Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:10 And we're back for another edition of Big City Catholics, our Dias and podcast with Bishop Robert Brennan and myself, Father Christopher Heu. Really happy to have you join us again this week and we'll begin with prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We ask our blessed mother for her intercession upon us, upon our diocese, all the faithful and all those who listen and participate in big city Catholics podcast as we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou amongst women and blessed. It is the fruit of the I Jesus.
Speaker 2 00:00:42 Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:00:46 Father and Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Bishop, I thought it would be a kind of a cool thing to think about as we approach November 30th. We'll mark your one year anniversary as the Diason Bishop of Brooklyn. So there's this practice of sort of doing like a year in review. No, I thought it'd be pretty awesome to have a conversation with you today and to talk about your first year here in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 00:01:10 I think that's a great idea because in the coming weeks I'll be at the U S C C B. We have Thanksgiving coming up, so this is really a good time to reflect back on the year past and what a great year it's been in so many ways.
Speaker 1 00:01:22 It's been, uh, quite a busy one. I'll tell you, it started for me and it started for you, obviously, your journey here on September 29th, the Feast of the Arch Angels. Right. St. Michael, the Arch Angel and I had planned here at the Co cathedral. We had a 30 minute mass slot. I invited Derma Shea, the police commissioner to join us for mass and then a special blessing for the police officers, the Feast of St. Michael. I received a phone call the day before from Bishop DeMars who saying, This is between you and me, they're not allowed to speak about this, but there's gonna be a very important announcement tomorrow. It's gonna be at the 8:00 AM Mass. And I said, Eight ams. Well, Germa Shay's gonna be there. We only have 30 minutes, really 28 minutes to have a mass presentation. Police officers a talk by ever. She, he said, Well, now we have this as well to add to it. So we, we got a lot done on that day, September 29th. But that was the day that you came on. You came and Con celebrated with Bishop Demario and the announcement was made that you were the successor, the eighth Bishop of
Speaker 2 00:02:22 Brooklyn. Exactly. And that was a whirlwind of a day. It was a whirlwind of an eight o'clock mass. I know that <laugh>. And it was great. A great way to begin. It's kind of cemented my own relationship, my roots with the New York City Police Department with my father as a retired, a police officer. My brother has now a retired police officer. He just retired within the last year. And so it was a good way to begin. Yeah. And certainly they were very understanding. I think they actually were kind of glad to be part of a moment in this dioceses history. That's right. The day just took me all over to the press conference, to school, to, uh, St. Xavier School, the elementary school and the high school to meet various people. I went to visit at the cathedral of, uh, St. James, made a prayerful visit there, met Father Patterson, the rector there, and then we went out to Douglaston and I got to meet the senior priest and the seminarians.
Speaker 2 00:03:19 Those become two regular parts of my life these days. Yeah. So Bishop Maio planned a good day. That would set the tone for my service here in the Diocese of Brooklyn. But you mentioned I'm the eighth bishop of Brooklyn. You know, when you think about the length of time that I think our roots go back to about 1853. That's right. Yeah. We only had seven bishops <laugh> before me, but you know, the first three bishops spanned a hundred years. Yeah. Which is remarkable when you think about it today. I mean, we look at Bishop Tamaio service and said, Wow, he was here 18 years. That that was quite a time of service. These bishops were here more than 30 years. That's right. They said We'da very young. And they pointed very young. Pointed very young. And then they stayed. And I don't think there was anything like retirement. They <laugh>, they stayed until they died. So we're older church, but small in terms of, uh, history in terms of
Speaker 1 00:04:10 Leadership. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And we could talk about that too. That's a great part of this. Each one of them had their mark on the diocese, you know, the building of schools, creation of parishes. And then, you know, we, we kind of, in reviewing Bishop DeMar, who's legacy, I think the legacy of creating Rockland Assets
Speaker 2 00:04:28 That was created a long time ago. And he really reactivated it to use it more, um, fruitfully. That's right. So you, but you're right. He set up the structures, you mention the co cathedral to sales media. He solidified some things. Many, many forward looking. That's right. Things so that we, we have that bright future. We have the things we need, the structures and the material things. We need to be able now to carry on that ongoing work of bringing the gospel to the 20, uh, first century in Brooklyn and Queens.
