SPEAKER_07 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 conversations about our Catholic faith, and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love. I'm Cecile Pagliarulo. With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney. How are you, Bishop?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

I'm good, Cecile. How are you?

SPEAKER_07 0:29

Good. So it's kind of relevant to the guest today. It was the battle of the Patterson Diocesan High Schools on Friday. You are the champions, right? Yes. Deep Catholic High School won the non-public group B football champion versus Pope John XXIII High School in Wayne, uh in Sparta, I'm sorry. And uh it was at MetLife Stadium.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_07 0:56

Did you get to do the toy the coin toss?

SPEAKER_02 0:58

No, but they asked me to say a prayer. So that was a good thing.

SPEAKER_07 1:00

Okay, that's more important than a coin toss. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Yes, and uh it was good as a Jets fan who also roots for the Giants. It was good to see some good football at Giants Stadium. We had to bring DePaul and Pope John there to uh but uh congratulations to our DePaul students and faculty here and their um president um Ted Gaffney and principal Russ Petreselli and uh chaplains. Uh you guys know um Father Frank and uh Father Um Joey Mockdale and Father Steve Delia. Father Frank and Father Steve were there at the game, along with uh the faculty and uh and leadership and students uh from Pope John who fought a hard game and uh they both played like champions, so uh, but uh DePall can celebrate uh they're gonna get championship rings, I guess, right? So uh so congratulations.

SPEAKER_07 1:50

Good. Okay. And it's also the season of Advent. It just begun on Sunday. And I know you made a recommendation through your Oh yes, are you guys familiar with Halo App? Oh yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Yes, uh I gotta do mine today, but uh the challenge 25 for they do challenge 40 for Lent and uh a daily meditation. And uh I've love the as I've shared before, the they do uh segment series on lives of the Saints, Saints in Seven Days, um, which I think I shared about when I was at Mass. But uh but um but uh if you haven't, if you're not familiar with Halo, it's not too late and a great time in Advent. Uh um there's many different ways we can pray during Advent, but um those who like or uh use technology, uh the Halo app is really a growing um really good resource for um spiritual uh nourishment and uh resource. Um so uh so check out the Halo app.

SPEAKER_07 2:43

Very relevant to today's mobile world. Okay, so yes, yes, yes. So uh well, since Christmas is coming, what's your favorite Christmas song?

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Oh uh another good um uh have you heard of Hark? Um, a um podcast um that's I think in its fourth season that does the story of Christmas carols. Oh uh this year they did Ocamo Kame Manuel and uh The Little Drummer Boy. I love the little drummer boy. Uh and uh but I my favorite Silent Night.

unknown 3:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 3:14

It's funny you brought up Little Drummer Boy. My favorite version of that song is it's Peace on Earth, Little Drummer Boy with David Bowie. David Bowie and Big Crosby is very casual.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

Have you ever heard the wife?

SPEAKER_07 3:29

David Bowie. You heard of David Bowie? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's a very unusual parent, so I always like to do it.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Yes, yes, that's right. That's right, yes.

SPEAKER_07 3:38

Okay. Maybe our next episode we could get you wearing a Christmas sweater. I think we will get a lot of viewers that way seeing you in a Christmas sweater, you and Jay. Maybe a Santa hat. We'll do a poll.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Right, right. Should Bishop wear a Christmas sweater? I say yes.

SPEAKER_07 3:55

Okay, well, so uh we'll do we'll do a poll's set with the green, right? Yeah, exactly. Or the green. Okay. So for this week's episode, we have a group of students from Deep Paul Catholic High School in Wayne who are members of the school's Catholic ministry. Uh campus ministry, sorry. Deep's campus ministry program provides spiritual support, plans religious activities, and reinforces a strong Catholic identity at Deepau Catholic High School. The Christian Service Program, peer ministry, music ministry, and prayer and liturgy are all coordinated through this program. So we have a bunch of students, and our first guests on our first segment is Anna Maria Zucardi, who is campus minister at the school. Fellow St.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

John's alumni.

