SPEAKER_04 0:07

Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson. I'm Jay Agnish, Communications Director for the Diocese and editor of the Beacon Newspaper. With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney. Bishop, good morning. How are you? I'm good, Jay. How are you doing? I'm doing good, thanks. What what's new? What's happening?

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Uh things are good, uh, busy time of year, uh, but nice uh visiting schools and uh getting back into the swing. And confirmation season is back again. Uh at the at confirmations this fall, I've been mentioning this book I read on uh Fatima, Fatima for today. And also, as I've shared, uh Bishop Robert Barron gave this great talk on prayer at at World Youth Day. So um I'm trying something a little different. Uh uh sending a follow-up email after confirmation to the parents and sponsors to let them know about this book. And also because in the going to Fatima and reading this book and getting to know more about the messages, uh the Blessed Mother asked the children and asked us to pray the rosary every day. And uh at one point, I think with the group, um, I said, you know, you may not have time to pray the whole rosary every day. But then again, you might. Uh it's funny. So uh so I've been trying to pray it every day. I my mother tried to get us to pray it every day, and I prayed it, you know, uh many times over the years. Uh uh, but um not necessarily every day. Uh so I've been trying to do that since um coming back from Fatima and uh uh you know um wonderful about celebrating confirmation to thank the parents, the first catechists and the sponsors, you know, and um but I've you know the whether they're eighth grade, ninth, tenth, eleventh, the the young people still need their parents and godparents to be that good example. So uh trying to encourage them. And and in these days we need to be spiritually nourished.

SPEAKER_04 1:55

Um are you seeing fruits from praying the rosary yourself?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Or yeah, oh yeah. Um yes, yeah. Uh it's uh it's uh it's a it's a discipline sometimes, but uh it brings us closer to our lady. And uh I think I remember you uh speaking about the rosary, right? Absolutely. That's uh that's I mean, speak a little bit more about that, yes.

SPEAKER_04 2:15

So so with us is is Keaton Douglas, the executive director of the iThirst Initiative, and we're gonna talk about how the church and all of us can play a role in recovery from addiction. Hello, Keaton. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

I'm so excited to be with both of you this morning. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04 2:32

Yeah, so I'm gonna ask the bishop to to open us up in prayer and then we'll then we'll get to our conversation.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We remember that Jesus has told us wherever two or three are gathered together in his name, he's there in the midst of them. Today, uh September 21st is the feast of St. Matthew, the apostle and evangelist. We remember that Jesus looked at Matthew with love as he called him from by name from behind the tax collector's bench and Matthew's response. And we give thanks especially for the word of God, especially the word of God and the gospels, um, the good news of our salvation. And as we pray through the intercession of Saint Matthew, we pray together in the words that Jesus Himself has taught us. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, pray for us. Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us. Saint Joseph and Saint John the Baptist, pray for us. Pray for us, Saint Matthew, pray for us. Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

Amen. So um just a little more about Keaton. Um, so the uh the Eye Thirst initiative that I that I mentioned, it empowers dioceses, parishes, and communities to become a resource for those suffering from addictions and their families. At the heart of eye thirst is an understanding that there is a spiritual dimension to the disease of addiction that cannot be met by clinical professionals, but only by the spiritual consolation and guidance that the church can provide. So we're gonna learn more about eye thirst and more about Keaton. And Bishop, what uh how did you first come to get to know Keaton?

