Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Welcome back to another installment of our podcast, big city Catholics with, uh, Bishop Robert Brennan and my myself father, Chris HEK today. Uh, we're gonna be talking about the theme of mercy today is the, the solemnity of the sacred heart of Jesus. And, uh, the topic of mercy is just an incredible one today in our readings and, uh, in our church. But, uh, but first we'll, we'll start with a prayer. Uh, this is a, the sacred heart prayer. Um, it's from a, the sacred heart environment, welcome his heart. And so we can, we can pray this together, the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen, amen. Most holy heart of Jesus fountain of every blessing I adore you. I love you. And with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble patient pure and holy obedient to your will grant good Jesus that I may live in you. And for you protect me in the midst of danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body assistance in my temporal needs your blessings on all that I do. And the grace of a holy death. Amen. Amen. The name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Amen. Bishop, how been, uh, you are week you've had a, a fun yet busy, uh, few days.
Speaker 2 00:01:40 Well, we were together down in Coney island for the cyclones game for Catholic schools night. That was my first visit to the, uh, the cyclones. And, um, and, and it was an awful lot of fun. It
Speaker 1 00:01:53 Was great. Yeah, there was, uh, you're you know, you're from the Bronx though, right? Kind of. So are you a Yankee more born in, born in the Bronx? Are you more of a Yankee fan?
Speaker 2 00:02:01 I was born in the Bronx, but I was born in 1962 the year the Mets were formed. Okay. And my dad was a stall war, Brooklyn Dodger fan. Amen. So that's
Speaker 1 00:02:09 So, uh,
Speaker 2 00:02:09 The connection, my destiny was was certain. Um, so I, I, and my family, we grew up as met fans all the way, moved out when I was six. So I basically grew up on the island where you had the mix of Mets and Yankees. Amen. Yeah. Although many more Yankee fans during the victorious years <laugh> and, uh, and yet we who are met friends, we stay, uh, stall war and, and loyal
Speaker 1 00:02:33 The, uh, because the Brooklyn cyclones who play there in Coney island are the, uh, the minor league sort of team of the
Speaker 2 00:02:39 Mets. That's right. So, and you know, when I was in Columbus, the minor league team, there were the Clippers, they're now the, uh, minor league team for the, uh, Cleveland team. But earlier had been, uh, the minor league team for the Yankees. So people like jet Derek Jetta got their start in Columbus. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:02:55 Wow. See, yeah. I, I, uh, I might get my start. Did you, you saw, we had the, the,
Speaker 2 00:02:59 Well, that was the highlight. The cyclones were great. And, and, um, and they won surprisingly in the ninth inning, but, um, there, the crown of the evening was the pregame. Um, we had the collars versus the scholars. Now I understand that's a bit of a tradition. Explain that to me.
Speaker 1 00:03:17 Yeah. They, well, this is, uh, happened a few years in, in the past for a few different occasions when we've kind of released this Catholic school's night. Um, the, the name of the stadium, the Cy, where the cyclones play has changed names constantly. It was the Keystone park,
Speaker 2 00:03:33 Or now it's,
Speaker 1 00:03:34 Muhammad's now it's my Mone stadium, but they, uh, they opened their, their field for us. Uh, and for the diocese of Brooklyn, where we first were able to, which was an honor for, for the, for you, I'm sure, uh, to give accolades to all of the valedictorians of our, our Catholic schools.
Speaker 2 00:03:52 That's right. Uh, you know, that was wonderful. We had a number of young people who were there, the valedictorian and salutorian of a great number of our Catholic academies and schools. Yeah. We're really, really proud of those kids. And we're proud of the schools. I mean, these are two individuals who represent the excellence of the student body and of the education they're getting in our Catholic schools. And so it was a privilege to be able to honor each of them, uh, just to call them up out onto the field, to receive a, a ribbon and a medal, and then to pose for a picture was chance for me to greet each of them. That's right. Um, that was, that was a, a real treat.