SPEAKER_07 4:43

Exactly, exactly, Mishop. And uh Ashley Lamonico, who is a 12th grader, a senior, and so welcome. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_07 4:53

Okay. So we'll I guess we'll do a prayer before we kick things off.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

We can all pray together. Place ourselves in God's presence, name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. In this beautiful season of Advent as we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas. And we give thanks for the opportunity to share the good news of the gospel and especially give thanks for those who minister in the Lord's name and our young people today and faculty who at our Catholic schools who strengthen the spiritual lives of our of their peers and the students who are part of our Catholic school communities. Um we have a lot to pray for. We join all our prayers together as one, as we pray as one family, as 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 of Hope, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us, Saint John the Baptist, pray for us. All holy men and women, pray for us. Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SPEAKER_07 6:18

Okay. So uh I guess Anna Maria, can you kind of describe the campus ministry at DePaul?

SPEAKER_06 6:24

Sure. Um we have a very vivid, active, live campus ministry. I ha I've been blessed with the ability to have a campus ministry class.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

How many years are you at DePole?

SPEAKER_06 6:34

I've been at DePaul five years. So um I have a campus ministry class that consists of 28 kids, and then I have a campus ministry club that's about 50 kids. So the kids are always doing something, whether it's going on midnight runs with um Miss Jean Coy and Miss Dana Sevian, whether they're doing um youth conferences with me as we went this past one, which was amazing, whether we're working on the grotto with families, we're always doing we have prayer services, we have reconciliation, adoration. We are a very active peer ministry in our school. Very active.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

And uh that comes from the top two, right? Uh you have Ted Gaffney now is the president this year. Mr. P as they call him, right? Mr. Petroselli's been there a long time. Yes. I I uh I remember uh the uh it would have been just before you you would have been a freshman in 21.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

So I came to the diocese in 20, and my first mass that I celebrated at a high school in our diocese in the midst of coming out of the lockdown in that um fall of 2020 was at um um DePaul on uh September 11th of 2020. And uh from the beginning, I I could see the strong Catholic identity there and uh through Mr. P and um and and so many of the faculty I can see it. So you get that support from the faculty in campus ministry. And now um we did a little something innovative. You have three priest chaplain and a priest teaching as well, right? So uh uh Father Frank, Father Joey, and Father Steve are chaplains all very young. Father Brian De Tullio is a teacher, right? So um I I'm sure they give some support and help me. I'm very blessed.

SPEAKER_06 8:20

They never say no. I walk in there, I'm like a bull in a China cabinet. I'm like, we have to do this. They're like, okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

And your first name again?

SPEAKER_01 8:28

I'm Ashley.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

Ashley. Um uh a senior.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Uh and how'd you get involved in campus ministry?

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Um, so my freshman year, Missy, was just like, do you want to sign up to take a group of freshmen next year as a sophomore peer minister? And I was just like, okay, like let's do it. And so I did that, and from there it kind of just branched off into so much more. It was like so many service opportunities, so many like masses and little things at the school, like prayer services. And like honestly, it just like got me like really smart to get more involved, like at in church at DePaul and in church like outside of DePaul. So like I'm really grateful to her for coming to me freshman year.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Um were you involved in your faith or your parish before you came to DePaul?

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Yeah, I like definitely grew up a Catholic and I was involved in St. Joe's in Lincoln Park since like I was very young. But then when I came to DePaul, there were just so many opportunities there that I feel like I really was able to like take my faith into my own hands.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

And you've been active throughout the the four years?

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Uh and now you're in leadership, huh?

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah, I am.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

And uh um thinking about college?

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Yeah, I am. I actually hear back hopefully next Friday from Dartmouth.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

So Dartmouth.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

It'll be either a good Christmas or a bad Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

No, put it in God's hands. If it's not Dartmouth, then it's where God will want you to be. Um something that you would say um you've learned um from being involved in campus ministry uh that's maybe helped you in your own faith, or something that you try to pass on to younger students as in in through whatever you're doing in the different activities of campus ministry.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

I think I've just learned like how rewarding it is to help people and to truly like be there for others, whether it's as like a peer minister, like making freshmen feel welcome with the new school, or like helping people on midnight runs or like feeding people on the other side.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Midnight runs, we've heard that a couple times. What's that like?

