From Exit Velocity to Eternal Victory

Catching up on the World Cup and baseball, and a look at the upcoming parables of the mustard seed, weeds, and leavened bread.

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

No Chefe. Welcome everyone to episode 41 of Versto El Alto, our Faith and Sports podcast. My name is Father Burkmasters, pastor at St. Isaac Jokes Church in Hinsdale, Illinois, and Catholic chaplain to the Chicago Coast.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

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

SPEAKER_01 0:26

And Mike Sweeney, former Major League Ball player, proud husband, proud father, proud Catholic, back home in San Diego, California.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Great to be with you guys once again. And before we dig into the sports aspect, let's begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the 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. Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, brothers. We've got uh World Cup, we've got baseball, we've got a little bit of tennis, there's a lot of other things going on, but we're going to focus on those three. But uh anything big happened this week uh that you want to share with our listeners?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

I had a great day yesterday. I was I was at the the parish in Hauk, uh which is just located off the Navajo um reservation. Uh St. John the Evangelist, beautiful little parish. It was built by St. Catherine Drexel. And um I had three young people, Tania, uh Logan, and Carlos, who um made the made the effort on their own to get their sacraments, the sacraments of uh uh confirmation and first holy communion. It was a great day. Great day. We'll get uh Susanna to post a picture of them. But they were these these uh young people were on fire. One's ten years old, and the other two, the the old to Tanaya and I think Logan are going into ninth grade. It's great to see young people uh pursuing their faith the way that these three did. I see.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Yeah, that's that's awesome. Um and for me, I I just had a beautiful Sunday. Sometimes we take for granted being in our own home parish. I've been traveling the last few weeks, so it was a blessing to be home in our home parish. We have a beautiful um high mass and uh at 9 a.m. and I I love it. I call it the smells and bells. It's it's really, really special. And uh, but the the highlight is uh I've I've had these young boys that I've mentored uh that have been going to mass with us. They're 17-year-old young boys, they don't they don't have their parents coming with them, and they come and sit with us almost every Sunday. So I looked over at the pew, we had our family lined up, and these two 17-year-old boys were there, and I was just like super cool to see my kids being disciple makers, inviting their friends to mass. So yeah, it was just a really it was a normal Sunday, but a special Sunday being home.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

I you know, I remember meeting a young man who was about that age, and uh he he was getting involved in his Catholic faith through his friends, but uh very, very involved. He's a priest now. But through his involvement, it got his parents involved, and his parents are on fire for the faith now. But they were they were away from the church. His involvement in the church uh uh really lit a spark in his in his own parents. So hopefully that happens with these young men.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

That's awesome. How about you, Father Berg?

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Yeah, I would say uh like you were saying, Mike, just I was just reflecting on this weekend. It was nothing uh out of the ordinary except Jesus is always extraordinary, you know. And just great to be with uh the parishioners and the flock. And yeah, there's I've been here now four years, and there's just such a a comfort level and a joy is that we build this culture of you know evangelization, and I want people to feel like this this church is their second home. And people tell me that they feel like I come here and this is this is where my friends are, it's where I can worship God, and just uh and they don't want to leave afterward, which is fun. Everybody's outside talking, and um, as a in a father's heart, I just love to see the family gather together in that way, so yeah, it was a good week.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

It's awesome. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes as Catholics, we may think, oh, it's just just another mass, but when we when we really think about it, every mass a miracle happens. I was reading, I'm doing this Sweeney Patriarchs Bible study with like three or four generations in our family. Um, we have my dad, I think I told you guys in the past, and it's just permeating throughout the whole family. Uh, my brother Timmy's been reading it now every day with all of his kids, and it's just super cool. But yesterday before Mass was our chapter was Mark chapter 14. And Father Burke, you taught me about Lexio Divina. And I was reading through Mark 14, and I just I just stopped at the verse. I I I think it's verse maybe 20. Anyways, where where Jesus just simply says, This is my body. He took bread, broke it, and said, This is my body. And I read that over five times, six times, and I just it brought tears to my eyes. And at mass, it's I'm like, Lord, that really is your body. Like, and it's not ordinary. Like, this is it's a miracle. And sometimes we just kind of go through the motions. It's like, here we are at mass on a Wednesday morning, but no, like there's 58 people there. Well, at Father Burke's church on Wednesday morning, there's like 240 people, but uh, but like it's a miracle, and I share that with my family, my patriarchs and our family. I'm like, Jesus said it, the the church has taught it for 2,000 years, and it's a reality that takes place every time we go to mass. This is the body of Jesus, and he's given it given it to us um for our spiritual food to get to heaven and be saints. So, yeah, sometimes the just an ordinary is is much more than ordinary.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Yeah, yeah, it came from the lips of our Lord. How do you argue with that? How do you argue with that or move off of that too? Came from the lips of our Lord.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Everything he says happens because he is.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

