SPEAKER_00 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 Kevin, how are you? Good morning. Good morning, Jay. I'm doing well. How are you doing? Doing well, thanks. So what's new? You're back in Jersey. Back in Jersey, yes. You uh we're off to uh Indianapolis and and in Baltimore before that, right? How so what's new? What's what what's going on?

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Well, looking forward as before, maybe we look back uh tomorrow will be Thanksgiving. We're uh recording on the Feast of St. Cecilia, uh Wednesday, November 22nd. Yesterday was the feast of the presentation of uh the Blessed Mother, and uh yes, uh last week I was out of the diocese uh for most of the week. Technology allows us to stay in contact. And uh but um the semi-annual meeting of the um USCCB, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, uh meets twice. We meet as a large group, there's about 240 or 260 bishops all together, ordinaries and auxiliaries. Uh and we meet e each November in Baltimore and then in June at different places in the country. So last week was our our meeting in Baltimore. And then that was Monday to Thursday. Actually, I went on Saturday uh for a a committee meeting. There's a lot of committees that and for the what the large meetings committees meet usually the two or three days before. Um fortunately I'm only on one subcommittee, but uh and that's and that's which one again? The church in Latin America. Okay. Um really amazing to see some of the work and the way the church uh here in the United States supports the church in in Latin America. Um certainly the people in Cuba and um Haiti um are suffering at this time, and uh the church in Nicaragua is really being persecuted at the moment. So um it's more, I think, for for myself, a learning experience being on the committee. Yeah um the Archbishop Wensky of um Miami is uh filled with wisdom and experience in reaching out to the church and uh Bishop Cisneros, excuse me, um Bishop Octavio Cisneros, a retired auxiliary of the Diocese of Brooklyn, but is still head of the uh of the of the subcommittee and uh he invited me to be on the committee and so it's been a good experience.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

How many bishops are on subcommittees usually or on or on that one?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

That one I think there's about 10 or 12. Okay. Um yeah. And again, good opportunity to meet Bishop Bishop Seitz, um from one of the border dioceses in Texas, who does a lot of work with uh immigrants and caring for immigrants, uh again has a great deal of experience. So um so yes, that was uh and the way things worked out, um uh it's uh uh uh a good thing, I guess, that Baltimore is not too far from us, so it's only about a three-hour drive. So uh I ended up with uh a few things on Sunday, and so I went down for the actually went down Friday afternoon for the uh to be at the meeting on Saturday morning, which was from 9 to 12, and then came back on Saturday afternoon because um wonderful day, as I shared with in my column on the beacon on a week ago Sunday, uh uh three masses, uh one with St. Stephen's in Hungary, celebrating his 120th, 120th anniversary, St. Stephen of Hungary Parish in Passaic. Then at Convent Station um with the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, celebrating 150. 555. Yeah, 55, yeah. St. Joseph's Health, St. Joseph's Hospital, and um blessing and thanking Kevin Slavin, the CEO for his 10 um almost I think 10 years as CEO, 40 years in um in health care, uh, who's retiring, and then the um silver and gold mask, the wedding anniversaries, uh 2550 and up. Um one couple 70 years married, right? And uh so um so that was a wonderful day on Sunday, and then headed down Sunday night to be there for a morning of prayer on Monday morning, uh um which in the last couple of years they've changed the schedule a little bit to start the November meeting with a morning of prayer.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

So uh we had some photos on Instagram. Maybe we'll we'll get into that. Speaking of prayer, should we should we open up and pray?

