Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:09 Well, welcome back to big city Catholics. It's the Brooklyn diocese podcast with Bishop Brennan and I am not father. I am deacon deacon, Kevin McCormick. I am the superintendent for schools here in the diocese and father. Christopher is out on a pilgrimage to the OBA Ramal, which is the, I notice the German passion place. It goes on for, for really hundreds and hundreds of years. And I know father Chris is having a great time. He's a great leader and it gives me an opportunity to be with you for any of the old time listeners here. I'd like to think of me as Luke EIG and as father Chris, as Wally PIP. That will mean nothing to only about 10 of us, but it's pretty funny, actually. <laugh> so it's, it's a real honor to be with you Bishop. And I know as is a tradition here in this podcast that we begin with a prayer.
Speaker 1 00:00:52 So I'm honored that you'll join me as we're always in the presence of our God heavenly father, we live such busy lives. So many things are being done so many places to go things, to do people to see, and yet we need the stillness Lord. We ask you in the fullness of love to help us to see what's truly important and to let go of everything else in the Lord's name, we pray. Amen. Amen. So Bishop, this is a real honor for me to be able to sit here and I'm teasing about father Chris, but you guys do a wonderful job and, and the programs that you've done have already been very, very important. And they're actually part of my podcast list. And I'm not just telling you that cuz you're the boss, but I actually enjoy what you guys have done. I also like the fact that father Chris has a great way of kind of pushing things forward and helping the system go through. So I'm hoping I can do half as well. So what has your week been
Speaker 2 00:01:40 Like? Well, it's actually been quite an interesting week. We were together during the week for the rosary rally. We'll have a chance to talk about that a little bit, but one of the things I'm kind of struck by the weekends would have just been great. We were together last week in Richmond hill area at Archbishop Malloy. I was in Richmond hill three times last week. Wow. So I was there. I was had confirmation at St. Teresa St. Anthony in Padua mm-hmm <affirmative> I had man lady perpetual help. And of course we were together in Archbishop Malloy, but I've been focusing these two weeks. We've been talking a lot about the prophet Amos, right? We don't hear from him too often. And boy we're having twice in a row. Right. And the Aus is one of those profits who hit you right between the us.
Speaker 1 00:02:19 Oh my whoa, whoa, whoa,
Speaker 2 00:02:22 Whoa. To you who, who are complacent to, you know, sit on ivory couches. And
Speaker 1 00:02:28 He definitely could be from Brooklyn. I have no doubt that the prophet aim could be from Brooklyn because he has no, no, Gule, he's a New York kind of symptom mentality of, of, of that. Let's get to the meat and potatoes of this,
Speaker 2 00:02:38 Tell it like it is, that's what he does. He tells like is, and he's different. Most of the prophets, rightly so, because this was the big problem. Most of the prophets talked about the worship of God. They, the big problem in those days was idolatry people kind of looking at their neighbors and saying, oh, let's just do what they're doing. But he gets to the issues of justice and mercy and of really doing God's will. So in the last week we hear him challenging people, uh, to authentic behavior, you know, to really, to follow the Lord. And this week really about don't be complacent. And we are coupled as we come into it with that parable from Luke about Lazarus and the Richmond. That's another one that hit you right? Between the eyes
Speaker 1 00:03:17 Luke, I have the privilege of preaching just about every week. And as we go through Luke's gospel, Luke reminds me of someone who at first blush, she seems so easy. It's like, oh, that's obvious. And then you let it sit just a little bit, just a little bit. And then I was saying through my congregation last week was that I pictured him in a cafe watching me play with it. And then when I realized what he's saying and the depth of it, he kinda lifts his cup of espresso and says, you know, you got it, Kev, good luck to you. And then off he goes, because in each, there, there, there really are. They they're terribly difficult things and they stick to you. They're like a good meal in the winter, you know, that sticks to your ribs. And, and while all the gospels have greatness and love, I find Luke this year, at least the most challenging for me.
