Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign welcome to a new edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens. Myself, Father Christopher Henry, the pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish. Today we're joined with Father Duane Davis, the pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas parish in flatlands Brooklyn. Dwayne, a proud son of Jamaica and a great priest here in our diocese of Brooklyn. We're speaking a little bit about the recent news of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. As we begin this month of November, a month of remembrance. We'll begin our prayers asking for our Blessed Mother's intercession upon all that we think about and all that we talk about this day, especially in remembering the souls of the faithful departed and all those who are died in recent days, and especially those who are victims of this Hurricane Melissa, which has affected Jamaica and Haiti, Dominican Republic and other countries in that region. We pray 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.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
[00:01:17] Speaker A: Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Father Davis, thank you for joining us today. Especially as we begin this month of November, we planned, Bishop and I planned to speak about the month of November being a month of remembrance of those who have died.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Well, Father Hanyu, this weekend that just passed was an unusual weekend. It's not usual that we celebrate All Souls Day on a Sunday.
And yet that gave a lot of people the chance to touch base with it. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. So there's a somberness about All Souls Day. But on Saturday, we celebrated the FE All Saints and I had a great privilege. I ordained five men as transitional deacons, two for the Diocese of Rockville center, one for New York, and one for us in Brooklyn and queens at St. Joseph Seminary in Dunwoody. And then on Old Soul's Day, we have the custom of going to the cemetery. So I was at St. John's Cemetery in Queens. How was your Old Soul's Day, bishop?
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Here at St. Joan of Arc, we began a purgatorial society, which is an opportunity for men and women of the parish to enroll their loved ones, their deceased loved ones, into this society. That phrase, a Mass, dedicates a Mass for an entire year, once a month for an entire year for them. And it was received very well. As you mentioned, it is a unique weekend. All Hallows Eve In Jackson Heights. The largest children's Halloween parade happens here in Jackson Heights. And it's really nice to see all the kids from our parish school participating in that, celebrating the life of the saints. And then beginning this month of remembrance on November 2 with All Souls Day, it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster because we were experiencing the joys of it and also the somberness of that remembrance.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: And, Father Henry, of course, you experienced a personal loss this weekend. Parents went back to Ireland to be with your mother's sister. Right. And she passed away earlier this week.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Thank you, Bishop. My Aunt Mary, who had been sick for, I mean, just within a month or so, we were praying for her the day of my installation here on September 28th. And interestingly, and I think somewhat providential, evidentially on the Feast of All Souls, my Aunt Mary was called home. And so I take comfort in that, and I think my family does as well that we have this day in which the church has completely universally praying for all those who have died, all those who are mourning, and especially for those who have died on that day. And so I know that we add my Aunt Mary to the list of the departed, to the souls of the just. Thank you, Bishop.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: My condolences to you, to your family, and I'm glad that you, your mom and dad, were able to make it there so that they could be with her before she died. So that's a real blessing. And Father Davis, tell me about All Souls Day in St. Thomas Aquinas and Our Lady Help of Christians.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: So, yeah, in St. Thomas Aquinas and Lady Help of Christians, we have a tradition that we celebrate the life of those who have passed this year from November to November. And so we have a special Mass, normally the Sunday is closest to All Souls Day to celebrate them, to celebrate their life and the gift of who they are. And so the parish comes together for that Mass this year in a special way. My parochial vicar, Father Alex, worked on this new project called Table of Memory. And so parishioners were able to bring in photos of their loved ones, and there was candles placed by the photos of loved ones. That was a big part of the Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas. It really was really a joyful moment of celebration of the dead throughout the entire celebration of the Mass. That's great.