Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <silence>
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Hello and welcome to another edition of Big City Catholics. I'm Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and in Queens and co-hosting. With me today is Father John Wong, pastor of St. Anselm's Parish in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, and really one of the leaders for the Korean apostolate young adult delegation. Father John, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 00:00:36 Hello Bishop. What an honor to be here, a part of the episode as a big fan, I never miss any single episode listening and enjoying your podcast, big City Catholic. So thank you for, uh, having me here today.
Speaker 1 00:00:50 Thank you. And you're always so, um, very affirming of that and helpful to me. And so I'm glad that you're actually helping me to co-host it this week. So why don't we begin with prayer? In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Prayer comes from the world Youth Day Prayer for the United States, God of our Father. Be with us on our pilgrim journey of faith. Give us the grace and the courage to step forward in faith, hope and love on the road ahead. Open our eyes to see your face in all those who we encounter. Open our ears to hear your voice in those who are often ignored. Open our hearts that we might be faithful disciples of mercy and truth. Transformers empower us to give out of ourselves to poor, to welcome the loss, to forgive those who hurt us, and to comfort those who suffer and are marginalized. And now that we return from this pilgrimage, we ask that the Lord will continue to transform our hearts and help us to bear his light to others in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. We've had a few interesting days together over the last week, haven't we? Yes.
Speaker 2 00:02:03 Yes.
Speaker 1 00:02:03 And you've been leading the Korean apostolate, young adults. Tell me a little bit about your group. I had,
Speaker 2 00:02:09 I didn't join really the esan team or group, but I organized my own group of the Korean young adult, mostly from our diocese of Brooklyn, but some of them from, uh, long Island and some of them are from Jersey. I got one from la. I have 20 in my group, two participate in the World Youth Day. I planned it for a couple of years because we have a tradition for the Korean apostate that we formed our own group because some of them don't even speak in English. So it'll be helpful to bring their own people so that they can enjoy more. And
Speaker 1 00:02:47 That was good on a number of levels. That's interesting because we did at least have some time to intersect, so at least the groups did come together. So you were doing your path and our groups, uh, were doing this, but there were times, for example, during the RiseUP session, those were like the old catechetical sessions where we had a chance to be together. Yes. Um, but I have to take my hat off to you and to your pilgrims because you were real pilgrims, <laugh> <laugh>. You, you bore the hardships more than most than, so you started off before the journey. Right. You made K correct. Along way. Right,
Speaker 2 00:03:23 Right. So as soon as we arrived Lisbon, we went to Fatima first because we must meet with our lady once we were in Portugal. And then we went up to Porto, which is beautiful city. I've been there once before and then I, I brought my pilgrims to Dewey, the little city in Spain. It, it is between, from Spain to Portugal. From there we walked the Camino de Santiago to obviously the Santiago. It's about, uh, one 20, uh, kilometers, uh, 75 miles, which is the minimum that you can get the certificate from it. So, and then we came back to Lisbon to participate in the word youth A.
Speaker 1 00:04:03 So you really worked hard. You walked that Camino and, uh, and and worked as to I I was real proud to hear that. And then even in Lisbon, you stayed in a school gymnasium, right?
Speaker 2 00:04:15 Yes. Yes. They, they call it simple lodging, not not staying at the hotel, but, uh, so many like hundreds of pilgrims stay in in one place. They, they probably have more, uh, spaces like that that we were assigned to the big gymnasium. Uh, we just bring our mat and sleeping bag. We just sleep there. Uh, a bunch of other pilgrims.
Speaker 1 00:04:37 So like I said, I take my hat off to you, you <laugh>, you made it a real pilgrim experience and you walked all over and it seemed like your, your pilgrims were having a good time. You know, I had a chance to talk with some of our pilgrim from Oakland and Queens at the Farewell Dinner. And in this particular broadcast, I'm gonna share some of those conversations with you. So we'll listen in on those.
Speaker 3 00:05:02 This has been a wonderful trip, one that is truly life changing,
Speaker 4 00:05:07 Speaking with Natalie, a parishioner of St. Joseph's Parish and Astoria Queens and a graduate of St. John's University, class of 2020 and journalism major. Journalism
Speaker 3 00:05:17 And public relations and Italian minor.