Speaker 2 00:03:57 Yeah, exactly. Well, as gospel's all about mercy and practical application of mercy, the practical application, and that, it's nice to think about it. It's nice to theorize about it. When you come down to it, Luke is telling us the stories of Jesus theorizing. Luke is showing us Jesus calling us to a real practical application of mercy. So the rich man in Lazarus, even the poorest among us were a lot richer than a lot of the world. Right? Right. And that's that, that's where that becomes a wake up call, a
Speaker 1 00:04:30 Wake up call. He demands when we were in seminary a million years ago, we had a professor Monsignor den and he would talk about met NOA. Baby met NOA changed Chi changes. And when I'm reading Luke's gospel, when I'm preaching on Lukes gospel, when I'm praying with Luke's gospel, I realize that there's the call two weeks ago, the prodigal son, the quote unquote good son had to change. The younger son changed because he was hungry. The oldest son had to change because he had to see that he didn't earn his dad's love last week. The scoured Stewart. I love him. I think he's so clever. And I don't like calling the dishonest one because at the end, everybody won, the people won the owner of the land won and he may have saved his hide. But Luke is so I, I he's just so rich.
Speaker 2 00:05:13 He is, he is, you know, so when you get down to like the Richmond and Lazarus, to me, the real thing about the Richmond and the Richmond couldn't see Lazarus. He just, he was a be at the gate. He wasn't anybody. And I love the hubris of the Richmond. You know, the story, he, he dies both of the Richmond and Lazarus die. And you know, Lazarus is up at the Pearl gates at heaven. And let's just say, the Richmond is a little warmer. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:05:44 He
Speaker 2 00:05:44 Say the least to say the least. And he's, he's saying this is awful. And I, I love this line. He tells Lord send Lazarus down. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1 00:05:52 Yeah, yeah. Send Lazarus down here. I never thought of that. Right, right, right.
Speaker 2 00:05:55 Kidding me exactly.
Speaker 1 00:05:57 Elijah. This is the puso. Right. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:06:00 And, and he just couldn't see Lazarus as anything, but either a servant or pity old person at the gate. And that's what I think this gospel will do. It opens our eyes. We have to really pay attention and see the people among us. And, and really in some ways, see some of the poorest among some of the really, truly suffering. Sometimes that's close to home. Sometimes somebody's really hurting and we can just be busy about our lives. And one of the things I think the gospel does is that he focuses us. Somebody needs my attention.
Speaker 1 00:06:29 Clearly we are in a situation in real time right now, where it's very easy for us to not see the people around us and look our job. My job certainly, nor is your job to be political pundits. We are, we are here to deal with the people that come to our city, to our parishes, to our homes, to our schools. And we have a situation now where we have people who have literally been tossed out of their, their old homes for whatever reason. And that's not for me to judge. The fact is, I know they're in our diocese now, right? They don't speak English. Uh, and the weather is changing. It's gonna get cooler and, and they it's
Speaker 2 00:07:00 Gonna get cooler and it's gonna get darker. Yes. That's the other thing it's gonna, the day's getting shorter.
Speaker 1 00:07:05 And so what's our response. You know, we have kids and, and we have families, but I mean, I'm looking at the kids. There's a young kid, father Mason. Who's a great priest in our diocese. He tell me about a young kid named the professor. He's about 10 year old kid. And the professor is, is brilliant. And he wanted make sure he is in there. I got a chance to meet the professor. I've been going to schools every day, since the school year began. And what, by the way, this will be another day. Thank you for trusting me with this job. This is the best job I have ever, ever had. And, and that's the truth. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:07:32 Don't tell them that's very,
Speaker 1 00:07:34 It was very, was a great gig. I love that. It was there many, many years, but I, I was able to see, and I met the professor. He's a young boy. I speak Spanish very poorly. Very, very, in fact to say, I speak Spanish is a joke. I, I could say like four lines. So I said to the, to the young man, I said, uhto. I said, uh, yo, Ablo yo Ablo, Espro Yolo. ESP ma. And he just burst into a smile. Now he told the teacher there, he says he can't speak well, but he tried, I was in tears, Bishop here's this kid, he's got nothing. And he sees what I'm doing. And I look like a clown a hundred times bigger than the kid I Spanish is horrendous. Is you? I just proven. And yet he just looked and he said, he tried,
Speaker 2 00:08:18 I've met the professor. Oh
Speaker 1 00:08:19 Wow.