Speaker 1 00:04:59 And you show up with this great handbook as well. That has been a huge part of your first year here. That's right. But Monsignor Shay, who joined us on the podcast as well, which was an awesome opportunity for me and for us to meet with him. You hit the ground running because that first day, September 29th was a glimpse of what would be, you know, running from one part of the diocese to the other. And then November 30th was your installation here at the co Cathedral of St. Joseph. That was a beautiful day too. Your family was here with you and your parents were here. We had a nice opportunity for gathering downstairs in the co cathedral before the installation ceremony. Archbishop Pierre was here. And quite funny in his remarks on that. First, That's the first day, but then the year has gotten off to a great start with the Senate. So you show up in the midst of, of our Senate. So you were running around from one parish to another?
Speaker 2 00:05:52 Yes. So one of the things that defined the first couple of months, first quarter, you might say first three months, was the diocesan phase of the Senate. Part of it. It was that it was timed perfectly just, uh, coincidentally timed at the time of my arrival. Secondly, Bishop DeMaio had some good ideas to make the most of that for my introduction to the diocese. In those first couple of months, I went to about 25 parishes, apart from regular parish visits, but to 25 sites simply for Senate gatherings. And what that allowed me to do is we used the diocese and deanery structure. We had a couple of special sessions for particular reasons, like with the Diocese and Pastoral Council and with youth and with some of our ethnic communities. But principally it was the deanery structure. And that had two great effects. So on the one hand, the Senate, the Senate was my chance really to hear from people what are the major concerns?
Speaker 2 00:06:57 How do you describe your experiences in the church? We'll have a chance to unpack that a little bit more today and then a lot more in the coming session. That in itself was good, but it also gave me a chance regionally the deans are really regional collections of parishes. And so I had a chance to meet all the priests for dinner. That's right. To talk to the priest and just get some feedback from them. The concerns, the reality of the church in Brooklyn and Queens. And then meeting with anybody who wanted to come to mayor so that it's going to take me time, although we're making some progress, but it's gonna take me time to get to all the parishes. But at least I was in all the areas and all the parishes had the opportunity to come together. Yeah. For those D recessions. So it had a practical session.
Speaker 2 00:07:40 The talk around the SY was really focused about the churchy kinds of things. So some of the topics in the SY came up were concern for youth and young adults. That becomes something that I'm hearing loud and clear. A second thing, we talked a little bit about communications at, at all the different levels and within parishes within the community. So that given the fact that we are such a complex diocese. And then the third was about formation, this desire for formation, one of the key phrases, people would say, We're not comfortable talking about our faith. And I expected them to say, Oh, because of the atmosphere and anything like that. They said, No, no, no. We're not comfortable talking about our faith cuz we are not sure we can express it correctly. We're not confident in talking about it cuz we we're not sure about what we know.
Speaker 2 00:08:33 And so they're looking for more formations. So those were the main things. Youth communications and formation. Now among the priest, that was another interesting conversation among the priest. We talked about just the realities of being Catholic and living in the city of New York. Mm. So we spoke about the rich blessing of all the ethnic communities and with the rich blessing of all the ethnic communities. The challenge of working together with all the ethnic communities. I mean, one of the unique things about Brooklyn, it's not that we have, you know, Spanish speaking parishes and Chinese speaking parishes and Creole speaking parishes. Certainly we have places where those are the, um, predominant group, but many of our parishes are themselves diverse. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, they have English masses and Spanish masses and Chinese masses.
Speaker 1 00:09:21 Yeah. I spent some time working when I was at transitional deacon at, uh, our Lady of Mount Carmel where Monsignor Sean Ogel was the pastor and they had mass every Sunday in five languages. Right. You know, my friends from Lincoln, Nebraska were stunned by that. Right.
Speaker 2 00:09:35 So this is like within a parish itself,
Speaker 1 00:09:36 In one parish.
Speaker 2 00:09:37 And so you get to those instances, like communication, some, there are some things, and you have it a little bit here. That's right. Because at the co cathedral, the predominantly English, Spanish and Haitian Creole, but you also touch upon because of net tv, Italian, Polish, Polish. So what it means is there are some things you have to do three, four or five times. There are other things you had to say, Okay, let's see, how do we get everybody together and make sure everybody's included. So that has these unique set of challenges. A second thing I heard from the priest had to do with the changing demographics that was different in different places. So there were places like Southwest Brooklyn where pastors are saying, we've got strong parish base and big beautiful churches, but every day there are more people moving in who are not Catholic, not even Christian. And the Catholics are moving. So what does that mean for us? You have areas like Williamsburg where you have people who are moving in or not connected. The famous N o n E S. Nuns. Yes. The nuns. And that provides both a challenge and an opportunity as we talked about that. But then we have other places like the Elmhurst area and Corona that deanery with Elmhurst and Corona. Sure. Bursting Jackson Heights bursting at the sea.
