SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson in the great state of New Jersey. Join us for weekly conversations about our beautiful Catholic faith, and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love, Corinthians inspired. I'm Cecile Paglio Rullo, filling in for Date Agnish. With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney. Happy Spring, Bishop.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Happy Spring Cecil. I'm wearing pink. There we go.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

I'm liturgically in tune if it was the fourth Sunday of Lent. It's spring, it's a little cold though.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Well, we were spoiled last week, and that was a real bonus. So uh sign of things to come, please God. And uh uh we're recording today on March 20th, that we just uh yesterday celebrated the solemnity of St. Joseph, the patron of the Universal Church. And uh two days before that it was yes, the fifth Sunday of Lent, but it was March 17th, so we couldn't forget St. Patrick. So good to be here, and these days uh now getting closer and closer to Right to Holy Week, which is on the horizon. Yes, yes. Um and uh as Jay and I usually chat a little sports, uh March madness has begun. Sad news for St. John's and especially Seton Hall, really. Um but uh there were as happens uh upsets that led to those who wouldn't have gotten in winning their tournaments and getting in. So but um also a week from tomorrow will be opening day of the baseball season. Uh it's gonna be hard to we're gonna have to put baseball to the side the first few days because it's the tread one. They open on Holy Thursday. A lot of people are not happy they play on Good Friday, but um but it'll make for a nice uh Easter Sunday afternoon uh to be able to watch it again for some of us. And we're happy that uh Jen Nelson is with us today.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yes, uh so today we have we welcome Jennifer Nelson. Jennifer is director of religious education at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rocway, New Jersey. She is founder of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Relics of Saint Gianna Mullah and author of a children's book entitled Super Jay and the Power of Love. She is proud of holding the title of wife and home school and mother. Jennifer has been married to the love of her life, Derek, for 20 years. And they have seven saints in training. God bless you, uh ranging from the ages of 17 to 1 years old. And they also have three little ones waiting for them in heaven. Her dream is one day to travel to Milan with her family to see St. Gianna's shrine in person. So welcome, Jenna. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Thanks for being here. Maybe we'll begin with the prayer. Uh, even though St. Joseph's feast was yesterday, uh, we'll read the opening prayer for Mass for St. Joseph as we ask his intercession, as we ask the intercession also of Mary, our blessed mother, and all the saints. And uh, so let us place ourselves in God's presence in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In these days of Lent, we pray we adore you, O Christ, and we praise you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. And we pray now through the intercession of Saint Joseph, husband and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and patron of the universal church. Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that by Saint Joseph's intercession, your church may constantly watch over the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation, whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful and fatherly care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Saint Joseph, pray for us, Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And all holy men and women pray for us. Thanks again, Jen, for being with us today. Thanks, Cecil, for sitting in. Uh and um we were in contact, I think, soon after I arrived in the diocese. And um thank God for our directors of religious education. Uh this is uh the time of year looking forward to first communion.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Yes, yes, my son Joseph will be receiving this year too. So it's a special year for us when we uh when we have a child in the sacramental year, it's always a big party at the house.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

That's right, that's right, great excitement. And um how many years in Sacred Heart?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Uh 42. I'm 42 years old. I was baptized there. I received all my sacraments there. I was married there to my husband who was a Protestant at the time. So uh now he's the organist and cantor at the church. And uh so I've been there my entire life, and uh, you know, family members who departed from this life, we had their funeral masses there. So uh it is a second home to me. I love that parish so much with all my heart. So uh I've been there since infancy. That's great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

And how long is Director of Religious Education?

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Just two years. Uh so Sacred Heart School had closed and merged with Divine Mercy, well, with St. Cecilia's, and they called it Divine Mercy Academy. Uh so when the school closed, you know, a lot of the families had moved over. And so I wanted to make sure that we had as a parish a religious education program that we were drawing in families uh to the community. So um I'm proud to say we have 15 new families at the parish uh over the last two years, and hopefully, you know, we'll we'll draw in some more.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