Speaker 2 00:08:20 <laugh> and being in one of our schools, he's really adjusting. Yeah. He's really adjusting in his English is already, his
Speaker 1 00:08:29 English is better than my Spanish, but
Speaker 2 00:08:30 He's adjusting to the kids. But the fact of the matter is some it's not everywhere in the city. So we're not, it's basically some parishes were located near. Some of the shelters are facing all of a sudden larger numbers of people coming to their doors with nothing. I mean, nothing. And as you said, this is a human issue. It's not, I mean, yeah. I know there were political issues and we have to work through those. And quite honestly, um, I I've heard, it said ox on both their houses. I mean, you know, right. Both sides and political spectrum. We need this, this needs to be worked out and it can be worked out, but that's not the point. The point is we have brothers and sisters need to be seen, need to be recognized. And, and by the way, these are people who are, they're also coming to Sunday mass that's right.
Speaker 2 00:09:21 So father Mason will tell you, these are our families and, and young people who are showing up on Sunday for mass. So they're not just coming, seeking material help, although boy or boy, some of the basics are needed. And you know what I have to say, I've been really, really proud of, um, Catholic charities. Like I said, the reasons and the ways that people have arrived, it's not all what you're seeing correct on TV. This has been going on for a number of months. It's more complicated. Some are they're coming through different ways. But the fact of the matter is people are arriving at our doorstep and asking for help. So Catholic charities has been reaching out and they're doing what they can. And then the, some of our parishes, our parishes have just been responding. So generously and our priest and deacons have been doing what the religious have been doing. But most importantly, the parishes themselves have mobilized mm-hmm, <affirmative>, they're trying respond to whatever the needs are. They're, they're serving community meals. They're providing things again, it's limited what people can take back to where they're staying. So they're adapting. And that that's, what's really so inspiring.
Speaker 1 00:10:29 Very heartening. I send out a letter to all the principals on Sunday, just a, you know, beginning of the week thing. And I mentioned father Brendan and father Mason, the work that they're doing and the principal at Joe and Ann St. Joe and Ann, which is a very heavily Haitian community said, we know what that's like, right. Tell us what you need. Yeah. And that's, that's what they did. And that's what they're doing now. And you know, I, I'm getting chills as I'm telling you this, because that's the work that's being done. That's the work that's being done. And it's so proud. It's
Speaker 2 00:10:54 Great. And that's where you say people they see with the ice of Jesus Christ. Mm-hmm
Speaker 1 00:11:00 <affirmative> now that's what I wanna pick up on because yeah, this is a big thing in my world here. So when we talk about Catholic schools, Catholic, our parishes, uh, our communities, our high schools, we, we have all great things here. We're very big on talking about Catholic identity. And we're proud of that. That's our masses, our sacramentals, our pictures, our statues, and these are all essential parts. They're not extras, but what our business is. And if I keep my job, I'll know, you'll agree with me on this. So we'll find out <laugh>, um, in case you're wondering, this is not scripted. We we're just going out. So we're gonna see how this ends. But to me, it's the Catholic imagination. That was a hip term, like 50 years ago. Some theologians played with it, but we are in the business of helping our kids in the case of schools, but, and supporting our parishes for us to think and see, and perceive the world as Catholics. Do we imagine, we imagine a sacramental world where God is everywhere, even in the pain and the suffering mm-hmm <affirmative>. And that to me is the essential part. And that's so you see that. So when the kids at joking and Anne Saint Joe man are doing that work, when the parishes in whether it's bay Ridge, or Douglaston or Rosedale or Williamsburg, trying to get all the points on our diocese, but they think, and they say, you know what, even suffering, we can be the hands, the feet, the eyes, the heart of God,
Speaker 2 00:12:11 That's it. That's exactly it. And you know, I think that's perfectly sound. I think imagination is, is exactly right. It's a way of viewing the world. And I speak about vision. You know, one of the things you and I had a chance to serve before together at our lady peace that's right. We you're a deacon. And I was resident there for a little while. And you know, in the sacristy there there's, the, there were the two icons, there's the icon of John vie and of, uh, Saint Steve in the modern mm-hmm <affirmative>. And they're both up there, the deacon and modern, I should say, John Ney is holding a scroll. And he says, the eyes of this world see things only as they appear to be, or only on this surface. Whereas the, the eyes of the Christians see deep into eternity. All right. I probably don't have that exact, but that's the idea. Here's how I put it. What we are tuned to in the gospel, the eyes of faith to see the world as it really is. And not just as it appears to be. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, mm-hmm <affirmative> and, and, and to grow, go deep. And that's what the prophet Amus is calling us. That's what, um, Jesus is calling to in the gospel of look to now. It's not, it's not only to make believe. No.
