Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome to a new edition of Big City Catholics. I'm Bishop Robert Brennan, bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens. Today I'm going to be joined by Father Jose Diaz, who is the pastor of Mary's nativity, St. Anne, and also the chaplain at Queen's College, directing all of our campus ministry in that particular setting. Why don't we begin with prayer? Father Jose, would you begin with.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the gift of life. As always, we're grateful for this experience where we do seek you. We come together seeking your love in our lives, your transformation in us, and we ask your blessing upon us as we discuss the workings of the heart, what you're doing here at the sea conference, and ultimately what you're doing at Queen's College. Through the efforts of focus missionaries and the efforts of the diocese, we ask your blessing upon us as we discuss the matters of the heart, matters of our students, and we may be led by the Spirit. Ultimately, we ask this through Christ our Lord.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. So, Father Diaz, we were here just about a year ago, same location in St. Louis, Missouri, but we were here in a different capacity last year. We were scoping things out a little bit, building a few relationships. Yes, we came with a dream and with a hope, and really, that hope brought some fruit for us in the course of this year. We spoke a little bit earlier in the year about it, but this is a good chance for us to recap as we come into this week of Seek the Seek conference for focus.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: I think it's definitely a different experience being that last year it was just you and I. And yes, we were in and out of everything. We got to meet so many people. We were in meetings about the hope that you speak of, right? Bringing focus to Queen's College. And so that was a unique experience in and of itself. And now being here with students and being part of the crowd, I remember last year being there in the arena for mass and for the keynotes and the big talks. And I remember looking around at all the colleges last year. They actually had kind of like a board that you can sign, a makeshift type of board, different form, and all the colleges signed it. And I'm like, man, I wish we had a group. So now to be here this year with a group, to see them also waving our flag, queen's college, and to see the students enjoying the conference. So far, it's great. It's such a different experience, but it's a greater blessing, I think.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: And the real troopers. Our first day was a long day. We had an early trip, make the connections, and we got here early. So it made for a long day without being settled in, without being checked into the hotel. And then the conference began, really in the evening, with mass in the evening. So it was long. But they really seemed to rise to the occasion. They really did.
[00:02:57] Speaker B: And I think they've been looking forward to this for such a long time. I mean, I said something to them last night as well. I said, guys, and this morning, and we were fortunate enough to have you with us at breakfast. That was a blessing. And you didn't know that they had all these experiences yesterday. It was a long day. But I said to them, Father Josh Johnson said something during his talk yesterday, and he said, don't let anything get in the way of the gift that God has for you this week. And it's funny that he was saying that while our group was hungry, tired. And so I just reiterated those words to them and I said, guys, don't let anything get in the way of God's blessing for you this week. And I think that they really feel that. And I think you saw them this morning. They've went to all their tracks. I thought some of them would escape and go sleep and. No, they've all been going to all the talks and they enjoy it and they're grateful.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: It's one of the things they're keeping track of, all the different possibilities, the choices they can make. And they're comparing. Well, I'm going to get to this talk and I'm going to get to this one. And for us, too, having seen this before and also being at other conferences, it's always invigorating, it's always inspiring. But to see it through somebody else's eyes is really amazing. So on the first day, we went through what's called missionary Way, which is really like an exhibition hall. And there were different organizations, different movements, different places to buy things or whatever, but there were also the religious vocations. So there were many different religious congregations there. It was amazing to see how eye opening that was for some of the people who were with us just to meet young religious from different communities to see what's going on all around the country. Yeah.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: When we sat down last night for the keynote, I leaned over and I said to some of the students, I said, hey, guys, have you ever seen anything like this? And they said, father, no, this is incredible.
Who's surrounded by thousands of young people, just joyful. I've always said that, at least with people that I know and when I talk about seek and just overall my experience of faith, when you are around people who are filled with joy, man, it's so alive. It's so alive here in the little things. You have so many babies here, so many families, young families, many missionaries themselves. It's beautiful just to really see the impact. It's not just this one time thing on a college campus, you see the impact of a generation, a way of life.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: It moves beyond. We see.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Not only the people in college, but people who maybe five or ten years ago were students.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: And now, well, I think that's the beauty of the mission way. You go back there and you can see that when you're walking through the center, right. It's kind of following a trajectory of villages.
