Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:09 Welcome back to another edition of Big City Catholics Ardian podcast with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Bishop of Brooklyn and Queens and myself, father Christopher hen you director here of St. Joseph's Co. Cathedral behind us. Uh, you may hear some of the music. We are recording this, uh, podcast in the midst of, uh, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Monday, December 12th. We'll talk a little bit about that, but we'll begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. On this blessed day, we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thun Jesus.
Speaker 2 00:00:44 Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:00:49 Name of Father Son Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 2 00:00:53 You mentioned we are in the middle of it because this year we're doing something new. This year we have two masses. We had so many people last year, and that was after a little bit of a break because of the covid realities that the people themselves, Mexican Aly, came in, said, we, we need to break this up somehow. Either find a bigger place Yeah. Or break this up. And they decided to have a mass early in the morning. People were here at the Co cathedral before seven o'clock, I think.
Speaker 1 00:01:18 Before seven. Yeah. Wow. The mass started at nine 30.
Speaker 2 00:01:22 They were here for mass at 7, 9 30, here at seven o'clock. And they were waiting out in the cold because we had other masses. We do, we
Speaker 1 00:01:28 Have our morning mass
Speaker 2 00:01:29 Schedule. And so they waited in their groups, but oh, how patient and, uh, how excited they were. And now it's all going to happen again. They, you mentioned the music. What's happening now is people are lining up in their parishes and forming a procession. Uh, the first group was from Queens, so basically they're going to walk their way through the borough of Brooklyn into the Borough of Queens and break off into different directions. Each of them going to their own parish. They, at the end of mass, we let torches, they were carrying torches, and I had a lighter, and we lit each torch, and they'll carry that torch through the streets of Brooklyn and Queens. Uh, what a powerful image.
Speaker 1 00:02:09 What an I, yeah. What a symbol of, of the light of Christ being brought from the, the seat of the diocese, the co cathedral, the coast seat of the diocese, down through this beautiful borough into the different varying parts of Queens. Some a story Long Island City. They have their route that heads in that direction, some to Ozone Park and Rigo Park that in a different direction. Uh, some to flushing. That's probably Probablythe longest
Speaker 2 00:02:35 In Corona
Speaker 1 00:02:35 Cor Corona as well. Yeah. Very long, uh,
Speaker 2 00:02:38 Convinced Ejection Heights.
Speaker 1 00:02:39 Incredible, incredible acts of faith. Really? Yeah. And it was, uh, a full church. Right.
Speaker 2 00:02:45 It was a full church. And if you don't mind my saying, so it was a young church. Mm. You know, even, even for Sunday masses, people will say, oh, where were all the young people? And my answer is generally, go to the Spanish mass.
Speaker 1 00:02:56 Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:02:57 Go to the Spanish mass. And so these, these are young people who are teaching us the beautiful gift of faith. Yeah. Beautiful gift of faith. And, you know, they treasure it and they're renewing our faith and renewing our parishes. And it's a blessing. It's a blessing for the church. It's just to see that. Great love.