Speaker 1 00:13:24 I think there's a full Christianity that, that puts a veneer over the reality. And we sometimes play with rose colored glasses, and all denominations are guilty of this, especially, especially the, uh, prosperity gospel, which is a whole other issue, which is not Catholic. It's not Christian in my opinion, completely, but we joys the fears that the beginning of Betty that's, that's what we are. There is no veneer. Here we go into the muck and the Meer, and we find our Lord.
Speaker 2 00:13:49 And why is that? Because isn't that what our Lord did. I love the Philippians. Him though. He was in the form of God, Jesus didn't deem equality. We got something to be grasped, but rather he ETI himself. He went in to the monk and the mud. He did it right there at the baptism, his opening, uh, debut, you might say yes.
Speaker 1 00:14:06 Yeah. And when you do that, one of my heroes has a great quote. He says, we need to be bold and joyful and, and, and, and unapologetic. But when, but when you deal in that reality, in case you didn't know that that's Bishop B, it should be his coat of arms. It really should. But what, but how powerful is that Bishop? Really? I mean, so, you know, it's bold. We, we are who we are. We're not subtle. There's nothing subtle about us. We have to be out there. We have to energetic. Where's the energy. Like I don't do well with boring people. I, I apologize for that. But the unapologetic, that doesn't mean we're not humble. It doesn't mean we don't listen, but it means that we follow the truth.
Speaker 2 00:14:39 That's right. That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:14:41 That's brilliant. I steal it all the time. But since I'm in the diocese, I have to give you credit <laugh> and in Rockwell center, I don't <laugh> actually, I do, to be honest, I was still UN
Speaker 2 00:14:49 Unapologetic. It's it's like, we don't say, oh, we can't teach you that in our schools, because you know, Catholics are sort of limited. No, no, no. The gospel we proclaim is the, the gospel that gives life. It's the gospel that actually gives a deeper joy. We're we're proud of who we are and, and what we present.
Speaker 1 00:15:09 So no matter who, what radio, what news station you listen to, we're gonna annoy you <laugh> and wo to you wo to you. Cause we, we, that's what we try and do,
Speaker 2 00:15:20 But we're going to do it with that sense of joy. Yeah. Because basically what Jesus us is, is a true joy, not rose. I always say Jesus, didn't hand out rose calls and glasses at the last supper
Speaker 1 00:15:29 Look at, we hung out with, I love the 12 apostles. What a moley crew, you know, these would not be people you would pick on your team. Well, you might have, I, I know who you pick you. I know, I know what in particular you pick, so maybe you would've, but, um, but that's the beauty of the incarnation is, is dealing with the Lord in the real. So that can be wonderful events that are happening in the great celebrations today with the kids. We had kids speaking, Polish and Mandarin and Crayol and Spanish and English and all together, Sharon pizza downstairs, having a great time. Father, Joe Dino. He he's the biggest kid in the diocese. I think <laugh>, he was wonderful with them. And, and then at the same time, we have families that are struggling and wondering, how am I gonna get through the winter? Right. That's that, that's what we belong. Right. That's where we belong. That's it. And wo to us, if we're not right.
Speaker 2 00:16:12 So tell me, how was, how are your first weeks going? I, you know, you've been here since the summer and, uh, the beginning of the summer you started, and of course there's school really starts for principal and administrators on July 1st. Doesn't it?