Speaker 1 00:10:51 Yes.
Speaker 2 00:10:51 Yeah. It's remarkable. So that's another kind of diversity. And it was just interesting to experience that in the different neighborhoods.
Speaker 1 00:10:58 Uh, even here at the co Cathedral Parish, the neighborhood of Prospect Heights. Crown Heights, even in, in this past year, buildings have been constructed and continue to be completed, which is going to continue to change the demographics of the neighborhood. And those who, you know, were the old timers here in the neighborhood are getting priced out of the living, being able to afford to live in this neighborhood. And that I think was another part of the conversation with that you had with
Speaker 2 00:11:26 The priest. That's very much a part of the conversation. Yeah. So the housing situation, and that's affecting Catholics and now Catholic population. So it becomes a church issue. That's right. And going back to the Senate, I could be wrong, but I suspect some of those conversations were really part of what the Pope had in mind in talking about the Senate. It's really, it's not just about churchy matters, it's about the church living in the real world
Speaker 1 00:11:51 Addressing the
Speaker 2 00:11:52 Concerns and and meaning. Right. Exactly. And, and meeting the new needs. We have entire neighborhoods. We spoke about Williamsburg being one of them, where there are great things happening, but the people who live there for generations are being, I should say, pushed out some of our poor areas too, like East New York, Bushwick, Bushwick, Bedsty. Yeah. Again, great rootedness and great people who are there becoming less and less affordable for people to live. So, um, that's becoming an issue for a lot of people.
Speaker 1 00:12:24 It's sort of like in a different way when New Yorkers are known as they age and get to the retirement years to move down south to Florida, you know, and so Florida and churches are filled with ex New Yorkers. There's a, you know, there's a joker. It's a reality though, that these wonderful parishioners will consider in their estates leaving the parish something part of their estate. But it's the parish in Florida. It's, you know, they forgot about Brooklyn. You know, they forget about Queens. As a pastor, I I'm always thinking that way too. I just say, Don't forget that your roots, you know, So there's a movement. There's a movement. So where are these Catholics moving to? Out east, maybe Rockville Center, New Jersey.
Speaker 2 00:13:02 And then, and even within the diocese, perhaps. Yeah. But it's just that the neighborhoods themselves are facing different challenges. Yeah. Along with housing, you have the issues of church practice, church participation. So evangelization came up, Covid, you know, it was very interesting to begin those conversations in December and conclude in February, March, because in December, thank God we got the insulation in just That's right before
Speaker 1 00:13:32 The Nikon.
Speaker 2 00:13:33 Right? I mean, there was that variant out there. We were hearing about it. That's right. Yeah. But the, the real jump took place just around Christmas time. We found that churches in December were really trying to adjust to this new rise in the Covid pandemic, the, the Omnicon pandemic. So they were talking about the concerns and what we need to do and not wanting to shut things down, but also making sure that we're safe and mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And by the end of it, now they were starting to say in January, February, March, all right, how are we gonna get people back? That's right. In December, they were pastors, were talking about how are we covering each other? What would happen would be what was scare. We were trying to continue on. But even like right around Christmas, we had guys who coming down with you. That's right. Yeah. And then having to, to isolate and so Okay. All hands on deck.
Speaker 1 00:14:24 Yeah. Christmas, midnight mass and the, you know, the pastors, you know, second bed, you
Speaker 2 00:14:29 Know, so, Right. Yeah. You know, we had one parish where the, the entire parish team was down and everything was being carried on by an older retired priest. So we had to make two. By the springtime, we were saying, Okay, now how are we gonna get people back? They were talking about whether we should continue to streaming the masses. And, and also what does it mean for us to start, start returning things to normal? I remember myself trying to encourage people to, to say, you know, what, are we bringing people back to, you know, we're having all our meetings on Zoom and all that. Yes. Let's, we need to start being together. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:15:04 Those were essential parts of your, you were really a cheerleader for that. Really well appreciated I think speaking for myself and to get the pastors back together for meetings in person and say, you know, if we're not meeting in person, how can we tell our parishioners to come in person? So it was a sort of a lead by example aspect, but in this past year, you had that great experience to kind of set the ball in motion. And, and I'm sure that those themes, I know that they, they continue on in your ministry in, in the back of your mind as to like, when you're dealing with Father Gino and the School of Evangelization for the continued development of the leaders of our diocese. I know it's been a part of your working with Father Caroli and Christian Ra and, and youth ministry and Lucia Morales. So all of these ideas that you heard firsthand over and over, they say like, the power of seven, repeating something seven times before we, you heard it 25 times. You know, a lot of the same causes and concerns. But you've taken that, and I, I can see that as a part of your leadership, you've been prioritizing those aspects.
