God's Walk-Off

Bishop Wall, Fr. Masters, and Mike Sweeney make NBA finals predictions, look at the latest standings from a wide range of sports, and explain why you should never be afraid to sing at Mass.

Links:
https://chadtracker.live

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Nunk Chepe. Welcome everyone to episode 33 of Verso el Alto, Faith on the Field, a podcast combining faith and sports. My name is Father Burke Masters, pastor of St. Isaac Jokes Church in Hinsdale, and Catholic chaplain for the Chicago Cubs.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Bishop James Wald, Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup, located in the two beautiful states of Arizona and New Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

And Mike Sweeney here in San Diego, California, proud husband and father, and just um yeah, lay Catholic, but love the Lord and love my family. And I used to I used to be pretty good at baseball.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Five home runs in a row and uh five games.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

I wasn't Schwarber, though. Oh my goodness. He's on fire. But before we dig in, we got a lot going on in the sports world, and we've got Pentecost Sunday coming up. Let's let's begin in prayer asking for uh one of our patrons, Pierre Giorgio Frasati, for his intercession. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the joyful example of your servant, Saint Pier Giorgio Frasati. 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. Amen. Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Yeah, so uh we've got the Preakness, we've got PGA golf, we've got Major League Baseball, we've got the NBA, we've got skateboarding. Uh so much going on in in sports this week. Um let's let's start it off with uh well, let's start with baseball. That's you know our our wheelhouse, and we'll we'll get to the other ones. Um you know, I have to say, as the chaplain for the Cubs, the White Sox took two out of three in the uh Crosstown Classic here in Chicago. Um Schwarber, we talked about last week, uh, had a string of nine home runs in eight games, 20 home runs in the middle of May. He's on pace to hit 72, um, which you know in this non-steroid era would uh you know be incredible. Uh can he keep up that pace? So and uh whatever else, and well, we also have a a Florida high school team that won the state uh title on a squeeze bunt that was successful. So um where do where do you guys want to go with with baseball and anything with the Royals or Diamondbacks you want to throw out there?