Speaker 1 00:16:25 That's. So for me, July and August was sort of like the pre-season. So I met a lot of people. I, I, I spoke to a whole bunch of people and, uh, everybody in the diocese has been great. And the beauty here is that we are not in a siloed situation. So because I'm working with the schools, I'm also working with the folks into sales. I'm working with, with father Keating, I'm working with Monsignor Grimaldi. I'm working with father Jino, I'm working with all the different groups of people that are involved. So that's wonderful. Even the folks at Rockland, they're part of what we do. It's all part of what we all spend time. Exactly. So there's no like us and them. And I wanted to make sure that that was the case under my administration with the schools is that we are here to work with everybody.
Speaker 1 00:17:02 And it's worked out very, very well. Now, September still comes in. We hit the ground running and, and I say, I wanna spend two weeks visiting schools. So I said, Kevin, is that a good idea? I said, I can do it. Well, I did it. But man, is it tiring? I don't how you do it. You're always on. I mean, so you go in, the kids are wonderful. The principals are very inviting. I got a wonderful rosary from one school. I got cards and letters I still have to go through. And here's what I found. Each school is unique. So that's a, that's a given, but their roots are in the kids. Like it's the kids stupid, you know, like to borrow from the old, uh, Clinton administration. It's the economy students, it's the kids, stupid it, everything lives and dies with those children because the school is there for them. They're not there for the school. The parents sacrifice and look, our schools aren't cheap. I do think we're undervalued. I do think we're worth a lot more that we charge, but I realize that we have to do the right thing on this and, and meet people where they are. But all that sacrifice that those parents come in, the people with futures that come and help us with all the stuff. John Nataro does great work with those people, about a third to, to 40% of our, our students get something from
Speaker 2 00:18:04 Them. And you know what I love about futures. If we could go on a side by there, you know, when I meet with some of the, especially the older benefactor to, to futures, many of them will say, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without my Catholic school education. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And that's why I need to be
Speaker 1 00:18:22 Doing gotta give back. And they're giving back to real people
Speaker 2 00:18:24 And they real exactly. So they wanna see this gift. They, they want this to become available to other peoples. That's a great, great
Speaker 1 00:18:30 Gift. We have to, we have to put more resources into our faculty, into our principals, making sure we can retain them. I mean, these are all things, you know, we all know, but we have to kind of put it to the forefront and we need to remind people that without the sisters and brothers and the dedicated lay people of their education, they wouldn't be where they are. And now it's time. You gotta kick back. I mean, that's just, it's just fair. Yeah. It's just fair. So it is exciting, but I am tired. I have
Speaker 2 00:18:52 To be honest. Now you've moved from one school to many, but most of our schools are elementary schools. Right. But we have a good relationship. And I think that's one gifts you bring to the job is your own experience in high school so that we can continue to build those bridges with our high school communities. But it is a new world isn't
Speaker 1 00:19:09 It really is. Although I've kept contact, I was with cathedral, which is sort of my Alma mater. I went to Pius at 10th, which was the prep seminary in long island. We have some kids from Rockville center. I, I don't know if the arch is involved in, in cathedral also, but I, I
Speaker 2 00:19:21 Think because co Dolan came to visit.
Speaker 1 00:19:23 So it's great to be with them. We were at Malloy, I've been in contact with people from St. Francis prep and Locklin and St. Saviors and St. Edmonds. And of course, you know, Arian is, is, is my old home. So we've kept that contact and I have a good relationship with them and we want to continue to work with them. So I'm, I'm very proud of the world. I came from. All the high schools are great to all my friends at Arian. Thank you for letting, helping me be who I am, but have one more dragon to sleigh one more professional dragon to slay, and I'm looking forward to doing it with you. It really is.
Speaker 2 00:19:51 It's going be great. It's going to be great. We have a number of schools and academies. We, we have a large student body. I think one of my biggest challenges, and this has been anywhere I've gone. You wish we could address every need solve every problem. And some things are just beyond us or we, or, or the fact of the matter is we need to be able to care for the
Speaker 1 00:20:13 Whole. Now what you you're the eighth Bishop of Brooklyn. So we are part of a continuum and we can only do what we are here for Bishop Henning, from Rockville center. I was at a talk. He gave he's a wonderful man, but he pointed out saying for whatever reason, God put us in this time, in this place with these concerns to do the best we can. And it's a paraphrase, Bishop Henning said much better than I just did, but that's what here. So you, as the eighth Bishop, you are here to deal with what you can at this time. There's gonna be a ninth Bishop. There's gonna be a 10th Bishop. Okay. There's gonna be future superintendents. And, and our job is to just keep that continuing flowing, make sure I inherited a wonderful program. We give thanks to Tom Zuko and his program and everything he did for 20 years for our diocese. But now it's my turn. It's our team's turn. It's time to move forward. I can be replaced very easily. You know that a little too well, I'm not too happy about that, but <laugh>, but the fact is is that that there will be others and our job is to do the best we can now. And can we sleep at night? I mean, I know it sounds silly, but you know, did you give everything you could today? Did you leave it on the field?