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Great. We place ourselves in God's presence in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. As we give thanks to God for the gifts and blessings of every day, and we give thanks to God for this country, the United States, and uh look forward to the beautiful day tomorrow, praying for families that'll be together, praying for those who may be alone, that they know the care and concern of the community of faith, the church, and thanksgiving for the generosity of so many at this time of year who help our brothers and sisters in need. We have so much to be thankful for. Yesterday we celebrated the presentation of our blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and um we ask her help and intercession as we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom and Mother of the Church, pray for us. Pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us, Saint John the Baptist, pray for us, and Saint Cecilia, pray for us. All holy men and women, pray for us, pray for us in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Amen. Okay, so um, yeah, lots to talk about. So uh sticking maybe with the USCCB uh conference, um, it was fun. So I I wanted to ask you uh the auxiliary bishop uh Joseph Espalat. Espayat. Now and you had a a fun selfie that you did with him that we we have up on your uh on your Instagram account and on Facebook. Um so you were you were chilling with him this time at the conference last time. It was Bishop Barron. Tell me a little bit about this bishop.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Did you know him like Bishop Espayat? Yeah. We had common connections, uh especially through the wonderful Hispanic Charismatic Center in the Bronx that's been going for many years. He's been running it as in addition to being a pastor for the last, I think, nine years or so before becoming an auxiliary bishop, I think just about a year ago. Uh and um he did our um Dios and Youth Day. Yes. And uh he um I we spent some more time together at the end of the week in Indianapolis where he preached at the closing mass. So um, yeah, that's definitely an advantage of the gatherings of of the bishops and opportunity to for fraternity and um and getting to know one another and interesting to hear, you know, how his life has changed um since being named uh uh a bishop and uh you know wonderful for um uh maybe the younger church and uh and um yeah he's a youngest children. His parents' parents are from the Dominican Republic. Um and um uh so yeah, it's uh he's been a great blessing uh and it was good to spend some time with him.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

So um where do you want to go with the USCCB? I I um when we talked on the phone yesterday, I would you know it this meeting is coming just on the heels of the Synodon Synodality in Rome and those meetings, and it was interesting to see, you know, one of the articles I read, the analysis is that I that I read about kind of comparing the USCCB meeting to the Synodon Synodality, which I don't know is entirely fair to begin with, but there's this kind of striking image, right, of like the tables in Rome, the these round tables where lay people and bishops are sitting there and are having these listening and discussions and and even the pope sitting at one of the tables. But then at the USCCB, it's it's you know, bishops sitting in an audience, and then there's someone up front uh speaking at the Well, we were in round around round tables as well as we've been for the last couple of years.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

And uh I've often recommended uh Cardinal Dolan's podcast or serious show, uh conversations with Cardinal Dolan. If you listen to Cardinal Dolan over the last few weeks, even from the synod, uh he likes to make the point that the church has been synodal for uh for since the beginning. Uh and the uh big gathering in Baltimore, you go back to the history of the United States of the church in the United States, uh, and uh the first bishop gathered his the the priests of the of the country together uh to uh uh be in conversation and be in prayer together and discern the needs of the church. And uh and so these meetings twice a year um is really a synodal um way of being church. Now, uh the Holy Father certainly is um encouraging us uh and uh maybe at another time we'll speak more about the document, the summary document, synthesis document that came out of the first part of the uh the assembly of uh that took place in October at the Synod on Synod Alley. The presence of um religious sisters and brothers and lay people as voting members, that's definitely something new and and certainly a call of the Holy Father and the Synod delegates to say, let's um uh see how we can incorporate uh the laity and religious into um leadership. But but again, there's I mean, there's there's a lot of staff at the USCCB who are lay women and men and religious and uh and and uh you know we each have a daas and pastoral council. Um and uh so uh that's a group of lay people that I meet with um on a regular basis and and look for their advice. So um so I think we have to be a little careful about uh jumping to conclusions. Of course, we can always uh be evaluating and and discerning and listening to the spirit as as certainly the the whole Pope Francis is asking us to do as part of the Synod on Synodality. So um, yes, we can maybe do does maybe the optics, you know, yeah could be different.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Uh well to be fair, uh you when we spoke yesterday, you had mentioned the fraternal dialogues and they they are at round tables or even you know square tables, maybe right, but small groups, uh right, right.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