Speaker 1 00:04:28 It was awesome to see. And then, so those kids then came out, they were present for the, for this, uh, for this pre, uh, game, uh, where the priests of the diocese, um, myself father, Chris Bethy father, Jason Aspenal father, uh, Osorio father, um, uh, Ralph AAL, father ed Chuka, um, father Jose Diaz.
Speaker 2 00:04:54 Well, you can't forget Bishop Sanchez,
Speaker 1 00:04:57 Bishop Sanchez,
Speaker 2 00:04:58 Bishop Bishop Sanchez had had two really nice hits
Speaker 1 00:05:02 That it was incredible. He got on bass and then I, I got to run for him. And then you, you
Speaker 2 00:05:07 Pinched grand trip and not for anything, but, uh, you, you made an amazing catch <laugh> <laugh>. Now in all honesty, you looked a little
Speaker 1 00:05:16 Surprised. I couldn't believe I thought him <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:05:20 So the, uh, the, the, the, one of the, one of the principles, uh, Mr. John O'Brien, I know him well, he's a, a great athlete. I mean, he is a true athlete. He got up to the bat up, uh, to the plate and, uh, up at bat and just knocked a line drive directly at me. I had been praying, first of all, I asked to be sent out to the outfield because I figured this is a safer zone. It's not a real necessary place. I can just catch a ball and throw it. And I kept saying, Lord, please, wherever they hit the ball, just not near me, I'm not athletic. I'm not a baseball, softball player, the line drive, like ally just directed at me. Right. And, uh, I
Speaker 2 00:06:01 Right into your glove right
Speaker 1 00:06:03 Into the glove. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:06:04 Right into the
Speaker 1 00:06:05 Glove. I was so shocked that I've caught it and, and everyone's yelling, you know, I hear people cheering well, that was great. And I thought, wow, that was, that was great. But then I start hearing the, the, the screen throw the ball
Speaker 2 00:06:16 <laugh> <laugh> yes, because somebody did tag up.
Speaker 1 00:06:21 I did, they did. I led in a run or two, I think <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:06:25 So was great much to the chagrin of father <inaudible> and my classmate, um, who pitched a great game. He had six strikeouts, but now father Chris in humility and truth. Tell us the outcome of the game.
Speaker 1 00:06:36 Uh, the, the, uh, collars lost six, six
Speaker 2 00:06:40 To nine, and the scholars won
Speaker 1 00:06:42 Scholars won. The teachers won. Yeah, it was, uh, it was a lot of fun though. It was great, great joy to be out there. I missed also, uh, father Carol, uh, father Kim and, uh, and father Suki. So it was a great, it was a great lineup of younger guys and any, and, and, and just of all the, uh, just for us to get together, you know, I think you probably take, uh, consolation in the fact that your priest might be hopefully better celebrants than baseball players, you know, math, celebr and
Speaker 2 00:07:12 <laugh>. And, uh, I know what they're not doing on
Speaker 1 00:07:15 Sunday mornings. That's for sure. <laugh>, that's for sure. That's for sure. Then the, we, we also got together again, um, uh, the priest got together on, on, on, well,
Speaker 2 00:07:24 The pastors, the pastors. Yeah. So we had a meeting of the pastors. This is something that's been a tradition here, um, in Brooklyn and Queens for a number of years. So quarterly, the pastors meet with the, with the Bishop and, um, and the different, uh, Doon offices. It's a chance for communication. Um, and, and more importantly, it's a chance to be together. We suffered, like everybody did during the time of COVID, those meetings became remote. So that accomplished the, getting the, the, the information out and certainly kept us somewhat connected. Yeah. But wow, what a difference it is like with so many other things really, to be together again, and to check this it's so nine on one another. Yeah. Um, and, um, and, and to enjoy one in another company. So, uh, we, we had a good meeting, again, last meeting of the so-called academic or pastoral year. So it was shock shock, full of information. That's right. Probably information overload, but some very important discussions, too, some very important discussions, um, sadly about, uh, the reality of security issues, um, things that we have to be attentive to, um, in this day and age,
Speaker 1 00:08:40 Uh, the meeting itself is not necessarily C confidential. Um, you know, the, uh, I do think myself being in, in, at the meeting with you and with all of the, the pastors of our diocese, the, the topic that seemed to be one of the most important was the topic of the safety of our parishioners, especially, uh, at, at public service. And, uh,
Speaker 2 00:09:03 And that's a place where the love of our priests for their people is so evident because that just came out people, um, yeah, they, people are concerned and they want, the priest are concern. They want safety because they love you. They love you, you all of their parishioners. And so we were getting, seeking out some good advice. We realized that we need to continue this conversation. Um, but it, but it was a great, uh, chance to, to delve into some of those serious issues. Um, you know, the other thing that happened yesterday, which touched me, but greatly, um, you know, we prayed for our sick priests. Um, we're praying for priests who are convalescing right now. Um, but wasn't it wonderful to see father Peter RA?
