Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: Welcome back to another edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan and myself, Father Christopher Hennu. This week is a special edition of Ask the bishop, where we feature students'questions to Bishop Brennan. This week, Bishop Brennan is asked questions directly by participants at the World Youth Day Holy Hour and reunion, which took place recently at Holy Family Church in Queens. Listen in to hear the questions that our youth ask and how Bishop Brennan responds.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Can you start with your name?
[00:00:44] Speaker C: Yes. Eduardo Cordero Jr.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Okay, Eduardo, what do you want to ask the bishop?
[00:00:50] Speaker C: So, bishop, as a young faithful, I am curious about how it is that you maintain your faith like you have endurance and longevity. Because I do daily mass, I'm often close to the sacraments, adoration, the rosary, everything under the sun. No matter how close you try to be to God, the world is filled with chaos and it's hard to stay on the wagon. I know once you get off or fall off, you can get right back on. You run right back to the sacraments. But what would be your best advice to achieving that?
[00:01:29] Speaker D: I would say there were two things that helped me the most. So, first of all, exactly what you're saying. Daily mass, adoration, whenever possible, prayer, spending time before the Lord. If you can pray in a church with the blessed sacrament, wow, that's a great thing. But even if you're just praying off by yourself, just talking to the Lord, I think one of the best ways to pray is to use a Bible, four gospels, and just pick one. I always say mark is the shortest. And you go and just read one little passage of it. Prayer is really about a relationship, right? It's really about a relationship. And just listen to Jesus as if it's like, this is what happened to Jesus today. And then tell Jesus what this is going on in my life. This is what's going on in my life. That's one thing. But here's the other thing. You bring up the chaos in the world. You bring up all the distractions, and, man, do I feel those, too. I started off our night together for the reunion for the world Youth Day, saying, I've been distracted of late. And that happens a lot. I try to surround myself by good people. I think that is probably the most important thing. We need to surround ourselves by good people. That's why we have these gatherings with world Youth Day. That's why we have different nights of prayer and adoration, just being around good people who love the Lord, too. So it helps me to remember that it's a real thing. Number two, we kind of hold each other accountable in a friendly way. We kind of bring each other back. Does that make sense to you?
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Yeah, I think the second part is something that I know, but I needed to hear it. You can know it, but once it's verbalized, it hits different, because so often with the chaos, with the distractions, you can end up in situations and around people that aren't healthy for you. And accountability is so key. And I know, like the Lord says, that we confess our sins to one know. You just show up. And when you have community, it makes it much easier.
[00:03:27] Speaker D: There are people who want to bring us down. There are people who want to lift us up. Right, Eduardo? Thank you. That's a good question. Thank you.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Okay, can you tell me your name?
[00:03:38] Speaker E: My name is Calvin Grisby.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: What do you want to ask the bishop?
[00:03:42] Speaker E: Most people love God. Most people hate God. But something that a lot of people struggle with is the silence of God through prayer, through their daily life, they cannot hear God. So do you have any advice to how can we hear God when all we hear is silence for him?
[00:03:57] Speaker D: That's a really good question. How do you deal with when what you hear from God is silence? You know who had that problem? Mother Teresa of Calcutta. And that's where faith comes into the picture, because it's easy to believe when you feel the warmth, but real faith is being persistent, sticking with it, when all you feel is silence. And sometimes the silence appears like science, but when you look back, you see, as the expression goes, the forest for the Trees. You know, like when you're traveling in a canoe, you don't see what's happening around you, but when you get upstream, you get this panoramic view. It's the same thing with our life, with prayer, with God. It may seem like silence at this moment, but when you're feeling the silence, say, well, when have I experienced God's closeness? When have I found a greater strength to carry on even though the world was collapsing around me? Or when did I feel the closeness of his love? Maybe to another person? Sometimes it's about remembering, and that is what the Bible is always encouraging us to do.
Remember, that's what the mass is about, the eucharistic prayer, remember?
And then I go back to the thing for prayer again. Surround yourself by good people who can help you to hear God's voice in the midst. Makes sense?
[00:05:18] Speaker E: Yes, it makes sense. Thank you.
[00:05:19] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: What's your name?
[00:05:20] Speaker F: Hi, my name is Andrew.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: Andrew what?
[00:05:23] Speaker F: Andrew Fazio.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: What do you want to ask the bishop?
[00:05:25] Speaker F: First, I'd just like to say that I'm from holy family, also known as the best parish in Brooklyn and Green.
So my question is, how do you stay close to God during times of high stress and uncertainty?
