Slumps, the Spirit, and the Shepherd

Bishop Wall, Fr. Burke, and Mike Sweeney catch up on their favorite MLB/NBA teams and discuss the significance of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

Theme song: "Rock Star" by John Ehrich. Used with permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Mung Chepe, welcome everyone to episode 29 of Verso el Alto, Faith on the Field, a podcast combining faith and sports. My name is Father Burke Masters, pastor of St. Isaac Joges Church in Hinsdale, Illinois, and uh Catholic chaplain for the Chicago Cubs.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

I'm Bishop James Wall, I'm the Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup, located in the northeast corner of Arizona, northwest corner of New Mexico.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

And lastly, Mike Sweeney here in San Diego, California, just a faithful Catholic dad and husband and former Major League Baseball player.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Awesome. Good to be with you, brothers. And uh as always, let's begin in prayer uh asking for the intercession of uh our patron, one of our patrons, St. Pierre Giorgio Frasati. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the joyful example of your servant, St. Pierre Giorgio Frosati. Pierre Giorgio never tired of striving boldly to go higher and deeper in faith, prayer, and love. He cherished your presence in his family, friends, the mountains he loved to climb, the poor he visited, and especially in the Holy Eucharist. May we too go toward the heights of our Catholic faith, and by example bring others to your church through Christ our Lord. Amen. Name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. So we thought uh we'd cover maybe what's going on in our in our worlds uh this week, and we'll catch up on some baseball. We've got uh NBA playoffs, we've got uh NFL draft coming up. We'll cover more of that next week. Um, and then we'll look at the what do we have the fourth uh Sunday of Easter. That's right. So, Mike, you were just talking so we're we're recording this Tuesday night. It's uh later than usual, but uh we're coordinating our schedules. You said you had a great um men's ministry event this morning.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Yeah, my heart is just truly on fire, and that's that's what all of our hearts should be this time of the year. We should be celebrating with Easter joy and kind of living out what we witness in the book of Acts, the young early Catholic Church after being exposed to the teachings uh of risen Christ, the teaching that we went over last Sunday on the the their hearts were burning from the scriptures, but their eyes were opened by the breaking of the bread, the Eucharist. And uh my my heart is truly in that state. You know, we talked a couple weeks ago about the record numbers of people coming into the Catholic Church, and it continues to, you know, the wake of the Easter vigil continues. This past weekend I was the confirmation sponsor for a good friend of mine, uh a former uh quarterback. I can mention his name now because it's all over the news and lifestyle news, but uh Kyle Bowler came into the church and it was such an honor to walk with this man. Uh we started Exodus 90 and he kind of was hesitant, like, ah, my wife and kids are Catholic. I don't know. I don't I don't really know about becoming Catholic. And um sure enough, about day 50 and Exodus 90, you know, I challenged him about about the Eucharist and uh John chapter six, and I I simply asked my brother, I said, Hey, we we were doing this Exodus 90, we're praying for each other every day. Um you I I challenge you tonight to read John chapter six and ask yourself is what the church has taught for 2,000 years and what my wife and kids are practicing. If this is true, then man, I I want to be a part of it or be. If you don't think it's true, get your wife and kids out of this church and and run for the hills. But the the joy, I think I mentioned that in the past, but the joy of that is my brother was like all in. Like we we read about on the walk to Emmaus last Sunday. He's like, No, I know that's Jesus and I want to become a member of this church. So, you know, he he just texted me about 10 minutes before our podcast tonight and is like, hey man, let's dig into another book of the Bible. Let's start reading, and so we're gonna go over the book of Acts, Acts chapter one, a chapter a day, beginning every day. So it's cool to see the zeal of the new converts and to see, you know, be inspired by men and women that are coming into the church. A lot of us are big cradle Catholics. Father Burke, I know you aren't, but Bishop Wall and I, we're blessed to be raised by faithful Catholic parents that raised us in the faith, and we can learn a lot from those coming into the church, their their love for holy scriptures, their love for Jesus and the Holy Eucharist, and and their fire. So you know, Kyle uh Bowler, you know, you played in the NFL for 12 years, but now you're a new member of the church, and I just want to publicly tell you what a what an inspiration you have uh been to my life. And this morning Kyle came to uh Cathedral Catholic High School, local Catholic high school, and um I talked to the the president of the school and I simply told him, hey, you know, it's Catholic by name, but man, the reputation is you know, it's it's kind of a diet Catholic school. And he said, Well, why don't you get involved and help? I said, I've never been invited. So he's like, You're invited. So we started this ministry called Cup of Joe about four months ago. And uh we get together, the men, we we lean into the virtues of Saint Joseph, and it's a real casual cup, we have a cup of coffee, but then we lean into the beauty of Saint Joseph. And this morning, it's it's grown like a tidal wave here in San Diego. And we had uh 300 men show up, and uh it was awesome. We had um our good friend Paul Callucci, his son Alex spoke about being um the having the greatest father in the world. He quoted his uh confirmation sponsor, St. Thomas Aquinas, that um love is willing the good of others and expecting nothing in return. And he said, My father has willed the good for me. And he he talked about the blessing of a great father, and then I came and spoke, and then NFL quarterback uh Philip Rivers sent in a beautiful video remotely, and he talked about the impact, Father Burke, that you've had on his life, and then NFL quarterback Kellen Clemens spoke about the beauty of St. Joseph, and and literally 300 men walked out of that uh Catholic high school um auditorium literally with their hearts on fire. And uh it's just super cool to be a small part of something so great. And I want to commend you know, President Calkins at Cathedral Catholic High School. He said about a month and a half ago, um, a student in his family came in and said, We're leaving the school. And he said, Man, I'm I'm heartbroken. I don't like seeing kids leave our school. And he said, May I ask you why you're leaving? And the parents said, Your school is becoming too Catholic. And uh and he said, Man, he said, I count that as a great compliment. I never want to lose a child. But lastly, I'll button it up. He said, This cup of joe ministry, he's been in administration for 20 thir 25 years, almost 30 years. He said, It's the single uh most thing I'm proud of in all my years of professional life, being the the one that started, you know, he's leading it, he's the leader of the school starting cup of joe. So yeah, I got the Easter joy, the Axe Church joy, the fire of the Holy Spirit, and uh really fired up. So how about you guys? I'll shut up for the next 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