Speaker 1 00:09:45 I was just gonna say, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 00:09:47 And he's was in the hospital from Earl late summer through the fall, in, through the winter. Truly he's been convalescing. I mean, he still has a long way to go, but he's back in the parish. That's great. And he made the point of being at that meeting. That's right. And what a, what a lift for all of us to be able yep. To see him in person
Speaker 1 00:10:05 That's right. No, what a, what an honor, really to be to. And we, we all applauded for him as he, as we saw him, it was a, it was a great witness, you know, here sometimes, uh, really it's a reminder of, you know, you put putting things into perspective, you know, I'm thinking to myself, driving out to Douglason and, and driving back and realizing the traffic from, you know, from Douglas and back to Brooklyn,
Speaker 2 00:10:29 Don't
Speaker 1 00:10:29 Get me done on traffic. <laugh>, it's gonna be awful. And then you see, you know, you see father Peter Rader there who made a point to be there. And, and, and, and, uh, you say to yourself, okay, I can, uh, I can suffer through an hour of traffic. Uh, you know, this is a, it's just a real humbling experience and it's great to
Speaker 2 00:10:48 See him. And then at the end of the day, I had the chance to celebrate with the ju people celebrating 25, 50, 60, even 65 years. Awesome,
Speaker 1 00:10:57 Awesome
Speaker 2 00:10:59 Of ordination. And, um, again, what, what inspiration as we look out at our brother priest and the service that they're giving and how appropriate that, um, we gather the, this feast today's feast of the sacred heart is also a day of prayer for the sanctification of our priest. Yeah. And, um, and so I ask all of you who are listening, even if you're tuning in, uh, a couple of days after let's take, uh, uh, the opportunity to, to pray, to pray for our priest, to pray for the holiness of our priest. Um, and, um, and for the work that they're doing to bring us all closer to Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 00:11:40 So Bishop, uh, as we, we kind of moved through this, this day, this sacred heart, uh, the feast of sacred heart of Jesus, you know, um, for me, my memory of, of the, the earliest memory of it is, uh, visiting my grandmother in Ireland. Um, every house in Ireland had an image of the sacred heart of Jesus and, uh, with the little red light that just was always on 24 hours a day. And, uh, remember coming in at night and the house total darkness, and seeing that red light shining,
Speaker 2 00:12:12 I learned a, a great customer, great devotion. When I was in Columbus from the people of Columbus, they, they had the movement called the sacred heart and throw, and many, many, many families took part in this devotion. And it involves the image of the sacred heart of Jesus hanging it in, and actually the two images, the sacred heart of Jesus and the imaculate heart of Mary. So, um, displaying those images in a prominent place in the house. And what I mean by prominent, I don't mean, you know, the living room where the, uh, furniture is covered in plastic <laugh> <laugh> and nobody ever goes in, and it's, it's a place of honor. I mean, the place where the family gathers all the time. So it may be the living room may be the dining room. It may be the TV room who knows. Sure. But people would display these images of the sacred heart of Jesus and immaculate heart of Mary.
