Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome back to another edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan and myself, Father Christopher Henry. We're back in studio after three weeks.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Of welcome back is right. We're actually physically back.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: No more on the road. For some time at least. Bishop's last few podcasts were taking place at the National Eucharistic Congress, but it's just great to be together. We're recording this on the feast of the Transfiguration, so I thought we'd open a prayer with the opening prayer from this feast day. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. God, who in the glorious transfiguration of your only begotten Son, confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship grant. We pray to your servants that listening to the voice of your beloved son, we may merit to be coheirs with him who live and reign with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
[00:01:08] Speaker A: Amen, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Now, it may have seemed like the last three weeks you have been in Indianapolis, but you were only in Indianapolis for that.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: We just packed that time in Indianapolis. That was a great time. It was a busy time, and we did a lot of our own work with the diocesan contingent. So I enjoyed those conversations. First of all, Sister Mercedes, she was just so enthusiastic. And again, an example of a religious vocation from right here in Brooklyn, queens, a young religious vocation. We have a number. We have a number. But also it was great to reconnect with the perpetual pilgrims. I have to laugh. Perpetual. It's all over now, but we are, all of us perpetual pilgrims. And to speak with them, I had a chance, not in the podcast, to talk with Father Roger Landry at the end of it and to get some of his reactions. And it really was a great, great experience. But it was so nice. We had them here in Brooklyn at the very beginning of their journey when they were filled with enthusiasm. I was glad to see them filled with enthusiasm at the end of it. They really were. They really were. And two of them are going to be continuing back right here in Brooklyn and Queens. One of the young women, I think it was, Zoe, lives in Queens. One of the others lives in Manhattan, but has connections back and forth. So two of those pilgrims will still be part of the young adult community here in Brooklyn and Queens, and I think we need to tap into their wisdom and their enthusiasm.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: It must have been an incredible journey. I mean, that was just such a cool experience. And, I mean, they dedicated, what was it, 50 something days, right, or something, to walk to the final destination of Indianapolis. But, you know, you were there. You've gone to these big conferences, and I really kind of get a little envious at times. And I don't get a chance to do that. Like the focus conference, the Sikh, where you have, like, 17,000 young adults, and, you know, it must be so rejuvenating just to be a part of that, to see it. And I don't know if you remember, like, some beautiful scenes. I was watching some of it online because I wasn't able to make it. But, you know, the light shining down on the Eucharist and the monster and so in the stadiums just seemed like, just incredible.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: You know, you're right. It was very, very well done. The scenery of the stage, I'm going to gripe a little bit, but this stadium, the Lucas Oil stadium, you could tell as soon as you went in, it seemed like there was some kind. Something in the air.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Moisture.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: A moisture, but I don't know that it was just steam, water. It's almost like you were going into this smoke filled arena, and as soon as you walked in, you could see it. You could kind of see through it. And as anyone who followed the last three weeks knows, instead of leaving my heart in San Francisco, I left my voice in Indianapolis. But I blame that because that's when it started. The first night I was in there, and I got all irritated that night. Fine. The next day, back in there. Back in the next night. And then it didn't go away.
But the talks were great. I'm going to give you a little bit of a hint. I noticed the EWTN YouTube channel EWTN was a sponsor, and they really did cover it, and they covered it well. I give them a lot of credit, but they have all the major plenary talks, and they have a lot of the breakout sessions. And if you were to go to the EWTN and just search EWTN in YouTube and then try to figure way onto their channel, you'll see a lot of the different talks, and they really are worthwhile. They're well done. And, you know, I'm going to tell you another story, because this was after the conference. Cardinal Tagley was just amazing. He was Pope's representative. I saw him earlier in the week, earlier in the week was the asian and Pacific encounter, and we had people from Brooklyn taking part in that at Indiana University. But Cardinal Tagley offered the mass and preached, and he had some great, great lines. And he's a friend to us here in Brooklyn. He was on our flight coming home, and when we get through all the security and all that, he was already there when I got in and people came to greet him. It turned out there was this line of people who stood. A line to greet him, photographs, blessings, prayers for well over an hour. That's what he did in the airport. He stood there and he just spent time with people, greeting them and blessing them and praying with them. It was really amazing. And then when it was time to board, we're walking over to the gate and the whole terminal broke out in solid, resounding applause.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:05:30] Speaker B: I mean, he really left his mark. And I just found that to be so amazing. And it brings me back to that one line that somebody here said outside the firehouse, right near the co cathedral. The faith is deep. You know, where there's faith, faith is deep. And that was the experience of that eucharistic revival. Now, now that we're back from revival, it's time to get back to work.
