Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign hello and welcome to this week's edition of Big City Catholics. I'm your host, Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens. And I'm joined today by Father Joseph Giovino, the head of our Office for New Evangelization, the pastor of St. Charles Barromeo, and the rector of the cathedral, and all kinds of responsibilities that fall under these different titles. But we're going to talk about the season of Lent and where we are at this moment. So during this season of Lent, we pray the prayer of St Francis before the crucifix of San Damiano. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O most high and glorious God, light in the darkness of my heart, give me right faith, certain hope, perfect love and deep humility. O Lord, give me sense and discernment in order to carry out your true and holy will. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. So, Father Giovino, welcome.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: Thank you. Always a pleasure.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: You're a great guest here. It's always good to be able to talk to you. As you know, the point of this podcast is to just talk about the things that are going on in the Diocese of Brooklyn here in Brooklyn and Queens. And you were really at the heart of a lot of those things.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Well, well, you always say amazing things are happening, and they truly are in Brooklyn. We're a busy diocese of living in Queens.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: We are speaking of amazing things happening. We had our Holy Hour for vocations. I had promoted it a little bit in last week's conversation with Father Henryu, but we were both there, and, boy, did we get a beautiful response. Right.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: It was overwhelming to see the Chaplet Immaculate Conception filled to overflowing. So there must have been about 600 people there. Whole families were there. Little kids, teenagers, young adults.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Some youth groups were there. And the College Campus ministry from Queens College came in numbers. Shalom Ministry, other young adult groups. Yes, it was a great mix. But as you say, wasn't that something? Just to see families coming. They had heard about it one place or another, and they came on their own.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: And what struck me, you know, built into a holy hour is silence. They were so respectful. It was so silent in the chapel. Even with babies in strollers, they were silent and understood. Wow, something is going on here. Amazing.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: It was great.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: It was great.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: And we had two beautiful witness talks from sisters, younger sisters. One of them is Sister Mercedes Torres, is the vocation director for the Dominican Sisters of Mary, mother of the Eucharist. And then Sister Jessica Castillo is a fairly newly professed sister, Sister A salesian sister of St. John Bosco. And they are both vocations from Brooklyn. They're from Brooklyn, One of them from St. Rita's parish in Brooklyn, and the other from a couple of different neighborhoods, but essentially St. Martin's tourist parish. And they spoke so powerfully. They spoke about, like, what could have been challenges, the challenges of growing up here, children of immigrant families growing up here, and yet how experiencing God's love really motivated them, helped them find their way in life, and also then to drew them to religious life.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: And they both said something that really hit home for everyone, and that is that at one point or another, they were in the chapel at Douglaston, sitting in those pews, listening to the call of Christ.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: This is where our young people are. Many children of immigrant families growing up, going to our schools here in Brooklyn and Queens, our religious education programs. It was just nice to see that they sat in those same seats and now to see the amazing things that God is doing through them. And that celebration, that night of prayer was a combination of these monthly holy hours that the Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office provides for young people and young adults. We have youth holy hours. We have young adult holy hours through different months on Friday nights. And then it was part of our Lenten pilgrimage. And so we had a full day at Immaculate Conception center, which was a new thing for us rather than a parish. But we've been making all the different rounds, and it really is edifying to see during this Lenten pilgrimage. And I thank you for the hard work that you and your team have done to coordinate this. And we're seeing just beautiful fruits. First of all, the pilgrims themselves coming at different times of the day. And my schedule is different. Sometimes I show up at the beginning, sometimes at the end of the day, sometimes somewhere, you never know in the middle. And wherever I show up, I'm running into the pilgrims. And that's a great thing. But also, the parishes have been incredibly hospitable. But they also find that this has been a day of prayer and blessing for them. I.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: And what was really wonderful about Friday's event at the Immaculate Conception center, we had about 80 pilgrims join our senior priests for Mass. And it's a great grace for the senior priests to be able to witness really a long life of service in the church for the pilgrims. But the pilgrims also to witness to the senior priests that their ministry is bearing fruit even now. Their ministry, a prayer for the church in a more quiet, unknown way. They're still praying and their ministry is.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: Still strong, and they made themselves available. It was a good day, but it was a good day surrounded by a lot of good days, a lot of great things happening in our parishes. And in this past week, I've had occasions to start the day with schools, and that's always an uplift. The voices of children singing. I think one of the best sounds in the world is the sound of children saying the Our Father. That never gets old to me. When you're at a school Mass, the first and second graders come out with this very loud, strongly enunciated each word saying, of the Our Father.