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Uh probably a a mutual friend, uh Father Dennis Berry, right? Uh yes. When I arrived in the diocese, uh Father Dennis was at um the shrine of St. Joseph in Sterling with the um the of the of the most holy trinity. Right, yes, yes. Uh sometimes known as the Trinitarians, right? And uh so they're a great blessing um in the diocese, and maybe Keaton can share a little bit of that history. Um, and we I think can see the way that the Holy Spirit works sometimes. And um and so uh Father Dennis Berry had also been uh um uh in in charge of migrant ministry in the diocese for a time. He's uh very close to the Spanish-speaking community, and uh uh he's I think he's on sabbatical at the moment. And uh um so um uh Father Dennis had told me about Keaton and I Thurst and encouraged us to connect. Um we didn't have much connection right at the beginning, then more recently we were in contact and uh right, right, right. And uh now that um uh Father Ed Redding was with us a couple of weeks ago, he's a priest of our diocese. We've been in um uh ministry and uh addiction and recovery um for his whole priesthood, really. And September being uh National Recovery Month, uh, we thought it would be a good timing to, and we're very grateful that you're available to be with us. Yeah, thanks very much. Um maybe you could just uh give us a little background as to uh so you are are the uh founder of iThirst Ministry, is that right? And and and maybe what led you to uh the uh be with those, walk the journey with those who are in recovery um and healing that healing process.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

You know, my journey to iThirst has been kind of crazy, kind of circuitous. Um I praise God, uh chemical addictions were not an issue for me personally, but I am by profession an entertainer. I was a singer and I had an opportunity to sing all over the world for many, many years and really had some wonderful venues and gigs and performances. Um but somewhere along that line, I had something happen to me, which was the unexpected demise of my first marriage. And I was angry. I was angry, and and to be honest with you, I left the church for a while. My heart was broken, I was angry. Um but God had other plans for me, and in a moment that really was a moment of divine intervention, which is a whole other story unto itself, I had this moment of forgiveness and my heart was open. I was brought back to prayer, and I started talking about this spiritual healing that I had encountered in a very real way. And people were saying, Hmm, you know you're different. What's going on with you? And I said, Wow, you know, I've come back to the church of my origin, my Catholic faith, but now I come back to it with joy. I'm excited about it. I love it. And I I found it in a way I never found it before. So I started telling my story. I was the host of uh, or the toast, I should say, of every rosary communion breakfast, and altar society, you name it. I was I was speaking and talking about this joy, you know, that I had found. And um, I was asked, by this time I went back to school. I went back to Seton Hall University to get my master's in theology there. And I met on my second day of class, I was a little unnerved, feeling like a fish out of water, and a young fellow came up to me and he said, You look like you could use a friend. And I was like, Is that is it that obvious? He said, and he introduced himself. He was then a brother, Aro, he was a member of the missionary servants of the Most Holy Trinity, now father Aro, and he shepherded me through the whole education process and invited me to come talk at his community. And when they invited me to talk, they invited me to speak in front of 25 women who were from straight and narrow here in the diocese, who were on a spirituality retreat that the missionary servants of the Most Holy Trinity had on a regular basis. This was an ongoing thing. Yes, at the shrine. And the reason why they had that was because for 101 years, since their founding by Father Thomas Augustine Judge, who was a Vincentian priest, um, he had a charism to serve the poor and the abandoned. But he understood prophetically that amongst the poor and the abandoned were those suffering from addictions. So this community, the missionary servants of the Most Holy Trinity, have been involved in addiction and recovery for 101 years, really on the cutting edge. Yeah. So they were having these retreats. So I went and I spoke. But I have to tell you, I was nervous because to be honest, I've never smoked marijuana once in my life. So I thought, what are these women? How are they gonna relate to me? Are they gonna relate to me? And the gentleman that became my mentor, God rest his soul, said to me, Do you think that there's nothing they can learn from you? And I was like, Well, I guess there's something they can learn from me. But then he said, Do you think there's nothing that you can learn from them? And I hadn't thought about that. So I went and I told my story about my healing, my sadness, my feelings of isolation, despair that I went in that terrible eight-year period in my post-uh marriage years. And um when I told my story and I I got emotive and I cried, they cried. And when I laughed, they laughed. And they taught me something that day that was really incredibly important to this ministry. It was that it doesn't matter what breaks us, there is a commonality of brokenness. And it is in that brokenness that we can walk, really walk with each other, really see each other. That day, they didn't see me as somebody different. I didn't see them as having a problem that I didn't have. I saw all of us as women who were searching for a spiritual healing. I had found it, I was sharing it, they wanted it. It changed my life that one single day. It really did.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

From there to iThirst. Yes. Uh I I I know that you've shared the curriculum, right? Uh and I've uh heard, I know that uh iThirst uh yourself and the ministry um has partnered with diocese uh to do training in parishes. Uh 100 percent. But um but uh how did you get to iThurst?