Speaker 4 00:05:19 Wow, that's quite a <laugh>. Quite a combination. That's wonderful. And you and I met as we were doing the preparation sessions, we had the stations of the cross at St. Joseph's during Lent. And we're really looking forward to this journey from
Speaker 3 00:05:33 The very beginning. As soon as I heard it was in Lisbon, I knew I had to come. Why? Because I have the honor of sharing the feast Day of our Lady of Fatima. That is my birthday. And it's an experience I've always wanted to go to. I have to be honest, I have never heard of world jute up until college. My friend, she was part of since 2016 with her holy family, the parish Holy Family. And she told me about the experience and it's something that I truly wanted to attend to. I'm happy that I did. I know right now we're about to have our final farewell dinner. This has been a wonderful experience and I can't wait to go back and share it with not only my family but with my parish. And that's one of the key messages from the Pope from last night. It's about, you know, giving back to others, you standing tall to help those in need and giving that sense of commitment and and following and being of service to others, especially those who need it most. So,
Speaker 4 00:06:30 And you know, you, you make a good point there because when we think about those who are in need, we often tend to think of people who are poor without material things. But in fact, we're all kind of in need and a lot of us really need to know Jesus. I noticed during the week a lot of focus on self-image and the pressures that young people particularly feel through social media and all of that. And there's this need to know that we're loved by God. This need to know friendship with Jesus. Did you pick up the same kind of thing?
Speaker 3 00:06:58 Yeah, there was. I paid a focus before the pope's homily yesterday in regards to the acrobatic dance. If you notice there is like the sounds of text messages, social media pain and how like that was kind of like disorienting the dancer. And in that whole world of, you know, as a replica to what young people like myself face every day of being faced with the challenges of having social media at hand in both their positive and negative aspects. But yes, there is that sense that at the end what I love is the sound of the bells. And if you hear closely, it's like her dance has kind of like come back to who she is. Right. And that's the message though. Key message my roommate was saying, wow, the poke spoke to me about self-image. Like she says I had, I haven't worn makeup this whole trip. And that's okay. The
Speaker 4 00:07:51 <laugh> <laugh>, that's right. He said Jesus loves us without the makeup <laugh>. He looks at how things exactly and he loves us.
Speaker 3 00:07:57 The message that spoke to me was the one regarding fear. Right? Because especially coming out of the pandemic, I think the pandemic played into a role of fear and coming back into society has proved challenges to many young people. So, and the Pope says that's okay. Why? Because we have God on our side. We have him by our side and everything is okay as long as we trust in him in <inaudible> as they say Jesus feel Jesus. I trust in you Jesus. That's right. That is the key message that that bother message divine message.
Speaker 4 00:08:30 Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 00:08:30 <affirmative> reiterates to us and he reiterated to us today and, and is something that really spoke to me.
Speaker 4 00:08:37 Tell me more about the experience of vma. I've never been to VMA and it was something that I've always wanted to do. I went with the bishops on Monday and we really went for mass and we went to the shrine site. But when we went as a group with Brooklyn and Queens, we went down to the village and that really helped me to contextualize the whole Fatima experiences. And we spent time and we stayed later in the evening. Tell me what stands out about that experience for you? For
Speaker 3 00:09:05 Me, I like to picture things, how they were at a certain point in time, like as you know, Europe is history and in and of itself. And I visited Francesco's and Lucia's house and the moment I stepped in, I pictured the image of you know, them telling their parents and the reactions and how they lived at the time there was no social media at the time. You can't really post anything. So I pictured like when the sun, that kind of final like aha moment when the sun moves, it's coming towards the crowd and pictured the crowd on the hill. I know that the bullet that poked John Paul iii That's right. Had his assassination of times was in the crown that chapel specifically. I took a moment for myself to pray bit for the intercession of Mary and prayers on behalf of myself and many family members. But it's really a wonderful experience. Towards the end of it, we had the candlelight vigil and that really summed it all up for me. It was an amazing to see everyone there, us going around, um, and really, you know, giving glory, giving praise to marry our mother
Speaker 4 00:10:12 And that that was amazing. And very few groups that I heard of had that experience. Most of them went in the day, stayed for mass and then got back on the road or made fat a part of their trip here. It made for a very late night because the sun doesn't go down until about nine o'clock. Exactly. So we had that first session that was just amazing, the rosary in all the different languages.
