SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson, New Jersey. Join us for conversations about our Catholic faith and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love. We're so glad you can join us. I'm Jay Agnish and with me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney. Good to be back with you. Good to be with you, Jay. Doing good, thanks. As a diocesan family, we continue to grapple with the sudden loss of one our one of our beloved priests, Father Raphael Ciro, who took his own life two weeks ago. This profound loss has deeply affected his brother priests, his parishioners, especially those at St. Stephen's in Patterson, where he last served, his dear family and friends, and all of us here in the Diocese of Patterson and beyond. Bishop Kevin, you have been a strong leader through this unchartered territory and time of grieving. On day one, you were there praying in the parking lot at St. Stephen's with the parishioners, and you've been a presence all along. Where do we go from here?

SPEAKER_01 1:10

We stay together in prayer, um, as we've been, and uh we walk by faith, and um you know, as pilgrims of hope, uh it's not just a phrase. Um as I turned in my own prayer to those words of the 23rd Psalm, even though I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil, you're there, you're riding your staff to guide me. And so um we've needed the Lord with us as we really walked, I've been walking through a dark valley. Um I don't think anything could prepare someone to you know receive the call that I received and that others received on that day, that a call that I had to make to Father Raphael's mom and brother. Uh, you know, uh since um in in my previous ministry as a priest and even as a bishop, um I had ex you know known those who were impacted by a loved one who died by suicide. Um but um this was um you know to lose someone so close as bishop, losing a priest, a spiritual son, and someone I had really been privileged to know and and as I mentioned, walk the journey with. Um uh it's a beautiful picture uh because um you know, Father Raphael, as we learned, uh as a as we knew, I'm not sure he always grasped it as fully himself. Uh what a one good and wonderful, dedicated priest um he was. And so um I'm grateful to the priests of our diocese for um uh their response, especially his close friends, many who were able to go with him, his body to Columbia for the burial and be with his mom and and family, um, the parishioners of our diocese, people I love, you know, the I believe the church is God's family, and um and uh we've been through this together now as a Dosin family. It's hard. We're gonna have a meeting with our priests in the coming uh just in a few days to have some time together and get some information. And um, so we're grateful for all the prayers, and um we um we we continue to pray together and journey together in faith and in prayer. The people of St. Stephen's, wow, that's just a reminder. Um, one of the great blessings of being a priest and a pastor is to be part of a family of faith in a parish. And I've had the time to I've had the opportunity to spend some time celebrating Mass with the people of St. Stephen's. The the wake and the mass the evening before the funeral at St. Stephen's was a powerful um expression of their love for their beloved pastor, and um, you know, him being buried from the cathedral and um uh um the the amount of priests and and parishioners of St. Stephen's and those he served in Dover, he was at the cathedral, his first assignment. Um he also served in uh St. Nicholas and Our Lady of Fatima and or St. Mary's and Passaic. Um so and again, the days um, especially the wake and the funeral, hearing from people coming saying, He did my wedding, he baptized our child, he gave our child first communion. Uh so um we don't maybe always realize as priests the the impact um that a priest has on the lives of families, and and um so um um as we shared, you know, um he he struggled with mental illness and um and got help and you know was fighting a good fight, and um, but um sometimes the illness is stronger than um the what's here on earth. Uh we know uh God's love is stronger than all the uh pain that we go through, but um, and so we we we place him in the merciful hands of God now and trust that he's at peace and uh he'll be looking down from us. We trust and believe uh uh from from the eternal life of heaven.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Amen. Thank you, Bishop. And today, of course, the the day that we're recording on is September 11th. It's a very sombre day for our our nation. I know you had mass today. Anything you'd like to share about.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Just the importance of of prayer. And I mentioned that Mass, you know, again, Pilgrims of Hope, the Jubilee Hope. Um to maintain hope when we reflect on the violent acts of 24 years ago, but the heroism, the those who laid down their lives to save others, that should fill us with hope and inspire us to love as they as they love so beautifully. Um but then yesterday, you know, to hear two shootings, um, one school in Colorado and the political assassination in Utah. Um it's uh it's not always easy to keep going as pilgrims of hope, but that's that's who we're called to be. And um faith, hope, and love in the end, these three. And uh, and the greatest of these is love. And we were reminded of that 24 years ago, and and the importance of remembering an anniversary like this um and being able to celebrate Mass together um is is is uh gives us strength and comfort and and allows us to keep going and um nourished by the Eucharist. And so um we gotta keep praying and praying for peace.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Okay, thanks. And before we uh move ahead to our our uh our next our episode of the case. Great topic today with great guests, yes, looking forward to that. So maybe a maybe a tie-in would be uh the two new saints that we uh that we've got blessed.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Uh now now Saint Carlo Acutis and Saint Pier Giorgio Frisati. Great day on this past Sunday for the church, uh Poblio doing the canonizations in Rome. I had a chance to be with our young adult community in St. Paul inside the walls, I'm sure, in our parishes, um, you know, that that there was solidarity and prayer and joy to receive the two new saints, uh, a young teenager and a young adult. Um, as I've shared uh and I've uh um shared in the post that um it's great to have these two young men, uh teenager and a young adult, but there's also young women out there uh who are on the road to sanctity. We hope uh one from our own diocese, Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich. And uh as I've got gotten to know uh Sister Claire Crockett, I try to recommend her video on YouTube, All or Nothing, um, an inspiring life of faith. So um a lot of a lot of reasons to to be hopeful and to give thanks for those who who live exemplary lives of faith. And uh I think with our guests we'll also talk, uh they were both at uh this past Monday in Newark, the archives of Newark at the beautiful Sacred Heart Basilica for Cathedral for the um uh ordination of a new auxiliary bishop, bishop Pedro Bidgmark Chow, um originally from Nicaragua, and uh uh uh speaks sign language, as I don't, but uh he uh uh beautiful moments that uh we maybe but to we'll get a chance to talk a little bit about that with our guests.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Yeah, I got to know him a little bit when I was working in Newark. Uh yeah, great, great person. He was the rec last the rector at the cathedral there. But okay, great. Well we're gonna we're gonna hand it over to Cecile's good, yeah. And she's gonna introduce our guests and our and our topic for today. Uh so thanks, Bishop.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Great.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