Speaker 2 00:13:07 And they would begin with a period of preparation. And then, um, the environment of the sacred heart of Jesus and the imaculate heart of Jesus. It's a way of dedicating our family, our household, to the sacred heart of Jesus and, um, and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, making Jesus and his sacred heart, the very center of our family life, you know, Jesus, we had a priest use to say, especially with these portraits, Jesus doesn't wanna be a picture on the wall. He wants to be an integral part of our families. And so this devotion and this practice of GA of, of placing these images in a place where the family gathers would be a way that, um, we, we invite Jesus into our family dynamic, where we're having our conversations, where we are sharing our concerns, where we have to sometimes work things out amongst each other, as FA in, in, in a family. Um, and I heard such marvelous stories and hopefully in a future podcast, we'll be able to get some of those witnesses of families whose, whose lives together were turned around because they placed Christ at the center of their home and their family life.
Speaker 1 00:14:30 When, so when you were in, uh, Ohio and Columbus, did, was this a diocesan Thoman or was it, uh, sort of on a local level,
Speaker 2 00:14:37 Or it was actually local as you get, it was a home,
Speaker 1 00:14:40 Every home,
Speaker 2 00:14:41 It was to invite people to do this in their home. So, um, now parishes would encourage it at given times and, and we would pass and, and they would have the materials for, for people to do this. We had a, uh, there was a radio Catholic radio station in, um, in the area that promoted the environment. And what we did do on a diocesan level was every year there was a sacred heart Congress, and it was usually in the fall, not, not around the feast state in the fee state. And, um, a good number of people would gather for that sacred heart Congress. It would be a day of prayer. We would have mass together, um, certain speakers, certain witness testimonies, the opportunity for confessions. Um, so it's, it's, it's something that I hope that we can begin to spread here. I'm sure that there's a great devotion already in Queens and in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 00:15:34 And if we can build upon that, um, the, the people involved gave me the, the kit, you might say yes. So they gave me some nice images that, um, they actually gave me a very nice one that I, so that it was framed. And, uh, and they, uh, and the prayers and the preparation, and so far that Patrick heating and I, we ha we live in the same residence in, in the Bishop's residence. Um, we place those in the little nook, you know, there's the, the dining room for when we have people over, but there's the little nook where we have most of our meals. So we place those images and this weekend, um, we're going to do the environment together. So that's great asking God's blessing on this household.
Speaker 1 00:16:16 That's great. That's great. And for those of those who are listening in, um, it's a ministry called welcome his heart, welcome his heart.com. And so
Speaker 2 00:16:25 Exactly so, and, and so that's easy to remember if you remember welcome his heart, then you've got the website, so that's right, it's welcome. His heart, just spread no spaces, just the continuous, you know, welcome his heart.com and you'll find all kinds of information and testimonials, and even a way that, um, that you can, um, can receive that materials. And again, who knows, as we begin to build this up, we might even be able to tag on and have a, a Brooklyn Queens dimension of that website. Sure.
Speaker 1 00:16:56 The theme of mercy, um, you know, is such a, such an important aspect of our, of our faith. I mean, you know, the gospel today is the, the gospel of the lost sheep and you know, which, which one among you would not leave the 99 and go out to find the one, uh, lost sheep and, uh, you know, in our life as, as shepherds yours in a greater sense. Um, how, how is it that you, you find, you know, living a life of mercy, you know, how is that a part of your ministry? Um, and I can share even in my own life, I mean, as, as parish priest, um, perhaps you may not get this opportunity as much anymore as Bishop. Um, but the highlight of, of my, of my ministry, I should, I guess I'm supposed to say is the celebration of the mass. And that is, that is pretty high up there, but really for me, uh, it's, it's conf it's in confession.