Speaker 3 00:10:32 I was able to understand three of them
Speaker 4 00:10:34 <laugh> and then that walked all the way around.
Speaker 3 00:10:38 All around. I was like, I, I don't think it's possible. There's millions of people. Millions, millions, millions. And just to see all of us together praying the rosary. And one of my uh, group leaders says, the greatest weapon you have is the rosary. This has been a wonderful trip. One that is truly life-changing and it gives me a great sense of excitement and initiative to continue with the youth group at my church to help expand that youth group to my first parish. My first parish is Our Lady of Fatima in Jackson Heights.
Speaker 4 00:11:10 Oh, look at that. So you have some real deep connections between your birthday being on May 13th.
Speaker 3 00:11:15 It is actually at Our Lady of Fatima, my mom, uh, she wanted a Catholic education for me and she's also wanted a Catholic school with like a playground. And that was the one year area and that is where they told her, you know, your daughter, she shares a feast day with our Lady of Fatima. And
Speaker 4 00:11:31 And they made that connection. Made
Speaker 3 00:11:33 That connection.
Speaker 4 00:11:33 So that's great. Oh that, that's amazing. And you're still somewhat involved there. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 00:11:38 Um, so I'd like to, with Fatima, they don't have a youth group or at least they started one. I'd like to integrate it perhaps with St. Joseph's. I know they're like 10 minute drive from each other, so that's good. Expanding that. I know IA <inaudible>, she is the group leader for St. Joseph's and she, she a year ago started this and that's how I met her. She was giving out flyers and seeing how far the group has come and here within the ship people are saying, oh, we'd like to join St. Joseph's youth group. They see something within our group leader within ourselves and how we share in this experience together that makes it
Speaker 4 00:12:14 Unique. That's going to be such a key part of it. Like I think we did a great job preparing all the first Friday sessions and prayers together, being together. So everybody kind of knew each other a little bit or at least we're introduced before the trip. But now that you know each other and now that you've had this experience, one of the key things, you can't let this be a unique, okay, we're done and we move on. But this has, there has to be that follow up. That's always the challenge.
Speaker 3 00:12:37 What you are given, you have to share it, right? That's a message that the father says, don't keep it to yourself. Don't keep this experience to yourself 'cause what service do you do for the rest? That is the common good you give within your parish within strangers who don't even know Christ, who don't know God. It's stepping out of that comfort zone saying Hey, there is a God that loves you. There is a God that is there for you in your fears, in your positive moments, in your lowest moments years there for you. A
Speaker 4 00:13:05 Lot of people stepped out of their comfort zones this week, right? <laugh> and then we're stretched and yet and now they're filled with the joy. You can see it here as you mentioned, we are at the dinner for the end of the pilgrimage and there's such excitement. Everybody's a little bit dressed up. It's a great way to finish this trip and prepare us for the next step of bringing it home.
Speaker 3 00:13:23 It definitely is. It's right now we are in the midst of some mountains seeing the beauty of nature, the stewards of nature. That's one of the first topics we had in our catechist and that's right how we should be stewards from nature. And yesterday they were at around 10:00 PM when we were all already like post the visual, we were trying to fall asleep. They started a kind of movie documentary from the Lato Sea, the Pope's, his testament to that topic on climate change and ecology. So you know, kind of full circle moment. Having that kind of first session and being in this environment right now observing nature and having this farewell dinner, which we are thankful.
Speaker 4 00:14:05 Thank you so much for your time this evening. Thank you. And thank you for joining us on this pilgrimage.
Speaker 3 00:14:09 Thank you for having me on
Speaker 4 00:14:11 Melanie's a parishioner at Blessed Virgin Mary, help of Christians in Woodside, also known as St. Mary Winfield, right? She's, yeah. And it's also going into her sophomore year at N Y U. Now your first year at N Y U was rather unique. Yeah,
Speaker 5 00:14:27 I spent my first year away in Florence, Italy.
