Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Welcome back to another edition of our Octan podcast, big City Catholics with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Bishop of Brooklyn, and myself, father Christopher Hen. Today's a special edition where Bishop and I have made a trip up to 10 Mile River to be with the Scouts to offer mass for them and to spend the day with them. But we'll begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, son, and Holy Spirit, amen. Amen. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker 2 00:00:37 Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:00:46 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Speaker 2 00:00:49 So what a great day it is. Up here in Sullivan County, New York, we're revisiting 10 Mile River, the side of the scout camps. What an inspirational day too, though, to meet so many young people and to see their enthusiasm.
Speaker 1 00:01:03 It has been, and you know, this is a nice episode, Bishop, where you'll have an opportunity to greet and to speak with some of the scouts. And Father Mark, who's one of the directors here, exactly.
Speaker 2 00:01:12 Last year we made this trip and we debriefed on the way home told of our experience, but this year we have the chance to hear from some of the participants themselves.
Speaker 1 00:01:21 So let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 00:01:23 My pastor, father Dylan would always say, you know, when you, you're baptized, you're not even old enough to remember. And then you get your communion and your mom tells you, right? But then when you make your confirmation, that's your choice. And that was seventh, eighth grade. And then I was like, you know what? Let me go to Catholic school.
Speaker 2 00:01:39 So while up here at 10 Mile River Camp, I was guided by a one, Mr. Vincent Mirabella. He's part of the staff year at 10 Mile River and showed me all around and gave me some of the insights, but also helped me to see some of the great things that are going on internally here. How this experience helps people to mature and really feeds into somebody's faith life. First of all, just introduce yourself, Vincent. Where do you go to school now and where are you from? Tell me a little about yourself.
Speaker 3 00:02:06 Yeah, so my name is Vincent Ella, I'm a boy scout from Staten Island. I went to more Catholic high school. I'm now in the Macaulay Honors College. I've been on staff here at TMR for the past three years. The reason why I love this camp and I fell in love as a camper was, you know, really like the TMR spirit. And I definitely remember coming to this chapel in 2017 as a 12 year old. And you know, I really felt the Kiowa magic and I also felt the, you know, spirit of Jesus Christ. I was just so infatuated by this camp and the staff and you know, it made me want to come back and help at the masses. Like I seen other staff members do. You
Speaker 2 00:02:46 Know, it's sort of like what the reading we just came from Mass, what you've been given, you now have to give. And that's what you're doing now. You're giving to a new generation, aren't
Speaker 3 00:02:54 You? Yeah, for sure. In scouting, I earned the two religious awards for the Boy Scouts and part of that is you have to go back and mentor the other scouts. Not only do I like to encourage people to practice the Catholic faith, but also I really like to inspire people to, you know, live the scout law as well. And I always tell people, when you align your morals with God and you follow the scout oath and law, there's no way to go wrong.
Speaker 2 00:03:21 So you mentioned your two religious awards, but you have a unique experience. You got your Eagle Scout project in just in time for being 18. Yeah. But along the way, you earned how many
Speaker 3 00:03:33 138 merit badges.
Speaker 2 00:03:35 And how many merit badges are there available
Speaker 3 00:03:36 To you? There's 138
Speaker 2 00:03:38 <laugh>. You're one of a relatively small group. Yeah. Of
Speaker 3 00:03:41 People who achieve only 500 who have ever done it. There's actually a website that I was put on called Merit Badge not.com, where you could see the names of a lot of people that have a couple friends that I know that have gotten on it, but there's only a select few. I think I might be one of the only ones to have all 1 38 in
Speaker 2 00:03:59 New York. And that's amazing. That's impressive. And I remember you showed me the article in the Staten Island paper talking about that great achievement. Now you're originally from Staten Island, but your connection with Brooklyn is?
Speaker 3 00:04:10 Yeah, I, I work in Brooklyn at the Italian Federation as a lifeguard. A couple guys are familiar with that place in the Bensonhurst area and I became an altar server.