I'm getting I'm gonna get you to break into I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. That's what I'm waiting on. I was just ready for you to do it. That is awesome. You know, it's um I'm sitting here and I hear you say three former NFL quarterbacks, and I just long for the Cardinals just to get one. One of the drive me crazy. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Maybe uh Kurt Warner will uh Oh, yeah, be great. Coming to the church one day. Bishop, what's uh what's new with you this week?

SPEAKER_03 8:20

Yeah, I was uh I was uh at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Phoenix this past Saturday uh for the wedding of a wonderful couple, uh Maddie and Christian. Uh Christian was one of my altar servers 20 years ago. And uh last year I was given a mission at the place where we did our little gathering, St. Bernard's in Scottsdale. And he and his fiancee came up, they listened, they went to the mission, they came up, and they said, We're getting married, would you do our wedding? I said, If if you can, I would. This young man and his brother served so many masses for me. Easter vigils, all this stuff. I'm like, I I owed it to him. So I I had a I just had a wonderful weekend to see this young man uh to grow up to be just a rock solid Catholic. It was it was a Catholic wedding through and through on both sides, and um it was it's beautiful, be just beautiful. It's love love seeing these two. And so I'm really proud of them. They're gonna go on their honeymoon to uh Italy, and they're gonna do that thing where they put on your wedding drown uh dress and you go up and you see the Pope and you get a special blessing. They're gonna do all that, they're gonna go the extra, extra yard in order to get that. And uh so it was great. It was it was a great weekend.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

There's nothing like a really Catholic wedding, you know, to both of them all in that it's just there's just so much joy, and uh as a priest, you know, what sometimes you see people are they're just there to you know use the church and they're just going through the motions. But when two people are really into their faith, it's one of the most beautiful things to celebrate that wedding.

SPEAKER_03 9:58

And and you know the other thing too is sometimes with weddings and funerals, you can kind of get a mixture of people, and even if you have a really strong Catholic group, for some reason the strong Catholics forget to respond. You know, it's it's kind of a funny dynamic.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

I used to always tell my music director, I said, just lean heavily into that microphone. And this time, you know, I was like, the I was like, peace be with you, and it all came back to me from the whole place. It was it was beautiful, it was great.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Hey Bishop Wall, are you gonna pull out your your special bishop powers to that newly married couple and get them a golden ticket to like you did for your old broken down buddy out here in San Diego to meet the holy couple?

SPEAKER_03 10:40

I can only call those favors in so often. As a new a newly married couple, if you go to the Wednesday Wednesday audience, I think you have to go fairly early. The girls, the gals go in their wedding dress, and the guys all gussied up too. And you can go up there and and to meet the Holy Father and receive a special blessing. Some kind of a some kind of term for it. Yeah and uh so that's they're gonna do that. So I'm I'm excited for them. But yeah, I didn't I only so often will I try to get that golden ticket.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Yeah, when you teed when you teed me up to meet the Holy Father back October 1st, one of the greatest days of my life, there must have been 200 married couples. And I think it's on the Vatican website. You can sign up, uh, you put in your wedding date. I think it's with within a year of your nuptial within the church, and yeah, you we saw over 200 couples come in their wedding gowns, and guys were in tuxes, and they gotta all of them gotta have a blessing, a personal blessing, and a meeting with the Holy Father. So maybe this is something cool for any newly married couples out there. Head to Rome, meet the Holy Father.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Yep, it's a great thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Yeah, we're hoping uh Bishop and I and Bishop Spees are leading a pilgrimage to Greece, Turkey, and Italy in October. And uh, we just found out that uh the wet we were gonna go to a Wednesday audience, but now it looks like there's gonna be a mass uh and you know the bishops place of the audience, yeah. Yeah, we all get to uh can celebrate it. So I'm hoping to follow our two bishops up, maybe maybe get a chance to shake the Holy Father's hand. We'll see.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Wow. Father Berg, so for your listeners, I want to be clear. You and Bishop Wall and some other bishops are gonna be able to celebrate Mass at St. Peter's with uh with with Pope Leo.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