And for our listeners, Mark, Mark 14, verse 22, for our listeners out there.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Yeah, I found myself, I wasn't planning on saying it in a couple of the masses this weekend. I brought up Scott Hahn, you know, and uh he went to Mass to prove it was the worst thing created by man as a Presbyterian minister and a scripture scholar. And then when he got there, it was like a Tuesday morning mass. He's like, that's from you know, Zechariah, that's from Isaiah, that's from Matthew, that's from the book of Revelation. And brought him into the church because he realized how scriptural the Mass is. And and the first readings this week have been a lot about, you know, God doesn't want our just our external ritual sacrifices, he wants our hearts. So it meaning the Mass is beautiful, but don't just go through the motions, give me your heart as well. And uh, if we truly understand what's happening at the Mass and know that, wow, God is God gave his son for me, and this is an opportunity to worship him. And wow, it changes the way we we celebrate the mass. And so that soil of our heart, is it prepared to, you know, we we shouldn't go to Mass just to be entertained, you know, with good music and a good homily. We we want to have those things, yeah. But is my heart ready to for God, God's word to take root in it, and Jesus is that word, you know. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Remember when when uh you know Dr. Hahn was saying, he always talks about connecting the dots. That's why I like how he says those things. And he said when he went to that first and snuck into the back of that first mass, I think, paraphrasing here, you know, when he heard the word behold the Lamb of God, that was a connection of all the dots. It all it all it all kind of came to fruition for him. Yeah, he's a he's an amazing man, great disciple.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yeah, and just to put a cherry on that or a bow on top, the I have a buddy of mine that just came into the church, he's in our men's Bible study group. Um he moved to New York under Timothy Keller, who's a Protestant pastor. He was gonna um like plan a church there, he was gonna be a Protestant pastor, and he started reading The Church Fathers, and he had a he's making a movie called The Abbey, and it's all based on the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. And he talked about, he said, you know, I was reading The Church Fathers and someone I would be mentored by a Catholic, and he goes, Everybody in my Protestant world turned on me. My friends disowned me, fam, family members. But he said, I'll never forget going to my first Catholic Mass. He said, I went to some church in New York. He said it was a Wednesday night. There were there were like 14 people in there, and he said the homily was horrible, uh, the music was terrible. And he said, he said, but he goes, when that when that Eucharistic host was raised, he said, I knew that was Jesus Christ. And he said, My life was never the same. And that's that's what when he began his journey into the church, and now he's making a movie that's gonna be on the big screen and hopefully in about a year, year and a half, about basically his story, but he wants his story to be known to the world and the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. So really, really, really cool. That's awesome. The Abbey. The Abbey. Nice. This is my body, right? What'd you say, Bishop? About Jesus, what'd you say?