Speaker 2 00:04:21 Yes. Tell me about your life of faith because I think that's something that stands out.
Speaker 3 00:04:25 I became an altar server in sixth grade. My cousin did it, so I was like, all right, let me do it. My uncles, my father was an altar server. They encouraged me, it helped me get my service credits for confirmation and I decided to complete my confirmation and continue being an altar server in Catholic high school. I went to more Catholic. I told my parents I don't want to go to public school anymore. I used to go to religion school. I said, you know, I wanna practice my faith in my school. And I'm very glad that I made that decision. I was trained by Father Ray in St. Joseph, St. Thomas, St. John Norman. He taught me how to be an altar server and then he unfortunately was transferred to another parish. I was upset, but I got lucky because he then was the chaplain aid at my school more Catholic. So I was like, what? And then I ended up helping him as the head altar server. I also did the TCM program where I helped out as a teacher for religion schools. I did it in my home parish and that was another big thing that connected me closer to God and to my faith.
Speaker 2 00:05:24 Again, being an inspiration to others, being a mentor to younger people. A hundred percent. That's amazing. That's really, really good. I have to say one thing, I mean, to me, you're hitting home runs every step of the way. Yeah. The only thing, if I'm not mistaken, more Catholic is sort of a rival <laugh> to some of our schools in Brooklyn and Queens. It's true's true. So with all due respect, and I love you guys over there in Staten Island, but I've rooted against you a couple of times, but nothing personal.
Speaker 3 00:05:50 I actually ran track and we were in the C H S A A, which is the Catholic, um, high school athletic sports associ. Right. And there was always the Brooklyn and Queens schools. So that was always a friendly competition, <laugh>. But you know, even in sports you notice the chaplains will come to the events. Even in the sports community, you still felt the faith from everybody. Everybody was united through God. And you know, that's not something that you really see in other places. I was very, you know, lucky to be able to go to private Catholic school and play sports with them and all the different programs and with Father Ray, it was great.
Speaker 2 00:06:25 That's great. Well, Vincent Podcast is called Big City Catholics and it's just a chance for me to connect with what's going on all around the diocese in Brooklyn and in Queens and yeah, we'll take you from Staten Island <laugh>, but thank you for sharing with us on the podcast. But thanks more importantly for your hospitality today. You do stand out as a leader in this group. Thank you. And I'm proud to know you. So during our hike up to 10 Mile River, I had the chance to sit with Father Marco Macola, who we know very well in Brooklyn and Queens. He serves as teacher and chaplain over at St. Edmonds High School in Brooklyn, but is part of the oratory that has roots here in Brooklyn. And as part of the Oratory, he's the administrator right now of the parishes of St. Bonnefass and the assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary in Brooklyn Heights. So thank you Father Mark for joining us today.
Speaker 4 00:07:20 Thanks for having me,
Speaker 2 00:07:21 Bishop. And thanks for having us up here at 10 Mile River. Give me your connection to 10 Mile River. I know it's a personal story, it's like a long Sure. Own moods.
Speaker 4 00:07:30 Yeah, I've been involved in scouting my whole life. I say my whole life is like since I was nine and a half from a Cub Scout all the way through. And aside from being involved in my local troop in Brooklyn, which is in holy name of Jesus in Park Slope Winter Terrace, I started working on the camp staff when I was 14 as a counselor in training here at 10 Mile River. And I've gone through probably every position, yeah. Since then I've been a local camp director. I've been the reservation director of the whole property and really just keep coming back each season because it's something really special. I think it's a great way to be able to serve and work with youth, influence them positively, be influenced positively and honestly, getting outta the city is really, really special too into God's creation. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:08:07 You know, I was talking to a priest who spoke about his own experience when I told him I was coming up this way and he thought I had been a scout and I said, no, I wasn't. I was Boy Scout Weblo. And that's about as far as I went. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But he said, you know, growing up in the city this was a big deal to get out of the city and just the trees, the water, the land, everything. The outdoor activities.