And uh yes, and in um prayer and conversation, uh discernment um and and sharing of experiences. Uh I I certainly had the sense as I've had most of the times when the bishops are together, uh they're striving to be pastors, um, shepherds for the the church in our country, and each bishop has that responsibility to get to know his priests and religious and lay leaders and the people of his diocese as best as possible and and um uh choose priorities for the local church, the Austin Church, uh to share the good news of the gospel. I mean, and and um the bishops uh identified um especially through the help of Bishop Barron and others, the unfortunate lack of appreciation for the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and understanding of what we believe, you know, over the last few years. And so we're now in this Eucharistic revival, and that's something that the bishops of the country have come together on, and and there's a great deal of um uh unity and and um consensus and excitement. We part of the meetings last week was hearing from some of the bishops who um uh have recently in their diocese had a Eucharistic Congress or a large gathering, and there's a great amount of excitement building up towards uh the upcoming uh National Eucharistic Congress that'll take place in Indianapolis in July. And um uh, you know, I uh met with our Presbyteral Council uh on Monday and shared with them a little bit from the meeting, as I did with the uh religious superiors, uh Sister Teresa Lee, our um delegate for religious uh as Sister Joan Daniels before and others again. It's uh uh an example of synodality that's been around for a long time. Um uh there's a custom of the Bishop and Patterson meeting with the heads of the communities of men and women religious at least twice a year. Um and there was a custom to for that meeting to be in November, and I think it's often been after the USCB meeting, so the bishop could kind of report back to religious superiors as uh concerning the meeting. And both there and at the Presbyteral Council, um uh something that struck me um that has uh you know kind of been observing uh during these three years as being part of the the conference. Um uh there's gonna be um we're a big church and um there's different approaches. And um right now and over the last couple of years, uh we're responding to Pope Francis's invitation to be part of the Synod on Synodality um and all that that means and and and certainly be open to what the Holy Father is asking of us. And there's a great enthusiasm for that amongst the bishops of our nation. In the media you might hear, and there's some truth that maybe some of the bishops uh have concerns or um are not so sure that uh the synod on synodality as it's maybe uh being implemented is is is is is the best way to go. Um hopefully they do that with respect for the Holy Father's leadership. Um, but um we have the Synod on Synod Alli, and we have the National Eucharistic Revival. And um I don't think it's a secret to say that um there might be some bishops that are more excited about the Eucharistic Revival and feel that that's uh an uh an important effort and maybe less enthusiastic about the synod on synodali, and then others bishops who are very, very enthusiastic about the synod on Synodality and uh wonder if the the way we're going about the Eucharistic revival is the best way uh to increase um participation in Sunday Mass or appreciation for the Eucharist. So um, but that's some of the beauty of uh not only the the the bishops but uh the community of believers as as uh asking the Holy Spirit, Lord, what do you what do you want from us? What do you where are you leading and guiding us? You know, I I think it's important to mention that um I think many of our viewers or common uh active Catholics um would be uh concerned or um uh wondering about um uh just the Saturday before we started the meetings, uh the bishop of Tyler, Texas, Bishop Joseph Strickland, um was removed from his um position as bishop of the diocese after an investigation. Um Bishop Strickland, I think, as best as I can understand, um and and I I certainly know that he's been a great voice on behalf of life, on behalf of the preaching of the gospel and being faithful to what the church teaches. Um but some of his question uh comments, maybe especially on social media, um, I think could be interpreted as either critical, maybe not so much of the Holy Father, but maybe of the synodal process or some of the uh conversations that are happening around the synodal process. So um, so uh and I was uh to share on a personal level, I guess the uh going to the conference and hearing the announcement that Bishop Strickland was being removed, uh, I thought we might hear from uh the the maybe the leadership of the conference something about that process or or or what led to the the Holy Father's decision. Um we didn't hear that, uh, but I learned that you know the the two of retired bishops, one of them being uh Bishop Sullivan of uh of Camden, um uh they went and did a lot of interviews um with people in the diocese, priests, leaders, lay leaders, religious. Uh and in those interviews they were the people were uh you know promised confidentiality that they could speak freely. And so um they did a lengthy uh process and visitation and interviews and made a report to the Holy Father, and uh there were some problems that the the the phrase that was used that it was no longer feasible for um Bishop Strickland to to continue in the leadership of uh of the diocese and and uh there was an invitation for him to resign. And um I can understand, I think Bishop Strickland in his own conscience feels he didn't do anything that would warrant his resignation, and so he felt he was not able to resign, and that led to the Holy Father having to make the decision. I I listened to an interview with Bishop Strickland, and um uh I was glad to hear that um, you know, he didn't personally criticize the Holy Father. I think he feels that some advisors to the Holy Father might see things differently than he does, and and maybe that led to the decision. Um that's something that the Holy Father and Bishop Strickland and the and the people who did the visitation know, and we have to trust. I think sometimes that um our leaders are are are trying to make the best decisions according to their conscience, and uh and and Bishop Strickland was in the interview um asking for prayers and and grateful for the prayers offered for him. And and sometimes, as Jesus said, you know, there are uh situations and and challenges that he said can only be handled by prayer. And and so uh it is upsetting, I think, whenever there's that um um maybe lack of that unity that we would want and differences of opinion. Um, but um, but but that's been part of the church from the beginning as well. Uh going back to the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, when there was a complaint about distribution of the bread would led to the uh our first deacon. So um so um we got to continue to pray for the church and our bishops and our leaders and our holy father um and and realize that we're all called to holiness and and we all have a role to play in the community of believers that is the church. Uh and yeah, there are gonna be some challenges and and we we ask the Lord to help us through those.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