SPEAKER_02 10:59

So what had happened was after that really life-changing retreat that I went on, um I remember driving home and I felt a euphoria. I felt uh I I've never felt it before, I've never felt it since. And I remember the next day was a Monday morning, I went to uh daily mass up at my parish, St. Thomas the Apostle, up in Sandy Ston, part of our diocese, and I spoke to my wonderful priest, Father Wayne Marca.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

And I said to him, Um, I explained what had transpired with me, this feeling. And and he said to me, Keaton, I I think you've been called. And I said, No, Father, I said, I'm in theology school, I study the call narratives. That's like Isaiah and people like that. It's not me. And he goes, No. Everybody gets called, but not everybody listens. So they invited me back to be a part of that uh ministry, and I became a regular contributor for a number of years. And then when uh those gentlemen that were running it retired, went on sabbatical, um, I took it over. And I remember going to the leadership of the missionary servants, and I said to them, What I have learned from this experience is that addiction is a spiritual disease with devastating psychological and physiological ramifications.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Do I remember correctly that somewhere along the line, did you did you just begin studying um addiction uh and recovery?

SPEAKER_02 12:20

No, I I wound up learning addiction and recovery because I was invited to start speaking at straight and narrow. And I started immersing myself and and becoming a a part of the community there, and then at other treatment facilities. And then I studied to be a recovery coach. Okay, that's what that's what I think. 100% in the in the in the secular world.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

And you found a lot of valuable information but missing a uh a piece, the spiritual, right? Yeah, right, right.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Everybody would talk about all the clinical things like that, and all the people taking the class with me were there in long-term recovery, uh, many of them, I should say. And they attributed their long-term sustained sobriety to a spiritual awakening, all different kinds.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

So there's a field of study uh to be a recovery coach, is that right?

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Absolutely, absolutely. And and recovery peer specialist, they do marvelous work. But the element of spirituality, which is a necessary dimension of wellness, was not covered but for two or three pages. So as I took over the uh the role there, I went to the leadership of the missionary servants and I said, We believe this is a spiritual disease. What are we as church doing systemically?

SPEAKER_00 13:31

And the answer. Right. We need to we need to offer something. And um I thirst uh uh the those words that Jesus spoke from the cross, but also um uh Mother Teresa uh centered so much of her ministry on trying to satiate that t thirst of Jesus and um the and you know she would talk about the physical hunger um and and needs of those that she served, but um but meeting their thirst for uh for love, uh for knowing that they're not alone. Um so uh uh how did you come to the uh name of IThurst?

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Well, you know, I was uh I was praying and um I I believe that um I'm very close to our blessed mother. She's the one that brought me to the foot of the cross with her son. She brought me home to the church. Everything that we do, everything is guided by her presence, everything. And so uh I was really in conversation with our lady, and she uh I felt put on my heart that this ministry that was now going to hopefully be an answer to empower our church, capital C to be a resource, should be called I Thirst. But the the word thirst is an acronym also for the healing initiative, recovery, spirituality, 12-step. So it is it is it acknowledges our thirst for him, it acknowledges his thirst for us and the thirst that we all need, you know, that that quenching that that we all need to be to be quenched, to be healed.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

I was listening to another interview you had given, and you talked about uh that uh group in Akron that uh the um uh um what was the the Protestant group? Uh the Oxford group. Right. And uh the concern about the Catholic Church at that time in the 30s, right? Yeah. And and then this group of Catholics came together and took the name Alcoholics Anonymous, but uh Bill W. Uh did he write the book with help? Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Right. Bill W. and Dr. Bob Smith wrote the book, the big book about we call it the big book, but it's Alcoholics Anonymous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

And um you're mentioning that just two weeks ago, Father Ed Redding was uh sitting in your chair and uh talked about uh Bill W.'s connections to um the Diocea of Patterson. I believe he lived in Morristown for a time. Yeah. Or and was connected to um the Jesuit Oh Rockaway, right? But I think he had the Jesuit the Jesuit retreat house in Morristown. And uh the connection of the 12 steps to ignation spirituality and you had said um at today's Matthew's Gospel and to the Feast of St. Matthew, the the Beatitudes. And so um again, seeing how the spirit works. Um but I know Jay had some questions as well.

