Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Big City Catholics. I'm your host, Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of Book and servant in Brooklyn and Queens, recording today from the eternal City of Rome as we welcomed yesterday our pilgrims for the jubilee of youth. I'm joined today with Lucero Manzanares, who is the associate director for youth and Young AD ministry here in the diocese. Let's begin with a prayer. For the last two days, we were in the city of Assisi, the city of St. Francis. We visited the cross for which St. Francis himself prayed that hangs in the Basilica of St. Clare. We'll use that as our opening prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Almost high and glorious God, enlighten 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 of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lucera is no stranger to the Diocese of Brooklyn, especially to Queens, because Lucero was part of the first missionary group that was sent to us from FOCUS Missionaries. And boy, we were so proud of them. And I was so touched by the ministry at Queens College. Lucero, welcome to Big City Catholics, and thank you for joining us.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: No, it's a pleasure.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Tell me about that experience at Queens College.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: So I was a missionary before I started in this position. And what that means is that I served with an apostolate called focus, which is a fellowship of Catholic University students. I met them when I was a college student at the University of Iowa, served two years at Temple University and then came to Queens College. And you can never truly prepare for what mission holds, whether you see that from your missionaries or even your first two years. My first and second year, even on the same campus, were very different.
Coming to Queens was very unique in the sense of we were starting from scratch. Usually they send missionaries to a campus that's a little established. They have maybe a campus minister or a campus ministry team. They have some students. I know, at least where I've been at, I've seen that there's someone pushing for this. And here there was a team pushing for it, but not only for missionaries to come, but for campus ministry just to even begin at Queens College. And that's when the first team came and they sent four of us. And we had a full time chaplain while also being a pastor, Father Jose, and a full time campus minister, Omar and Getting to see how things start from literally nothing, from bare bones to where it is now, where I left, has been incredible. Not just from the actual physical changes that you can see. See, specifically the Sacred Heart Chapel that we have now at the center has been truly one of the greatest transformations, if I had to pinpoint one, not just because it's the most beautiful room in the entire college, but also because it's been a safe haven to our students. And it's been incredible to see how some of them weren't going to a chapel daily. And now at least two or three times a week when they are on campus, they come and sit in the chapel and pray. And it's just.
Yeah, I think out of everything that I experienced within the last two years, that was one of the biggest highlights.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: The other thing that's different is that very often you're involved in a very residential campus.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Yes, exactly.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: And you're sort of the home away from home.
But here, most of the student body travels back and forth. They're looking for a place in the daytime and campus ministry. The Neumann center offers a niche, a place where you. You can be together with other people, but really a place where you can develop your spiritual life, Bible studies, prayer, Mass, the Sacred Heart Chapel. It's a great service, and we certainly invite and encourage anybody beginning at Queens College in the fall to take advantage, to search out the Newman Center. It's in the student union building. And just come by and say hello, and you'll find people who are really glad to see you and really glad to welcome you.
[00:04:11] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. I think overall that campus ministry has grown so much, not just in the sense of everyone has a little bit more of an idea of how to run a Catholic center, but also just to see the growth within the students that they also want to be welcoming to new people. They also want to make they found a safe haven within their day, within their schoolwork, within even just their family life and their commute, and they want others to have that, too.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: And that really is the definition of missionary. Yes, because a missionary goes in to inspire other people, for them to go and invite others to experience the joy of the Gospel. And it's a great thing. And, you know, we've had good campus ministers over the years, but what's happened is we really dedicated something to this, and it's really borne its fruit. You and the other missionaries, as well as Omar and Father Jose and the other priests who come in. It's starting to pay off. We see it in vocations. We have one of the fellows from last year is actually beginning study at the seminary. It's beginning to help build up good relationship. And we've seen the fruits of things like the Sikh conferences and all of that.
[00:05:19] Speaker A: Absolutely. And even just seeing the friendships that get formed within the center, I know I've had the privilege. So now that I'm no longer a missionary, most people tend to move away from where they last served or they'll go back home or back to their college town. And someone asked me when I first started discerning whether I was going to be still a missionary or not, if I would ever stay in New York. And I said, oh, absolutely. If I found a job that is able to have me here, I would stay in a heartbeat. So now I have the privilege of being in the same town where I. All these girls that I got to be with for the last two years live. And I just get to see them and be friends with them, and it's truly like even that is a gift. And then not only that, but to see them pursue each other in friendship and to know that it's virtuous and holy and striving for sanctity together, that's great.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: That's amazing. And, you know, that's a great segue into really the mission of what I wanted to talk about today. The first part of that is your new role here. So you're serving as associate director for youth and young adult ministry, and boy, you really jumped into the pond.
