Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: FOREIGN.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Welcome to another edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan. Today, as we come together, we continue to celebrate our Lenten pilgrimage here in the diocese. And as we ourselves, as pilgrims of hope, continue to journey toward Holy Week will begin in prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Bishop it's incredible to think as this podcast releases, we're just a few days away from the fifth and last full week of Lent.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: That's right. It's amazing it's gone so quickly considering that we had a late start. Here we are at the threshold of Holy Week.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: It is. And you've had, really. I've talked to a number of priests from different dioceses and explained to them the idea of the Lenten pilgrimage that really your vision of one of the effects of Lent for the Diocese of Brooklyn, and you've lived that out beautifully. I mean, you really do try to participate in every parish as much as you can.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: I've gotten to as many as possible. I had a couple of different occasions. Last Saturday, for example, I was in Columbus, Ohio. It was my first visit in three years, and I was invited by Bishop Fernandez, my successor, to an event involving campus ministry. And I was really proud of the growth that they fostered there and that work that we had begun. And then I was in Washington for two days as part of the usccb. But this pilgrimage gives me the chance to go to parishes in very informal settings. Sometimes it's just a regular. Sometimes it's just sitting in pews and praying for about 15, 20 minutes. And sometimes it's doing the benediction, frozen benediction, but it's an informal visit as opposed to a confirmation or the celebration of a parish anniversary, which are really great events. But it's nice just to be there in a normal, everyday kind of a setting. And sometimes we're there with the school, too. These are good experiences of prayer with and among the people of God here in Brooklyn and Queens.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Bishop One of the things you've mentioned a number of times is that it's not just you making an effort to visit all these churches, but you do see a number of people going around. There's a beautiful article in this week's Tablet that's being Released about Michel Guerrier, who has visited every one of these churches as well.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: Yes, he's done it in the last couple of years. And that's another fruit for me, it's personal food. But I've gotten to know some of these pilgrims who are there every day, who make different days. Obviously, we are on different schedules. So I may be in the morning, they may be evening, or vice versa, but I get to see enough of them that there's a little bit of a community that's formed among the people. And that's a great group because that goes beyond lens. You meet these people at different diocese and events throughout the year.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: It's fantastic. It's fantastic.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: And this year, the pilgrimage also has an added dimension because of the whole Jubilee, the Jubilee year, 2025. And so a lot of parishes are picking up on the theme of pilgrims of hope. I was in one parish, I was at St. Jude's this week, and it was great. They had all these shirts and pins. For the Jubilee year, a couple of parishes are using the Jubilee hymn during the Mass celebrations and other things. That sense of a holy year is a big part of it. And tied to that is the sacrament of reconciliation. So on the schedule in a number of places, there were hours set apart for confessions, and again, in some places, there are confessions all day long. I was in one parish at St. Anne de Abelina, where they had confessions all day long. All the priests in the deanery participated. So the pastor there, Father Greg McIlhenny, reached out and the priests in the neighborhood responded. And so there were hours of confession all day long and different languages that were available. That one of the themes during the Jubilee year is that sense of conversion and repentance, but also the lifting, the lifting up in jubilee, forgiveness, lifting up of the things that weigh us down, burdens that are on our shoulders, and that has to do with the forgiveness of sins and really helping us, through forgiveness, through mercy, lift burdens on other people. And so that's had a special theme in this year's pilgrimage.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: It makes sense, doesn't it? As you've mentioned too, certainly certain churches in our diocese that have been designated as shrine church, the Jubilee, which connect with it, that special indulgence, if the Sacrament of reconciliation is received within a period of time from the visit. So there seems to be just a return to that great sacrament, and especially Lent, a time of conversion, a time of renewal, a time of receiving God's mercy. The readings, even these past Sundays and this upcoming Sunday, help with that theme that's very true.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: This year we're reading largely from the Gospel of Luke. And Luke's gospel is the gospel of mercy. From the very beginning. You know, we hear of the annunciation and the birth of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Luke. And when he's held as a baby in his father's arm, in Zechariah's arm, Zechariah says to him, you, my child, shall go before prophet to prepare his way to give people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the very beginning, the theme of forgiveness of sins being attached to the coming of Jesus Christ is announced in the gospel. And that goes all the way through, even until the end, to the thief being forgiven on the cross. You know, this day you will be with me in paradise. So forgiveness is a key, key part of that gospel. And of course, in the gospel you have chapter 15, which is the chapter of mercy. Within the Gospel of mercy, Jesus begins eating with the sinners. And the scribes and the Pharisees are appalled by this. And Jesus tells the three parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost Son. And so this week we have the parable of the prodigal Son, the lost son, a parable of mercy, a story that Jesus used just to give us an image of God's, you might say, overwhelming mercy that is extraordinarily lavish even.