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Well, the north side must be gripping in Chicago right now. The White Sox took two or three from them. Those are bragging rights. It is that's a lot of fun. It's one of those rideries where they believe they got the Pope on their side, so that's the one of the reasons.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Man, nobody expected the White Sox to win 70 games, and now they're I mean, they're in the playoff hunt right now. I know it's early, but uh there's a lot of excitement on the south side of Chicago right now.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the White Sox, they just got done sweeping the Kansas City Royals, so they threw my team into a tailspin. We ended up losing six in a row after the White Sox. The Royals stumbled into St. Louis and lost two or three. I I have a good buddy of mine that's um a doctor, he's he's he's on the MLB board for prostate cancer. He's just an incredible human named Dr. Howard Sewell. And every year we have a bet um during the Royals uh Cardinals series, and the loser has to buy breakfast. So I'm buying breakfast for this wonderful doctor that's been instrumental in saving the lives of many of my family members who have been diagnosed with uh prostate cancer. So, but yeah, the Royals, uh the Royals are a little tailspin. White Sox are hot right now.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah, I actually owe a meal to uh someone for the White Sox taking two out of three from the Cubs, too. So um then, you know, so people ask me, like, how you know, I'm a Phillies fan since I was a little guy, so I'm not a traitor against so it's funny, I played briefly in the White Sox system, chaplain for the Cubs, but I've been a lifelong Phillies fan. So I am not a White Sox hater at all. Um, I love to see, love to see them do well. Um, I always say I've had two major conversions in life. One was becoming Catholic when I was 18, another was becoming a Cubs fan when I became the chaplain because my parents grew up in St. Louis and so diehard Cardinal fans. And so in our household, we could not be Cub fans because of that rivalry. But when they asked me to be their chaplain in 2013, I had to come around. But so did you not how did you not become a Cardinals fan? I think it was that kind of rebellious child like I I love my parents, but and and I didn't want to just kind of fall in line. But it's interesting too. I'm the youngest of three boys, and we played stratomatic baseball. I don't know if you guys ever played that. It's a it's a dice game based, you know. That's why I love statistics so much, I think. And uh my brothers and I all had to pick a team. Of course, my oldest brother got first pick, and he took the Cardinals, followed after my parents. My middle brother took the Reds and the big red machine back in the 70s, and and then um I had seen the Phillies uh, you know, beat up the Cubs live here when I was a little guy, and I became that's how became a Phillies fan. So Mike Schmidt was a big part of that. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, when I whenever I think of the St. Louis Cardinals and horse racing, I think of your dad.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Yeah. His two has two passions. Yeah, when you sent uh, you know, when I got to know Vince Coleman through you, Mike, uh Vince and his wife, Denise, Daily Mass, uh there at your parish, um, I thought, wow, this is one of my dad's heroes. He loved Vince Coleman, he loved Ozzie Smith, uh, that that team where they'd they just beat the ball into the turf and beat it out and steal second and third. So Ozzie, I mean, uh uh Vince signed uh a hat and a a base for my dad. It was my cool yeah, battling cancer. And wow, it you'd have thought uh he'd won won the lottery. So that was huge for him.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah, I remember you told me about the joy that Vince Coleman, who's just an amazing man, a man I love. He and Denise Um Coleman are you've had a huge impact on their walk with Christ, Father Burke. And um, you know, just to see the joy that Vince brought to your dad during a heavy time of a heavy storm in his life. Um it was it was a really cool thing to be a part of.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yeah. Yeah. So Vince, if uh if you see this, uh we love you and uh Yes we do. Keep that walk up with the Lord, your your great man. Hall of Famer, Vince Coleman with the St. Louis Cardinals. They they were a fun team to watch. Uh man, they had some they had some speed that you get a guy on base that the pitcher, you could tell a pitcher didn't know what to do. You know, it was back when you could you know throw as many pickoffs as you possibly could, and uh it just took them off the off their game of you know concentrating on the hitter to you imagine what that team would do today with today's rules. Oh yeah. They'd have three guys stealing a hundred bases.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Did you guys ever hear the cool story about Vince Coleman? How he became you know a Hall of Famer with the St. Louis Cardinals. So he he played, he went in the minor leagues and uh had a really good year. Yeah, I think he stole maybe 65 bases or something. Really, I mean, led the league by a lot. And he went to instructional league that year, and they had a hitting coach named George Sissel. And George said, Hey, Vince, you run like the wind, and speed never goes into a slump, and you're a great athlete. And he goes, I think you could turn into a switch hitter. So he said, Vince, here's what I want you to do. Every day, I want you to take uh this lead pipe, and I want you to come in the cage, and I want you to swing 100 swings and just hit balls off the T with the lead pipe. 100 swings a day. And uh we're gonna try you out in a couple weeks in the game. So Vince, being the hard worker he is, he said, All right, George, I'm gonna, I'll I'll show you. I'm not gonna just do it once a day, but I'm gonna get here at six in the morning, I'm gonna do 100 swings in the morning. Then at lunchtime, I'm gonna do 100 swings left-handed. And then in the afternoon, I'm gonna take a hundred swings with this lead pipe before I go home. And he did it every day. And he said, maybe two, three weeks into instruction league, they said, All right, kid, you've been hitting some BP. Let's try you out. And he said, His first step bad, he comes up left-handed, never done it in his whole life, facing the guy throwing 90 miles an hour. First pitch, laces one off the left center field fence for a double, steals third. And he said, I ran with it, became a switch hitter. That first year as a switch hitter, he stole 136 stolen bases. So maybe it was 140. It was something crazy. But he said it was uh, you know, just a tip from his hitting coach, you know, to get on you know, left-handed, he could slap that ball. He had some pretty good power, too. But really cool story about grit and perseverance and becoming a switch hitter at the age of like 22, 21, 22 years old. Really cool story.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

And I love the fact he went to college as a punter, didn't he? Like his uh uncle that was uh uh he punted for the Vikings, I think it was.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

That's right. And he he actually had some tryouts for NFL teams to be a kicker or a punter. And I mean, just a you people say that Vince Coleman's one of the top five, you know, base stealers, five athletes to ever play Major League Baseball. And to think that he went to college to kick a football, it's like what a what an athlete. I mean, yeah, like Bo Jackson Jr.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Yeah, I think I think he said too he would uh when he was playing football, he'd run the stairs in the stadium, he'd put on uh work boots, army boots, army boots, yeah, running up and down the stairs. And uh it's an incredible uh work ethic. Yes. Yeah, so if if you're a young person out there listening and you want to be great at something, you know, the guys who became great ball players, uh, you know, they they put in the time and extra effort to get there. Um awesome. We had a we had a question uh that came through on on baseball, and the question was you guys talk about walk-off homers or walk-off hits. They say, What is that? What's a walk-off? So, Mike, you want to explain what a walk-off is?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Okay, yeah, I'll explain what a walk-off used to be, what where where it got the name. So, you know, Jim Nettles, my father-in-law, you know, brother to Greg Nettles, he said, Yeah, in his first week in Major League Baseball, he hit his first home run, then he hit a grand slam, then he hit an inside the park home run, and then he hit a walk-off home run. And he said, You know what they did when I when I hit my walk-off home run? I hit home plate, I shook hands like this with all my teammates. We went in, ate hot dogs, and had a beer. And he said, he says, he says, now, he said, now when when there's a uh a walk-off hit, meaning the home team always has to be the team to do it because it has to end the game. But when the home team hits a ball, whether it be a home run or a hit, he said, Man, it looks like a jailbreak. Guys are going crazy. And uh, so it got the term because literally guys would shake hands, they'd walk off the field. But now it turns into controlled chaos, and guys are dumping water and Gatorade and ripping, ripping shirts off, and um, it turns into chaos. But that's where the term walk-off uh got its name many, many years ago. And maybe we should give it a new name because of the celebration that they get today. I don't know. Bishop, what do you got on that?

