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Relatable Catholic
Join Katie and guests as they aim to bring lighthearted humor to the world while navigating their Catholic faith journey toward eternity.
Relatable Catholic
Introducing... Fr. Jacob Rouse
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We’re back!
We are kicking off Season 3 by welcoming one of our new parish priests, Fr. Jacob Rouse, to Relatable Catholic! We’re getting to know Fr. Jacob, talking about his role in the parish, and learning about his deep hatred for cottage cheese.
We are so happy to be back and can’t wait to see where the Holy Spirit leads us in Season 3!
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Hello, and welcome back to season three. And I am so excited because we are kicking off season three with our new parish priest, Father Jacob Rouse. Welcome.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. Uh as Miss Kiefer said, or Katie, I'm calling you.
SPEAKER_03I go by both.
SPEAKER_01So Okay, the audience listener know that you are a second grade teacher.
SPEAKER_03Yes, they do. Yes.
SPEAKER_01All right, gotcha. You are a second grade teacher, I'm a priest, Catholic priest, which is great.
SPEAKER_03Um it is great.
SPEAKER_01So I'm the parochial vicar of uh the Makokata area pastorate. What does that mean?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, what does that mean? See the look on your face. What does that mean? I just prefer the Bellevue area pastorate, but you know that's my my personal opinion.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for sharing your personal opinion. Uh we've got uh titles of my secret agenda is uh titles of Mary to name all the pastorates.
SPEAKER_03But I love that.
SPEAKER_01We'll see.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, uh the parochial vicar is not the pastor, the parochial vicar is uh well, parochial, having referring to the parish. A lot of people think that parochial automatically means school. Parochial means in Latin having to do with a parish, and then a vicar is a representative, someone who represents the parish wider to the pastor. So got it. Anyway, I'm just not the guy in charge. So that's what basically is my coworker, Father Ray Burkle, he is technically the pastor, technically and and real he's really the pastor, yeah. And uh so he's great, he's been great to work with. And um, as we build up a new pastorate, just like everyone else in the archdiocese. Um so that's my all my title. I prefer to go by Father Jacob, and uh I I've been here in this new assignment for a little, has it been two months yet? I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Well, it'll be two months on September 14th. So when this comes out, it'll be about four days away from your two-month anniversary. Two-month anniversary, yeah. And boy, what do you think of Bellevue? Because you because you live in Bellevue.
SPEAKER_01I live in Bellevue.
SPEAKER_03Yes, by your father Ray lives in Makokata.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So I live in Bellevue and everywhere in between Makokata, Ottercrick, Springbrook, Preston, Oxford Junction, that's all my home and my field of ministry.
SPEAKER_03So Saint Sanatus, you forgot Saint Sanatus.
SPEAKER_01Not intentionally. Um I don't have my list in front of me.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, I I do that too. And then it's like, uh, that one, that one, and then I used to use my fingers because I know there are seven. Yes. So it's like I'm missing one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Bellevue is um a wonderfully beautiful town. I've lived in a lot of beautiful places, uh, all in Iowa, I would add. Um and just being I'm from Cedar Rapids originally, I think I should say that. I'm a city boy through and through downtown Cedar Rapids.
SPEAKER_03Um you live downtown Cedar Rapids. Is that different than like the suburbs? I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I would say so. Yeah. I mean, like we were two You were in a high rise. No, not okay, not quite. So not quite. Downtown Cedar Rapids is a little uh yeah. I was two blocks from like where you watch or four blocks from where you watch fireworks downtown on the bridge, like in the downtown city. Got it, and then two blocks from St. Patrick's on First Avenue. So we walked to church, it was great.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And uh anyway, all that to say. Um anything related to uh cows or rural life or large bodies of water turned me into a preschooler. I just love um learning about people's phones. I lived in Cresco for seven years before this. Okay, and um Cresco's North. Cresco's North North and East. Yeah, kind of you know where Decora is? Yes, yes, like Luther College. Yes, anyway, bluffy, Upper Iowa River-Y, and beautiful. And I was um thought, okay, Lord, what do you got for me? And he gave me the Mississippi. So I'm a five-minute walk from the Mississippi, and I love walking up and down and just looking at it. So, and then driving to the various towns here. Yeah, uh, the fall is going to be incredible. Yeah, yeah, it already is incredible.
SPEAKER_03Right, yeah. Yeah, spring is not so beautiful, just prepare yourself with like the dead trees and like the mud.
SPEAKER_01That's not sarcasm.
SPEAKER_03It is no, like I don't think it's right. It's like all the trees are dead, yeah, and like everything is like mud. Yes, that's what makes the summer so much more beautiful. Really?
SPEAKER_01Summer and then fall and winter even.