Speaker 2 00:17:55 No, they go together. Yeah. They go together and, and you're exactly right. That for us as priests, that experience of God's mercy in confession is so, so moving. Um, it's and I, I, what I miss, I get some opportunities, but I miss that opportunity, that regular scheduled opportunity, you know, when I was in, uh, Rockville center, um, often I would be on the road on the weekends, but we always had the Monday night Nove or in confession. And I was, I had that chance on a regular basis. Sure. I missed that regular basis. I have the occasional basis. Yeah. But it's a point of contact with people you're walking with them on the journey and you become more aware so that when you are celebrating the Eucharist and when you are praying for God's, holy people, you're, you're praying, not from some theoretical outside point, but you're praying from walking within the flock and, and, and, and carrying those burdens, bringing those burdens to the alt to people carrying so many burdens, um, and, uh, and, and struggling, you know, in some ways in material ways, just trying to keep things together. Yeah. Sometimes, um, with, with isolation loneliness, or, or, or with trying to work things out with relationships. Um, and, and so the idea of, of being part of that is it's a privileged place. And yet we are only there as an instrument. It's not about you or me. We are there because it's a conversation with God. And, and, and so we are there to speak the words of God's great mercy.
Speaker 1 00:19:42 It's so humbling.
Speaker 2 00:19:42 It's a humbling, humbling thing. Yeah. We just happen to be in the middle. Yeah. Um, but it's really, God, you know, it's, it's really, God, who's speaking, it's not a counseling session. I don't, you know, I, as much as you try to offer some encouragement or, or, um, you, or words of mercy, the real effect is that God is doing the work here. And it's the encounter with the true and merciful living God, the sacred heart of Jesus. That's right.
Speaker 1 00:20:12 Yeah. Uh, you know, um, we could talk a lot and hope we will have more opportunities to talk about just the, the beauty of confession. I know where in this, in this packet, it mentions how, how to keep the flame burning. Um, now that you've consecrated your family, you know, uh, how do we, how do we continue to experience these graces? And, uh, one is, uh, one of the points is regularly go to confession. Yeah. Um, and so, uh, it, it's a, it's a great, I think this is a great tool for our priests to maybe share with, with their parishes and for those who may be to just kind of check it out, uh, you know, welcome his heart.com, uh, especially today as we're, you know, on this celebration of the sacred heart of Jesus. Um, it's a great, uh, we don't get any, we're not getting, uh, we're not paid spokesperson.
Speaker 2 00:21:03 And actually the people doing this are all volunteers. Boy, they pour their heart and soul in this. Yeah. You know, you you've referenced today's readings. And the feast of the sacred heart follows the same as the Sunday cycle. So it's a three year cycle. Um, and so each year it's sort of a different, um, viewpoint. There's different way of looking in on the sacred heart of Jesus. And so today we have those be that beautiful image of, of Christ, the good shepherd. Mm. Um, and, and I love the way it comes out in today's gospel. Jesus looks at the crowd. Um, it's part of that great go chapter of mercy, Luke 15. And he says, which one of you among looking at the Shepherd's, which one of you would wouldn't leave the 99 in the field and go seeking at, after the lost one. And I think the answer they would've said was none of us <laugh> what, what do you mean 99?
