Seeds, Scores, and Salvation

Catching up on the World Cup Round of 8, summer travels, and the Parable of the Sower.

Catholic Sports Camps: https://www.catholicsportscamps.org

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Nok Chapay. Welcome everyone to episode 40 of Versual Alto, our Faith and Sports Podcast. My name is Father Burt Masters, chaplain for the Chicago Cubs and pastor of St. Isaac Jokes Church in Hinsdale, Illinois.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

I'm Bishop James Wall, I'm the Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup, located in the two states of Arizona and New Mexico.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

And Mike Sweeney, finally back home in my home studio, a former Major League ball player and proud husband and father, just a lay Catholic out here in San Diego, California.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

That's great to be with you guys. We're recording this on Tuesday, July 7th, and we'll dig into some sports, but let's let's begin in prayer. Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the joyful example of your servant, St. Piero Giorgio Frasati. Piero 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. Amen. So yes, good to be with you guys again. So any uh any updates? What Mike, you've been traveling, I know. Uh baseball, and so how was your fourth of July and your travels?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, this is my first time back home in San Diego in over two weeks. Uh, was chasing my son Donovan around. I we I know we've gotten some great comments from people that have followed uh either what I'm doing with Donovan, um, my 17-year-old son playing baseball before his senior year, um, or just the encouragement they've gotten from lessons that you know I've shared. But uh it's been great. We were we were in Omaha for the 4th of July, and we got to participate in a beautiful um 4th of July parade, just kind of mid uh Midwest Americano. And then I shared with you guys probably the highlight of my 4th of July was going to the Cathedral of St. Cecilia. I sent, maybe we can share it with Suzanne, and um getting in there, just going into an empty cathedral and kneeling down with my family, my wife and children, and praying the rosary together, and uh and then hearing my college-age daughter Makara say, Daddy, I feel like I want to praise Jesus with my voice, and I want to sing to him in this beautiful house of God. And to hear her sing the uh Avi Maria in Latin just brought us to tears. So it was it's neat, you know, talk about um sanctifying the present moment. And, you know, we're out in away from home. We got a 4th of July parade, we're getting ready to drive to Kansas City for uh a Royals game, watch the Phillies and a fireworks show, and yet we just hit the pause button as a family and just see the fruit of what it brought forth. A college-age girl saying, Daddy, I want to fulfill St. Augustine's quote of when I sing, it's like praying twice. So, yeah, the the 4th of July pray was cool, but to see a college-age girl just singing and praising God in front of her family in an empty cathedral um on the 4th of July was a highlight of my weekend. How about how about you guys? That's great.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Bishop, uh, where are you uh calling in from?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

I'm in uh crested butte, Colorado. So I'm a little a little RR with uh couple buddies, and um and so Crested Butte's just absolutely gorgeous, it's beautiful. And uh they come up here every year, and so it's yeah, it's just nice. I got out for a hike yesterday and probably do a little hike today. We're praying for some rain because they're having fires in Colorado right now, it's a big aspen fire, and so the the sky here is just very smoky, and uh it smells like that and it looks like it too. And um, yeah, so but so we're here, but I had a I had a great fourth. My mom was with me, so that was always nice. And um the started the morning with uh mass at the cathedral, and um that was which was really nice, great way to use the prayers for independence day, and then um just spent the day with my mom. It was it was a great time, and and then we had some fireworks, we had a drone show and gallop, so we're we're moving on up. We got a drone show now, and uh and then watched my youngest dog lose her mind. She was just terrified of of uh of fireworks, but it was good, it was a good fourth period.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

How about you, Father Burke?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Yeah, I was at uh Wrigley Field three times this week, so uh we had one of the rainiest weeks I can remember in July. You know, 4th of July, a lot of our uh fireworks shows got rained out, it was just coming down a downpour. But uh Tuesday night we took the our staff to see the Cubs and Padres, got to say hi to our good friend Craig Stammon before the game. Uh uh and but the Cubs had a pulling that game out. And then uh Friday, my brother from Colorado was in town for the NASCAR race, big NASCAR race here in Joliet, um, Chicagoland Speedway. So we went to the Cubs Cardinals game. Uh Cubs lost that game 17 to 1 to the Cardinals. Um, and then uh I was there Sunday for Mass uh before they played the Cardinals again. So it was a uh a lot of trips to Wrigley, but it was a great week, week, and weekend.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

So awesome. Hey Father Burke, um Bishop Wall was talking about uh on the 4th of July, he got to spend it with his mother. I'm I'm actually gonna have my mom and dad drive down today to be with family. I know I know today's a special day in relation to your mother. You want to kind of enlighten our listeners about what what today and is so why why today's so special?