Speaker 4 00:08:25 Yeah. I've had many prayerful moments here, like even just the in God's beauty creation to be able to help keep things in perspective and realize how blessed we are and have the opportunity to be able to take advantage of this. And I love Brooklyn. I've lived there my whole life and I always will, but there's something really special about being able to be here in the wilderness. God's creation itself. Exactly,
Speaker 2 00:08:46 Exactly. So you serve on the staff here? I
Speaker 4 00:08:49 Do.
Speaker 2 00:08:49 As chaplain. Tell me a little bit about the camp itself. I mean this is, it's a huge area. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, so it consists of multiple camps. Correct. Tell me a
Speaker 4 00:08:57 Little about it. Yeah. So in its heyday, 10 Mile River Scout Camps was a conglomerate of about 13 individual sub camps that originally served one for each borough. So the camp that we're sitting in right now, camp Kiowa would've been the Queens camp, the Brooklyn camps were all the way on the southern end of the property, but over time those divisions have come down and scouts come from any borough in any area. We met just now a number of scouts from outside come to any one of the camps. We operate two Boy scout camps right now, camp Kiowa, which has traditional dining hall like we just enjoyed inside with that spirit and that revelry and Camp Acwa hunger, the one that I used to be the director of is an outpost patrol cooking type camp. So the kids do all of their own cooking and cleaning and preparation. We'll visit there. So we operate those two. We have a family camp, which is involves families, the opportunity to come and Wow. And just kind of have a week's worth of Nice outta the city program. It's the largest scout camp owned by a council in the Boy Scouts of America. It's like the size of Manhattan Island. So it's pretty big. We have, we can do all of our own hiking and 50 mile treks and stuff all here on our own property,
Speaker 2 00:09:55 Which is great. It's a great opportunity and there's lots of outdoor activity and kids have a lot of fun. You can catch the spirit, as you mentioned in the mess hall, in the dining hall. You can get all the excitement as they do their chants, but also there's something else that's going on here. So they're working toward merit badges, they're building up important life skills. They're building up important skills to be able to relate with other people growing in faith because mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we have the Catholic Committee on scouting and so there's the Catholic element here as well.
Speaker 4 00:10:23 I agree. I, for the folks that I know in my troop, we've always described it like this, that if done well it's a way to allows kids who are inclined to be able to see their faith in a new way and to do it in such a wonderful setting as well. Very much of my vocation, I would say I found half of it through teaching and half of it through scouting. I would
Speaker 2 00:10:39 Say. That's great. It really is. And we had, mass was part of the routine for today. So that be gave the young people who were Catholic, the opportunity to assist at mass, that's something you provide regularly. Today was my chance to jump in. Right. And to celebrate it shows something of who they are too. I told them at Mass I respect, it says something about their character that they would build this in to their time here.
Speaker 4 00:11:02 It matters honestly in the scouting program, the three points of the Scout law, duty to God and country is the first one. Duty to others, duty to self is are the three points. So I've always appreciated the fact that it's God and country is first, and that even that God comes first in there. It's a real grounding force to realize we're having fun. But scouting is often described as fun with the purpose and and our faith is definitely part of that purpose.
Speaker 2 00:11:23 And I think in today's world, one of the things that I think is an important message is that you can have the two that go together and in fact, probably that fun with a purpose leads to actual fun. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you don't have to be a person of faith or to be a person of integrity doesn't mean walking around with a frown all the time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> or carrying a heavy burden. It really can be more joyful than some of the things that the world seems to promise that are dead ends. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and get you into other kinds of troubles.
Speaker 4 00:11:49 Absolutely. And I think it's really good that they see the fate as part of that. We're all real people doing this. So like even Dan who was the cantor at Mass, he's somebody that the kids would totally recognize as the waterfront director. Someone that is very revered and liked and he's got a great personality. But then to see him sitting there as the cantor and standing there and being able to say, this is part of who I am as well and to do it so well. I really appreciate when the guys can put those things together, their personality. That's
Speaker 2 00:12:12 Great. Well thanks for what you're doing up here and thanks for the invitation. Thanks.