Speaker 4 00:14:31 So you were studying abroad, that's how you started college. That's how I started. I've never heard of that before and I think that's amazing. Yeah. How was that year?
Speaker 5 00:14:38 It was definitely interesting. It's not the usual experience for college, it, it's a lot of adapting to like the environment and getting to know people from all over the world and a lot of traveling too, which is
Speaker 4 00:14:50 Great. And with all that traveling that you did for your first year of college, you come home and right away we get you turned around again and you're back in Europe this time we're in Lisbon and Portugal. What drew you to be interested in making this pilgrimage? World Youth Day?
Speaker 5 00:15:03 I was invited by my priest to attend this and I was told like right after I had accepted and it was exciting but like I was gonna be missing like a little bit of the fundraising. But then I came back and I tried to like incorporate myself as much as I could with the group and fundraise as much as I could with them. I think I just wanted to see what it was all about, get to be together with other people of the same faith and, and share the joy of Jesus.
Speaker 4 00:15:27 That's great. That's great. And and a pilgrimage. It was. So tell me what would've been the highlight of the experience for you?
Speaker 5 00:15:34 For me it was the stations of the cross that we did on Friday in the church where we held catechesis.
Speaker 4 00:15:40 That's great. So like with all the big things going on, you also had a moment of like intimacy with a small group of people that you could go a little bit deeper just to give the context. Our group had the uh, choice either to go to the big gathering up at the park or to be part of a small gathering in that parish church. And you enjoyed being with the smaller group and just kind of entering into the stations in a deeper way.
Speaker 5 00:16:04 It was nice to see the church like it wasn't as full as it is during catechesis and, and it definitely was more intimate. And then I had a moment to be able to share my gifts with the people there where I was invited to sing a song in Spanish during the wishes of the cross.
Speaker 4 00:16:19 So kind of taking yourself outta your comfort zone Yeah. And putting yourself out there in service. Definitely
Speaker 5 00:16:23 <laugh>
Speaker 4 00:16:24 <laugh>. Yeah. That's good. Our groups had some experiences with the Holy Father. We had the big experience with the Holy Father on the weekend, but at the welcome you got to see him up a little bit closer. Yeah, we
Speaker 5 00:16:34 Were right by the line and we were standing there waiting and it was so cool to see people just like try to get close and, and just see the Holy Father and how people reacted to seeing the Holy Father and it was just amazing.
Speaker 4 00:16:45 That's great. That's great. Tell me about the pilgrimage in general, but specifically about this weekend.
Speaker 5 00:16:51 This weekend was, I think what in my head I had to be a pilgrimage. It was all the walking, all the chaotic events that I think of a pilgrimage, but also definitely like included a lot of like offering up and taking these sacrifices and giving them to the Lord for different intentions and people and prayers.
Speaker 4 00:17:10 It was difficult, right? And some of it was expected. We knew that it would involve a walk. It turns out that it happened on the hottest weekend of the year in Lisbon, <laugh> <laugh> after some very beautiful weather. We had some very hot weather. But you enjoyed it involved dealing with other groups of people, which sometimes can be difficult but can sometimes can be uplifting. The sleeping conditions weren't the easiest and yet you guys made the best of it. You really did. And you know, it does come in in pilgrim. It's a sense of giving up control.
Speaker 5 00:17:40 It does, yeah.
Speaker 4 00:17:40 That that we can't control what's going to happen, you know, going with the flow. We can't control the entrance into the security and, and all of that. Right. <laugh>?
Speaker 5 00:17:49 Yeah. It's just kind of going along with what's going on and letting Christ in the middle of everything.