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah, I was we were we were yapping about this last night. I was uh that's where the first thing I thought there has to be the home team, can't be anybody else, right? It can't be the visitors because home team always says last, last, let that. And uh, but yeah, they they absolutely lose their minds now. And uh, and so you can lose your minds a bunch of time during a season, you know, long season. So, but it's uh yeah, it is kind of interesting. I I like what your father-in-law said. Handshake, all right, let's go. Hot dogs and a beer. That sounds like a good way to celebrate a walk-off.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

That's like Caro yesterday who hit the two-run homer uh for the White Sox against the Cubs, and he he stops halfway between third base and home plate, does some kind of you know, to his teammates in the crowd, takes his helmet, flips it toward home plate, it bounces, hits some of the players. You know, it's like um I'm not a big fan. I mean, uh not because it's a White Sox, I'm just not a big fan of it. Yeah, uh, it's like uh like we were taught in college, act like you do it every day. And uh it's just like I think the other team thinks, man, this is normal for these guys to win in in that kind of way. And um, I don't know, I'm not a big fan of those ripping off the jerseys.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

W WBC brought a lot of that stuff in too. Yeah. That uh that was those that was crazy. I mean, they're representing their countries, and so it was uh a little different, different style of celebrating. It's kind of fun to watch, but walk-offs. Yeah, I know act like you act like you've done it before.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, yeah, that's right. Walk-offs are fun. I had um, I had I had a few walk-off home runs, I don't know how many, and and several walk-off hits, and that was kind of when the evolution went from a hot dog and a beer and a handshake to a little bit more celebration. But I remember, you know, a good cell, a warm celebration of home plate, not not a jailbreak, but um, yeah, the game is evolving.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Yeah, yeah. I will say uh it's funny how my my grand slam has evolved. People say I hit a grand slam to win the College World Series. It wasn't even a walk-off because we were visitors. We were we were at home, but because it was a tournament, we were the visiting team for the game. But it was the first time, like I'm I remember coming around third base, and my teammates, it would look like popcorn at home plate up and down, and uh I raised my arms. I I never showed any emotion on the field, but I even I couldn't hold it in, you know. Uh so I I guess I I shouldn't be too hard on these guys uh that show a little emotion because it's sometimes it uh it can be overwhelming, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Yeah, good question from one of our listeners. That's what we're um answering that question. One of our listeners um commented, like, what's a walk-off? So yeah, keep sending your questions in. We'll uh we'll take a stab at the good ones.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Keep them coming. How about uh switch over to golf? We had the PJ Championship uh this weekend. Aaron Rye, R A I from England won. I I know our favorite uh Cam Young was in the in the running for a while. It was it was good, but uh I read where it was the first Englishman to win the PJ Championship since 1919. 107 years almost the so it almost the same time it took for the Cubs to win their championship 108 years. So uh big drought for the uh the Englishman and the PGA. Did you guys get a chance to watch any of that?

SPEAKER_02 15:49

We were looking up that what was it? PGA started in champions started 1916, right? Yes, right around that same time. Match play until the 50s? 1950, I think it was, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

So uh yeah, I I thought it was great. I I I'm uh I'm a hack golfer. I go out maybe once every couple weeks, but I liked uh I like seeing a guy win a tournament that wore two batting gloves, two golf gloves. Uh I don't know if you guys saw, but Aaron Rye is one of the few golfers on the tour that wears two golf gloves while he plays. And I read a cool story. I was like, why would he wear two golf gloves? I think it looks good. It's like you know, a baseball player wearing two batting gloves. He said his family being in England, they were hockey players, and he said he got whacked with a hockey stick when he was a little guy. So his parents said, you know what, let's get him away from hockey because he had two older brothers and they like you, Father Burke. Uh he they whacked the heck out of him with hockey sticks. So he started golfing at a young age, and he said he he liked the feel of having two gloves, and he's always done it. And he said, he said one tournament he lost his right-handed glove. So he tried golfing with one glove and he did horrible. So he's like, you know what? They can make fun of me all they want. I'm wearing two gloves. So cool story about Aaron Rye. Maybe he'll uh start a trend, huh? Yeah, I bet I bet you to uh today or tomorrow, the the weekend hackers that are coming out watching you know the big PGA tournament. Though there'll be some some two glove Tommies out there lining it up.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

I should try to because I wear a left-handed glove when I golf, and then I I get uh blisters right here, so I I tape these fingers up when I golf. I might as well just wear two gloves and uh let's go all good. See if I can uh be get to the PGA next year. That is impossible. Um Bishop, I know you've uh been following this uh the skateboarder uh and you sent us uh Chad Caruso. He's skateboarding across the country in 30 days. Yeah, he's done it before.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