SPEAKER_03Have you been here for fish flies?
SPEAKER_01No, what is that?
SPEAKER_03So you can't say that you love the river unless you've seen the bad side of the river.
SPEAKER_01That is true.
SPEAKER_03The fish flies.
SPEAKER_01All right, fish flies.
SPEAKER_03So usually it's like around the 4th of July. They hatch from the river.
SPEAKER_00Fish flies hatch.
SPEAKER_03Fish flies. They hatch.
SPEAKER_00Are you talking about a plague? Like is this biblical? Kind of. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yes. So they just like come upon and to take over the town. Um, and if you don't turn your lights off, you will be shoving shoveling fish flies.
SPEAKER_01Shoveling.
SPEAKER_03Shoveling.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Like insect carcasses, like build up over.
SPEAKER_03They only live for 24 hours.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it's not so bad, is it?
SPEAKER_03You've never cleaned up a pile of fish flies.
SPEAKER_01I have never cleaned up a pile of fish flies.
SPEAKER_03They're like, they'll make it all the way up here. So the whole town, if there's fish flies at night, the whole town turns the lights off. Like the street lights and everything. And the craziest thing is that it happened a couple weeks ago. And it never happens in August, ever. Like it's always the month of July. Yeah. It was an August hatch this year. I don't know what it means.
SPEAKER_01Late hatch. Yes. It's probably an omen of some kind, someone's reading. But I just think it means that uh they were just late to the party. So could be. So no, did I miss them then?
SPEAKER_03You must have just like missed them. I don't know. Because the lights were off a couple weeks ago because I thought this is weird. Huh. There were fish flies out again. So you just wait until next summer.
SPEAKER_01A full year from now, I'll give my um complete report. Okay.
SPEAKER_03And they smell like fish too. So they're also pretty smelly.
SPEAKER_01Gotcha. Okay. So but people are great though. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But that's what I'm here for. Yeah. So there are downsides to the Mississippi.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Do you ever like think about like swimming in the Mississippi?
SPEAKER_01I've a friend told me that you don't dip in the sip.
SPEAKER_03Really?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't, but that friend is not from or near the Mississippi in any way.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Like now, and as a as an adult, I think like it's gross. But like if I was out on the river, like I would get in the water now. Like you can only be so hot before you get in the water.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03But and we were always on the river.
SPEAKER_01Oh, like swimming boating.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Tubing. Yes, absolutely. We had a pontoon.
SPEAKER_01Oh, very cool.
SPEAKER_03But we also had a C bead boat at one time, but we also had a tube. So sometimes we would tube behind the pontoon.
SPEAKER_01That sounds dangerous and thrilling.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's not actually that thrilling because it wasn't like a tritune. It was just two. Okay. So like you were just like sort of like in your own pontoon behind the pontoon because it doesn't go very much. So pretty slow.
SPEAKER_01Like a barge. A little faster than a barge. That's great.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um I don't know where I was going with that, but so me swimming in the river was the crazy. Yeah, but then I went to Tennessee one time and they were like disgusted that we slip that we swim in the Mississippi.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Huh. Was it Tennessee?
SPEAKER_01I just think it's a large body of water. You were in Memphis. A lot of flowing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Huh.
SPEAKER_03Oh, not you just think like it's scary.
SPEAKER_01No, I just think why would you think it's disgusting? Because it's moving constantly through the continent, right?
SPEAKER_03It's brown.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I guess.
SPEAKER_03Think about like all the gunk. One, and also one time when I was two, I drank too much river rotter. And I was in the hospital for a week.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that'll yep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That'll last.
SPEAKER_03Didn't stop my parents though. We were back out the next weekend.
SPEAKER_01So maybe I should rephrase when I say I love the river. I should say that I love looking at the river. And I don't know uh all of her uh ups and downs yet. Yeah, I'll say that.
SPEAKER_03You might like might be a little divisive that you said you don't dip in the Mississippi.
SPEAKER_01I said I heard that. I'd be willing to swim.
SPEAKER_03A lot of people partake in dipping.
SPEAKER_01Swim. Dipping in the Mississippi. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Not me anymore. Thank you. I will if I have to.
SPEAKER_01I think uh it's good to refresh why why I'm here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Why any of us are here is uh to love, serve, and know God in this world and the next. That's the Baltimore Catechism. What I mean is um the restructuring of the archdiocese, uh journey in faith. Um for the longest time something needed to be done, no one knew what to do, and now we're doing something. So I think it's a pretty good something. Um the model that we're existing in as Catholics in an apostolic age right now is a model and structure that um is like 150 years old. So with the uh amount of priests, amount of parishes, amount of territory, everything we it's just wise to be good stewards of our resources, human and otherwise. Yeah. And um, so the restructuring caused a massive amount of moves.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So that's why I'm here.