That's uh we we hope so. It's it's kind of new. It looks like it's gonna be all the presidents from the conferences from around the world.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

And if that's like Archbishop Coakley from the United States, Archbishop Coakley will be there.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

And um, and so that it's what it looks like. We're it's still kind of new to us. Uh one of the one of the the ladies that's on our pilgrimage, she just got an email. None of us got an email.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

She got about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

A lot of people let me know the date on that, Father and Bishop. I'd like to see if I could jump on a direct flight out to Rome and and be there. I mean this. If you guys know the date, I'd love to be there and and receive.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

I believe it's October 14th.

SPEAKER_03 13:06

Yeah, you're right, October 14th.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Right after Bishop's uh birthday, which is the 11th.

SPEAKER_03 13:12

Which is a uh uh solemnity in the church.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

National holiday.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

How about you, Bishop? How about you, Father Burke? What are you up to, man? You I know you're in a hotel room.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

I'm in a hotel room, so I'm in uh in Manhattan. I'm in New York uh tonight. So I came out with our eighth graders for their DC New York trip. Uh I laugh because when I was in eighth grade in Illinois, we we go to Springfield for like an afternoon and come back. Uh these kids they came out Saturday morning uh to DC. I joined them Sunday evening after the masses. So they've done uh DC, so you know, all of the museums. They said the museum of the Bible is the best thing in Washington, D.C. And I've I've yet to be there, so I can't wait to see that maybe next time.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

I've been there twice, Father Burke. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah, I can't wait. Um, and then we uh we took them to a nationals game last night, and we got to see our good friend Trevor Williams. He came over as always, and you know, he brought all 50 of us down uh by the field and was taking selfies with the kids. They were eating it up, and so Trevor just a class act, and one of our one of our best friends in baseball, you know. Um and we went to the Holocaust Museum, which is sobering. Bishop and I took a group to Poland last summer, and so we we were in Auschwitz, and uh what's the other one? Burk uh Birkow? Birkenau? Birkenau. Wow, it's just you walk out of there stunned that human beings can do something like that to other human beings. It's awful. Um and then we came to New York, and uh uh we had a great opportunity to see Archbishop Hicks uh today, uh our Joliet Bishop, who's now the new Archbishop of New York. It seemed he seemed really happy to see some people from home. I'm gonna post a short video. I I interviewed him real quick, and uh where were you for that? You're outside right in Times Square.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

That's a great place.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

And uh I I asked him, I said, All right, now you're a Cub fan. Uh have they converted you yet out here? And he's like, Nope, I've told him once a Cub fan, I'm a lifetime Cub fan. So uh um and then we went to see Hamilton tonight, which was great on Broadway, just a great uh uh experience. And then tomorrow we're gonna go see the Statue of Liberty and the 9-11 uh museum, and then fly home uh Wednesday night. So great opportunity. It's a great way for me to connect with our eighth graders right before they're graduating. And Mike, I know your your daughter Fiona is out here in DC as well, so I didn't get a chance to see her.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Yeah, I know she didn't get to see you, she really wanted to, but I got a uh text from one of her tour guides today. I I sent Fiona your itinerary, and I think the word must have been buzzing because they said, Hey, can you call the Washington Nationals on Thursday? They're playing the Braves at one o'clock. Can you get us 32 tickets? So uh I think they're a little jealous. What do they call that? FOMO fear of missing out. And uh so yeah, I'm working. T Willy, I might be sending 32 Catholic kids from San Diego your way on on Thursday. So be be ready.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

That'd be fun. I'm actually gonna go to the Phillies uh Cubs game Thursday afternoon in at Wrigley after I get home. So it's a good week uh of baseball. And speaking of baseball, uh, I know Mike and I, our our our teams, the Phillies and Royals have been struggling. Uh Diamondbacks have been doing better, but uh they've run into the buzz of the White Sox.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Yeah, right now it's not pretty right now, but yeah, they won what they won four. They they have swept their first series, they haven't lost a series since. They won four series in a row. But they're not starting out well against the White Sox.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Yeah, team you think you can pad your lecture. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:16

Yeah, at home.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

That's why they play the game.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Your D backs are 13-9 out of the gate, Bishop. That's a good start. I'm happy. If we can stay above 500, I'm I'll be happy. And Father Burke, you and I are having a rough start with our Phillies and Royals, but who's the hottest team in baseball right now? Seven in a row, the Chicago Cubs. They got they've won seven games in a row, and uh they yeah, they're only a game and a half out of first place behind the Reds.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

They're they're looking, I I think they're a playoff team, and I'm hoping, you know, for those who don't know, you know, I'm the Cubs chaplain, but uh I've been a lifelong Phillies fan. So the only time I don't pull for the Cubs is when they play the Phillies, and boy, they're putting it to the Phillies right now. Uh Phillies and and Royals, the Royals won the night, but both have been scuffling. Only the team, the only team worse than our teams are the Mets, so that's a small consolation. Uh they've been, what, 0-12 since uh Mayor Mandami hugged the Mets mascot. Mr.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

and Mrs. Metz. He hugged both of them. And they've gone on a losing streak.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Unbelievable. I know one Soto is supposed to come back, I think, tomorrow, so they they need they need some help. Yeah. How about uh in uh we've got the NFL football draft we can cover more of after the fact next week, but any thoughts? Any you know, is is Mendoza gonna be the first pick or what's uh what's the latest?