Speaker 4 00:12:15 Thanks for being here today, Bishop. Thank you.
Speaker 2 00:12:17 So I'm up here today with Jake Harmon who hails from St. Ignatius Paris in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Glad to meet you Jake.
Speaker 5 00:12:26 Good to meet you too. Sorry.
Speaker 2 00:12:26 Thank you. Actually it was good. I should say I met you earlier in the day and you really stood out as an impressive young man and you have a great love for this place here at the 10 Mile River. You have a great love for scouting. Tell me about your experience up here.
Speaker 5 00:12:40 Okay, so this place is kind of like home away from the home. So every summer from when I was 11 until again this year I come up here and right up until this year I've been a camper here. So I really looked up to the staff here and everything that you know, Scott, our camp director has done for this place this past year. I wanted to join my brother on staff and I took the leap from a camper to his staff and I'm super excited and have a great job, great time. The staff is like family and everyone is super supportive about all the things I do and I'm super supportive on everything they do. What
Speaker 2 00:13:11 Are some of the things that you're responsible for? What is your day
Speaker 5 00:13:14 Like? So at camp I'm in charge of two things. First, I work at the camp store, checking the kids out, pour slush puppies for them, getting them all sugared up before they send
Speaker 5 00:13:23 <laugh>, before I send them to their classes. I'm also what they call the camp chief. So me and Vincent we're in charge of the order of the arrow at camp. And so one of my jobs outside of camp is called the Lodge Chief, which means I'm the Top scout in greater New York Councils. So Top Scout in New York City. Vincent had that position a few years ago. So we work hand in hand, we do service projects Today we uh, laid some mulch at our field sports area and we had over 40 participants, kids helping out. They'll be rewarded with ice cream later.
Speaker 2 00:13:52 Oh good. <laugh>. So the work has its rewards. Yes, yes. You mentioned the order of the arrow and you're wearing the order of the hour, Sarah, I think today is Order of the Arrow Day. Tell me about the order of the era.
Speaker 5 00:14:03 It's a cheerful organization where we do service to our camps and all the camps in greater year councils. We also build brotherhood by having like fun events. We call them fellowships and our end of the year banquet, which is a great event for everyone to come together and spread that brotherhood and cheerful service, hanging out, eating a good dinner, dancing to music, giving out awards to people who did exceptionally well throughout the year.
Speaker 2 00:14:26 Wonderful, wonderful. Now here at camp, the thing that impresses me, young people who come to know themselves better, they discover the gifts that God gives to them and you and the other members of the staff help to encourage them to develop those and to bring those out that goes across the board in terms of like practical skills for life and relation skills, all of that. You have an interesting story about your faith life and its connection here with scouting
Speaker 5 00:14:53 A few years, I think it was two years now, I went to Brian who is one of the members of my troop. He's also in charge of the Catholic committee on scouting in Brooklyn. And when I talked to him, I was interested in my faith because growing up my, my mom was Catholic and my dad was Jewish, so they kind of just left it up for me to decide on what type of religion I would be. And when I became of age, you know, they thought I was wise enough to choose. I went to Brian and I asked him if I could uh, do the Catholic award, the adult Tar Day award. And you know, he recommended me and went, I finished the award and I was gifted it. I almost found that I found myself within the Catholic faith. And so me, my brother and my sister decided that that September we would join the R CCIA program at St. Athanasius. And to this day I haven't been happier. You know, I go to church every Sunday, even at camp I go to church with Father Mark and I'm super excited to spread the Catholic religion. This next September I have started the Youth Catholic committee on scouting and we'll be going troop to troop to spread the news about, you know, upcoming awards, upcoming events, hoping to spread awareness that the Catholic faith is still strong in the scouting.
Speaker 2 00:16:02 That's wonderful. That really is impressive. And to a certain sense, you were already doing that missionary work because you brought your brother and sister along with you, right? Yeah. So you're sharing the joy of that and you speak of the order of the Arrow and that cheerful fellowship. And that's something I think that you've discovered in your faith too. Something cheerful that's Faith can give us joy.