SPEAKER_03And that's when you come in. That's where I come in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Father Ray and I move just like uh probably 98% of the rest of the priests in the archdiocese moving around. So it was wild. Yeah, it still is wild. Yeah. I tell the phrase I keep saying is um, it's going to be insane until January, and then it will be weird.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then after a while, maybe I don't like to say that it'll feel normal, like new normal, because what does that even mean?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, transitions. Oh, here's another wisdom I got. Not from me, from Pat Lincioni. Uh, people actually like change, they hate transitions. And I would agree with that because that's true. Things that I moved, like I would never like looking at uh middle school to high school to now, like, oh yeah, I kind of like how things have developed, you know, in my life. And yet the going through it the day by day, the hour by hour, that's that's very, very uncomfortable. And that's where we get to invite the Lord in, not only in prayer as we go through transition, but also uh like work with each other. Uh because seeing a high school freshman and then seeing a high school senior, like there's a lot of transition that happens uh day by day.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01So for sure.
SPEAKER_03So you've been a priest now for how many years?
SPEAKER_01Eight years.
SPEAKER_03Eight years. Okay, so big question. Why did you decide that that was the path for your life?
SPEAKER_01The money. Not really not really.
SPEAKER_03Um, I that's also why I'm a Catholic school teacher. Yeah, exactly. That's why we're in it for it, is for the money.
SPEAKER_01Um, I I was ordained a Catholic priest on May 26th, 2018. That's the feast of St. Philip Neri. Fun fact, I was also ordained at the same day and the same cathedral as Father Andy Upa. Yeah. Because he's my classmate. Yes. So, yeah, we were both ordained in 2018.
SPEAKER_03Well, I've got that in my phone as the ordination day already, so I will be happy to provide you with a small gift on your own. Oh, well, thank you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_03It was a notepad last year for Father Andy, so don't expect anything large.
SPEAKER_01Notepad, just as long as it's colorful. That's all I want.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think you would really appreciate the one I got.
SPEAKER_01Excellent.
SPEAKER_03Anyways, why you became a priest.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. Um, the Lord called me, and I said, eh, maybe I'll try it. Um everything in my life that I had all lined up. All my plan was always to um be a musician, be married, be in the army, make money, uh, be famous, be an educator, all these things, uh generally, if not objectively, good things. And yet the ways that I was seeking good things uh left me empty and left me um just not satisfied.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it wasn't until uh throwing my entire energy and body and mind and soul into pursuing good the way I thought it should be pursued. Um like I said, left me feeling empty, broken, and not happy. It wasn't until one night in the um St. Stephen the Witness Student Center in U and I, go Panthers.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, shout out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh, I remember during a thunderstorm sitting in the back pew. I actually visit that spot every single time I go back there. During a thunderstorm late one night, I heard the Lord speak the clearest he's ever spoken to me, and he said, I want you to try seminary. And you might be thinking, Well, why didn't he tell you to be a priest? I'm like, Well, because I think he knew that he wouldn't have gotten me. I would have ran away again. Uh so I did it. I tried, transferred to Loris, just turned all my t-shirts and clothes inside out because they're both purple and gold. Uh so I transferred to Loris and then did three years of uh philosophy study, then uh four years of major seminary. Um so I just kept trying it every semester until finally.
SPEAKER_02Until finally it was until finally, yeah. Okay, it's all right. There's let's do it. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01And I mean, that's actually vocationally, that's how we see uh uh dating.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01We see uh a dating like if if a boyfriend and girlfriend break up, you don't think, oh, they dropped out or they failed. Like no, they just discerned it wasn't ideally they're discerning. It wasn't uh they weren't for each other, you know? Um so I that's why I just I just kept saying yes. There is a really cool part of seminary formation for me when at the end of every I think it's semester, no, it's the year, every academic year. You do like a self-eval, you write a big paper about yourself and present it, and then um there's this final question at the end of it that says, Do you wish to return for seminary formation next year? Yes or no? And I always love it, just was a really, really strong moment for me. Um like all the the nuances, ins and outs of struggles and failures and growth and transitions, even. And then it all boils down to yes or no. You want to continue?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, it was just yes or no.
SPEAKER_01So and uh many of my brothers throughout the years have said no to that. And then some say no, and then they come back, yeah, and then some say, nope, uh, I know priesthood is not what I'm being called to. And I think that's the most important part for whatever, whoever's listening, uh, whether you are in a committed vocation of any kind, um, or maybe you're still seeking it, uh that freedom. I I once I said yes 100% uh after years of discernment, I've never experienced a greater freedom. It's like uh on a diving board, or I can't, I can't, who am I kidding? I can't dive or swim.