SPEAKER_03 18:47

He has to be the first pick, and so unless well he'll be the first pick. And it looks like he's gonna go to I almost said Oakland. Vegas. Unless somebody, you know, does a you know like a Herschel Walker kind of trade. Uh like like uh who's who did that with Dallas and um and Minnesota back in the day and just give them a boatload of players and picks and all that stuff. But yeah, it looks like he's gonna he's gonna go number one.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

Yeah, and I I had Kellen Clemens, I told you he spoke this morning so beautifully. Uh Kellen, they have they had three beautiful children of their own. They adopted a fourth, and he talked about aligning his heart and his life with Saint Joseph, you know, being the one that adopted, you know, in a sense, Jesus and being the being the adopted father. He was so beautiful on his uh challenge to the men to really be be a Saint Joseph in your home. But last night we had a big steak dinner here at the house, and he's like, Man, I'm up in Idaho, and you know, they don't they don't make steaks like that up there. It was it was great. But we started talking football, and I said, Hey, tell me what your thoughts are on this Mendoza kid. And he said, you know what? He goes, he's he's the closest to game, NFL game ready quarterback that I've seen in years coming out of college. And uh I asked him, I said, well, why would the why would the Raiders sign Kirk Cousins to a was it a four-year, hundred and something million dollar contract if if the Raiders are gonna draft you know Mendoza? And he said, Well, they really value you know Tom Brady as a minority owner with the with the Raiders. He is really a big fan of Mendoza, and he thinks if they can bring in the right mentor for them, Kirk Cousins, and uh have Mendoza kind of learn the way under him, and then Kirk Cousins can kind of slide into a mentor role, kind of a backup role for him. He said a lot of that money in the NFL, not like baseball. Major League Baseball, you sign a four-year deal for a hundred million. If you get you know hit by a pitch or crash, crash your car and you can never play baseball again, your family's still entitled to that. And football, it's not guaranteed. So he said probably he wouldn't expect, even though Mendoza is almost game ready, he wouldn't expect him until week six, seven, or eight to actually be playing. But he said, yeah, he's the real deal, and he'll he'll be drafted by the uh the Las Vegas Raiders one.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Kind of ironic, right? This really wholesome Catholic guy going to Sin City, so maybe uh he can uh do some conversions out there. That's listening, Fernando, we want to get you we want to get you on this podcast Monday.

SPEAKER_03 21:30

We have an amazing Archbishop out there, Archbishop George Thomas. Amazing guy on fire, and uh and some good priests out there too. So I'm sure he's gonna find himself in a nice, nice little Catholic parish in Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure they'll they'll connect out there. Um and any anything in uh the N NBA playoffs. I know I'm a Sixers fan and they upset the Celtics on the road tonight, but um I know Bishop your your son's

SPEAKER_03 22:03

We got worked over like 30 39 points, something like that. But who knows? It'd be nice if they could if they could steal a game. Kind of make it respectable.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:14

We weren't expected to do much of anything this year. It was a fun, fun uh season.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Archbishop Coakley from Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

He is not my friend why our teams are playing. I'm done with him. He is dead to me.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

They've got quite a team.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

They may roll to their who are you rooting for in the playoffs, Father Burke?

SPEAKER_01 22:37

In basketball?

SPEAKER_02 22:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

I'm a Sixer. I'm a Philadelphia fan in really all the sports. So, but you know, I follow baseball first, and then the Eagles, and then the Sixers, and I'm not a big hockey fan, but I follow the Flyers a little bit. They're in the playoffs as well.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

He's just like those uh Philadelphia fans you hear about. He's just like that's his personality, everybody. I just want to let you know.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I'm trying to bring a new gentility to uh the Philadelphia sports fans.

SPEAKER_03 23:08

There's uh in a movie, Silver Silver Lining's Playbook. Good movie. And they they they they kind of they do a scene about the Philly fans at uh at an Eagles game. It's pretty it's pretty entertaining.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

They boo and throw snowballs at Santa Claus.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

Yeah, there you go. Yeah. They are some passionate fans.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Mike, do you follow NBA at all?

SPEAKER_02 23:31

Uh very rare, very little bit, I you know, rarely. I I grew up a Lakers fan growing up in Southern California, but um on our uh little on your godson's on your godson's little league team, one of our neighbors is Kawhi Leonard. And uh his son Kawhi Jr. plays on little Ryan's team, they're buddies, and uh so I was rooting for the Clippers. He said they had a playing game, and you know, he they didn't win, so I was cheering for the Clippers, so now they're out. I guess um I'm cheering for you know Bishop Wall.