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Yeah, thanks for asking. So July 7th is the 28th anniversary of my mom's passing. Um, and ironically, we were watching the Major League Baseball All-Star Game on television. So um 98, Mike, were you in that game?

SPEAKER_01 6:23

98. No, I was still uh backup catcher in the big leagues.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Okay. Yeah, I just started thinking, I gosh, I wonder if you were playing in that game. Yeah, so uh I can think about my mom now, 28 years later, and smile. Beautiful lady inside and out, and uh um every time I celebrate mass, I've got her wedding ring, it's soldered onto my chalice, and so I um pray for her every day, and I just trust she's with God, and uh God willing, I'll get to see her again one day, hopefully not too soon.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

But uh uh I've used that chalice quite a bit, and I do the same thing. I grab I I hit that wedding ring, you can feel it. Yeah, and it reminds me of to pray for for your parents.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Yeah, that's right where you where you grab it, right where the node is. So yeah, reminded of the the communion of saints, you know, that revelation talks about the angels and saints surrounding the throne of God, singing holy, holy, holy, and that's what we do at Mass. And that's as uh Scott Hahn talks about, you know, the it's the heavenly liturgy. We are you know as close to our our loved ones who are with God and angels and saints as we ever will be. And so we're at Calvary at the Last Supper and participating in the Heavenly Liturgy at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

So that is one of the best books, The Lamb's Supper. Yeah, it just that that book is timeless. I remember I remember when it came out, we were all just going, Have you read this yet? We and we all knew who Scott Hahn was, and he'd already put out some good, really good things. But that one was just that that one went over the top, yeah, and still is just the best. On the book of Revelation, understand the book of Revelation and the liturgy and the heavenly liturgy. It's a great book.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

Yeah, yeah, he says the book of Revelation is the key to understanding the Mass, and the Mass is the key to understanding the book of Revelation. Most people think Revelation is of the end times, and there's some of that in there, but he breaks it down how liturgical the book of Revelation is and how it describes the Mass.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Yeah, yeah, the Lamb's Supper, I I have a relative um that was away from the sacraments for decades, and I gave him the book, The Lamb's Supper, and he came with tears down rolling down his cheeks, he came back to our Lord. And just recently he said, after reading the book, The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn, he said, when he used to go to Mass, you know, albeit years ago, he couldn't wait to, you know, drag through the liturgy of the Eucharist to receive Holy Communion and then start his day. And he said, now after reading the Lamb's Supper, he said, I don't want the liturgy of the Eucharist to end. I he said, I feel like I'm I'm I'm at the Last Supper, I'm with our Lord in heaven all at the same time. And he's like, I I I it's the most beautiful thing I've ever been enlightened about. Uh and it was to reading that book. So yeah, if you haven't read the Lamp Supper, um, and you want your mind to be blown and um highlight you know the source and summit of our faith, the Holy Eucharist to come alive, it's a it's a great read.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

We got lots of sports. Uh we've got World Cup, we've got Wimbledon, we've got baseball, we've got some big basketball trades. Um so let's start with the World Cup. Uh I I don't think any of us are huge soccer fans, but I don't know about you guys. I've really gotten into this. And even though USA lost last night, uh Monday night uh to Belgium, uh, I'm learning about players that I've never heard of before that the whole world knows about, you know. Uh I of course I knew about Messi and uh Ronaldo, but uh Mbappe, I'd never never heard of him before. Uh Kane from England. Uh so it's it's it's been fun to watch.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

So uh have you guys been what's what's the Norwegian, what's the Viking's name? Uh that guy is I think he's like he's like six foot five.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

He's huge.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Big Viking, you know. And he is he's got so much joy. Yeah. So much fun. Yeah. Yeah, like that boy, that that guy is that guy's amazing. He's a lot of fun. Fun to watch. Mbappe and and Messi last year, you know, last time it was France and Argentina in the finals. And those guys put on a show in the last in the last finals. Yeah. And so it could end up. Messi's still doing it 37, and Mbappe is four years older. And those those guys are just incredible.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Oh, Mbappe's younger, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