SPEAKER_04 16:17

Yeah. Um so I guess I guess um in all in all your uh your teaching and your exploring of uh um what what are you uh what what are the takeaways like um from a practical uh perspective? Like what what what can I do as a as a you know as a member of the Catholic Church in my community? What can our parish do to support recovery?

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Absolutely. Thank you for asking that, Jay. It's a really important question. Um I'll give you a just a a to go back just a tad. It was after we realized that we needed some systemic something to empower the church that I wrote a 218-page curriculum which was academically certified through Seton Hall University and is taught continually, and we have relationships with various dioceses. We're also in collaboration with Catholic Extension, which provides subsidies for mission dioceses or the poorer dioceses throughout our nation and on our territories. So to date, you know, uh we have we have trained people that are now working in treatment facilities, correctional facilities, re-entry programs, hospital chaplaincies, um, Catholic schools, et cetera, all throughout the nation and beyond in Ireland. We're in in Dublin, Ireland, and we're in Pago Pago in American Samoa. So and in 32 different states, we're we're working with six different Native American populations who are traditionally underserved, underheard, and we are just beginning our first Spanish language version, which everything that we do is is always bilingual. I work with Father Luis de la Quadra, the missionary servants. He's doing great work, he's doing great work. So I'm very very proud and honored to be working with him. Um and out of all of this teaching came the idea for the book, The Road to Hope. And in the book, we talk about what are the practical things that we can do on a day-to-day basis. What can we go back and do today? What can we do next week? And certain things are very important. The reason we're really hopeful for that is that we're gonna change hearts. Because instead of seeing the other, I want people to start seeing their own suffering as I saw my suffering in those women that I spoke to.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

And uh you begin each chapter, right, with a personal story of family uh individuals who are right, uh a real life story. And I think, as you say, you know, if um if we haven't had uh substance issues in our own lives or maybe even in our own immediate family, we know those who have been through it. And and hearing those stories as the beginning of each chapter, I think is a as to Jay's question about um you know what any of us can do. I think becoming informed, realizing that so many go through this uh and and gaining, then from the personal story comes uh how we can walk the journey, right? So much of your um uh experience, I think, in the beginning or what you share in the book is how you were with families, right? Who whether uh a child who was dealing with substance abuse and uh and how to walk that painful journey, that journey to the cross, as you say with our blessed mother so often. Um, but that um the more aware we are, the more we might be ready when the moment comes to for a neighbors, someone in our family, uh uh another family dealing with uh the the the terrible pain of the um uh experience of addiction. Uh um so I I highly recommend uh the road to hope. Yes, it's really, really, really well done.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

And you know, it it's true because uh we're really hopeful that we see ourselves in people that are suffering, despite whatever the suffering is, and we see the face of Christ in these people. You know, I I I always think about the parable of the Good Samaritan, right? And the the priest and the Levi passed by the bloody person left there. It was unholy. And and and Jesus tells us, you know, who is who is this, who shows who is this man's neighbor? The one who shows him mercy. And he tells us, go do likewise. Go go out, go out and be with those people, lift them up, even though they are bloody, even though others will pass them by, we must go lift them. And we haven't really lifted them for so long. But it's because we haven't really understood. And I think that if we can see it through the prism of our own suffering, if we can understand it through the the lens of attachment, that we all get attached to things, you know, that preclude us from developing our relationship with God and our fellows. You know, those two great commandments to love our God, to love our fellows. That's the cross itself, right? The very cross itself. But addictions become an unnatural attachment. We only see ourselves and it, the object, and then we are precluded from looking up, from looking around. So we understand that, you know, even St. Paul, right? Why Romans 7 gonna paraphrase? Why do I do what I don't want to do? He understood what it was like to have a chance.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