SPEAKER_03 24:03

Hey, when I was in high school, we were playing in a Nazarene tournament my senior year, and we were um three Catholics, a Mormon, and a Presbyterian was our starting lineup. And we won we won the the Southwest Western tournament at Point Loma, and we went to a basket to a basketball game and we saw San Diego Clippers. They were playing the Golden State Warriors.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah at the sports arena.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Yeah, it was back in the day.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

Come by it naturally if you're a Clipper fan.

SPEAKER_02 24:36

I thought I thought that was the beginning of a good joke, Bishop. Like a good humbling starter.

SPEAKER_03 24:41

But that was that was our starting lineup. How about that? Three Catholics, a Presbyterian, and a Mormon. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Speaking of that, uh Presbyterian, I I had the opportunity to have dinner with uh Scott Hahn this week. Uh he came in uh to Chicago and we connected with uh Dr. Tom. You guys know Dr. Tom and his wife Ann and Scott Hahn and I just had a great evening. You know, he spent four years in Joliet. Right after he converted uh in Milwaukee, he came to teach at a university in Joliet. And so we knew a lot of the same people and priests, and uh and then you know, now he's out in Steubenville. We just had a great time. He has a, you know, he was a Presbyterian minister, uh brilliant scripture scholar, went to Mass to prove that it was the worst thing ever created by uh human beings and the Catholic Church, and it ended up converting him. And then uh his wife Kimberly came into the church in Joliet uh under the same priest that my brother did, uh and uh Kimberly and her big she came in really under the teaching on contraception.

SPEAKER_04 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Uh so great uh couple. She wasn't with him on this trip, but uh I remember reading Rome's Sweet Home uh about his conversion and their conversion story, and it really inspired me as a pretty recent convert. Because he I became Catholic in 85, he became Catholic in 86. Um so I was a fairly recent convert reading his book, and I knew if there's somebody that smart, that knowledgeable of the scriptures that you know comes into the church, it should inspire. I'm sure he's inspired thousands of people to join the faith.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

You know, it's a bit like a like a Newman. You know, he's gonna Newman was going to find a middle way between Protestants and Roman Catholics, you know, it's Catholic Church or part of the Roman Rite. But he's gonna find a middle way, and in his studying, you know, he found because he they wanted to say that the the Church of England was that middle way. And in his studying, he found his way right into the into the Catholic Church. And I think, you know, with with Dr. Hahn, too, you know, thinking he's gonna figure this all out, and what he does, he finds himself in the church. And he he's really the leader of the new apologists. He was he was the guy that that uh really kind of paved the way for a lot of those guys. But it's I love it in the story, you know, when he the connections, he always talks about connecting the dots, but the connections he makes when he when he's at that mass and he hears the priest say, Behold the Lamb of God. And that that just that did it. And he was he was all in. Yeah, it was beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

A lot of uh a lot of the teachings of Dr. Scott Hahn is rooted in a love for scripture, and I love how he describes the mass as like the holiest hour of our lives. Every day we get to celebrate it, and it's all rooted in holy scripture. So a lot of a lot of my convert brothers that have come into the church with a previous love of scripture as a Protestant, they see the Mass and they're like, Wow, this is this is all in this is all in the Bible, and it comes to life for them, and it's an easy transition. And I was just sharing how a lot of us Catholics it's a gift that we've known since we were a little kid, and it's just another mass, it's another celebration. We don't know the beauty and the depth and the richness of it, and it's all rooted in Holy Scripture, and it's a 2,000-year unbroken love letter that God is giving to us, and it's the the heart of that love letter is the Holy Eucharist, and yeah, I can't imagine life without the Eucharist. It's it's the greatest gift.

SPEAKER_03 28:28

I think one of the one of the best things that we can do, and I know that Catholics that do this are just absolutely on fire, and that is you know, carefully and prayerfully read those readings early in the week before you go to mass on Sunday. So it's not the first time you're hearing it. Now you've heard it before in the other life, but it's it's really fresh in your mind. You're really prepared to, and it it'll just it'll it'll uh it'll just knock you over. It's it's great if we do that. Really helps us to prepare to hear the word on Sunday. And then and then it's like you know, the Emmaus we were just talking about. You know, our hearts are burning, and then we go deeper and deeper, deeper, and then all of a sudden we come to know him in the breaking of the bread.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

And this week we've been reading John chapter six, right, in the Daily Mass, and it's that's the best chapter in scripture if you want to learn about the Eucharist. And um, you know, Dr. Scott Hahn wrote another book that really impacted me called The Lamb's Supper, L-A-M-B-S. And the thesis of the book is the book of Revelation is a liturgical book, it it's the key to understanding the Mass, and the Mass is the key to understanding the book of Revelation. And uh so I highly recommend that book as well.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

And that's one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Yeah. I'm a firm believer that if somebody really is searching for the truth with an open mind and heart, they'll end up Catholic every time. Yeah. Uh start studying the church fathers, you start studying the history. Yeah, has have there been sinful people in the church? Yes, but the church is the one uh that Jesus founded. And uh so I'd encourage you, really come search with an open mind and heart and just follow where the Holy Spirit leads you.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