He did it in 57 days, and then he he's he started in California and he's I think Santa Monica, and he's heading to Florida, and he's gonna do it in 30 days. And it's it's uh it's pretty cool if you if you follow him. He's doing it for a number of reasons. One is to uh I think he's raising funds, raising awareness for mental health, which is a good thing. You know, we have so think about so many people who struggle with mental health who are unhoused, people are homeless. And uh yeah, it's it's pretty neat. I I uh boy. He has to 100 miles a day on a skateboard. That's what he has to average about. And um there was I was watching this little thing, you know, you have to your wheels you know have to you have to find the sweet spot so you they can't be too hard or you're gonna feel everything. And they can't be too soft or you're gonna take in everything. So I saw with he like one of the wheels that had a big old uh rock embedded in it. And so he's having to switch that out. But people people are coming out and giving them water and making donations. And I I saw one of the there was a bunch of firefighters that their their station gives in California, and they were they gave him one of their patches, that's always a big thing with firefighters, but they were also giving them water and stuff like that. He's got a a sag wagon behind him, so he's not out there completely by himself, thank God. And uh, but it's a it's a really neat thing. Yeah, good good for him.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Yeah, I saw his skateboard. I I think it was a video you had sent me and Father Burke, and man, those wheels were frickin', you know, they're mangled. They were and uh a lot of a lot of love for Chad Caruso. So if you have any listeners out there that can encourage Chad as he's ripping 100 miles a day, there's some pretty steep hills, and there's you know up and down. So uh, Chad, we'll uh we're sending our love to your way, man. That's super cool what you're doing. Right for his safety, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Um quick hit uh people want our picks on the NBA uh playoffs. We're down to four teams. We've got the East, uh the Knicks and the Cavs. The Cavs upset the number one seed uh Pistons uh yesterday. We're recording this on Monday morning, and then uh the Thunder against the Spurs uh in the West. So uh I I can I say I I haven't followed this as closely as I do other sports, but uh happy to throw in some some picks here.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

So um let's let's go with the Knicks and the Cavs first uh picks Bishop Well so um you know it was it's amazing that the Cavs made it and because they're they're two big players, Mitchell and and Harden, uh are notorious for having horrible game sevens or game six and game sevens. But they they just slaughtered the Pistons. But I think the Pistons are still kind of a young team. They'll I think they'll they'll kind of work their way into it. You know, they always say you have to go through a couple playoffs before you can get your legs under under you, unless you're the the thunder. And um, so um I think I think New York's gonna win this one. I love Brunson, he's so much fun to watch, and I think they're a really balanced team. And I I think they're I think they're gonna they're they're gonna um take this one. Um in terms of the other series, you know, this is the uh this is the one team that gave the Thunders a a little bit of a uh a challenge this year, the or the Spurs. Um but I I I think uh I think Oklahoma City is gonna go back. And I think they're gonna win it all again. I think they're gonna I think they're gonna repeat. And I I our our good buddy Archbishop Coakley, he's a diehard OKC Thunder fan, and so uh yeah, I think he's gonna agree with me on that one too.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

He'll probably be at some of the games, be in the Yeah. I think he was at the championship game last year. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Yeah, and and I'm you know. Me, I just go all in on a team, and usually it's wrong. So uh yeah, our my little boy plays uh little league, oh Father Burke's godson and Bishop Wall's godnephew, uh uh little Ryan Burke. He plays uh machine pitch little league here with Kawhi Leonard's son. And Kawhi was talking about when the Clippers, when they play the OKC uh Thunder, he said, man, they just run a different speed of basketball. Like they're athletic, they're quick, they're strong, they're fast. And he's like, Man, it's it's tough to keep up with them. Because I talked to him before they start, I'm like, man, you guys are gonna hopefully, you know, lock up with OKC and get through them. And they're like, it's gonna be a tough. If we can win in to play them, man, it's gonna be tough. So I think around the league, they're they they're known to play a brand of bit basketball that no one else plays. So I'm with Father Burke, or excuse me, Bishop Wall. I'm all in on Oakie City.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Yeah, and they're they're uh they're you know, the other things about it, their defense is crazy. Yeah, they lock everybody down. They're just, I mean, they're they're amazing, amazing defensive team. And I think that's a that's another thing that um what is it? What do they say? Offense wins headlines and defense wins championships. That's right. And I think that's another thing about them that's that's that sets them apart from the other teams.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

And it's fun to see a small market team doing so well. Uh Midwest, middle of nowhere, you know. Uh, and uh, you know, I remember when they were really bad and uh they started drafting really well, and like, man, they've got some young talent in a couple years, these guys are gonna be amazing, and we're seeing it now. And I have to agree with you guys.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