And we are back. Thank you, Jay and the Bishop with I guess some of the current events happening today in today's world. Uh very serious and important stuff that we talk about, and uh with God's help, we'll get through these moments.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Um you know, um certainly um there'll be plenty about the ceremonies and remembrance of September 11th today. Um uh Bishop Bismarck's uh ordination, uh I'm sure was uh widely covered on social media. But even, you know, um the passing of uh Father Raphael, um and maybe at the beginning there might have been comments um or speculation on social media, but um there was also a lot of um great tributes to him and um even the beacon today has the coverage of the funeral in um in in in his hometown of Columbia. Um so um uh there's good and bad in everything, and uh um so um there's certainly challenges as we'll hear about today, uh I think from but also opportunities uh to share the good news um uh through social media. So um uh we we need God's help with newspapers with that as well and and and uh good young uh uh active uh leaders in faith that uh can be in that space where some of us who are a little more advanced in games are not as comfortable.

SPEAKER_03 9:32

So I'm at the cusp. No, I think I'm closer to your age than Father Caesar and Sister Caroline. But yes, today on the show, have you heard of the term Catholic influencer? The Cat Catholic Church is meeting this cultural moment in today's world, especially with events like the recent uh digital Jubilee for digital missionaries and Catholic influencers. Our guests today, they know a little something, something about what that means, and we will discuss with Father Caesar Yaramillo, pastor of Holy Spirit Spirit Parish in Pekonic, who was recently studying in Rome, Italy. And we have Sister Gurleen Joseph, a legion sister who is associate director of youth and young adult ministry in the Archdiocese of Newark. So here are our guests. Uh, I guess one question is or maybe you could briefly share your vocation story because what Bishop said is very true. You are young, and hopefully, like a lot of our younger viewers will hear your story and be inspired in the same way. So tell us a little bit about your vocation story.

SPEAKER_05 10:43

Sure. Well, thank you so much, um Cecile and Bishop. Thanks, Father Caesar. Um, it's interesting, and today part of our topic will be um covering a little bit about social media. And in a way, like part of my vocation story, um, right before I entered the comment um in 2007, um, I was in a time in my life, you know, I before that I was very involved in my community and my um in my school and my parish. Um so I went to um school, my college was Kane University. So I'm here, I grew up here in New Jersey. And um, and even like before I entered the comedy, like I used to love participating in pageants and all that stuff. So I was somewhat well known, and my family background is Haitian in the Haitian community um via this pageant and TV station that I used to be involved in. TV station. Yes, for this pageant. And in a way, like I got to a point where I guess like I was growing in my relationship with God and I kind of wanted to like leave the world in a little bit. Um, and then, but then it's like, okay, you're thinking that okay, you're entering the convent and then you're detaching yourself from the world, but really it's like you're in the world, but you're not of it, kind of thing, you know. Um, so the things that I thought that I will never get a chance to do, it's like, oh, now God is asking me to use those gifts um to do them. And I remember even during the beginning, um, in the beginning time, you know, with Facebook, with MySpace and all these things. You know. So you kind of like love these things, but now there's other um social media that came up, you know, in modern terms, um Instagram and and TikTok and all those things. But um, but part of my story really, it started in um in youth group. Um uh another young person invited me to go to youth group, and really I I started going to youth group because I said, hey, it's something to do on a Sunday afternoon. Um, but from there, that's how God really called me. And in youth group, I learned. Um, I learned my to pray the rosary, you know, my devotion to Mary. I learned um to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, devotion to Eucharistic adoration. And it was really um the parish priest, the pastor at that time, Monsignor Bo, he really instilled in us um a great devotion to our lady and and Jesus. And um the interesting thing is he used to take us to retreat where I work now in the Archdisces of Newark. Um, because the the home parish I used to go to is Our Lady Up of Christians in East Orange, because they have a Haitian community there. Um so we used to go to retreat every year, and now I say, wow, God, you know, you have a sense of humor, you know. So I get to minister in the place that really um kind of like set the fire for um my my discernment journey um in my vocation story. So um I was a normal kid, you know, like everybody else, but although I enjoy participating in all these different um events um socially, but my faith was always important to me. So like going to church was important in that kind of form as a member of the youth. But before that I used to go to church because, you know, your parents told you to go to church. But then after I started going to church in high school and in college because I wanted to go to church.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Did you say Cain University? No, I went to Cain University. What did you study?

SPEAKER_05 14:10

Um my study was actually um international business.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Wow. So um that was that as well for the help you elegant sure, right?