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Jesus spoke it? Yeah, Jesus spoke it. It came from the lips of our Lord. It has to be true. Yeah. I I don't know how you argue with that. I know people do, but I mean it goes back to our Lord. He said it. He said, you know, do this in memory of me. In memory, in the scriptural sense, of the time of our Lord, that He's using it, means to make truly present. Doesn't mean like I'm thinking about what I had for dinner last week, and then all of a sudden that meals here. It means to truly make present. And uh that's that's from Jesus Himself. I love it with um just talking a little bit about the church fathers and everything. I mean, look at somebody like uh uh John Henry Newman, doctor of the church, saint of the church, and you know, he was setting out to kind of find a middle way, you know, between Protestants and between the Church of Rome. And what he did was he studied himself right into the church. And um yeah, he was he was sneeped in history, so he he uh he he came into the church. Yeah. Sorry, Burke, I was cut you off there.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

No, I was just gonna say for me, you know, I'm one of those people that the Eucharist brought me into the church. I love John chapter six, where you know Jesus is saying, four times, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. And people today who say that was just a symbol, if it were just a symbol, when everybody started to leave Jesus because they're thinking he's talking about cannibalism, what he did not say was most important. He didn't say, Come on back, everybody, it's just a symbol. I'm just speaking metaphorically. No, he let them walk away. And he looked at the twelve who were remaining, and he said, Well, you lead me too. In other words, I know how difficult this is to understand, but do you trust me? And Peter spoke up, the first Pope said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of everlasting life. And Peter didn't say, I understand the theology of transubstantiation, but he said, I trust you, and if you say this, Lord, I believe. And uh that's what the Lord invites us all to believe. He knew how important the Eucharist was going to be. You know, when he was gonna ascend to heaven, that would be his you know presence here along with the Holy Spirit. And so uh for me that what he did not say was uh convincing evidence of what he meant the Eucharist to be.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Yeah, think about he he takes um so he's in in John 6, he's really preparing their hearts and their minds to receive what happens at the Last Supper. So I mean I didn't happen, so I don't know, but can you imagine had he not prepared them in John 6 at the Last Supper, perhaps there might have been, you know, some go away and things like that. But Jesus had already prepared their hearts and their minds with his central teaching in the bread of life discourse. And so when he says that, right, take and eat, this is my body, take and eat, drink, this is my blood, they're they are they're connecting the dots. They're they're going back to these central teachings of Jesus, and then as as Saint Peter uh replied to, to whom else shall we go?

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Amen. I love it. Yeah, yeah, I love it. Yeah, uh Bishop said that Jesus spoke it, and if anyone wants to read a really good book, I'm going through it on a on a study with a few men in our men's group, and it's called The Early Church Fathers by Word on Fire. Uh Bishop Barron does a great reflection, and it's a collection of all the early church fathers, and these were the disciples of the disciples or the apostles of the apostles. There, you know, Saint Peter and St. John the Evangelist discipled these wonderful church fathers. I've always heard about them, right? Oh, I read up, I read up on the church fathers, and I kept going, like, how come I've never read up on them? Like, where do you get them? And just about a couple months ago, we dug into it and it's blown my mind. I I can't stop thinking about it. Um, and it's solidified my Catholic faith, knowing, you know, it's I'm reading up on St. Ignatius of Antioch, and it's he's talking about the beauty of the true presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, the structure of the early church, especially with the bishops. And I've and Bishop Wall, I I hope you know how much you mean to me. But I'm reading up and I'm and I'm praying for you, going, he's a successor of Peter, and he's a successor of all these early disciples and the early bishops that made up the structure. It was it was intentional of our church. And uh even my wife has said, what a blessing. We're on number 42 or 40 something of our podcast. What a blessing it is to be friends with you and to be on this podcast with you and Father Burke. But it's humbling. Like, gosh, 2,000 years ago, Christ established his church and put the structure in place, and now we're seeing the fruit of it on this podcast and being a part of it with you. It's is it mind-blowing to you to be a successor?

SPEAKER_00 15:12

You know that these so when you're early church, I was named a bishop what a little over about 17 and a half years ago. And um, the first time somebody you hear somebody, you know it, but the first time somebody says, Oh, you're a successor of the apostles, it's a bit overwhelming and it's humbling. And um and uh and so yeah, so that was that was that was the very first time I heard that. I thought, oh my, oh my goodness, I guess I I guess they're right. And uh so you you're you're connected with that. You can you can go online. I've done this, I can't remember how far back I can get, but you can you can follow back your apostolic succession. And um you can look at online. And and uh I was I was uh my principal consecrator was Archbishop Michael Sheehan, God bless God rest his soul. So mine goes mine goes through him. And I think I might have a blessed somewhere in line. I don't have a saint, but I think I might have a blessed. Some guys have some pretty impressive uh kind of uh lineage to go through. But we all we all go back to Jesus, right? When he when he with the uh first apostles, yeah, it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