They have a really good GM. I think how he pulls off some of these things he does, but it seems like every year you get to the they've got they're loaded, and every year you get to the draft, and they're like, well, Oklahoma City Thunder have you know three first-round picks and two are in the the lottery.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I I I have to agree with you guys. I think the Knicks are gonna win. I'm a I'm a Sixers fan. The Knicks just manhandled them this year, and I think they're gonna they're gonna beat the Cavs in six. And then I I agree, I'm gonna take the Thunder to win it all. Um I think they're just uh they're starting their dynasty. Yeah. Never know in sports how long those can go, but they're they're in the midst of a great run. Say OKC over the Knicks and in six games also in the finals. So there's our picks. You probably go betting, man. You probably want to go against what we're picking.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

And OKC is is undefeated so far. And you know, that there a lot of people are talking about the famous Moses Malone, you know, faux faux faux. And uh they didn't they didn't win, it was only you know, would have been three series, and they they did lose one. I can't remember which one it was, but uh and so they didn't they didn't go completely undefeated. So it'd be interesting if see if somebody can make a run. I think if anybody can make a run, it's it's OKC. But uh these guys are professionals, so you it's hard uh to uh lock a team down completely and uh and and run the tables on them. But if anybody could, they would they could do it.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

You can tell Bishop Wall is uh probably a bigger uh NBA fan than thanks.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Oh yeah, maybe I grew yeah, Phoenix is a basket was a basketball town. It's the only pro sport we had up until 87. And um, and then we got the Cardinals, and then later on we got the Coyotes and got the D-Backs, and and um so it's always really kind of been a basketball town. So when they you know throughout three three four years ago we went to the the comp they went to the NBA championship. We've never won it, but uh we're still holding out hope. And uh and so it it's people go crazy about basketball here. When the Suns win, this place goes nuts, and uh so it's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

And then finally, we don't have to spend a lot of time on the preakness. One of our listeners said uh you guys didn't make a pick for the preakness, you know, and so we we missed that. So Golden Tempo, who won the Derby, was not racing in the preakness, which I think brings down the visibility of the preakness. A lot of people are like, oh, it's a whole new set of horses. We don't, I think three horses from the derby ran in the preakness. Um so Napoleon Solo won the Preakness. They said it was the slowest time since 1950. Um meaning they're they're questioning um, there's a lot of questions, right? Well, there usually are should they space out the triple crown more? Because because there's so much money in these horses now, and the the the breeding fees, you know, if if if I have a horse that wins a derby, the stud fees, meaning when I breed my horse in the future, the the fees are sky high. And if a horse gets hurt or breaks its leg in a race, they have to euthanize it, which is because they can't put the weight on the so many owners now are opting not to race two weeks after the the derby because they don't want to put their their horse in in danger. So um it's such a as a horse racing fan, it's such a big thing. It is the thing in horse racing, the triple crown. And they they race three races. There's two weeks between the derby and the preakness, and then three weeks between the preakness and the the Belmont. Um should they space those races out more to give I think for for fans, I think it's big to see the same horses running. You kind of build up a little fan base, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Yeah. That's the only thing I pay attention to. Yeah. Is is if they're in the running for the triple crown. Yeah. That's the only reason I would watch. You know, I'd watch Kentucky Derby, it's exciting. And then the second one was Preakness. I watch it or I didn't watch this week, I was busy, but you know, I try to I try to see if the same horse wanted, and then it makes it really exciting for Belmont. Is that the last one? Belmont, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

That's in New York. Uh yes, that's in New York. And this the uh Preakness is usually run at Pimlico, but it's under construction. So this is the first time they raced at Laurel racetrack, not in Maryland. In Maryland, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Yeah. The only thing I can tell you is when, yeah, like like Bishop was saying, I love seeing the same horses run. And when the same horse has won the first two uh of the triple crown, I can remember like the Belmont uh race in the middle of batting practice, we're hitting BP, and everyone just stops to watch uh minute and a half race. They put it on the jumbo tron and we're yelling and hooting and hollering, and then we go back to it. So when I think of the horse racing, it's usually during the baseball season. But uh yeah, if we would have picked last week, I know Bishop would have picked Napoleon solo because he he just has a thing with picking winners when it doesn't count. At least we don't give him credit for it. We don't give him credit for it.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

He's he's our winner. He had the uh uh the uh Arizona Wildcats had 17 wins in a row, and we didn't give him that one. I did.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

I just still still kind of sore about that.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

All right. So uh we'll we'll try to get in on the uh the Belmont. We'll make our picks when I touch them on in three weeks. Um so let's switch gears. Uh a lot there in sports. Let's uh take the last segment here. One of the biggest feast days of the year, Pentecost, coming of the Holy Spirit. Bishop, you wanna kick us off?