Speaker 5 00:16:21 What I like about it is it also reminds me of the Catholic faith. They go hand in hand because with the Catholic faith, my church, they have the food pantry and they do clothing drives and I see also that's a lot of service. And I also see that a lot in the order of the Arrow with service to the camps and doing projects for the camps, both in the church and the order of the Arrow. You see a lot of bond and connection and that makes me super happy knowing that I'm active and have a leadership position in both what I believe the best organizations in the world.
Speaker 2 00:16:49 Beautiful, beautiful. One more question. What do you do during the year? So are you in school now? Where are you in school?
Speaker 5 00:16:54 I'm going into my senior year of high school. Good. Where I'll be serving as a school president.
Speaker 2 00:16:58 Oh wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Where's that Edward Arm? Maro. You're going to Edward Arm, Maro High School in.
Speaker 5 00:17:04 So I'll be going into my senior year. I'll be serving as the Lodge chief, which is grad year council's Top Scout. I'm still active in my troop. I work with the Cub Scouts. And other than that, I mean, I just continue to go to church and continue to be active.
Speaker 2 00:17:16 Active. Other than that, you sound pretty busy as it is, <laugh>. I'm super busy. That's good. This is a big year for you. You thinking about colleges and what you'd like to study, what do you think you'd like to study? I
Speaker 5 00:17:25 Have no idea.
Speaker 2 00:17:26 I have no idea. So you're a wide open slate. I'm,
Speaker 5 00:17:28 I'm living in the moment right now.
Speaker 2 00:17:29 A lot. I love it. There you go. That's great. Well listen, enjoy this moment and enjoy the rest of your summer and thanks for all the good. You, you're doing
Speaker 5 00:17:36 Great. Thank you so much. I really appreciate.
Speaker 2 00:17:38 God bless, God bless.
Speaker 1 00:17:39 You know, Bishop, a few weeks ago you had the opportunity to do some interviews at the Cyclone Stadium for the Catholic Schools night. This was another opportunity for you to interview some really incredible people and I think you missed your calling as an interviewer,
Speaker 2 00:17:54 <laugh>. I'm not sure that's where the quality comes from. I think it comes from the quality of those telling their great stories.
Speaker 1 00:18:00 Oh, great stories indeed. The two scouts today that you had the chance to meet with, both are super young men, super responsible and really great stories. Jake, who's converted to the faith
Speaker 2 00:18:12 And Vincent really grew up in it, but through his experience in scouting, really wanted to deepen it. Asked his parents if he could go to Catholic high school. It shows some of the good things that are happening in these experience, how the life of faith gets integrated into the whole of life. It's not like a separate compartment.
Speaker 1 00:18:29 Father Mark was bringing that up too, the points of the Scouts to love God and love country. And this was just an opportunity to see how that really took root. One thing you mentioned Bishop during the homily was how great it was that these scouts took the time to come and to be at Mass today. And, and what an inspiration that is for you or for me, uh, for all
Speaker 2 00:18:50 Those, right, because they actually choose their different activities through the day. There were certain ones that have obligations because they're attached to merit badges, but they could choose to do different things and they chose Come to Mass. Yeah, yeah. I thought that says a lot about them. It was nice. Currents was up here from the sales media and they did a number of shots and interviews. So if you wanna get a flavor of the day, I, and you haven't seen it on Currents, I encourage you go to the Currents YouTube channel and look for that day and see some of the exciting things that the young people were doing. So we were up here on July 13th that should be able to help you hunt out that piece.
Speaker 1 00:19:25 That's right Bishop. For more information, there'll be coverage in the tablet as well. Perhaps, uh, you wanna end it with a prayer?
Speaker 2 00:19:32 Yes. Let's close with the prayer. Thanking the Lord for the many good things that he bestows upon us and for the hope that we see in our young people. Let's pray the Lord be with you and with your spirit. Now, mighty God bless you, the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Speaker 1 00:19:48 Amen. Thanks again for listening to our Dasan podcast. We hope that you'll join us again next week.