SPEAKER_01 10:20

So I love midnight runs. They're one of my favorite opportunities at DePaul, actually. So we like gather all of these donations for like weeks ahead of time, and then we pack them up, we'll make sandwiches on some Saturday night, and then we'll drive them all into the city and we'll hand them out to all of the homeless population there. And like just hearing all of the stories from the homeless people and really getting to like interact with them is one of the best experiences and to feel like you're helping them and you're missing.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

In the city um in Manhattan, well um uh and uh you go with a group, right? I guess and uh and that's been impactful, huh?

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Yeah, it's been one of my favorite things here at DePaul.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

That's great, that's great. Um well thank you very much. I want to know we got some others uh coming on, so we look forward to um but um uh if you would uh younger uh freshmen, sophomore, those maybe eighth graders coming into high school, um what would you say to encourage young people to a young person to to get involved in the campus ministry in their school?

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Um I think I would say just to say yes and just get involved. Like if someone asks you to go on some diocese conference, like say yes, because it it will be a great experience. You will have fun, you will have an amazing time.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Um that's uh Mary's example, right? Our blessed mother, she said yes when the angel came. She didn't know exactly what she was getting into, but thanks be to God, she said yes because we have Jesus and we're getting ready to celebrate his birth at Christmas, right? So it all started with a yes, so that was that's good advice. Great, great. Be like Mary. Thank you, thank you. Ashley, thank you, Ashley. God bless you.

SPEAKER_06 11:51

Of course, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

God bless. Thanks.

SPEAKER_06 11:54

Thank you, Bishop.

unknown 11:55

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 12:02

And we are back with our next guest, two juniors from DePaul Catholic, and it's Cassie Jordan and Jaden Watson. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

Cassie and Jaden. Yes. Welcome, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for being here, juniors. Yes, and just before we came on, you were saying that you spent some time together before DePaul, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yes. Yeah, two years in middle school, we were at Holy Spirit in Bekwanic.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

And that's your home parish? Yep. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 12:29

My home parish is um St. Mary's in Pompton Lakes.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

Right, with um the Franciscans. Yes, Bishop. Yes. And uh they they do some service there, I think, right? Yes, they do a lot.

SPEAKER_08 12:40

Yes, they do.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

So maybe uh you can each tell us a little bit about maybe a little bit about your own faith journey before getting to DePaul, and then how um you maybe responded to the call to get involved in campus ministry when you got to DePaul.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Would you like to go first? So I've been going to Holy Spirit since I was in first grade, so I've been very much in Catholic school my whole life, going to church my whole life, so it's been a really my faith has been a huge part of my life.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

I think there's a person there called Sister Marie, right? Yep. Sister Marie and Sister. I love her. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Yeah. So I obviously going to Holy Spirit my whole life did help me grow in my faith, but I think being in DePaul has helped it even more so, just because the amount of service opportunities we have there. Again, with the uh campus ministry and then also other service clubs we have. And I feel like being able to be more involved in the school, talking to students and helping out teachers and helping out with incoming students has helped me feel a lot more connected to my community. And it really helps me feel like I'm growing in my faith, growing closer to God and carrying out his will in my life.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

That's great. Uh maybe you've heard of Pope Francis inviting us to the Synod on Synodality, right? Uh we still might be trying to figure that out, but it's about listening and but a big thing that for Pope Francis and the Synod is welcoming, right? We want we need to be a welcoming church. That's a word that you mentioned. That's something that you see as an important part of your ministry, right? Especially for younger students as they come in.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, because I mean on the first day of school we have just like the incoming freshmen and transfer students come in. I feel like it's a very, very good day to have we have the peer ministers there. We help them get acclimated to like the school, to tour them around, go to their classes, and I feel like it's good to have that like open environment to them on the first day. It helps us get closer with more of our community.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

And Pope Francis would say look for those on the peripheries. I think it's probably still the case in uh high school where freshman, first day, beginning of school, there's maybe 80 or 90 percent of the kids or students have friends that they know hanging out, but then there's those few that seem to be like looking around, right? You look out for those ones that might need a extra welcome.

SPEAKER_05 14:33

Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Uh Cassie and Jaden. Jaden. Yes. Tell us about your own faith before, and then at DePaul, how's it going?