We're all sinners, right? All sinners in need of a savior.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

Yeah. So uh let's let's look at the uh readings for this Sunday. Man, we're flying through uh the Easter season, aren't we? We're coming up on the fourth Sunday of Easter already. Um uh Jesus uses the um the metaphor of he's the sheep gate. So Bishop, gonna kick us off.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

Yeah, so this is Good Shepherd Sunday. So this is this is always a big a lot of a lot of um dioceses will do uh special collections on this Sunday for you know the seminarian fund or you know, put put uh seminarians through the uh seminaries so that they can serve as as priests in their diocese. But this is if we look at the um the scriptures throughout the sc uh the gospels, there's seven times that Jesus uses an I am statement. And uh this this is one of the the I am statements. So I'll I'll just throw them all out as real uh quickly, you know. Talks about I'm the bread of life, I'm the light of the world, I am the gate, and that's the one that we hear today, the gate uh of the sheep. I'm the good shepherd, I am the resurrection of life, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and then finally I am the true vine. And so what that should do for us, it should take us back to Exodus, right? Um, who should I tell sent me? Tell him I am who am, right? And so what this does is this points to the divinity of Jesus, of who he is. He's fully, he's a fully human like us, and uh he's a man like us in all things but sin. He takes sin to himself, but um he's also fully divine. And so when we hear this this I am statement, it's not like you know, I can say, I am I'm a bishop, or father can say I'm the pastor, or Mike can say I'm a baseball player. It's not like that. I mean, I am is is is a uh theological reality pointing to Jesus um being fully divine. And so he gives us this this image of the um the uh the gate, right? On the gate of of the of the sheep. So I think that's one of the key things to look at this. Again, it's it's good shepherd Sunday. Uh sometimes we hear the you know, I am the good shepherd. That's also another statement. But um this week we're gonna hear I am the gate, and it's gonna tie us into that.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

This always makes me think uh several years ago I heard one of my brother priests and Joliet on Good Shepherd Sunday, he had uh three um dads go to the back of the church during the homily, and he had their wives and children sit up front facing the altar, and he just had the dads, you know, speak into a microphone, just a few words. They they all said the same thing, and and their families were facing away from them, you know. And as soon as the instructions were as soon as you hear your husband's or your father's voice, raise your hands. And all three families immediately knew the voice of their husbands or fathers. And I thought it was a great analogy. And then he said, How do they know his voice? They they don't see him, right? But they know his voice because they spend time with him and they they listen to that voice and they recognize it right away. And so then he launched into we can't see God, but we know his voice through diving. We talk about reading in the Bible, you know, diving into the scriptures, spending time in prayer and adoration, listening to that voice of Jesus, you start to tune your heart to the voice of the Good Shepherd. And I always think about that, like, you know, when we are investing time in this relationship, and you start to, you know, for us as you know, as preachers, and Mike, I know you're a man of the you know the word well, um, it just becomes a part of you. And so when you start to hear things in your heart, like, uh that I know that's the voice of Jesus, he he said that, or he said something like that in scripture, and then we also start to recognize the voice of the enemy, the accuser, uh, the one that condemns, the one that shames, you know, that attacks our identity. That is not the voice of the good shepherd, and you renounce that voice, but you pay attention to the voice of the shepherd, and and and if we trust him and we we have to grow in that trust, then we follow him wherever he leads us, whether it be a husband, a father, or a priest, or for the women who are listening, to be a wife and mother, to be consecrated virgin, a religious. Um, it's such I think it's the most important thing we do in life is to hear our call and then to have the courage to say yes to follow it, whatever that is.

SPEAKER_03 35:20

That reminds me of, and you mentioned religious too. There's it's kind of a bit of a TikTok thing, yeah, where they'll have somebody say the name and behind you have to tell who the person is. I see classes and do it, but I've seen it with religious communities. I think it's really beautiful when religious communities they'll have like the mother superior and they'll stand behind and they'll say something, and the mother superior like almost can get almost all of them, their names. And I love it because they're called to community, they spend so much time with one another. Love is at the heart of that community, and they know the voice. And so I was thinking about that right away when you when you when you mentioned that. Um yeah, that kind of love at the heart of us was love at the heart of a family, but even more so, uh, love with love with our Lord, reckon recognizing the voice of the Good Shepherd.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

