Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Welcome back to another edition of Art Dias and Podcast Big City Catholics with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Dias and Bishop of Brooklyn, myself, father Chris hen. We're back at it at the first week of Advent as we prepare for the coming of Christ this Christmas. We're got a lot to discuss today. Lot's been going on. And we'll begin though as we begin in prayer. The prayer that I'm about to pray comes from this first Sunday of Advents the colic, the opening prayer of the mass this past Sunday. And the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Grant, you are faithful. We pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth, to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at His coming so that gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom through our Lord Jesus Christ, to your son who lives and rains with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Amen. In the name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Bishop, welcome back. Ca Laal, as they say, a hundred thousand welcomes
Speaker 2 00:01:12 Because it welcomes. Wow. What a great trip It was. What a great opportunity to visit with family. As you know, we talked about this in the podcast. I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Ireland. I spent a few days with different priests in the area around me, which is in the Midlands area in a town called Trim. And from there went up to Sligo where I had the celebration of my cousin's marriage at St. James Church in Eski, in a hotel right on the Atlantic in a town called in Aron right next door to Eski. Just wonderful days, I actually had the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving. Several priests gathered and we had a nice afternoon dinner. The cook there made a full Thanksgiving dinner, Turkey stuffing all the trimmings. Very nice, all the trimmings <laugh>, very nice. She made it special with the American guests. They even, I, I offered mass in the parish that morning and they had an American missile, so we used the prayers of Thanksgiving Day.
Speaker 1 00:02:11 So you had your, a very, very authentic Thanksgiving. Just another
Speaker 2 00:02:14 Concept I certainly did. Even the music, she, she looked up and found different music that we would've used on, we would use on Thanksgiving. It was great. It was
Speaker 1 00:02:22 Really wonderful. That's awesome. I I, my mother, uh, comes from county me, and I remember when I was a child, that area of trim was where they filmed the movie Braveheart. That's correct. That castle in Trim. And to it, it was the big talk of the town. We, we drove to see if we get a sighting of Mel Gibson or all the actors, you know, storming the castle.
Speaker 2 00:02:42 And it's one of the early churches. There was, there was a castle there that, an ancient castle that remains of that St. Patrick. The story is that his nephew was St. Loman and Loman found this area and Patrick told him, go build a church there. And he built this church. So that's one of the original churches. In fact, I found out that it's one of those, how do you say, the ancient diocese that since have been suppressed and that belongs to it. An auxiliary bishop is named a Titla bishop of that. And Bishop Boha in New York is the titla bishop of that area. And there's great devo, and particularly during the pandemic to our Lady of Trim, our Lady of Trim, there's an image of Mary holding the child Jesus. And in the window and in the images you see of her, the poor and the sick are coming to her and she brings them to Christ. It's a beautiful image. It's not just like a parish piece. It's, this is a real devotion. Our Lady of Trim, a
Speaker 1 00:03:40 Venerated
Speaker 2 00:03:41 Image, venerated image of, of Mary who, um, inspires. And during the, um, time of the pandemic, many people would come and visit the church even though the masses weren't able to be celebrated, but to pray before this image of, of our Lady of trim. And then this is a great statue of her in the city. And
Speaker 1 00:03:58 Yeah, I've never saw the image. That's interesting.
Speaker 2 00:04:01 It was new for me. You see that we, we learned something new
Speaker 1 00:04:03 Every time. Every time. And while you were there, you and I were speaking, something struck you about the, what you saw.
Speaker 2 00:04:10 Yes, the great, I mean the amazing support for the people of Ukraine. So Ireland is a country that's declared neutrality in all things. And so they, they don't get involved in the military part of it, but they're doing a great deal for refugees and a great deal of material assistance and, uh, solidarity with the people of Ukraine. So in Eski, for example, the town where the wedding took place, there were so many Ukrainian flags. It was striking. I mean, around the country I saw the support, but in, in this town in particular, it was very inspiring. And I spoke to my family and they said, oh yeah, that's there. And in fact, even in Dublin, my one cousin is a, uh, nurse in Dublin. They're caring in their hospitals, dedicated mostly for people coming over the injured who are brought over from different parts of Ukraine who've suffered injuries in the bombings and, uh, the mines and all of that.