You mentioned the transfigurations time. Now. We had the moment on the mountain. Time to go down the mountain and walk with Jesus here in Brooklyn and Queens. Be faithful witnesses. Isn't it great that the church gives us a little bit of summer reading? We're doing, we're reading from the bread of life discourse this whole month.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: It started with the multiplication of the loaves and the fish and spoiler alert everyone. You know, it sounds a little repetitive as you read through the 6th chapter of John's Gospel. You could say, didn't we just hear that?
But if you look carefully, there were different elements that came out last week was about food for the journey. People were complaining about food. The Israelites going through the desert, they were hungry, they were thirsty, they were cranky, but God provided them food for the journey. And Jesus says, I'm the bread of life. I'm giving you the food for the journey. Next week we'll hear a little bit more about eternal life, how we're connected with heaven, heaven and earth kind of connect. We'll hear that this weekend. Coming up at the end, we get to the whole thought of real presence where Jesus says, I tell you solemnly, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life within you. So there are different themes that emerge from this ongoing conversation. And it's worth paying attention to it worth maybe even reading it, you know, not to give you some homework, but reading through that 6th chapter of John's Gospel these weeks, you might just see little snippets for sure, of things and take it as snippets. It can be overwhelming, but just take a little phrases that come out and see the different aspects of the Eucharist that Jesus reveals to us in that conversation, for sure.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: And as you said, I mean, the real presence and being there and bringing that presence to so many different places. This weekend here at the Co cathedral, we had a missionary priest. It was a lot of summer appeals now in this time of the year. And ours that came was a Glen Mary home missioner who their mission is to work in the United States. Usually we're just sending money to another country that needs assistance, but no, they're come to mission in the places of the United States where there's less than 2% of the population is Catholic. And I just think that we had a chance, the two of us, to take a drive to the woods as well, to take a drive to the camp, to bring the Eucharist, the presence of the Lord, to ten Mile river, to scouts, and what a great gift that was to be able to be there. You've been going every year or something.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Again with their faith. The faith is deep. This is for all scouts. But the catholic committee gives this opportunity for the young people to have mass while they're there, and that becomes part of the priority. And that that's something that the whole scouting sees. They see the religious expression of different faiths as something to be respected and something that's very important.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: I was struck, too that, you know, you had a chance to address all the scouts in the mess hall and the dining hall, and then afterwards, how many came to shake your hand as well? You're talking a little bit about. It wasn't a line for an hour, but I've met a good number of young teenagers come to shake the bishop's hand. I was struck by that, and then.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: And that says a lot about who they are, and it says something about scouting, because that's part of what life is about. It's not about me, but it's part about engaging other people, engaging with adults.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: Respect.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Respect, so that you don't run and hide. But, you know, people, they're teaching on young people, and our schools do the same. So, b bold, stand tall and go up and say hello. Nice to meet you. Those things make a huge difference, and they build character.
[00:09:23] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: And it reveals character.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: And then they take time out of their day, partly a free period of time where they choose to come to mass. You know, and sometimes we know that our. I know myself speaking is when I was a teenager. Sometimes you go to mass kicking and screaming because your parents are saying, no, you're going. But these are them making those decisions on their own, not being forced to be there. And I just am really always impressed by that.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: You know, just two things. One, Glen Mary. I was always aware of Glen Mary, but I became more poignantly aware of Glen Mary when I was serving in Columbus, because there's a history of the Glen Mary presence in southern Ohio, in Appalachia. The other thing I mentioned how the scouting gives that respect to religious expression, expression of different faiths, respect. And, you know, as we're talking about the Eucharist and how important it is and how sacred it is and meaningful to us, I have to say I was somewhat saddened during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. You know, our Holy Father, Pope Francis in the Vatican, and many, many religious leaders throughout the world have been beforehand saying what a great opportunity that the world comes together in peace, that the world comes together to celebrate human achievement, to celebrate friendly competition, and to put aside differences and to focus in a moment of unity, and that the organizers in Paris chose to take that moment to show absolute disrespect to our belief in the real presence in the Eucharist, to show disrespect to the last supper. And I know they've been thinking, well, no, it wasn't really the last Supper, but even the committee admitted there was. There was at least that awareness. And one of the things that really, really hit me was that I don't have the whole quote, and I could never find it again. But something. Well, you know, this was really about showing our core values. It was something. Inclusion and kindness. These are our core values. And I want to say, where's the inclusion and where's the kindness in that? And it shows what's wrong right now. It's not my reaction with sadness, not anger. I think it's a little late for anger. I mean, it's just this is the state of the world and means we have a. A lot of work to do. But I was talking before about food for the journey. The Eucharist is food for the journey. I thought to myself, we eat a lot of junk food in the western culture, don't we? And what does junk food do. It makes us bloated. It makes us hungry again. Well, you know, we do a lot of spiritual junk food as well. And so there are these values that we put out there to kind of substitute for the religious values.