You think yeah, he's younger, but he's but he's I mean, he's four years older than when the last one. Then he was like, okay. So he's really made square. And he's he's amazing. He's just incredible.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah, I love to watch the two things that I've really loved is number one, understanding the sport a little bit more. I have a couple of siblings, two sisters that play Division I soccer. And then to see it and hear it explained on TV, you get to understand the game a little bit more. It's it's like a game of chess. Um, secondly, I I love the patriotism. Not only the Americans are showing, you know, singing the national anthem, you know, 100,000 fans going crazy, but also our our opponents, you know, the the fans from all over the world um, you know, praise singing praise of uh their country and their patriotism. And then lastly, I can't stop like seeing these videos of all these people from all over the world that were told on the news that Americans are cruel, that we have a you know a horrible government system, and you're gonna go there and be hated by Americans, and these people don't want to go home. They're like, I love the people, I love the food. Uh the Europeans love the ranch dressing. Um, but that but they're falling in love with American culture, and they don't, they're like, we've been lied to. We've been lied to back home that America's the greatest place in the world. So I those are the three things that I've really enjoyed. You know, America, you know, the United States lost a tough game last night, but it's it's been an awesome experience.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah. There's been some uh fun music videos made of those highlights of people just singing the praises of of the US and just and loving it. So I think it's important for our country at this, you know, we celebrated the country's 250th anniversary, and um there is a there's some people who just want to tear the country apart from the inside and outside. But uh I think it's important for us to see. Yeah, we're not perfect, but boy, this is people would love to trade places with anybody that that's here that would like to go somewhere else, you know. I think that's important to remember.

SPEAKER_00 13:02

We throw we throw a great party. We really do. I throw a party like nobody else. Throw a great party. Us and Canada and and Mexico. I liked it that we, you know, it's our 250th anniversary, and I think the majority of the the the action is really in the United States, but it's North America doing this together, and I thought that was a I think that was a great a great sign for the world to see good cooperation between the nations and North America.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Yeah, one of the one of the songs I heard was the greatest, the greatest or longest sleepover ever, you know. The all these people from all over the world coming to spend a couple couple weeks or a month in in the United States.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

And the Scots went to Boston and drank all the Samuel Adams.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

That's that's my heritage there, the Scots. Yeah. Uh that's funny. Any any predictions? I don't I don't know enough to predict, but uh um just from what I've seen, uh I think I love Norway. I love that I think his name is Havland or Halland or something. I'd love to see like Norway and maybe um who's on the other side? I'm not a not a big fan of France. Um I'd love to see maybe Morocco uh surprise France and it'd be good to see some small country make it.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

My my mother said she was uh uh on the 4th of July, she said this. She goes, She guys, I'd like to see France win. And I said, why is that? And she said, because they helped us uh fight the English. That's what she said. So that was that was her that was her her her rationale um for that. Um England's fun, you know, Harry Kane's blast to watch. I love to see no, I love to see Norway make a big run. But I I guess you know, I don't know, I don't know, maybe a lot of people this way too. I love to see Messi go out with another world championship. Oh, yeah, and then just kind of settle the question is he the greatest of all time?

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Yeah, that's that's who I'm that's who I'm hanging my cleats on, is uh Argentina. Yeah, rooting for the boys. Uh we have some wonderful priests from Argentina that our family is really close with, that you you all are close with as well. And uh yeah, I'm rooting for the plus I think they got the coolest uniforms. I you know, behind Father Burke is our powder blue royals jersey, and I love the Argentinians, a powder blue, and white stripe. I think they're the best uniforms out there.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

And uh an update, they're playing right now, actually, as we're recording uh playing Egypt, they're actually down one to nothing 60 minutes into it.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

So uh could I change my prediction?