SPEAKER_05 14:40

So before DePaul, I found my faith a little lackluster in my life. Like I always went to Catholic school since kindergarten onward, but we didn't go to church very often as a family, and faith wasn't as prominent in my house. But I feel like coming to DePaul and especially getting involved with the campus ministry. There's been so much to do, and I realize I really love giving back to my community. So I volunteer at hospitals, I've done sleep out, and I just help out any way I can around the school, along with Cassie and my fellow peer ministers. And DePaul has just really opened my eyes to see that faith is such an essential part of my life, more so than it was before.

SPEAKER_02 15:17

Beautiful. Sleep out?

SPEAKER_05 15:18

Yes. It was my very first time. Um we slept out at DePaul outside, um, right in the front of our school.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

July or August was it?

SPEAKER_05 15:26

Uh this was in September. Oh, okay. Yes, it was a little cold, but it was it was to put yourself in the position of someone who's homeless. And for me, that was so eye-opening. And to people who were who are currently with Covenant House, which is the organization that was helping us with this, they came and they had experienced homelessness before. And hearing their stories, I felt touched. I really did.

SPEAKER_02 15:49

Were there many students that were sleeping out?

SPEAKER_05 15:51

Um about 10. Yeah, somewhere between 12.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Yes. And then you said you visited hospitals.

SPEAKER_05 15:56

Yes, I volunteer currently at Chiltern Hospital in Pekwanic, and I go there every Sunday. And before I used to volunteer at St. Joe's in Wayne. And no, helping helping out the patients there, I I love it. I really do.

SPEAKER_07 16:09

I think it I it seems like it's important that what young people it's getting involved and actually doing those activities is more important than just hearing someone preach about it. I guess that it definitely connects you more. So how what how do you get more young people involved in the church? What would you recommend?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

I think just having more opportunities for them to get involved. Like obviously that seems pretty obvious, but when you go to it, you need to have more days available to for young people to come in, more activities for them to go to. Like in DePaul, we have so many different clubs people can be involved in to help around the school and with service opportunities that I think that having so many opportunities, especially in DePaul, helps bring the student body in. And then we go out and we s say to our friends and other people that we are doing the service, we're through the church and we bring people into the church that way.

SPEAKER_05 16:55

And kind of going off of that, I feel like especially during like priest homilies and stuff, just having more of a conversation rather than the priest just talking to the crowd and being more engaging, especially like in elementary school. Like the priest will like call in the little kids and answer questions and stuff and that keeps them engaged and keeps them active. And if you do that while they're young, they come back when they're older and then they hopefully bring more people into the church.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Um I find the liturgy is pretty lively at DePaul, right? Uh the gym becomes the chapel there, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

And uh uh great music and uh the music ministry and then also having the students so involved, you know, with altar serving, bringing up the candles and cross, yeah, all this stuff. We think having the opportunity gets people more invested in the mass, more involved, whether they're doing it or it's their friends doing it. They want to watch their friends and it brings them their focus towards it.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Um think of someone um in particular, maybe who's inspired you or been an example for you that's said that you've seen living out his or her faith and maybe has motivated you to be more involved or um that uh give a good has given a good example. Anyone that comes to mind that you would uh point to?

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yeah. Um so actually one of my friends at DePaul, who I feel like really got me involved in all of this, um, she is a is a senior this year. And before I got to DePaul, she would always tell me about all the different clubs and service opportunities she had there. And then when I got there freshman year, she told me how to sign up for everything, what where to go to, who to talk to. And I feel like that really got me involved and it made me excited to go to DePaul and excited people to volunteer and help out around the community.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

And now you're doing for others what you've done for you, right?

SPEAKER_05 19:10

Hopefully, yeah. For me, it has to be um Father John Ahern. He is now the pastor. Yes. Every time I see him, I just think Jesus. Right. He's such he's so weird. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

And the robe, the sandals, right? And the sandals, always wears the sandals, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:27

But the heart too, right? Yes, definitely his heart. He has a beautiful heart. Yeah. As well as all the other priests at um St. Mary's, too. But Father John, he really grabs people in, and he's truly a model of how we should live out our faith. And he's human too, he has his flaws, and he shares them openly with all of us, and it feels like such a community with him. So he's really inspired me to carry out how he does it.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

That's great. Um, and both at Holy Spirit and uh um and uh at St. Mary's, I think you see um what a parish can be, right? In terms of an active community, um a lot of people serving and uh involved, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Yeah, because I mean altar serving at church always helps and uh and at um Holy Spirit, while the nine o'clock mass is very often a lot of kids involved in it with lecturing, altar serving, stuff like that, and I feel like it's a good way to see the community come together.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

And your pastor is a pro uh trainer of altar servers, right? He was MC for me in Bishop Saratelli, Father Stephen Prisk, right? So I'm sure he's helpful with Also having Sister Marie there. Oh, her personality. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_07 20:28

Very nice. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

Well, thank you very much. Cassie and Jayden, thank you very much. Great job. Well, really well done. God bless you.