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: And yet what does it lead to? We exalt values of inclusion and kindness, but basically it ends up being bitterness and division. Again, I don't say it with judgment. I say it with sadness. And it's a reminder to us of the profound gift that Jesus gave us at the last supper, the profound gift that Jesus talks about in that bread of life discourse whereby he gives us himself, his flesh to eat, his blood to drink, his real presence, and what he counts on us to do, like Cardinal Tagley, to bear witness to it by our lives to. If we really, really, really believe that we experience Jesus in the Eucharist, that has to affect our lives. Sure, we're not going to be perfect. We know that actually, we come to the Eucharist not because we're perfect. We come to the Eucharist because we need him. But you can't touch the body of the Lord. Receive him into your life week after week or day after day without somehow or another being affected by him. And so to let the fruit of his presence shine forth, let it be a source of joy, let it be a source of hope, let it be a source of strength, so that others might see what Jesus does within us. You know, I'm saddened by the event, but it's not a sad job. It's actually a very uplifting, joyful job, and we're very fortunate to be called into that presence.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: I agree. No, I absolutely agree. And it's not just us as Catholics, but all of us as in the name of Christ.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: And in truth, believers in Christ spoke up about this, and people of other religions spoke up about it.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: They have.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: So, you know, there are people of faith, of different faith, who themselves said, no, this isn't kindness and inclusivity at all, not in the least. In fairness, many did speak up about the whole thing, but kind of using this as a transition point we're in. This time of August is rich for us as priests with some great, great feasts coming up. First of all, let me back up and say the deacons will be celebrating St. Lawrence, the martyr, the cheerful deacon, the deacon who was concerned for the poor, who saw the treasure of the church, is the poor, and who gave himself joyfully, even jokingly, to the Lord in his martyrdom. But we think of the blessings of the diaconate in our own diocese and in the church. But for us as priests, we celebrated, but we really didn't celebrate Sunday. The fourth is traditionally the feast of John Vianney. He got bumped by Sunday this year, but we recalled, we commemorated John Vianney this week. But next week we're going to celebrate a very local parish priest. We'll have a great celebration right here. But the founder of the Knights of Columbus.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: We're really excited to welcome the Knights of Columbus and all the faithful of the diocese for a mass on August 13 here at the Co cathedral. It's a Tuesday, and the mass is at 07:00 p.m. and we'll be welcoming and we'll be dedicating a statue of Michael McGivney, the founder. Now, what a great example of a life well lived.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: It is. I mean, again, he's a great reminder to us of the ministry, to the poor, to the immigrant, of calling people to higher realms. He was a parish priest at heart, at heart in so, so many ways. And really, he died at a young age, pouring his life out of, for other people. And I love the work of the Knights of Columbus, and they're in Quebec as we speak for their convention. I'm so grateful for their ministry and the work of the Knights of Columbus to witness. But you know what? I can't lose sight of the example of Father Michael McGivney as a parish priest. In fact, I think that's the title of his biography, parish Priest.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: And entering, really, the lives of your faithful, of the flock. I mean, really, his founding of the knights of Columbus were to help the families who had lost a loved one, to help raise their children, give them financial support, give them assistance, really entering into the messiness of life, you know? And then you see another great saint that we're going to celebrate, right? Another one who really entered into the messiness of other people's lives. And as Maximilian colbed the following day on the 14th. Yeah, another great example of a great parish priest.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: And, you know, as I do this, as we have this conversation, I spoke a little before about religious life and the great vocations coming from here. But this is a chance for us as priests to take a step back and be grateful for the ministry that's been given to us. And I think of the priest who served so wonderfully here in Brooklyn and Queens, the legacy that we've inherited in priests who have served here over the years and the priests who are serving now. I think I mentioned St. Lawrence. I think of the ministry of our deacons. These are days of great blessing. Speaking of parish priests, we had a little bit of news this week.
