Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Hello and welcome to a special edition of Big City Catholics. Recording tonight at Mom Beach's Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones as we celebrate the fourth annual Catholic schools night. This episode will feature a bit of a different format than usual as we stand on the field and in the stands in this ballpark, in the heart of Famous Coney Island, we will be speaking with a number of individuals who have been part of the great 2022 2023 school year for Catholic education in Brooklyn and Queens Catholic schools. Night is a fun night as we welcome students from our schools and honor our salutatorian and our valedictorians of the graduating class of 2023. There's a very popular game played before the Cyclones game, and that is between the collars and the scholars. You can hear the noise in the background. The collars are represented by the priest and they're playing against the scholars, the school principals and administrators. It's a game of great fun for the start of the summer. Our first guest this evening will be the Superintendents of Schools, deacon Kevin McCormick. We had an amazing moment as the opening ceremonies. We had all of the families who were in the stands. We prayed together the Lord's Prayer, and it was great, even though it wasn't quite a full stadium, yet, people were still arriving just to hear the unity of voices praying before God.
Speaker 2 00:01:31 It's wonderful, and it shows that God is everywhere. Grace abounds even in a baseball stadium or maybe because of a baseball stadium. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:01:38 God. God is present. So why don't we call upon the Lord's name, our Father who are
Speaker 2 00:01:43 Heaven. Heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Bread. Forgive us and give us our trespasses as we forgive those trespass against us. And lead us not into temp temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:02:01 Amen. Degan Kevin McCormick, whom you know from this podcast and from his work as the Superintendent of Schools, is playing the same position as I am playing tonight for the collars versus scholars. I am the official spectator for the collars
Speaker 2 00:02:15 And I am the official spectator for the scholars. And it's such a great night. You can hear in the background the, the noise that's going on and we are just getting started. It's not even full yet.
Speaker 1 00:02:24 No, I just see a whole bus, uh uh, must have arrived with one school and families are starting to arrive. But there's a lot of energy tonight, right?
Speaker 2 00:02:32 It's a lot of fun. You know why Bishop? Cuz we're celebrating excellence. We're celebrating the best of the best of our schools. We're here with, together with their principals, other administrators. We're here with the pastors and the priests. We're here with the bishop. It's a great night.
Speaker 1 00:02:45 Yeah. We're very, very proud. One of the things we're going to be doing is honoring the valedictorians and valedictorians for a number of our schools. We're really proud of all of our kids. But isn't it great that we can reward good, hard work
Speaker 2 00:02:59 And Exactly. And you can hear it's gonna be that kind of excitement when the kids come down, there's gonna be cheering for them. They're excited to be on the field. We've just done great things here. But the other thing, Bishop, is second most important thing. My bottle head is gonna be given out to thousands of people tonight.
Speaker 1 00:03:14 We are going to have bobbleheads of Deacon Kevin McCormick, all over Brooklyn and Queens.
Speaker 2 00:03:19 Now, I hope the people listening won't tell anybody, but the secret is, we should have had had bottle headss of Bishop Brennan all over <laugh>. But he thought it was a much better idea for Deacon Mack to do it. And, and so that's
Speaker 1 00:03:28 What we hope. I I always defer to greatness. I always defer to greatness. Listen, we're gonna have a great night tonight. Great night and we'll look forward to chatting again. God
Speaker 2 00:03:36 Bless. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 00:03:37 So I'm standing here with my classmate, actually, we studied together in the seminary. Father Ed Kaka is the pastor of St. Gregory the Great in Belrose Queens. Welcome Father Ed. Thank
Speaker 3 00:03:49 You Bishop. And it's glad to have you here. And even though you're not gonna be playing on the field, you are our spiritual leader and we're very glad that you're with us today as the colleges take on the scholars.
Speaker 1 00:03:59 Now, that's a good lead in. Explain the collars and the scholars.
Speaker 3 00:04:02 Well, a number of years ago, they started the Catholic schools night and they decided to have a little fun with the people coming in, everything. So they decided to have priests play against principals. So it became the collars versus scholars. So this is the fourth time we're playing it. We won the first two games and then last year the scholars won
Speaker 1 00:04:22 The last, that was the first game I had witnessed and I put the emphasis on the word witnessed. So, uh, I will witness again this year, but, but you put together a good team and it's fun to watch everybody playing.
