Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: 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 Henyu. Today we're joined with Father Joseph Zwasta, the academic dean of the national seminary. Pope St. John the 23rd national seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. Happy to have you back on the podcast, Father Zwasta. But before we begin, we'll begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen. We ask our blessed Mother's intercession, Our Lady Queen of Peace, as we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
[00:00:46] Speaker C: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Father Zwasta, great to have you back on with us.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Thank you for having me.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: So, Father Zwasta, you're beginning a new semester this time of September. We're coming into Labor Day weekend, but things are already underway. How's the opening up at Pope St John XXIII?
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Yes, this is our first week of class. I actually had my first class this morning. I taught for sacramental theology and we just had two weeks of orientation for our new seminarians. So we have 11 new seminarians, small, over the United States, those who don't know we're a seminary that we especially train those who are starting out a little older. So 30 years and older for men who are being formed to be ordained priests. And so we have students from all over the country and we had a lovely two week orientation period for the new seminarians. And now all of the returning seminarians are back. We're back up and running.
[00:01:44] Speaker C: As we say, there's always a good spirit in the house in September, I always say, don't make any decisions about the seminary in September or in March, because in September everything's terrific. In March, you know, it's the dreary, long days, everything's kind of heavy duty. But September, there's just something nice about a fresh start, isn't there?
[00:02:02] Speaker A: Very much so. And I think the guys really like the opportunity to get to know one another for those who are new and for those who are returning to see old friends.
And the workload isn't too heavy at the beginning of the semester and the weather's really nice. So it is always nice to start a new year. And as you say, there's a lot of optimism about the year ahead. And we know There'll be challenges as we go on, but certainly. And those who have visited our seminary know that we usually have. The guys are really happy to be here, happy to be engaged in the formation program and studying theology and their pastoral assignments and the other aspects of formation. So it's really a very nice community to be a part of.
[00:02:46] Speaker C: That's great. I myself over at St. Joseph Seminary in Dunwoody, Yonkers, traditionally they had their days of orientation and for the new men and they've had their days to settle in. But on Wednesday we began the retreat. So we spent three days in retreat. It's kind of a light retreat. I think there's a. There are some elements of silence, a bit of reflection, focusing in on a couple of gospel passages, but it's not like that serious, like an Ignatian eight day retreat. It's more of a kind of change of gears, getting back in to things. So we pray for them. They seem to be doing well. They have a good sized house this year and we have a good, good number of men. We only have one man at Pope St. John this year. We ordained a fellow from Pope St. John in June. And my hope as we look at people who are discerning right now, that we'll have a couple of guys who may be coming in the next year or so. There seem to be a few guys who have taken actual retreats up there. At Pope St John XXIII, we do.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Offer First Friday visits for those who are interested in the seminary and guys do come from again different parts of the country to come and just experience being a part of the community kind of first Friday evenings, then twice a semester we have weekend retreats for those who are discerning. So if anyone might be interested in, you know, someone who is an older candidate perhaps for the priesthood, please know that you're welcome to pursue some of those opportunities to come and experience the seminary.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: It's great.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Even here at St. Joan of Arc Parish. I recently met with one of our parishioners who's in his mid-40s, who is beginning his discernment of a call to the priesthood or just beginning to take it more seriously. And I'd imagine working with Father Bethji, our vocation director, if all things go well, will probably as well be a perfect candidate for Pope Saint John XXIII Seminary as well. So it's a great house of bishop up there. I've had a chance to visit that beautiful seminary in Weston, Massachusetts. And just knowing how well the men are treated and how well they're Formed. It's a very, very enjoyable time, enjoyable place to visit.