And even the thorn in the flesh that he talks about, we don't know exactly what it was, but it was something certainly that he was dealing with uh in terms of his own physical um whether it be addictions, desires, um, but but something in his body that he was really struggling with. And you've given me a thorn in the flesh. Keep me humble. We all uh right, right, right, right. Absolutely. Um but but um but uh but then I realized as St. Paul said, um your grace is enough for me. And when I'm weak, you're strong. And okay, Lord, if you're not gonna I ask you to take it away all these times. And if not, then okay, show me how to go forward and and and no healing, even with the the wounds that that are that are still there. But but but he can he can give us that healing.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

That's absolutely true. And I think that you know, we talk about you know, in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, there's they have some really wonderful mantras, and one of them is. That hurt people hurt people. When we're like this, we have a tendency to be like that. But we believe also, because that's very true, we believe that healed people heal people. You know, and those of us that have suffered from whatever it was, those women were addiction, mine was adultery, right? Uh on my end. But but it was through that suffering that I was able to develop compassion and love that God gave me. I didn't develop it by myself. And I think when we see that, we we have an opportunity to walk with each other. Even if it has never affected us, I believe strongly that each one of us has a role to play, even in things that are simple, like including addiction when we say the prayers of the faithful for those suffering from the disease of addiction and their families, that we may feel the tender mercies of and healing of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray to the Lord, Lord, hear our prayer. Because there are people in the pews who are keeping their affliction or their family members' affliction under wraps.

SPEAKER_04 23:02

Yeah, and you're you're getting into like the stigma, you know, is that still exists. Sure it does.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

I guess even though there's so much good work being done.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

What can we do to combat? Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

And then to work ecumenically. And um, you know, in our diocese in October, uh up at Our Lady Queen of Peace up in Branchville, it's Father Phil uh Tangora up there, we will be doing the first recovery and worship session, I believe it's October 22nd, where we're inviting all people. It's it's an ecumenical event.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

The feast of St. Pope John Paul II.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

To have people to come in to be able to come out of the shadows, to to to pray for their or their loved ones' recovery, to celebrate and be thankful for their own, uh, et cetera. And we're gonna try to do this all throughout. You know, it's gonna be up in Sussex County, but the first one is in our own, in our own uh diocese with Father Fell leading the way. So we're really proud of the work that the Diocese of Patterson has been doing. If if not for the Diocese of Patterson, I Thirst wouldn't exist. Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

And uh you you mentioned Straight and Narrow. Uh Father Ed shared with us that great history here in our diocese that um straight and narrow exists and it's growing and thriving and serving so many and bringing about healing and to hear that you uh uh r through straight and narrow really uh had some of your introduction into the Trevor Burrus, yeah. It really was.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

I used to go to uh uh all of the campuses and give spirituality sessions, you know, trying to get people to understand that they need to develop an intimacy with the God of their understanding, because we didn't necessarily have a Catholic audience, right? So just to try to open them up to that dimension. I know that I could if I could open the door, the Lord would do the rest, right?

SPEAKER_04 24:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

So that's uh that was a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 24:47

But are you are you seeing progress?

SPEAKER_02 24:50

I am I I I do see progress. I see progress in um in the way our faith leaders yourselves. Um I just got back from speaking at a bishop's conference for Catholic extension for mission dioceses where I was asked to present in front of uh 70 bishops that were there, and um they too were attentive. They were understanding that this is a plague. This is um, you know, the numbers are staggering. There are 40 million people today that in America only that are um actively addicted to chemicals.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Aaron Ross Powell You hear the sad, terribly sad story in New York City about a child dying in a uh um because of phantom.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

I mean it's just a heartbreak. But it's so pervasive. And then if you think that they were but there's hope. There is hope. There is definitely hope. There is definitely hope, and that's what we are hoping to bring, and an awareness, you know. So I'm very thankful for this chance to share.