So it's like twenty twenty twenty-three of me for bishops, yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Everybody wants to know their genealogy, but what a what a cool spiritual genealogy that is, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's amazing. So beautiful. Well, uh shifting gears a little bit. Uh we could talk when we'll bring the Eucharist in, I'm sure many more shows, but uh um we had in in sports uh World Cup, we're down to the final four last week while we were recording. Argentina was down 2-0, looked like they were done to Egypt, and uh they came back in one, and now they're in the final four.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Like 15 minutes, they scored three goals. Yeah. And and I think the tape will prove it. I think you guys were saying Argentina's done. I'm like, no, they're gonna come back.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Bishop Wall said, Call your bookie in Vegas. We got this. Argentina's gonna win. Just like just like when Bishop Wall ended the strike or the lockout of Major League Baseball when we celebrated mass in the lock in the locker room with the Kansas City Royals, Bobby Witt Jr. and Walter Pendington were there. In the same way, Bishop Wall called the shot of Argentina. Come call. So the uh like Babe Ruth. That's funny.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

I know there's a controversial call. They called off one of uh Egypt's goals, and I I haven't seen it honestly, but uh, you know, it is what it is, and um, so the top four seeds in the in the tournament have made it. So I think France is number one, they're playing number three Spain, and then number two Argentina is playing number four England. So um the kind of the blue blood. I was thinking my dad would always say the cream rises to the top, and uh these seem to be the best four teams, and it should be a fun uh final week here.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

I'm rooting for root for Spain. I I like Spain, you know. If somebody asked me this when we were in Lourdes, they said if you live in any country other than where you live now, where would you live? And I just it didn't take very long. I said Spain. I like Spain, I I like the people. Been there a bunch of times walking on the Camino, and uh yeah, I love the food, and uh yeah, so I I I think I think Spain, I'm rooting for, but boy, um France is tough. Yeah, so see. Um and then I can go either way on the next one. I'd love to see England break their their drought, because I think I think Spain, Argentina, and France are the last three winners, and and England's got like a 60-year drought. I would love to see England um break their drought, but I would also love to see uh Messi get another one and go out as the greatest of all time. I like it.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

How about you, Father Burke? I naturally tend toward the underdogs in sports. If I don't have a big favorite, so I'm I'm sure I'm gonna be kind of pulling for England and Spain, but if I were a betting man, I probably would pick uh France and Argentina. Um uh yeah, so that's that's what I'm gonna I'm pulling for Spain and and England. Would love, like Bishop said, I'd love to see England uh gonna be be a big upset. I'm sure they would enjoy doing it on the 250th anniversary of in the United States, you know. Um they gotta get something back from that big walk. Exactly. But it is fun. I do love I do love watching the greats and messy and and Bappe. Is that how you say his name from France? Uh that would be a powerful matchup.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Mike. Yeah, and I'll be I'll be rooting for Argentina. Uh I I shared with you guys what a joy it was back in Kansas City to bless a couple of our Argentinian Catholic priests with tickets to the first game of FIFA, and you know, every game they're sending pictures, and it's super cool. And I have a brother-in-law from Argentina, so we went over his house and it was hilarious. We had maybe 40 or 50 people in his house, and he had it cranking on his native language in Spanish. And I guess, I guess when there was an announcer that went viral when Argentina Argentina scored their third bowl, and he was going, he was going and it was for 30 seconds, and then he started crying. So when when we when we were in his house, it was cranked up in Spanish. I could hear I could understand about 40% of the words, and it was cranking, and I guess it's kind of like St. Patrick's Day. Every day, everyone's Irish on St. Patty's Day, everyone was Argentinian in that house, listening to the game in Spanish. It was great. So I'm I'm rooting for my priests and uh and my brother-in-law and the wonderful people.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Father Burke and I were watching what game? We were watching the second game on Saturday night, whatever that one was. That was the Argentinian game, right? And we're watching it, and he's watching it with in Spanish language, and I'm watching it English language, and these guys would just go, messy, this. They just kind of they'd say who the ball was going to. Yeah. In Spanish, they're like in this person and that person. Just passing the ball back and forth.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Every pass was dramatic, you know, and just a little pass in midfield, and then maybe uh, you know, the difference was uh striking. Uh but yeah, when they when they scored the goals, I mean the guys, it was just as you said, about two minutes of goal. Uh just uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Go Yeah, who knows? Maybe we'll get some comments from some of our listeners this week on Wednesday. Uh Argentina's playing England. Maybe they'll flip over and watch it in Spanish. Yeah, a little more little more spice than the chill.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Yes, I did that with I can't remember what match I was doing. I watched it with that and it it uh yeah it's pretty exciting.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