Speaker 2 00:05:05 So they're, they're doing a great deal of work. And again, back in Eski, it's a nice little coastal town. And so there were a couple of, uh, hotels there. I wouldn't call them swanky, but I guess it's about Aswan as you might get in rural Ireland. But they're nice hotels. They're very nice hotels. Sure. Yeah. And one of them was converted into homes for refugees from Ukraine. So they're really stepping up over there and responding. Um, and so I was, I was very, very moved by that. And there's that sense of solidarity that we care for one another. Sure.
Speaker 1 00:05:33 An uncle of mine is a bus driver, retired now, but in Ireland, worked very hard working with the government in Ireland to pick up the refugees from the airport and drive them then to these different hotels and different places that would be giving them refuge. So, you know, we think only in the sense of America and what we're doing in support of Ukraine and those in need.
Speaker 2 00:05:56 Now, on the other side, I was there having dinner one night and the TV was on, and we saw the, uh, match between, uh, US and England during the World Cup. I have to confess, it wasn't exactly pro-American support as much as seeing England humbled. That brought a lot of joy to some of the people
Speaker 1 00:06:15 I was with <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:06:18 That, and the other sports news was the, uh, actually the two places where I, I was trim and eski each advanced in the hurling games. And so that was big news too, was beyond me. I told them back in, uh, Ohio, the big, big rivalries between Michigan and Ohio on Thanksgiving weekend, and Ohio State was humbled for the second year in a row after dominating for many years. So I said, I'm glad to be celebrating victories with you.
Speaker 1 00:06:44 <laugh> <laugh>. I think, uh, Archbishop Pierre even mentioned that at your installation mask. He did, he mentioned something about,
Speaker 2 00:06:51 He said, there
Speaker 1 00:06:51 Tears of Ohio, there
Speaker 2 00:06:53 Were tears in Ohio, not just in Columbus. There were tears in Columbus, not just for the loss of their bishop, but more so for the
Speaker 1 00:07:00 <laugh>. A certain
Speaker 2 00:07:01 Game we're having to do with Michigan
Speaker 1 00:07:03 <laugh>, we find ourselves now af after Thanksgiving. We're jumping right into the, uh, advent season. We're, and
Speaker 2 00:07:11 Happy Advent isn't this great? Amen. I don't know about you, but I am ready. I think we need this time now, more than ever, these days of advent are always uplifting. They, they keep our focus, you know, forward looking, looking to the coming of Jesus Christ, but taking notice of the signs of his presence among us. Even now, there's that sense of looking back, looking around us and looking forward, but only seeing Jesus Christ. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Jesus Christ, God coming to live among us
Speaker 1 00:07:40 As a pastor. I have mixed emotions regarding Advent, because, you know, it gets you a little sense of anxiety as to are you prepared for, uh, Christmas? Are we have everything in place? I know in your Sunday reflection, you're mentioning the, uh, idea of sending out Christmas cards and having, you're really good at that. Anyway, that's an aside. But you're, I I know that you've been sending out a lot of Christmas cards too. You're, you're very organized when it comes to, well,
Speaker 2 00:08:06 I have a lot of help. That's really what it is. I have people around me who are far more organized than I'll ever be <laugh>. But yeah, the season of Advent, we don't wanna lose sight of the spiritual dimensions. And that senses of already, but not yet. We can't lose the sight of the fact that we do cry out, ma Arthur come with Jesus. We, we long for the fullness of God's kingdom looking forward to Jesus's second, coming to his restoring all things. And so it, it is, we wear purple violet during advent because there's a penitent, uh, nature to it that we're making room in our lives for the mystery of Christ and realizing that we fall short along that way. But at the same time, it's a, it's a joyful penitent. I I find more so than say, lent. Lent is stalk. And, and I love Lent too, but advents has the little bit, those hints of the coming feast and those hints of drawing closer to Bethlehem. You know, you think of the journey of Marion Joseph to Bethlehem, and I know there's sometimes a little bit of debate. I'm not a purist on this. Uh, you know, on the one hand I lament that the Christmas E begins before Halloween ends.