Speaker 3 00:04:34 Oh, it's a lot of fun just watching everybody just playing and just having a little rivalry and a little bit of fun going back and forth with such You're
Speaker 1 00:04:42 The captain.
Speaker 3 00:04:42 Yeah. This year they asked me if I would be the captain of the, of the collars. And I was glad to do it. And
Speaker 1 00:04:47 As well as captain, you'll be pitching?
Speaker 3 00:04:50 Yes, I am pitching. I am not batting this year.
Speaker 1 00:04:53 So as the captain, tell me, have you had any practice? We
Speaker 3 00:04:56 Were not able to have a team practice, but guys were practicing on their own and sometimes you don't need to practice in order to have a good team on the field to win. That's great. So we'll be fine. Well,
Speaker 1 00:05:05 We'll see how that all works out. We'll see exactly, exactly. To do this recording beforehand, while everybody's hopes are still high.
Speaker 3 00:05:11 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:05:12 This is a great night for our Catholic schools. You have a Catholic school over at St. Gregory. Yep. And this is a great night to celebrate who we are as schools, but to celebrate our families.
Speaker 3 00:05:23 Yes. We have our number of students coming tonight from our academy. Our school principal is here, some of the faculty is here, the students' families. And we have a large block of parishioners who are supporters of our school. They're coming also tonight to witness the ceremony for the students and also to watch, you know, our softball game and then the, then watch the cyclones. And
Speaker 1 00:05:46 We can really be proud of our students, can't we? They're, they're terrific.
Speaker 3 00:05:49 Oh yeah. Yes, we can. You know, and, and Deacon Kevin has done a great job this year as the, uh, superintendent of schools. You know, when he came to visit our school, he was just, you know, full of energy and enthusiasm and interacted so well with the children and they're still talking about his visit.
Speaker 1 00:06:04 That's great. That's great. And speaking of, uh, great times out and being out at the park, you just finished your festival and you have I think one of the longest festivals.
Speaker 3 00:06:13 Yes. Barring the couple years. Didn't have it because of Covid. We had our 42nd annual Gregorian Festival. You know, the money's raised for the bulk of it goes to the academy and the parish may get a little bit to help out with some of our expenses, but it's a great community builder brings people to, and people look forward to it. We get people coming from Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Manhattan. And we had some people who were actually from New Jersey coming cuz they know about the festival. Cuz it's the biggest one in the diocese.
Speaker 1 00:06:43 It is. It goes how many nights?
Speaker 3 00:06:44 Eight nights. It used to be 11 before I got there, but when I got here last year to the parish, we cut it down to eight.
Speaker 1 00:06:51 So, you know, these are the fun things that we do as parishes. Part of our life is just being together, enjoying the gift Gods give to us and the time we have with one another. Right. Let's hope for a great night tonight. Oh, I
Speaker 3 00:07:03 Hope so. And may, may this. And hopefully the cows will win tonight.
Speaker 1 00:07:06 <laugh>. And hopefully the rain will hold out as well.
Speaker 3 00:07:08 Bishop, God bless you with Thank you. Thank
Speaker 1 00:07:09 You. Thank you. Father Ed. Father West is the pastor of Saint Sebastian's in Queens. I had the chance to visit there during Catholic Schools week. It's a great place with a lot of excitement. But importantly tonight you are playing what position? I'm
Speaker 4 00:07:25 Catching.
Speaker 1 00:07:25 You're catching for the college. That's a dangerous position.
Speaker 4 00:07:28 It's the position I grew up playing. I know it. And I don't have to run around the field a lot. So it's, it's not a bad place to be.
Speaker 1 00:07:35 It has its perks. It has its perks. So this is ignite that, uh, really is an opportunity for us to celebrate our Catholic schools. And, uh, you do have a great academy over at St. Sebastian's.
Speaker 4 00:07:47 We do. And you know, we're really proud of it. A great administration, great staff, and the children are just wonderful. And they bring a, a life, not just to the academy, but to the parish. Um, that's just delightful. It's a great thing to witness. And I, I learned from them too.