SPEAKER_08 20:34

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 20:43

And we are back once again with our now sophomores. We have Alexis Gia and Ben Long here from DePaul Catholic.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Welcome, welcome, Ben and Alexis. Yes, uh, so I'll ask a similar question uh as you're now uh finishing your sophomore year, right? It goes fast, you're almost halfway through, but uh you got a long way to go as well, and uh you obviously have gotten involved uh at at DePaul. Um and so what was your faith life like uh before getting to DePaul? Uh were you involved at all in any way in church or parish? And then getting to DePa, what was um something different or something new that uh in especially maybe as you were living your faith or serving? Um who wants to go first? I can go first.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

So I started off at a public school, but and then I transferred in fourth grade to St. Philip Prep. I went I was always at this parish and so you're back home, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Here in the St. Philip, our studio new studio in St. Philip.

SPEAKER_04 21:45

This is my home parish. I went to school here. And ever since I went to school here, I've been like significantly influenced by all the teachers. Everything has been so great. And even when I was in eighth grade, uh Father Montalone, he always spoke to us during class. That was a really it was a really moving thing because like getting to talk to a priest was so incredible. And it influenced me. I went to DePa, and then ever since then, it's really taken my faith to the next level. Uh I read in St. Philip prep, like the church I read on Sundays. Um in a new church, right?

SPEAKER_02 22:20

Newly restored, right? Yes. The floor and the benches. Yeah, they did a great job.

SPEAKER_04 22:25

And then I also read at the DePaul Mass, um, and I just feel like it really helps my faith to like interact in small ways. And yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

And you've also been involved in some campus ministry?

SPEAKER_04 22:35

Yes. I've done different, like last year just. Different services that came up, I've been seeing new opportunities and just doing whatever I can.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

Great, great. And Ben? Yeah, so my faith started at a very young age because my father is a very religious man, so I've always been to church, like as for as long as I can remember. What church? Immaculate Heart of Mary. Oh, yeah. Wayne, right? Right near the the Yeah, right next to the plot. Short commute to school. Um I guess I started kind of my like interactions like in church when I was in fourth grade. I started altar serving with Father Dan.

SPEAKER_02 23:11

Did you say did you go to h school at Immaculate Heart?

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yes, I did go to school at Immaculate Heart of Mary. So I yeah, I started altar serving in fourth grade. Um Father Dan was like a big influence, kind of guide me to like through my faith life. I try to stay active as as possible, you know, pretty busy, sports and everything else. But what sports do you play? I play basketball at the wall. Yeah. Um but yeah, I uh it's been a good time.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

So getting to the poll, um, it was familiar being a Catholic school, right? You had been involved in your parish and uh been in a Catholic school and and uh what were the you responded to an invitation to get involved in campus ministry to help out?

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Yeah, I did. Uh they asked last year if I wanted to join, so I said yeah, I thought it would be a a good exposure, you know, serve and it'd be fun.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Great, great. Um and uh um St. Philip's uh you said you're elector, and you started that, and now you're continuing it uh in high school.

SPEAKER_04 24:12

I started reading in eighth grade because during our like first Friday masses, they would ask if any of the students wanted to read. So I started there. And then I do confirmation classes as well here. Oh, great.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

So the catechist.

SPEAKER_04 24:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

Great.

SPEAKER_04 24:25

And then I started reading on Sundays when we also had confirmation class, and then I continued that into DePaul.

SPEAKER_02 24:31

And you had a um newly ordained priest here for the last four years, right? Father Nico. Yes, Father Nico.

SPEAKER_04 24:36

He was Father Emerson.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

And now Father Emerson, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:40

See, Father Nico was a really he actually like encouraged me to read. He was very nice. Um he always made me feel confident, comfortable.