Speaker 4 00:17:54 But there were elements that you really then enjoyed you after the actual prayer vigil. You got to celebrate a little bit. Enjoy. Yeah, you got to enjoy that A little
Speaker 5 00:18:02 After the sunset I took a little walk around like everything the boardwalk just, and just watching people like celebrate and be happy with each other. Everybody in their sleeping bags. Some people were already like sleeping, but it was great to see everybody enjoying each other and embracing
Speaker 4 00:18:18 That's, that's good. That really is. And that kind of mocked the week as we were going around the city at the vigil, I was struck by the way that everybody was all excited and you had the organized music, the singing and the dancing testimonies. You had the Holy Father speaking and, and the chance the crowd, you know, um, ES Latu de Papa right. All the cheering. But then when the Blessed Sacrament comes out, everything got quiet. I was just amazing. A million and a half people fall to their knees in silence. Did that strike you as well?
Speaker 5 00:18:54 Yeah, definitely. 'cause like in the morning, you know, it's chaotic. The sun's at everyone's a little restless. And then just when Jesus comes out, everything comes to peace. Like we're all in peace and we all just sit like are in front of the
Speaker 4 00:19:06 Lord. It doesn't happen very often that a million and a half people sit in silence and yet it happens through in World Youth Day. It happens when we gather with our Lord. Isn't that amazing? One of the things that was so amazing for many of the leaders here is seeing it through your eyes, your eyes personally, but you know all the others, the, the pilgrims, especially the pilgrims who are experiencing world jute for the very first time or seeing the Holy Father for the very first time. And your enthusiasm is just a source of inspiration. So you ready to bring this experience back home and to inspire the people back at home? Yeah,
Speaker 5 00:19:39 I'm definitely excited to tell the parishioners and people who have supported us, like throughout the year what it is about and what, how much we took away from it. And definitely like making sure that they know that they were in our prayers and you know, on this pilgrimage.
Speaker 4 00:19:51 Great. Well Melanie, I thank you for coming on the pilgrimage. I thank you for the sacrifices you made and the way that you and everybody was just so resilient. And I thank you for looking deeper and really enjoy it. Thank you for sharing your time with me tonight. Thank
Speaker 5 00:20:04 You.
Speaker 4 00:20:05 Rafael is a parishioner of Holy Family and Parish. Uh, right near my alma mater of St. John's Mine too. Oh you went to St. John's? Yes. I just
Speaker 6 00:20:13 Graduated uh, in May this year before we went to Portugal. Yes.
Speaker 4 00:20:17 Wow. Okay. So you were a graduate of Cathedral Prep. Yes. 2019. And now you just finished four years at St. John's. What did you study at St. John's?
Speaker 6 00:20:24 Risk management and insurance.
Speaker 4 00:20:26 I was just talking to somebody else who studied risk management. <laugh> <laugh>. Very good. And now what are you going to do? Well right now
Speaker 6 00:20:31 I'm working at uh, holy Family. I'm helping out in the church and the, and the school with Father Sean <inaudible>. I'm enjoying it a lot and I'm gonna see where the future takes me. Good
Speaker 4 00:20:42 For you. Very good for
Speaker 6 00:20:43 You. But for now I like being there right now, so
Speaker 4 00:20:45 That's good. I know, that's good. Good. It's a great parish. You've been there a few times. I
Speaker 6 00:20:49 Remember you came to the school, I think it was your first school that you uh, visited. I was the first person to greet you when you came off of the, out of
Speaker 4 00:20:56 The car. You know what, it was one of the first schools. It was during the time when I was doing the deanery meetings. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and I was gonna be doing a deanery meeting in that area and I said, well as long as I'm going there, let's do something in the day and then something in the
Speaker 6 00:21:07 Afternoon. Yes, yes. And you came and I got to greet you right before I had to go out to to college. Yes.