SPEAKER_04 26:29

Yeah, I think raising awareness is is a first step.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Right, right. And uh if there's somebody listening who's um struggling with an addiction themselves, um any words that you would um offer or or share that um certainly.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

You know, we have people who are trained, that's what our training does, spiritual companions all throughout New Jersey, who will walk with you in your affliction or your family member, providing spiritual consolation and recovery resource information. We can help you find treatment. And they can reach us uh by going to our website and contacting us through our website, which is www.ithirstinitiative.org. iThirstinitiative.org. They can reach us there. Uh if they're interested in the training, which I hope they are, they can reach us, they can contact us there. Uh Seaton Hall will be giving us their next, we're we're in the middle of a class right now. Uh they'll be giving us the next uh dates for the next calendar, you know, and uh we'd love to get more and more people from the diocese involved in their parishes. We have quite a few, but we'd like even more, and um to be able to serve those uh in our own backyard. That would be a great blessing.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Uh changing the topic just a little bit, but something struck me when uh um uh some of what you shared in the other place, uh the um uh um I wasn't crazy about going to church as a kid, but we had to be there. And one thing that always struck me was um the music. And uh you shared a story about um your mom singing at church, right? And uh you're having an introduction to music in your own life through that experience.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Yeah, my mom, God rest her soul, she passed uh at 91 a couple of years ago. Um, my mother was a choir director and a beautiful singer my entire life. And you know, that was back before anybody had childcare or babysitting. So uh my mother would go to sing a funeral or whatnot. And from my earliest days, I would have a little prayer book, probably before even I could read, and she would prop me there, and she would sing, and Mrs. Jar Sdaffer, I'll never forget that name, was to play the organ. She later became my piano teacher in Massapequa, Long Island. Is that right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

And um, you know, they would play and sing, and I just grew up listening to music, and I, you know, eventually became uh a professional musician and yeah, we can take it for granted what a gift music can be, uh it lifts the soul, and uh especially music that's a prayer that um uh uh as the saints tell us they those who sing pray twice. And uh so it struck me to um hear how that um impacted your own life and it led to uh uh a secular career in some sense, right? Uh but um but also was part of the spiritual journey.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

It was, it was. Jay asked me, do you still perform? And I said, you know, n I I sing every day. Uh if somebody stops me, if I'm if I'm giving a talk somewhere, I always incorporate music into it because it's part of who I am. I said, I just nobody writes me a check anymore, and I don't wear sequins, but other than that, I'm still singing all the time.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

It's great.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

So it's well good.

SPEAKER_04 29:47

Yeah, wow, what a wonderful conversation. Um you're doing such inspired work. And so so glad to have you here to talk about it. Um, mentioning the shrine.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Uh um I hope people in our diocese know about it, right? It's such a wonderful place for even just to make a trip yourself just for a day of an afternoon. And uh the um uh f uh priests and brothers of the missionary servants uh and do you know the Polar Sisters?

SPEAKER_02 30:15

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 30:15

I can't even think of it.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

They are they are everything. They are just they are the most important thing.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

What a gift they are to that place and to the diocese, yes.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

Uh I can't even tell you. They it brings tears to me to think of how they have supported our work uh when we were doing the retreats there pre-pandemic on a regular basis, how they would contribute their joy uh in service is a great gift shop. Oh, and a great gift shop. Don't forget the gift shop and the mosaic chapel there.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

We have which uh you were there when you first started.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

You know I think that's another time when I met you. And it's uh it's really a beautiful destination. Bucolic Land, the 9-11 memorial there. But I can't say enough about the Shrine of St. Joseph. It's a gem and a treasure within our beautiful diocese.