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: That really is great. You know, the thought that always comes back to my mind during All Souls Days, that prayer that introduces the wake service. We believe that the ties of friendship and affection that knit us together throughout our lives do not unravel with death. But rather God always remembers the good we've done and forgives us our sins. It's that confidence that makes All Souls Day so important because we are connected. We're connected in this life and we're still connected with those who have died. So we certainly, just like we pray for them here on earth, we pray for them as they make that journey toward God. And we ask them too, to pray for us. That sense of the. We call it the communion of saints. It's so important to we believe and hold so, so dear to us. When I went to the cemetery, I had the Mass in St. John's we had a great crowd this year and I was able to get there early and walk around a little bit. I have a set of great grandparents who were buried there. And my first visit was when I went three years ago for cemetery mass on All Souls Day. I had never known them before, so it was a chance to connect and make a family connection. But we also have the priest circle. We have a lot of our priests are buried in this circle. In a certain section, there's a statue of St. John Vianney Walking through by the John was with me. I felt a little bit like some of the people I know of old, the Bishop I served an older priest telling stories, walking around and talking about different priests. And I knew this one and he died in such and such a time. And this one taught at the seminary. And then getting to really the last four years since, wow, seeing the priests who touched my life. It's very moving to walk around that circle and to pray with and for the priests who have died.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: Bishop I wholeheartedly agree. I remember visiting that circle at St. John Cemetery right there at the corner by Woodhaven Boulevard and that beautiful statue of the patron saint of priests. And when I was in college seminary, an older priest took me there and I knew no one that was buried there. And now I go again, even as I try to go in the month of November as well and visit their graves and begin to see all of these incredible priests that serve faithfully our diocese and buried there and begin to sort of just give thanks to God for the gift of their priesthood. It's a beautiful thing.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: Along those lines, earlier this week we had the mass for deceased deacons, priests and bishops. That's an important tradition here in the diocese. And we had a nice turnout of priests and deacons. We had a nice turned out of family members of the priest who have died in the last year. And then of course, we go downstairs to the tombs of the bishops. As I was praying down there, you have that sense of the history of the diocese. You know, people who've gone before us. Father Davis. During the weekend, though, between All Saints, All Souls, I had the treat of being at St Thomas. The ambassadors hosted a concert which featured different choirs. The Concert of Praise and Worship. That was a wonderful evening.
[00:07:54] Speaker C: The Ambassador Program, several years ago, started the Praise Concert, Ambassador's concert, at the beginning of Black Catholic History Month. So every year we have that concert. It's also a big fundraiser for the Ambassador Program, but we get different choirs from different churches. This year, we had the Sister Thea Bowman Choir join us. We had Chupecla from St. Jerome that joined us, St. Gregor the Great Choir that joined us, the Ambassador Praise Dancers and the Scumeto Catholic Academy. And the theme ensemble from Our Lady Help for Christians, the Filipino Heart Ensemble that was there. It was really in St. Thomas Aquinas choir, of course, was a part of it. So we have really about five choirs that participated this year. But every year, it's an opportunity for the different choirs in Brooklyn and Queens to get together and to praise the Lord. And so it's really a night of praise and dance and celebrating who we are also as black Catholics.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Right.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: And kudos to the Ambassadors for bringing us together like that and for doing all the work.
We've had the chance to speak with members of the program over the years on this podcast. But the Ambassador Program is really a youth program. A youth leadership program, right?
[00:09:06] Speaker C: Yes. So the Ambassador Program is a youth leadership program for. Mostly for our inner city young people in the black and brown community, both in Brooklyn and Queens. They come from about 20 different parishes. They're all high school students. It's great to see, even a night like that, how they come together and how they. They really kind of work the night to make sure that everybody who came feel welcome and really join in, both in the praise and even in the dance.
[00:09:31] Speaker B: And they are involved in all kinds of leadership for themselves, spiritual and human development, but also service. They have service trips and even do a lot of service right here in Brooklyn and Queens.
[00:09:45] Speaker C: Yes, indeed. Service has been a big part of who we are, as one of. That's one of our pillars. And especially living the corporate works of mercy, whether they here in Brooklyn, Queens, or within a nation, or even internationally as well, that they have traveled to do service. But really a big part of that is a real encounter with Jesus, encountering the living God within himself and within our brothers and sisters and everyone we Meet.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: That's great.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: And I'm excited about some of the plans you have for the future to engage the alumni. Now. You have generations now of young people have come through this and really can be leaders in the church, especially here in Brooklyn and Queens.