Speaker 2 00:16:11 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:16:12 So that's, that's a great, great thing working
Speaker 2 00:16:14 Together. But we're prioritizing those all together. And that's very exciting. You know, after the Senate, one of the other parts is the parish and school visitations. I got to a good number of schools. I've been to about 111 parishes. That's
Speaker 1 00:16:26 Incredible.
Speaker 2 00:16:27 The pace slowed down a little bit. I think we are somewhere just about 200. The pace has slowed down recently because as I'm getting now to events, the calendar's a little bit more full. But I'm doing a lot of repetition because I may have visited a parish because I wanted to get to, or it may have been a deanery parish. So it was a first visit back in the early part of last year. But now I'm there for confirmation. I, I'm trying during now with confirmation to get to places I haven't been to. I'm still getting to new places, but not at the same pace. But I'm still looking to get to all of our parishes.
Speaker 1 00:17:02 Absolutely. And 111 parishes in, you know, you think 52 weekends. Yeah. And it's not even been 52 weekends,
Speaker 2 00:17:10 But again, part of it was the Senate. That's right. That was 25 right there. Confirmations get me to some of them during the week, sadly enough funerals Sure. Have gotten me to a number of our parishes. And then the schools, and I really wanna pick that up again. I've been to a couple of the schools I've been to. I have been, or will be to most of the high schools shortly. I have a few more on the calendar. But that's experiencing the life of the church.
Speaker 1 00:17:36 That's right.
Speaker 2 00:17:37 Right at the local level. Yeah. And that's amazing that, that, that's always a great experience being in, in the parish with the people in their home.
Speaker 1 00:17:46 I, you know, I've wanted to say to the listeners that about a few weeks ago, we as a parish celebrated the Feast of St. There Valla, because that's another parish that's worship site that's connected or merged with our co cathedral parish. I decided to throw an October Fest in the evening, and I just said to you in passing, you know, Bishop, we're having this October Fest, If you're free, you know, the Bishop's residence not that far from the parish. You know, if you're free, you know, I'm, I'm, I'd be happy to have you. And I was so grateful that you took me up on that invitation and that you came on your bicycle, which has been, that's, that's an essential part of the, our year in review conversation,
Speaker 2 00:18:25 <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:18:25 That you came on your bicycle and you came to be with us and you saw the parish at its local level. And you said something to me, I really wish to tell the world. You said, these are the kinds of events that I love to be at. You know, this is what I want. This is the event that I want to be invited to. You know? Right. Because it gives you a chance to see the, the local level. Right. The church on its vocal level
Speaker 2 00:18:49 And that you focused it on the recently formed young adult community, which, you know, going back to the demographics here, there are many young adults who are here, but only here maybe for a short time. Yeah. They, they're just arriving and you know, they'll begin their career, but then as they settle down, we'll move on to other places. So that changes the way we function. So one of our responsibilities is to gather people together, to give them a good experience of the Lord. And it happens in those kinds of settings.
Speaker 1 00:19:20 Yeah. It was such a blessing to have you, and we were able to give you a brought worst with no bun. Of course. That's right. On the diet. And it was just a great blessing. But let's talk about the bicycle just for a minute. Sure. The bike has been an essential part of the image of you as Bishop Dias and Bishop. One of the first newsworthy stories was the sad, sad case of we would call Subway shooting attack. Yeah. Subway shooting in Sunset Park. You know, that was one of those images I have of you jumping on your bicycle saying, I want to get there. I wanna be present for the, for the people and the police officers there. And for those who are hurt, I know I can't drive because you everyone knew that all those blocks were shut down and you just jumped on your bike. I just have this image of like your petrol cross <laugh>, you know, hanging in the wind. And this bike has been an essential part of your getting through. And you get to see the diocese on a
Speaker 2 00:20:13 That's right. Much
Speaker 1 00:20:14 Different
Speaker 2 00:20:14 Way too. That's right. You see the neighborhoods and even during the summertime as a relaxing mode just to pedal around, by no means am I an avid cyclist. So sometimes people will say to me, I hear you're, you're a real cyclist. Well, oh, I have to be honest, it's more practical than it is, um, than it is a sport. I do get around on it and I started doing it because of the traffic around here.