SPEAKER_05 14:18

So the comment was not part of my plan. Um but then God had a different plan, and so I entered right after college. Right. So back in 2007.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

So this is a I would say the gospel is pretty international business. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 14:33

For sure.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

I uh I'm one of three. Uh my background is Colombian. Um I grew up in Clifton, but our home parish was uh St. Anthony's in Passaic, where uh Cecilia also grew up. Uh very active.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

So we don't forget the jubilee of young adults will be at St. Anthony's, right? In uh in October. Correct. Go ahead for the season.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

So pretty active uh in the parish. Um I worked at the parish office for quite a few years. Then I entered into uh college. I went to Sean Hall University, I was a nursing major, and it wasn't after my junior year that uh a bit of an existential crisis. I kind of looking into the future, I said, you know, Lord, I don't think I'll be happy as a nurse the rest of my life. Um and so that brought about very serious questions, and uh I developed a habit of uh going to daily mass and uh spending more time in the Blessed Sacrament. Um I talked to some priests that were close to my family, um, and you know, the Lord put it in my heart that I needed to discern. And I qualify that statement because I never felt like I am going to be a priest. My first instinct was God is calling me to discern whether this is what he's calling me to do. Um my parents weren't too happy when I worded it that way. Uh particularly my my father, he he took it very hard. Um but because I was at Cien Hall University, a Catholic university, uh when I spoke to Bishop Saratelli at the time, he said, you know, why why don't you stay at Cien Hall um and finish your undergrad at St. Andrew's College Seminary? Um that was of course preceded by I would say the pivotal moment of my vocation story, which took place in the Holy Land. Um mom and I went on a pilgrimage with uh with our parish and our pastor, and uh it was out on the Sea of Galilee where I was asking the Lord to speak to me. And uh How old were you then? I was 21.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

And the song uh Pescador de Hombres came on, and uh it was one of those moments where you singularly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. And uh I said, All right, I hear you loud and clear. Um I'll give this a chance.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Close to me, you'll find other seas, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Correct, correct, correct. Um and that was that was really the beginning of it all, and you know, been ordained eight years, um, extremely happy and grateful to to God every day.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

And now uh as a pastor of a parish, uh Holy Spirit in Piquanic since uh July, and I s we were together on Saturday because uh the parish just celebrated its 75th anniversary and uh uh rededicated their re-remodeled church. The previous pastor, Father Prisk, had worked with a long time to raise funds, and uh and and as I said on Saturday, you were uh uh jumped into the deep pool as a pastor, right? Because your your first masses there would have been in the uh school gym, right? With um uh but uh uh on time the project was done and beautifully done. Uh and uh so um um so and in our conversations over the years, uh uh you've the call within the call, as Mother Teresa would say, or I think for Dawson priests, uh um the the the the thought of serving as a pastor of the parish, um uh uh how's that been for your first few months?

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Uh it's been amazing. I think it's the best thing that could happen to a to a priest. Um I I'm thankful to the Lord each day.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Uh and uh um I I it's a it's a it's a great, great blessing, uh as I said, Father Raphael, my own experience, and I think others who have served as pastors that just to get to know families and to know a power's family. And a lot of responsibility, a lot of work as well. But uh so as we talk about our as both of you were sharing, um I wonder if you and I we didn't discuss this beforehand, but um and Cecile can answer as well. Um, do you remember when you got your first cell phone and do you remember when you got your first smartphone? Maybe you guys, it was the same that maybe you got a smartphone.

SPEAKER_05 18:37

Does the beeper count? Um I think.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

I do I never use one, but I didn't know.

SPEAKER_05 18:48

Um that was Middle school. In middle school, that was ninety seven, ninety-eight. Um and then we used to play around, like you'll send messages with like the hello, like you put the hello, depending on how you the numbers you put. Yeah, with the beeper. You flip it upside down, then you could read the message. Yeah, hello upside down. So I have a beaver in middle school. And um, and then my first cell phone, like what did I maybe in college, but it was like the the flip phones, and then when you text, you have to like if I'm doing like for the number one, you have to one, two, three, one, two, one, two, three, four.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

I had a Nokia. I was I was a Dean in 1997 and got my first cell phone, not right away, maybe 98 or 99. And then um, when I became vocation director, I got a Blackberry. And I thought this was an upgrade. Uh and I remember resisting an iPhone. Well, that that that changed pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Do you remember uh I was a freshman in high school. Um my first phone was a motorwell eraser. It was because it was so thin. Um and then I upgraded to the Blackberry, and you know, yeah, we thought that was the best thing next to sliced bread. Um and then I gave in to the iPhone. Yeah, right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Um yourself, do you remember?

SPEAKER_03 20:17

Uh 2000, and I have the same phone number for the past 25 years.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Well, I have I my first cell phone number is still my personal cell phone number. Yeah. So um I know Cecilia's some questions, but um going maybe from there to you know, has social media helped play any role in your own discernment vocation? Uh I know it does now in ministry. Um uh Father Caesar, you were enrollment a good time last spring. And uh uh um so uh maybe just a few words about um uh as you entered seminary discernment, um where was social media and and how is it developed in your own um uh even personal ministry uh and and and maybe work of evangelization?