Speaker 3 00:09:19 Yes, yes. The secular
Speaker 2 00:09:21 Christmas season, the secular Christmas. I mean, you know, and generally it's over. It's really not only is it over the day after, it's generally over on Christmas Day, on Christmas. The Christmas day is not, Christmas Eve is, is big deal. Yeah. And then Christmas day is more, oh, a day of rest. Maybe go to the movies or something like that. It's really changed that I meant, and I lamented strongly, I do believe we need to celebrate the seasons, but part of advent is preparation, preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ. But there's, it links in without preparation for the coming feast of Christmas. That's right. And you hear that in the prayers. So it's, I don't think I'm going out on a limb. The other thing is, in today's world, the battle is not between Advent and Christmas, but it's really between Christmas and secularism.
Speaker 3 00:10:06 That's right.
Speaker 2 00:10:07 You know, I remember, this is a few years now, about 10 years ago, I was in Long Beach and I was with the religious ed students for the last week before they had their vacation. And we made it a lighter week. And those days it was organized by grade level. You know, fourth grade was Monday. Sure. Fifth grade was Tuesday. So it was, you know, a little lighthearted looking forward to Christmas. And you know, the kids didn't know any of the traditional Christmas carols. Oh. They heard, uh, frosty and grandma got run over by a reindeer <laugh>, but they never heard. There were kids who never that sad silent night.
Speaker 3 00:10:48 That's sad.
Speaker 2 00:10:49 Yeah. And that's the battle that were not exposed to the real meaning of Christmas. And so if we can be part of that broader celebration, but proclaiming boldly the mystery that we celebrate during this time of advent and Christmas, why not? Why not? And nothing attracts more than joy. And isn't that the message of this advent and Christmas? So, you know, yeah. Let's get those nativity sets out there for people to see. Sure. You know, I love the custom of lighting up our houses and lighting up around the, the grounds. To me, it's an act of defiance. An advent is an act of defiance. During here in this hemisphere, the darkest part of the year, what do we do? We wind, wind it up. Brilliant lights, multicolored lights. We, we, we shatter the darkness. We defy the darkness. And because what we believe is that God did that through Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 00:11:46 And, and Jesus came and, and shattered the darkness of the world. On Christmas Eve at midnight mass, we say the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light upon those who dwelled in darkness. In the shadow of death, a light has shown, a child is born for us. So let's shadow the darkness. There's a lot of darkness out there. And I'll just say one other thing. You remember the old Broadway song? We Need a Little Christmas, my Goodness, this year. We need Christmas. We need Christmas this year. We need Advent, and we need Christmas more than ever, the last two Christmases have been kind of observed in the shadow.
Speaker 1 00:12:18 Truly
Speaker 2 00:12:19 Dampered. Yeah. There's something good about being able to enter into the deeper spiritual meaning of it all. But, you know, we need to be together this Christmas and we need to proclaim this boldly and loudly. You know, if you remember, we, we sort of saw ourselves coming out of the whole pandemic and then that Aron and not having the, the ability to test. Yep. I understand it. But we were kind of caught shorthanded. And so that when this variant came, people couldn't determine if they did have That's right. Covid or not. And so we all had to go back in to a sense of hiding. And Christmas was dampened. It wasn't, the restrictions weren't placed on us, but the fear was sewn. But we need, we need to celebrate Christmas. And one of my fears for the church is that there were a lot of people who maybe their only connection with their faith is Christmas should be Easter too, and it should be every day. But two years of not having that one connection that leads to a dangerous path. We need to be bold in proclaiming Christmas, proclaiming Jesus born.
Speaker 1 00:13:20 There's a, a publishing company that's well known in the country called Dynamic Catholic. And this author and ceo, I believe Kelly, Matthew Kelly, and you know, he talks about these holy moments. You know, these are the moments when people encountered the church and, you know, baptisms, communion, funerals, weddings, but obviously Christmas, Easter. These are the moments when people are coming in and if we're already at a limited number of moments, you know, and you lose a key, and we're losing a key one. You're right. Bishop, last Christmas, you know, this is your second Christmas with us, the diocese. Did you have a chance to make it through, speaking of lighting and shattering the darkness, did you have a chance to drive through Dyer Heights at all?
Speaker 2 00:14:01 As a matter of fact, I did. Yeah. Forgive me, people of Dyer Heights. I know some of you love it, and some of you hate it. I I understand <laugh>. I understand. Actually, I did not know about it. My brother knew about it. My brother just retired this year as a New York City police officer, and he told me, he said, I always wanted to bring my family to Dyer Heights during Christmas. Never had the chance. We spoke about it on a day in Advent, and it just didn't work out. I forget what happened, but we ended up, I love this. We ended up going on an evening during Christmas week, so it was after Christmas, so the houses were still lit up. There were still people, but it wasn't the mad house.