Speaker 1 00:08:02 Isn't that true? And they have a great relationship there with you, with the priest of the parish, with some of the aligned pastors and priests. Uh, but you teach them something, uh, they greet you very enthusiastically.
Speaker 4 00:08:17 Every time I go into a classroom where we have a liturgy in church, I say, do good. And they say, and avoid evil. Great lesson in moral theology.
Speaker 1 00:08:26 It's a great lesson in moral theology, but it's a constant reminder. Isn't that something? It's a constant reminder. Years from now, years from now, they'll remember that. They will.
Speaker 4 00:08:34 They,
Speaker 1 00:08:35 They will. So we're looking forward to a lot of fun tonight on the field with the, uh, priest and the, um, the principles, the collars versus the scholars. Do you have any predictions?
Speaker 4 00:08:46 <laugh>? I only have one hope to survive the night <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:08:51 That's
Speaker 4 00:08:51 A but my prediction would be the collars are gonna win.
Speaker 1 00:08:54 Okay, well that's not a bad philosophy. Survive the night. Let's go <laugh>. And then we'll enjoy a great night with the cyclones right here at Modi's Field. Thank, thank you Bishop. You by the west. Great talking to you. You too. So Chris, isn't this great to have Catholic schools night here at Modi's Park and even with the cyclones?
Speaker 5 00:09:10 Yeah, no, this is a great tradition We got here now, this is our fourth year playing in this game. Fifth year doing this night. Every year I feel it gets bigger and better. More fans, more schools, more principals, more priests get involved. The bobbleheads get more and more creative. So it's just a great night to celebrate Catholic education. Have
Speaker 1 00:09:26 You played all four years? Yes, I have. And so this is the, uh, we call it the colleges versus the scholars priest. Uh, the collars, the principals make up the scholars. And you have had a little bit of a practice session. Yeah,
Speaker 5 00:09:40 No, we, uh, got, got together about a few weeks ago. The practice, uh, run around the bases, uh, toss the ball around, get a couple swings in. Uh, I I think it gives us a little advantage for tonight.
Speaker 1 00:09:50 I think. So I, uh, word on the street is that the, the collars are counting on divine intervention.
Speaker 5 00:09:56 Uh, I think they're gonna have to, I mean, we're Father Kaka pitching. Uh, I'm hoping to take, take one deep tonight. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:10:04 So, uh, you're here, we are here in Coney Island, one of the icon places of Brooklyn and, uh, place of great recreation. We have this ballpark here. We're going and have a great night with the cyclones. But you are a, uh, principal in Rockaway, in Bell Harbor, St. Francis DeSales. Yeah.
Speaker 5 00:10:23 No, I mean, listen, Rockaway has always been a, a hotbed of, you know, Catholic education. And it's still true today in 2023. We're ready to rock and roll for another school year. But we're such of a great parish, communities of St. Francis and Blessed Trinity and a great school community of St. Francis. The sales. Um, and it's the teachers who do all the hard work, uh, the families who support us, and it's the kids. I mean, honestly, the kids are great. Uh, we have over 600 students in our school. Their smiles or what, you know, makes us come to work every day. And it's not, it doesn't make it seem like work.
Speaker 1 00:10:54 Absolutely. One of the things about, uh, St. Francis DeSales being a beach community, it's a place that never stops. You're right. It's a, it really is a 12 month community.
Speaker 5 00:11:03 Yeah, no, listen. Uh, yes. School ended last week. The building's still busy. It's still buzzing being up the block from the beach. It never ends. Whether it be summer camps, uh, summer Classic in the school yard, it, it really is a 12 month
Speaker 1 00:11:15 Thing. That's great. That's great. And so you're looking forward to a new year and looking
Speaker 5 00:11:20 Forward to it, you know, only, I think 73 days away, but who's counting? We're
Speaker 1 00:11:24 Gonna enjoy every day of this summer. So Chris, this is a great family night. This is a chance where we as Catholic schools can celebrate the families who constitute our big family, the families of the schools.