Speaker 1 00:03:14 You preached a little bit about what we, we talked about it in our last podcast, but, uh, you were preaching about St. Juan Diego and his call by a blessed mother. Right. And how he responded to that call, even though he said, oh, maybe not me. And
Speaker 2 00:03:27 How often do we say that or who, Lord, I'd love to help, but I'm busy. Yeah. Uh, what I'm doing is very important. Yeah. But, you know, Mary interrupted Juan Diego, the, the first apparition. He was on his way to catechesis. Hey, what a good thing you, you'd say, Mary, he's doing a good thing. Why don't we let him do it? Mary interrupted a good thing. But even more importantly, his, his uncle was sick, and his uncle asked him to go get the priest for confession and vie atum for LA last communion. And he was going to search out the priest, and he bypassed the hill where he first met Mary <laugh>. He said, I know what I'm gonna do. He thought he was going out smarter, and Mary knows us. Well, Mary interrupted that. Now, that was a mission of love and a mission of faith because he believed that the church could provide what his uncle needed. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and this perilous moment. But Mary interrupts that, and she says, don't you worry. I'll take care of things. Trust me. I'm giving you this mission. And I said, in the homily, um, she asked him to build a church. That that's all those, a lot of these, uh, apparitions have to do with building a church. That's right. But a church is sort of the beginning of a people. And I said, in mass today, she sent him out to build a church, but like St. Francis, not with hammers and nails, not
Speaker 1 00:04:39 With stones
Speaker 2 00:04:40 And wood, not with stones and wood, but with the power of the gospel. Yeah. And that's what he did. You know, Mary through sent Juan Diego, um, with that image on Herma first to evangelize the bishop, the bishop needed to be evangelized himself. He was growing desperate. He was so discouraged because the evangelization efforts were not working. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:05:03 <affirmative>,
Speaker 2 00:05:05 They were not working. They were ready to throw in the towel and say, this is a place that can't be
Speaker 1 00:05:09 Converted. I doubt that. Uh, the bishop of that time had different offices, the School of Evangelization and the Diaconate program, the offices that we have today in our, in our chance
Speaker 2 00:05:21 Free one Diego evangelized him. Yeah. Just by being faithful. And then of course, with that great sign, and then to me that was like, from what I understand, it was the largest evangelization moment in the history of the
Speaker 1 00:05:36 World. So it happened in 1531. Right. 1531 was the apparition. And, and since then, look at what's happened to
Speaker 2 00:05:42 The people. Well, exactly. But so many people in a, in a land where the missionaries are having a really hard time because, well, because of trust, you know, their old religion, the religion of the country was a pagan religion that involved human sacrifices that didn't really seem to produce anything. You know, and then some these new comments come along, the settlers are there, and, you know, the settlers weren't necessarily always kind and just the people, but the missionaries push back for the rights of the people and for proper treatment. But people, you know, there was a slow to accept. Understandably so. But Mary stepped in. God sent Mary, and Mary stepped into the human scene, into the history of Mexico. And it caught on. It just caught on people. They say millions of people were baptized because of that event. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:06:33 And how many still to this day, make pilgrimages to the site
Speaker 2 00:06:38 To go? We make we Yeah. Pilgrimages to the site. Um, and um, and how many then from Mexico now are here? That's right. Continuing that evangelization. You know, I remember when I first learned Spanish, the only thing I really knew was Guadalupe, and I knew, uh, Al Degrasia because the community where I was, was a Dominican community. Sure. They celebrated a lady of Al. But I just thought to myself, well, let's do, let's, shouldn't we be celebrating Guadalupe? Now, this isn't all that long ago. And how Long Island? Well, there's an interest, but not a big interest. Maybe one or two parishes. We didn't have many from Mexico there. I would say that in the last 10 years or so, it is just sky bloated. Yeah. And, um, and, and look at what we have today. You know, and, and and again. Yeah. They continue to evangelize.
Speaker 1 00:07:29 Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:30 You mentioned the shrine that Guadalupe, have you had the chance to visit?
Speaker 1 00:07:33 No. I look on, uh, with confessed with, with envy. When I see my brother priests and leading pilgrimages, I'm gonna have to visit because I hear such incredible stories, life-changing stories, you know, of people who just witnessed the faith of so many. I know that in, in some of these shrines around the world, especially there as well. And, and then you think of the Camino, where they sort of end their pilgrimage on their knees as they enter into the church. And just to see that, to see the beautiful acts of faith. I, I've seen videos, but I've never experienced it live.
Speaker 2 00:08:07 It's very, very touching. I was there for the world meeting of families. So that was probably around 2000. I'm trying to remember. That goes way back. And I was there for the world meeting of families in Mexico.
Speaker 1 00:08:18 Why don't I
Speaker 2 00:08:19 Just, okay. You, you see the, the magic of of the iPhone. We can look things up while we're talking on a podcast. <laugh> True Confessions, people true
Speaker 1 00:08:27 Confessions. 1994,
Speaker 2 00:08:29 Was it that No, it was since then World. It might have been another. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:08:33 2002. It
Speaker 2 00:08:34 Was, I, I'm thinking may have been 12. 11 or 12. Okay. But anyway, it was Pope Benedict, I think, and Pope wasn't there. The Pope spoke to us by way of video, but people from all around the world were there. It was just a great, great experience of, of faith. I remember all the cultural things that surrounded the day, the music, but I also remember like the little sights on the grounds. You know, there was one that, they called it a chapel of vows, I guess ment, like, almost like a swearing kind of thing where people were going
Speaker 1 00:09:10 To make their promises
Speaker 2 00:09:11 Well, really to Yeah. Promises, but sort of trying to deal with addictions.