[00:10:23] Speaker C: Yeah, we're definitely excited about that, as we've been around for 17 years. And now somebody Elonmines want to give back. And also we're helping to build them to become leaders to be the future youth ministers and speakers and retreat leaders. So that. That has really become a real joy for us and something that we're really planning intentionally at this point.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: So, Father Davis, when we were together, I had a chance to ask you about the island of Jamaica. We know that there was a good deal of flooding damage, the island of Hispaniola, Dominican Republic, and Haiti. I know that Haiti suffered a lot. And we've been hearing a lot from some of our Haitian families about connections and people were suffering there.
Mostly the western part of Jamaica took a direct hit. And it was at a Category 5 at that point, right?
[00:11:11] Speaker C: Yes, yes. So the southwestern area of Jamaica, the Diocese of Mantego Bay and Mandeville got hit in a big way, more so than the other parts of the country. And the people are truly in dire need. Category 5 was a major storm. And yes, I think this is one of the biggest that we've known of even in modern history.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: That's my understanding. And even a smaller hurricane on a fairly narrow island would have devastating effects. So I can't even begin to imagine the devastation from a Category 5 storm. You do have some context there, of course. Archbishop Richards is a friend of Brooklyn and Queens. He was here last February for Black History Month. He really inspired us. I ran into him again in Rome, and he spent a little bit of time coming back from Rome on his way to another part of the United States. So certainly he was in our prayers. Now, like you say he was in the west, but he's the Metropolitan Archbishop, so you've had a chance to speak to him and to hear some of the effects of the storm, some of the needs.
[00:12:17] Speaker C: Yeah. So pretty much right after the storm, of course, being that I was. I'm Jamaican myself, I was born on the island of Jamaica. Even though I moved to Jamaica, Queens, when I was 12, a lot of people kept calling to ask how my family's doing and how things are going. And so one of the first thing I did was I called Archbishop to check in on him to see how his family's doing and how things going on in Jamaica as well as we got together on a conference call with a priest up in Boston College who was a good friend and a Jamaican priest as well. And we were talking about, how can we help at this particular point. And at that point, he. In Kingston, the architect of Kingston, which. Which is where I come from as well, was not badly damaged, even though there's some roof issues, some water issues, maybe some trees and. And some light issues for a couple of days. And so my family is doing well, praise God. But at that point, he was trying to talk with the Bishop of Mandeville and the administrator of Montego Bay, just gonna see what was the needs on the ground. We know that several rectories were destroyed and the chancery roof was destroyed. And then he actually went and did a real tour in that area as well with the bishop. And so we begin to see what the real needs are.
In a real sense, the real needs are first, prayer. The people of Jamaica needs prayer. And yes, they definitely need support because in some cases, everything that they have washed away in the storms. Right. But the one thing I know about the people of Jamaica is that we're very resilient. And so we're going to build back stronger, we're going to come stronger, and we, no matter even a little bit that they have, those who have little are still sharing that. And so everybody is ready to do what they can to help support each other.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: That's so important. I remember when Sandy hit here in Brooklyn and in Queens and on Long Island a little further east. I remember one pastor said to me, you know, if something were to happen, all the neighbors come rushing down and help the neighbor out. He says, but now everybody's in trouble, and it's just a bit overwhelming. So, yes, we pray, we pray, we pray hard. You know, thank God that Kingston was spared somewhat too, because I remember hearing on the news that that would have really been. The airport in Kingston is the only way of getting some aid into the rest of the island.