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Well, in my seminary years, I I remembered two figures that stood out and still do, uh, and we've spoken about this. Um Bishop Robert Barron, who at that time was Father Robert Barron, and uh Father Mike Schmitz. Right. Um and I just I I remember listening to at the time Father Robert Barron, and I said, My goodness, this guy's brilliant, and the way he's engaging young people, you know, not kind of watering down doctrine, but engaging it in such a way that it becomes interesting and dynamic. And I just I I really till this day I admire him. I'm I call myself a huge baronite. Um and then Father Mike Schmitz, you know, with his energy and just like the the dynamic the dynamism behind every one of his uh very brief homilies, but very powerful homilies. Um and then his Sunday homilies aren't as brief. Right. Love them, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um and then fast forward to um my time in Rome. Um I just so I was hesitant to get on Instagram. My whole thing was Facebook. I have to attribute Instagram to my two sisters because they said, well, all the young people on Instagram. If you just keep Facebook, you're not gonna reach the you know, the kind of the niche that you want to go for. And so I opened Instagram and there was all these wonderful priests on Instagram. And uh they said people need to see that priests are people too. Like they're normal and they have a family, and you know, yes, that they're they pray, but then they go and they do sports or they go out with their friends, and and so I was like, all right, that that's a that's a good kind of uh reasoning. Um and when I started uh it was really more personal, then I kind of started sprinkling with some stuff about ministry. Uh and now, you know, I I just try to convey to the best of my abilities the beauty of the priesthood. And how many followers? Uh 12,000. So in the in the vast sea of influencers, I am like this little drop. Um but uh you know I say even if someone reads or hears something that they needed to hear that day, it's worth it.

SPEAKER_05 23:11

Um in the beginning of my vocation discernment, and now I mean at that point I didn't know the term, like all the um terminology that we're using now, but now I know what that is discernment. But in my beginning, um, that was before, I guess, social media. Um actually I remember going to Yahoo and like putting and the sisters, and um there was a lot of uh printouts, and I remember I got a book, a Vision Magazine book actually from Souvenville, um at Franciscan Uh, with all the different communities? With all the different communities. So I took that book home and I was flipping through it. I mean, I I know I look young, but I'm a little bit on the older side. So um, and and then there was an ad for the solution sisters, and I said, Oh, this is like this is what I'm doing now. And in a way, though, there was one sister assigned um at the office where I work now, at the youth office of Silaretta. And I said, Oh, this is the same outfit sister. I didn't know it was called a habit, so now I know. This is the same outfit Silaretta is wearing. And then, oh, they do youth um events and stuff. And now at that time I was helping with the youth group in my church. I said, Oh, I could do this for the rest of my life. But really, that that um conclusion came from a thought, like my my, you know, entering my senior year at the end of my junior year, entering my senior year in college, and I said, Wow, this is my last year. Like, what do I really want to do with the rest of my life? Like, I don't know where the question came from, but it just kind of like provoked me to like think about it. So then I started thinking, and and I thought about being a sister before, like when I used to go to those youth retreats, but then I was like, nah, this is not for me. But then I left it there, and then the thoughts started coming back again. So um at that time it was just Yahoo. I went to Yahoo and search, um, and then I sent an email thinking that the sisters are not going to reply back to me. Um because I have to say, um, as a you know teenager, I used to love doing those sweepstakes for the all those like teens, like the 17 magazine magazine and stuff like that. So then, and you never win. So I'm thinking, okay, I got this magazine from Ohio. I'm in New Jersey, I'm sending them an email, they're not gonna respond back to me, but they did. So um that was before, but now um, I mean, we did have like the the mic, the the how social media was dead, it was more like personal, you collect your music, you know, your this and that. But now it's like more really branching out. So um it's different, but in a way it's beautiful, you know, like like everything, there's good to it and there's bad to it, but at least like the presence that I tried to be um with the sisters is hopefully for for the good.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

We had uh the sis Teresa is here with us, and the you the the Salesians hosted um the young uh religious uh and I was at a table uh and it came up uh with a number of different, I think it was young women that were had entering a few different communities that were there. And how did you find out? Oh, I I saw them online, oh I saw them online. I mean, you know, vocation work now is really moved online.

SPEAKER_05 26:10

You know, it's it's really been beautiful in a way, um, especially with the Siligian Sisters um account page. And and we really do try to pray about it and really be intentional in what we what we do post. But many of in the past, I want to say two, three years, many of the young women who are entering, they said, Oh, you know, I had this question about if I really like in terms of like their choices, should I go with this order or that order? And then something was posted on the Salesian sisters page, it's like, and that helped me to make my decision. And I was like, wow, I guess God really used it, like he used whatever means, you know, if when he calls, whatever it is that that could really um talk to us, he uses that. So I'm glad that he's using that not only for young women to help them in their discernment process, but also for other young people for um, you know, if they're having a bad day and they see the sisters doing something and it brings like a little joy um to their day. So that's beautiful how it's really a means of evangelization.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Have you started using it at the parish? We have, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I I presume Father Prisk would have had some things there already. Yes, yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

So the And the school, right? You have a parish school, so um it's a great outlet to kind of get all our events out and invite people to join us for different things. Um yeah, I think it's it's a great outlet.

SPEAKER_03 28:10

Sister Gorlene, you actually went viral of you doing a three-point shot. Oh, I didn't see that.

SPEAKER_04 28:17

I have to do that.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Yeah, that was probably a couple years ago, and that's when I really uh saw this eye of the solution. Where was that?

SPEAKER_05 28:24

I think it was posted in the Silesian sisters. Um I was in a school in Ohio, and we as a Silesian sister, we like to be with the young people, and I don't remember what was happening. And then they were having some kind of competition. I said, Oh, I'll play. And you know, I I did not play basketball, but I played a lot of basketball with the sisters in the convent because we like to be competitive. And then um sort of learn a few tricks here and there. So then um they were playing and they said, Hey, can I take a shot? And then I took, and then I I waited on the first so all the students are like, and have like a hundred thousand views.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