SPEAKER_08 24:47

Yeah, I loved Father Nico.

SPEAKER_07 24:49

You know, Father Emerson too now. Yeah, he's your St. Philip's is my parish now too. You know, I grew up in St. Anthony's, but yeah, so it's it's nice to see you so involved because my daughter goes to St. Philip's school as well. So now what are your favorite parts about being in campus ministry?

SPEAKER_03 25:09

Um I like campus ministry because I'm in class, you know, with some of my friends, and it's like a fun time to learn, but not only that, like after school we have opportunities to serve. And with Ms. Z we went to um like a retreat together as a class, and I thought it was really fun. It was a whole day at um a college campus. I forgot the name, but the E's, right? Was that the uh youth group? It was really cool. Um it was like a few hours, we had lunch, you know. So I like being in the ministry club.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

That was a big group of young people, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:43

Yeah, yeah, there was like like hundreds of people there.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

Right. And uh uh as you've had some contact with Cecile and preparing uh one of the things I was asking about advice for the bishop, and as Cecile asked some of the other students, um, you know, how can we uh reach out to young people and get them maybe a little bit more involved in church, those who are not involved, and maybe even amongst the other students at DePaul, you see that some might be as the group here today are willing and enthusiastic, and but others maybe not so much. Um what what are some of the ways that uh myself as bishop or we as the church can maybe reach out a little bit and and uh maybe connect with uh some of the young people to uh give them that encouragement or what or invitation to to get involved?

SPEAKER_04 26:27

I think just obviously presenting more opportunities, but making sure like the younger kids like feel comfortable so they're not like nervous to like do stuff, but then also like if someone sees one of their friends doing it, it's more likely for them to do it. It's kind of like a domino effect, especially with the younger kids. They just but I feel like presenting it, making it well known because when I first became like when I was a student here, like there was I knew there was service, I just didn't know how to like be involved in it or how to do anything like that. But I talked to like my priests, I talked to my theology teachers, and it was easier to find opportunities when I knew like what to do. But like the younger generation doesn't some some of them don't feel comfortable asking. So if more opportunities are just presented to them, I feel like it's better.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

Right, and people who put you kind of at ease that made you feel so you're okay with questioning like what do I do? How do I do that? Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 27:18

I think that relationship is also really important. Being like comfortable asking or getting reassurance from a priest or a theology teacher, I think that's also very important.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

Right, right. What how can we reach out? Um like building relationships with kids, I would say. You can like stop at schools and just introduce yourself and say like hello. Um I know at the Paul you have to do a certain uh amount of service. Like I believe it's 15 hours. If you're a freshman, like me and Lexi last year, we're like, oh, how are we gonna do the hours? But once you like step your foot in, it's becomes easy and it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

It might start as an obligation, but then it becomes I want to stay, I wanna I like this, I can yeah, right, right. Uh and um I I guess the priest chaplains uh try to um kind of just be around uh make themselves available, right? Would you say?

SPEAKER_04 28:10

I would say so. And if like I ever wanted to go for like penance or reconciliation, they're always available. And it's just really comforting to know that there's like always a priest I can talk to if I need something.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 28:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 28:22

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

Uh one more question. Uh uh someone that uh has inspired you by the way that he or she lives his or her faith, um, that you look at and you say, I want to be like that person, or maybe someone that has helped you uh along the way to say, um I can get involved, I can um I can be an example for others, someone that maybe that you look to who's been an example for you.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

Okay, I'll start. Um like I said before, uh just say Father Dan was kind of like a really big inspiration here.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

He passed away a few years ago. Unfortunately. Um but talk a little bit about how um he was he was your pastor, right?

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Yeah, at IHM, yeah. He was like a fantastic guy. He was involved in Boy Scouts and he played sports at a very young age, so he was able to kind of connect with us.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

A great singer, too, was he a singer? Yeah, he was a good voice.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

Yeah. Um but he was able to like connect with you know kids and his homilies were great. Like he would ask us questions and get us to kind of go up to the altar and like do little games and things like that. So it was really like he was a wonderful priest and wonderful person. So I would say he kind of inspired me to like live throughout my life with faith in mind.

