Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Welcome to a special edition of our DAAs and podcast Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Bishop of Brooklyn. Myself, father Chris hen you, the rector of the Co Cathedral of St. Joseph. This podcast is unique because it's an opportunity for the teenagers, the youth of our diocese, to reach out to the bishop directly, to ask the bishop anything that they want, whatever's on their mind, whatever they're going through, to be able to bring that to him and to hear bishop's responses to these questions. And it's going to be a blessed opportunity. But before we begin, we'll start in prayer. In the name of the Father, son, and Holy Spirit, amen. Asking our blessed mothers intercession upon us, always we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of th room. Jesus,
Speaker 2 00:01:00 Holy merry mother of God, pray for us, sin us now and at the hour of our death. Amen. In
Speaker 1 00:01:05 The name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit, amen. Bishop, this is an exciting thing for us, for
Speaker 2 00:01:11 You. As a matter of fact, going to visit our high schools, really go and visit all of our schools, is always an uplift for me. Today, the day we're recording, I was actually out visiting one of our Catholic high schools, and I always find those visits to be very uplifting. In fact, visiting any of our schools is always an uplifting experience. So in today's case, I had the chance to celebrate mass with the student body, but then to interact with small groups of young people in different settings. And there's always a sense of confidence and ease as the young people talk about what they're doing, talk about their school, but also ask some questions. And today, I think this format of sending in questions gives us a chance to be able to widen that horizon a bit.
Speaker 1 00:01:57 You know, that also is, uh, true to you and for you, Bishop, because I think you don't come across very intimidating. You, you come across, you wanna engage us, all of us, people of all different ages. And I think they can come to you and say, feel just comfortable asking you as a true pastor, this is what's going on in my life. What's your advice? You know, and sometimes we have to give quick advice. Sometimes we, we have a little more chance to develop the advice. But here is an opportunity where this first round of questions, a lot of them come from Cathedral Prep High School. There is also a question we'll begin with from Archbishop Malloy High School, but an opportunity for us to say, yeah, these are the messy questions, the messiness of our lives. And what does this faith leader believe? What advice can you give?
Speaker 2 00:02:44 Sometimes it's not advice, sometimes it's just presenting where the church teaches, pointing to where Jesus is walking with us. And simple words of encouragement.
Speaker 1 00:02:55 I think we can begin with a question that comes from Archbishop Malloy High School, asking you, Bishop, about the gospels, the four gospels, which do you recommend is the best for teaching moral values? That's a a pretty interesting question. No, because each of the gospels are unique in their own way. What would your go-to gospel be? Well,
Speaker 2 00:03:16 Well, the gospels are great resources for the moral wisdom of how to live the Christian life. They're not really moral books. All for gospels are about the encounter with Jesus Christ. Now, in each of the gospels, Jesus teaches us what becomes the basis of our moral teaching. But I always suggest starting with the gospel of Mark, the question is, is asked in such a way as which of the four gospels do you recommend is best for teaching moral values to a grammar school? Students be high school students. So I would say to anybody, any student, and to any adult, if you're starting to read the Bible at all, just to, if you want to pick up the Bible and start reading the Bible, my personal suggestion is begin with Mark first. Why Mark is the shortest. And it gives us a pretty unembellished portrait of Jesus.
Speaker 2 00:04:15 Some of the other gospels draw out the details in very beautiful ways. But if you really want to focus on the encounter with Jesus, who Jesus is, what he came to do, how his mission is unfolded in the world, way back when, and even today, I say, go to the gospel of Mark. That's where you can begin a friendship with Jesus. Eventually, I say, go to all four gospels, but go to the gospel of Mark to begin that friendship with Jesus. And don't read it for moral teaching. Read it to know Jesus Christ, just to hear what he has to say. Just, just as you would. I often say, just as you would read somebody's social media posts, and maybe even read it at that slow speed, just read a post a day a little bit, you know, read the story of the rich young man, then come back the next day and read the story that follows where Jesus talks about the challenges of following him.