Yes, but tell me about that position, the work that you're going to be doing there.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: Being part of the diocese for the last two years, I've seen the need of youth ministry and young adult ministry. But even more than just the need, I see the desire for it and the thirst for it. So with the work that we do within the office, Father Crowley and I, not only do we get to serve the youth and the young adult of our diocese, but specifically we get to also serve and work with our youth ministers and young adult ministers, which is just what spiritual multiplication is. What, like the method that was taught by Jesus, where if we invest in them and we're able to teach them and have them be bought into. The vision of youth and young adult ministry is important. It's necessary for a church to continue to be built up. So if you believe it, you desire it, and you teach that to your kids, then they can pass it on forward and so on and so forth. So it's really beautiful to just see that there's people that desire that and want to serve them in that way. And I've actually had a chance to meet some of the youth ministers and just to see the passion and the zeal is very inspiring and hopeful, just like the Jubilee.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Even just seeing it here in Jubilee, seeing different youth ministers and how they relate with the young people, it's really quite encouraging. So one of the first things that you're jumping into is the Jubilee of youth.
You barely started and now you're leading a major pilgrimage with Father Caroly.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: And we had a few days before the crowd arrived to get ready. And you prepared well. And then we were all at the airport to greet them as they came in. We took them right to Assisi. So first question, what are you looking forward to during this pilgrimage?
[00:07:56] Speaker A: One of the biggest things that I was praying for as we prepared for this was for these kids to have an encounter with not just necessarily Jesus, but specifically their own personal faith within the busyness of what is the Jubilee, because it's very much a reflection of what their life is like. Where are you going to find Jesus in the business of New York City, in the busyness of your commute to and from school every day? So just for them to be able to find that within this pilgrimage, learn it, and be able to take that back home is one of my biggest prayers so far.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: That's great. And we've already had a chance to see some of that happening in city of Assisi. So what are some of the moments that really touched you and Assisi?
[00:08:39] Speaker A: I mean, the biggest one was definitely getting rained on. I think that was beautiful. Aside from the fact that there was just a sense of overall peace throughout the whole area of Assisi. These pilgrims have just gotten off the plane. They were on a two hour bus ride. They are climbing up these steep hills. They're teaching them about history. But then it started downpouring, and it wasn't this slow rain.
It was raining cats and dogs. And I did not hear a single one of them complain. No, I did not hear a single utter of a complain from any of them. They all bought their own umbrellas or huddled up underneath someone's got a poncho. They got onto the bus. Some of them changed their shirts before we got to mass. And they continued on with the pilgrimage. And they weren't upset, they weren't mad. Yeah, it was beautiful.
[00:09:28] Speaker B: It really was beautiful. And they waited online right from the beginning. Right from the beginning. So we arrived a little before noon. There was a line at St. Clair's and that was about to Close for the Rebozo. And so we went over to the tomb of Kolokutis, which really was the highlight for a lot of the young people. They wanted to see the tomb of Karla Acutis. And I think it was about an hour's wait for a quick walk by.
[00:09:54] Speaker A: You couldn't even stop to touch it. They were moving quickly and even then they didn't complain. They just were happy that they saw him.
[00:10:01] Speaker B: Exactly. It's so edifying to witness that, to see it. And then of course, right after that, that's when the rains came. And yet they managed to find a place to eat. They were back on time. And we went right back into Santa Chiara and St. Clair's and we could pray before the cross that St. Francis was praying before. And that was an occasion where you didn't have to rush. Even though there was a line once you got in, you could pray a little bit. And they did pray. And then we went down to the Poziuncola to the Basilica Church of St. Mary of the Angels, where that crucifix had hung when Francis first witnessed it. And we had Mass there. And it was a beautiful occasion. Yes, it really was a beautiful Mass. A chance to reflect on the day and on the meaning of the city. It's a good introduction for somebody into a pilgrimage because you started off on a high tone spiritual.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Yes. Which is something that I don't know if all pilgrims know how to. How do you prepare for a pilgrimage? Why am I here? Like, what is the purpose of me desiring to be here and the fact that I'm here and what do I do now with what I'm getting? Why is it important for me to know who Saint Francis of Assisi is and why this town is named after him? So just to like, be able to have that presence of, oh, this is why you're here. And like blessed Carlo, curious. St. Francis did this and Claire did this, kind of just sets the tone of what the rest of the pilgrimage is. We'll get to see a lot of martyrs. A lot of them may not know what martyrs are, or they're learning why it's important to be a martyr. Not necessarily that you have to die for your faith, but would it come to that? And just seeing some of these major Catholic things and items in places that they've always heard about, but don't understand why it's important to them, and now they get to see it and have a personal connection to it.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: Exactly.
And of course, the highlight at the end is the encounter, yes, the Holy Father, our new Holy Father. And I think that would be extremely rewarding for all of us. Last night, I know I was exhausted because we were on the road at 7 o'. Clock. That's nothing to what they experienced. But after a light meal, they got up and they went out into the city. Some of those churches, like the church with Carlo Acutis, at the church by the door of Renunciation, were open at night.