You pass by the religious, the different vocations, then you go into the media spaces, then you go into the merchandise, interactive spaces. It's incredible. So you can literally hang out there all day and meet people from everywhere across the country and the world now. That's right. Yeah.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: People coming, people I know from Ireland are here, cardinal here from Cologne in Germany. Yeah, all over the place. Now this is a good opportunity then to talk about how a semester is down. How has the semester gone with some of the new investments that we've made in campus ministry? Queen's college.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's a real blessing for the students. One student said to me last night, father, I'm taking night classes next semester. And I said, oh, for real? He goes, yeah, I'm taking night classes so I can get to mass every day at noon. I didn't press it any further. I was like, wow, okay. No other words came out. I didn't expect that. But I think that right there just kind of encapsulates the semester. You have these young people that came to our center by either way of the missionaries bare handing outside. We have students who have come because of their announcements in the parish. And so they came not knowing what to expect. And being here now, at least at Queen's College, being with us over there going through a semester, where they've been to Bible study for number of weeks, where they've discussed these things with one another, where they speak of the matters of the heart, like, how is a transformation really taking place? And so when you see a conference like seek, I really think this is what we're moving towards. And I think that our students experiencing this semester all that they did, being the Bible, studying, being the sacraments, mass adoration and our just gatherings as students and fellowship. I think through all of that, that experience, to them, that trajectory, that growth, all is like. It culminates here because they see in others the transformation as well.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: So the experience at Queen's College is that you have people who want to just live their catholic faith in ordinary settings. They're not looking to be holy rollers. They're just looking to live their faith in the midst of regular life and in the midst of their college studies. But what they're doing there and what that world opened up by being able to find each other and to support each other, now it's multiplied or exponentially, right?
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Because I think one of the things that can happen happens to all of us. Like, we're caught up in our own world. So we might only know our parish, and we think the church is our parish. We might only know your college campus, and you think, it's the end all, be all or your movement or community. It's the end all, be all. But when we have encounters like these at seek, we see the universality of the church, the humanity of the church, the diversity of the church, right. The beauty of it. And so you see all these religious, you see all these families, you see all these people asking the Lord, oh, wow. Well, Lord, what do you want from me? But I think that that's the power of a conference like Seek. It's that they can see that these people are also trying every day to live their faith. So the question is, how do they take this back home, right? So, yes, they've been inspired these last few months, and they come here and receive many tools and blessings and graces.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: And that's one of the goals here, because we're nourishing a group of people who really have the makings of faith. They're doing their best. They want to live it. But now they're, in a sense, becoming missionaries because they're the ones that are going to invite other people, right? And that's one of the strongest things, is that when you're invited by a peer to want to be able to live your faith or to come to a Bible study, that has so much more power than you or I doing.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: We heard it at mass today, right. Bishop Aquila said he invited everyone. Bring one friend, right. He said at the end, he said, bring someone, right? Just share your love for Jesus. Just share it. Just speak on what he does in your life and why you live your faith and why you love it. And I think that a place like Queen's college, a conference like Seek, seek is a tool. It's a great place of encounter. Queen's College is more the everyday, and so there. We want to continue to give them the tools that we receive here and kind of implement it for the rest of the year and see how they can take it beyond. Because again, bishop, I think that it's so beautiful where when you can come here and see. I've spoken to people who say my life was transformed when I was in college, and now they have a family, bunch of kids or however or a religious or a priest to see that. Somebody said it. Today. I was in the campus ministry track, and a priest stood up. The question was asked, why are you in ministry and why are you still here? What keeps you going? And one guy, a priest, stood up and said, I have to pay it forward because it was given to me when I was in college. Someone invested in me, and now I want to do the same. And so to me, that's what this is here. That's what our initiative with focus has been this semester. And hopefully it gives our students the tools to live their faith beyond the gates of Queens College.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: And whether it's within the gates of Queen's College or just in the streets and neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens, it's not always easy to live authentically your faith. Sometimes you feel the pressure to have to kind of, like, quiet it down, damp it down so that it doesn't draw any attention. Sometimes you feel that you have to defend it. And so our campus ministry, not only in Queens College, but really in all of our colleges, is meant to be able to give both the opportunity to live it authentically, but then the skills to be able to share it authentically.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: And I think that that's the key. I don't consider myself an old man, but in my young age, in the few years I have as a priest, I think one of the things I've noticed is that we need to build habits. We have to build spiritual habits, and we can't do it alone. That's the point. And so a place like Queen's College can build a sacramental habit, for example, a habit like going to mass every day. People might see it like, oh, well, why do I got to go to mass? Well, there's a spiritual discipline that's taking place, right? You're conforming your heart to the Lord every day because you're turning to him and you're saying, this is what I'm going to dedicate this time to because mass is important and because I believe that I receive Jesus body, blood, soul, and divinity and that there's a transformation taking place in my life according to his promise and by the way that I live. And so that's when you start to see, oh, these are the tools you can take with you every day. It's allowing the transformation to take place, seeing how that transformation takes place and being able to continue that from the college, at least in our case. But I think that's applied across the board. Wherever you are, take these tools of faith. Allow it to be cemented in your heart and in your life, and allow it again. Father Josh Johnson said this yesterday, right. He said. He spoke about the gift and about the ongoing transformation, right? It's ongoing. It's not like, bam, one day and you're done. No, it's today I come to Jesus and tomorrow again, because there needs to be change in my heart, right. And we come as we are, and we allow him to change and mold our hearts because he loves us.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: And that's a lifelong task.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: Lifelong. Lifelong.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: Now, you've had the chance over the course of the semester, really, also to spend time with our focus missionaries, with the campus ministry team, with the director there at Queen's College. How's that going for you?