SPEAKER_02 15:40

We need Messi to uh we'll give updates before we uh finish the the podcast today. Um uh just a quick update on Wimbledon. You know, we interviewed Caroline. Uh she they she won her first uh doubles uh match and then lost the second one, first time back after a long injury. So she seemed upbeat. We were texting her afterward, and so she's coming back. I think she said to Rhode Island next week.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Next tournament, Rhode Island. Uh nice to have her stateside.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah, there's a couple Americans still going Coco Gulf. Uh is made it to the quarters, I think, or semis. And uh Taylor Fritz, Mike, didn't he? I did we meet him or he wasn't he working out at one of your neighbors' houses?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

Yeah, he he was at my good friend Chris Miller's house. He was staying at Chris's house and he he had a big tournament here in San Diego. Yeah, and now yeah, he's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 16:39

Yeah, so he's uh I think the last American male still still going. Um baseball, we've got the all-star break coming up. Uh we were looking at the rosters uh for the Catholic player, so Bobby Witt Jr. and uh Michael Walker, the two Royals guys, uh we know are Catholic. There might be other guys who are Catholic, but those are those are ones that we know of, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Yeah, that's right. Just a couple days ago, I was back in Kansas City uh for the Hall of Fame induction of another wonderful Catholic man, John Wathan. So Duke, uh they call him the Duke because he had a great impersonation of John Wayne, but his nickname was uh the Duke. And uh wonderful man went to St. Augustine High School here, played baseball at the University of San Diego, another Catholic college, and then he played 10 years in the major leagues and was a member of the Royals organization, I believe, for 50 years. And this was named in into the uh Royals Hall of Fame. But it was beautiful. We were in Kans City and we had a bunch of the players that come to Mass, and including Michael Walk and Bobby Witt Jr. So it's really cool because uh our good friend Bishop, um, Bishop Finn, when I was a member of the Kans City Royals back in 2005, we started having the Catholic Mass celebrated every Sunday at Kaufman Stadium. And now, you know, here we are 21 years later, and that that legacy is still being celebrated. And yeah, it was cool to be a part of it. We had gosh, we probably had 20, 25 people in in the room for Mass on Sunday, and a lot of the players' coaches. It's uh very humbling. Father Rocha, um, your classmate, he was talking about you actually, Father Burke. Yeah, um, he um he was talking about you during his homily, but he's the team chaplain, so it's really it's really beautiful. Yeah, good man. Yeah, beautiful to see these Catholic All-Stars, if that's what I was getting on uh in Ken City. Michael Walken, Bobby Witt Jr. being named another Major League All-Star game. Really cool.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

And Mike, I know you played in what five All-Star games. What would you share? What would you share with our listeners uh what that experience was like, maybe your first one, what that might have been like, and just being with the best of the best.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Yeah, well, you know, when you're a kid, you know, the fans are out there going, you know, what is it like to be a major leaguer? Um I just played the game because I loved it. You know, I I absolutely loved it. My dad uh gave up his dreams of playing Major League Baseball when my mom became pregnant with the the first of the eight children. Came home and he was on his way to the big leagues and said, ah, minor league salary is not gonna cut it. So he gave up his dreams so that we can have hours. But my dad taught me at a young age to fall in love with the game of baseball. So I never looked at his work, but you know, I loved getting in the cage. I loved working out, getting ground balls, playing catch. And uh when you make the major leagues, you never dream that you're gonna be an all-star. You're just like, I gotta fulfill my dream. Like I'm a major leaguer. And then once you're playing every day, you go, gosh, I want to continue to get better and play for that audience of one. But when you finally make your first all-star game, you're in the locker room and you you look around and it's Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez and Derek Jeter and you know, all the greatest guys in Major League Baseball, all these Hall of Famers, and and they're coming over talking to you saying, Man, what are you what's your thought process when you're hitting? Because you can swing it, man. You're you're hitting 360 at the all-star break. I'll never forget it. And how do you have 80-something ribbies at the all-star break? And I'm going, I I want to learn from you guys. I'm just off to a decent start. I I've had a couple, a couple good months in the big leagues. I didn't, I'm not, I don't even feel worthy to be an all-star. But yeah, I remember my first all-star game was very humbling. But, you know, playing in five of them, it was a time to really bring my family together. Um, it was a time that, you know, as a major league player, you can't do it alone. It's the support of your wife and children, your parents, all your coaches, and to really invite them to be a part of it. It's a it's a way to give back. But yeah, it's the most humbling thing is to look around that locker room and go, I'm one of the best players in the world. And it's it's really humbling. Can I tell you a quick story? Sure. Probably the funniest thing. So it's my first all-star game, and Ichiro, it was his first all-star game. He came over from the United uh from Japan, and Joe Torre gives this beautiful, beautiful, eloquent speech about, you know, out of all the people in the world, you 25 guys are 25 of the best players in on the planet. And he goes to, you know, take a look around, you know, and it's this, you could hear a pin drop. And he gets done and he says, All right, anybody have anything to add? And you you see Ichiro raise his arm, his hand, and he says, Uh, Ichiro, you got something to say? And he goes, Yes, let's go get their mother dinking, you know what? And the whole locker room just erupted. And uh no, no one knew Ichiro even spoke English, but to see his fire, and then it was awesome. And uh for the next four All-Star games, Joe Torrey or whoever the manager was, they knew that they had the microphone, but Ichiro always had the last word, and he'd always come up with something funny. Um, but yeah, those are the memories that no one no one really knows about. But when you're a major league all star, uh those are things you get to experience.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