That's a long yeah uh well I'm glad you mentioned it because I mean undoubtedly just in the days leading up to the conference, this this news broke and it must have sent, you know, ripples or a shockwave through through the the conference.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yeah, as is some sometimes said with these large meetings, and and I think one of the um uh weaknesses of a Zoom meeting, uh sometimes the uh maybe even more important meetings are the as we say, meetings in between the meetings. Yeah. So the it it's it's not only the formal meetings or even the fraternal dialogue, but and regional dialogue uh meetings. There's a time when uh the bishops of New Jersey are part of the region with Pennsylvania and we and during the meetings we spend some time together. But the um just sharing a meal or um having a conversation, yeah. Um there was certainly um you know some conversation about the process with Bishop Strickland um during the during the days. But uh again, we we support our Holy Father and we support one another. Yeah, um, and and we um we pray uh asking the Lord to guide us. Any other takeaways from the USCCB meeting? There's um I think there's gonna be an initiative for um working together with um mental health professionals. Uh I think many identify um as especially in our young people, but even um at all levels, um some of our seniors as well coming out of the pandemic, maybe with more screen time and uh other maybe some of the political divides that the there seems to be a crisis in mental health that's that's unfortunately getting worse. And uh fentanyl, you know, um the drug abuse and um challenges that are really all across the country, maybe in different ways in different places. But uh so um uh the bishops have begun speaking about uh um uh efforts to reach out to um uh those in the and God bless the doctors and psychologists and counselors that are um working with those who um are need are in need of of some help, some help with their mental health. Um so um I was really uh encouraged to hear some of those conversations. Look forward to hearing some of the plans that are going to be um uh put together to encourage that outreach to um um mental health professionals. Uh that's great. Right, because you know uh priests have a counseling role certainly in parishes and and people come to it. Sometimes it's they'll go to the priest before they'll go to anyone else. Um and so um I remember my own time as a parish priest, you know, and since my training in the seminary, that we were encouraged to have um, you know, referrals of of counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, um, others that we could um addiction centers and and places uh that yes, they come to us and we can offer um a certain level of help and certainly spiritual help and and some training and pastoral counseling that we have as well, but then we see times when we need to refer them to you know a mental health professional. And uh, and so that's certainly an area that we can work together with um as as spiritual leaders and and those in the in the medical field.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah, good stuff. Okay, so moving on. So um after the USCCB uh conference uh meetings, you attended the National Catholic Youth Conference. Can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Uh first time in Indianapolis, I was r remembering that I had been to the NCYC, which has been going on, I'd say, at least 30 years or so, every other year, a national gathering of young people. But I think since 2011 or so it's been at um Indianapolis. Um and now in the recent years, they've um they do uh One year in Indianapolis now, and I think one year in California. That's so in it's been every two years, but I think now it might be every year, one in Indianapolis and one in California. But um before it was always in Indianapolis, uh it had gone to different places. I think I had been to one at Columb in Columbus, Ohio. Um, but um uh Indianapolis is uh I didn't get to see much of the city, but the convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium, which is the home of the the Colts, uh the Indianapolis Colts. Um I think the stadium was built in 2009 or so. Um it is um they I I I think the somebody said that they're have the second most amount of conventions after Las Vegas. Uh if I got to now is that where the Eucharistic uh Bible conference will be? Eucharistic Congress, National Eucharistic Conference is gonna be in July. And uh you could and uh 13,000 young people were there this weekend and um it was kind of in uh a third of the uh arena that's that's uh Lucas Oil Stadium. But um the plans are that there's gonna be a in the in the area of 80,000 plus coming to Indianapolis for the Eucharistic Congress in July, and the city will be able to hold them, you can see. Although at the Bishop's Conference they were saying that uh hotels now might be full and um they're full already. There are, but they're working at um, and this is something that those who have been to World Youth Day have experienced. Um some people might sleep in uh uh gymnasiums or parish halls or um schools or uh also families in the surrounding area, Catholic families may do some hosting of other families. Uh so um they're the the bishop cousins um of one of the diocese of Minnesota, uh Crookston, I think, in Minnesota, uh followed uh that and and this whole Eucharistic revival came out of the the administrative committee as um Bishop Barron was head of the evangelization committee. So being head of the evangelization committee, he was on the administrative committee. And I just actually started reading the book that he wrote on uh the Eucharistic revival of Bishop Barron. Um but um as his time as committee chair ended, Bishop Cousins followed um in that place. And so Bishop Cousins now has the leadership role um in for the Eucharistic revival, and uh he's doing a great job and he's got others working with him, and it's gonna be a great, great blessing for the country.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