Speaker 2 00:21:54 Sure. Things to go after one that's lost, you know? Yeah. And then, and then would pick it up rejoicing. Yeah. Like, I, I don't know about you, but if I were shepherd and that, that, that cheaper out there I'd be, get back in the <laugh>, you know, but, but using that kind of maybe even comedy, yeah. Jesus is making a point about the extent, the radical nature of God's mercy. Yeah. That it's not just the flock, the flock does matter, but it, each one of us within the flock, you, you matter incredibly to God, and if you are lost or you are suffering the Christ, the good shepherd is seeking you out and trying to bring you along. He's he's doing that for me. Yeah. Um, that's, that's a very different image from what would've been the biblical view of God at that time, it would've been more, you know, the people and the nation and all of that. But, but Jesus is saying you, the lost sheep, Matt is incredibly that's right. To God. That's
Speaker 1 00:23:03 Right. Yeah. And when we think about this, I heard once heard a, a beautiful reflection on it. And I mean, when was the last time you spent any time with, uh, sheep in a field? I mean, here in Brooklyn and Queens there, very, we have the Queen's farm maybe in, uh, in
Speaker 2 00:23:19 Flushing, Meadows. <laugh>, you know, when I, during, in September, uh, not September and October, I guess after my appointment was announced, but I was still in Columbus. I'd be driving to some of the parishes and seeing the rolling Hills and the sheep out in the fields. And I said, oh, I'm leaving all of this behind <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:23:38 You have to visit it at a, in a museum. Now you, I mean, but, um, you know, uh, I once heard this statement that, that when a sheep is, is lost on its own and a sheep is frightened, it will just remain standing still and shaking in its own. It won't, it's lost. It's absolutely obviously lost, but it's absolutely, um,
Speaker 2 00:24:00 Like a paralyzed
Speaker 1 00:24:01 Yeah. Lost in fear. And, uh, and that isolation that, that comes, uh, from it. And I think that's another aspect of these readings too, that when we, it makes us think a little bit about, um, those who are isolated, those who are alone, those who are, uh, lost from, um, you know, from our own, uh, our congregations, those who feel alone, those who feel lost, you know, you, you hear often people who are surrounded by people, um, they're in the midst of great crowds and they're always amongst people, but they feel lonely. Um, we may feel as connected as ever with these cell phones and, um, but still feel lonely, still feel disconnected. And so it's a great topic too, to think
Speaker 2 00:24:48 About it is, you know, um, I, again, forgive me for going back to Columbus, but, um, you know, Ohio state, uh, is, is a huge university, 70,000 students. And one of the, um, missionary groups St. Paul's outreach, they, they did a study and, um, and they raised the question, what are the biggest issues facing college students? And, and then they presented it as sort of a word graph so that the, um, greater the response, the larger the font. Yep. Yep. And then all those words were all over. Well, right there in the center in big, bold letters was the word loneliness. Wow. And by the way, this was pre pandemic. Wow. Endemic. Wow.
Speaker 2 00:25:37 And Jesus offers us the hand of friendship, but maybe that's something he, he extends to us as a mission as well. And so, you know, Jesus in his compassion wants to reach out to you if you feel isolated. Um, but you know, there's a call of sense of solidarity. One of the things during the time of the pandemic, I mentioned pre pandemic now in the pandemic, a lot of us had a sense of that feeling of isolation for a couple of weeks, you know, could that give us a sense of greater solidarity who live with that all the time? That's right. And you're right. Sometimes it's because we're, we're very much alone. Sometimes we're surrounded by people, 70,000 students, but feel it, but the message today, you know, there were, there were layers of messages, but the message today is you are not alone, that there is one who will never abandon you. Mm-hmm <affirmative> who will, uh, go and seek you out. St. Paul tells the Romans in today's second reading, the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy spirit that has been given to us. Indeed, Jesus Christ knows you and loves you more than you could ever imagine. And to me, that's, that's the, the, the real, um, hot stopping kind of hold you in your footsteps, uh, reality of this day, that, that profound love of Jesus, not, you know, we talk about the love of God and the love of Jesus in very theoretical ways, but that real and close by personal love that Jesus Christ and his sacred heart has for you.