So it's important that we have an access point to get some of that aid in there. We are going to take a collection. We announced it this week. So we're certainly going to do what we can to offer help. Sometimes the money is the most important because then you can buy the materials and have it shipped right there as it's all needed. And we'll try to help the local church as well as through the usccb, the organized ways that we'll respond. That's one thing I can say with a certain amount of Pride that the Catholics around the country are very responsive, very generous when they see something like this, some kind of a disaster like this. And there's something in all of us that wants to be of help. And so I'm glad that we'll be able to do what we can. And it's not just Jamaica, what you were saying, there's a lot of devastation. Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba. We're going to have to see what happened in the Bahamas, too. So we pray for all of those who've been affected.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: Bishop, you know, we often talk about. We had Monsignor Vacari on, and we were mentioning again, the same reality over and over, that whenever trouble hits in a particular area, the Catholic Church is already there. And that's a beautiful thing. Father Davis, you know, in your conversations with Archbishop Richards, has he mentioned in what ways, how can they assist in the local needs there? In addition to, of course, supporting our own diocesan special collection, might there be organizations that he recommends?
[00:16:20] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely. The two organization I think that we've looked at and that we know that are reputable and are doing the work of the church in Jamaica is a mustard Seed and also Food for the Poor.
And they do a lot of wonderful work there. And as Bishop mentioned, you know, even the support in terms of monetary support sometimes can be a lot better than other things because a lot of people want to donate this or the other thing, but part of it is getting it there. This weekend I spoke with Mustard Seed and also Food for the Poor, and that's one of the encouragement is money can go far away when they buy a lot together.
And to be able to ship them makes it a lot easier than even all different communities kind of trying to put something together. Because as Bishop mentioned, Kingston is really the area where almost everything is going through right now. And so that takes a lot of time and energy. But definitely Food for the Poor, a mustard seed would be those two organizations that we know that are definitely doing great work on the ground and can continue to support the things of the church. And even the Archdiocese of Kingston, which have been getting a lot of calls, and they're going to be helping in the Diocese of Montego Bay.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: I would imagine they have some kind of like a Caritas organization in Kingston, something like Catholic Charities.
[00:17:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm sure that they have something like Catholic Charities that will go out and help. One of the great things, growing up in Jamaica myself, seeing how the Copyworks of Mercy is lived out, seeing how the Catholic Church have worked, and they're always there for the people of God. And so I'm glad to hear and to see not only our own diocese, but to see so many Catholics are reaching out and helping because that becomes important and crucial even on the ground, for people to see that the church is there in presence, right in their midst.
[00:18:13] Speaker A: Beautiful.
[00:18:13] Speaker B: Well, I thank you, Father Duane, for joining us. You know, during this month of November, we continue to pray. We pray certainly for all of those involved now, not only those who've lost so much, but those involved in the work of relief in the Caribbean and really the whole of the Caribbean. And we also continue our prayerful remembrance. As we said, it's a month of remembering the faithful departed. We give thanks for their lives and their inspiration, and we pray as they transition from this life into the life of eternity with God. And then, you know, it's interesting, as the season changes, we get back into, you know, the clocks have turned and the leaves are falling from the tree. We'll be moving from this time of remembrance into time of thanksgiving, and then it will go so quickly from there. I'm going to ask your prayers. Next week is the meeting of the bishops of the country. We have the USCCB meeting, and I look forward to being with bishops who I've served with before in different places here and there. And now we're all kind of scattered about, but we also take up some of the important work of. Of the church. So please pray for us next week, and then I'll have the chance to record with Monsignor Vaughan, who will be covering the USCCB Conference through Catholic Faith Networks. So in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to share a podcast with the USCCB Pro Life Committee talking about end of life issues, which is such an important issue here in New York, and a chance just to reflect on the work of the conference, the experience of being at the meeting. So we have a couple of exciting episodes coming up.
[00:19:54] Speaker A: Wonderful, Bishop. And thank you again, Father Davis, for your presence with us today on this podcast. We continue to pray for all those affected by Hurricane Melissa as we begin as community to rebuild and assist those in rebuilding. We certainly assist them with our prayers first and foremost. And Bishop, perhaps you could lead us in a closing prayer and a final blessing. Blessing.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: The Lord be with you and with your spirit as we pray for one another.
Now, our communion in this life, communion with those who have gone before us, with all those who are in need.
We ask God's blessing. 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 Almighty God bless you. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Thank you all and hope that you'll join us again next week. God bless.