I love that. It brings me back to uh when little Donovan, he's now 17, but he's about eight years old. We're in a major league baseball game uh watching the Royals play against the Angels, and there was probably 40,000 people there. And Donovan, you know, we're we're sitting maybe 30 rows up above the uh Royals dugout. And uh I he said, Dad, can I go get a hot dog and a whatever milkshake? I said, Yeah, here you go. So he's he's forgive me, we have six kids, he's our third. So I'm like, yeah, go ahead. You're you're eight. Here's the credit card. So he he goes off, and maybe 15, 20 minutes later, I can see him walking the concourse in between the lower section and uh and the upper section. Again, our viewers are gonna call CPS on me, the second week in the row. Uh and I can see him looking around. He's got a hot dog in one hand, a milkshake in the other. I'm hoping he had my credit card in his front pocket. But he starts looking around and he's behind the Angels dugout, and he's looking around like, Where am I? Uh-oh, there's 40,000 people here. And I simply did this. And all of a sudden he went like this. And I did it again, and I stood up, he raised up his milkshake, and he he knew my voice, he knew my whistle, he knew who I was, and even 40,000 people, you know, he knew where exactly where I was when he heard that whistle. And um it so it is with Christ. And you know, we're gonna be reading John chapter 10, and Bishop so eloquently described Jesus saying, I am the gate. Um whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. And it's like when I when I think about an animal going to find pasture, I think of freedom. I think of being fed, I think of being protected. And and Christ clearly says it four chapters later, I believe it's John 14, 6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And I know there's a lot of our friends out there that may be different religions. Um they may think, oh, as long as I don't kill someone, I'm going to heaven. But clearly in scripture, in the gospel of John 14, and again here, Jesus saying, I'm the gate, you only can enter into this life of pasture, freedom, of union with God through me. And how do we do it? It's by being a member of his church, it's by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit in baptism, and then most importantly, being fed with the Holy Eucharist so we can have that sustainable food that can help us be the saints that we can be. And then lastly, um in John 10:10, a thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Right? That's the that's the enemy, the evil one. But I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest. And I think, man, this is Christ promising to us the abundant life, the joy-filled life, the Easter joy life that only we can get through Jesus. So I just, you know, we are unashamed of our Catholic faith by the gift of God. We've received that gift of faith. But man, I I can't say it enough that Jesus clearly stated you only can come to the Father through me. So, you know, yeah. Don't don't don't act in a manner of just living the minimal life. Go for the full life. Go all in on Jesus, thank him. And it's like someone that's been on death row that I deserve to be on death row by my sin. Jesus says you're free only through me. And then you live a life in response to that gift of faith. Jesus, you you pulled me off death row and you give me this life of grace and freedom. I'm gonna praise you and honor you and tell everybody about you until you quit pumping air in these lungs. So those are just a few of my old thoughts, but I I love the insight that Bishop you and and Father Burke have given.

SPEAKER_03 40:07

I was like, I was thinking about when you were saying Acts 4.12, by no other name do we come until salvation, but under the name of Jesus Christ. There's only one way, right? There's only one gate. That's it. And um and it's and it's only Jesus Christ. Only his suffering, death, and resurrection makes eternal life in heaven with God possible. And there's nothing else. Nothing else, no one else that can do that. I I I just want to jump back real quick to uh Acts of the Apostles, because this is a great reading. Um this is right on the heels, this is Pentecost, right on the heels, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Peter stands up and preaches this old homily and it cuts them to the quick. And, you know, what was what must we do? And repent, right, and be baptized. And and that's that's key right there. And I don't want to knock any of our separated brothers and sisters in Christ, but he doesn't say repent and pray the sinner's prayer. He says repent and be baptized, because the sacraments are more about what God does to us and less about what we do. I mean, we have to cooperate with that grace and say yes to it. But um, but yeah, he says repent and uh and be baptized. And it doesn't say, okay, and and everybody above 18 be baptized, or everybody who is at the age of reason be baptized, be baptized. That's why we baptize everybody, because again, it's more about what God does for us.

SPEAKER_01 41:39

That's what it means to be born again as a Catholic, right? That's what it does.

SPEAKER_03 41:43

That's what Jesus said to Nicodemus.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

Nicodemus. Yeah. You must be born of water and the spirit, and that's what baptism is.

SPEAKER_02 41:51

So, Father Burke, how how should our listeners respond if one of our well-intended uh non-Catholic brothers or sisters say, Um, are you born again? How how in instruct our listeners how a proper response?

SPEAKER_01 42:06

That's a good question. When I was in Mississippi, I got that question a lot. Uh and uh so I would say yes, if you're baptized, you say yes, I was, you know, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, um, we're to be being born again. So Nicodemus is thinking, gosh, do I have to go back in my mother's womb? And Jesus is like, no, you must be born of water and the spirit. And that's what happens in baptism. You're poured with water, name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, filled with the divine life, with the Holy Spirit. Um, and it's not a magic potion in the sense of, you know, yes, original the stain of original sin is wiped away. Um, so we believe that that justifies us before God. But then we're called to live this life of holiness, you know, of cooperating with the grace of God the rest of our lives. So we're we don't believe in a one-and-done uh theology. It's a um baptism, repentance of baptism is the beginning, and then it's cooperating with the grace of God until you know we see God face to face. We believe that salvation happens, you know, when we when we die, when our particular judgment happens. Bishop, what would you add to that?