Speaker 1 00:27:30 Yeah. It's so beautiful. It's just beautiful to sit with and to, and to reflect on, because, uh, you think about just, uh, young and old, it's not just the, the home bound, uh, whom feel isolated, uh, those who are maybe in, in nursing homes, who aren't visited often by family members or friends. Um, but it's also the teenager. It's also the college student. It's also the married couple that may, uh, share a bed, uh, at night, but may still feel alone. Yeah. Um, to find that point of, of
Speaker 2 00:28:09 Con professional out in the field, you know, some people trying make ends meet working hours and hours and hour, or to get ahead, you
Speaker 1 00:28:17 Know? Yeah. I think, you know, and it doesn't, uh, just like, uh, none of this, uh, the priests are not, uh, exempt from the feelings of loneliness either, you know, and here we are at times as, as ministers of, of God's mercy. And yet sometimes we need to be reminded. And in the, you know, we did talk a little bit earlier just about the, that pastor's meeting, but what apart from having to sit through the, the, the, the, the, the meeting part of it, which is fine, it's a necessary, uh
Speaker 2 00:28:49 That's okay. True confessions. <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:28:52 What I, I appreciated was the lunch and the holy hour, right. Because it's an opportunity for us to, to say, to have that moment of fraternity with other people, other guys who are living the same, what, you know, living what we're living, uh, and experiencing what we're experiencing. And, uh,
Speaker 2 00:29:10 That's right. And, um, you know, in an amazing way, a lot of our guys are, are, are, are alone in their parishes, sometimes covering multiple parishes. The blessing here in Queensland and Brooklyn is that the next parish isn't necessarily, um, miles and miles away, that, that we are close to each other. But what it does mean is we need to make the intention and then follow up on connecting with one another. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:29:37 Yeah, yeah. Just being, uh, intentional disciples, being intentional, uh, in all aspects of our, of our ministry. And that's what the beauty of, I think also the, the beauty of this, these podcasts exactly to is to kind of ex go deeper into the topic of,
Speaker 2 00:29:55 And isn't it true? Aren't we sustained to certainly by the love of God poured into our hearts, but we're sustained by the people whom we serve time. After time, we see, um, great heroic examples of witness, but we also experience, you know, love and support. And that's one thing is I go around from parish to parish. It's just so edifying to see the love that people have for their priests in their parishes. Um, people express it in a whole host of ways, but PE people really do love their priest. And I think we can be incredibly grateful for that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:30:35 Thanks for the God. True. Truly, truly.
Speaker 2 00:30:38 And so today we ask you, please pray for you, priest, pray, pray for those who are sick for those who may be struggling, um, pray for those who are, uh, carrying burdens, whether it be physical or, or, um, um, the stress of, of things, but, um, pray that we may be holy, that we may be drawn. It's a day. It's not just a day for priest, but for the sanctification of priest, pray that we may be drawn ever closer to the heart of Jesus Christ. And here the in today's readings, this cycle, this year's readings really speak to us, that call of, of the shepherd. So, so that we may ourselves draw close to the love of Christ, the good shepherd, and then be inspired to serve with his heart.
Speaker 1 00:31:23 Amen. Well, Bishop, you know, as you, uh, make this, uh, ferment, uh, to the sacred heart, we, we, our prayers are with you also. Um, you know, I always, I think I, I have this, I think often when I'm sitting and chatting with you, um, last time we're talking about my, my remark to you was how, how awesome it is to be the shepherd of this diocese, that, um, you are able to set this, the, the, the tone on the Eucharistic revival and, and help to direct that. And even, uh, my thought today in sitting with you is to say how awesome it is that you know, that each and every day, every priest of this diocese is praying for you by name yes. Uh, in the Eucharistic prayer.
Speaker 2 00:32:06 That is a, that is a great grace, you
Speaker 1 00:32:08 Know, and, uh, and that's the, I think that's the support in addition to the other prayers that you, you receive from others and from us on, on aside from the mass, um, just to know that you're guaranteed every priest in every parish in this diocese is praying for you by name. And, uh, so our prayers with you for this enrollment to the sacred heart, uh, of Jesus. So, um, perhaps if, if you'd like to, uh, sure, lead us in a, in a closing prayer and offer your blessing,
Speaker 2 00:32:39 We thank you, Lord Jesus for walking among us, and for revealing to us, the depths of your love for us, for your sacred heart, we ask your blessing upon all who join us this day and in the days to come, that we may be secure in your love and witnesses of that love. And we ask God's blessing may almighty God bless you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:33:09 Amen. Thank you, Bishop. Uh, we look forward to joining, uh, you all again in our next installment of big city Catholics, this podcast with Bishop Brennan and myself, father Chris HEK. Thank you for joining us.