So I mean that's to me that's a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Yes, so um well, well, Father Caesar, I know so and this is for all of us, I guess, because Bishop, you actually are an influencer yourself because you do have a social media. Thanks to Cecil present. Uh social media played a very significant role in the coverage about the death of Pope Francis, the conclave, and then Pope Leo's election. And so many people became fascinated with the Catholic Church, and secular media was covering it. This was a huge news story. Uh, we got an American Pope, which Monsignor Kopke correctly predicted. Uh, but here you two shared some very interesting perspectives. I mean, Father Caesar, you were there firsthand. And uh just uh describe that time covering, documenting that time on your social media. I mean, because I know we shared your post. We felt here in the Dyson Patterson, we were in Rome because we had one of our own in the world.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

And he was on TV at the Light Loke, right? Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 29:58

So just to discover, uh just describe documenting that time.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

Yeah, um I learned uh you gotta be careful what you wish for. Because I remember um coming home that Christmas and I was spoke speaking to my parents, and I said, you know, they said, Are you excited to be coming back next year? And I said, Yeah, I can't wait to be back home. And then mom says, Well, is there anything that you know you kind of want to do before you come? And I said, Well, it's not really up to me. I said, but this is my second time in Rome, and I said, and I have yet to witness a papal funeral or a conclave. So when this all happens, she says, careful what you wish for, you know. Um, but it was probably um the most, I would say, unfiltered in the sense that there was really no prepping for the videos that I did. I was just there. So people are like, Wow, Father, you are really excited. That was all like that was just the moment. Uh the energy in the square was amazing, both when he died. Uh, we all gathered for prayer. Um, we started the the rosaries uh very shortly after the announcement was made that Pope Francis had passed away. Um, and there was such a huge sense of reverence, but prayer, it was tangible. And it I hadn't witnessed anything like it within the context of like someone passing away. And this is our spiritual father, right? I mean, this is the Pope. Um so it's something that I would say branded me in a very positive sense. It was really to see the the global church come together to pray for a late pontiff. Uh, it was just beautiful to be there and to be able to say that I was there. And then, of course, the days leading up to the conclave and all the excitement behind it, and then being there for the white smoke, um, it was an eruption of like the best sentiments human beings have as persons. Uh, there was joy, people were crying, people were screaming. Um, but I don't want to get too theological, but I was kind of like um sharing that with my spiritual director, and he actually gave me this beautiful insight because that before the white smoke came out, everyone was kind of saying, Is it gonna be today? Right. Um, and we see the white smoke, and I was one of the ones jumping up and down, you know, people were on their knees, uh joyfully crying. Um, but then there it's like a good hour before, you know. Yeah, it took a while. The white smoke, and then he comes out. And there were these huge jumbotrons lining up via de la Conciliazione, which is that main street that leads to St. Peter's Square. And what they were capturing were people from different parts of the city all flocking to this main street. But it was crazy because if you looked at it, it almost looked illogical. Like people were running to get to as close as they could to the square, but they had no idea who was who had been elected Pope. They just knew it was the Pope, like a Pope had been elected. And then again, sharing it with my spiritual actor, he said, you know, that's probably what it felt like the morning of the resurrection. Oh wow, right? Mary goes back and says he's not there. And you know, she doesn't say, I know where he is, right? But you know, we hear Peter and John rush out. Um and it was just so powerful, like to say, in a way, I got to experience it was a visceral joy. I've never felt anything like it. Uh, to what the apostles must have felt, right? Uh the morning of the resurrection. But here we were, 1.3 billion Catholics around the world, all glued to their TVs. And I I turned around to a brother Priest who was with me, and I said, you know, some people say the church is irrelevant. I said, but I can't think of any other institution that has the entire world glued to their TVs for, you know, three days continuously.

SPEAKER_04 33:49

Catholic or not. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

And then to hear that after he was elected or during that whole process, uh, I believe the number one Google search for a few days was how to become Catholic. Really? Uh because of the interest that sparked around the conclave and around the election of of Pope Francis. So um I'm so gl glad to be home, but I am so blessed to to have been there for that.

SPEAKER_05 34:15

I think too, um the again the the positive aspect of media also um kind of help promote that. Because before, yeah, I mean those used to happen that people used to know, maybe later on, because now um, you know, positive or not, people were watching the conclave movie, you know, and there's some negative things. Oh, right, that's a negative thing. But at least that sparked an interest. Maybe that's how God was using them to get to the real truth. But then because like they have access to so much, because then they're able to like, oh, maybe there is some truth. Maybe there so that that's kind of like that little doorway is leading them to something greater um that they don't know has existed, you know, like um or that that does exist. So that's the beauty of like um the digital media helping um in a positive way.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Right. Um, yeah, I mean, uh the Holy Spirit really can is uh we look back way before the Internet and electronics, uh you know, St. Augustine he somehow felt take and read, right? W the Holy Spirit can work through the smallest opening in in the human heart, right? And and uh and and now you know sometimes that opening leads somebody to go online and and I that's amazing that the how many were Googling how to become Catholic. Number one search, yeah. Right, right. Um uh makes me think also um uh were you at the National Eucharistic Congress? Right. Um uh uh the big events, you know, World Youth Day, um uh an opportunity for a lot to be shared on social media, and we're gonna have an opportunity. Are you planning to be at NCYC?

SPEAKER_04 35:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:58

Um and and the excitement that Pope Leo's gonna join virtually the uh uh NCYC, National Catholic Youth Conference, right? Is it every every two years it's in Indianapolis, right? And then on the West Coast the alternate years. Right, right, right. So um that'll be an opportunity for us to invite some young people, right, to uh come together um and in uh as a national church, um, and and the Holy Father is gonna be visiting uh virtually, so yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:27

We're looking forward to this excitement time.