Speaker 4 00:21:12 So what drew you to come on the pilgrimage? So
Speaker 6 00:21:15 In 2019 when it was in Panama, my mom had really wanted me to go, we have family that lives in Panama. The issue was that it was in the winter, so it was in January, like you said before I graduated in 2019. So that was my senior year. Had like exams and midterms, college things. It was hard to get the time to go to Panama. So after that I was really like set in that I want to go to the next one. And this happened to be Portugal now two years ago. Father Sean announced it to the parish and it was like a no brainer that this is the experience that I want to go to. Yes,
Speaker 4 00:21:47 Good for you. Good for you for doing. Are you glad? Oh,
Speaker 6 00:21:50 Absolutely. This has been an amazing experience and I'm glad that I went now as like my first one rather than when I was still in high school. 'cause I think that God puts things for a reason. Like he always works for a reason. So I think the reason that I came now for my first one to experience this for the first time was that I maybe appreciated more in my older age now than I would've back still in
Speaker 4 00:22:11 High school. There's probably some truth to that, you know? Yeah. And in fact, what World Youth Day is about is more at that young adult level. Mm-hmm <affirmative> where you are now. Yeah. So, oh good, I'm glad you came. I'm sorry, what? What are some of the things that really stand out for you? What are some of the things that touched you the most? So
Speaker 6 00:22:26 When we started in Fatima, the procession around was very beautiful. And I thought it was so nice to hear so many different languages all pray the rosary. So it just shows that like no matter what tongue you speak, they were all like united by the same words. I really also enjoyed, we played the stations of the cross on Friday. That was very beautiful and I liked how it was more like centered for like the youth instead of just in general. It felt like it was more relatable to me.
Speaker 4 00:22:51 Did you do the ones up at the park with the Pope?
Speaker 6 00:22:53 Oh we did it. You did it in church? Yeah, well we did it together as a parish. As whole family, we did it together. But I think probably the experience that touched me the most was the catechesis on Friday that you were at too. Like all the diocese and I had an opportunity to go to confession and I just felt like I had a great talk with the priest and it felt like what he said was what I needed to hear at the time. And it felt like God speaking through his words and telling me what I needed to at the moment. And that touched me a lot. That was probably the thing I'll take the most away and then take back to New York and try to incorporate that into my life.
Speaker 4 00:23:26 So in the midst of a million and a half people, your experience was a very personal connection. Yes, yes. With the word through the sacrament of reconciliation. I think that's amazing. That's good. We are coming off a very busy weekend and really a rigorous one. How did the weekend go for you?
Speaker 6 00:23:41 You know, it had its struggles too. I was also the flag bearer for the diocese. So they have somebody that holds the papal flag, the diocesant of Brooklyn flag and then the American flag. And then also like on Thursday when we marched into the camp for the first time to meet the Pope, I was carrying the flag too. So there wasn't a moment where I felt like there's no purpose to the pain that I'm feeling right now. And it's also like grow in the future. So sleeping on the dirt and the rocks, you know, just to wake up and hear like everybody in mass together with the Holy Father. It felt like everything was for the reason. And then, you know, you offer up the, the struggle that we have in the moment, but in reality it's like it's nothing to what Christ experience.
Speaker 4 00:24:20 As we sit here on the Sunday night and I see everybody coming back, I'm amazed by the resilience of everyone. Everybody had the same expressions that you know, yeah it was worth all the sacrifice in the work and the encounter was great. Enjoy being with the other groups even all week long. Right. And seeing different groups in the city and hearing the people singing and trading things. Yeah,
Speaker 6 00:24:41 We um, we got a chance on Wednesday to stop by I think kind of like towards the city center where they had like, it looked like a concert really where it was like a sea of people, like right by the water there's music playing and I think what like the image that stuck out to me the most was just seeing the sea of people and then seeing every different like flag raised and it was just like so beautiful. You see like flags all across Europe, Asia, Africa, south America, all flags represented. It just feels like everybody's here all for the same purpose and you're never gonna like get to see that again except that World Youth Day. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:25:16 Let me ask you a question, go back to the flag bearer. Were you the flag bearer at Fatima too?
Speaker 6 00:25:21 No, but that was also somebody from Holy Family. Yes. Oh
Speaker 4 00:25:24 It's okay. There was somebody from, I have a confession to make. I was, you know, I was up on leading the prayer and I saw the people come over to the flag bearers. I thought Uhoh we're being thrown out of here. Oh, <laugh> the person. I thought that's what they were saying. I thought they said you can't have a flag. But really what they were doing is they were bringing the flag out to the front to leave the recession,
Speaker 6 00:25:41 Right? Yes. The person from my group that was holding the flag, 'cause I was holding it most of the day, but like I left it with him right before and when he was holding the flag and he got called away, he thought that he was being kicked out too. So he was, he was like embarrassed. He was like afraid. He was like, I'm
Speaker 4 00:25:56 Outta here. In the end he ended up leading the rosary procession. That's a pretty amazing thing, right? I know. Yes,
Speaker 6 00:26:01 It was beautiful.