So that's great.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

So um you um tell us about the St. Gianna traveling relics. Sisterhood of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Relics of St. Gianna.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Yep. So I had endometriosis. When I was 16 years old, I was diagnosed with uh this disease that many women suffer with, but they don't know they that they have it. And I was told that I would be blessed if I had one child. Uh I have seven, so all things are possible with God. Uh but so I was told by my doctor do not wait past 25 to endometriosis. Endometriosis, yes. And I was um told don't wait past 25 to start a family because then it's gonna be very difficult for you to have children. Uh so I was married at 22 to my husband, Eric, uh, and I felt called to study theology uh at Seton Hall University where I worked. Um my husband was coming into the church uh as a Protestant. His family had lots of questions about the Catholic faith. And so I realized when he was asking me pretty basic things, I didn't really know how to explain them very well. So I said, let me study theology, and that way I'll have more of a knowledge of my faith. But I was concerned because I was 22 and I knew my timeline was very short. So I went and met with Diane Trafflett, who I'm not sure you know she's a wonderful soul. She's the associate dean over there at Seton Hall. And I said to her, I feel called to study theology, but I also feel called to motherhood, and I don't know if I can accomplish both. And she took out a pamphlet from her drawer and she said, This is a new saint of the Catholic Church. Her name is St. Gianna. She's a doctor, a wife, and a mother. And if she can do all that, you can do it too. So I prayed and I asked St. Gianna to pray for me and felt, okay, I can do this. So I signed up and started studying uh in January. And in April, I found out I was expecting my first daughter. Uh, we named her Gianna through uh St. Gianna's intercession and prayers. We feel that Jesus granted us that miracle. So uh when Gianna was nine months old, uh, we thought she was having seizures, and we texted the priest who baptized her and said, Can you pray for for her? He was on a plane coming back from Rome, took out his rosary beads, and a gentleman next to him said, Father, it seems urgent. I'm a Catholic. Can I pray for something that you need that you're praying for? He said, for a baby named Gianna. And he goes, Father, I can't believe this. And he took out, do I have it? He took out two relics of St. Gianna, second-class relics, and he said, I was just at the dedication of her shrine in Milan, Italy. Give this to the family. So he gave us the relics and we prayed with our daughter, and she ended up being completely okay. Um, I used that relic over the years to give to women in crisis pregnancies with sick children so that they could pray for this wonderful saint's intercession. I had seen so many miracles myself that I knew that St. Gianna was like a hard-working intercessor presenting our prayers to Jesus. So I gave the card to someone in 2019 and never received it back. Uh, and in my kind of chaotic life with seven kids, I don't remember who I gave it to. Uh, so I couldn't ask for it back. So uh someone suggested write the shrine in Milan and see if they can give you one. So I did, and I didn't hear anything. And then uh about a month later, I receive an email and in the from line it says Gianna Mola. And I was like, that's that's weird. So I opened the email and it's St. Gianna's daughter, and she said, I'm so touched at what you did to spread devotion to my mom that I'm going to send you the relic you've lost signed by me and some extras. So when I get home, there's 15 second-class relics signed by Saint Gianna's daughter. And when I picked them up, I heard the Sisterhood of the Traveling relics like audibly. So I was like, okay, what does that mean? And so just through prayer, I decided to ask women on Instagram who I'd followed, who I knew had a devotion to St. Gianna, who were devout Catholic women, moms, doctors, single persons, people who struggled with infertility, to ask them to join me. And so that's how the sisterhood kind of was born. And we have 28 sisters around the world. There's 20 in the United States who are in charge of like three different states. So what we do is we take our holy cards here and we touch a second-class relic to the holy card, and then we send them free of charge to whoever asks for them. Uh we have ministry sisters in Ireland, UK, India, Mexico, Africa, Croatia, Australia, Lebanon, Brazil, and the Philippines. Our holy cards are now printed in five different languages uh Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Tagalog? Tagalog. Yes. So those are our languages that we print and send in. So and the beautiful thing about this ministry is that it's completely free uh to anyone who asks for the cards. So these volunteers utilize their own money to um post these letters to all these women. And the beautiful thing is all these women are so devout and such beautiful souls that they're praying for those that they send the cards to uh on our Instagram account. You can uh log on to it and see in our highlights we have all the miracles cataloged that have come back to us from these people who are praying with these these holy cards and asking for St. Gianna's intercession. So um that's basically how it all started and what we do. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Uh why do you think it's so popular?