But the the English ones are pedestrian with the English two Spanish speaking countries left and and then three European countries and one from South America, so it'd be interesting to see. Um switching over to probably our well, we have we have a lot of passions, but our baseball. We're at the all-star break, so by the time this podcast comes out, the home run derby and the all-star game will be finished, but we're recording this on Monday morning before it happens. Um you know, I was I was thinking about you know the surprises maybe of the the first half of the season so far, and I know here in Hinsdale, I mean, it's split between Cubs and Sox. The Chicago White Sox are leading their division after two really tough years. I think that's a huge surprise for everybody. And then Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, these two small market teams, they just keep winning. I'm like, how do they do this? Uh they seem to lose all of their stars when they can't pay them, and they just backfill them with other young, you know, great players. And uh they both both the teams are leading their divisions, uh, probably against most of the prognosticators. So, how about you guys? Uh what do you anything on the first half of the the season?

SPEAKER_00 23:32

I I I just like what you mentioned in there, those small market clubs. I don't think there's really a true small market, but they um I think it's really good for baseball that these uh these clubs, you know, not the kind of the the really, you know, the New York or Los Angeles or Boston or some of these places. I think it's really healthy. Uh although Chicago, um I'm gonna say something controversial. Uh Chicago, I think sometimes they see themselves as a small market. They're anything but a small market, they're humongous. No, that's I think sometimes sometimes they act like they're a small market. That's not controversial here.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

That's the common thought here in Chicago. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Well, I know I'm not a I'm not a local, so I'd had to I had to tread lightly when I when I when I said that. But I I think um I think it's kind of interesting. Four years ago, Argentina won the World Cup. We had an Argentinian Pope. Uh this year we have an American Pope, and I think it was a it is it was a little too much to ask for a victory in soccer. So his his hometown team is in is playing really well. So there you go. I think that's what that's what's happening. And my Diamondbacks are just two games over. I had to mention this, two games over 500 after sweeping the Dodgers in LA. Uh first time since 2017, when JD Martinez hit four home runs when he was in a game. So but uh who's keeping track, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yeah, I was looking at those standings seeing the Dodgers at the uh still the best record in baseball after getting swept by the Bishop Walls D-Backs. But you know, even Milwaukee, I really am fascinated by Milwaukee. They, you know, Craig Council, their you know respected manager, goes off to you know, manage for the Cubs, and they just keep restocking and they produce good ball players. And they, you know, I think the second their second or third best record in all of baseball. So yeah, it gives the small market team some hope. And um as a as a ball player, you know, this was a really cool time of the year. Um, five times I was able to play in all-star games, so that was a really cool experience to sit in that locker room with the best in the world. But also, you know, people don't realize in Major League Baseball, you're in spring training for about six weeks and you get one off day. So you get you play 41 days out of 42. And um and then you go into the season and you play 162 games in 180 days. So you're playing, it's it's a lot of baseball. It's you know, two basically a little more than 200 days, you're getting just very few off days, maybe nine off days, and and and as you're it's rigorous, it's beating your body up. So sometimes when you're not playing an all-star game, you go home for a few days, you can relax, um, flop pop on the uh the barbecue and watch the home run derby. It's not a bad thing. But yeah, this time of the year, it's always it's always a good time for a major league ball player. Whether you're in the all-star game or you're at home with family. He's gonna win the home run derby. I'm saying my boy Caglione. He he's uh he's got probably some of the most raw power in baseball. He he consistently hits balls at exit velocity 115 to even even over 120 miles an hour. Big strong kid. He's starting to find his way. I think he's got 16 home runs, and um he's got some raw power. So I'm I know I know Father Burke's probably gonna be going for two of his Phillies, but I got I got big kags. Harper's and Schwarber.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