Speaker 1 00:09:17 That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:09:18 Trying to deal with infidelities. Yeah. Whether it be marital infidelities or other kinds of infidelities and, and just seeking a new life. Yeah. Seeking. So they would go and say, I'll just use drinking. I I'll never drink again. I'll get the help I can get. Mary, please help me define Jesus. Help me to lean on Jesus. Yeah. It, it was just so striking to see that kind of devotion and, and concern.
Speaker 1 00:09:44 When I was a seminary and I was assigned to St. Michaels in Sunset Park, that's a parish, maybe 90% Hispanic father, Kevin Sweeney. Now, Bishop Sweeney was the pastor there, and would often call me down when parishioners would come to make their ment. Uh, and it was probably more times than not, it was regarding alcohol. But yes, as you say, uh, drinking. But it, uh, um, uh, infidelity at times. It is that beautiful sense of conversion. And you and I were talking before, earlier today about Mary's apparition, you know, to Juan Diego in Mexico, and how it's just been since then. This great sense of evangelization her. Think about the lives changed, the conversions, the baptisms, the reliance on God that so many people have made when they were down there to change their lives for, for the better.
Speaker 2 00:10:33 Exactly. And that's the power of the gospel. Recent weeks, we've had John the Baptist people go in and join the Baptist. They were looking for something new, something different. And John was promising them that something different and saying, it's not far, it's right in front of you. It's Jesus himself. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we have, we're built, we're created with that sense of longing. And we always try to fill it with other things. When we allow the power of the gospel to fill that Rome, allow Jesus in that can change everything.
Speaker 1 00:10:59 You mentioned the world meeting of families. It was, uh, my Google game is very slow, but it was 2009. Okay. January of 2000, uh, of nine in Mexico City. And but that theme of the families is sort of, as we approach the fourth Sunday of Advent, now, we talk about the genealogy, the of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, how the birth of Jesus came about. What an I important aspect of this time, of advent. Right. To speak of the Mary Anne Joseph, and, and the Holy Family.
Speaker 2 00:11:28 That's right. That, that is so, it, it's kind of neat when you get to the fourth Sunday of Advent, you know, ba basically Advent has a pattern to it. So the beginning of Advent is Jesus is coming again in glory. It's be vigilant, be aware, be ready, come Lord Jesus. But then we think about the John the Baptist, the prepare the way of the Lord, and then we come to our eyes, turn toward Bethlem. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, our eyes turned toward the crib, the Manja. And we witnessed that beautiful couple, Mary and Joseph, each of them dealing with their own struggles. I mean, you know, it's a, it was a tough, cruel world under the occupation of the Roman Empire. It was a tough, cruel world. And each of them dealing with the struggles and then hearing the voice of God. We talk about Mary interrupting Juan Diego and Juan Diego wanting, thinking, oh no, not me.
Speaker 2 00:12:22 And us thinking, oh, no, not now. Mary and Joseph, each in their own way, said yes to God without hesitation. That's the beauty of it all. Mary said, yes, let it be done to me, according to that word. And Joseph, when he was hearing what was going on, he was trying to find a, a respectable way to follow the law and take care of Mary. You know, the story. He hears that Mary is pregnant, he hears something about the angel, I'm sure. And he's saying, you know, in a sense, he's not sure what's going on here, but he's gonna let himself look like the bad guy. He decided to divorce her quietly. I always thought that Why is that such a, a virtue? But the reason it's a virtue is he said, let me take the fall. And yet the angel came to Joseph, and all the angel had to speak to Joseph, and that was enough. Yeah. So each in their own way just said, yes, immediately to
Speaker 1 00:13:17 God. There's a, a beautiful consecration of St. Joseph, uh, father Calloway, which I prayed. You know, there's no coincidences with the Holy Spirit. I had prayed it about of two months or so before I received the, the word that I was coming here to St. Joseph, St. Joseph in it, you know, father Calloway speaks it to that point about the deciding to divorce her quietly. And he says, perhaps it was Joseph's sense of feeling unworthy to be the foster father of the Messiah of the Lord. And then in a way, I think you could kind of relate that unworthiness in some sort of thinking to himself. I'm not worthy to be in the, involved in this picture. You know, I, I'm not worthy to be in this, to be a part of this salic plan. You think of Juan Diego and the same thing. It's, oh Lord, it can't be me. You know, Mary, you, you're, you're looking
Speaker 2 00:14:04 At the wrong got the direct intervention. Yeah. As soon as it was the angel that spoke to him. And it wasn't just what was working on in his own mind. That's right. As soon as the Lord sent the messenger to him, he woke up and proceeded to take Mary as his wife. That's right. I mean, that's powerful. He just went ahead and did it. God asked him. So he said, okay. And you know, both of them were saying yes to an unknown future. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, and, and right from the start, there were more twists and turns. You know, this year we have a shortened Christmas season, so we don't get to hear all of the extra readings. The Holy Family, FEAS, the Holy Family is on a weekday this year. You know, you think about it, poor Joseph, he has a dream where he's told, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife after Jesus first day.