That's fun. It's fun to fun to watch and see. Yeah. The I see as I say, the best of the best playing. But uh you kind of see uh the love of the game come out, you know? 'Cause it's yeah, there's usually something on the line. Uh they've changed that over the years whether you get home field advantage for the World Series. Is there anything on the line this year?

SPEAKER_01 22:22

Um there is there is some it does mean something. Yeah. I don't know what.

unknown 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Bishop Wall probably knows.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

All I know is that Egypt is up 2-0 right now. Oh, nice! Oh my goodness. Yep. Yep. Wow. It's a corner kick. Yeah, it's his lineup.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Egypt is before we pivot off the All-Star game. There is one story I think our listeners would really appreciate. So we're in Chicago playing in the 2003, I believe, All-Star game. And uh I always had good success against uh uh Marion Rivera. In fact, uh a sports writer told me when he retired, I had the most at bats ever against him without ever striking out. And I think I hit, I don't know, over close to 500 against him. He was just he was the best in baseball. And sometimes when you're facing the best, your your senses are elevated and you get this, you get the you get in the zone. And I always did well against him, but there was a mutual respect. And if the All-Star Game, we're in Chicago, and after the national anthem, Mariano sat down on the bench with me, and we just started talking about our love for Christ, the Holy Eucharist, um, our faith. And uh, next thing you know, it's it's the sixth inning, and we were just in this little church on the on the middle of the dugout, it uh was at Comiskey Field, Comiskey Park. And I hear Joe Torrey say, All right, sweeney, get a bat and get ready to hit Mariano. We got a one-run lead. Get your butt down in the bullpen and get ready to close this thing out. And I remember looking up, going, Oh man, it's a sixth inning. And probably, probably one of my most special memories in the all-star game. And uh, you know, every time I see Mariano, I just saw him last summer at Cooperstown uh for the Hall of Fame induction of Ichiro, who is one of my favorite teammates. And that's what we talked about on the golf course. He said, Hey, do you remember that all-star game? And you know, introducing me to his wife. He said, Oh man, I'll never forget that, and nor will I. So, probably my favorite all-star game memory. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

That's great. Yeah, he was cool, he is one of the best closers of all time. Uh that cut fastballs when he threw. Yeah, ball would just kind of one pitch. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

One pitch.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

You know it's coming and you still can't hit it, you know. Obviously, you did, but uh uh 99% of uh the batters he faced couldn't hit it.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Yeah, I told this when they when Mariano retired, the sports writer that gave me that stat, he was writing a book on Mariano and he he reached out and said, How did you have success against him? And and I shared a little bit about that. He wasn't tipping his pitches, everyone knew it was just a one-pitch thing. But uh I I had a line that made the book, and I said, You know, when when you're playing against the Yankees and it's the ninth inning, uh, I said, It's almost like watching a Friday the 13th movie when you hear you knew something was coming. I said, when you're at Yankee Stadium and you hear Enter Sandman by Metallica, you know that in about seven to eight minutes, you're gonna hear Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York, New York. Because Mariana's gonna come in, he's gonna throw that one pitch cutter, and within seven to eight minutes, most likely the Yankees are gonna be shaking hands to Frank Sinatra singing dun dun dun dun New York. And uh it made the buck, so yeah, that's that's pretty, pretty cool. That's fun.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

Yeah, he was he was dominant.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

He was.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Last thing I'd say in the sports and faith area. Uh we have our uh sports camps coming up in the diocese of Joliet. We've got hockey, we've got baseball and softball, pickleball, and am I missing one?