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Um that's a good question. Uh, Gianna Emanuela, her daughter, said that devotion to St. Gianna, to her mother, is actually growing very large in the United States, and uh they're actually looking to do a center uh here in the United States uh that is uh likened to the shrine in Italy, so that people who can't afford to go over to Italy to can go there. But I think it's so popular because uh there is a lot of infertility and a lot of um, you know, issues within pregnancy, and also we pray with women who want a holy marriage. Uh so these are uh longings that women have. I think we all have, uh, you know, in the feminine genius that Pope John Paul II talks about, we all have a maternity to us. And some women are spiritual mothers, uh, some women have physical maternity and have children. But I think that uh St. Gianna is very popular and the ministry is very popular because it's run by women and for women uh who are going through uh these really hard struggles uh with infertility or you know problems in their pregnancies. Uh also things like breast cancer. We pray with women who were s have various illnesses. So I think it's popular because it's um it's special. We don't charge for prayer. We we receive donations to print the cards, but everything we do is um gifted from charity and the goodness of the hearts of the women who are serving in in this ministry.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

So and there's a healing aspect to it as well, right? Those who have lost a child, whether it be through miscarriage or even through uh the abortion, right? Yeah, um the need for healing is is is um uh very prevalent, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

And I think too, uh so we had just started as a holy card ministry, and I had six healthy pregnancies and six children at the time this ministry began, and women were contacting me who had had stillbirths or miscarriages or lost their children, and I really couldn't um minister very well to them, I felt like because I had never been through that or lived through that myself. And shortly thereafter, founding this ministry a year later, I suffered three back-to-back miscarriages, and one of them I lost um at 11 weeks. And so living through that was a very painful time for me and um a very dark time for me. But I thank God for those experiences because it helped me to be able to empathize with the women who reach out to us. And I think that um, you know, I just saw the Cabrini movie and she says to build an empire of hope. And that's I have actually a carved out thing on my desk that says hope. And I feel like that that's really what our ministry seeks to do is just bring women hope that uh whatever God's will is for them, St. Diana's famous phrase is whatever God wants, whatever God's will is for them, that they're not in it alone, that there are people here who are praying with them and who um can listen to them and just help them through whatever hardships they're going through. And so our ministry also kind of for a little while started doing miscarriage care packages to women who have had a child loss. And I didn't intend to do that as part of our ministry. I just had started as a holy card ministry. But then uh a woman who, her name is Sarah, she lost her daughter Catherine at 37 weeks, stillbirth, and she started making bracelets and rosaries uh to kind of like feel close to our lady at the time where she was suffering so deeply. And she said, I want to donate these to your ministry so that you can give them to women who have suffered a loss like I have. And then another woman lost her her little daughter, Lucy, and she's an artist. So she drew a picture of our lady holding Lucy, and she said, Can you use this for your ministry? And I printed a prayer on the back and we used that. And then the Marions of the Immaculate Conception, they have a beautiful shrine up there at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy for the holy innocence, and it's for children who were lost through abortion or miscarriage or a child who died of an illness. And they have these beautiful prayer cards for children who died prior to baptism, uh, children who died after baptism, and then a prayer after miscarriage. So the Marions gave me a hundred of those. And so I said, Okay, God, I see what you're doing here. You you want me to send miscarriage care packages. So we started that aspect of our ministry, and in only two years, and I wish it weren't this many, but we've I've sent out 500 over the last two years. And um I want to give a shout out to my younger, my my children, uh Luciana and Emanuela and John Luca, because they helped me, you know, put these packages together and pray for the people who have lost their their babies or their children. So um that's a a beautiful element uh of of the ministry as well that we didn't start out doing, but that God kind of opened some doorways and showed, yeah, yeah, this is also a a part of your ministry, I wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Not that long ago, um, you were invited to our cathedral, right, by Monsignor Silva?