Speaker 2 00:05:11 You know, don't say you have to read a whole chapter, but let it be an encounter with Jesus Christ. You're conversing with a friend. Your friend Jesus Christ will bring you moral teaching. You'll, you'll learn moral teaching just by coming to know him better. So that's the answer to which gospel I would recommend starting. Now, having said that, there are elements in each of the gospels that present some beautiful moral teachings. The three gospels that we call the synoptic gospels, Matthew, mark, and Luke. You know, you have Jesus' teachings, especially through parables in the gospel of Matthew. You have the Sermon on the Mount in chapter five, and then you have the gospel of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. Those are powerful images if you want to do some development of your moral life or some examination of conscience. Likewise, in the gospel of Luke, you have some of the great stories about God's mercy and how he calls us to live that mercy parables like the Good Samaritan, the prodigal son. So you could kind of jump around to get specific moral teaching, if that's what you're looking at. And, and eventually, I hope you do get there, but my, if I start with Mark,
Speaker 1 00:06:25 Actually, Bishop, I recently came across a Bible that was created by this group called Word on Fire. And it takes the gospels and really expands each of the parables, each of the passages it provides you with pictures of where this took place, where it was located, and
Speaker 2 00:06:41 Beautiful artwork That absolutely expresses it because for much of the church's history, most people learn the Bible through art. And
Speaker 1 00:06:47 To be fair, you know, even when I was studied in the seminary and you're learning the scriptures or studying these scriptures, and you say, where did this take place? Where is the map of Israel? Where did he, where did Jesus walk to and and from? Where did he start? And where did he end? Where is Jerusalem? Where is Galilee? It does add to that. And I think that helps us to better understand, uh, the sacred scriptures.
Speaker 2 00:07:11 How true. How true. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:07:13 You know, part of that idea of teaching moral values is the question asked you is I think also helping us to understand how to interact with other people. Moral values is a way in which we can use those values to interact with our friends, our family, especially our family. And there was a few questions that were sent to you, Bishop, in regards to how do I as a teenager, live my life, life of faith with my parents, with my family members?
Speaker 2 00:07:43 Yes. We had an interesting question. I, and it's sort of the reverse of what we usually get. How often do you and I get as priest people saying, father, what am I doing wrong? I try to get my children now that they're growing up, I can't get them to mass or they won't come to mass. Here's the reverse question. I go to mass every Sunday. My parents do not. I have two questions. One, how do I encourage my parents to go to mass? Two, how do I get my parents to take my little brother to mass when I go away to college? That's a, that's really, really profound question. Absolutely. All I can tell you is that I have seen it happen. I have seen where a young person got involved in the life of their faith and joyfully involved, and how over time, maybe even just inviting people in really brought the rest of the family back.
Speaker 2 00:08:36 You know, there's people often quote that passage from Isaiah and a child shall lead them. And if a child shall lead them, of course that's pointing to Christ leading the nation. But a child shall lead them. Boy, a teen can lead them too. And look at some of the tradition of some of the saints in the church. I think of some ancient saints, one of my favorites being St. Agnes, who was a Marty at the age of 12 or 13, and led a whole civilization to appreciate Christ and to be able to stand strong in invasive persecution. Up to modern day Saints were becoming more familiar with the story of Blessed Carlo or Kutu. The interesting thing about Blessed Carlo is that his parents were not all that religious, were not all that interested in going to mass, but he had a great love. Something about the Eucharist fascinated him even before he could explain it.
Speaker 2 00:09:31 And something about just being in the church when they were out shopping, he would drag his mother, please, can we go inside, please? Can we go inside? And eventually he did bring his family to the church. I've seen it in young people I've worked with in parishes along the way where a kid was going to the youth group on a regular basis. And before long you saw the whole family there. So my first answer to you, my friend, is don't give up. Never give up. You don't know, you don't know. I say this to your parents who were asking the question, so I'll say it to you now, to the teen who's asking on behalf of your parents. You don't know the effect of your example. And you may not see it now, you may see it at another point way a little bit later on.
Speaker 2 00:10:10 So be patient, be persistent. Maybe a way to do it is in a non-threatening way. First of all, show the joy. Show how much you enjoy, what it means to you when you go to mass. Secondly, maybe on special days, mother's Day, father's Day say, why don't we go together today? Maybe find a time when the parish is celebrating something special. When somebody, you know, who's saying the mass, whose message would be appealing to your parents, say, you know, why don't you come with me next week? I'm going to this mass and I'm not as scared to come all the time, but just come with me today dear, too. You never know. You might make an impact without ever realizing it. And if you're going off to college, I wanna encourage you to keep doing what you're doing there, going to mass. And if on campus there's a mass or Newman center or something like that, get involved.
Speaker 2 00:11:02 And if it's not something that's very satisfying to you, check out the local parish. But the two don't give up and let them know that you're doing it. Let your parents know. Tell them, oh, I was over with Newman Club today and we did this, that, or the other thing. Let them see the connection about how you're going to mass informs so many of the other parts of your life. Put you in touch with people who are really good, people who themselves like you. Just trying to live a good life in the midst of a very messy world. You know, being away at college is a very messy world. Your example and your joy will rub off in terms of your little brother. All you can do is try. All you do is encourage. Maybe while you're home you can bring him yourself. There are different strategies that are out there. How about you?