And with great responsibility, they worked with their own local group leader. But with great responsibility, they went out, they visited the spot. Some of them told me about the young people in the squares at the piazza, singing and dancing. They got to witness some of that experience of Assisi, see some of the panoramic sites as they went. And this morning we packed the bus and get over to the basilica for Mass, and same thing, not a complaint and not a person missing a light.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: No, it was incredible to see them all at breakfast already, bags packed, ready to go, climbing down the hills with their bags rolling. And then to just go into mass and see them also, just even prepare themselves for Mass. They have been very respectful of the place that they're going into. They still are very young and will go and have fun and buy the thing that they want from those shops, but. But they'll come into the church and know that it's a place of holiness and just a place of rest.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: And even today, after Mass, got a little bit of an introduction to the basilica and then they were free. Yes, but they spent a lot of time in the basilica looking at all the frescoes, getting a sense of that Franciscan background. But even just to pray. Yes, to offer their own prayers to.
[00:13:32] Speaker A: The Lord, and they had different areas to pray in too. So just to see that where it wasn't just, oh, I'm stopping by the chapel because it's right in front of me, no, I want to go pray in front of this specific image, or like there were some of the vestments that the saints wore that they got to pray with. And just seeing that has been really beautiful. And that's what it's all about. Just to be able to come in this way and just like, continue to serve in this way. And most of these kids, I didn't know most of them until this trip, and it's just there's already a sense of bonding even within them and the rest of the team.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Right. Some of them within their own group, but even now you see some of the groups extending out behind each other. It's going to be very interesting. As they get into the pilgrim part of it and start to branch out and see people from all over the world.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: You know, last week when we had the blessing of the pilgrims going forth, one of our media, the Tablet of Currents, asked about, you know, this particular pilgrimage, but what do these experiences do for young people? And it was almost an afterthought. But it's something I say all the time in our world. You're made to feel as if you're different. You're a little bit weird if you have faith, especially if you're in person. You know, when you look around and you see thousands, maybe even a million young people sharing the same faith, but also being joyful about that same faith, being alive in it and being excited about it, that's a game changer. And suddenly you're not so isolated, and you know that there is something to this, and people ground themselves in this faith, and that can help you get through the trials and tribulations. So it's nice to see those kinds of things. And that goes back to the same with campus ministry. Sometimes you can feel very isolated.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Oh, for sure.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Especially as a Catholic Christian on a campus.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: I know that one of the biggest things that I saw was Ash Wednesday. It was either people were very proud of it or they would wipe off the cross. And it's just this sense of I don't know if you share the same faith as I do, and I don't know if I can tell you because of how you will receive it. And it's very isolating to know. We've had students that come up to us, and they're like, I'm in this debate class, and we're about to start on this topic, and it'll be a hard topic that it's either you're this or you're that, and there's no in between. And it's just to see them wrestle with that is. It's a place for us to be invited into, to walk with them in it, but also hard to see them struggle with it.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: Yeah. And now this isn't my first trip. And one of the things that's so encouraging is now with them here a couple of years, a lot of these young people through their groups are very active in parishes, servers. They. They do service projects. They're constantly putting themselves out in service, and so they're not strangers. The new experience for me, you know, the first couple of years, it was okay. I'm meeting a lot of new people.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Now I'm connecting with people who are themselves involved in their parish. And that's one of the great blessings of youth ministry that you're going to be part of here to see how, through the good work of our youth ministry leaders and our parish priests, now religious and our deacons. But you see how these young people are invited into the life of the parish and how they contribute to it. So that's something we hope they will hold on to for life.
[00:16:49] Speaker A: Yes. And it's definitely something that has been part of the diocese for a while, and I can see that just from the different people that I've had the privilege of meeting. I did not grow up in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, so coming into it as a missionary, I got a little bit of a sense of who was who and kind of just like how specifically a lot of these kids grew up within the diocese and what their faith was and what their journey was. And while they're all unique, they're also all very similar because they all grew up in the same area. And now to hear their stories of oh, yes, I've been part of this ministry for 15 years. Oh, yes, I've been part of this ministry since this much or even I have the privilege of going to cathedral prep often, because my office is there and getting to talk to some of the high schoolers. They'll share with me. I'm a sacristan. At the age of 14, 15, I don't think I was thinking of ever even helping at my parish in that way. Or if I was, I wasn't doing it out of desire or love for the Lord, but out of obligation. And you can tell that that's not the case for them.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Well, I thank you. I thank you for stepping up. We miss Lucia, who had been your predecessor, and we wish her well in her new career. But I'm so glad you stepped up when there was a void, and we're glad to have you on the team. And I thank you very much for what you already are doing. To serve and to encourage and even to meet, ask people their names and all of that. It means a lot to the young people. So thank you very much. We close with a prayer, and I often use the blessing from the Book of Numbers. It's the blessing. The reading is that God said to Moses, when you bless, the people say this. And I figured, well, if that's what the Bible says to do, it's not a bad blessing. But in a sense, it's also a Franciscan blessing. It had a Franciscan nature to it, so we'll use it with that in mind today. The Lord be with you with your spirit. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he look upon you with kindness and grant you his peace. And 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. Amen. Thanks once again for joining us for this week's edition of Big City Catholics. Please join us again next week. We'll have the chance to speak with some of the pilgrims and reflect on their experience of what's been happening here in Rome and in Assisi. God bless you and have a wonderful week.