SPEAKER_03I can just kind of You can't swim?
SPEAKER_01I mean, I could I could save myself and get to the side of the pool.
SPEAKER_03It just blows my mind that people never learn to swim.
SPEAKER_01I mean I could doggy paddle. I'm not gonna save you or anyone else, though.
SPEAKER_03Oh boy.
SPEAKER_01I'll throw you a lifesaver.
SPEAKER_03Maybe because like I've always lived across from the pool.
SPEAKER_01True. That's probably it.
SPEAKER_03And my mom couldn't swim, so she was like very adamant, like, you will learn to swim because you have to save me.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. But maybe you ever had to save her?
SPEAKER_03No. No, she always wore a life jacket on the boat.
SPEAKER_01So the story of St. Peter when he uh is drowning is especially terrifying for me because like I mean, in a in a pool, yeah, I can get to the side, but in a in a large lake of yeah, no. Anyway, when I hurl my body off the side, off to either the diving board or the side of the pool, and that's freedom. I mean, just I'm giving everything to the vocation of priesthood. All other doors are closed. Yeah. And uh I believe that's what freedom is like.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And is.
SPEAKER_03I can imagine like the peace that that that brought. Knowing, and then like the peace of knowing that you made the correct like the best decision that you think. Yeah, the best decision I could, yeah, that God has led you to. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because you're we'll never know for sure.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01But what is the right decision? I believe that the Holy Spirit continues to guide. I mean, if I was discerning properly and uh God's gonna make good of all things, it's really cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_01It's cool like that. It's very cool. And then one uh in eight years of priesthood, it has not gotten easier, it's gotten better.
SPEAKER_03That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01And I think that's probably what any vocation is like, or any marriage even is like. So it's just better.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It's awesome. You were in Cresco the whole time, right?
SPEAKER_01I served as uh the the old covenant, what is it called? I was an associate pastor.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay, got it.
SPEAKER_01Which is kind of old an old term now for rookie first year new guy. Uh so I was with Father Neil Monternoch in Epiphany Parish in Mason City.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01For one year. And then as was the custom at the time, uh okay, yeah, you know enough now, so go be a pastor.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I was um moved to uh Cresco and was the pastor of Notre Dame Parish immediately. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So which blows like our mind here because like we've had so much a turnover that it's like, wait, you didn't get moved every two years?
SPEAKER_01Is that what I'm saying? This is where I'm this is where the whole transition and it's all so new to me. I've never made a dis uh other than the ontological change from seminary to priesthood or deacon to priesthood. Like this is the biggest change I've ever gone through in my life.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And uh, because seven years in one place is a long time to absolutely get to know people and be known as well.
SPEAKER_03So it's crazy.
SPEAKER_01It is crazy.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, we're happy to have you.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you.
SPEAKER_03So you're involved a lot with the school this year, too. Yes. So we're only a couple weeks in, but do you you had a school at your previous assignment, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I served at a pre preschool through fifth grade called Notre Dame School, Catholic school.
SPEAKER_03So you've never experienced middle school and high school.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just the one just when you're just the one year of well, yeah. I actually I am a former middle schooler.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and a former high schooler.
SPEAKER_01So you are too? Yes.
SPEAKER_02Amazing.
SPEAKER_01Uh and just the one year in um uh Newman in Mason City.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01But no, I've never worked this uh closely or intimately with um a middle school and high school as I've already started.
SPEAKER_03So no, I could not. God bless the middle school and high school teachers.
SPEAKER_01Aren't they incredible? They're all heroes. All I think all educators are heroes.
SPEAKER_03Oh, golly. Every time I see a middle school, I'm like, oh, I gotta get out of here. I'm scared.
SPEAKER_01So I'm the pastoral coordinator. Yes. Uh that means that Father Ray does all the boards and all the like the overseeing and the stuff. Yeah. And I pastorally coordinate the school, which means I go to school board and um all over the place. Uh so for Bellevue Consolidated School System, which is no, sorry, Marquette Consolidated. I don't remember, it's a lot of big words. Anyway, preschool through 12 at Marquette. And then I'm the chaplain for the high school at Marquette.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01And then I'm also the pastoral coordinator for uh Sacred Heart and Makokeda.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01So I have a lot of kids.
SPEAKER_03Yes. You sure do. Um, this is a crazy question. What would you describe as your ideal day?
SPEAKER_01My ideal day.
SPEAKER_03So what's your ideal day? Like if you could pick because I know what mine is. Do you want me to go first?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a good idea. They will be different. Very different. I think they will be different. As long as you specify weekday or week. Weekend.
SPEAKER_03Um, I'm gonna say it is a day that you have off, like an off day. Like, so it's not like because mine is an off day.