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Sure, be happy to. So um Pentecost, we want to think about 50, 50 days after uh the Easter Sunday. And so that's where we get the word, you know, Pentecost, 50. And um, it's a a feast that actually existed, and it was a little different, though. It was the um it was a uh a feast that was associated with the harvest. So, and um, and then it was also um a feast that was associated with the giving of the law. So you have a you know you have Passover, so it's like Old Testament, you have Passover, and then 50 days later you have an association of the giving of the law uh to Israel. And so that's why that's what the celebration was all about for the um for the people, the Jewish people. And um, so uh associate with harvest and then associate with the giving of the law. And so we have all these people that are gathered, so you can people are gathering and celebrating Pentecost as they knew it. And then um we're not gonna hear about it in the gospel passage because we're gonna hear about it in the in the first reading, we're gonna hear about the Acts of the Apostles, a little similar to what we just celebrated with Ascension. You know, we're not gonna hear about it in the Gospels, but we're gonna hear about it uh um yeah at the very beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. So here we have um they're all kind of gathered, and there's it talks about how there's people uh from everywhere, all sorts of different places, and because of that, they all spoke different languages, and you can imagine they didn't understand. I was just in France and I did not understand very many people. And uh sometimes when they speak to me in French, I I my default language, foreign language, is Spanish, and I find myself replying to everybody in Spanish, and I don't know why I'm doing that, but yeah, they couldn't understand each other, and so all of a sudden we have the Holy Spirit, which is the promised Holy Spirit, the advocate, right? The counselor who will come to them, Jesus said, and I'll send him to you. I have to go away now so I can send him to you. And he it comes upon them, and as the scriptures say, um, they're all speaking in their own uh language, but they're understanding each other. And one of the things that this does is this takes us back to the Tower of Babel. And in the Tower of Babel, you know, everybody spoke um uh the same language, and then they have this idea, well, let's let's build a tower, let's build a tower to heaven. They do so out of their pride, and so what does God do is he confuses them and he confuses their language, so that comes out of their pride. And so here we have all these people, different languages, the Holy Spirit's given to them, and because of the power of the Holy Spirit, they're they're able to understand or uh they're able to understand each other, uh even though they're speaking in in different different languages. Um, we also know this as the birth of the church. And so we have the conclusion of that that nine-day that novena that we pray, and uh we have the the the the birth of the church, and it's really from this moment on where the church goes out and she fulfills her her mission, right? To make disciples, to baptize, to teach all that command you, remind the world that I'm I'm always always with you. And then the other thing it's kind of interesting, you know, we we we come to know in the gospels, we come to know the Holy Spirit through think about the baptism of our Lord, right? Through the symbol of a dove. But in this one, it's this is tongues of fire. And so the question we might have is why would it be in tongues of fire? And and what we want to do is we want to go back to Mount Sinai, we want to go back to the giving of the law, and we want to go back and how God makes himself manifest, and he manifests himself in fire. And so this is also this is something that the people would have understood as this this um yeah, the coming, the coming of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire. And this is when they the sends them out and they really go on mission from this moment on.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Thanks, Bishop. Uh I love this uh feast day. It's it's one of the big ones. I love uh what you're talking about with uh Passover and the law, you know, Jesus was crucified on the Passover, you know, resurrection 50 days later, the Holy Spirit. Um the word paraclete that we often hear associated with the Holy Spirit, parakletos in Greek, uh means to call beside. And so you think about another word for the Holy Spirit is paraclete, is advocate. Um, you know, when you need an attorney, you call somebody to stand beside you, to speak on your behalf, to guide you, to point you in the right direction. Um, and that's what the Holy Spirit is is here for us. You think about, you know, Jesus kept telling his followers that if I don't go back to the Father, you know, we we can't send our Holy Spirit. And so he said, it's gonna be better for you if I go. And so that it tells us how powerful and and how omnipresent the Holy Spirit is, you know, within us through our baptism, strengthened through confirmation, that we have an advocate, that God is not only beside us, but within us. And so I really want to encourage you to think about that. Like if you need an attorney, you know who to call. If you need an advocate in any situation, Holy Spirit, give me the words to speak. Holy Spirit, guide me in this situation. Holy Spirit, show me the path. And that divine life within you, the Holy Spirit will guide you. Now it takes practice, like people say, Well, I don't hear the voice of God. That's why silent prayer, you know, digging into the scriptures, recognizing the voice of Jesus, because the Holy Spirit is the same God, one God and three persons. You start to recognize that voice within you that matches up with what Jesus said and did in the scriptures. And God will guide you. Like for me, for example, my call to the priesthood, people always ask, like, how did you know? And I say, when I would go to pray, and it was important, I would go to adoration once a week, and every time I'd go to pray, the thought of priesthood would come to the forefront involuntarily. Like I didn't want to become a priest. And yet, looking back now, I know it was the Holy Spirit raising that up inside, saying, I want you to be a priest. I'm bringing this to your mind because this is what you know I want you to do. And so I started to recognize, oh, that's how the Holy Spirit speaks to me. It's like things start to come up that I haven't, you know, been bringing up in myself. And so I really want to encourage our listeners to, you know, pray for that outpouring of the Holy Spirit, pray for uh guidance and the words to speak, or sometimes the Holy Spirit says, don't say anything here, uh, and and to follow, follow the lead of the Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Mike? Incredible words, uh, Bishop Wall and Father Burke. As a lay person, a couple things that really maybe come to heart is to rem to be reminded that like at Pentecost, when you know Peter in his sermon after the Holy Spirit comes, he reminds them like these people are not drunk. Like when I think of people that are drunk, I'm Irish, right? So that kind of runs through my family, uh, uh family tree, uh, sadly, a little bit more than it should. But most of most of the people that are, you know, you associate people Irish descent having a Guinness, they get jolly and uh you know, loving and happy. We should be joyful. And I'm not saying that drunkenness, drunkenness is sin. Obviously, it says that in scripture. However, the disciples were joyful. I'm getting there, they're speaking in different languages. They're probably like a like a walk-off home run. We talked about that at the beginning of the show. Hey, these people that just hit a home run, they're going crazy. They're not drunk, they just hit a home run. Like, we should be that way. We we should be so excited that God has chosen to indwell himself within us through the Holy Spirit in our baptisms that sometimes they're not coming to life. So he also feeds us with the bread from heaven. But this is this is a time to focus on the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Like, we should be that joyful person that people would say, man, are they drunk? Like, why are they so happy? Why are they so joyful? Uh, why are they acting like you know, Father Burke just did a walk-off grand slam to win the College World Series? Um, because Christ saved us. And and after he ascended, we we talked about that last week. After he ascended and sat down with the Father, he's like, okay, Father, what left? We already established a church. I already gave him the Eucharist, I already provided sacrifice for sin. Now we're gonna give him an advocate. We're gonna send them the our Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to be with them and to dwell in them. And it's like the people came alive, the the early Christians. And the something to note too is all of the disciples, with the exception of the beloved disciple John, were all martyred for their faith after being indwelled by the Holy Spirit. So we've been given that same Holy Spirit as Catholics, as Christians, and we should be that same kind of not that reckless love for Christ going into the world saying, Do with me as you want, but this is who I am. We see it a lot now today in um, I think in Iraq, um, Iran, even many Christians and priests are being persecuted, killed, and they're like, Do with me what you want. And that's evidence that the Holy Spirit lives within them just as it did at Pentecost. So, um, and then the last thing, something practically that we could do is, you know, we've had mass with Bishop Wall and Father Burke at my home. The super fun thing to do is for our little kids to come and light a candle, right? That the fire represents the presence of God. Is when you're doing your family prayers at night around the dinner table. Hey, you got you got mashed potatoes and gravy and meat all over the place. Hey, kids, let's say our prayers. Hey, little Johnny, why don't you go get a candle and let's symbolize Christ is with us, even in the midst of this chaos. Let's invite Christ, showing fire is here, and invite him to be a part of our family prayer. So, from a lay person, you guys covered the theological, theological very well, better than I could, of course. But uh just from a lay person standpoint, just a couple practical things about Pentecost.