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Yes, yeah. So uh Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rockaway uh has a first class relic of St. Gianna there. And that was gifted to me by uh her daughter Gianna Emanuela. Uh she knows that I have such a strong devotion to her mom. And I had asked her, I said, you know, would you uh allow us to keep a first class relic of your mom there at the parish? So uh we have uh loaned the first class relic to the diocese on a few occasions uh for special masses that they've had in October for infant loss uh and child awareness, uh child loss awareness masses. Uh and on April 28th this year, which is St. Gianna's Feast Day, uh we'll have the relic there at Sacred Heart. We have holy cards from my ministry. So if anyone in the diocese uh listening to this suffers with uh any pregnancy issues or um infertility or has lost a child, if you would like to come to Sacred Heart, we have an 8:30 and a 10 o'clock mass, uh, the relic will be available for veneration uh after that. And one of the beautiful things of Pietra Mola, St. Gianna's husband, is that he wanted um relics of his wife to be available for people to actually physically touch. So uh the National Shrine has gloves of her that people can hold and pray with. And uh he just wanted to make sure that people felt the closeness of his wife to them. And so I'm so happy that we have a first-class relic of her here in the diocese.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

And as we were talking, uh, and I'll ask Cecile and Jay to uh include a link uh to the talk given by um uh Gianna's daughter uh at um one of the conferences sponsored by The Word on Fire, but it was on Bishop Barron's podcast a few months ago, and to hear her speak as we were uh discussing before the show uh or before we started, and uh she is just uh listening to the daughter of a saint and and her own holiness and her speaking about the holiness of her father. Uh I uh I would encourage everyone to take the time to hear it, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:07

She's yes, and she shares the the love story of her parents. They have a book, uh The Story of Our Love. It's it's the love letters of Saint Gianna and Pietro Mola. And uh she's she I have to say is a saint in training herself. Uh her parents were just very holy people. And uh I always thought she's a medical doctor, too. She's a medical doctor, yes.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

And and discontinued her practice to care for her.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

To care for her aging father. Yeah, he lived to be 97. Uh there it's so beautiful because uh St. Gianna's canonization was the first time uh history in the church that a husband was present at the canonization of his wife. Uh what a beautiful joy for him to have seen that banner of his wife holding their their child on the side of St. Peter's. Uh and I always tell Gianna Emanuela when I speak to her, I say, What can I pray for you for? And it's the grace to see the day that her father is also elevated to uh the altar of a canonized saint. So uh for anyone listening, please pray for that intention for Gianna Emanuela. She is the most giving, selfless, beautiful soul. Uh, she takes the time to pray for all the intentions uh for the sisterhood. She's like a spiritual support to us. She said that she always prays for anyone who reaches out to us. And I think that, you know, she's praying and asking for her mom to pray. And I I feel like the miracles are just in abundance because uh there's so much uh power in the prayers of a mother uh for her daughter and to Jesus. Uh he's just granted so many beautiful things and gifts to to the ministry.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

So that's a trait I'm sure she got from her mother. Yeah. Because I mean, a lot of our listeners or viewers might not know how Saint Gianna uh passed away.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Right. Yeah, sure. I can share. So uh Gianna, Saint Gianna was uh pregnant with her fourth child. When she was pregnant with her fourth child, she was just almost 40 years old at the time. Uh when she was pregnant with her fourth child, they found a large tumor in her uterus. And they told her that in order to um, you know, save her life, they needed to uh abort the baby, take do a total hysterectomy to take the tumor. And she was a medical doctor, so she knew the risks and everything. And she said, no, she said, take as much of the tumor that you can, but always put the life of the child ahead of my life. So they took as much of the tumor as they could. Her pregnancy continued as as normal, and she had to go in to the hospital for a cesarean section because of the risk of uterine rupture from the surgery. So she went in, she had the C-section, she had Gianna Emanuela, and then unfortunately contracted sepsis uh or septic infection of the blood, uh, and she passed away from an infection. A lot of people, uh, Gianna Emanuela was telling me a lot of people think like, oh, she died of cancer or she died in childbirth, and that isn't the case. She died uh after from complications of the cesarean section that she had. So um, yeah, that that's her her story. And uh she was in her final agony. She uh passed away uh at the end of Holy Week. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

And was she kind of by St. John Paul II? She was, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah. And he all Gianna Emanuela got to meet him, Pietro got to meet him. Uh so it's it's really neat. I love seeing John Paul II and Pietro because uh at that point he had Parkinson's and it had really taken him over. And to see Pietro, who was in a wheelchair, uh, be assisted to stand up to greet the Holy Father by his children. It was just such a beautiful sight. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

