1111 30. And I got an uber. I dropped my stuff off at the hotel, and I walked right down to the church, and I saw all of you. Mass had already started, so I didn't celebrate, but I saw all of you sitting together and I said, there's this eat map. Those are our pilgrims. We take pride. That's our group.
[00:20:56] Speaker D: Yes. Well, I'm so glad you made it. It was such a special way to finish the pilgrimage, was with that gorgeous mass, with all the roots. I actually, more so than any other day as a Catholic, felt connected to the mystery of the ascension. That day, I just felt my. Like. For me, it just. It really lifted my heart. And also with the gorgeous angels painted perhaps in fresco on the ceiling, it just felt like a beautiful foretaste of heaven. When I accomplished that mission, it just felt so satisfying. And we got to have a little private adoration right after we entered the church, before the mass started. And, you know, we were just sitting there before our lord, and it was just like, jesus, I'm so happy, and I just know that you're so happy with us. And, like, we did. We did good here.
[00:21:40] Speaker A: We did good. There's a biblical passage, and it's used around the time of the epiphany with the magi. And the people will come from the north and the south and the east and the west, and they will all come to adore you. Quite literally. That's what happened.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: So true.
[00:21:54] Speaker D: That is what we did. Yeah. And we were so grateful to go through your diocese in the east. And for us, Brooklyn was such a highlight. It really was. We've been speaking about it, in part just because of the construction of Brooklyn, that it was such a beautiful walk. And for so much of it, we went through many different communities under beautiful tree canopied streets. And it was very special. And a lot of, there's so many great people there, and so many of us saw friends. And so for us, Brooklyn was just this beautiful highlight. Also, I will say, we've been saying Brooklyn perhaps had the best food. You gave us amazing italian food.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: Well, that would be father Cioppino.
Oh, good. I'm glad you had that. And some pastries, right?
[00:22:35] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: You know, when I was in Ohio, I stopped eating carbohydrates. And then I think the pope has a sense of humor because he sent me to Brooklyn and land of pasta, pizza, and pastry.
[00:22:48] Speaker D: Well, we were grateful to be sent there as well.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: I'm glad you came. I am so glad you came. And I'm going to tell you something. You had a tremendous effect on people in Brooklyn and Queens and Long island. My roots are out east in Suffolk county, and we looked upon this as a visit to the island. And so there was a great representation. People traveled an hour away. I met you on Sunday night. On Monday morning at 07:00 Mass, there was a group of people from the Hamptons. They traveled by bus from early, early, early in the morning to be there with that, with the pilgrim group for mass. I was amazed.
[00:23:25] Speaker D: Well, that is so good to hear, because I loved being a pilgrim. But part of pilgrimage meant that we had to keep on going. And sometimes there were people that we met that we wanted to stay with. And so I'm almost jealous of you that you got to see the seeds that we planted grow.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:23:39] Speaker D: And so I love hearing your stories. Thank you.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: Another story that was a highlight for me. Have you seen the movie Cabrini?
[00:23:45] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:23:46] Speaker A: Okay. So I was so moved by that movie, I had a little bit of a debate with somebody recently because he didn't really see the religious roots. I said, well, one, she speaks about doing all things and him who strengthens us. So it had that illusion. I know they were trying to show her as a great woman, but that's our job, is to make the connection with faith. That's not the movie's job. It's our job to connect with the faith. But you helped me to do that, because two months later, you were the receipt and Ralph. But we also walked in Mother Cabrini's steps, and we went down the route, and I hadn't been there yet. I knew where she was around, but I hadn't been to where Mother Cabrini ministered to the immigrant community of Brooklyn. And we went along the BQE, not exactly one of the high religious spots of Brooklyn. We walked along, and there's the mural of Mother Cabrini. And then we went down by the canals to a park. And I had heard about this mother Cabrini park, and it was just a swing set and monkey bars or something like that. And we went in there and we prayed. But that was the site of the school that she had founded. And to walk in the steps of Mother Cabrini with a new generation of immigrant communities and to walk with Jesus in the places where she ministered gave me a new appreciation of her ministry.