And sorry, I kind of pulled you away on a on a uh slight tangent. So getting back to the NCUIC, what was that experience like for you?

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Wonderful. Um similar to uh World Youth Day, um we have challenges and uh the young people, uh you know, young people practicing their faith and many families and parishes and uh here in the diocese, we know that uh we would like for more young people to be active and practicing their faith, but there are an awful lot of young people who are very, very excited about their faith. And when you see them all together, it's again as was in Worldview in Lisbon from Worldview Day, um to see young people from all over the country. Uh John Camarada is um Ardas and Director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, I think, or youth ministry, and uh he organized the group, and uh there was a group from St. Anthony's Parish in Passaic, um, and from St. Margaret's in Morristown and from St. Michael's in Netcong. So we had about 40 plus young people plus chaperones, uh, our Dass and contingent. I think a lot of the dioceses had similar numbers. Some of the diocese that were closer would have been able to bring more numbers, but um but uh you know they hear witness talks and have great music and uh activities as a big the convention center has an exhibit hall with all kinds of uh different religious communities are represented and um different Catholic groups that have uh dunk tanks and there was a uh a Franciscan monk, I think, who was skateboarding and they had a lot of you know different activities for young people uh and breakout sessions. Was there a bishop from New Jersey throwing pitches or doing batting practice? Getting there, I just got there. I I came back from Baltimore on Thursday, flew out to Indianapolis on Friday morning, got there around noontime, and there was a beautiful um uh time of Eucharistic adoration um on Friday evening. Um, and there were confessions, and I hadn't signed up for confessions, but I heard the line was long and the line I was gonna take a picture. I should have. There were thousands of kids online for confession, and there were probably 150 priests hearing on two sides of the stadium. Wow. And uh so I went down and um I heard confessions for about an hour or so, and uh uh I think they they were closing for the evening, so I think a lot of there there were then uh there was was another opportunity the next day. So um, but but very, very uh inspiring. So that was Friday evening, and then um there was uh um I can't imagine you hear confessions too much anymore. Right, not as not as often as I would have in the parish, right? But uh it's um the it's good to have an opportunity and uh um so uh I was at a mass on Friday evening, Friday afternoon, uh actually sponsored by the Boy Scouts of American classmate from Rockville Center in Long Island, Father Gerard Gentleman is uh national chaplain, and so he was there. We got to reconnect a little bit. And um, so some other friends from Brooklyn as well. And um then on um Saturday there was a great um uh session in the morning in in the stadium with everyone and um a woman from California, African-American woman with song and story, um, did a beautiful, beautiful job. Steve Angressano has been doing youth ministry, world youth days, I think 30 plus years, if not 40. And there was a religious sister, um, I forget her name, uh, but uh um who was the the the co the co-hosts and uh so um so it was a great experience. And then Saturday evening, the closing mass. Um they said it was the bishops have come, I think, over the years, and a lot of times would be there maybe Thursday and Friday, Saturday morning, have to get back to their diocese. Um I think they usually end with the mass on Saturday evening because then many people will be traveling home on Sunday. But um they said there was about um they said I think 17, it was close to 20 um bishops that were at the closing mass. Yeah, Bishop Cousins was the main celebrant, Archbishop Charles Thompson is the Archbishop of Indianapolis, he was the host, Archbishop Nelson Perez, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, he's the liaison with the um National Catholic Youth uh conference that organizes the NCYC. Uh but the homily was given by Bishop Espayat. And it was incredible. I mean, he had those kids for 20 minutes um choose joy over fear. Um, and he talked about faith, have fun in a good way, um, and uh and family and friends, which the the need for community. So and he was saying, you know, there there were young people that would have been there um who maybe you know had been in their room on their screen on their phone and maybe feeling alone or depressed and hard to come out. He was saying, you gotta get out of your room, you gotta um go out there. And uh the the theme of the conference was a quote from St. Irenaeus Um the glory of God is man or woman fully alive, the human person fully alive. Um and so the young people were encouraged to be those disciples fully alive, and and they responded, and they certainly responded to Bishop Espayat.