[00:06:07] Speaker B: And they're very proud. They're very proud of that.
[00:06:10] Speaker A: Even the amen at the end, that's fine with me. It's great.
[00:06:13] Speaker B: And then the eighth graders, I want to say, so why do they get an eighth grade? And you're too cool now for the Our Father, but eighth graders, keep praying. Keep praying.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Yep. We had a great day with our high school seniors also last Friday. And we're looking forward. Speaking of 8th graders, we'll be celebrating their graduations later in the spring. So these are good things that we're looking forward to. But we are in this season of Lent. This is a Lenten journey. This is about following the Pilgrim Way. This year's Lenten journey takes place in the context of the Holy Year, where Pope Francis has asked us to be pilgrims of hope. Pilgrims of hope. But, you know, we're kind of midway through Lent, and it might be a good chance for us to reflect on what we're doing this Lent.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: Well, there are two things that have struck me about this Lent. One is that we've witnessed Pope Francis carrying the cross of his illness during Lent, and that's been a powerful witness. And it reminded me of when we watched about the same time of the year Saint John Paul carry the same cross of ill health for us. And really that powerful witness of life that it is, that God gives us the grace every day to live our life in the midst of grace and in the midst of suffering. That's been powerful.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: And the church just rejoiced to see him coming home. We concerned because you can see that he's ill and he needs that recuperation. But I love the way you say it. He carried the cross, but he taught by example. Even in this moment, he's teaching us because he did it with hope. He himself right now is on a pilgrimage of hope. It may not be the pilgrimage of hope he anticipated. And I'm sure there's a part of him that's deeply disappointed. Many of the pilgrims in Rome right now going for the different jubilee are probably disappointed they're not getting to see him. But I think they find meaning in the fact that they're united with him in prayer while they're there. But I'm sure he's disappointed.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: But, you know, even in that disappointment, he still has kept his sense of humor, which is, again, that joy of hope that he always witnesses.
[00:08:15] Speaker A: He's showing us hope.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: You know, he is a pilgrim of hope, leading us by example. So we continue to pray for him. We pray with gratitude that he did get home to Santa Marta, and we pray for him in this next phase of his recuperation. But, yes. So you mentioned two things. One is he's carrying the cross and.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: The fact that the Church has given us the new order of Christian initiation for adults. And there was a little bit of, why do we need this? What are we doing? What's the difference? In the old rite, it gave the impression that there was one rite, but in fact, it's a whole series of rites. And beginning last Sunday, we began the scrutinies, which is. The scrutinies are designed to be whole parish witnessing. The scrutinies are designed for the parish to talk about their involvement in the life of the elect. You know, we move from an inquirer to a catechumen. Now they are the elect. And the parish is asked, do you know them? Can you witness to their preparation? It's not just their sponsor, it's all of us. So last Sunday we gave them the Creed. On the 1700th anniversary year of the Creed. We've handed on the faith to them. That's a community witness for all of us. And then we're going to give them the Our Father, going back to the Our Father, the perfect prayer of Jesus himself. And that's the witness of the church. And then we're going to do that final witness, as are you prepared now? Do you all witness that they are ready for the saving waters of baptism? So these three rites are all now in the order of the rites, and the parishes should be really rejoicing in witness to the faith.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Lent itself is primarily that season of intense preparation for the sacraments of initiation, which is celebrated on Holy Saturday night at the Easter vigil. We began with the rite of election, and that was a diocesan celebration. The diocesan bishop meets those to be baptized and welcomes them. And I teased them I said, you're no longer catechumens, but you're elect. You're chosen. I said, don't let anybody call you a catechumen anymore. But they've taken on a new step and really committed themselves to this intense preparation. And then the following week, those were coming from other Christian denominations or preparing other sacraments. They entered into the rite of Continuing Conversion as part of this order of initiation. So we welcomed those of other Christian denominations who are embracing the Catholic Church.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: And one of the wonderful things about the difference between the two is those who were called to continuing conversion are the baptized. They should be in our community. They should be at the Sunday celebration. They should be fully involved in the whole parish life. And it's a good reminder again to all of us that the work of evangelization and baptism goes hand in hand. And every time we gather, we are witnessing the importance of the Lenten season as preparation to renew our own baptismal vows as well.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: And are we doing the work of renewal?