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Pickleballs made it this year, huh?

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yeah, we did it. They they combine with the baseball and softball. And uh yeah, so it's it's good. It's a smaller group, but they have mass with us, they eat lunch with us, we have speakers at lunch, and so these are camps that Mike started, and uh it's a great way to evangelize the the young people. So if anyone's listening and interested, it's catholicsportscamps.org. You can get more information um online. So let's uh let's dig into the scriptures. We've got uh one of the longest gospels of the year with the uh parable of the sower, uh 15th Sunday in ordinary time. So, Bishop, you want to kick us off?

SPEAKER_00 26:53

I'm being hassled by the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops right now. Um yeah, so we're gonna we're gonna um we move into this this section of of of scripture in Matthew's gospel where we're gonna get I think three weeks of of parables. So I think first of all, it's just talk, you know, talk about what a parable is. And I think you know one of the best things about a parable is um it's something that we'll never exhaust. You know, we it's we just teach us about the mystery of the kingdom of God, and it's something that we'll we'll never exhaust. So we can just keep going back and drinking from that wellspring and always discovering and and finding uh something new. So I think that's that's key for us to to know about what these the the parables will do for us, especially over the next few weeks. The best known parable comes from Luke's Gospel chapter 15. And uh like we have a fire alarm going off. There we go. I know I wasn't on fire with my preaching, so hopefully everything's okay there. Yeah, Father Burke's got us, he's got us muted right now. So um, yeah, so the the best known of all of them is probably uh Luke 15, where we have the the prodigal son. So here we have the the the the um the sower and the seed. And uh hopefully you're in a parish where you hear the reading in its entirety, there's an option to use a shorter version. I'm never a fan of that. I don't think we'd ever we should ever shortchange the word of God. And um because if you just hear the uh the beginning of it, you don't get our Lord explaining everything. And so um you you if you just hear the the first the beginning of it, all you all you get is just the the the man who sows, and it it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but then Jesus explains everything to his uh his followers. So if for some reason this weekend you just get the short version, go home and read the rest of it. Um so you know the the the easy thing to see about this is who's a sower. Jesus is a sower, and he's lavish in in what the the word that he sows amongst us. And it talks about the different ways in which it can fall on rocky soil, um, you know, like a footpath. Nobody would sow something on a footpath, uh, would sow it lands on uh rocky soil. Well, nobody would do it in rocky soil, or it lands in in good soil. And but it would just is it shows that Jesus is lavish with his word. He's not reckless, but he's lavish with his words, and he he just completely uh showers us with his word. And then in the explanation, it goes through and it shows us it ultimately what can happen with the word um if it lands on in good soil. So I would say first and foremost, we want to make sure that we are good soil, and we want to have hearts and ears that are open to to hear and to receive the word of God so that the word of God can take deep roots in our heart and it can it can produce much fruit. And the fruit that Jesus talks about in here, you know, what is it, 30, 50, 60? I can't remember the numbers exactly. But the the the fruit that he's talking about for a farmer, that would have been unheard of. And so again, it's just showing Jesus is lavish with his gift of his word to us, and and what is our response to that? To receive it to be good soil and to produce much fruit.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Yeah, they say they're the fire alarm. The reason people might be wondering, why didn't you run out of the room? Well, there's they're doing major construction on our school, and the alarms are going off every day. Um, you know, they get a little smoke or something, and the alarm goes off. So um if it got gone off a couple more seconds, I was gonna peek my head up, but they they shut it off.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

I thought you were feeling pretty confident and you were ready to go meet your maker. I just I'm good to go. Fully committed.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Full send. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Just thought about that the day the day that my mom passed away. We don't want that to not ready. Well, I'm ready, but I'm not ready. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Yes. I knew, and I knew, I think we both knew that they're doing construction there.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

So I guess yeah, people are wondering, like, why didn't he react? You know, that's that's why. So uh yeah, they say the average harvest at that time was about seven and a half times you know what you sow. And so Jesus is talking 30, 60, and 100.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

Um and that was the average, an average good harvest. There was a seven and a half or ten. That was a good harvest. That was unheard of. Those were yeah, really good harvests.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