[00:04:54] Speaker C: And as I said before, it's a good feeling over here this week at St. Joseph's as we get underway, we have a number of Brooklyn priests on the faculty here at this seminary at St. Joseph's and a number of our men are here. I had a chance earlier this week for the Mass of the Holy Spirit at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. Again, it's good getting started. And, Father Henry, you're off to a new start, too. An academic calendar before you.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: That's right. This upcoming week, we're preparing for the beginning of our school year. And I'm super excited to meet the children of our school. We're registered just shy of 200 students for our school year this year, which is a little up from last year, which is good. And we hope to continue to see growth, obviously, in the school. The school is a blessing to the parish, and I know it because I saw at Holy Child what it was like to have a school. I saw at the CO Cathedral what it was like to not have a school. And now I see again what it's like to have a school. So you can really tell the difference. So I'm very excited, working with the principal, trying to find scholarships for our students to send them to help our families to afford Catholic education, because we know how difficult that can be, the great sacrifices that they make. But there's definitely a lot of excitement. So on Tuesday of this upcoming week, we meet with the teachers. And then on Wednesday, September 3, the students come for their first day. So they begin, of course, their school year with math. And I'm super excited to welcome them and to meet them all. So it'll be very, very enjoyable, for sure.
[00:06:21] Speaker C: Earlier in the week, I also had Mass with the principals for the schools, and they're all ready to go. They're looking forward to joining all the kids. There's something great about September and there's something great about June.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Bishop, if I'm not mistaken, your time in the seminary there for the retreat as an opportunity for each of the ordinaries of the dioceses to give a retreat each year. So is there sort of a cycle?
[00:06:44] Speaker C: About 10 or 12 years ago, when the seminaries merged the Immaculate Conception In Huntington and St. Joseph's and Yonkers, we began what's called a partnership. St. Charles Barro, mail partnership. And that was the Bishop of Rockville center, the Bishop of Brooklyn, and the Archbishop of New York. And that partnership has continued. And so one of the things we do is we rotate those opening retreats. When I first came, my first opening of the school year in 2022, I was privileged to give the retreat and also to ordain the deacons that Cardinal Dolan did it the following year and Bishop Harris the year after, or vice versa. I forget. So now it's my turn again. And it's nice. It's a nice experience because certainly I have concern for our own seminarians who are here from Brooklyn and Queens, and I get to know them through our regular routine of the year. But it's nice to get to know all the guys of the seminary and to have some kind of a connection with the seminarians.
So as we start to get underway, Pope Leo has been calling us to prayer for peace. Obviously, from the time he was chosen as pope, from his earliest communications with the world, he's been a voice for peace in the world. But he's calling on all of us as Catholic Christians to take something upon ourselves, take some responsibility, and to engage in prayer. He called last week at the general audience for a day of prayer, which he assigned last Friday. And to the extent that we could, with that note notice, we got the word out and shared in it. But then on the day itself, he invited other local churches to continue that idea. And so we're going to be having a day of prayer for Peace on September 15, the Feast of Our lady of Sorrows. Having meditated on the triumph of the cross, Jesus's victory over sin and death, we join with Mary in recognizing that sin and death is still a reality in our world, and we need to turn to Christ seeking healing in our world.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Yes. And as you say, Pope Leo, his first words when he came out on the balcony on the day of his election were in Italian, la pace sia contutti voi. Peace be with you all. And it was so appropriate because it was really just still during the Easter season.
And, you know, those are the words of Christ, the first words of the risen Christ to the apostles that they have that peace that really, truly only comes from him, from our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's such an important part of our Catholic faith. And I think about, you know, every day at Mass, we as priests have the opportunity to. To pray right before Holy Communion for peace, to ask the Lord, especially for peace for ourselves, for our families, for the whole world, for the church. And so it's. It's been such an important theme, as you say, of our Holy Father's pontificate thus far.
[00:09:39] Speaker C: And how appropriate, because there are the well known wars, sadly enough. I mean, we're coming up on two years now since the attack from Hamas on Israel and then the war in Gaza. There are still hostages who are there and we see what's being called a real humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Very recently a Catholic church was bombed and we saw devastation. They're the only Catholic church in Gaza City. You know, we have concern for anybody, for all the people living under the burden war. We see the effects of the war in Ukraine that's been going on for several years and again, just terrible, terrible human suffering. And so we pray for an end and we see some, there are some glimmers of hope. We see efforts at peace. But those efforts need to be joined with that power of prayer, don't they?