Speaker 2 00:14:50 He goes, goes through the horror of trying to get settled into Bethlehem at the very time that Mary was due and not finding a place. You have the flight to Egypt. So you have the angel appearing to him in a dream saying, Joseph, take your son and get out of town. Get, go to Egypt. Another dream, Joseph <laugh>. Okay. It's safe to go back yet another dream. Well, not as safe as it was originally <laugh>. So now you gotta go even another direction. Yeah. I always joke, I say, poor Joseph must have been afraid to go to sleep at night, <laugh> and <laugh>. And, and, and that was just the beginning, <laugh>. And, and then there were the hidden years. And you can see what those years must have been like by how Jesus emerges from that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, he realized who he was and what he was asked to do, and he was confident in that mission and ready to give himself to what needed to be done.
Speaker 2 00:15:50 I always think, you know, my motto, thy will be done, and the Lord's prayer that Jesus gave us those words, I will be done. And of course, you know that there's that divine sense. He's truly human, truly divine. But I wonder whether his thy will be done wasn't an echo of what he heard from mob. Yeah. Let it be done to me that he will be done. You know, I wonder if that's something he wouldn't have heard around the house growing up. God, it she, yeah. You know what a beautiful prayerful thought. Yes. So yes, our mine, our hearts will be turning our eyes and our hearts will be turning to Bethlehem this coming Sunday. And actually we begin a sacred time in advent, we call it the late days of Advent. So beginning on the 17th of December, the gospel goes to the events leading up to the birth of Jesus, the account from Matthew for the first two days.
Speaker 2 00:16:45 And then from Luke, the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus, the visitation, the, uh, birth of John the Baptist, the birth of Jesus leads us all the way up to Christmas. So this last week of advent is, is a very blessed week indeed. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> these last days. And you know, the church invites us, I think of the old math crafts, you know, the bell curve? Yes. You know, it's sort of advent begins, it reaches up. It kind of comes to a crescendo, still is kind of solemn for a few days. And octave. And then there's still a little more of the Christmas season. Don't let go of it just yet until the epiphany and baptism of the Lord, which this year is the day after the epiphany. Yes. But I think the church, she's going to ask us now in these late days of advent and these first days of Christmas to say, okay, these are different.
Speaker 2 00:17:32 These days are different. Liturgy takes a different turn. Our prayers take a different turn. It's a way of the church saying, stop, I know you're busy. I know this is a busy time too, but stop and listen in the gospel narrative, the infancy narratives, both in Matthew and in Luke. How many times do you see the word behold? Mm. A lot. I don't, I don't know. I should count it someday. <laugh>. But you see it a lot. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, behold, that's the ask of the church of you. This, these, and now that we get behold, stop and look. Stop and look, look at the words. Look at the powerful story in the gospel. Look at the figures again. We, we talked earlier in the season about putting out the nativities and the different scenery. Look, behold, behold, take it all in. See that gift of Emmanuel, we hear it in the gospel on Sunday. Emmanuel God, Paul with us is with us. You know, I love St. Paul says, if God is with us, who can be against us? Trial or distress or persecution or nakedness or danger or the sword, Nope. And all of these God is with us, and we are overcome because of him who loves us. You know, nothing can take us from the love of Christ. So, so behold. Stop. Look, listen.