[00:13:06] Speaker B: I didn't plan this reaction, bishop.
It's been a blast, I have to say. It's been fun. It's a real blessing. More than anything, I think the reason it can be fun is because we're on the same page. We want to evangelize. Right? We want to do things for the Lord, and so we don't have to have that conversation. You see? I don't have to convince them to believe in Jesus. I don't have to convince them that that's the Eucharist. I don't have to do these things. In fact, they challenge me. And so I think because of that, we're able to just really enjoy each other's presence and really just spread that joy of the gospel. I mean, we do practical things. Like, we meet together. We have meals together. Every Monday we meet, right? We have mass at the college, and then after we have lunch together, that's our lunch meal, because I think that part of what we're doing is building community. And so the team has to be tight for this to work. And so one of the things that I've expressed from the beginning of the semester is, guys, I don't want any drama. We're here for a purpose. We're here for a reason. I believe that the Lord has blessed all of you. You all have gifts to share and talents to share.
[00:14:15] Speaker A: Right?
[00:14:15] Speaker B: And so we want that here in the center. So it's not who's who or who's doing what. We're all in this together, Bishop. We're all in this together. And I think that that's the reason why it's been able to be such a good experience. And even when we have to say, hey, guys, I don't think this was the best idea, or we have to pivot, it's met with joy. It's met with acceptance. It's met with a spirit of fraternity, because we're on the same page.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: We're on the same page, and we're always looking for how we can do things better anyway, help each other out by asking.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: It's been a blessing. I'm grateful because I think that focus really thought about who they were sending us. And our missionaries really have a heart for what's going on at Queen's College specifically. They tell me, father, what we do here, we want to last for a long time.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: It was interesting. I had a chance to join you one evening for dinner with the missionaries. I was very impressed by their reaction. Coming to Queen's College is different than really any other focus assignment because it's almost entirely, oh, no, Bishop.
[00:15:10] Speaker B: I think they have 500 rooms, they have 17,000 students.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: So it's almost entirely commuted college, and that's not the focus model. But one of the missionaries says he came here with that judgment, but realizes being that Queen said, that's where we are needed most. We're actually needed in a place that doesn't have that residential population. A residential population gives a team like focus the chance to just be out and about and to draw people in to those relationships. It's a little harder.
That's a commuter campus. You have to go out and be out and among people in a different way. But he said a commuter campus is a place where people are looking for things in the middle of the day. A commuter campus is a campus where people are indeed searching. And that sense of belonging they find in the catholic campus ministry through the focus missionaries. And then that brings them to the next step. That sense of wanting to belong brings people to say, well, belong to whom? Belong to Jesus to develop a relationship with him. Friendship with them leads into a friendship with Jesus, and then that friendship with Jesus leads into a deepening of faith.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: I hear you, Bishop. I think one of the other things that I've noticed is the impact in a commuter college is not just with the students. This is a conversation that we've had amongst us, the team, we've noticed, especially, like, preparing for seek. They live at home, right? We speak about this. They bring home what they receive at the college.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: And so we actually have double the impact where our students are going home. And they're like, oh, well, what did you do all day? Well, I was in the Newman center. What? What is that?
[00:16:53] Speaker A: I went to mass today.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: I went to what? Why?
You had a ping pong tournament. Why? You had Bible study.
So what are you doing there? Oh, you're going where?