Speaker 4 00:26:01 Yeah. Are you looking forward to going home and bringing some of this experience back with you?
Speaker 6 00:26:05 Like part of me wants to stay, you know, enjoy it so much, but you gotta go back. But I'm very excited to go back with these like new lessons and new like attitude that I have and apply that to my everyday life and you know, like the growth doesn't stop from this experience. This is definitely an experience where you grow a lot, but it's not limited. You continue that throughout your life and I'm very excited to see what, how this forms me in the next years of my life. Well
Speaker 4 00:26:30 Thank you for coming, thanks for taking it so seriously, letting it really inform you and uh, thanks for the chance to chat
Speaker 6 00:26:36 Today. Thank you Bishop for the opportunity. Yeah, I'm so grateful for all of this and I know you had like a big help in uh, orchestrating this all, so thank you.
Speaker 4 00:26:45 Francesca is a parishioner of Regina Apaches and was one of our group leaders. So how did you get involved with World Youth Tank? Yeah,
Speaker 7 00:26:53 So I was asked to be a group leader last year. I've been involved with our faith formation program for a while, so it's been something that I've always like, been passionate about and loved. My mom is also one of the catechists with the church, so she kind of reeled me in initially. And then I was at first just kind of an office assistant helping with everything and then eventually helped with tutoring and now leading a whole group to Portugal. So it was a big jump. But no, that is a big, I'm very excited and happy that I did it. My experience was like leading some small retreats at my high school, but this was amazing and like a big growth opportunity for me. <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:27:31 That's great. Tell me, one of the things that I've been noticing is seeing things through the pilgrim's eyes. How has that been for you? What have you experienced through them?
Speaker 7 00:27:42 It's been beautiful and it's cool because as much as I'm their leader, I feel like they teach me so much more than I teach them. And so it's been amazing. A large portion of our group is a little bit quieter, but I've noticed that even though they're quieter, they're even more reverent and they care for everything. And even like during adoration yesterday all of them were kneeling and like just not even looking side to side, looking straight at the Eucharist and straight at the screen and it was like emotional for me to watch all of them and I was just so proud of them to see that because I just saw the growth from just the past few days.
Speaker 4 00:28:16 Isn't that amazing? Beautiful. That's great. That's beautiful. Great. You know, I've been saying how amazed I am by, you know, a million and a half people falling into silence, but you focused in on your particular group so that you know them and you know what their lives are like and they really stood out for you like that. Yeah, I have to confess, I feel a sense of pride as I talk to different bishops and different volunteers. The group from Brooklyn, Queens has really stood out a number of people who told me how amazing they are. So that's that's great that you're able to foster that growth in them. Thank you. They're also resilient, aren't they?
Speaker 7 00:28:46 Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm so proud of them and it was tough. I, I was fighting my own complaints sometimes yesterday, especially with the walk and everything. But it was cool that it was a unique experience that we were all initially I was like, I'm not gonna complain because I don't want it to seem like I'm complaining. But then I was like, no, we're all just gonna accept that this, this is a challenge, but it's a good challenge to take on together
Speaker 4 00:29:10 And then in the end a good challenge that bore its fruit
Speaker 7 00:29:12 Completely worthwhile. Absolutely. It was amazing <laugh>,
Speaker 4 00:29:16 I joked with them at the dinner tonight. I said, you don't look like you've been sleeping out in the open <laugh> for a couple of hours in the midst of all the challenges and walked in the heat. But yeah, you would think that they were just coming off, uh, a day at the beach <laugh>,
Speaker 7 00:29:31 Right? Exa absolutely. It was, it's amazing. And it's just the fact that like Jesus brought all of these people together and like to look out in the field and see everyone sitting there and think that there was just one source that brought all these people together was very inspiring. Like, I wish everyone I knew could have been there with us.
Speaker 4 00:29:50 Well you know, one of the challenges I think with something like World Youth Day is the follow up to keep it alive. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, do you see this helping you now in some of the work that you're doing at the parish level?