And uh we'll so hopefully uh viewers and listeners will take the opportunity to learn more about Saint Gianna and pray through her intercession and again to hear her daughter speak. Uh we'll put that uh link to be available. And uh in addition to your uh being a mom and your work as The DRE and uh the Ministry of the Sisterhood. Uh, you also recently become a published author. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Yes, yes. So I I like to think that God saw my heart for the pro-life movement. I used to go pray with my young children outside of Planned Parenthood and in Morristown. And we had a pretty scary incident happen to us there. So I didn't feel very safe with young children there anymore. And as we were leaving after this incident, I said, Lord, you know I'd be here if I could. Show me how you want me involved in the pro-life movement. And so he he brought me the Gianna Ministry, which we do very pro-life work in there. Uh, but then this book I feel like being published is also another uh part uh of my ability to give back to the pro-life movement. So I have the book here. It's called Super J and the Power of Love. And uh so in 2012, I had started a mommy Bible study at uh St. Cecilia's as part of St. St. Cecilia's in Sacred Heart in Rockaway. And there was a little boy there. His mom is in the Bible study, her name is Allison, and he was four at the time. His name is Jackson, and he had Down syndrome. And Jackson was the sweetest, most vibrant little life I have ever met. And I just loved him. And every time he was around, he loves the Yankees. And so we we would be hanging out as moms, and he would run into the room. This is when he was like seven, and he'd start pulling you off the couch and be like, it's the bottom of the ninth. And he'd start pulling you up and arranging you in the room. And you're at Yankee Stadium, and and this is what's happening. And so he just filled every room he entered with joy. And he was 10 years old and had to go for a surgery in the hospital. And I thought, like, for a kid, just that's scary. So I said, I'm gonna write him a book about how he is just a delight, and and that God made him and he's a superhero and God made him so special. And so I did, and his mom had it and read it to him, and that was in 2017, and it just kind of, you know, was for them, and that was it. And uh this last year, I was reading the rates of abortion of Down syndrome children, and here in the United States, it's between 60 and 90 percent because we have now you can test it 10 weeks, uh, and people choose to abort these children. 60 to 90 percent of diagnosed Down syndrome uh children in the womb are aborted. Uh, it's as as high as 100% in some other countries. So after reading that, I had been on a consecration to Saint Joseph Facebook page of Father Calloway, and I saw this illustrator with these beautiful pictures that he made of Saint Joseph. And so I said, you know what? I'm gonna send this to Sam Estrada and see what he thinks. He's the illustrator. So I sent it to him and he said, Jen, this is an amazing book. I love its pro-life message. It has to be out there. I'd be honored to illustrate it. And I said, Oh, Sam, that's great. Thank you so much. And how much do you charge? And it was like $150 a page. And I'm doing the math in my head, and I was like, that's $3,000. I was like, uh, God, I think you want this, but I don't have $3,000. So I prayed about it and I said, All right, Lord, what do you want me to do? So I talked to a friend, and that friend and her daughter run uh a business themselves, and they said, We're gonna give you $1,500, and you on your Giana ministry, you just tell people about the book and say, every dollar donated for the next two days will be matched up to $1,500. And in two days, $3,000 was raised. So I was like, okay, Lord, we can do it. So uh so we ended up starting the work and uh we found a publisher for it, and uh Deo Gracias Co. is the name of the publisher, and so it it came out into the world, and I'm doing uh different speaking engagements. I was at DMA during Catholic Schools Week. I'm going to St. Therese uh tomorrow for World Down Syndrome Awareness Day. So I'm so happy that this message is getting out there. Uh there's one section in the book that it kind of talks about an evil villain uh trying to convince the mom that a hero like Super Jay shouldn't be born. Uh, but she keeps him safe inside and tells him that God doesn't make mistakes. And I think that, you know, when I talk to these children at the schools, I say, Superman, you know, there's a villain who tries to get him to not accomplish what he's supposed to do. And Spider-Man, you have the green goblin, or, you know, all these other villains who try and prevent them from doing good. And I said, so the evil villain in this, Super Jay shows people how to love unconditionally. And an evil villain does not want people to love others. So it's interesting to see the children uh, you know, get engaged in the story and the questions they ask are amazing.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