And then slowly you see a transformation in your child or your son or your daughter, and you're saying, wow, what is this? I'm going to tell you something. I don't say this in any way, shape, or form to cause any attention on me, but I remember when the Lord really touched my heart. I remember the transformation that took place in my life. It was contagious. And I remember, like, a month or two later, my sister was like, man, Jose, I have to say, I thought you were lying, but you really are joyful. There's something different about you. And she was like, I want that. And so I took her to a retreat, like the same place that I went to, and it changed her life. So it's something powerful.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: It's been a great semester, and this year it's really great. Finally, after three attempts, I tried to.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Third time the charm. Bishop.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: That's right. That's exactly it. I came to seek to develop a relationship with the diocese of Rockfield center with Stony Brook. A year later, I was gone. I did the same at a Sikh conference with Ohio State University. A year later, Covid hit. So everything was remote. And then a year later.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: All right, so we have six months. We started six months ago.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: I was about.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: So we started six months, and we actually have a delegation. And that's good. That's exciting. So it's fun to see.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Yeah. But we got to see what happens in a year.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: We're going to keep on growing. I'm not going anywhere. We're going to keep on growing. You know what's going to happen to you? Maybe we'll be seeing the fruits of this all across. I mean, you have to start somewhere. So we started with Queens College. It was one that even focused, identified as a substantial place. So we kind of just zoned in on that. But who knows what we're going to be able to do? Throughout Brooklyn and Queens as time goes on.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: Bishop, this is contagious. I really believe that. I think the students see it. They feel it, and so they take it with them. Their parents, their family sees it, and that's what we can hope for. So I'm grateful to be here. I tell this to the students all the time. I said it today to them. Again, you are one of the bishops that spend time with their people. You really do. And I know you're not looking for this in any way, but I think it's important for people to understand that you can't have a successful type of mission without your support, without the support of the pastor, of the bishop. This is why it's working. Bishop, let's not dance around that either. That's a real reason you need that support. And so I think that's one of the reasons. The students feel it. They know it, the missionaries know it, I know it. And so we're grateful for that as well. And I know you don't want to make things about you, but this is important because people need to hear it. Why? Because they need to know that this is not something Father Jose is doing or that focus is doing on their own or who are these? No, no. This is a team effort, and it's principally beginning with your support. One of the things that we were told today is that campus minister's job lifespan is very short. It's only a few years. And I said, I think one of the reasons why is because not everybody has the support they need, and I think we do from you. And so thank you. I mean that.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. It really is a team effort, and it's exciting. It's rejuvenating. And as much as I appreciate what you said, I also see there's a lot more to be done.
I hear you develop a relationship here, but I know I have to do more, too. We've got a lot of college and university students. We also have a lot of college aged students who are not necessarily in college, but are out in the workplace and doing good things. And we want to connect with that age group as well, because there, too, is another need.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: We have our work cut off.
[00:20:37] Speaker A: We have a lot of work cut out for us. But again, what can you do? You can take off a little bit at a time. You bite a foot, you can chew, right? You take something off, but you don't stop there. We're going to continue to explore new opportunities, good ways that the Lord is working among us, this Sikh conference and it's designed partly because of the school break. This is a good time that everybody's free. It also occurs during the time of the epiphany. We'll be coming in on this weekend. This was released on Friday, before Epiphany Sunday. And the whole theme of the epiphany, right, those who were seekers, people who were looking for something, the astrologers from the east were the three kings, as the carol goes, the Christmas carol. But people were seeking. They were looking for something. And that idea of seeking is so much a part of our world experience today. And unfortunately, we end up seeking in the wrong places. And the world keeps presenting these false choices in terms of what we're seeking for. And really what we're seeking is right there among us in the gospel during the week one day, St. John the Baptist says, there is one among you whom you do not recognize. And so this time of epiphany for all of us, for all of you, listening to this podcast is a time for us to really focus, to follow the light. And then as the seek conference is to be the light, to be the light, to follow the light that leads us to Jesus, and then to bring that light to others. So I thank you for all your groundbreaking work on this. And next week on big city Catholics, I'll have a chance to unpack all of this with two of our focused missionaries and with two of the students so that we can see it from that broader perspective. But in the meantime, thank you for joining us for this week's edition of Big Cities Catholics. I look forward to being with you again next week. Let's ask the Lord for his blessing. Lord God, we thank you for the many gifts that you present to us in our lives. We thank you for that shining star which leads us to know and to love your son, Jesus Christ, and to bring that knowledge and that love to others.
Lord God, we ask your blessing upon all of our families these days of epiphany. And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you and your families forever and ever. Amen.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: Thank you, Father Diaz.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: Thank you, bishop.