Speaker 5 00:11:36 Yeah. No, it's a great night to celebrate the families, you know, as well, as well as I know Bishop, uh, the families of the ones that send their children to Catholic education. Some work, two free jobs to send their kids. So it takes a great night for them to come out and enjoy a ball game with their family and friends. And also, you know, just a way to celebrate those kids, you know, all those, uh, Vale Victorians and SLU Victorians.
Speaker 1 00:11:56 Yes. That's an important part of this. We really wanna salute them. So thank you very much. Thank you, Bishop. Have a great night. Have a great night too. Go enjoy all scholars <laugh>. I'm here with John O'Brien, the captain of the scholars team representing the principles of our schools. John, welcome. Thank
Speaker 6 00:12:11 You, Bishop. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 00:12:13 So we are looking forward to, uh, an exciting game tonight. Yes. We're gonna be watching the cyclones play, but, uh, we're looking to the preview. We're looking forward to the colleges versus scholars.
Speaker 6 00:12:22 Sure. We definitely are. It's a great tradition that we've been doing now for four years, where the principles and assistant principal get together with the priest of the diocese to have a lot of fun. Most importantly, to celebrate the kids and all their achievements of this past school
Speaker 1 00:12:33 Year. It is about having fun, but it, as I talk, especially among the priests, they kind of take this seriously.
Speaker 6 00:12:38 They do. And we do too. You know, we, we joke around, we have a lot of fun with them, but it, but both sides wanna win. So we do take it seriously. Um, you know, it's, it's competitive. The, the priests of the diocese, the collars have a winning record in this event. So we hope to even it up tonight.
Speaker 1 00:12:53 Okay. Well we will see how that all ends up. Yeah. So when you're not captain of a baseball team here at ADEs Park, you're the principal Yep. Of Good Shepherd Catholic Academy in Marine Park here in Brooklyn. Mm-hmm. That's one of our great schools. And, uh, we're really proud of all of our kids. Thank
Speaker 6 00:13:10 You. Yeah. Thank God we're blessed. A good shepherd to have a great enrollment. Um, great staff, great families. It's a wonderful parish and community. And, and we've had a wonderful year and, and we're excited that while the year is is over, we're already gearing up for next year. You know, uh, enrollment is increasing, thank God. And we're, we're excited to, uh, do all the work that has to get done in the summer to have another successful year next year.
Speaker 1 00:13:30 And it's great to have a night like this where all of our families can get together really to celebrate who we are as a family in Catholic schools and academies For
Speaker 6 00:13:39 Sure. And we have thousands of Catholic school families here tonight. So it's a wonderful tradition, wonderful opportunity to get together again for the, the kids to see their principals and assistant principals and pastors and priests in a different light, having some fun. And again, to celebrate the kids and all their great achievements.
Speaker 1 00:13:53 Well, thanks for all that you're doing in our schools. Thanks for what you're doing tonight. I'm looking forward to this. This is gonna be a great night together. Thank you, Bishop.
Speaker 6 00:13:59 Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 00:14:00 I'm here at the ballgame with Anthony, the valedictorian of the class of 2023 from St. Francis De Sales Academy in Rockaway. Welcome, Anthony.
Speaker 7 00:14:12 Thank you.
Speaker 1 00:14:14 So what was the eighth grade year like? Was it a good year?
Speaker 7 00:14:17 Uh, yeah, it was a lot of fun. What
Speaker 1 00:14:18 Would be some of the highlights?
Speaker 7 00:14:20 Uh, probably our eighth grade class trip.
Speaker 1 00:14:22 Where did you go?
Speaker 7 00:14:23 We went to Six Flags.
Speaker 1 00:14:24 Six Flags. Great Adventure. Six Flags. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun. And then, um, but you live down in Rockaway down, um, in probably one of the recreation capitals of the world, right? Yep. So what are you going to be doing this summer?
Speaker 7 00:14:37 I'm probably gonna spend a lot of the time at the beach with my friends.
Speaker 1 00:14:40 I think that sounds great. I think that sounds awesome. Now tell me, where are you planning to go to high school?
Speaker 7 00:14:46 I'm going to Regis.