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I think that the day of prayer and fasting that you mentioned, that worldwide observance that the Pope called for was, you know, great opportunity. And the more we can pray and fast, the more we're going to be able to do something constructive to bring about that peace. And you know, it might take a very long time to see the results, but we, it's part of our faith. We just know that we have to, you know, continue to pray and not grow weary when it seems like things don't seem to be getting any better. And fasting, especially as it means in general in our spiritual lives to purify our own hearts so that we can, we know what we should be asking for and then we're going to more readily obtain it if we engage in those acts of self denial.
[00:11:21] Speaker C: It's an interesting concept, praying for peace. It almost sounds like, well, we're going to try to change God's mind. And yet we know that that's not what prayer is about and that's certainly not what praying for peace is. But you mentioned that transformation of ourselves and really of the world. We're praying for this change of heart.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And just in general, God, he wills certain things to happen as a result of our prayers or by means of our prayers.
That's an important concept as well when we think about, you know, our spiritual lives.
And I think that one of the wonderful things about being Catholic is the universality of the church. And to have, you know, people throughout the world, members of the Catholic Church, praying for any particular intention is very powerful indeed. And so I think those continued prayers for peace, especially in those war torn areas such as Gaza, such as Ukraine, is just important for all of us.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: It's incredibly important. And again, it's that sense of transformation you know, I remember hearing a talk at this gathering of Catholics in Florida a few years ago, a national gathering through the Conference of Bishops. And one of the speakers, he kind of used a secular model, but he applied it to this idea of prayer and of witness. He says, you know, we kind of live in, within these two circles, there's this circle of concern, which is this large circle, the large circle, the circle of concern, all the things that are happening in the world, all the problems of the world, things that are within control, things that aren't within our control, but these are things we're concerned about. He said, but within that circle, there's another circle, and that's the circle of influence.
And you look at that circle of influence, and that's much smaller. That's the world I'm in. That's the world I can make changes in. That's the world I can affect. And he said, very often we tend to live in the circle of concern. You know, we sit there, we watch the news, we fret over things, we get excited about things. You know, we're not committed to what I can do here. And yet, by contrast, he says, that circle of influence, the more we focus on that, the bigger that circle of influence gets and matches the circle of concern. So, like, if I'm focused, for example, on peace but praying on where I need to be a peaceful person or how my prayer and my witness might affect the world where I live, that circle of influence, what's going to happen is that that will have a transformative effect, and that circle of influence will get bigger and bigger and bigger. And in a sense, turning to the Lord and asking for that prayer is saying, lord, to use St. Francis. When I'm praying for peace, I'm kind of saying, lord, make me an instrument of your peace. You know, maybe my life. I'm not going to change the situation in Ukraine. But you know what? I'm going to be part of a transformation of culture that turns over to the Lord and surrenders and seeks his will, desires what God wants, desires what God offers.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: I think to your point, Bishop, that also speaks to, as we see these local churches, including the Diocese of Brooklyn, that points to our influence, the circle of our influence here locally. So while we unite with all of the Catholics throughout the world, in a recent article published on the Vatican News about how different episcopal conferences in Spain, in parts of Europe, and now you hear in Latin America and here in the Diocese of Brooklyn calling on their individual churches, their individual parishioners and faithful to use their circle of influence, to fill that circle of influence with cries of peace and an urgency for peace. I think that makes a lot of sense. And I think hopefully that September 15th here in the Diocese of Brooklyn will be able to echo that as well.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: And in a democratic society, we make decisions and set priorities. And so having hearts that are prayerful and transformed, they do matter as we expand those horizons.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: I was looking at the Catechism of the Catholic Church a little while ago, and it quotes St. Augustine in defining peace. And St. Augustine defined peace as the tranquility of order. And that's something we're thinking about because peace is something that. It's a word that is often used, but perhaps not often defined or maybe considered in terms of what it really means. It's not just the absence of conflict in and of itself. That would not be peace. There needs to be a well ordered society, justice. We think of all of the destruction that has come through those conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, other parts of the world. And even if there were a ceasefire, let's say today, there would still be so much that would need to be done for there to be true peace in those areas in terms of having a just society in which everyone has the things that they need, in terms of their material needs, their spiritual needs and so forth. And in praying for peace, we're praying for that, that tranquility of order that St. Augustine talks about.