Yeah. And it's you know, we were reading about uh from Dr. Brent Petrie, one of our favorites. Uh I love what he said it with every parable, there's a twist. And so when you see the twist, because we we've heard this parable many, many times. Um, it's easy just to turn it off and say, oh yeah, seed on da-da-da-da-da. Um, but if you think about, you know, if your seed is expensive, and it would have been at that time, you'd have been very careful about placing it in the soil, covering it up, watering it. But this sower knows it on, you know, on the path, in the thorns, on the rocky ground. And and so what he's saying is Jesus is so generous with with the word. It's just sowed, sown out there for us. And you know, which hearts are are good soil and which hearts are you know on the path, the rocky ground among the thorns. And I love to think about this. It's a great examination of conscience for us to say, you know, is is my soil fertile and am I bearing good fruit? Um, to think about the great saints, you know, of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, uh, Saint Dominic, Saint Benedict, who all started, you know, religious orders. Think about how many people their yes uh impacted over the centuries. And we may think, well, I'm not I'm no Saint Dominic or Saint Benedict, but our yes can have ripple effects through our current times, but also into the future.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

Uh Mother Teresa starts with a one, right? It starts with the one.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Yeah. Mother Teresa, John Paul II, um, Carlo Acudis, a teenager, um Saint Francis. Saint Francis, Saint uh Pierre Giorgio Frasati, right here behind me, one of our patron saints of this. So I think it's good for us to reflect on, you know, is my life bearing fruit? Um, and you know, the catechism talks about. I want to read this quote because I found it to be um very powerful. 2705. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly. So, do you have a desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower? So, what that what the church is telling us through the catechism here is if we're not reflecting and meditating on the word of God, then because the the word is the seed, right? Um, we're the rocky soil, we're the soil on in thorns, we're on the path. But if we avail ourselves, remember um Saint Jerome said the ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. I remember when I heard that it cut me to the heart because I was ignorant of scripture. And so now every day I try to meditate on the word of God and allow that seed of God's word to take root in my own heart so that it's not us that bears the fruit, it's God working in and through us. So um take that to prayer this week. Like, am I meditating on the word of God and am I bearing good fruit? Mike, what's on your heart?

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Yeah, well, Matthew uh chapter 13. I I really want to highlight, you know, I love uh Father Burke, you taught me a lot about Letiodivina, about digging into the scriptures and allowing yourself to enter into the atmosphere and who wrote it and what the context was. And I love at the beginning it says that Jesus left his house and was sitting by the sea, and many people came to gather around him, and he got out into a boat and then he spoke to the people. Um, our good friend, um, especially I know Bishop Wall is really close with Tom Booth. He is a um one of the greatest Christian Catholic sports, um, I almost said sports writers, uh, songwriters um of all time. And he just started a new ministry called Echo Harbor. And he said uh the reason he got it is from this nugget of scripture. He said that when Jesus got into the boat and the people were around on the sea, there was this big, huge granite wall behind. And that's why Jesus got there. It's almost like an amphitheater. When Jesus spoke, it echoed off and it it he didn't he didn't have a microphone, didn't have obviously speakers, but it's that echo harbor where Christ's word was magnified to the people. And what what did Christ talk about? He talked about this parable of the sower and the seed, and just a couple things that hit my heart. So, number one, the seed is is always the seed of God. And like Bishop Wall said, is we we have the ability as followers of Christ to examine our soil and to see if that seed is gonna bear fruit. And the thing that hit me is, you know, going back just a couple days at Mass, when we celebrated Mass this weekend, we talked about being yoked to Christ. We talked about it on the podcast last week. And when we take when we examine the soil of our hearts, are we being, are there big rocks and boulders or are there weeds in the soil of our heart? Do we need to go to confession? But if we're yoked to Christ, then we invite Christ to come through and toil that soil to remove the boulders, remove the weeds, so that our soil, our hearts, are prepared to receive the seed of Christ and that we can go out and bear fruit, not just seven and a half, but 30, 60, 100 fold. So just really cool, just another invitation to kind of, you know, like when you're driving a car, you peek in the rear view mirror. We're in Matthew 13 this week. Um, last week we were in Matthew chapter 11, the end of Matthew chapter 11. So to peek in the rear view mirror and remember what it means to be yoked to Christ, but today we're focused on where we're at is the parable of the sower and the seed, and and to be excited about where we're going uh towards eternal life. So that's kind of my thoughts, you know, just to allow ourselves to sit with Christ and for him to speak into that echo harbor, into our hearts, to allow us to remind ourselves of last weekend's challenge to be yoked to Christ, and then to really ask God to make our soil the most beautiful, grace-filled soil. And like you guys said, it only can be done through Christ. We we can't do it on our own. So those are just a few thoughts from a a broken-down layman. Uh, excited to be home with uh with my wife and children back in San Diego.