[00:11:39] Speaker A: That's it. You know, so now that we get to these scrutinies, in a sense, the scrutinies, there's that little bit of that rite of exorcism involved. It's sort of. It's the rejection of all those attachments that keep us from God. And so as those who are preparing for baptism, the now elect, they're rejecting those attachments. Somebody who's sitting in the assembly, they're getting baptized in the assembly, have to say, gee, what are those attachments that I need to get rid of? What are those attachments that keep me from being fully committed in my relationship with Jesus Christ and with his church?
[00:12:14] Speaker B: And, you know, the other Sunday, when the first scrutiny was being done, the passing on of the Creed, we were blessed at St. James to have you as a celebrant and do the rite of welcome.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: You're welcome because it never ends. We're starting all over with a new, you might call, generation of catechumen. So there's a man who we did the right of welcome. So he now is a catechumen.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: And, you know, and it was wonderful because by coincidence or in God's purpose, 75 Young High School students witnessed the rite of welcome that they may have never seen. It was so wonderful to have youth everywhere at that day.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: That was. That was a great thing. St. Mary's High School in Manhasset, they were making their pilgrim journey, and they wanted to come to. To St James, the cathedral Basilica, as a special pilgrimage site because it's A significant church here on Long island, and then the graces of visiting the different shrines and cathedrals. So kudos to them. But you're right about the effect of seeing these rites as we go through the order of Christian initiation of adults and getting us right to the vigil. Because again, most of us were carried into a church and baptized and given the gift of faith by people who love us, by our parents and our godparents joined in them and promised to make, to support them. And they made the baptism promises for us. And they lived those promises by teaching us about our faith, teaching us how to pray. They kept their end of the promises, and now it's easy enough to take that gift for granted. So it's quite an inspiration to see somebody freely to choose and make that decision to enter the church, to say, I believe. I didn't believe. There was a time I didn't believe. I believe for us. Wow.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: And you made that point very powerfully at the right of election when you talked about whether you say credo or I believe or Jaqua, whatever it may be, you made the point of I believe. And that is so profound for the church to hear.
[00:14:16] Speaker A: Exactly. And as you say, this year, in this jubilee year, and the connection with the anniversary of the Creed itself, the Nicene Creed in 325, the creed that we profess every Sunday, the church has been saying that, confessing it, professing it, 1700 years, we've always believed, but that after Christianity had its freedom, it was a matter of just what do we believe? And there was a lot of back and forth and a lot of parsing of words, but in the end, I.