[00:16:37] Speaker C: That's important. You know, in the communications about the Day of Prayer for peace, it was noted that, you know, of course there were those big conflicts that the world is focused on that we were talking about, but that as well, I think they named. There were like something like 56 wars actively engaged right now all around the world. Many of those don't get reported.
Many of those are kind of shrugged off. Some of those are decades long wars and violence, and some of them are skirmishes kind of arising every once in a while when we talk about a circle of influence. One of the issues too for us in Brooklyn and Queensland is that many of our own parishioners come from some of these areas. Some have come here fleeing war and violence. But a lot of people are here with family back in these places. And I think in a very particular way of our Haitian community, all of the violence, I don't know if you call it a civil war, it's more of sort of a gang mentality. It's not that a conflict with another nation. But I really do think often I have a friend, she was a parishioner in Long beach, and she since has moved to Virginia. You know, back and forth, we correspond. And she's always saying, pray for Haiti, pray for Haiti. You know, this is personal. This is personal for a lot of our people. So our prayers for peace also put us into solidarity with one another, into solidarity with people, we have no idea who they are, living in lands far away, but in solidarity with our own brothers and sisters, our neighbors right here in Brooklyn and Queens.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: Father Zwasta, to your point about this tranquility of order and that if there was a ceasefire across the world, there still doesn't mean that there's a tranquility yet of order, and we still pray for that. Pope Leo mentioned in a general audience about the aspect of forgiveness in this forgiving does not mean denying the evil, but preventing it from generating more evil. So there's an aspect of peace that we're praying for and that a conversion of heart and forgiveness and allowing that gift of God's grace to help to forgive, not denying what has happened, but to help to create more of a peaceful environment.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Yes, I think that general audience was in the context of the discussion of the situation of Judas. We think about the one who portrayed Christ and the Holy Father is making the point that Christ was certainly willing to forgive Judas. Judas was not willing to be forgiven. He wasn't willing to receive that gift of forgiveness. And I think that has a lot of lessons for us in terms of.
In our individual lives when we have to forgive and we have to also be willing to receive forgiveness for the times that we have gone astray. And so that's certainly true in our individual lives, but it's also true on these, on the larger level of these conflicts within countries, between countries and so forth. That willingness to forgive and to receive forgiveness is really at the heart of building that more peaceful world.
[00:19:42] Speaker C: And again, that's the thing. It's not just dropping the weapons, but building that society, like you say, that restoration, that tranquility of water, because the vacuums get filled in very, very quickly. So we pray for that sense of water. You know, we talk about what's happening around the world and we pray first also for the efforts underway. You know, it's not all bad news. I don't know where things are going to go, but you're certainly seeing a desire for peace, for a restoration of order, for some kind of conciliation. And we pray for those efforts that are underway, whether it be some of the negotiations that our own president is undertaking, some of the calls that our Holy Father has made, some of the advances where people are seeking to foster some kind of a reconciliation just because of the cessation of violence. You know, you see sort of a war weariness in Israel. It's not without hope. You know, when we pray for peace, we're seeing that there are efforts out there. So we're praying that some of these efforts might actually take place. At the same time, we recognize some of the violence in our own midst and in our own cities. We're recording this midweek just as we're getting some very disturbing news still unfolding about a shooting in Minneapolis right outside of a Catholic school, and getting mixed messages about whether the school itself is involved. It was outside of the school. At this point, we just pray. We pray for anybody who suffered there in that shooting. And we realized that these things are all too common in our own city. I woke up this morning, I think there were five shootings in eight hours in the Bronx. We really do pray and work toward transforming our own neighborhoods and cities, extending that hand of friendship, of peace in the world, praying for that sense of peace and reconciliation in our own society, in our own cities, in our families, in all of our relationships. You talk about the restoration of water. It's true as well, in our own little worlds.