SPEAKER_03 43:19

Yeah, I I think I think what Peter says too, they said after they heard this, right, right, they say, what are we to do then? And St. Peter just goes, All right, repent. First thing John the Baptist says, first thing Jesus says, repent. Away from sin, faithful to the gospel, and be baptized, right? So I'd I'd say that's that that was the formula of the early church, and the early church did that because of what Jesus says, right? And so that's what I that's something else I would I would jump on as well. You know, we've got we've got a lot of resources out there, and you know, what one of our good friends, Patrick Madrid, is a show uh every morning, Monday. Through Friday on um on relevant radio, and that guy can answer questions like nobody's business. You got some other things out there like Catholic answers, one of the guys I know real well, known since he was in high school, uh Trent Horn. You know, there's a bunch of apologists on there too. So those are those are really good resources to to do. But you know, just know some basic things. I think that's a good answer. You know, are you born again? I can say, yeah, I'm born again. I was born again on October 11, 1964, because I was baptized right after I was born. I I I know my date. It's good to know your date, your time when you were baptized. Celebrate like the second birthday because that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

May 26, 1985 for me.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

It's your home run day. Your Grand Slam Day.

SPEAKER_01 44:45

Grand Slam was five five days, five years to the day later.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

And and my baptism day was July 22nd, 1973, just a few hours after I was born, just a four-pound premium. My mom and dad wanted to assure that if I died, the doctor said I had a 50-50 chance to make it through the night. And my mom and dad, faithful, they said if if our baby boy is gonna pass, we want him to die a Christian. So, yeah, once we're baptized, just an encouragement to our listeners, the the process, once we're baptized and now we're living this faith-filled life, a relation in relationship with Jesus Christ, you know, our Protestant brothers say you should have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Absolutely. And we should be reading His His Word. Um, but the closest that we're ever going to get to Jesus in re is the in reception of the Holy Eucharist. That's the closest encounter that we can ever have with heaven. And then the process of um that Father Burke is talking about cooperating with God's grace, the um the term is sanctification. It's the process of becoming more and more like Jesus. And I I kind of like to name it sanctification because through God's grace and through the power of the Holy Eucharist that lives within us and the Holy Spirit that has claimed us at our baptism, we can become the saints uh that God has called us to be through only through God's grace. We can't do it alone. So that's just my my last thoughts. Amen. I agree.

SPEAKER_01 46:17

I think a corollary question, not to belabor it too long, but somebody may say, Well, what up, why do you baptize children? Because they children under age seven haven't sinned, you know, they they they don't need to repent. But you know, in Acts of the Apostles, it talks about whole families that were, you know, brought into the church through the faith of the parents, and why deprive them of the gift of this, you know, new life in Christ, being born again, and then you know, the it's the responsibility of the parents to help form them until they're old enough to carry that faith on their own. And so that would be why we as Catholics talk uh you look at scripture, you know, they they baptize entire families, and uh that's what we do as well.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

It's it's very clear. Yeah, it's it's very clear. I don't I don't the Bible says so. Yeah, so I'm always I'm always confused with some of our quote unquote Bible uh-only uh Christians when they they miss this point, this key point, it's right there in the scriptures. But we've always done it, so we do it 2,000 years. We do it because it goes back to the beginning of the church.

SPEAKER_01 47:28

Yep. Jesus said so. Yep, go back to the Acts of the Apostles, what they did, you know, right after Christ's time, Pentecost, and that's what the church continues to do.

SPEAKER_03 47:40

They they did not check IDs going into the baptismal font.

SPEAKER_01 47:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:45

Everybody, everybody.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

I think it was Lydia, Lydia and her entire household were baptized. The jail the jailer after the encounter with the apostle, he's like, Man, I'm I'm gonna baptize my whole family. Like they're all in, and that's that's who we should be as well.

SPEAKER_01 47:58

Yeah, and it was the faith of the parents in those cases that that that carried that. So lots of uh good good stuff to chew on this week. So anything else, brothers? I think uh I think that's that's a good place to end.

SPEAKER_03 48:15

So Bishop, would you mind I thought you'd close us with like a maybe a song from Hamilton, or you could sing a verse from New York, New York. Or do that, be inspired.

SPEAKER_02 48:25

Or how about a little? I got this joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where?

SPEAKER_01 48:32

I gotta listen to the Hamilton uh soundtrack a few times. I some of the some of the songs are gonna be uh in my in my head.

SPEAKER_03 48:41

Yeah, the King George is my favorite song. I love the King George song because hilarious. Yeah. All right, I guess we better we better pray.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

Let's pray, yeah. People don't want to hear us sing for sure.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 48:56

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 48:57

Oh Saint John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing. Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading her along the paths of the world, in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young who are your great passion. Help them dream again, help them to look up to the heavens again, to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth. May you bless each and every family. Be warned of Satan's assault against this precious and indispensable divine spark that God lit on earth. Saint John Paul, with your prayer, may you protect the family and every life that blossoms from the family. Pray for the whole world, which is still marked by tensions, wars, and injustice. You opposed war by invoking dialogue and planting the seeds of love. Pray for us that we may be tireless sowers of peace. O Saint John Paul, from heaven's window, where we see you beside Mary, send God's blessings down upon us all. Amen. Amen. The Lord be with you and with you. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Amen. Thanks everyone for listening. Put your comments in the comment section. We'll be happy to respond to those. Like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your family and friends. And as St. Pierre Giorgio Fersati reminds us, the higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ. So keep striving verso alto in your faith and pursuits. And until next time, God bless you and your families.