[00:25:03] Speaker D: That was such a beautiful moment of the pilgrimage and a great surprise to me. I love Mother Cabrini, and so I knew we were going to her shrine in Washington Heights. And so it was a surprise, second of parents from Mother Cabrini, who is just so relevant to what we need in the church and who the church can be in society, as well as her devotion to the Sacred Heart. And just, yes, seeing her in Brooklyn was so beautiful. I remember leaving that park, and it was very special because there were so many people peering out their window when we were walking down the street that her park is situated on. And that's so beautiful. You know, we're not only in public, but because just of how Brooklyn is built, we were able to be so close to people in their own homes, and that was special. And so I was the route photographer, and I took some pictures that I really cherish, one in particular of a father and a daughter peering out their window and curiosity like, I don't think that they're devout Catholics. I don't think they know what's going on to the fullness that we did. I don't think that there was no negative feelings that was going on, but it was just this beautiful curiosity. Curiosity. And they were just there, like, hearing us sing, watching us process not on the streets, but from their own home, and just a beautiful, lingering image of what we were able to leave people with. I think there's inherent hope in what we were doing. Just something so beautiful. And so being able to echo what Frances Cabrine did and just bring beauty to New York and to Brooklyn was just very special.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: And that you did. And I spoke to you again on the Sunday night. We had another full day ahead of us on Monday, Memorial Day. We went all the way down to Bay Ridge. But I was so moved by the way that different groups kind of jumped in and out of the pilgrimage. And I think that's probably symbolic of what you experienced all the way through. So some people walk from the beginning of the day to the Cabrini shrine. We picked up another group at the church nearby, at Sacred Heart, St. Stephen's, by the way. Isn't that interesting? You mentioned Mother Cabrini's devotion to the Sacred Heart, and that is what really motivated her. And now that I think of it, the parish there was the sacred heart. I wonder there's a connection with her great devotion. Then you picked up another group, went to another church, same thing. We had a short visit there, but another group dropped off and another group jumped in. It was really just amazing that people joined us for certain segments of the journey.
[00:27:13] Speaker D: It was. That's one of the just privileges of being the perpetual pilgrim, is you get to see that and you get to see people bring what they can. That day in Brooklyn, which is so special, there were moments that day where the rain really held off like it was gonna rain. It started raining right before mass. Torrential downpour during mass, mass ended and the rain stopped. But also it did rain on us. It really does just make a the pilgrimage a more immersive experience when you get to get through.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Immersive. That's a good word.
[00:27:40] Speaker D: So I think the people of Brooklyn are very lucky to have had a rain procession. And once again, I was taking some pictures, and just, like, all the colorful umbrellas just added such a beautiful texture to what we were doing. And, you know, it also just really goes to show, it's like, it's one thing when a large group of people is walking down a street. It's another thing when a large group of people is still walking down the street when it's raining. And so it really just amplified the witness there. Yeah, it was a special day for us.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: How was the rest of journey then? What are some of the moments that really stood out to you?
[00:28:11] Speaker D: It's been a long journey. I mean, we were in Brooklyn nearly two months ago, and I think we.
[00:28:16] Speaker A: Talked about this when we met, that it was something like day nine, and you were still fresh and excited and feeling good, and you were also in these high density areas, and you still had a long, long way to go.
[00:28:28] Speaker D: Yes, we did. And we did it, and we went that way. And there were so many highlights. We've seen so many beautiful, faith filled parishes, and to me, those were like, kind of the iconic landmarks of my pilgrimage. It was just to see, like, wow, America is just full of great christians who just want to love God, build holy communities, and I saw that all throughout the journey. I'm so inspired.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: I said this during the conversation, I think it was with Dominic on the first night. First we crossed over the bridge, and the fire department and the police were all lined up. They were helping us make the journey, but they were all lined up. And then we went. As we were getting close to the co cathedral, we stopped by a firehouse, and I thought we were just going to do a blessing or greet the people there. And they said, oh, no, no, we're coming to join you. And they took the fire trucks out and they left us, and a woman put the lights on and everything, and a lady came up to me and said, bishop, the faith is where there is faith. It's deep. And that's what you brought out. You helped to draw that out of our community.