[00:21:53] Speaker B: Bishop, as you mentioned this, we think how it even strikes home in this week's edition of the diocesan newspaper, the Tablet. It's a beautiful article about the father who is the security guard in that midtown Manhattan shooting, who lost his life, whose son is a student at one of our Catholic academies, Midwood Academy, and how the community and some donors have rall behind in order to make sure that the son continues to study at our school, to find something good to come out of something terrible. And we realize the importance of the call to community action. I think that's what I hope for on September 15th. I hope that our parishes will make a loud call for a cry for peace and enter into that prayer. And also, as Father Zwasta mentioned, the fasting, making those sacrifices for the ability to deepen our prayer and to make our prayers more efficacious. So there's always something we pray that for always the good to shine out of the midst of this evil and in the midst of the conflict. But we continue to pray for that. And thank you for bringing this to the attention of our listeners and to our diocese.
[00:23:02] Speaker C: And we make that internal commitment to pray, to fast. Fast as you will. There are different kinds of fasting. You know, there's the Lenten experience of fast and abstinence. There's fasting between meals. Of course, you have to observe health, but to do some kind of self denial, as you said, Father Zwasta, to purify and to sharpen our desire when we were asking for something, to really sharpen that desire, not just to fill ourselves up with what I would call comfort food, but really to set our hearts toward what we really are asking for in prayer.
[00:23:36] Speaker A: One of the aspects of, I know the program say, at Dunwoody for the seminarians who are starting out is they do a technology fast that's something kind of new in our world today, where we're so engrossed in our cell phones and other devices that we can, you know, just lose our perspective on life.
And so a lot of the younger seminarians have found it very helpful, even though it's difficult at first to have a good portion of the week in which they don't use their devices.
And they have a lot more time than for prayer and for study and for human interactions.
So that's something that, when you were talking before about the idea of our sphere of concern and of influence, sometimes if we pull away perhaps from our devices, which are telling us about bad things that are happening all around the world, we can focus on the parts of life, as you said, that we can control and that we do have an influence over and then have a better perspective.
[00:24:36] Speaker C: It's a great idea. That's a good kind of a fast. You're right. Exactly. So what is it? What do I fill my life with or fill my desires and to purify. To go back to your original image. To purify so that we really do come to the Lord with open hands and ask what we need, which really is that sense of peace. I'll close with a prayer that is kind of adapted. It's, you know, we have the four traditional eucharistic prayers. Then there were prayers for masses of various needs and occasions. But there are two prayers for reconciliation. One of those prayers, the preface, gives some very rich language that I think is appropriate for what we're talking about today. And again September 15th, there'll be more information shared through our diocesan media and web page and all of that and hopefully in parish bulletins in the next two weekends. So let's pray in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord God, we realize that though the human race is divided by dissension and discord, we know that by testing us, you change our hearts to prepare them for reconciliation. Even more.
By your spirit, you move human hearts so that enemies may speak to one another again.
Adversaries may join hands, and people seek to meet together by the working of your power. It comes about, O Lord, that hatred is overcome by love.
Revenge gives way to forgiveness, and discord is changed to mutual respect.
Bestow on us, O Lord, that gift of peace. And let us be agents of your transformation of the world. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Amen. Thank you, Bishop. And thank you again, Father Zwasta, for joining us. And to all those who listen each and every week, thank you. We'll see you again next week. God bless.
Satisfaction.