SPEAKER_00 38:15

That's great. I love that, Mike. Thank you. Thank you, Bishop. Yeah, I like that. Uh looking looking back, look at and uh where we were, where we are, where we're going. I like that. I was I was looking at, you know, it's a short reading in the the very first reading from Isaiah, and it just goes right along with this. I'll just read it again just because or read it out because I think it's so important. It says, Thus says the Lord, just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows, and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for it for which I sent it. I love that one little line. My word shall not return to me void. That's that's God's word right there, and that's and it goes it goes right along with this scripture passage and I think everything that we're we're talking about here. And allowing the word of God is to those who have ears ought to hear, right? So to hear the word and to allow it to take root in our hearts. I think it's it's really important.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

And he talked about that it's kind of a Eucharistic um uh tone there in that first reading. Giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, like that uh that seed becomes wheat, and you make bread, and then that's the bread that we offer at Mass. That how the word of God goes out, and you know, Jesus says, you know, He is the Word. I am, you know, uh unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. The Eucharistic uh theme there. So um I'm reading a good book right now called The Stations of the Eucharist. And it's uh each of the 14 stations is um different Old Testament and New Testament readings on these, you know, kind of prefigurements of the Eucharist, which I'm I'm only in station two, but uh I'll report back on more as I go through it. But it was highly recommended for me to read it and uh off to a good start.

SPEAKER_01 40:30

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

And uh by the way, Argentina scored in the 79th and 83rd minute tie-up. Yeah! So they scored within four minutes uh two goals. Messi tied it up. So uh we're we're in the 85th minute 2-2 as we speak.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Man, Father Berg, maybe one of your parishioners yanked the fire alarm when Argentina uh scored their second goal. It could be.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

I know we have some fans here, and one of our good friends, uh, she's uh uh Colombian uh Yoshiko. She's uh a great great person. Her mom is Colombian, her father's from Japan. Uh so her name is Yoshiko, and so she she was at the uh uh Columbia match last week. It might have been playing Kansas City, Kansas City, yeah. Kansas City, yeah. She drove down there with her brother.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

And so so was Suzanne, or who who helps us with our podcast, Suzanne Hammonds, or my my communication director. Love it. Uh her family's from Kansas City, so she went to it too. And she was sending me pictures. They were it was there, who were they? They were playing, were they playing who were they playing? They played uh Congo. She's I think she said it was 90% yellow jerseys everywhere. Every time the other team got the ball, they just whistled and jeered.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

Maybe Suzanne could up upload a couple pictures for our our listeners to check out. Yeah, we can really cool.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

Well, I think that's a wrap, guys. Uh great conversation and uh um lots to lots lots to chew on with scripture and lots of sports to watch.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

So Bishop, can I you know I'll just throw in out there too, um, because as he as he came by and hassled me a little earlier, Archbishop Coakley. Um he's already committed to be our guest, as well as Bishop uh Jim Conley, um, when when uh we are on vacation. Poland. So when we're gonna be hiking up in Poland. So we've already we've got those guys committed uh to us. So I'll bring my camera lens that does the whole 180. Love it. So we can all sit together at a table. It'd be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 42:41

That'd be awesome. Yeah, we'll have to work out the times mic with you. Four of us in uh Poland and one maybe in in San Diego.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

All right, Bishop, we close this.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Uh closed? Sure. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Well, St. J 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. 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 oppose 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 beside Mary, send God's blessing down upon us all. Amen. Amen. The Lord be with you. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

Thanks, Bishop. Uh, thanks for listening and watching. Please put your comments. We will promise to read those and respond if uh necessary. Please like, subscribe, and share this podcast with at least one person today that you think might benefit from it. And as St. 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.