So something I think I've learned over the years in ministry and especially in the in the pro-life movement, and maybe in some of the the public debate that occurs. Um and and obviously it's it's so emotional. And um sometimes maybe the church or those in the pro-life movement can look like, well, you know, you have to the the pressure that we're uh putting on maybe a mom in a crisis pregnancy situation or facing that kind of decision. I I just think it's so important to say um uh only a mom in that uh circumstance knows um the the pressure that she's under. And and um Jesus says we're not here to judge and um and but we are here to to share our faith and and and share that belief and reality that with God all things are possible and and miracles happen. And and and I think um Jen, your um even ministry in terms of that prayerful accompaniment of um moms uh in in those difficult situations and you know even the heroic um act and virtue of uh of St. Gianna, um uh we we we we we understand uh and uh can and uh a man might be only can imagine what what a what a uh a mom in a in that situation might be going through, or a couple, you know, trying to um deal with the diagnosis. And um and and I think um maybe uh uh couples finding themselves especially with a a diagnosis of Down syndrome, maybe if if they were more aware of the support that's there and the beauty that can and and and reading a story like Super J, right, can say um I shared with you in uh as I was reading the book again yesterday uh the um that beautiful song that I had shared earlier that I um uh learned about on the pro on the Respect Life March by John Paul Van Arks, uh He's Different About His Brother. And just as you described Super J in the room, uh that the video I think shows, right? And you mentioned something, another uh similar song, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:16

Uh yes, it's called If You Can See Through Their Eyes by a Ray of Hope. Uh Lauren Constable, I I think that's how you say her last name. I'm sorry if I'm mis mispronouncing it. We'll have a lot of links on this show. Cecilia said, but she she started a foundation called Hearts of Joy International that uh that provides life-saving heart surgeries to individuals with Down syndrome all over the world. And uh she has a copy of the book and she said it really gets to the heart of uh children with Down syndrome and and the joy that they bring to the world. And I think that you bring up a really important point, too, about parents facing this diagnosis. So Super J is based on Allison's story, it's based on Jackson, it's a real life person. And one of the things that I've heard, I have other friends who have uh sons with Down syndrome too. Uh hi, Rosa and Gio. Um so uh I think that what you hear from these women who have this diagnosis is the doctors scare them to death. Your child is never gonna do this, never gonna do that, never gonna do this. And, you know, Down syndrome children or children with Down syndrome, I'm sorry, they have um, you know, low muscle tones. So they might be told, oh, your child's never gonna be able to like, you know, be on a football team or basketball team. Uh a young woman with Down syndrome just completed the New York City Marathon, the first woman ever. Uh so uh there are things that doctors do that kind of scare the, and and I get, you know, doctors may have to put out all the bad uh to cover their bases. But uh a woman who I've been talking to who runs a page called Happiness is Down syndrome on Instagram, she said that when she got the diagnosis, she thought her life was over and she thought she was gonna be alone. But she said the community that she's found has been nothing short of a miracle. And she really wishes that when people receive that diagnosis, that they reach out to uh communities like hers or been through it. Those who have been through it because it's terrifying. And um I think that if they know that there are people who have walked that walk who've gone before them and uh and can really talk to them about what it's like having a child with Down syndrome, that that might make the difference in the choice uh for life.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

And I think sometimes the impact on siblings or other family members, right? How uh that special child, um whether it's Down syndrome or other special needs, uh yes, there's a lot of work and uh we don't discount the sacrifice and the patience that and and the ups and downs that are there, but but so much joy can be brought to a family and and uh uh by by by a child that that has those special needs.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think for the church too, uh the word on fire that you mentioned before, they just started an institute uh for those with intellectual uh disabilities. Uh and it's run by a gentleman who has an adult son who has Down syndrome, and they really are wanting to do more to uh have the church involve persons with uh intellectual or developmental disabilities. Uh so Word on Fire just started a new branch, and it's actually named after the doctor who discovered the genetic sequencing of Down syndrome. Uh, Dr. Jerome, I can't speak French, so I'm not gonna say his last name, but he was just declared a venerable uh by the Holy Father. So I think there's beautiful things occurring in the church uh for this cause. And uh our second book that uh I just signed on with the publisher is about a young boy named Brendan Kelly. Uh he was born with Down syndrome, and when he was three years old, he was diagnosed with leukemia. And Make a Wish Foundation asked him, you know, what would you like to do? They said, Do you want to go to Disney World? Do you want to meet this athlete? And he said, No, I want to meet Pope John Paul II. So this little four-year-old boy with Down syndrome flew to Rome.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