[00:06:35] Speaker B: To hear other times within the Scriptures. This past week, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. This desire of mercy, a desire that God has certainly for all of us as he rejoices over the lost coin, the lost sheep, the lost son, the ones that come back to the Lord.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: And he asks us, this is the thing. In the parable of the prodigal son, the lost son, he asked us to rejoice with him in the return of that son. That was the whole thing about the other brother. The other brother didn't want to go in. The scribes and the Pharisees stood outside of the celebrations with Jesus stewing because of the so called losers who were inside. Jesus is asking them to come on in. It's almost as they, you know, they complain, hey, you, you're in there with a whole bunch of sinners. And it says, if Jesus was saying, yeah, come on in, you'll fit in just right.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: That's a great theme coming up in this fifth Sunday of Lent. We read in John's gospel this Sunday the same thing, the same recognition. We're all sinners. He without sin cast the first stone.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: And it's interesting because in the the prodigal Son, you have a story that Jesus told to teach a point about God's mercy in this Sunday's Gospel. Coming from the Gospel of John, we have the woman caught in adultery. We actually see an episode of God exercising that mercy. Absolutely. In Jesus Christ is actually bending down to offer mercy, writing on the ground, speaking to the woman who was thrown before him. God reaching down in a sense, to pick her up, to offer her mercy. And you're right. He begins by getting us all to recognize. It's easy enough for us to look at those scribes and Pharisees and say, boy, what pompous people. Who do they think they are? Oh, wait a minute. Am I being I, by extension judging them, you know? Yeah. To recognize that every one of us is in need of God's help and mercy. God never gives up on us. God never gives up on us. Jesus doesn't give up on people complaining about the tax collectors and the sinners.
Jesus doesn't give up on the ones who came to bring the woman caught in adultery. He utters just a few words that he was without sin, cares the first stone. But he doesn't exercise any judgment there too. He just gives them a chance and hopefully that they would respond. If not, then at another time. And then there's the scene at the end. This is key to forgiveness. Forgiveness indeed involves conversion. Jesus goes out and seeks the lost soul. Jesus reaches down and picks up the lost person. He uses the current way of saying things. Jesus meets us where we are, but he loves us too much to leave us where we are. It's not enough just to say, let it go. He wants to breathe new life, new chances, new opportunity. So the Father welcomes the Son home and says, come in. And he gives him a pair of shoes, gives him freedom and says, you're restored, you're part of the household. Celebrate the woman. He lifts her up, gives her her dignity. But he says, woman, go and sin no more because he loves her too much. Father loves the Son too much to just let them sit and wallow in sin, but really to have the new life that forgiveness brings, that mercy brings.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Truly thought provoking in so many ways, especially in the season of Lent, where we need to feel that support from one another and from our Lord. Especially when we fight the fight between good and evil in our lives.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: And even sometimes the fight comes down to something of, well, you know, I'm okay, you're okay, you know, nobody's really sinning. I've often said we live in a society that permits everything and forgives nothing. And, you know, if there's not a sense of sin, if everything's okay, then there's no sense of forgiveness. And the fact is, forgiveness is restorative. Forgiveness is liberating. And so to acknowledge, yeah, I have sinned, I do make mistakes, I am in need of God's help and mercy. And then to experience that mercy, that's where the sacrament of reconciliation comes in. We experience God's mercy and experience that's transformative. That's how God changes our life beyond our wildest imagination.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: This seems to be something that you often preach. Have you noticed you're preaching thematically across the diocese? I have the privilege of kind of being with you or hearing you in different settings. The idea of mercy, the idea that God doesn't give up on us. I guess my question is, is that something that you believe at this day and age, that your people, that you shepherd, the flock you shepherd, need to hear?
[00:11:14] Speaker A: It's something we all need to hear. But there's a. There's a coral over to it. God doesn't give up on us, but neither does he force us. So the Father gives his son in the parable a pair of shoes. In other words, he gives him freedom to stay, where to go. But yes, I do believe, and especially our young people, because the message at Jesus time was once a sinner, always a sinner. And to a certain extent, the message today is kind of similar. Either just give up on it, but God won't give up. God reaches over and over and over again. The other reason that it's common theme of mine is because it's a common theme in scriptures. That's part of the message of the Bible, a very important message of the Bible. The story of the Bible itself is the story of God never given up, even to the point of giving himself on the cross, facing death in the worst of circumstances, only to conquer it and rise from it to give us new life.
[00:12:09] Speaker B: Amen. And Bishop, certainly there's a correlation between these readings, which most parishes will hear. Most of our parishioners will hear this year. C cycle of readings that we referring to last week with the prodigal son, this upcoming Sunday, a woman caught in adultery. But there are other times when people may come to church. They may have come last week, they may come this week and hear a different set of readings. Born Blind and the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, which come from cycle A readings. What's happening with all of that?