Speaker 1 00:20:41 That's right. <laugh>,
Speaker 2 00:20:43 I can, taking advantage of the bicycle lanes and avoiding traffic. Even today coming to, I know, Yes. Turning onto Dean Street, they were doing some construction on the corner and it was a small bit of construction, but it fouled everything up Yeah. On all the streets around. So it was nice to be able to kind of work my way through. At one point I had a dismount and kind of pick up, walk the bike up on the sidewalk, sidewalk and around the, the site and then get back on to the bike lane. But you do bypass a lot of issues.
Speaker 1 00:21:19 Yeah. Give us like a timeframe. I mean, from the co cathedral to the chancery office, about
Speaker 2 00:21:23 15, 20 minutes. That's awesome. That could take
Speaker 1 00:21:27 Oh, 40 minutes,
Speaker 2 00:21:28 Generally speaking a good 30, 40 minutes on a regular basis, but it could take over an hour, especially coming back in the afternoon. So you come back because between the school traffic, the regular traffic, the diverted BQE traffic, and then you add in things like construction. So during the day, it really is hard to get around. So yeah, it gets me to a few more places. You, you have to plan things out a little bit. Yeah. And I'm looking forward myself to getting to other parishes, but we have an exciting year ahead of us. It's not just looking back. So I've been to a number of parishes. I'm looking forward to getting to a number more. The Senate was one of the real focuses of the last year. And that continues because what we wanna do is we want to take that now back to the dean.
Speaker 2 00:22:14 We wanna give them all of the feedback that they got and continue those dialogues. Yeah. Because that's the whole point. That's what Pope Francis had in mind, that we continue these dialogues. So this gives us a framework that we can continue to talk. But then the other thing is the church in the United States is beginning the revival, Eucharistic revival. So we want to do what we can to enhance our life in the parish. We're looking toward a diocese and gathering next fall, but we're looking in the spring and during lent to what we call 40 days of adoration, setting aside, like in Rome, like the station churches in Rome. Yeah. Designating churches for each, a church for each day, and allowing people to make pilgrimages to those church, but also allowing those local areas, maybe the parish or the deanery, to make that like, okay, this is our day really to focus on Eucharistic adoration. And I'm hoping to get to a number of those. Yeah. Uh, that, that may be, uh, that may be my bicycle journey in the fall. We just have to figure out the schedule to,
Speaker 1 00:23:17 I make sure you tell whoever plans that say, Here's the other parishes that I haven't made, been able to visit yet.
Speaker 2 00:23:23 Let's, That's right. Gotta get to places it. So we, we are looking to do all of that in the coming year. Another highlight has been working together with the priest. You, you know, we had the mass, the memorial mass for the deceased priest the other day. Honestly, I was, uh, I was really struck, first of all by the turnout. Wow. What a great turnout. But also, I feel like I know most of our priests, like I could. Okay. I know, I know these guys and that's because of their generosity. But also it's because we've been walking together. We've had some good things. We had this, we had, well the prism mass was just wonderful. Yeah, Yeah. We had the, uh, convocation
Speaker 1 00:24:03 As well.
Speaker 2 00:24:04 So we, we've had some, some really nice times together. And then the other, we talked about this, the pilgrimage, 3000 people at the shrine. You know, I started off with a big gathering soon after I arrived. We had Guadalupe.
Speaker 1 00:24:17 That's right. That was just two weeks after your installation. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:24:20 And, and then we had the, the group in, in DC And then during that, one of the sad things is I have buried a number of priests.
Speaker 1 00:24:29 I was struck by the, uh, number of priests that have tied in this past year.
Speaker 2 00:24:35 They came kind of in waves. So it was the mass for priests and deacons. But the numbers of priests were really striking when I first came, like in that first month, I think in January, February, we had already surpassed the total number for last year. Wow. And then we've had priests and deacons through the course of the year. Then sadly in the last two weeks, we lost three priests. All of them residents add Bishop McGough residents for senior priests. So we prayed for those guys. They took a hit. They really did. Yeah. They took a hit this week. But, you know, I was thinking about the priest and how they, they were just very generous, holy men. But among those priests, we had one priest, uh, well, he wasn't on the list. Father Martin Carter, cuz he was a religious priest. Um, and he wasn't in the diocese when he died, but his great work with the African American community.