Speaker 1 00:14:47 You're going to Regis? Yes. Okay. That's a little bit of a commute. How are you gonna be going into Manhattan? Right? Yeah. That's really quite an honor to be accepted into reaches, isn't it? Thank you. Yeah. Congratulations to you. We're real proud of you. Thank you. So, um, tell me, what are some of the highlights of St. Francis de Sales School? What will you, what did you enjoy the most or what will you miss the most?
Speaker 7 00:15:06 Um, I'm probably gonna miss being with my friends. We're going to different schools.
Speaker 1 00:15:11 That's one thing that happens when we go from eighth grade into high school. Right. We all scatter all the way through. Um, hopefully you'll you'll have some friendships that'll stay put. Right? Yeah. And some connections especially to the parish. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Very good. Very good. And what I'm gonna ask you another question. What's your favorite subject?
Speaker 7 00:15:28 Probably science.
Speaker 1 00:15:29 Science. Okay. Do you have a particular kind of science that you like better? The life sciences.
Speaker 7 00:15:34 Oh, biology.
Speaker 1 00:15:34 Biology. All right, good for you. Good. Now one more question. How did it feel when they told you you were gonna be the Vic Valedictorian? Were you a little surprised?
Speaker 7 00:15:43 I was excited. You
Speaker 1 00:15:44 Were excited? Okay. That's a good answer. You were excited. You know, you're standing first in a line of a lot of great students. Right. Your fellow students are great young men and women. Um, and, and you stand as a leader among them. So we are real proud of you. Thank you. Thank you. You are you. Who are you rooting for out here today? The collars or the scholars? Both. You ought to be a bishop. Maybe one day you'll be a bishop like me, because that's what I do. I have to be impartial. Yeah. And so you're gonna be impartial. You're a good man. <laugh>. Thank you. Take care Anthony. God bless you. This year we have a special treat here at the Catholic Schools night at ADEs Park. Four CARite sisters are joining us. This is the second time you were here with us last year. Yes. For this game. You made the trip all the way from uh, Manhattan, just to be with us to root who are you rooting for? The collars or the scholars? The
Speaker 8 00:16:37 Collars. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:16:38 Right. That's right. Because you know what, we're a little outnumbered here. A lot of students here really, and they're rooting for their principals. <laugh>.
Speaker 8 00:16:45 It's great though to see this.
Speaker 1 00:16:48 Isn't it great to see families
Speaker 8 00:16:49 Gathered here? Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:16:51 And this is what really sets out as Catholic schools apart, that this is really an endeavor involving the whole family. Yes.
Speaker 8 00:16:58 It's wonderful. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:17:01 We're very proud of our schools and we're proud of a night like this where we can have a lot of fun together. Yes. A few laughs Watch a little bit of baseball as well. Sister Eileen is a long time friend. Long time friend. Going back to my days in Columbus. Yes. We are both New York transplants to Ohio who are back now here in
Speaker 8 00:17:20 New York. From the Bronx.
Speaker 1 00:17:22 From the Bronx. Born in the Bronx. Both of us. Yes. There is one thing though that separates us. We, we have a very similar outlook on a lot of things, except I grew up a Met fan.
Speaker 8 00:17:32 Oh. And I grew up a Yankee fan and
Speaker 1 00:17:35 Still are. Right? You bet. But here you come to the Mets minor league so that we can all have some fun together.
Speaker 8 00:17:41 That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:17:42 Sis, do you wanna tell us just a word about the CARite sisters and the great ministries that you do here in the New York area? Yeah.
Speaker 8 00:17:49 Okay. We have the Mary Manning Walsh Home on York Avenue right across from Sotheby's. If we say that they know where we are. And right now we just have five sisters, but we take care of the elderly, you know, early when they're very sick. Uh, we have a hospice unit. If anybody wants to volunteer, we'd love to have them. But we have 17 nursing homes in the United States and one in Ireland. We have another one in Hamm in Bayside
Speaker 1 00:18:20 That's right here in this diocese. In, yes. In Brooklyn and Queens, uh, place that we are very, very proud of. And you're, you are always very good to our priest. To me. Oh,
Speaker 8 00:18:30 That was one of Mother Angeline's pet peeves. She had to make sure that the priests were taken care of.