And leukemia.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

And leukemia, he met the Holy Father. Pope John Paul II assured him of his prayers for Brendan, and uh they formed a very special bond. And Brendan uh was a beautiful soul. When he came back from meeting the Holy Father at four years old, he was always focused on praying for others. And as he grew and his parents would teach him about offering suffering for others, he started to ask God to take on suffering of people that he knew was suffering. So there were two young women who both had uh cancers, and he had been in remission for a little while, and they really loved their family, and he asked God for their suffering so that they could stay with their family, uh, and they're still here today. And then his next door neighbor was the Santorum family, Senator Rick Santorum, and uh they found out that his wife was pregnant with a baby that had trisomy 18, and they were being pressured to abort the baby. And they said, well, it's a life-limiting diagnosis, and even if she's born, she'll only live for a little while, uh, so you should abort. So uh Frank Kelly, Brendan's father, said, Hey, Brendan, can you pray for uh for the baby? Her name is Bella. So he prayed for Bella, and uh, as his cancer worsened, he would be in bone marrow treatments, and the technicians would hear him on the intercom saying, Jesus, I offer this for Bella. I offer this for Bella. And Bella Santorum is turning 16 years old next month. So we're telling the story of this little boy. Uh, there's so much more to say about him, but his his family gave us the approval to tell and share his story. So we're working on that right now and hopefully can get that out. The working title I have is No Greater Love, the true story of Brendan Kelly. Uh so hopefully by the end of this year, uh, this little uh Saint in the Making story will be out too.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

We say it's always God works in mysterious ways.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

Um it's been great saying thank you so much. Uh Cecile, did you have anything else to ask?

SPEAKER_01 35:14

I I know a lot of parishes, I mean even our own Catholic charities support people with intellectual disabilities, and I know like D P D right, the home. And I working for the diocese, I've seen firsthand just the love that people with Down syndrome have.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

And there truly are a gift to the world. And um I know St. Mary's and Pompton Lakes, they have uh uh ministries for those with special needs or religious education, the cathedral as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

And I think one of the Catholic churches in the diocese just did that Tim Tebow Night to Shine. Oh, right, right, yeah, St. Francis and Haskell Haskell.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

And uh and um St. Francis de Sales in Burma.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Okay, so those I actually want to contact them because I'd like to bring my children to get involved with that for next year. But uh those events are amazing. Uh the Tim Tebow Foundation also does amazing work for uh for individuals with disabilities of any kind. So uh those nights are beautiful because it just lets them feel like they're the kings and queens. Yeah. And so everybody you don't watch any videos about those nights and see anybody frowning. Everybody's got a huge smile on their face. And that says a lot that that those children are a pure gift from God.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

So we have a lot to be grateful for, and yeah, and and God's gifts we have to have the eyes to see, right? And we can get caught up in our own lives and and stresses, and uh and God can send angels in different forms, right? And uh and those um children and and adults with special needs. And yes, uh thank you, Cecile, for mentioning uh our our DPD. Um the Murray House dinner was in February. Now there's I think more than I think there's close to 20 or more than 20 group homes that Catholic charities run through our TPD program. So yeah. Um well um thank you again, Jen, for uh for being here and we'll uh keep in contact. Let us know when the um next book is coming out. And uh a ray of hope. Uh I know they've done some uh Lenten retreats and missions in our parishes uh uh this year and I think previous years as well. And you were speaking about um uh the the the woman, did she write the song? And and there's something coming up.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

The Hearts of Joy International is who I partner. I give 10% of all my book sales to Hearts of Joy International uh for the work that they do to heal hearts. Our book is about the heart of Down syndrome children, so we wanted to partner with them. And uh they have on May 9th, they have uh fundraising gala uh in Ringwood, New Jersey. So if you're interested, you can go, I'm sure you'll put the link.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

And how can people get your book?

SPEAKER_02 37:45

Uh people can get my book short. They can go to the publisher, which is Deogratiusco.com. It's on Christian Book. It's actually on EWTN religious catalog. They just purchased some to sell there, and it's also on Amazon. So there's uh multiple ways to get it. But see the title. Um, as I drop my Gianni cards on the ground. Super J and the Power of Love.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Super J and the Power of Love. Wonderful, wonderful. Um well, thank you again.