Speaker 1 00:14:39 Uh, yeah. The traffic and
Speaker 2 00:14:41 All that, the traffic and all of that. But wow, that, that was amazing. And there it was largely religious.
Speaker 1 00:14:46 Yes.
Speaker 2 00:14:47 It was largely pointing to the nativity scenes and
Speaker 1 00:14:51 Yes. Yeah. Did you have any advent practices at home? I mean, you know, I admit we had a small little advent wreath on our dining room table when I was growing up, but that was about the extent of it. I mean, mass, of course, every Sunday. But the advent calendars,
Speaker 2 00:15:05 The advent calendars, that's what we did. And that's something I'm trying to hold onto now as the now great uncle. Um, not, not great meaning, uh, <laugh> in quality, but great meaning the, the, the, the senior generation. Um, by the way, just an aside at, at the wedding and even at a couple of other things, you know, I'm finding myself at the senior table <laugh> and the family <laugh>. It's, it's happened, but anyway, it happened. Put that aside. Yes. Um, the Advent calendar, we, that was a big deal for us. And we had one advent calendar, and we were five children. So, um, we would each have a day to open, to open the box. And that, that was something that meant a lot to us. Yeah. We, you know, that was a, that was a keen thing. The other thing that we did was it really, we in a sense, the decorating of the house and the preparations mm-hmm. <affirmative> had something to do Absolutely. With the
Speaker 1 00:16:05 Preparation for the coming,
Speaker 2 00:16:06 Preparation for the coming of Christmas. Yeah. You know, so we would start to pull things out gradually and, and that would get us ready. A silly thing that had nothing to do with Advent, but everything to do with childhood Christmas time, it'd become a thing that elf, um, el shelf, the shelf. Well, we had one of those. It wasn't that big thing about it. And we didn't actually, to me, some of the practices were a little bit, I, I don't know, scary.
Speaker 1 00:16:31 A little paranoia, right.
Speaker 2 00:16:32 For the
Speaker 1 00:16:34 Watching, we never had anything like that, the Elvis watching you,
Speaker 2 00:16:37 But basically the el would show up in the craziest place, silliest places, but that was our fooling around, you know, we would take turns, not even take turns, we would hide it, just, I guess we drove, uh, my, my mother crazy. You, we had a, a train, you know, with the lettuce Noelle. Each car had Noelle and we'd mixed them up and
Speaker 1 00:16:56 Things like that.
Speaker 2 00:16:56 <laugh>. So we had some good fun in getting ready. And then as it got closer, it got a little more intense, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> Christmas cards. My mom would tape them up as they came in. You mention my writing Christmas cards, I have a whole bunch of people, I call them my Christmas card friends, people I went to college with who, my only contact with them is through the Christmas card. And you know what, on the one hand you say, oh, you should have more contact. On the other hand, wow, isn't it great that we can keep that up? And they keep, we go back and forth. That's right. So there's a beauty in all of that. If we can find ways to deepen the bonds of friendship and a family, these are good things. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:17:32 That's for sure. Also, in Advent, we begin to meet the figures of advent. Of course. Uh, this Sunday we meet John the Baptist.
Speaker 2 00:17:41 Right? Every year, the second and third Sunday of Advent, focusing on the person of John the Baptist, this year we're, we're exposed not to the, the kinder and gentle to John the Baptist if there was such a side. Uh, but really we hear some harsh words from him. But his point is, what difference are you gonna let it make in your life? You know, don't go through the motions. He came to proclaim the coming of Christ. If you're following him, he's saying, don't just do it outta curiosity. And then I think that's a good message for us as we get ready. But really open your heart and your mind. Listen carefully to the voice of John calling us to follow Jesus. It's a message of conversion. And you know, when you hear John preach repentance and conversion, you think, oh, there's John being, you know, the finger point of conversion turn, you know, prepare the way. Repent. But you know what, that was novel in Jesus's day. There was no sense of possibility of conversion, of turning your life around once a sinner, you're marked and that's it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So basically for people who found themselves on the margins, this was incredibly huge news. You mean I can start again?