[00:16:47] Speaker A: Very exciting. Very exciting news, especially for the dioceses of Rockville. Center for us here and all three dioceses.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Really? Yes. Bishop Henning taught many of our priests in the seminary in Huntington and then again as an adjunct in Dunwoody. He was the director of the Sacred Heart Institute, which was for ongoing formation for many of our priests right here in the three diocese. So he's well known among our priests, and he is a priestley. Bishop Henning was appointed as the new archbishop of Boston. He's now Archbishop elect of Boston. He'll take over on October 31. It's an exciting moment for the church because this is a. See, that is very important here in the United States. He'll be a wonderful, wonderful archbishop of Boston, just like he was an auxiliary bishop in Nassau and Suffolk and a bishop of Providence. I'm sure they're lamenting that he was with them too short a time. I thought I was short in Columbus. Two and a half years he was barely a year and a half.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: And to follow, you know, the legacy of a great leader as well in Cardinal O'Malley.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: Look at the work that Cardinal O'Malley has done in the last 20 years in Boston. But even prior to that, and I know Bishop Henning is a very good friend of mine, and he has tremendous respect for Cardinal O'Malley. And he speaks about that little bit of trepidation of following after such a great leader, but he'll do that with great respect, and I think that's a good thing. You know, Bishop Henning and I, neither of us were what you would call system guys. We didn't go. Cathedral College was its own college at the time, and it was a college seminary. And each of us, through our own paths, similar paths. We were both the oldest of five children. His father was a firefighter. My father was a police officer. Both worked in our parishes. Very St. John, similar kinds of life. And then we met in St. John's University. We became fast friends in St. John's University. We were in a program where we took a lot of our liberal arts courses together. But we were part of a group of people who are still friends of mine today. Like, those are my friends that I keep in touch with from the college days. I was friendly with a lot of the commuters and with this group of people, and we weren't there to become priests, but each of us had that more than little in our mind. I knew I wanted to be a priest. I think he knew he wanted to be a priest. So for 42 years, he and I have been great friends. More like brothers, I say. He's like my third brother, and I'm so happy, so, so proud. But if I can try to be objective, I think following up on our prior conversation, he is, at heart, a parish priest. Wherever he was, whatever work he was doing, he was always doing. So in the context of a parish priest, I think that's something he'll bring with him. Even in a place as big as Boston, I don't think he would lose that.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: I missed the opportunity to know him as a faculty member of the seminary because of my studying in different seminaries. But I had a chance to experience one of his talks once to the newly ordained priests about basically cultivating the faithful in our local lands and in our neighborhoods. And I was struck by his wisdom. I was struck by his intelligence. I was struck by his kindness in presenting. And he just does really present as a guy that just wants the good of others and wants to see others succeed, wants to lead others to holiness. You know, he's bilingual, certainly speaks fluent Spanish and English, and was very involved in pastoral planning in the diocese of Rockfell center. All of those techniques, all of those gifts are going to be a great help in Boston, and very realistic.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: He grew up near the water, so he has this great sense of nature and all of that. So it'll be a good thing. It'll be a sacrifice for him, but it'll be a gift to the church.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: Speaking of the water, Bishop, do you visit the water on the feast of the Assumption? Do you take it?
[00:20:37] Speaker B: I'm hoping to. I'm hoping to. Although the way this week looks like the water might visit us, I mean, my goodness, we're in for a rainy couple of days here, and I like to be in the water at any time, especially August, July, I get in there, but I guess it warms up a little bit by August. We remember this week, Thursday of this week is the feast of the Assumption of Mary, and it's a holy day of obligation. I think that's good that we stop even in the summertime. Our, you know, during the year, we stop our regular routines, maybe we stop some our summertime routine and we go to mass, and there are devotional things that people do on the feast of the assumption, but we celebrate Mary taking bodily and soul into heaven. This is a great mystery because it foreshadows what God is doing for us. Mary has a particular, unique role because of her generosity because of her sinlessness. But she also is our mother and she's guiding us on that pilgrimage through.
[00:21:35] Speaker A: Life she gave us through her. Yes, the actual food for the journey, our Lord Jesus Christ. And so perhaps on that note, bishop, you might want to end with prayer and give us your blessing.
[00:21:46] Speaker B: Sure. God our father, life of the faithful, glory of the humble, happiness of the just hear our prayers and fill our emptiness with the blessings of the Eucharist, the foretaste of eternal life through Christ our Lord.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Amen. The Lord be with you and with your spirit.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: May almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: Amen. Thank you bishop, for another great edition of our Daston podcast. It's great to be back in the podcast room with you, the recording studio with you, and we look forward to joining you again next week. God bless you.