SPEAKER_04 29:37

I'd say probably Father Montalone, just because he really like showed us how important like a relationship is with a priest, as he would teach my eighth grade class once a week. He always explained stuff to us. We visited the rectory, we visited all these places, and he really helped us like understand our faith in a simpler way because it's it's it was hard for like our little eighth-grade minds to like understand what he was explaining. But and then he brought it down to earth. He always like he always tries to make us laugh. It was it was a great experience. And I he lives out his faith so well, and he just tries his best. His homies are he explains them to the little kids really well. And I say Father Monsoleon really is a great example.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Uh and it's important that we pray for our priests and pray for vocations, right? That uh uh young people will be open uh to God's call in their lives, whatever that call may be. Um but uh uh and um one of the things I learned uh getting involved in church from the time I was in high school, uh uh God introduces you to great people, right? You make great friends along the way, right? As you we can see here as you've met uh people like Mr. Z and uh uh and I'm sure so many at DePaul, but even yourselves, you got into you seem like a pretty tight-neat group, right? That uh are there for each other, right? And times of need, yeah, yeah. Uh I mean I asked about um uh um uh who inspires you. Um uh my uh my high school principal was named Monsignor Philip Riley, and uh he just passed away uh uh this this past Saturday. Um but um uh God can do a lot in your high school years, so and it's often through those people that God brings into your lives. So be open to those uh uh the those saints, whether they're canonized or uh just people of holiness that are kind of have that connection with Jesus, right? That uh kind of uh uh um you can pick up, right? Yeah, yeah. So that was uh the case with and Monsignor Riley, he was also a great Yankees fan, which I was, so that helped a lot. But uh but uh uh yeah, thank God for those people.

SPEAKER_07 31:43

Yeah. Just uh it's a nice testament that you all pick priest. Uh so I I think that's important. So definitely God bless our priests.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

Okay, so Bishop, do you have any words of encouragement to our audience based on uh today's we're gonna talk later about music and uh uh anything of uh uh social media, anything in but do you like social media? What's good about it? What should we watch out for?

SPEAKER_04 32:05

Um so social media, it's I there's definitely some good things about it, but there's also bad things, but I think that social media does have benefits. And of course, we all like your Instagram. It was it's really help, so it also helps like like the high school students, like you to connect with them or like it I really I think social media is good.

SPEAKER_03 32:27

Yeah, I would say it's a good thing. There are like of course bad things with that that come along with everything, like kind of filling children's minds with like wrong ideas or corrupt, you know, things. But I feel you know, uh she said we love your Instagram. Um it's good to connect with people like through social media, and yeah, it it's cool.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

Great, great. Well, thank you very much. Well great job, well done.

SPEAKER_07 32:52

Okay. Any final recommendations before we start?

SPEAKER_02 32:55

Uh pray, we gotta pray, right? Uh so um we'll uh we'll ask um the intercession of Mary, our blessed mother. Uh, you have a great pra patron in um St. Vincent de Paul. Um you have a great example in Sister Jean, right? How long has Sister Jean been at DePaul? Uh uh Sister Jean has been at DePaul many, many years, and she's a uh a strong force there, right? A quiet in the background, I think, a lot of the times, but uh but steady force um and certainly giving a good example of a life of prayer and a life of service to the church. And as we started with uh Mary, our blessed mother, as we mentioned earlier, her yes, right? We want to be like Mary, and uh so um we'll uh give thanks to God for this time together and for Miss Z and for your service and and pray that each of us can follow Mary's example, uh trying to say yes each day and uh look forward to celebrating uh the birth of Jesus at Christmas. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Giving thanks to God for this time together for the faith of our young people and their parents and families, for their teachers, and in thanksgiving for their service to our church, especially to Paul High School. We ask Mary, our blessed mother, to continue to guide us and lead us always closer to Jesus, her son and our Lord, 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. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you very much. God bless you. Hope you have a great Advent and then a Merry Christmas. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. Cecile.

SPEAKER_07 34:38

Yep, and the final words, as we always say, thank you for joining us. Please subscribe, comment, and leave a positive rating. Get to know us better by following Beyond the Beacon on Facebook or Instagram. Email questions and podcast topic ideas to beyond at pattersondioces.org and discover our other podcasts, Coffee with Cuffy, Cupp Keith, and the Paul Street Journal. See you next time.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Thanks, everybody. God bless you. Thanks.