So teammates. Harper and Schwarber.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Yeah, I in Philly. I'd love to see Harper win it. I just for some reason I like I like both these those guys, you know, both of both the Phillies, but I'd love to see Harper do it. You know, he's had so many injuries and is always battling back and stuff like that. Be kind of cool, be good for baseball. Schwarber would be great too. He's always he always does well in this, doesn't he? In the home room derby.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

And you know, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

There's uh there's some last year or a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

Some guys it seems to mess up their their swing and they they have a tough second half. Schwarber, it doesn't seem to bother. He just has that compact stroke, and he sometimes he gets even hotter in the second half. So uh yeah, I'm gonna go with Schwarber. Uh gotta go with uh my guy who was here, got to know him when he was with the Cubs and just a great, great guy. Um so it should be fun to watch. And I like one last thing before we get into the scriptures. We're talking about you know, exit velocity from Caglione, uh, who by the way was a standout pitcher at the University of Florida, also. Any talk of him pitching in the major leagues or is he done pitching?

SPEAKER_01 28:24

Well, the the if he keeps hitting the way he has, you know, he hasn't pitched a whole bunch the last few years, so they don't want him to blow out a UCL, a Tommy John's surgery out for a year. So as of right now, they're focusing on him just on hitting, playing right right field and first base. But yeah, he was up to 97 miles an hour from the left side at University of Florida, so he's he still hasn't been.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

On that note, I was watching uh some of the Wimbledon finals. Uh, this would have been yesterday on Sunday. Um Yannick Sinner, I think his name. What a what a name, right? His last name is Sinner. Number one player in the world. He was playing uh a man named Sverev, and his average first serve speed was 134 miles per hour. Bishop looked it up. The average uh first serve speed on the tour is between 115 and 125. You know, I faced close to 100 miles an hour. I'm sure Mike, you have too, and that's pretty darn fast. I was trying to imagine hitting a tennis ball coming 134 miles an hour with spin and you know, taking hops off of the ground. And um, it's impressive that you can even return that with any kind of you know velocity. So, and and center beat him, you know, so uh it was it was fun to watch just kind of this power game. But um, I don't know if you guys had a chance to see any of that.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

I I I remember hearing one thing about like one of the when we had some some of the American greats, Andre Agassi, you know, that was a kind of a golden time for us. But they're I was watching a program with him, and one of his things that he did was the way that he took the way that he took serves. He took them almost a little early than other people. It's just an amazing res uh returner. Because you know, if not, it's just serve volley, boom, boom, boom, you know. But um there's some people out there defensively that know how to take those things, those first serves, and and uh hit them back for a winner. Maybe that's what Sinner did. Sinner the winner. Maybe sure nobody I'm gonna. I'm sure nobody said that before.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

And and for me, uh, when I think about tennis, yeah, you know, I faced, I think the hardest guy I faced was my last major league at bat, a roll just chapman throwing 103, 104 miles an hour. And I knew the ball had to come over a plate that was in front of me. But as a tennis player, you don't know if it's gonna be on your left or right side. So that's like imagine being a switch hitter saying, I don't know if it's gonna be on this plate or over this plate, but I gotta be able to hit both. It's incredible. Maybe next time we have Caroline on, we could ask her if she could hit this. Yeah, that's so true.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

If they could go, you know, right down the middle, or or they you know, they have that serve that takes them all the way off the court, you know, and it's uh it's impressive athleticism. I that's the beauty of sports, I think, is watching all the different sports, the different athletic abilities that people have, uh, you know, is uh it's fun to watch. And I think that's what's so attractive about you know sports in general. It's it's really a way to glorify God with um the gifts and talents people have been given.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