SPEAKER_00Okay, go with it.
SPEAKER_03I wouldn't, I wouldn't choose to go to school on my perfect day.
SPEAKER_01But I would. Oh, okay. Okay, I will uh all right, you go first and then I'll share.
SPEAKER_03I think my perfect day is like waking up, like sleeping in, but like when you wake up, like you've slept in, but it's still early in the morning.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_03And then like going to Bees Brews and getting a chai tea, and then just shopping all day long. Like we're going TJ Maxx, we're going home goods, like if we can, we're hitting up an outlet mall, like we're going out to eat every meal, and then we're going to bed really early. And that is my ideal day.
SPEAKER_01That's a wow.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Who would you who would join you in that? Carl, the dog?
SPEAKER_03No, Carl would not be invited.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03He would not enjoy shopping. Um, I would go with my cousin Angie. We have great time shopping.
SPEAKER_01Good. Yes. I have a clarifying question.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Does shopping imply uh the purchasing?
SPEAKER_03Okay, yes. On a perfect day, I will need like some sort of like uh like unlimited credit card as well, or like unlimited gift card. So when I purchase things, I'm not actually purchasing them. Like someone is purchasing them for me.
SPEAKER_01Shopping involves going home with something.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. I'm very disappointed. I think some people think of things like like um buyer's remorse is a thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I usually have saver's remorse. Like I should have. I should have bought that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_03So so I have trained myself to not be disappointed a day later. I might as well just get it.
SPEAKER_01Might as well just get it.
SPEAKER_03I can always return it.
SPEAKER_01That's true if you have the receipt. And now is um what is thrifting versus just looking at old antique stores?
SPEAKER_03So thrifting, I didn't say thrifting, did I? Because I would not like to go thrifting. Oh, you would not like that. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know if they were just adjacent in the same category.
SPEAKER_03No, no, I would not like to go thrifting. But thrifting is very, like, very in right now.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So that's like going to like Goodwill or like a consignment store and like or like St. Benny's. And thrifting is like th sifting through. And I don't like sifting through things like that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Either way, with both you're stimulating the local economy somehow. So thank you. Yeah, great job. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03All right. You thought of your perfect day. Are you going to TJ Maxx?
SPEAKER_01Oh, Target.
SPEAKER_03I would also love Target.
SPEAKER_01In the it's nice. I've always been two and a half hours from Dubuque.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Well, not always, but for seven years. So anything from ordination to the cool music store that's there, Uncle Ike's to all the by the way, is this episode sponsored by Bees Brews and Uncle Ike?
SPEAKER_03No, but it should be. So Bees Brews and Uncle Ike's, please reach out. Yes, we've advertised for you.
SPEAKER_01Yes. We love people. We're sending people there. Anyway, I've always been two and a half hours from Dubuque, so that means ordination. Yep, get up early, and then you gotta run, run, run away, go back to mass. Uh so now I get to like hang out. Dubuque, the capital city of the Archdiocese, is half an hour away. And it's great. There's this little canyon. I call it the little pocket. Target and high V share a parking lot.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01It's right there. That's all you need.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01I like Fairway too. I feel like we're screw we're messing up with brand names, like we gotta say. So if I say a brand name, will they throw money at us? Is that how this works?
SPEAKER_03Unfortunately, no.
SPEAKER_01Okay, in your experience.
SPEAKER_03We have not been successful in any sort of anyone throwing money at us except for the great Tom Kyle, who owns a pawn shop in Kansas City, who gave us $100 one time. He is just my dad's friend. Okay. So good to know. Thanks, Tom. Thanks, Tom.
SPEAKER_01Uh my perfect day would be waking up period. Sorry.
SPEAKER_02Well, yes, I was thinking about it. I was thinking about what time?
SPEAKER_01Um seven.
SPEAKER_02Seven.
SPEAKER_01Seven a.m. Okay. That'd be mildly sleeping in. Uh having uh some caffeine of some kind, um, starting prayer.
SPEAKER_03You're a coffee person.
SPEAKER_01I am a coffee person, but this is going probably an energy drink or some sort of liquid or some sort of powder. Because I'll go to the gym.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01And then work out. Have a great workout, Jim. I wouldn't say rat. I would say I gym uh uh enthusiasts. Okay, there you go. Yeah. Um and then once that's all done, um shower and then read a book, either theology or fiction.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01And then I would uh meet up with my brother Joshua, okay, who's younger than me. He's my best friend, and his fiancee could come too. Oh, that's it. I'll invite you. Belle, you can come. Anyway, we would go to a uh movie, a brand new movie in theaters, and uh I don't know what it would be uh because I haven't had time to look at movies right now.