SPEAKER_02 40:33

I love that, Michael. God, God's walk-off, Pentecost. God's walk off. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

There's our title. Suzanne, there's our title.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

I I love, you know, just doing a baptism yesterday. Uh, you know, we light a candle from the Easter candle, give it to the parents and godparents, say this is the light of Christ. It you are to keep this fire burning until they can take it on their own. So I love that idea. Maybe keep our baptismal candles around and and then light that as a symbol of okay, Christ is here among us, you know. Love it.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Yeah, you're called to be a little Christ in the world, right? We're baptized, all of us. All baptized are called to be a little Christ in the world.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

One thing I'm trying to do here at St. Isaac's is to get everybody to sing. You know, you talk about that joy, Mike, and it's interesting as presiders at Mass, we look out and sometimes you're like, are we at a funeral here on Sunday? Or, you know, there's kind of you know, I I get uh we want people to be reverent. You know, I think there's a balance between being reverent and joyful, and uh, you know, we shouldn't be sad Christians, you know, because of the hope that we have. And so I remember one of the most impactful days of my life, my first day of seminary, go to mass and hearing 200 men singing the depth of their souls because they're all on fire for the Lord. And I thought, wow, this is just 200 men singing, and you know, and and so encouraging us, especially our men. You know, I see a lot of women singing at mass, but the men, well, I don't have a good voice, Father, and you don't want me to sing. And but I think it's um it's a way of of showing one, if everybody sings, nobody's gonna hear your out of tune, but it's also a way of expressing, like we are body and soul, of expressing the joy that we have. And so um that's one of my missions this year is to get our our church. I said, let's, you know, we we talk about raising the roof, you know, they do that at ballparks and stuff like that. Yeah, let's let's raise the roof in church, let's sing uh as if we have joy, and you know, that the Holy Spirit is alive in this place.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