SPEAKER_01 36:30

Uh some people have talked about Pope Leo is the first many things, the first missionary Pope, American Pope, uh, but uh that he does his own uh he's got his own smartphone and does uh responds to his own emails and texts and Wordle, I guess, right? And uh and he was on Facebook. Is that right? Yeah, he had on Facebook. I don't think he's used there. He's not allowed to anymore.

SPEAKER_02 36:49

But he was on Facebook.

SPEAKER_03 36:51

I I guess another relevant topic is the canonization of Carlo Acudis, who is considered the the Now being referred to as God's influencer, right? That's God's influencer, and I know Bishop you've read so much on him, but what does that mean to canonize that the church has canonized this young saint? And because he I I guess what he created was a website.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Eucharistic miracles. Right.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

So what what does that mean for the church to see now that we have an actual saint that was using digital media?

SPEAKER_01 37:23

I've heard that he might, I don't think it's beneficial yet that he's being named Patron Saint of the Internet, right? Uh that'd be great.

SPEAKER_05 37:30

That'll be a good one.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

But it's certainly uh a good example for our young people, right?

SPEAKER_05 37:35

Mm-hmm. And I think it's a good time too, because I mean lately you hear a lot of statistics on how uh the young people are leaving the church, and not just like in the Catholic Church, like uh the young people are leaving faith in general. Um but also uh although those statistics are being uh said, but you also hear how a lot of young people are seeking and searching for truth and how they're turning the other way, and a lot of them are um converting or Mr.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Barron had on his podcast this past Monday uh a conversation about uh the the increase in statistics in the United States and at least Western Europe that uh um the large number of uh people entering the church uh and young people entering the church over the last few years, uh especially receiving the sacraments at Easter.

SPEAKER_05 38:24

So it's beautiful that these two young saints, you know, great examples and they could see somebody, especially for Carlos, because it was more recent. It's like, oh, if you could do it, I could do it too. Um so uh hopefully that will, and I think it will, um, continue to increase um the the desire for the young people to be um to like to follow Jesus Christ really in a simply putting it.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

So in your own ministry with our young people, um uh certainly we're talking about those opportunities to connect and share content and touch someone's heart and you uh have them consider maybe uh what how God is calling them, but there are challenges as well. Um what do you see in terms of our young people and screen time and uh the good and bad of of their experience um with social media and online?

SPEAKER_02 39:16

That's uh that's a loaded question, Bishop, but uh a very relevant one. Um But I I would say to answer that question, uh I would preface with I mean, I I believe the Lord sends us the saints we need at the time when we need them, right? And so the fact that you have these two young men uh who were in love with the Lord and were trying to evangelize each in their own ways, um, also speaks to us, I would say especially those who and we all run the risk of like falling prey to this nostalgia that everything was better in the past, you know, and oh look where the youth are today and what kind of future. And I really I don't think as Christians, certainly not as as Catholics, we we should go down that route because you have someone like Carlo Acutis who, you know, that beautiful quote of his, we're all born originals, but most of us die photocopies. And I think that links perfectly with the the pros and the cons of social media. So we have a lot of our young people who are now glued to their phones, right? Uh in a in an unhealthy way, right? But I think it's a matter of cultivating the importance of like a face-to-face conversation or highlighting the fact that as human beings we're deeply relational. So it shouldn't just be we shouldn't be glued to a phone screen 24-7. But also, I think it speaks to the fact that in social media, there is, especially amongst our young people, certainly the tendency to feel like they need to live up to a certain standard, whether that is aesthetics, whether it's what they're wearing, what they look like, where they're going. Um and so it could be a very deceiving world because uh as someone once mentioned, nobody posts anything sad on social media. You only put your best foot forward, right? Right. Because you only want to share that which is good. Um, so I think uh especially for our young people who perhaps uh have the tendency to either compare themselves to others or all these great influencers, celebrities, to know that you know each of them is also battling their own struggles. Silently, perhaps, but uh it's not everything that that social media sometimes makes it out to be. Now, on the other side of that coin, there's a lot of good things on there, right? So, you know, perhaps you're having a bad day and you're scrolling through something and you font come across one of these Catholic uh social media accounts with a quote that you needed to hear, and that's how the Lord is speaking to you at that at that moment. So there's all these uh, I think uh Bishop Barron would call them seeds of the word, right? Have made it to the digital continent.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

And uh I don't know if it's more adults and young adults, um whether it's reaching youth yet, although they have things for children and families. Uh the Halo app, I mean I'm just uh the the the good stuff that you say, as you say, Father Caesar, you think all you know the the past was much better and now well there's a lot of um uh activity uh on the Halo app. And and also think of um the the the jubilee for youth and young adults in in Rome. They were expecting 500,000, they had a million, right? I mean so um how about your own experience, sister, in terms of um ministry and uh in your interactions with young people, teenagers, how they're impacted by or struggle with um uh or benefit from uh social media?