Speaker 7 00:30:02 Absolutely. I had a conversation two days ago with one of our girls and she mentioned that she has questions like the way that Pope Francis had said, ask questions, like continue to ask questions, but she, she was like, where do I go with these questions? Or when do I ask after mass? I don't wanna bother a priest. So we came up with a plan to have like a monthly conversation with our young people, with a priest or, or someone who wants to come in and chat and just answer questions on the fly or, or we prepare questions and we thought it was a good way to have a more organized opportunity for them to ask their questions and continually be curious. 'cause that was something that really struck me. And I myself would love to listen in as well.
Speaker 4 00:30:44 I think that's going to be our challenge, is to make sure that we follow up. That we don't just say, okay, treat it like a vacation, then you move on to the next thing. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 7 00:30:51 Yeah. The thing that I, I wanna tell all of them is to, is to be the seed. I liked that analogy a lot to take what they learned here and it's not that they have to tell every single person everything that happened, but you know, plan to small seed and Jesus, we'll do the work. Let
Speaker 4 00:31:06 God do the work.
Speaker 7 00:31:06 Exactly.
Speaker 4 00:31:07 That's right. Well Francesca, thanks for your generosity and serving our young people, uh, for being such a great role model for them. And thanks for your time tonight. It's
Speaker 7 00:31:15 Been an honor, a pleasure. Great.
Speaker 4 00:31:16 Thanks. God bless. Thank you.
Speaker 1 00:31:28 So Father John, you can hear the exuberance of these young pilgrims. I joked with them before the dinner. I said, you don't look like you've been walking in the heat and staying out, sleeping on rocky ground overnight because after a little rest they were all rejuvenated and sharing their exciting experiences of the week. And that for a priest, a bishop, for our group leaders, that really is so inspiring. It's so nice to see these events through their eyes. Now at the end of the mass, the Pope usually makes a big announcement. And it wasn't a surprise because we had been hearing bits and pieces, but the Pope made a big announcement, why don't you share it with everyone?
Speaker 2 00:32:14 Yes. I even, uh, I mentioned to you that there's a rumor that the next word youth A will be in. So Korea and you, you told me the same that you've been hearing the rumors, but no one really can say for sure, I will see what happens and we get to hear from more people that's saying the same then, but no, still not sure. And then at the end of the mass and then put, Don announced that it'll be, uh, Seoul, Korea. And then it, it was very exciting moment that, oh, this is really happening. So I was so happy I was with a couple of other Korean priests, so we were just like, wow. Yeah, we was so happy.
Speaker 1 00:32:50 So I would imagine that Korean apostle young adults in four years will be making their way to Seoul, Korea.
Speaker 2 00:32:56 Yes. Yes. So excited. I definitely, uh, try my best to be there. So it'll be really, really great experience as well.
Speaker 1 00:33:02 We're gonna count on you to, uh, <laugh>, show us the way <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:33:06 You be a real pilgrim then <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:33:09 <laugh>. That's right. In So Korea. Well, yes. So the Holy Father did make his announcement. He spoke about the Jubilee in Rome in 2025. Um, and that will include the young people. I think when he did that, at first everybody was believing that it was Korea. Took a breath and said, what <laugh>? And then he said, Benny came out with the big announcement that right, right, the next world you say would be in cold Korea. And we had a Korean delegation up on the stage and they all jumped up and waved the flag. So it was really quite exciting. So Father John, thank you so much for your, your help hosting this podcast and welcome back to Brooklyn. I hope you get a little bit of rest. I know you had a long journey back and that you're filled with new energy now from this experience.
Speaker 2 00:33:57 Certainly. Yes. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 00:33:59 Why don't we close asking God's blessing, the Lord be with you
Speaker 2 00:34:02 And with your spirit,
Speaker 1 00:34:03 May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit send upon us and remain with us forever. Amen. Thank you for joining us for another edition of Big City Catholics. This week on Tuesday, we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin and Mary. So remind you that's the holy day of obligation. And next week in honor of that feast day and in preparation for the celebration of the Queenship of Mary, I'll share with you some of the reflections that came to God Bless.