[00:05:36] Speaker D: It takes a deliberate, intentional act. It does. You have to make the time. Sometimes the temptation. When you're going through high intensity and high stress, the temptation is to say, God understands. He knows I'm busy, and that's when I start to lose my ground. It takes an act of deliberate intentionality. I'm going to spend this time with you, Lord, because I can't do it alone. Even there. Sometimes it's easy to get distracted while you're praying, while you're trying to be with the Lord. Sometimes it's just working real hard to be in silence because I know my mind runs 100 miles an hour. Sometimes when I sit down, that's not an easy thing to do, but it's important. I forget who it was who said a great line I heard recently. It was quoting a spiritual master. Every person should spend at least a half an hour in prayer unless you're really, really busy. And in that case, you should spend a full hour. The more the stress, the more you need the extra time and just persist at it. Good question. Thank you. Does that make sense? Yes. Cool.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Okay, can I get your name?
[00:06:41] Speaker D: Siby Gindler.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: What do you want to ask the bishop?
[00:06:43] Speaker G: What is your favorite Bible story and why?
[00:06:46] Speaker H: Going to search back, way back, I think one that's been, I have a lot of favorite bible stories. I would have to say the story of the resurrection of Jesus. When he appeared to Peter and the other disciples in the boat, they went out fishing.
[00:07:04] Speaker D: In some ways, Peter said, I've had enough of some going fishing. Who's coming with me? While they were out fishing on the boat, they saw Jesus, and Jesus called them to himself, and he prepared a breakfast. Now, the only qualm I have is he prepared a breakfast of fish. And I'm thinking to myself, oh, disgusting. But he prepared a breakfast on the beach that was in itself a sign of great friendship. And he brought the disciples to them. But then that's when he asked Peter three times, Peter, do you love me? Peter said, you know I love. And he said, feed my lambs. And then he said again, do you love me? Peter said, yes. And Jesus said, tend my sheep. And then he said again, peter, do you love me? And he said, what? You know I love you. And Jesus said, feed my lambs. That has always fascinated me, and I had a great experience. I was in the holy land once, by the sea of Tiberius. And it's not where this took place, but that story just really came alive standing on the lakeside. And when I pray near the beach, I love being near water. I absolutely love being near water. And when I'm near water, that Bible story often comes back to me. It's just a matter of when you're feeling kind of low sometimes. That's when Jesus meets us. He meets us where we are. He meets us in what we do. He asks, do you really love me? Because he loves us an awful lot. So that's my favorite one. Do you have a favorite? Maybe the parable of the mustard seed. Oh, I love that one. That's great. Cool. Thank you. Thank you.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: That was great.
Okay, can I get your name?
[00:08:34] Speaker G: Yes, I'm Nicole Klaus from holy family. I'm a student there.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: Okay, great. And what do you want to ask the bishop?
[00:08:40] Speaker G: I wanted to ask, why did you want to join the priesthood?
[00:08:43] Speaker D: Wow. That's a really good question. Why did I want to become a know? I can't say. I had one of those aha. Moments that I said, this is when I decided I wanted to be a priest. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a priest. There was always a connection. One of the things I remember now as an adult. I didn't think of it at the time, but I was fascinated. When I received my first communion, I was given a missile, a little missile. And it was like a false leather kind of book, and it had gold kind of paper on the edges. And on one side was the picture of what was happening at the mass, the other side, the prayers. I just remember being fascinated by it, being fascinated by the Eucharist. And that stayed with me a long time, that I was fascinated by the Eucharist. And then when I got a little bit older, I saw the priest in my parish. I was a server in my parish. I was a sacristan, and I also worked in the office. And I saw a priest who really, really enjoyed what they were doing. I was blessed to know very happy priests. Different kinds. They were all different, but they all loved what they were doing. And sometimes when I would see them after they came back from a sick call or see them going out to say mass, I could just see how much it meant. And I said, yeah, I really want to do it. So that experience kind of sealed the deal for me. Thank you for it.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Thank you.
Okay. Can I get your name?
[00:10:08] Speaker I: Hi, my name is Shaden de Leon. Cruz. I'm from the parish of presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: What do you want to ask, bishop?
[00:10:15] Speaker I: So, I am a CCD teacher at my church and I teach the young ones. But my question to you is, if I could teach them one thing or one thing that should really stick with them, what would you like me to teach them? Or pass on a message to them? If I could.
[00:10:30] Speaker D: Oh, wow. That's a great one. I would just ask them to know Jesus Christ. Not just to know about him, but to really know him as a friend. There are a lot of things you have to teach if you're a teacher, you have to teach a lot of facts. But I would ask that they absolutely, positively know Jesus Christ as someone who loves them, someone who cares for them, someone for whom they matter, and that he is the most reliable friend that they can trust, that they can really count on. I think if they get that, and if they get that curiosity about the scriptures, I keep going back to the Bible, the scriptures. When you get to know him as he really is, not just as we imagine him, you've got a friend for life. Thank you.
[00:11:17] Speaker I: Of course. Thank you.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us in another edition of big city Catholics. We hope that you will continue to tune in each and every Friday to this podcast and share it on your social media pages and among your friends and family. Until next time, God bless.
