Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign welcome back to a new edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn and Queens, and myself, Father Christopher Henry. Today, as this podcast releases on the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it makes the most of appropriate sense to begin our prayer, asking her intercession in the name of the Father, Son and 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.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Bishop, after a few weeks of taking the podcast on the road to Rome with the Jubilee Youth, we're back in Brooklyn. We're back together again. It's nice to have this podcast again.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: With you and gearing up. And just as that Jubilee of Youth celebrated the gifts of our young people, boy, our young people are going to be keeping us busy in the next couple of weeks. We'll be getting school started and all of that. But you know what, boy, this has been a weekend for vocations, for religious vocations coming out of Brooklyn and Queens.
[00:01:13] Speaker A: Yeah, tell us about that. I noticed certainly well covered in last week's edition of the Tablet. Beautiful story of a local young woman from Rockaway, from Bell harbor area, from St. Francis de Sal.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: Yes. Jacqueline Gallagher. She went to St. Francis DeSales parish in Rockaway. She went to Michigan Carney and then was a Track star at St. John's University. And she took her vows on Monday with the Dominican Sisters out of Nashville, Tennessee, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. So proud of her. And her story is a great story. You see her with her family. It's such an encouragement. Unfortunately, I couldn't make that prediction profession because of a prior commitment I had on Monday evening. But I know Father Sukiel from Holy family over by St. John's who's been spiritually connected to her. And her religious name is now Sister Veronica May. On the one hand, we wish her the very, very best and her family as well, and the Dominican Sisters. But also it's a celebration of a number of religious vocations that have come out of Brooklyn and Queens in these last few years. It's very impress. I talk about it a lot at confirmation. I point to different young people who sat right where our young Confirmandi are sitting and say, these people sat in your places. Then they heard God's call here in Brooklyn and Queens. So good Things are happening. Earlier in the weekend, I did get to the profession of Brother Raje Clark. He's a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas in Flatlands. He went to Christo Rey High School, and he's very involved with the Ambassador program that Father Duane moderates. I seen him in different events, but I got to know him throughout pilgrimage, first to the National Black Catholic Congress and then to World Youth Day in Lisbon in Portugal. And he, with Father Duane, was part of the animation team for some of the catechesis. It was really very moving to see him take his vows and to reconnect with his family and with parishioners from St. Thomas and really with some representatives from the school at Christo Rey. I told them I was so glad that they see a value in a religious vocation coming from their high school. They see that as a success story, and rightly so. So I was at that first faz that Saturday.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Bishop, was there reasons given as to why he was drawn to the Jesuits particularly?
[00:03:38] Speaker B: He had some connections with them there. He went to Boston College, and so he came to know the Jesuits through his study at college. He had that calling to Ignatian spirituality. It was an interesting profession. I had never seen anything like this before. He took his vows, not in a question answer form, but each of the three men taking their vows read their vows, but they did it at an interesting point before receiving Communion. So after the Eucharistic prayer, after the priests who celebrated the Mass of Provincial received Holy Communion, he went out in front of the altar holding the sacred Body and the precious Blood, the chalice, and each of the men knelt down and made that solemn profession. And that's something that goes back to the time of Ignatius, that it was very important for Ignatius that these vows be professed before the Blessed Sacrament, before the Eucharist.
[00:04:34] Speaker A: That's really beautiful. That is actually beautiful.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: But it was interesting. And so now he'll go right away. He went last week, at the beginning of the week, right to the beginning of philosophy. He'll be in St. Louis studying with the Jesuits. He'll begin his philosophy, moving towards study and preparation and formation for ordination.