SPEAKER_03But it's not really any good ones out.
SPEAKER_01We'd go to a movie and then we'd go to dinner and and hang out.
SPEAKER_03So that's sounds like a good day too.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, except for the gym part. I'm not probably gonna do that. Okay, that's fine. Just as long as you're happy in target. Yeah. I am doing a form of exercise walking to those stores. So yeah. Oh, yeah, I carry all those bags. So do you have a favorite food?
SPEAKER_01I would say what's my least favorite food.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. What's your least favorite food?
SPEAKER_01Plain cottage cheese.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01I will not eat plain cottage cheese.
SPEAKER_03I had some for lunch today.
SPEAKER_01Good for you. Anything that's not plain cottage cheese, I will eat. Okay. Or at least try. Anything that has been uh deemed edible by humans.
SPEAKER_03Can you would you put cottage cheese in something? What about like lasagna that has cottage cheese in it?
SPEAKER_01Well, our Italian friends would rebuke that. Um I think they are against cottage cheese. But yes, I'll eat cottage cheese in something. But just a plain bowl of cottage cheese, I don't understand how people do that. All that to say, um, no, I love uh food any kind of food. Any kind of food, any culture style.
SPEAKER_03Um you're gonna be getting a lot of food.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I will, but I know what to just don't bring them cottage cheese.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, don't bring me cottage cheese.
SPEAKER_01Um oh, is this for our listeners?
SPEAKER_03For them coming to bring what's whenever we bring whenever we say like you like something, they would bring it to Father Yandy. We tried to do a hot a hundred dollar bills one time. Like they like bring nobody. How about scripture commentaries?
SPEAKER_01I like eating scripture commentaries, preferably the uh uh ancient patristics.
SPEAKER_02Uh nobody's even gonna know. This is relatable, Catholic. We're dumbing down. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um well, don't when people are like, Well, don't you like sweets, Father? I'm like, Yes, I do. Actually, too much. So please bring me fresh vegetables instead from your garden. Well, uh I know it's fun to bake a pie or bake a cookie. I have a rule, I don't eat desserts alone. Oh if you bring me a plate of cookies, I will invite you in and say, Would you like to have one with me?
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Because otherwise I'll eat the whole thing. I'll eat the whole plate. I have no I have shockingly low self-control. And so I'll eat the entire plate alone. Yeah. And no one wants that. Yeah. So I will, if you bring me treats, don't leave them uh because otherwise they're gonna go to the teacher's lounge.
SPEAKER_03Um and we will eat them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm perfectly happy to uh make my contribution there. But if I see you, if you bring me something that you made, I will say, Would you like to have a slice? I'll even get you a plate. I'll get you a fork.
SPEAKER_03Now you're gonna have a lot of visitors with desserts though. That's true.
SPEAKER_01Well, maybe I should qualify that. Fresh uh fresh veggies, anything that the Lord made that you helped grow would be great.
SPEAKER_03I was thinking about that recently, like going back to like like what they ate in the Bible is like a thing right now, like the Bible diet, just like eating from the land and like animals, and I was like, you know, like, yeah, that makes sense why that would be healthier.
SPEAKER_01Like the things that like God actually gave us in creation, like and we're like one of my friends talks about I can't remember what the principle is called, but it's like sun to as many steps you can remove from the sun to it, because unfortunately, I've tried. Uh humans cannot photosynthesize.
SPEAKER_04Oh.
SPEAKER_01So I'll take it up with my creator on that. But uh, what's next? What's the next step? Um, the sun hitting the ground and making something grow up with cr seeds or whatever.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh a Snickers bar. Think of all the steps between the Snickers bar and the sun.
SPEAKER_03So that is an interesting way to think. Isn't it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So a tomato, right?
SPEAKER_01I mean tomato. Very tomato, yeah. Tomatoes, uh, very few steps between sunlight and it comparatively to a pizza.
SPEAKER_03True.
SPEAKER_01Anyway.
SPEAKER_03That is very, very true.
SPEAKER_01I don't live by that or anything.
SPEAKER_03But it's a good thought. It's a good thought.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a good thought.
SPEAKER_03Aspire to live like that. Yeah. Sometimes. Yeah. Um, do you have like uh is there's like some part of like your ministry that you're like extra passionate about um that you want to share? He's nodding his head. He forgot it was a podcast.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, this is uh this is an audio medium. Yes. Uh abandonment to the Holy Spirit. Um sounds like a pretty pretty general uh subject, because it is, uh, but I've spent most, if not all, my life um being uh perfectionist. I like to say I'm a recovering perfectionist, I'm a recovering lot of things. Recovering perfectionist and um recovering Pelagian. Uh Pelagian is a heresy that says that we uh earn and win and do our own salvation. So that's not true. That's a lie. Christ is it's pure gift. Um and we participate with him. Anyway, uh just stop it. Just stop trying to control me. I'm talking to myself, just stop kind of trying to control and manufacture and make everything so perfect.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because nothing is perfect on this side of heaven. There's a lot of good, and actually, sometimes things are better when they're not under my control, you know. So I've just just really been. I love it. And once again, this is a visual or this is a visual demonstration for an audio medium. Uh I'm putting my hands up right now, as you might see the priest in mass. It's called the Oran's position, and it's a posture of prayer. And uh that's that's how I approach a lot of life right now.
