Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome back to another edition of Our DacHShund podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the Dacson Bishop of Brooklyn, and myself, Father Christopher Henny. We continue in this month of November our topic and themes of last things in this month of remembrance in prayer, remembering all the souls of the faithful departed, we begin in prayer. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Commending them to our Blessed Mother, we pray, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our in the name of the.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Amen. Well, thanks, Father Henyu, for bringing us in this week. As you know, we're going to continue our conversations. But since we last recorded, there was a great deal of concern over the recording of a video at Annunciation Church by a musician. And the music video for that musician caused a great deal of concern. And I understand that I, too, was horrified by what I saw, by what this artist did. And it's a complex issue. There are many complex issues, things I need to handle pastorally here in the diocese. But the church was so desecrated that I went on Saturday and offered a mass of reparation. That's what the ritual calls for. There's a sadness, but there's a beauty in that when you do a Mass of reparation, because what you're doing is you're invoking God's mercy. You take on the corporate notion of sin and offense, but you also take on the corporate experience, our shared experience in a communion of God's mercy. And God never abandons us. And so it restores the church building to its sanctity, but it also heals and builds up communion. And that's what we're really all about. So I was glad that we could do that for the parish at Annunciation Church. And I not promoting the video. One of the things that really concerned me is this video is a very popular, especially among a young teenage demographic, young teenagers. She has millions of subscribers. And there were two things in that video. One is really the idea of desecrating the sacred. It's mocking faith and mocking religious things, or maybe better yet, is misusing them, trying to give them a different purpose. But the other thing that really struck me, going through this, if you take the attacks on religion out, this was the glorification of mass murder. The story behind this is a woman who murders several of her boyfriends, one after another, and then the mocking mourning of it. It's truly horrific. Sure, it's truly horrific. So, as I said, there are things I need to manage pastorally and administratively speaking. But I think it's a good opportunity for us to think about what's being portrayed in society. To me, it's this sort of a hypocrisy. We call it the woke Generation, gun control and all of that. But boy, oh boy, do we have a glorified violence.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Sure. The video, I believe, was released on Halloween, and so it was very gory in its.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: And I don't think that was a mistake. That was probably very deliberate to be released on Halloween.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: You see violence in video games, violence in movies, violence on television, and as you mentioned, sort of the glorification of that violence, the glorification of revenge, the glorification of the evil one, really.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: And what we've been talking about over these last couple of weeks involves some of the horrors of war that we've seen in the world and violence. We saw that terrible terrorist attack in Israel at the beginning of October. We see the horrors of war in the Middle east, in Ukraine, all around us, and we see the reality of violence even in our own society. Just around a week or so ago, we had the fellow who was shooting people indiscriminately in Maine, and we see some of it in our own society. It's very, very, very troubling. But when you realize that awful reality of violence, you have to ask, what are we doing that gives some kind of attraction to violence ourselves? It's very prevalent. You mentioned this video came out on Halloween. I have to be honest, I absolutely despise Halloween decorations. When I was a kid, that making myself sound really old, am I?
I'm making myself sound really old. Back in my day when I was a kid. But Halloween was a little bit, I was going to say harmless. It wasn't totally harmless. There were pranks and all of that. But the idea was the decorations were things like pumpkins and make believe ghosts and all of that. But right now, driving through neighborhoods is truly, truly horrifying. Some of these scenes that are put up as displays in the weeks before Halloween, we really have to ask ourselves, what are we promoting?
[00:04:58] Speaker A: I myself, too, can say, when I was a kid, and to this day, I never enjoyed Halloween. This year, I was on the train in my collar, heading to a dinner event, and there was a man sitting next to me with a mask off, some sort of demon on his face. I thought, this is a terrible image. I'm not in a costume. I'm wearing my priestly garb, and it's a day in which it can be very, very misused. There's a darkness upon that day.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: There's a redeeming factor. That night, we had company at the house, grabbed a quick dinner nearby. And it is fun to see the families on the street that I noticed around here in this neighborhood. There were a lot of families out up and down Vanderbilt Avenue and Prospect park west by the stores in the neighborhood itself. And then we got some dinner, and in that restaurant, it was sort of a restaurant pizzeria. And so there were lots and lots of families that had gone out for their trick or treating. That's fun to see. There were also other people out there like, who are you trickortreating with?