[00:04:52] Speaker A: If the podcast is still going eight years from now, we could maybe celebrate his ordination.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Yes, that's right. The Jesuits do take a while.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: It is great. And Bishop, the fact that you highlight these young folks from our diocese that are making this incredible step forward to saying yes to the Lord and yes to the call of the Lord, and this invitation to serve not just diocesan priest life, but as religious in different communities that are both here in our diocese served nearing our diocese, or even a sister has become involved with the Dominican sisters out of Nashville. The joy is contagious that it just spreads throughout. And it is a great honor for our local parishes and a great honor for the high schools and universities to celebrate the good things that are happening. So it is wonderful.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: And then back at home in another two weeks, it'll be my turn to give the seminary retreat up in Dunwoody, and that will begin the academic and formation year in our local seminary where our diocesan priests are formed and prepared for priesthood.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: You know, Bishop, we always think when we hear any Marian feast or solemnity, we talk about that. Yes, right. We always talk about Mary's fiat. And as this podcast releases Today on Friday, August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother, the Holy Day of Obligation, we're kind of reminded again to focus on that. Yes, but we're reminded in a different way. It's not just Mary's yes, to serve the Lord. It's focusing our attention on eternal life. We're focusing our attention on where our souls wish to be directed to heaven. It's been part of the readings these last few weekends, where our treasure is. We're talking about, you know, eternal life and what really are our priorities. I think it's beautiful again that this theme of vocations, this theme of salvation of souls relate on today's podcast as we kind of all also reflect on our Blessed Mother Mary.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: Exactly. You know, the Assumption of Mary is really the fruit of Easter, the sharing in the resurrection of Christ. We proclaim Christ risen from the dead and that Jesus's resurrection is not just like a moment in time, but it opens the way so that we too seek to share in his glory. Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven. We believe that we too, one day we long to be with Christ in heaven. And as we say in the creed regularly, I believe in the resurrection of the body. Mary's already achieved that fruit of the resurrection for which we live in hope. And as the reading in the past Sunday said from Hebrews, and we believe that the one who makes the promise is trustworthy.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: We place our hope and our faith in that alone.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, this year it's all about pilgrims of hope. It's not hope getting from day to day. It's a hope that sees well into the horizon and sees the goal. It's that fullness of life with Christ which Mary already enjoys and which Mary teaches us to follow. The way which Is the way is Christ himself.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: It's a beautiful day, Bishop. We could talk a little bit about it being a holy day of obligation. And I know that gets harder and harder, it seems, each and every year. We're just at times grateful that people are coming to Mass on Sunday. But yet the church still maintains these days where we ask the faithful to honor a particular cause, a particular reason. And so I guess, how is it that we can continue to strive to challenge our faithful to make time on days that are appointed as days of obligation outside in those Sundays, I think.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: What we want to do is celebrate these days. Well, we're already at the day, but by making Mass available, by encouraging and by talking about it, these are days like Sunday. There are some feasts that they kind of step into our ordinary lives. You know, we have the Sunday Sabbath. But there are a couple of events in salvation history that are important moments for all of us. And so we treat it a little differently. It kind of interrupts the week. It gets the busyness of our lives. I dare say that you're in a parish where I think you'll have a crowd tonight.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: I think so. We've added an additional evening Mass for the faithful who work at 9 to 5. But it's definitely going to be a.
[00:09:18] Speaker B: Busy day in our parishes. Up in that Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona area, you see a lot of participation. That's a sign and a source of hope and inspiration for all of us.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: And to see young families coming together. In one of your recent Sunday reflections, you mentioned something I thought was really very interesting. You said it was St. Francis de Sales line, that every one of us needs a half an hour of prayer every day, except when we're busy. Then we need a full hour. That's a great line, isn't it?
[00:09:49] Speaker B: I've heard different variations of that quote and attributed to different people, but when you trace it back, you know, the origin that I came up with was Francis de Sales. But exactly every one of us needs at least a half hour in prayer. Unless you're really busy. In that case, you need even more. You need a full hour.
[00:10:06] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's the idea. I mean, it's saying to people, August 15, on this day, a busy day, even more so sometimes when it falls on a Friday, a day that people have plans and social events and etc. To say no. We need to make the time to spend time with the Lord and to unite in prayer, even if we're busy.
[00:10:24] Speaker B: Especially because we're busy.
[00:10:25] Speaker A: Especially because we're busy. Yeah, exactly.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: The busyness of life can steamroll us. And in fact, God gives us the strength that we need along the way. And again, the hope celebrating today, the Feast of the Assumption is really a source of hope and inspiration to use. Another Sunday reflection, lifting up our eyes, lifting up our gaze out of what's right in front of us. Looking at the broader perspective. We were made to live forever. We were made to be forever with God in heaven. Mary's achieved that, and she's showing us that it's possible to for us. And so we want to follow her counsel, to follow her son, and to get through this life. Not just to get through it, but to get through this life. Longing for its final destination, longing for that eternity with God forever in Christ, where all things are united once again.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: I have to say, and not to make any assumptions, but we have to play on words. We have to definitely place our trust in the Lord and recognize each and every day is that gift from the Lord to give him glory and praise and honor, and to do so even by honoring our Blessed Mother, who certainly points us all to the Lord. In my home parish, St. Mary Winfield, blessed Virgin Mary, helpful Christians. I remember as a young child seeing the front of the altar and it was a mosaic of Mary and it said, ad Jesum per Mariam. And I never knew what that meant as a young kid. And then I'd asked my pastor, you know, what does that mean? And he said to Jesus through Mary. And we recognize her incredible importance in our own salvation and assisting us to gain heaven and to be united with her in heaven, with the Lord and with all the angels and saints. Bishop, perhaps on that note you could ask the Lord's blessing upon us. Exactly.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: Yes. We enjoy these last couple of weeks of summer and we ask the Lord's blessing for us on this holy day and on this weekend that's upcoming.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: The Lord be with you and with your spirit.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: May the Lord bless you and keep your main space, shine upon you and be gracious to you may 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.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Amen. Thank you, Bishop. And thanks to all who continue to join us each and every week. We hope that you'll join us next week again for a new edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics. God bless you.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: God bless.