SPEAKER_02It's just like hands up. Yeah, just really hands up. It's not an it could be a nice surrender. Hands are guns, hands up, sir.
SPEAKER_01It could be like my hands are up because there's a gun to my back, or it could be just like, oh, hot stove, hands up. Yeah, or it could be like, all right, Lord, yeah. Do you so next time you're at mass, hopefully it's this weekend, whenever this day goes out, look at your priest, just watch his um his Oran's position. And if you want to make it, just say, hey father, I really like your Orans. Orange is a Latin word for prayer. Yeah, pretty sure. I confidently not.
SPEAKER_02Semi-confidently, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, just um, and so if I can live like that and uh I'm not the one in control, you are God and I'm not. I'm probably gonna say that a lot.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You are God, I am not. And uh what a what a great admission of not only truth, but also just asking for help.
SPEAKER_03So yeah. No, that's great. Well, is there anything else you would like the parishioners to know right now? This is your time to tell anybody, anybody who wants to listen, because not some people who listen aren't parishioners, but two, your parishioners right now. Is there anything that you want to tell them that you want them to know?
SPEAKER_01Uh come to mass and go to confession often.
SPEAKER_03There you go. I love it.
SPEAKER_01Was that relatable enough?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Talking about the overall episode.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Because that we are Catholics.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01And we are being relatable.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01Excellent.
SPEAKER_03It's true. Yep. Go to mass. Go to confession. Easy enough.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Doesn't have to be every week. Just find a um find a routine. You know, uh my oil ch I have an oil change coming up soon, actually.
SPEAKER_03Oh.
SPEAKER_01Um, I'm not gonna say which business I will go to.
SPEAKER_03You could really like, yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_01I know my audience.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you could really ruffle some feathers.
SPEAKER_01I could. I'm going to be, I'm gonna take my my Honda CRV too.
SPEAKER_00Do you think that'd be a good choice to take?
SPEAKER_03Yes. Okay, yeah, great choice. Um, I personally bought a car from Tills this summer.
SPEAKER_01Oh, really? Are they a sponsor of the episode as well?
SPEAKER_03They are not, but I really think we talk about Fizzle almost every episode, and I I don't know why. He just comes up.
SPEAKER_01So we talk okay, so we have a bingo card check up.
SPEAKER_03If we would, yeah, fizzle would be on there. Fizzle. Yes, fizzle. Jacob Till's dad.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I know. Fizzle. But I thought it was just Fizz.
SPEAKER_03Oh, Fizz's nickname. Fizzle is his full name. Or grandma, grandpa's calls him Swizzle.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I needed, I needed to write this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the nicknames in Jackson County are pretty, pretty wild.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's cute. Um, yeah, so you go to oil change on a some semi-routine, at least I think we are supposed to. Um the same thing with uh keeping your soul clean as well. Just pick a I like to tell people to start with once a month.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um Father Ray and I will be, except in situ we will be in the confessional at whatever church, 30 minutes before daily mass and 45 minutes before weekend mass.
SPEAKER_03Got it.
SPEAKER_01Barring, of course, travel problems or snowstorms or any other emergency. However, that is the plan. 45 minutes before weekend mass, 30 minutes before daily.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_01And I'm pretty proud of that commitment.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01Even if no one shows up, I still get some time to just sit there.
SPEAKER_03Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Which is great as well.
SPEAKER_03Right, yeah. I I love it. Okay, so now is the time. Oh uh, the can you relate?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I thought we were being relatable this entire time.
SPEAKER_03We were being relatable. Okay. I did tell you though that you needed a can you relate, and you didn't listen, apparently.
SPEAKER_01But no, it's all for the show. Of course I remember. I have one. I have one.
SPEAKER_03Well, I think so. Father Andy did, he would say, like, he would say it really embarrassingly. So I'm just gonna continue to put him in there because it is pretty funny.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Can you relate?
SPEAKER_03Um, but my can you relate is uh it's fall, so this is when like all the spider webs appear everywhere. Have you noticed that?
SPEAKER_01Do you mean decorations or nature's gift to us?
SPEAKER_03Nature's gift.