SPEAKER_05 42:36

Um I mean there is a concern, I guess like every good thing, there's positive and negative to it. Um there is a concern of like um addiction, you know, they could be addicted to it. Um where you know they spend, you know, they say, oh, I'm gonna spend they sit here, they think they they're thinking they're spending 20 minutes, and next thing you know, it's three hours, and not just for the young people, but also for the adults too. Anyone um who uses um social media. But that's where um again learning skills balance of like um self control. Right, um discipline could could help um in those things. So those are like the negative aspects. And sometimes too it could scold you into the next thing, the next thing, the next thing, and I guess for us, and that's what because I mean we can't, you know, when when you know the songs say you can't go over it, can't go under it, gotta go through it, you know, like with that camp song, um, we can't escape it. We can't say, Oh, we're not gonna, you know, the kids are or kids or adults are are being addicted to this, but then this is the their reality in a way, like in a Salesian term, like this is their playground. You know, like Don Bosco um during his time, the printing press was was was the thing of the day, and he used that to evangelize. And for us, like we have this is our modern playground, our modern printing press, we have to use that to evangelize. This is where they are, we can escape it, but we could even use that to counter, you know, like and and sometimes even myself when I'm scrolling, sometimes I I see um little clips and videos that said, hey, you know, you've if you've been in here for too long, maybe it's time to, you know, like you see people like doing these sort of things. Um, so maybe um, you know, just like doing a little uh a little clip to help with that, but hopefully too, what we're um sharing with them too is more positive and negative than negative. So um, and even you know, when Pope um Leo had the recent um Jubilee for the for the Catholic influencers, you know, when he said I like the line of the idea of like not just creating content but um But like creating opportunities for encounter. So hopefully like uh yes, uh it can be a negative space um because they get addicted, they spend a lot of time, but hopefully um in s in a lot in some of the time that they spend that they are encountering. And hopefully the person that they're encountering is a person of Jesus by the little things, you know, that we we say or we do. Or even if it's not directly just like the joy, the characteristic of of the Lord, you know, joy, love, um, uh peace, whatever it is that we're we're helping them to uh to live out.

SPEAKER_01 45:16

And Cecilia, your your work uh on the das and social media along with Jay, who's with us, and uh um we do get a lot of engagement. I mean, right? People are uh respond to, I mean, I uh I'm not looking at it as much, but uh but I when I go to visit parishes, they say, Oh, thank you for your Instagram or you know, for what uh uh that's you know, I mean Doug for me to hear that, you know, I wouldn't hear comments like that, but yes, we do get a lot of reactions and comments often.

SPEAKER_03 45:44

And and the thing with social media is uh a lot of times people will say things that are more on the meaner side, like it's the streets of social media, and uh and you get both sides, but I think that's just a reality of social media. You're gonna get the negative, you're gonna get going to get the positive, but we as a church need to be on social media. And I think some like you said, Pope Leo wants us to have encounters, and I and I guess he has a fear with technology taking over, but yes, we still have that human aspect that we had to put into social media, and and like you said, you get a lot of comments, and I think what makes your account so I guess popular or whatever is that there is a heart and to it that people connect with.

SPEAKER_01 46:32

So um we try to make it personal, right? Right, yes. That that's the word I was on the board too.

SPEAKER_05 46:36

Like, you know, you have to make it personal. Personal, and kind of like how you say too, so they know, but hey, we're normal people. Like there you go. Yeah, I mean, you're normal. And if you're curious about this, here it is. You know, like it could be the simplest thing as why do you wear white and why do you wear gray? Oh, yeah. Here's the answer, you know, like just like a really a tool of learning and and building relationships, really, a tool of building um, I guess, digital relationships. But then the funny thing is, you know, I don't know if that ever happened to you. So at the Eucharistic Congress, so there were, you know, as the priests were walking in, it's like, oh, I know this person. Where do I know him from? Where do I know him from? I was like, oh, I follow him on Instagram. That's funny. You know, then you feel like you have a like a connection with the person.

SPEAKER_01 47:19

So and maybe um uh those who work in youth ministry uh who might um we had uh something at St. Paul's Inside the Walls last night about different uses of AI. I mean, I'm amazed at uh uh the that is a tool. Um but um but uh youth ministers or priests working in youth ministers or religious, um, from your own experience if someone is maybe not uh as uh adept maybe as as as each of you are in terms of you know being just familiar with posting and uh and and seeing the value of it, uh would you have some advice for um youth ministers or even parents in terms of uh working with their children and and and trying to know what they're looking at when they're online?

SPEAKER_05 48:05

Um how about that for youth ministry or parents or um I guess in general for every especially when the thing is new, um again, the same idea. For everything that's out there, there's the positives of it, there's the negative of it. And then especially when it's new, you have to be careful because it's still developing, you're still learning, you're not really sure. But but you see the potential, you can't really run away from it because this is where society is going. Right, so you have to face it, you know, can't go over it, can't go under it, gotta go through it, you gotta face it and learn about it and see how um if this is where society is going, how can I use it positively, and how could I be, you know, careful and be reserved. So um in terms of AI, there are a lot of positive aspects of it, but at the same time, too, there's a lot of negative aspects of it. Um, in terms of the positive aspects, um, you know, especially nowadays, you know, you're searching something, it kind of like narrowed things down for you when you're doing a search, uh kind of like generates like answers for you. Um you know, especially with language in terms of language. We had a meeting recently uh with 13 different countries present this summer and we had um Languify, I think the app was. Um so the speaker is speaking in English, and then the person you choose, do you do you want it to translate in Spanish, in French, in Italian, whatever, you know, Simon Tennessee is translating. So those are like the positive aspects of like artificial intelligence, or even um, you know, you're writing something and you just need a little guide where to go, and then you could ask, you know, you interact with the with the application. So those are positive, but at the same time you have to be careful. It's collecting information, it's um you don't know you don't know where those information is being stored, what it will do in the future. Like you don't know. So you just have to be reserved and not just like put yourself out there, but learn more about it um because you can't you can't escape. This is where part of our society is moving. You go to a restaurant, then the little robot comes and serve you. Um, you know, all of these things. At Six Flags, we were at Six Flags, you walk in and like the shop, you there's nobody working um inside, you know.

SPEAKER_03 50:20

Oh, right. It's like mobile order.