SPEAKER_02 38:11

Thank you so much, Bishop.

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Thank you so much for the show. We're looking forward now to Holy Week, and um we'll should be praying for each other in in these days to think of all the adults who are gonna be baptized and received into the church. And um uh the the weather I think sounds good for Sunday for Pomp Sunday. That's gonna be a little rainy on Saturday, but I think by the evening we should be in good shape. Might be a little chilly, but uh Pomp Sunday is such a wonderful day. And um uh I wrote in my column this week, uh I was at confirmation and resurrection in no excuse me, uh St. Matthew's parish in uh Randolph with Father Quinn and at the end he said uh just kind of an almost a passion mark, but uh he said to the con newly confirmed parents, sponsors, everyone, um make sure you take the time to enjoy and appreciate Holy Week. And uh I thought that that's good advice for all of us to hear. And uh as we begin Holy Week on Palm Sunday, uh Monday, uh March 25th, the um will be an extra Monday for Reconciliation Monday. In the past years we've had our Chris Mass on Monday, but we moved it to Tuesday so that that uh opportunity for reconciliation. So if you missed uh if you haven't been to confession yet, yes, one more week. And then the beautiful chrism mass. Um I think that'll be available on on live stream uh at through the cathedral, or we'll get that information again. But um, it's such a beautiful mass where we bless the oils for uh that'll be used in the sacraments throughout the year, the oil of chrism, the oil of catechumenis, and the oil of sick. So uh and the priests renew their um priestly promises.

SPEAKER_01 39:46

Uh and then I always like seeing that line of priests.

SPEAKER_00 39:49

Yes, yeah, so special scene. I I've walked in that line for many years in Brooklyn Queens. I never figured I'd be the celebrant of the Mass, but it's wonderful as Bishop to have that opportunity to be with our priests and thank God for so many good priests across our diocese.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

And then Holy Week, Good Friday.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Right. I think uh maybe Jay and I will be back next week with some thoughts about the trituum.

SPEAKER_01 40:11

Um Well, I know for sure like with Easter Vigil I am actually looking for catech or newly would they be called elect now?

SPEAKER_00 40:18

So they're elect at the moment, catechumens, they become elect now, and then they'll be uh the newly baptized.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

And I I mean we're probably all cradle Catholics here, but it's always inspiring to hear the stories of those who will receive all three sacraments at Easter Vigil.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

I have mass at the our college seminary or the college seminary in Seton Hall um uh this evening for our college seminarians, and uh I was thinking about um this time in in at this time of year in the parish getting to know as a pastor um or um a member, even a member of the staff, um those adults who are coming into the church. It's great, it's uplifting for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

It is, and their stories are amazing. This year, and two are very young men, 23 and 28. And then um another woman who um she actually had a dream about her dad who had passed away right after COVID, and he was waiting for her in a church, and so she's never been she's being baptized, receiving first she crushed confirmation. So it's amazing to hear their stories and what uh you know draws them in, and it makes you as a Catholic want to be a stronger Catholic, you know. So their their example is beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Yeah. Okay. All right. So I guess that's it for this week. And so thank you for joining us. Get to know us a little better by following Beyond the Beacon on Facebook and Instagram. Email questions and podcast podcast topic ideals to beyond at pattersondioces.org. Please subscribe, comment, and leave us a positive rating while wherever you're watching or listening. Discover our other podcasts, Coffee, wait, Kupke and the Paul Street Journal.

SPEAKER_00 41:53

Journal. Thank you. A little commercial for uh Coffee with Kupke, and I neglected to mention I was privileged last night to be at the shrine of St. Joseph in Sterling, the beautiful shrine that we have in our diocese. It's uh starting the last night was the beginning of their celebration of their hundredth year. So the Trinitarian Fathers, the sister servants of Jesus. And as I'm driving there, um I realized that uh the most recent uh episode of Coffee Kupke had uh been dropped, I guess, or uh was available, and I'm listening to it. And Monsignor Kupke was talking about the founding of the shrine at at Sterling, so it was great timing. So uh check out Coffee with Kupke and the Polestry Journal as well.

SPEAKER_03 42:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Thanks, everybody. Thank you, Cecile. Thanks, Jen. Thank you, God bless.