Speaker 1 00:11:44 Uh, Bishop? I would say that there's a an interesting relationship between siblings and, and depending on how we relate to our brothers and, and our sisters, uh, I know that my brothers were great influences on me as a child, and I would sort of imitate what they would do. And so perhaps before, depending on again, how young his younger brother is per, you know, but perhaps before heading off to college, if to help your brother to encounter that same Christ, as you mentioned Bishop, it is about being a living witness to the faith. So if your brother sees that there's something special that's happening in that church, that that's the reason why you keep going and you, or every Sunday for mass, and perhaps you're involved as an ultra server or a youth minister in the youth group, maybe he'll say, Hey, I wanna do what my brother's doing, and we have to just keep praying for mom and dad because it'll begin to develop into that relationship, into that family.
Speaker 2 00:12:41 That's right. That's good. So
Speaker 1 00:12:43 Bishop, uh, another student asks you is, is it okay for me to go with my mother to her church? I was baptized Catholic, my father's Catholic, but when I visit my mother, she takes me to her church that I know is not Catholic. Is that okay? Is it okay that I go?
Speaker 2 00:13:01 The simple answer to your question is yes, it's okay that you go. What I wanna encourage you though is can you get to mass as well? It's the same thing. Your witness can have a powerful effect on your mother. So I think in the best of world, world, in an ideal situation, let's say you could get up early on a Sunday, and if you can get there on your own by your bicycle or walking or whatever, go to an early mass when you're with, with your mother, go to the early mass, come home. And then I'm just assuming that, let's say her service is at 10 o'clock, is it a bad thing to accompany your mother to pray? Absolutely not. Absolutely
Speaker 1 00:13:42 Not,
Speaker 2 00:13:43 Absolutely not. But if you can find a way to get to mass yourself, whether it be early Sunday morning, Sunday evening, a lot of parishes that have Sunday evening mass really directed toward younger people. So is there a Sunday evening or even a Saturday evening, in my view, that would be the best of all worlds. And then you say to your mother, this is who I am. I value the Eucharist. I go to a school that values mass regularly. You know, I love you very much, and yes, I'd, I'd love to go and pray with you, but would it be all right if I do this myself? And you'd be surprised, you'd be surprised at what powerful witness that is.
Speaker 1 00:14:25 I think those are beautiful words of advice, Bishop, because again, it leads us to realize there's so much to learn from other faiths as well. There's a lot of richness in praying ecumenically to be present as well. But to always realize the importance of your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church and through and through the Eucharist, through the Eucharist.
Speaker 2 00:14:49 My hope would be that this whole experience would deepen your own appreciation for the Eucharist. And maybe again, witness to that appreciation so that somebody else might say, gee, why is it so important to sure him or her to go to the Eucharist to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, to to believe what he believes. You know, another great saint story, Elizabeth Ann Seton. You know how Elizabeth Ann Seton was married, her husband was a very successful businessman, but at the time of the revolution, some of the business went sour. And he himself struggled with health. And eventually Elizabeth Ann Seton and her husband went down to Italy where it was thought he might be able to recuperate better. He died while they were in quarantine, and she was taken in by a family. The family had had facilitated their coming over. She was not Catholic, the Setons were not Catholic, and they were in a Catholic country, became friendly with this family, the Felicis.
Speaker 2 00:15:49 They took her in and they really opened up the Catholic world town, but really struck her. And it was a long period for her that conv to her conversion. She writes to a friend back in New York and she says, oh, my dear sister, her friend, but she called her my dear sister, if we could believe what these dear souls believe, how they fall to their knees, when the Eucharist goes by, when the priest goes by carrying the Eucharist. If we could really believe that God is present to us, what a difference that would make in my life. And eventually she did come to that belief, but seeing the effect of the Eucharist on the Catholic faithful where she was staying is probably one of the more powerful experiences that led to her conversion. Same happens today. When people see what the Eucharist can do in your life and how you value it, that's a powerful, powerful witness.
Speaker 2 00:16:50 Now, I do wanna say something to our friend who wrote this particular question, all that said, and again, please don't misquote me. I really wanna see you go in a mass on Sunday, do whatever you can to get there. But I also recognize when you're a teen, you have to, there's, there, there is a value in cooperating with what's asked of you by your parents and the respect that you vote to them. And so if it's possible with showing them respect them, love that you can get to ma get to mass. If it's impossible for you, you are only responsible for what you have control of. So you can only do what you can do.
Speaker 1 00:17:30 Bishop, you know, there are these questions that have been asked. There's so many great questions. We're only really gonna talk about a few of them today in this podcast because just for time allowance. But what they do acknowledge is the messiness. You know, as, as you mentioned earlier, the messiness of our human life, the messiness of relationships and the difficulties that are present in our relationships with one another. You know, there's a student here that's asking you a question that he learned in school that divorce is not allowed in the church, but his parents are divorced. And so the question he asked is, did they do something wrong by getting a divorce?