SPEAKER_05 50:23

You go in and your card is scanned, and you know. So this is where the world is moving. You can't escape it. So, but you do have to learn more and um inform yourself um and see where you could be careful and and try to use it for the positive and know that there could be some some dangers to it too, like everything else.

SPEAKER_01 50:43

I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard from some priest friends, I don't know if other Caesar, uh some have told me that Chat GPT can write a decent homily. I hope not.

SPEAKER_05 50:54

If you give it prompts, yeah. I hope not. But you know, we've had these different conversations, you know, people will say, but still it doesn't have that heart aspect to it. Right. Um but then like for me, sometimes if I if I'm looking for ideas, but then then you put the heart aspect to it. You know, you just got kind of get a start. Um but again, it depends on the person. Some people are still hardcore. It does sometimes like using um artificial intelligence things, it does make things more um I don't want to say practical, like efficiently. Efficient, more efficient, you know. Um you s spend less time. Um but hey, I mean you can never replace a human person, but sometimes it can be efficient. A tool to help uh learning to have the balance.

SPEAKER_01 51:47

Father Certainly advice for those in youth ministry or parents.

SPEAKER_02 51:50

I think if whether you're a youth minister or parent, um I like to apply this across the board. Know what you don't know and surround yourself with people that do. Um, you know, it's hard to demonize something when we don't understand it or when there's a sense of frustration about, you know, how am I going to learn this? Uh uh I wasn't brought up in this age, I had it with my parents. I mean, um they both had to learn how to text because that was the most efficient way to communicate with their children, and so they learned how to text. It wasn't easy. My dad only came around about three years ago, but it happened. Um and so again, just be open to it. Uh like sister said, of course, there are good there's a good side and a bad side. Um, but if our children are on it, if our young people are on it, we need to be where they are. And that's why I love the term the digital continent. Right. Because that's where everyone is. And if this is where they're spending most of the time, well then make sure let's make sure as a church that they're encountering content.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

Digital missionaries and digital pastoral ministers, right?

SPEAKER_02 52:55

Yeah, content that will make them ask themselves the big questions or perhaps propitiate an encounter with our Lord.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

And offer accompaniment as well. Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 53:03

Um I I was talking to uh, he's a huge influencer in Mexico. I think he has like over a million followers, uh, a priest, and uh we were having uh this was back in Rome, but we were having lunch one day, and he said, uh, you know, the future Pope is on social media right now. And that kind of like you know struck a chord. Like, yeah, there is a very high likelihood that that will actually be the case, that you know, our Pope in 20, 30 years would have had an Instagram account and would have had a Facebook.

SPEAKER_01 53:38

And um was it um Pope Benedict, I think, started the first uh Twitter. Twitter, right?

SPEAKER_02 53:43

Right, right. I still remember him. You know, they gave him that iPad, and all he did was like he tapped the iPad. But boom, all of a sudden the Pope is on Twitter.

SPEAKER_05 53:52

And and even Pope Francis, like I remember I was among the first million followers. Um so when he because I was waiting, and even when he became um Poplio, I meant to say, um, even when he uh first um became Pope, I was like, oh I wonder if it's gonna have an Instagram account. So I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting. And then a couple weeks, you know, maybe less than a month later, um, he started an account, and then within like less than 24 hours, and he had like 10 million followers. And I was among the first million.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

And Pope Francis did use it as well, right? I mean um, I think we want to be uh wrapping up, right? Um we could go on, we'll have to come back and continue the conversation.

SPEAKER_03 54:37

Um I mean, and also too, we keep saying youth, but adults are on social media, and I think um you know something we need to remind uh everyone that uh something me and Jay will hopefully get going is make sure every parish in our diocese is on social media in some way. And uh so lots to look forward to uh you know with this.

SPEAKER_01 55:00

Teamwork, right? Uh Father Caesar and Cecile were part of that person that uh helped me to get started when I arrived and uh and uh thank God for that. So uh yes, uh we don't have to do it ourselves, right?

SPEAKER_03 55:11

We can find others to um that isn't important to know, and something you know, just thank you for your trust in me. Uh, you know you're doing a great job.

SPEAKER_01 55:18

Oh thank you for it.

SPEAKER_03 55:19

Oh yeah, thanks for your you know, the trust you have in me to help you, assist you in your Instagram. I never thought when I started my career that's what I would be doing, but I absolutely love it. I love being able to connect to people through social media.

SPEAKER_01 55:35

So yeah, yeah, that it it it's the it's making connections.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

So yeah, so okay. Well, anything else, Bishop?

SPEAKER_01 55:43

I think we're good.

SPEAKER_03 55:43

Okay, we're good. All right, so thank you for joining us. Please subscribe, comment, and leave a positive rating. Get to know us better by guess what? Following Bishop Kevin's Instagram uh and our Beyond the Beacon. Also, Father Caesar at Father Caesar Yaramillo is your Instagram, and then Silesian Sisters would be yours. Yes, and you know, you can see them both in your spare time or whenever, but whenever you use social media. So make sure you follow all of us, all of our accounts on social media. Read the bishops weekly column on beaconnj.org. Get in touch with us if you have a question for the bishop, and discover our other podcasts, Coffee with Cupbeaky and the Paul Street Journal. See you next time.

SPEAKER_01 56:27

And we've been posting uh two weeks from today the New Jersey mass rally in March for Life. So uh please consider joining us. Yes, yes. Um, so um thank you, Cecile. Thanks. Thank you, too. It's a grilling thanks for all the Caesar.

SPEAKER_02 56:42

Thanks for you, Cecilia.

SPEAKER_01 56:43

Thanks, everybody. God bless.