Speaker 2 00:21:10 That's it, you know, today, the day that we're recording, this was also the day that we recorded the rosary rally for there'll be Unhi net TV, and there's some production work that has to go on and all of that. So looking forward to seeing it's gonna be great. We had represented, I think this was mostly, these were mostly schools in Queens, Queens, and actually, and then we'll be doing something in lent for schools, with the schools in
Speaker 1 00:21:32 Brooklyn. Father Juno also has a plan we were talking about today. It sounds great. We're gonna keep it. We're gonna do a tease. You know, in the biz, in the biz, we call this a tease, but we will be doing something for, uh, for the lent experience. And we'll bring the Brooklyn schools in. And we might, if we knew somebody who could get us into St. Joseph for St. James cathedral, we might do it there, but we'll, uh, I'll see if, you know,
Speaker 2 00:21:49 We'll see if we can make any
Speaker 1 00:21:50 Calls, but it's, but it is exciting. How great were those kids?
Speaker 2 00:21:53 They were terrific. They
Speaker 1 00:21:55 Were terrific. They really were. They were so sweet. And they were at one point you said something. And I thought it was very funny. And I go fog. All of a sudden, the kid turned around and they like, they were like, shame on you. Like you should know. They smiled. I just was. I mean, I wish I knew all of my, I wish we, we could've spent time. And, and you'll see when you see the event on net TV, that we, we have a living rosary, there are 50 kids, uh, uh, 55 kids. And plus the, I called the mini rosary, you know, the five in the beginning, so six in the beginning. So it's, um, it's very special. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:22:26 It was. And one of the things that was great is these kids, they may be, they, they may have their shyness here and there, but you can tell the rosary's part of their life already.
Speaker 1 00:22:38 How right are you on that? I was shocked. They were comfortable with it. They weren't afraid of it. They, they, they weren't like, uh, I mean, a few of the youngsters had a little, little stage fright, but it had nothing to do with the rosary, had to do with the cameras and the, and the, the vastness of the chapel and stuff. But I was taken back by that because I don't know if I would've been able to do the same thing when I was in sixth grade.
Speaker 2 00:22:57 No. And then they did it in different languages. Yeah, too. So it's interesting because it's not, there was that blend back and forth with whatever language and, and English, you know, which is the world that a lot of these kids live in. They, they go back and forth. Um, they're speaking English in school, in their communities, but then when their family gathers, it might be Spanish or Chinese, or that's
Speaker 1 00:23:18 The beautiful
Speaker 2 00:23:19 Dice Cray.
Speaker 1 00:23:19 You can go. Literally, every one of us, who's listening to this who lives in Brooklyn, Queens, or in Manhattan or Brooklyn or Staten island. And even now elements in the Rockville center DESE, you'll see more and more of it, uh, uh, is that there, here comes everybody to bar from Joyce and you can go one block and there's Chinese, and then there's a CITIC community. And then there's a sea community. And then there's a, you know, Chinese and, and Polish and, and Catholic and Italian. And I it's man. I, I love
Speaker 2 00:23:45 It. It is. And then again, what you see, they tend to stay with their schools, be for a number of reasons, practical reasons, but comfort level. But like once they're out in the hallway and there's this mix, you just see this great mix of you start today. So naturally with each other, their children, yep. Children, children, but there's something that's happening in our Catholic schools that I think, um, invigorates these young people. And they become some of our most powerful witnesses just by the way they live their life.