You might be older than I am, but so be it. To each his own. But what really troubles me is this glorification of bloody know. And really, one priest calls it the Pagan holiday, but Halloween, it's really the eve of one of the great holy days for us. Well, the following day, I was heading down to Washington with a couple of priests because I'm on the board of the Shrine. We had an event down at the shrine on All Saints Day. But really getting to the heart of the mystery, the real mystery and the real belief in what we're talking about, that death is not the final answer. We gave glory to God for our communion with the men and women of every age, our loved ones, the saints known in the books, but the quiet and unknown, the men and women of every Age. And then the next day, on November 2, a little more somberly, we prayed for. We didn't just remember, we remembered, but we prayed for all of those who had died. Many parishes have special Masses in remembering those who died. This particular year, family members come to pray for members of their family. It's a day that really gives us a chance to focus on what we believe, what we hope for, and how we want to live our lives. This week we had a Mass to remember the DC's priest. Many religious congregations remember the members of the Sisters who were part of their congregation during this month of November. And I know even in the arts, you had Poirier's Requiem at the Coke Cathedral. There were other musical events. These arts and these liturgical commemorations get to the heart of what we really believe. Absolutely.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: And when we think about what is it really that we believe in? Eternal life. I love visiting these children in the schools around this time, and you talk to them about what do you think heaven is like. It's trying to focus our attention on what is it that we are aspiring to. We're called this universal call to holiness, as we know is spoken about and constantly being reminded of us to and for us. Why? So that we get to heaven. So that we can play golf? No. So that we can go to McDonald's? No. So that we can be with our Lord forever.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: I mentioned going to Washington, D. C. Cardinal Pierce at Mass at the Shrine Basilica in Washington on All Saints Day, and he spoke beautifully about that second reading. St. John begins that very reading by addressing the people as beloved. And he says, we are God's beloved children. Our true identity is to be God's beloved children. And that's what we are right now. That's what we are right here on this earth. And what we shall be has not yet come to light. But if it's a step up from being beloved by God, wow, can you imagine? Right? And it's really experiencing the full depth of that love in all its know. This is coming home to me. We had our Mass for deceased bishops, priests and deacons this week at Immaculate Conception in Douglaston. I could not be there. Bishop DiMarzio said to Mass because my own uncle, my godfather, died over the weekend. And so I was at his funeral. And that this whole message of what we really hope for, what we really believe, hit pretty close to home. I mean, there's a sadness in his loss, but there was also a sense of being reunited with my cousins, my brothers and sisters. We could all be together. And one of the things that we spoke about together and I spoke about was that was so important to my parents, to my aunt and uncle, to my grandparents, to have the family gathered and to provide a meal. My uncle had made me when I came to Brooklyn, he was in a nursing home and he was doing jigsaw puzzles. He made me a jigsaw puzzle of the Last Supper and then had it framed. And I thought, what a beautiful image that is what they like to do, have the family together and provide for them. And that's the Last Supper. The Lord called together the family, the Church. He provided for them, and that's what he does all the time in the Eucharist. He calls the family together, provides for them. But isn't that what we ultimately believe about heaven? That the Lord wants to gather us together? He brings us together. He gathers the family so that we can be together, but be together with him to shower his love for us. He had been providing for us in this earth. He wants to shower us with his love for all eternity, coincidentally.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: But as we know, nothing is coincidental with God. But even in the sacred scriptures at Mass these past few days, this week, this month, there has been this reminder of the invitation to the banquet, to the weddings, to the feast, to the table.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: We're coming to the end of the Gospel of Matthew, where it's just those final chapters before the Passion. Jesus is in Jerusalem. And that's the image, that's what Jesus wants to leave us with, the banquet. That's where our faith is pointing to. Invitation to banquet very soon. Yes.