Yeah, St. Augustine famously says, he he who sings well prays twice. Yeah. And um, and I I think you know, some also with with um with singing, maybe a man or woman, you know, sometimes we might have a bit of a childhood wound. We had a music teacher, or somebody told us, or you just sing a little softer, or or uh maybe try it out for choir and you didn't get you didn't make choir. And so there's all these kind of these wounds that people can carry with them. Sure. But um to maybe to start out slow, you know, sing quietly, and then just little by little just kind of work your way up, you know, start in the shallow end and work your way to the deep end.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

Yeah, I I thought you said start in the shower and then and then finish in the start in the shower.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

I sing the shower all the time. Yeah, even the greatest ideas for homilies come in the shower. It's amazing. I don't know why that is.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Yeah, I think even maybe gra grabbing the missile and just whispering at first, you know. Uh you know, just um yeah, I think it shows like this is a um this is a way that I'm engaging in this. It's part of it's all part of the prayer of this uh worship of our God who's you know credible.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

Yeah, and from a lay standpoint, I I love grabbing, you know, the guy is always passing out. We have uh song uh sheets that when you walk in, I grab like seven or eight of them, make sure our kids have them, make sure the guys in front of me and behind me have them. And uh I think reverence and like joy and singing that's is an and. I don't think it's an or. And I think if you have the if you have true love for Christ and reverence, you should be joyfully singing to our Lord. And um, I love it. And um, I a couple weeks ago I got a uh invitation from uh I was probably one of the better compliments, but I told her I'm not worthy. But the organist and Dr. Allison, she runs the music ministry at our church, she said, Mr. Sweeney, I really want you to join our choir. I'm like, no. I like sitting in the pew with my family, but it's evidence that, you know, men, real masculine men, um, should be singing and singing joyfully to the Lord. So, and then last thing I'll say the the more I've been singing over the last probably like five to maybe 10 years, uh, our church beautifully um will attach the songs to the worship that day. Um, it aligns with Pentecost, it aligns with the ascension of our Lord into heaven. So the songs that we're singing, uh, they they go, they all fit together like a puzzle. So it's all it's all to receive. The climax of our faith is to receive, and the climax of our worship is to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. So everything from getting to Mass five minutes early to preparing the penitential rite, crying out to God, begging for forgiveness, if you need to go to confession, go the day before, whatever. All that singing, praying, listening to the word of God, listening to the priest or bishop, share the word of God, and then all to receive Christ in the Eucharist. It's all pointed towards that. So don't negate the music and the singing from your worship.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

Yeah, the the Lord's given you this voice, give it right back to him. Love it, love it. Gifted you with the voice, give it right back to him. I just think how how how much that makes him happy. You know, his children, you know, singing in praise and adoration. Yeah, it's a prayer, it's fun, it's a prayer.

SPEAKER_00 46:14

Yeah, I think you're right about the wound. Sometimes people, maybe even your spouse has told you, uh, honey, don't sing. Um but uh but I guarantee, like if you got everybody singing, what uh people feel that. And uh and uh it would just attract more people to say, wow, I want to be a part of that worshiping community because I I sense the Holy Spirit is is alive here, you know.

SPEAKER_02 46:42

Yeah, but my cathedral, so Sunday liturgies at least, we sing the entire Mass with the exception of the Creed. The Creed's a little difficult to sing, the tone for it. But we sing from Sign of the Cross all the way to dismissal, we sing absolutely everything part of the Mass, which really is preferred. And uh it's it's it's amazing to see um people people singing these things, and uh singing these chants and these these things that they hear week after week after week. And uh it's a beautiful form. Yeah, he who he who sings well praised twice.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

I love that. And if we connect it with to our sports background, you know, people will go crazy at a at a ball game, you know. They'll they'll cheer, they'll scream, they'll people lose their voices at a at a game. Take me out to the ballpark, they'll all sing that. Yeah, and then we get to church and we just kind of bottle up, you know. Again, I I think there's I I think I like your comment, Mike. It's not either or reverent or joyful, it's both and and you can be very reverent and sing to the Lord, you know. Uh so um, if you have any wounds there, let's bring it bring that to the Lord. Uh He wants to heal it, and let's uh let's be a uh powerful worshiping community. Amen. Amen. Bishop, uh, close this uh with a prayer and a blessing.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

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

SPEAKER_01 48:13

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

O 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 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. You 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 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, so 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 blessing down upon us all. Amen. Amen. The Lord be with you and with your spirit. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 49:32

Ryan, you want to say hi to Bishop Wall and Father Burke? Go ahead. Hey Ryan. Hey Ryan, how you doing? He doesn't have his headphones in, but he he wanted to say hi.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

Just in time for the blessing, too.

SPEAKER_01 49:45

Yeah, you get a blessing from Uncle Bishop Wall and your godfather. Isn't that great? Big Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

Yes, he is. Yeah, so everybody, uh, thanks for joining us. Continue to give us your your comments. Um, and as Pierre Giorgio Frasati reminds us the higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ. Keep striving verso alto in your faith and pursuits. And until next time, God bless you and your families.