Speaker 1 00:18:48 Is a chance for me.
Speaker 2 00:18:49 Yeah. There's a chance for me. Yeah. And he's saying, yeah, absolutely. So get ready, make wave for Jesus. He's going to turn your life around. And so he's bringing along those who are longing for something new, but he's also pushing aside those who are self-satisfied, who thinks, Hey, we got it all under control. Who needs to long? Hey, we all need to long. That's right. So this is a time of repentance. So during that last week, we'll be of advent. We'll be celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation on the Monday, just before Christmas. This is a good time to examine our consciousness to say, where do I need more room for Christ in my life? And where can I see conversion repentance? These are things that John the Baptist helps us to see. So, so these two weeks we're focusing in on that first trigger, John the Baptist, make ready the way, make room for Christ in your life.
Speaker 1 00:19:46 And it also sprinkled through advent, you know, of course, upcoming feast, some really important, important
Speaker 2 00:19:52 Marion feast. Mary? Yes. It's a season of Marion. Of course, Mary's an important person during the season of Advent. And next week in our podcast, we'll have a chance to talk. Um, keep in mind, the 8th of December is the solemn feast of the immaculate conception of Mary. It's a holy day of obligation. We encourage, we really call upon all Catholics to make mass a priority that day. This is one of those holy days that remains strong and has special meaning for us in the United States under the patronage of Mary of the Immaculate conception. So, uh, next week though, we'll have a chance to talk about Mary, because we'll be between the Feast of the Maculate Conception and the Coming Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And I want to hear next week all about your celebrations. You had a couple of great
Speaker 1 00:20:38 Things. We've had a lot of great feasts here, a lot of great celebrations here at the Co cathedral in honor of No, the Providencia, our Lady of the Divine Providence, which you were present at, and then others such as the Feast for Saint Cecilia, which
Speaker 2 00:20:52 Is also Patron Feast
Speaker 1 00:20:54 Four for singers and
Speaker 2 00:20:55 For the Mariachi
Speaker 1 00:20:56 Band and for the Mariachis. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:20:58 So you had some of the mariachi
Speaker 1 00:20:59 Band. We've had mariachi's nonstop here at the Cathedral. And then we had, uh, this past week we had the images of our Lady Guadalupe in W Diego, which have been traveling through the whole state of New York. That's right. Gifts of Cardinal Dolan to the, basically the metropolitan area. Uh, they're heading to, uh, Rockville Center Diocese, and then,
Speaker 2 00:21:18 And then back to New York for the Feast Day itself. And Cardinal Dolan is kind enough to invite me to the FET Day itself, but I think I might be busy that
Speaker 1 00:21:26 Day. I think you're going to be cuts you and, uh, 4,000, uh, diocesan. Uh,
Speaker 2 00:21:31 And this year we split that celebration into two because we had so many people. We think we can fill the cathedral and then some we're going
Speaker 1 00:21:38 To fill the cathedral twice on the same
Speaker 2 00:21:40 Day. So I'm looking forward next week to talking about Mary as, as an important person for Advent, but also all of these feast which really come alive. This, again, it's part of that bold joy of these days, of advent in preparation for claiming Christ.
Speaker 1 00:21:58 And talk about the light. You know, we'll talk more about that light, the torch of the OIDs, the runners sharing that light throughout the whole diocese. Yes. It's gonna be beautiful. Bishop, would you like to end us with a closing prayer?
Speaker 2 00:22:10 Sure. Thank you and happy advent to all of you who are listening today. It's such a privilege to be able to sit with you and just relax a little and share these thoughts, especially around these seasonal days that we can go a little deeper. And, and I hope that you can enjoy your own customs, um, and that they bring you closer to Jesus. And bring a little bit of light into the darkness that surround us all. The Lord be with you and
Speaker 1 00:22:35 With
Speaker 2 00:22:35 Your spirit. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his faith shine upon you and be gracious to you. May look upon you with kindness and grant you his peace. And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit come upon you and your family, and remain with you forever. Endeavor. I'm
Speaker 1 00:22:50 In. I'm in. Thanks for tuning in. We ask you to please share the podcast with those who you know and continue to join us each and every week here on Big City Catholics. God bless.