[00:29:33] Speaker D: Well, we absolutely saw that in Brooklyn. There was a moment where we were escorted by amazing police officers that whole time, and someone who knew less about what was going on was like, oh, look, the police officers are asleep. Made a joke. And I was like, no, their heads are bowed in reverent prayer right now because they are participating in the procession and they are just as in the procession as we are, and they are in adoration. And so I think that was, to all of us, a really moving aspect of that procession.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Another moving aspect. You know, we met people at different stops along the way. One group of people knew we were going to pass by their corner, and they set up a makeshift altar just so that they would have a place to honor this procession coming through. And we stopped there, and Father Landry offered a blessing. It was, again, a pilgrimage like this. You have to do a, a lot of planning. Yes, but every once in a while, there were surprises along the way.
[00:30:27] Speaker D: Surprises are just so good, and especially when the pilgrimage, you know, it was you bishops who called for the eucharistic revival, and then it was a bunch of young people who were chosen to be pilgrims. And so you guys laid the groundwork. We were doing that work of carrying so many other people had a hand, but then it was the faithful who really came and really added so much. And so just to have that collaborative interplay between these different groups within the church was just so beautiful, and it's just at its best when it precipitated that kind of moment of a blessing in Brooklyn.
[00:31:02] Speaker A: So, yeah, well, thank you for doing it, and thank you for making that pilgrimage. Now that we're here in Indianapolis, the opening mass with Cardinal Dowling, wasn't that a beautiful experience?
[00:31:12] Speaker D: It was so beautiful, and it was so fun. The seton pilgrims. We had just come from an interview, and so we were a little bit late, and so we were. Right. Bye, the bishops, as you guys process in. And it was so cool to see. First of all, I've never seen so many bishops in one place. And like, I was at the. I was. I've been to some of these big gatherings. There were so many, which is such a beautiful testament to the faith of the bishops. We ought to wave at so many because we know them.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: Yes, that's right. You met them along the way.
[00:31:38] Speaker D: So that was so special. And, yeah, just to have so many people so single heartedly praying to the Lord, doing what Catholics do best, which is the holy mass. Great start to the week. It's gonna be good. Miracles are gonna happen. Conversions are tangible.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: That's right. And that brings me that good segue. Good segue. That brings me to my next question. So what's next? I mean, how has this experience changed you and how do you see you carrying this forward?
[00:32:03] Speaker D: Yes, well, you know, I'm trying to. Before I leave the congress, I really want to make sure that I have clear resolution as to how I'm going to just never let my life be what it was before and just be ever changed by the beauty that I've encountered and the goodness that I've seen in the church and in God himself, for sure. I am making resolutions to do more eucharistic adoration. Even though I signed up to be the eucharistic pilgrim, I was a new Catholic, and I had never done as much eucharistic adoration as we did on the road, and I didn't have it set in my schedule each week. That is something I'm really resolving to do. I've already decided that I'm going to have a picture of probably the Eucharist in the van on my death just so that I can even from my own, be able to enter into adoration from afar. It's going to be a huge withdrawal to not have Jesus traveling with me all day. It was such a privilege, and I got used to it. And so it'll be a hard transition out of the amazing community of the awesome pilgrims I was with away from, you know, meeting all these amazing people. I'm really going to have to be also intentional about being in catholic community because, you know, as a young adult, it's really easy in the workforce to, you know, work and sleep, but I know how life giving it is to just be surrounded by people who love what you love and who love who you love. I think eucharistic adoration and more intentional catholic community. Are two of them going to be two of my resolutions coming out of this.
[00:33:27] Speaker A: So wonderful, wonderful. Well, I hope we get to see you along the way. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today, for sharing with the people of Brooklyn and queens this whole experience. We are absolutely blessed by your presence among us, by bringing us this experience of the encounter with the Lord.
[00:33:46] Speaker D: Thank you so much. It's been so good to reminisce because there were just so many graces that were poured out, and so we got to talk about them.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:33:53] Speaker D: Thank you for the opportunity.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: God bless. Well, thank you for joining us for another edition of big city Catholics. These pilgrims who we met early on in the pilgrimage are still filled with enthusiasm and energy and love for the Lord. I'm so glad that they passed through Brooklyn at the beginning of the pilgrimage, and I look forward to talking to some of our Brooklyn pilgrims who are here at the eucharistic congress in the next couple of days and to sharing that with you in the coming editions. Until we meet again. God bless you and have a wonderful week. The Lord be with you and with your spirit. May the blessing of Almighty God come upon you and remain with you always. In the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