Speaker 2 00:25:25 We had, um, a Chinese priest, father song who spent many years in Chinese labor camp prison Yeah. Because of his faith. And then, you know, was released, he was arrested as a brother. He was released, went on to become a priest and was arrested again, and then eventually exiled and found his way. Here. We had priests who worked in the pro-life movement, priests who worked in great parishes who were just generous. We had seminary professors, we had missionary priests, priests who worked in the missions, priests who work as chaplains in the armed forces. It's just, Wow. When I, when I've been looking at that list of priests who died this past year, very inspiring stories.
Speaker 1 00:26:05 Yeah. I, I just wanna say to that point, there's an article in, in the tablet newspaper regarding the visit to the priest, to the, there's a plot at St. John's Cemetery where the priests are buried. Bill Miller wrote a recent article about visiting the cathedral preps high school students visited that grave, the graves of those priests to offer prayers on All Souls Day, which was really a beautiful thing. It's very commendable too. Uh, and so he was writing about it. But the best part of the story came from when Monsignor Noon, uh, one of our retired priests of the diocese shows up to pray for his brother priests, and begins to walk around the grave sites with Bill Miller, the, the reporter and points out, you know, a few of the guys and says, you know, this was Monsignor Brown. And let me tell you a little bit about Monsignor Brown.
Speaker 1 00:26:52 This is Bishop Sullivan. Let me tell you a little bit about Bishop Sullivan. This was Monsignor Rogers. Let me tell you a little bit about Monsignor Rogers. It was just a, for me, I was struck by that because I think about, as you're mentioning these priests and what an impact that they have made, just praying for vocations of the priesthood, but always, but just me living the priesthood. And I say this with humility, the impact, the great impact that priests make in people's lives and in our diocese, is really humbling. And it's really beautiful. So I wonder, I guess maybe again, the Irish in me or the poet, and, you know, I wonder if, if someone were to see my tombstone many years from now, please God, what would the stories be, you know, of, of the impact because of my participation in this call and my being open to, to service the service of God's people. You know, and and that's what I always think about when I get a chance to sit with you as the bishop of the diocese. I've said this before, the great impact that you make on the over a million Catholics in our diocese spread out through 200 parishes, or almost 200 parishes in high schools and schools in hospitals. It's just a beautiful gift.
Speaker 2 00:28:05 It's a great opportunity. But again, my impact is sort of mediated because to a lot of our people, I'm a picture on the wall <laugh>, my connection is through the parishes to all the parish teams, to all the priests and deacons who all the religious and all the parish staff and volunteers who live out the work of the church every single day. Yeah. It's just, it's just such a privilege to be connected. You know, as we wrap up, I'm going to, I don't wanna give away the, the secrets of our timing and recording and all of that, but on the day that we're recording this, we're also celebrating Father Christopher's birthday. Oh. And so I wish you today a very happy birthday and many blessings in the year
Speaker 1 00:28:44 Ahead. Thank you. Thank you. I was, I'm gonna say, uh, thank you for your support of me and, and the Cathedral Parish. And again, like I said, even your little vi your visits to the October Fest and just your constant care and concern, you were recently awarded, uh, medal at, at the seminary of the Immaculate Conception Huntington and the Maculate conception
Speaker 2 00:29:05 Medal. That's right.
Speaker 1 00:29:06 The theme that, that was kept being brought up, uh, which really struck me, was you were commended and commended on your mentorship, The ways in which you mentor so many, and Monsignor or now Bishop, Richard Henning and Monsignor Camp, and others that had a chance to speak about. You all spoke about that mentorship. So for me, I, I, I get to live that experience too. So thank you for the birthday blessings. Thank you for the shout out. Thank you for, uh, your continued, uh, blessings as well in your ministry. So Bishop,
Speaker 2 00:29:37 Please speaking of blessings.
Speaker 1 00:29:38 Yes. What lead us in prayer, the Lord be with you and with your spirit.
Speaker 2 00:29:42 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 granduous 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. Endeavor. Amen. Amen. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:29:55 Amen. Thank you all for joining us for another edition of Big City Catholics, our diason podcast. We hope that you'll join us again next week. God bless.