[00:10:49] Speaker A: And so we see, and we hope ourselves that we are accepting of that invitation to be there at the banquet, that celestial banquet. It's a beautiful month, truly to be reminded of our temporal existence, as we say in this earth, and to recognize, don't put off to tomorrow what we can do today.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: How true that is. Life is too short and too fragile. But what we do believe traditionally speak of the four last things, death, judgment, heaven and hell. And what we believe in is, yes, death is a real part of that. Our life on earth will end. We're made for something else, but judgment is part of it. We need to be accountable to. And it's not the mean old judge sitting there looking for us to mess up. St. John of the Cross says, in the end, we will be judged by love. We'll be judged by how we loved. And that becomes clearer as we in these readings, these months. We will be judged by how we loved, but we'll be judged by one who loves us. We'll be judged by one who loves us. We have somebody who loves us, who shows incredible mercy, but won't force heaven on us. He's not going to drag us in. And so the response of our lives matters. It does matter. Heaven and hell, the reality of that. It is possible to turn your back so much on God that takes us away from him for all eternity. But heaven, more importantly, that we were made for him. We were made for him. The scale is a little bit weighted because God's pulling for us. It's just that much as he pulls for us, he's not going to force us. That's right. He's pulling, he's inviting, he's encouraging. He never gives up on us, but he's not going to force us. He's going to invite. Know, I had a priest when I was in Ohio, Father Dave sorAhan. He died on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It was in the night of Christmas Eve. He used to joke he was born on the feast of the Assumption. He said when Mary went up, he came down. Wouldn't you know it someday that the Lord came down. He went up. But I saw him on Christmas Eve that morning, and he was still very, very conscious. This was around during the time of COVID And he said, you know, bishop, this isn't the way I pictured it to be. This isn't what I wanted at all. But I know this. God loves me so much that he wants me back with him. I never forgot that, and I never will forget that. God loves me so much that he wants me back with him. And that night, he answered God's call. He answered God's invitation. That's what those last things come to. God wants us so much. He wants us back with him. And through all of our lives, God's going to keep trying, keep inviting. And in the end, we have to give our final decision. And the course of our lives is going to determine that. But he made us for eternity. The other thing we believe, we kind of think of like these spirits running around, what we call angels. Angels are their own beings, but we believe in the fullness of judgment. We'll be coming on Advent soon enough and crying out, come, Lord Jesus. We really mean it. Come, Lord Jesus brings all things to completion. And we believe that we were made for heaven and that we were made together to be there. But we were made to be in heaven, body and soul. Every time we pray the apostles'creed, what do we say? I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. That's why we treat the body with such reverence after death. That's why we treat our body with reverence even now, we believe that somehow or another, don't ask me how, that's not my department. But somehow or another, God will raise us up. Mary was taken body and soul into heaven. Jesus ascended. Human flesh is in heaven. Somehow or another, God's Going to raise us up on the last. So, you know, we believe that we enter into eternity, face God right away, but that somehow or another, God's going to bring things to completion.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: Speaking of what we believe about the resurrection of the body, it also leads us into why we believe in burials, in sacred ground and in sacred locations, and not to place our loved ones urns in our houses or even somehow making lockets, bracelets.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: That's right. You know what I understand where people are coming from. There's an emotional attachment. And yet sometimes we have to go beyond the emotional. And when we talk about truth, we talk about what God is going to do. That's why the Church wants to see the sacred interment or placement in a mausoleum or columbarium with respect for the human body. Yeah.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Bishop, we continue this month of remembrance of prayer.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Indeed. And you know what? Our month of remembrance is going to turn very quickly to a time of Thanksgiving, and we'll have some chance to talk about that. Next week I ask a prayer. I'll be gathered with the bishops from around the United States. Last year I had a chance to call in and maybe we'll do that. But asking your prayers there, we will continue remembering those who have been part of our lives, but also giving thanks to God for them and for all the people who love us. Amen. Let's take a moment once again to offer our prayers for those who have gone before us and rest in the peace of Christ. Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: And let perpetual light shine upon them.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: May they rest in peace.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of peace. Amen. The name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: Amen. Thank you all for joining us again for another edition of our Diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics. We hope that you'll share this with your friends and family and tune in again next week for another edition.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: God bless.