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Awesome. And you had lots of cool beh behind the scenes photos that we have up on our Facebook and on our on your Instagram account. John John Camarata helped with some of those photos. Oh, oh, they were from John. Well, we should combination.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Okay, yeah. And Cecile, our communications uh person, did a great job with helping to do the posting. So thankful to Cecile.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah, absolutely. And um Okay, so should we move on to um now you had mentioned um a few things that you were particularly excited to to maybe talk about today as as with Thanksgiving being tomorrow. You were so you were at the Father English Center, right? Giving out giving out turkeys, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Yesterday, yes. Uh giving out food. Uh and I want to take the opportunity to um thank all those who are supporting our Dawson Ministries appeal. Um and uh we're we're doing well. I think we're similar to where we were at this time last year. But this year we had added um an aspect to the appeal where we're committing over the next three years, I think, um um 150 or 200,000 per year because we need to renovate the um Father English food pantry. The building's over 80 years old. They serve, I think, 20 or 25,000 people a month um who are in need of help with food. And so um I've been there a number of times with some generous donors um as we work towards being able to um, and I think everything is pretty um uh is is in motion to um on track exactly to uh good um they have to they're gonna have to move to another place in Patterson, but St. Joseph's Hospital helped us with that. And um so um I knew that um they would be uh giving out uh food for families for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to just stop down and thank um the volunteers, especially Carlos Rodan, who runs it. And uh I was Nino del Mundo, it's uh uh uh a daycare um uh I think kind of like Head Star program that Catholic charities organized, which is in the building next to um the Father English food pantry. Okay. Um and they were giving out um meals to the families who had little children in the daycare, and uh I helped with a couple of boxes there. And uh I um then was since I was in the neighborhood, I uh stopped by the cathedral um where Monsignor Gino and Father Starley and Father Jorge and a group of Knights of Columbus from the um uh cathedral were handing out uh turkeys to parishioners and others. Um and so it was uh yeah, it was a good way to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, you know. So um Day of Giving.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

Yeah, that's great. Um and so tell us about the Knights of Columbus Pride and Priest dinner.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Yeah, that was Monday night. Um grateful to the Knights of Columbus that all they do to support so much of the work of the church throughout the country and certainly here in our diocese. And they have a custom, um they're very supportive of and grateful for their their priests, and so they have an annual dinner where they're just really just to get together and thank the priests for their service and ministry. So I think there was over 400 people. Um, it seemed like there was um at least 40 or 50 of our priests that were there. Um and uh so it was a chance for me to say thank you to our priests and also thank you to the Knights of Columbus, and wonderful to do it on the Monday before Thanksgiving as we're in that uh time of uh coming together around the table to share a meal, and uh, and and so it was great to do that um with the Knights of Columbus and and at the Pride of Priest Dinner, uh Pride in Our Priest Dinner um this past Monday night.