SPEAKER_01Yes, okay.
SPEAKER_03Yes, so like very like cobwebs. Uh-huh. And there is a darn spider behind my mailbox. And I do have like, like, I live under the understanding of like, if you leave the spiders alone, they will leave you alone. So unless it's in my house, I just let it be. So I've been letting this one be, but it is creating a cobweb every single night from the mailbox to like the inside of the door or the like the outside. So every time I open up the front door, I am hit with a cobweb every single day.
SPEAKER_01Every day.
SPEAKER_03Every day.
SPEAKER_00That is the spider's gift to you.
SPEAKER_03Multiple times a day. It's the fastest spider in the world, too. Like it it can be like an hour, and I go back outside, bam, spiderweb in the face.
SPEAKER_01Have you seen the spider?
SPEAKER_03Yes, it's a very scary looking one.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So I need to get out my broom and really clean off, but I don't want to. Okay. So, and it's so hot. I mean, I don't want to go out and sound like a lot of work. And this heat. So, has anybody else had spider web problems?
SPEAKER_01Oh, now they can leave that in the comments.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they usually don't, but they'll tell me when I see them out in public, they will tell me.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um so this is really important. No pressure.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, I don't um uh sort, organize, or fold um socks, underwear, undershirts because why?
SPEAKER_03Oh.
SPEAKER_01Waste of time.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Just shove them in the drawer.
SPEAKER_03Can't relate to that at all.
SPEAKER_01Yeah?
SPEAKER_03No way.
SPEAKER_01There's a lot of other things in my house that I like to have organized and in a proper but I want my space to serve me, not the other way around.
SPEAKER_03And uh yeah, so when they come out of the driver, so when I don't intend to- But like, how do you like like you go to grab socks and it's like Well, they each have their own drawer, of course. But like, how do you find a pair? Are they all the same?
SPEAKER_01They're all exactly the same.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01So I bought um like 10 pairs of darn tough wool socks sponsored by Darn Tough Socks. Made specifically in Vermont.
SPEAKER_03You would be an excellent advertiser. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Wow, thanks, yeah. Uh my dad, my father was in radio.
SPEAKER_03Really?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Dan Kavanaugh. He picked a radio voice.
SPEAKER_03That's crazy.
SPEAKER_01That's great. Um, and great at that. Thanks. Yeah, I'll do impressions and stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um no, that I've got the exact same style, the same cushion level, the same everything in all of my socks. So just shove them in a drawer.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I see it if all your socks are the same, but I guess you wear the same outfit every day, too. I do, yes. You're used to non-variety in your wardrobe.
SPEAKER_01And that, additionally, you could ask any uh religious sister or brother, um that's freedom as well.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01My friend, uh a lay married woman, she decided that she's gonna wear a uniform, her own self-imposed uniform to school every day. She's a um administrative assistant in the office, and she just wears the same thing every day. And some people might see that as boring. If that's not for you, don't do it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh for me though, uh the the biggest uh uh fashion choice I have to make is in the winter am I gonna wear a cardigan or like a flannel? It's great.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I see I see why like it makes sense, but I have different socks, so it just wouldn't work in my life.
SPEAKER_00I see.
SPEAKER_03Um you did say something at in service that I really could relate to. I don't know why it was brought up, but it was like, do you make your bed or something?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I think we we are similar on this.
SPEAKER_01What was my answer?
SPEAKER_03You said no.
SPEAKER_01No, why would I why would I do that? I'm gonna get into it the next Exactly. I need to uh I need to tie if I am wearing shoes with ties, with like shoestrings, I need to tie those so I can function. Yes, but um my bed, I'm just gonna jump back in there you know, later.
SPEAKER_03I agree, and like the blankets are just perfect. Why would you mess them up? Yeah, they're perfect for sleeping. So once again, some people many people agree with me on that one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, some people will make their bed in the morning because it's like the first thing that they do that's like order and and goodness and choosing to great. If that works for you, I love that. For me, nope.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna I aspired for a while to be a bedmaker. And then I thought, I don't need to. I don't want to.
SPEAKER_01I don't want to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it works.
SPEAKER_03Can you can you relate? That's actually been can you relate already? I think.
SPEAKER_01Can you relate?
SPEAKER_03But well, thank you so much for joining us, Father Jacob. It was very fun getting to know you, and I'm sure we will continue to get to know you even better over the next years.
SPEAKER_01Six years, yes, if not more.
SPEAKER_03Yes. So um, but we really appreciate you uh stopping by and and uh giving us what you have to give us. So thanks.
SPEAKER_01See you in the Eucharist.
SPEAKER_03All right. Um we will catch you next time. Thanks for listening. As always, we are praying for you and God bless you. Bye.