Speaker 2 00:18:11 So divorce, I think everybody would acknowledge that divorce is always a tragedy. There's a sadness that takes place with divorce. Nobody ever says, oh, this is a great thing. It's a painful topic. It's painful for all those involved, especially for the couple. So it's not always a matter of malice. The church does not teach that a divorce is a sin. And sometimes that gets out as if that's what it is. People would refrain from receiving communion because they're divorced. Divorce in itself is not the issue. Divorce and remarriage, and that's a very complicated issue because that involves getting to the root of the first marriage. There, there are possibilities of being married in the church, being married outside the church. That is problematic. Okay? We need to say that. But divorce in itself doesn't mean that somebody made a mistake or did something wrong. There are sometimes occasions where divorce is probably the best outcome.
Speaker 2 00:19:09 You know, if there is certain situations in family life, if there's any kind of domestic abuse or intolerable conditions, sometimes divorce or separation becomes, if you don't mind my saying, a heroic choice to provide a healthy environment for a family. But you know, when you're talking about individual people, it's one thing to express exactly, but is the heart of the question about marriage. The heart of the question is that when people stand at the altar, they never intend to say, I'll just give it a try. I can't think of anybody who stood at the altar with their hands behind their back and their fingers crossed and they made those promises. They make the promises, I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health to love you in awning, all the days of my life. I know I'm using the old formulation of the vows, but that it's just what rolls off, uh, the tongue right now you make, you're asked, do you intend a permanent relationship here?
Speaker 2 00:20:10 And so that is the intention. However, whether it be for reasons at the time of the marriage that somebody really wasn't quite ready to enter into marriage or circumstances that arose, this is an unfortunate outcome, the outcome of divorce. And it's not one that anyone takes lightly. The important thing is to maintain a spirit of mutual love and respect for each other. And if you, if you have children very much, to maintain that kind of mutual love and respect for the sake of your children to work together to realize that as a family we have a responsibility and that whatever happened in our relationship doesn't change our love for our children. So those are, are, are important factors in this. So my answer to your question is we can never really judge somebody else, can we? You know, the important thing for you as a child is to love each of your parents, to pray for them.
Speaker 2 00:21:14 And, you know, in every circumstance, the realities behind the divorce are going to be different in every family. You know, I don't know that I can answer your question directly of you and say whether where, where your parents are, but I would guess that if you are asking this question, you probably do have a great deal of love and respect for them. And I think you should just maintain it and know that hey, they probably did their best as we all do, and this is probably the best that we could come up with in the messiness of human life.
Speaker 1 00:21:49 And that all the while your faith is there as a backbone and support and so that you realize that my church will always support me and love me. My God will always love me and my parents. And, and it, it humbles us to recognize that we all need to pray and we all need God's God's grace.
Speaker 2 00:22:11 We only need God's help in mercy along the way. Every one of us.
Speaker 1 00:22:14 You know, Bishop, as I mentioned earlier, what incredible questions that the students, uh, of the diocese have come out to ask you, and they're taking us these questions. They, they take us in so many different directions, but we, we chose today to group them among a common theme, enter in through the gospel and then into our family life. There's so much more that we can speak of and we will, Bishop, this is an opportunity for you on a, on a quarterly basis, four times a year during the academic year to answer the questions of our students that they'll submit. It's our hope that we'll be able to answer all of them, of course, but at least, uh, to
Speaker 2 00:22:54 I, my, I would like to answer this first round of questions. I know as we get more, it may become harder and, and certainly as we get more, we may be able to condense some of them. There may be some overlap. Sure. So let me take this opportunity then Father Christopher to say thanks to all of those who submitted questions. This was sort of a pilot exercise and I'm really impressed by the depth of the questions, but also you can see some real thought behind it. And I really appreciate each of you taking the time. I'm hoping that at least for this first round of questions, we'll be able to answer every one of these first round of questions. Hopefully we'll have so many in the future that we'll have to pick and choose or draw together some, uh, thematic ones. But I look forward to engaging in this on a periodic basis. So thank you. By the way, you're the one that came up with this idea, father Heu you. I appreciate you proposing it and carrying it through and thanks to the schools who, uh, helped us to be able to reach out to our young people. We look forward to doing that more often.
Speaker 1 00:24:02 Thank you, Bishop. Perhaps, uh, you could end this podcast with a, a blessing for us all. Yes,
Speaker 2 00:24:07 The Lord be with you
Speaker 1 00:24:08 And with your spirit.
Speaker 2 00:24:09 May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He look upon your kindness and gracious 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. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:24:22 Thanks everyone for tuning in. Our das and podcast is released every week on Apple, on Spotify, YouTube, and all the other platforms that you can listen to. Podcasts called Big City Catholics. Thanks again for listening and God bless.