Speaker 1 00:18:46 You know, the, the diocese here in Brooklyn and Queens, the Archdiocese of New York help all of us to take that moment, to stop, you know, as you're saying, yeah, we're busy. But take this moment to stop and to reflect, to take inventory on your lives. This Monday, Monday, December 19th, something that's relatively new, but now it's been a few years happening. We celebrate reconciliation Monday. We do it the Monday after the fourth Sunday of Advent, the Monday before Christmas. We do it also the Monday of Holy Week during Lent time. What an awesome opportunity it is to say, okay, it's the 19th. You've got less than a week to go before Christmas. We're busy. There's last minute shopping. There's the busyness of this season. But stop and take inventory and experience that beautiful gift of God's forgiveness in this beautiful sacrament of reconciliation. So every church is this, right Bishop? Every church in the Archdiocese of New York, which includes the borough of Manhattan, Staten Island, the
Speaker 2 00:19:50 Bronx, and way up,
Speaker 1 00:19:52 Way up, if anyone makes it to Orange County or Sullivan County, as well as the Diocese of Brooklyn, which is the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. Priests will be in their parishes. The churches will be open for sp specific periods of time for the faithful to come and to experience that gift of God's forgiveness.
Speaker 2 00:20:10 Exactly. Priests look forward to this. They always do. Priests always seem to look forward to it. Um, we find it to be a very powerful experience, to see the faith that people have its own humbling and so edifying that people come with their faith and with their openness to allow God's grace to enter into their lives. And they invite us in as part of that experience. And then to be able to share that message of mercy to offer the absolution of the church. Yep. The forgiveness of God. That, that divine forgiveness. It's a great pleasure for all of us. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that. To Christmas itself. We are trying something new. From what I understand this year in the jubilee year of the cathedral at St. James, um, they'll be having midnight mass. I don't think they've done that in a while. So I'll be at the cathedral this year for midnight mass. I was here at St. Joseph's this past last year. Last year. Yeah. So we're trying to switch things back and forth. So I'll be at the cathedral at St. James for midnight mass on Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and then on, uh, here at the co cathedral for the 11 o'clock mass on Christmas.
Speaker 1 00:21:14 Christmas morning. C Christmas day. Christmas morning. It should be a beautiful experience at the Cathedral of St. James. I know that Father Patterson's very excited to welcome you. Of course they have a community there. Bishop, correct me if I'm wrong, asl, a deaf community that will That's correct. Be present at
Speaker 2 00:21:30 That mass. That's right. Yes. So they come off and, uh, you know, they have somebody to sign during bigger celebrations. So Yeah. They'll, they, they themselves, that community is really looking forward to being able to gather for midnight mass. Great.
Speaker 1 00:21:44 And everyone's welcome to, to join you at the Cathedral of St. James.
Speaker 2 00:21:48 Yes, indeed. We want to extend a warm welcome, um, to anyone who, who would like to join us. It'll be carried on that tv, but, um, we really wanna invite anybody who would like to be at that mass to be there for, for midnight mass or to be here on Christmas Day. Yeah. But, but such great, great opportunities. We'll talk about it next week, but I also, I think I'm going to be in a firehouse
Speaker 1 00:22:09 Oh,
Speaker 2 00:22:09 Wow. Yes. And in one of our parishes. So we have some good things coming up in the, in the next few days.
Speaker 1 00:22:15 Great. Great. Very good. Bishop, as we mentioned at the, out at the beginning of the podcast for in the midst of the two masses, and, uh, we've got a,
Speaker 2 00:22:23 You notice how it got quiet outside? Yeah. And that's not, that won't be for long. We won't have the, quite the music, but the next crowd is probably already
Speaker 1 00:22:32 Gathering. I imagine so. And we're gonna have to get you ready for the next mass soon. Now, Bishop. So, um, I think it is a appropriate time to end with a prayer. And, and again, we thank everybody for participating, for listening, and, and joining us on this podcast, big City Catholics,
Speaker 2 00:22:48 In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Loving mother of the Redeemer, gate of Heaven, star of the Sea. Assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again to the wonderment of nature. You boy, your creator, yet remained argent after us. Before you who received Gabriel's joyful greetings, have mercy on us poor sinners. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit descend upon you this day and remain with you forever. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:23:24 <unk> God bless you.