Speaker 1 00:24:14 You, you Bishop you hit the nail in the head and that's exactly what we need to promote and let people see what they're investing in. You know, no one wants to buy great paint, you know, great paint. Everybody needs great paint, I guess, in, in their buildings. But they wanna invest in Theresa or Rashim or every other name you can think of. And, and that's who they do invest in. When they give to futures. When they give to the schools, when they help out the way they do, they're not paying my salary. They're not paying your, a salary. They're helping these kids. Then example I give is, is you're listening to this podcast. There's a mom. Who's washing the dishes after dinner. Who's crying, saying a prayer to a lady saying, how am I gonna get my kid into this school? And she can't pray with her husband cuz he's on his third job and he's coming in and getting four hours sleep and starting all over again. That's who will help him because we then bring them into our schools. We invite them to share, we give them the, the identity, but we give them the imagination to change the world.
Speaker 2 00:25:02 Right? How powerful. That is, how powerful that is. Well, you know, thanks for the, for, thanks for joining this team. Good. I mean you already on it, but now good you're on it and bring away speaking of teams, this is an exciting time for an older met fan back here in Queens.
Speaker 1 00:25:16 I do tend to blow as the wind does. So I'm a met fan right now. <laugh> and I'm very proud. They made the playoffs last night guarantee the playoffs, but they're exciting team. I grew up in the Bronx. So did you actually, when did you leave the Bronx?
Speaker 2 00:25:28 I was six years old, 19 60, 12, 8.
Speaker 1 00:25:30 So I, and I lived right by Yankee stadium. Okay. So I grew up in the Bronx, but they're a little too corporate for me, but the Mets and I love show, uh, show Walter he's he's terrific.
Speaker 2 00:25:38 Well the, and the Yankees, Aaron judges is making this he's. This is, this is a good New York year for,
Speaker 1 00:25:43 And even the giants one, two in a row. So it could be over, but like I have two good weeks, but
Speaker 2 00:25:48 Our Mets, uh, they they've secured a spot in the playoff. So we know that they'll be playing in October. We don't know how deep I always say the Mets look great in April
Speaker 1 00:25:56 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:25:58 And the other thing I say is we met fans, uh, Yankee fans, celebrate years with penance and world series and all that. We celebrate anniversaries of pennants and
Speaker 1 00:26:07 World series. Well, what are the Yankees done lately? I'm not looking for a fight here, but in there are, you know, you're the med fan, but what have they done lately? Just saying, just
Speaker 2 00:26:15 Saying, well, we'll see, we'll see what happens. So it looks like a, an exciting fall for us on so many different levels. And again, it looks like the beginning of a really good school year. We pray, we pray for, for all of our children, for their parents and their families. And we also pray for our faculty, our administrators. We have a lot of
Speaker 1 00:26:33 People they're so dedicated who are so dedicated, so dedicated. They do what's rewarding. We really are gonna find new ways to, to make sure we can con compensate them more appropriately to their, their position and their work. But even without that, they're, they're in there. They're doing the best they can. And, and they're doing great things
Speaker 2 00:26:49 And right. And they're doing that in the midst of raising their own families and, and all those other challenges.
Speaker 1 00:26:54 So, so we went through baseball history with Wally PIP. We talked about German passion plays. We got the scriptures in, we talked about Catholic identity. We talked about our brothers and sisters who are our new immigrants here. We got the Yankees in. Um, I think we
Speaker 2 00:27:09 Been wrap. I think it's a wrap. Huh? I
Speaker 1 00:27:11 Think it's done. I've checked off everything on my box. I got nothing left.
Speaker 2 00:27:14 <laugh> that's great. Well, I appreciate you, uh, jumping in this week and, and actually I look forward to some more conversations. We've had some good people on over the course of these weeks, thrilled you with us. Maybe we could conclude with a prayer. Love that. Thank you. And what I'd like to do is I'm gonna use the prayer that we said at mass list Sunday, the collect for Sunday's mass in the name of the father of the son, the holy spirit gay. Amen. Oh God who founded all the commands of your secret law upon love of you and of our neighbor. Grant that by keeping your precepts, he may attain to eternal life through Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen. The Lord be with you
Speaker 1 00:27:55 And with your
Speaker 2 00:27:56 Spirit, male mighty God bless you this weekend, always in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:28:02 Our podcast has ended. Let us go in peace.