unknown 33:58

Right.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Okay, I said it wrong. Yeah. Yeah, so we'll have uh coverage of that in the beacon next week and on social media, I'm sure we'll have it within a few days. Um good. And you also you met with the you had referenced this, you met with the superiors of the religious communities, the men's and women's communities in any.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Sister Teresa Lee's doing a great job uh connecting with um the communities, um, and I've been able to get to know the superiors now. I as I was with them yesterday, I recall that uh my first and maybe my first two uh meetings with the religious superiors were by Zoom uh in in the fall of 20, I guess, and maybe even the spring of 21. But uh it was great to be able to be in person. The um Benedictines, uh Abbot Jonathan Lacar, and uh uh the community of St. Mary's uh Abbey in at Delbarton um hosted us. They have a wonderful little retreat center. Um and uh actually they uh we had a meeting and then we had a meal together and uh they had uh turkey and stuffing and the trimmings for uh a little pre-Thanksgiving gathering with the religious. So um I think um I think we want to say 25, at least 25 communities of of men and women religious that serve um here in our diocese. Oh wow um there was a few that they they live here and they might minister in other places, but the majority um live and serve here, and many of them are international communities, and um they each have their own charism and that gift that they bring. Uh and and they've been a blessing here in our diocese for a long time and they still are. So um so it was good being with them. Yeah, and we talked a little bit about uh the Eucharistic revival and synodon synodality and some other challenges that we face. Um so um and but also she had some experiences and um and gave thanks. Uh um the little sisters of the poor, as we know, have um had to withdraw from the nursing home and Toto West St. Joseph's home. And yeah uh Mother Mary Thomas was there with us yesterday, so we had a chance to thank her and the little sisters for, and uh hopefully we'll be keeping in touch with the little sisters as as we move forward.

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Yeah, I thought it was a very touching mass um that was a couple weeks ago now to kind of say goodbye and send the little sisters off. It was um kind of sad, but also I guess a lot to be grateful for. Yeah, yeah. Mixed emotions there. Um so I hope you like turkey.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

So you've already had a taste of of turkey and uh yeah. My brother's mother-in-law, I think she usually has a little ham as well, which I always like, which I also like so uh, but there'll be plenty of trimming. So uh good. Um it'll be nice to How many people do you think will be uh with? Probably be close to 20, my brother and sister and their spouses and my sister's three children, my brother's two boys, um um some of the other extended families. So my aunt uh Nora, um I'll pick her up in Tennefly and head into Queens. So um looking forward. How about yourself? Will you be with your family?

SPEAKER_00 37:00

Um yeah, with my parents, my wife Annette and I will be in Riverdale in Morris County, and uh yeah, it'll be nice. My nephews will be there and a couple of my siblings. Uh we usually do uh a hike. Um so hopefully we'll have the weather. It's nice today, but yeah, we'll see. But uh so so Bishop, can I ask you um a couple things you you're grateful for this this Thanksgiving season?

SPEAKER_01 37:26

I um wrote in the beacon column about giving thanks and God, family, and country um the gift of piety, and so we're certainly thankful for our faith and I am and um and I guess with having had a little bit of a busy last ten days, um just to how the blessing of the church, I mean um the the the silver and gold mess with those couples um and seeing the Knights of Columbus, seeing the work of Catholic charities, um, seeing the bishops coming together and being with all those young people. Wow, it's all through the the the church, you know, and uh we can so easily take it for granted. But and uh we want to continue to invite our brothers and sisters who, for whatever reason, may not be part of a parish or coming to mass. Um wow, the um the beauty of the gift of our faith and as it's lived in community, um the parish of family of families, you know, the church is God's family. And um so um certainly our faith and and and the gift of the church, um the family of faith, my own, you know, we uh each give thanks for our own families. And um we think of those, you know, tomorrow who might be alone, might not have someone to gather with. Uh, and I think also of our um many of our priests uh who have come to us from other places, whether it be Ireland or Poland or Colombia, and they've been, you know, learning about the American culture and uh certainly learning about Thanksgiving. I encourage them to watch football, uh the American kind. And I gotta work on my soccer uh fandom. But uh but uh but uh again, the uh they they have come to us and their families are they wouldn't be celebrating Thanksgiving in Poland or Columbia or or even Ireland, but uh but um but but they are embraced by the family of the Church of Patterson and families in their parishes or some of the priests get together. Uh so uh but we know that um there might be some who um won't be uh able to be with family um uh who maybe are gonna be missing someone who passed away. Certainly in this month of November, we pray for our loved ones who have died. But um, but that they would know that um they're in our thoughts and prayers. And I know many parishes reach out to them. Monsignor Gino at the cathedral talked about not only giving out turkeys but going to families who are the elderly or shut-ins that and they would bring them the food so that they can have an enjoyable meal on on Thanksgiving. So and that happens all over the diocese and um and and all over the country. Uh it's a beautiful, beautiful holiday. So um, so uh we should give thanks as well for the gift of our country. And again, um we have our ups and downs and um things that we need to work on, but but this is a beautiful country that's been blessed by the Lord, and um we have that wonderful custom of I recommend, I am mentioned in my beacon column, my uh the if if you're not familiar with it, Google President Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation, it's about 12 lines or so. Um, but that he wrote what he wrote um and established Thanksgiving in the midst of a civil war. Yeah. It's just um he he uh he he was a person of deep, deep faith, um, and uh and uh a leader of faith. Um and uh we need to recognize that and remember it. And uh um so um uh it's a good idea to include that in your column. I yeah, thanks, thanks, Dr. I've been going back to that for a long time. Uh uh I wish I could say that I was excited about the Jets game on Friday. Uh the NFL is expanding their schedule. They went for there was always the the Cowboys and Lions would be the two games on Thanksgiving, which was for us for many uh Thanksgiving uh football is a part of Thanksgiving as well. And now they have a night game, and now this is the first year they're gonna have a game on so-called Black Friday. Um uh but the Jets are not doing too well at so it's gonna be the Jets on the playing the Dolphins, yeah. So who knows?