Speaker 1 00:18:37 So you're very grateful. Mother Angeline is, was the founders of your
Speaker 8 00:18:41 Community
Speaker 1 00:18:42 And, um, really a great role model for all of us. Sister Eileen was assigned to Mother Angeline in Columbus, Ohio. And that's who we served together.
Speaker 8 00:18:52 Right. And out there we had a nursing home. Assisted living and independent living our home in Staten Island also has something like that too. So.
Speaker 1 00:19:05 Well, you know, these are the things I I think that show the impact of the Catholic church in so many parts of life. From the very, very beginning, from womb to tomb. Right? We are caring for families. We have the opportunity to interact with wonderful families and with the children in our elementary schools. But we accompany people all through life. And you with the elderly and even with hospice ministry, right? To the very end.
Speaker 8 00:19:27 Right. We have, um, in fact, we have one man, he told me he was 103, I couldn't believe it, but he says, I'll show you my birth certificate. But he is and he's great. He's up in the wheelchair every day. He said, I wish I could walk like I did last year. But it's wonderful. They're all so positive about life. It is. And we have mass every day for them.
Speaker 1 00:19:52 So it really is, it's a great blessing that you and I have to be able to walk in the midst of
Speaker 8 00:19:56 Wonderful, wonderful people. It is.
Speaker 1 00:19:58 Well, sister, thank you for coming and enjoy the game tonight. We're gonna have some fun, I think.
Speaker 8 00:20:02 Okay. Thank you. And may the callers win. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:20:05 There we go. Thanks. Kamara is the salutatorian for the class of 2023 at St. Catherine's Catholic Academy in Brooklyn and is sitting with me right now. So at the ballgame on Catholic School night, congratulations, first of all, to you kimura on your graduation and on being recognized as salutatorian.
Speaker 9 00:20:27 Thank you.
Speaker 1 00:20:28 Great job. That must be the result of a lot of hard work.
Speaker 9 00:20:31 It was
Speaker 1 00:20:32 Definitely bet. And as you finish up your time at St. Catherine, what is some of the highlights of your eighth grade year?
Speaker 9 00:20:38 Um, the highlights would definitely be being on the dance team and participating in different school events, helping out around the building, our prom, our graduation ceremony, all those different things really brought joy and were highlights of my eighth grade year.
Speaker 1 00:20:56 That's wonderful. That's really wonderful. And where are you looking to go next year for high school?
Speaker 9 00:21:01 Bishop Lockland Memorial. Bishop
Speaker 1 00:21:03 Lockland. That's over in my neighborhood and I pass that school all the time. That's a wonderful school. I I hope you really enjoy it there.
Speaker 9 00:21:11 Thank you. I'll
Speaker 1 00:21:12 Try. It's good. Now we had the chance to meet when I came to St. Catherine Academy and St. Terres Church. And it's a beautiful school. Um, I noticed your new principal has really put a lot of energy into brightening up the school.
Speaker 9 00:21:25 She has since she's come to our school, she's introduced us to many different school events from introducing us to a father daughter dance and a mom prom and bringing back spring shows and Christmas shows. She's really changed our school for the better.
Speaker 1 00:21:40 Oh, that's wonderful. And you're leaving behind a great legacy yourself to the students behind you. I always say the eighth grade has set the tone and I can tell you, you guys set a wonderful tone at St. Catherine's.
Speaker 9 00:21:52 We tried
Speaker 1 00:21:53 <laugh>. I was there on Ascension Thursday for the Holy day and for Mass. And you were the elector, you proclaimed the first reading for us, right?
Speaker 9 00:22:01 Yes, I did. Acts of the apostles chapter one verses one through 11.
Speaker 1 00:22:06 Wow. You got it. Exactly. That's always got one of those hard names in it, right? Yeah. And my St. Luke is right. He says in my first account, Theophilus, were you shaken by that word?
Speaker 9 00:22:16 At first I was like, what is that? Like, I had to really look at it and I was like,
Speaker 1 00:22:22 Theophilus of course was the name of the person that Luke was writing to. Right. Luke is a little easier than Theophilus.
Speaker 9 00:22:28 Very.