SPEAKER_04 31:01

Yeah, and we'll have links to to how you can visit the shrine and also the Eye Thirst Initiative and check out more about that. Um and as we near the end of this episode, Bishop, any anything else for for Keaton or anything else on addiction that that's kind of come to mind for that?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

You know, as we uh providentially maybe are uh having this conversation on the feast of Saint uh Matthew, uh uh the call to conversion through the experience of God's mercy, you know, and I think um uh so many uh know that hope is more than just a word. Those who were literally at at the bottom, right? That that um that uh struggled with addiction and um and and and and all that comes with it and all the loss and um but hope and healing uh are possible, but they're possible because um people share the gifts that they've received and and witness to the um to their own journey so that they're willing to walk the journey with others. And so just to thank you and all those that I thirst and all those who um in uh the recovery um community and and and the 12-step community uh just to uh encourage them and um uh ask the Lord to continue to bless the work and and um and the accompaniment and and and that offer of of hope and and healing that that that's so needed. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 32:28

Thank you for your work. And uh Bishop, what are you looking forward to in the next few days or weeks? I know you're going down to DC for the pilgrimage.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Pilgrimage in a couple of weeks. Actually, next week uh I'm gonna be at a uh evangelization conference in Portland, Oregon. Uh yes, at uh I think it's Mount Angel beautiful um uh Abbey um monastery out there, where there's also a seminary. Archbishop Alexander Sample is the archbishop, and this is actually part two of a conference that I attended two years ago. It's hard time flies, and uh I was out there for an evangelization conference in uh the St. Paul's Evangelization Society sponsors these um conferences and workshops with bishops in particular, um, so that their diocese would become an evangelizing diocese. And uh it was such a good experience two years ago when the opportunity came up to uh to return. Uh uh leaving on Tuesday and coming back on Thursday uh with for the West Coast. But uh actually, um the day I return is um September 29th, the Feast of the Archangels. I have a particular affinity for St. Michael the Archangel, as I had pastor of St. Michael's Parish in Brooklyn. But we're having our first Project Andrew that night, and we'll be sharing some more information about Project Andrew. But uh hopefully uh in parishes, uh certainly our priests have heard that uh briefly. Andrew was one of the disciples of John the Baptist when John said, Behold the Lamb of God, and Jesus, and John and the other went to follow Jesus, and they said, Where are you sit staying? He said, Come and see. And before following, Andrew went and got his brother Peter and said, We found the Lord and brought Peter to Jesus. And Jesus said, You are Peter, and on this um, and and invited called Peter as well. And so um Project Andrew looks for uh those who would be Andrew for someone else, so a young man considering priesthood that could use an invitation or um to a very informal evening. Uh so we'll share more information about that, but keeping your prayers uh on the Feast of the Archangel, September 29th, the um the um uh first Project Andrew that we'll be having in in this fall. We'll have others to come. Uh September 30th is um the Feast of St. Jerome. October 1st is Sunday this year, but the feast of St. Therese of Lizou, the little flower, do little things with great love, and then three days after that, uh St. Francis uh will be blessing animals and uh and uh remembering the great um uh uh great Saint Francis of Assisi. So we get a chance to bless some animals? Uh we'll see. I have to check on that. Yeah, I hope I hope I will. Yeah, so it's my yeah, my friend wants to get his dog blessed. I can write him down. So good things to come. Good things to come. And this coming Saturday, um, we have a healing uh workshop uh in the morning, but uh um 10 or 11 at the cathedral, the Filipino martyrs, um uh our Diocin Filipino Ministry will be hosting a mass and annual mass that they have, and I'll be happy to be with them for that mass at the cathedral.

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Okay, awesome. A lot going on. And I also want to tell everyone here in the Diocese of Patterson, we are conducting our diocesan ministries appeal, which supports Catholic charities, seminary and formation, Catholic urban education, the health care of our senior priests, and more. Please consider helping your brothers and sisters in need by making a gift. Visit 2023appeal.org today, and thank you. Thank you for spending time with us. Join us again for the next episode of Beyond the Beacon. Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening. Give us a positive rating, write a review, and if you're watching this episode on Bishop Kevin Sweeney's YouTube channel, be sure to like the episode, follow the channel, and ring the bell for notifications. Email questions and podcast topic ideas for the bishop to beyond at pattersondioces.org. Thank you for listening to Beyond the Beacon. Thank you. God bless you. Thanks, Keaton.

SPEAKER_03 36:19

Thank you.