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Okay, so the cycle A readings were often the readings that would have been used all the time in the Lent in the past. They begin with the first weeks of the temptation and the transfiguration. But then they move quickly into the Gospel of John, and you have the woman at the well, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus. And we use that set of readings in conjunction with the order of Christian initiation of adults who CIA it's abbreviated as. And this has to do with people preparing for the sacraments of initiation for Baptists particularly. So the third, fourth and fifth week part of the preparation, the intense preparation for baptism would be the three scrutinies. The third, fourth and fifth Sunday supplent. So this week we'll have the third scrutiny. And they pick up on the themes of those images in the gospel. So Jesus who gives the living water. The second one, Jesus, who is the true light of the world. And then with the raising of Lazarus, would be Jesus who gives, who is the life and the resurrection. And these scrutinies are a chance for those preparing for baptism really to focus in and rid themselves of the attachments of sin that tie us down to again, remember that we're in need of God's help and mercy. So there's that common theme we to recognize need for God's mercy which will come in baptism and to be freed from those attachments, not only freed from the sins themselves, but to that sense of attachment to say, no, I'm putting all my eggs into one basket to God. I'm going to try to set behind me the attachment to the worldly things, certainly to the sins, but even the unhealthy attachment to possessions and things of that nature. And so community that gathered here, the assembly of the church, we're all praying for those people and we're admiring them for taking this bold step. And we're asking God to help them in this endeavor as they make their way to a Baptist. But it's also a reminder to us that this is a lifelong journey. We all need to renounce those attachments to sin. We all need to renounce those attachments because they just keep popping up again and they keep drawing our attention away from the Lord and taking us to places where maybe we shouldn't be going. So the people who are preparing for baptism remind us of what we believe in our faith and of God's extraordinary mercy.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: I will say too, Bishop, something you brought to my attention earlier regarding the prodigal Son and Jesus's invitation at the end, please come and stay, or the woman caught in adultery go and sin no More. There's an invitation at the end. There's also an invitation even in the Man Born blind and Lazarus, who's risen from the dead, untie him and let him go be free. And the invitation really, Bishop, for those who are participating through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, is an invitation that we look forward to you joining us in these Easter sacraments, joining us.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: At the eucharistic table. Exactly, exactly. And then to remain with us, be part of this community, remain as part of this community. Well put. Very good. So, you know, as we get into those days, we started by talking about the Lenten journey, and I was talking about some of confessions. Again, this time of Lent is generally a time when people make an annual confession. Most people really do make an effort at least to get to a confession during the season of Lent. And one of the things that we've been doing for some time now during Holy Week, the Monday of Holy Week, so that'll be a week from Monday, is Reconciliation Monday. We celebrate Brooklyn, Queens, in Nasser and Suffolk, the Diocese Michael center and Manhattan, Bronx, Staten island, and all the way up north in the Archdiocese of New York will be looking forward to celebrating Reconciliation Monday.
[00:16:48] Speaker B: That's very true, bishop. Yeah. Monday, April 14th. And most parishes are offering reconciliation, we know, ideally between 2pm and 4pm and 6pm and 9pm but we do encourage people to contact their local parish to see if their hours are on the doors of the church or in their bulletin.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: Exactly. You know, the idea when this started was that, say, oh, every church, it's a no brainer. You just go to a church and there'd be confessions available yet now it gets a little complicated because we have a number of situations where one priest is covering multiple churches. So we have to figure that out a little bit. So I would encourage you. Yes. To check your local parish or to check another local parish. The idea of Reconciliation Monday is that there are a lot of people who are most comfortable going to confession in their own parish. And there are other people who are comfortable going to confession anywhere but their own parish.
They want to be anonymous. And I get that. So this is an opportunity just to say we're all doing it the same day, the same time. And maybe you have to do a little bit more legwork than before, but still, that's the general idea.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: And again, just to reiterate that beautiful theme, that invitation, at the end of confession in the ritual, the priest says, your sins are forgiven. Go in peace. And people respond, thanks be to God. And it's an invitation Be in peace, to live in peace.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: That's right. After the absolution, you know, go in peace. Live in the peace of Jesus Christ. It's a great gift. And, you know, this reconciliation Monday, by the way, is a fruit of jubilee year, because I know we started it in Arkville center in the year 2000. It was part of the prep, or 1999, maybe even. We might have even done it as preparation for the jubilee year. I forget which, but the point was it was connected to the call of Pope St. John Paul II to that theme of mercy in the jubilee year, so that as far as I'm concerned, this practice is about 25 years old. It has grown, and that's a great thing to see. And now we find ourselves in the midst of another jubilee year. And please, God that this fruit and other fruits will grow from this year's celebration.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: Amen. Well, Bishop, perhaps you'd like to leave us with a prayer and your blessings.
[00:19:02] Speaker A: Absolutely. During this season of Lent, I've been closing with the prayer of Saint France for the cross of San Damiano, almost high and glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, certain hope, perfect love and deep humility. The Lord give me sense discernment in order to carry out the true and holy will. Amen. And may Almighty God bless you, Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: Amen. Thank you, Bishop. And thanks to all who continue to join us each and every week on this podcast, Big City Catholics. We hope that you'll join us again next week. God bless.