[00:14:45] Speaker B: Believe it's just amazing. And to kind of tie it all in being a little Catholic schoolboy with a young sister who we thought was 100 years old, but probably was only about the age of the two witnesses we heard on Friday who taught us what faith was. And now to see another generation of professed women continuing the same mission in ministry was just so moving.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: That's great. So as we continue now into these later weeks of Lent, this week we'll have the story of the prodigal son will have a lot of stories about mercy. Last week we had the fig tree, the parable of the fig tree. We'll have the story of the prodigal son. Next week will be the story of the woman caught in adultery. They're all stories of mercy. They remind us to reflect on God's mercy. But also during these weeks, what we want to do is pray for those who are entering the church, that's something that everybody can do. You know, there was people who have special roles as godparents or working on an order of Christian initiation team. But every one of us pray, stop and just offer a quiet prayer for those who are preparing to enter into the church this Easter.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: And the Eucharist can become such a wonderful focus for that because they're going to be invited to the table for. For the first time. And the fellowship around the altar is crucial for our witness in our existence. So it's another beautiful thing. And throughout our diocese especially, our altars will really be decorated for Easter. And so that beauty of fragrance and fire and water all comes together in the vigil. Just amazing.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: We are again walking as pilgrims of hope. We spoke a little bit about Pope Francis, and one of his major agendas over the course of the last two years has been the synod on synodality and the whole year and walking together. And those two fit so perfectly well because essentially, people get excited about the synod on all different levels. But the bottom line is it means walking together with one another, listening patiently to one another, learning from one another, and showing each other the face of Jesus Christ so that we're all walking together with the Lord. That's what it comes down to. It comes down to us being able to listen and to discern and to see what is God revealing to me along this way.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: And, you know, when one looks at Pope Francis vision for the synod, one has to go back to his encyclicals that talked to us about the joy of marriage, the joy of the Gospel, laudato si, the joy of all creation. And part of the synod was the opportunity of listening together and to be joyful pilgrims because of the grace we share. And so as we journey, we're examining very important questions for our future as a church. But it is our future together. And if we believe the creed after 1700 years, then we are joyful pilgrims on the road to Emmaus.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: And so we've been asked, in a sense, for a little bit of a synod report, you and I. But as we record this, you and I are preparing to go to the diocesan Pastoral council. So the synod here in Brooklyn and Queens, I've said this many times, was a real gift to me because we reached the diocesan phase just as I came. So my introduction to the diocese. Diocese was listening to the deliberations of each of the deaneries and then to assimilate that. And a lot of it had to do with our future as the church Here dealing with some of the major changes, the demographic changes, the work that we're doing, and saying, how do we work together? In a sense, the church in the United States has been a synodal church for a long time. We really do well with parish councils, finance councils, different societies and groups discerning the will of the Lord. Now, these days, with new movements that are coming about, a lot of very good examples of people of faith walking together, discerning the voice of the Lord, and those voices speaking to the church, certainly to us as priests and bishops, but the church universal, we learn from walking with one another along this way. But our parish councils kind of feed into the diocesan pastoral council. And I think we're going to be welcoming a number of new members because again, we've had this consultation. We go out to the deaneries. The pastors in the deanery nominate people who've been active in pastoral councils. We have a few new people joining us. Again, constantly refreshing.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Actually, we have seven new members joining us. And our goal is to get one representative from each of our 22 deaneries. Now, that's a large council for you, but you'll have 22 voices from every region of our diocese who are involved in their parishes. And all of them attended synod listening sessions.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: So they've been part of the synodal process from day one.
[00:20:07] Speaker A: And so we're going to be working with them. We'll talk about a continuing work of the synod, but we'll also be talking with people about. I'll be reporting back some of the work we've been doing in terms of parish partnerships, about the Mass schedules and a lot of the things we've done in the last year. The parishes have done a lot of work so that we're thinking about how we can work together, not just an individual, isolated parochial islands, but as parishes on the move together.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: And collaboration really is the 21st century word. We need to collaborate with one another at every level of the church's mission. Jesus was collaborative and he really threw out that wide net. And even though not all of the disciples always understood what was going on, the Lord welcomed them and worked with them. And you're very fond of saying God never abandons us.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: That's right. He never abandons us. He never gives up on us. He never forces us, but he never gives up on us. That's the fig tree. The gardener in the orchard didn't just say, give it another year, but said, let me give it more attention.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: That's that nurturing care that the church invites and the church nurtures us every step of our journeys that we hope and we live in hope that will be salvation in Christ and so that nurturing that we see. And you as the chief shepherd are the chief nurturer in your garden here. And we're going to dress our altars like Easter gardens of the resurrection in a few weeks. So you're our chief gardener in terms.
[00:21:44] Speaker A: Of the spiritual fig trees. We are going to be vigilant and ever careful. Well, Father Diovino, thank you for joining us for this week's edition of Big City Catholics. To you who are listening, know that you have my prayers, especially during these holy days of Lent. Please join us next week for another edition of Big City Catholics. Yes. The Lord's blessing, the Lord be with.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: You and with your spirit.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you forever and ever.
[00:22:13] Speaker B: Amen.