Speaker 1 00:22:28 But you did great with it. You did fantastic. And you basically told us the story of how Jesus appeared to his apostles for 40 days and then was taken up into heaven. Right. Have you read it mass before?
Speaker 9 00:22:40 Yes, I have. Um, at my school they choose me to read a lot. It's very interactive. So every month they have a different class that hosts the school mass. So when it's our month, they'll choose somebody to read or they'll choose somebody to bring up the bread and the wine and all those different things.
Speaker 1 00:22:59 And so you've had the chance to read. Well, I do remember that. You read very, very well and I was impressed by the readings and by the musicians there. And I hope that you'll continue, even now that you're out of the school, maybe as a parish lecture to, to read. That would be a great contribution.
Speaker 9 00:23:16 It would. I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 1 00:23:17 Good. I'm glad. I'm really glad. Are you doing anything special for the summer?
Speaker 9 00:23:22 I'm going away on a cruise.
Speaker 1 00:23:24 On a cruise? Yes. Ooh, where are you heading?
Speaker 9 00:23:27 Europe.
Speaker 1 00:23:29 That is quite the cruise. That's wonderful. Yes. That's wonderful. Well, I hope you enjoy it. That too will be a great educational opportunity. And we are here tonight at, um, the Ballgame. Isn't it kind of fun to be together with families?
Speaker 9 00:23:42 Yeah, it's cool. I've never been to a baseball game before.
Speaker 1 00:23:45 Okay, well welcome to the cyclones, um, and, and to Coney Island. So I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful summer. I wish you a safe trip and most of all, I hope that your years in Lachland are gonna be very happy years, uh, that you'll look back upon with a lot of fondness.
Speaker 10 00:24:02 Thank you. And
Speaker 1 00:24:03 God bless you. You too, too. And again, congratulations.
Speaker 10 00:24:05 Thank you.
Speaker 1 00:24:08 Well, as the two spectators for the colleges and the scholars, we saw the game and uh, I think the scholars had it, huh?
Speaker 2 00:24:15 Well, I think even on both sides, we can say they spent a lot more time in the library than they did in the gym and the ball field, but you know, it's great. They all did a fine job.
Speaker 1 00:24:22 They did. They they did. And I know it sounds like consolation prize, but we all had a lot of fun. A lot of laughs, a lot of fun. I have to say though, the crowd was decidedly pro scholars <laugh>, I think it was their principles who were playing, and so they felt a certain kinship.
Speaker 2 00:24:40 Uh, I don't wanna brag, but it was, it was beautiful. But they also, they were glad to see their priests out there too. Absolutely. And that's, uh, that's the beauty of our community. It it's Brooklyn, it's huge. It's Brooklyn and Queens. It's huge. But it also is, uh, hometown small town. And we saw that tonight. That's
Speaker 1 00:24:54 Right. And now that all of that's behind us, we can sit down and enjoy the cyclones and the blue claws. Let them duke it out on, on the field and we can just enjoy each other's company and, uh, relax a little,
Speaker 2 00:25:06 A couple of hot dogs, maybe a cold diet Pepsi. And we're set. It's gonna be a great time. It's also good. You were here and, and you don't get enough credit on this, but you were here. The people loved having their bishop with them, enjoying spending time laughing and, and just, just being special presence to everybody. And thank
Speaker 1 00:25:23 You. Well, I love being among everybody here and everywhere. I, I enjoy it a great deal. It's a lot. I tell people it's still fun. The job is still fun and it really is. That's great. And a night like this makes it all come home and, and it makes a lot of fun. So thank you for joining us on this special podcast. Thanks for all, uh, for putting up with all the jumping around talking to our different PE people. But I hope you get a sense of the joy that is felt when people of faith and people in our schools get together and just joy being together with good, clean, fun.
Speaker 2 00:25:57 God bless. And we're so glad that the Lord blessed us with a great night, a great community, and, uh, a victory for the uh, scholars.
Speaker 1 00:26:03 And so let's ask God's blessing as we close this podcast. The Lord be with you
Speaker 2 00:26:08 And with your spirit,
Speaker 1 00:26:09 Almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2 00:26:13 Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:26:15 So thanks again for joining us for another edition of Big City Catholics. We look forward to joining you next week. God bless.