SPEAKER_00 41:29

Maybe they'll they're gonna have a new quarterback backup is gonna take you know speaking of quarterbacks, I wanted to ask you about uh Don Bosco, not in our diocese, but this uh Giants quarterback, right? Uh yes, um he's kind of come up out of nowhere underscore. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

They had a great game last last Sunday. Um I uh I believe DePaul Catholic is playing for the state football championship uh on I think um next week. So uh congratulations to Paul. I was uh their principal Russ Petroselli is uh a knight of Columbus, and I was with them on at the Pride and Priest dinner, and he was mentioning I think Tuesday the 28th, maybe they're gonna be playing at the Meadowlands. So let's go to Paul.

SPEAKER_00 42:12

Nice. Okay. Well, um so what are we what are we looking forward to? Uh a short break, and then we're gonna have back to another episode um next week that pretty excited about. We're gonna be talking about the the Tri-County Scholarship Fund. And our Catholic schools.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Um but we can all use a break and uh hopefully uh have uh the beauty of Thanksgiving as well that it's on a Thursday and it's a long weekend, so uh hopefully everybody will have a a chance to to get a little R and R and uh time with family and have a good meal and um and maybe get some exercise and pray for some good weather. But uh I thought maybe we could um conclude with the I found a um the many priests now um uh we still have the breviary, the book for morning prayer, evening prayer, night prayer, the liturgy, the hours as we call it, but um whether it's I breviary or um the divine office, um uh it's good to have it on the phone. Um and uh I saw that there was uh a Thanksgiving prayer um that maybe we'll say as as we close. And and again, just to thank all of our listeners and and people throughout the diocese, yourself, Cecile, who's helps us with our communications, our video communications, and um our priests and all of our Taoism leaders, um, we have so much to be grateful for, and we thank everyone, especially those who um generously um share their gifts with others um and and support those who do that. So um we'll giving thanks for our our faith, for our family, and for our country, um, we'll place ourselves again in God's presence, name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for the goodness of our people and for the spirit of justice that fills this nation. We thank you for the beauty and fullness of the land and the challenge of the cities. We thank you for our work and our rest, for one another and for our homes. We also pray for peace and we pray for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine and throughout the world. And as we give thanks and ask God to bless our nation, we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. The Lord be with you. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Happy Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_00 44:47

Here in the Diocese of Patterson, we are conducting our diocesan ministries appeal, which supports Catholic charities, seminarian 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. Thank you. And 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, listening. Give us a positive rating, write a review, and if you're watching this episode on Bishop Kevin Smee'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 patterson diocese.org. Thank you for listening to Beyond the Beacon. Thank you, God bless you. Happy Thanksgiving.