And so yeah, all that I am, all that I have, and all I'm able to do is a gift from God. And so, how am I gonna be a good steward of those gifts? Am I gonna use it to glorify myself or am I gonna use it to give praise and glory to God? I think it's always powerful when you see some of these guys, they stick a microphone in their face. I always think about Kurt Warner, who was famous for this. They put a mic in front of their face, very first thing, they they just give everything to God, and I think that's that's a good steward. That's the way to go about things.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Yeah, Bishop Wall, what what was that quote you had? All that I am, all that I have, and all that I'm able to do.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Uh hopefully, I hope I'm a saint, but it's just kind of a mindset of a steward. All that I am, all that I have, and all that I'm able to do, these are all gifts from God, and so I want to be a good steward of those gifts. I want to use them in order to uh you know build up the kingdom, right? And give glory glory to God.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

I like that copyright that for somebody else to make some money on it.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

At your canonization, I'll uh at your canonization, I'll be selling t-shirts. I need a good I need a good copyright boy.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

I've got all these things come becoming.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

All the saints usually have some kind of quote that they're known for, you know. Uh I was quoting St. Teresa Babila this weekend. Let nothing disturb you. I I can't remember it offhand now, but it's a beauty of the bot, just not being anxious about anything, God alone suffices. Uh so that'll be under St. James Wall uh and his quotes. Well, that's a good transition. Uh I love that. Yes. Transition into scriptures. This weekend, gonna be the 16th Sunday in ordinary time. We uh we had a parable this past weekend. We're more parables coming up in the gospel now. So, Bishop uh start us off.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Yeah, that's where we're in. We're in in Matthew's gospel. The this this whole section is is is on the parables. And so, you know, thinking about the parables, we can um we can never exhaust the parables. Um they're they're a teaching mechanism that allows us to go deeper and deeper every time we we go back to it. Again, I always say that the most famous of all of them is probably the prodigal son. And you think about that one every time you read it, there's something new. You identify with somebody in there a little more than than others, and it just keeps you keep you can go back and back and back and keep drinking from that wellspring of the parable from from scripture. So we've got these last week, this week, and we're gonna have next week uh is parables. And the parable is also a bit of a puzzle. There's always a surprise in it, and uh this week we can really see the surprise and um you know, or a riddle. We kind of unlock the riddle and we understand it a little better. So this week um Jesus is gonna say he's talking about what the kingdom of heaven is, and he's he's gonna give us three things. And he's the first one he's gonna give us about uh a man who sows um good seed in his field. And then the strange thing is, is when everyone's asleep, somebody, an enemy, comes in and sows uh weed among these things. And um you're thinking, what that's that's pretty odd. And um and so the question is, well, what sh what shall we do with this? So we you know we should we knock it down? Nope. Leave it together, allow it to grow, and then we're gonna have a harvest at the end where it will be separated out. Think about Matthew 25, because it's gonna be a little later. This is Matthew 13. Matthew 25, we hear about uh the uh uh sheep and the goats, right? To to quote uh uh the band cake, you know, uh sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell. And so there is there are consequences to our actions. And so that's it's kind of what our one of the things that our Lord is um is is looking at this. The next one, very well known to is the mustard seed, which is the smallest of it. So that the the mustard seed it it really grows into a bush, a very, very large bush, as opposed to a tree. And I was listening to Dr. Petrie talk about this, and he gave it he gave an example of something that's very familiar to us out in the southwest and the west. He said it's like a like a uh tumbleweed. And we know what tumbleweeds aren't very pleasant or very pretty, and especially when you're driving down the I-40 and they're rolling across in front of you. Um, but he you know he's he's given this example of that. And I and I think one of the things that they're they're getting at when Jesus uses the example of the mustard seed, which is very small and it grows into this big bush. Um what he's getting at is um you know, sometimes the life that we live or the world that we live in isn't necessarily pretty. But you know, that still there's some there's some amazing things that can happen. And we have this tiny little thing, and it grows into this big bush. And then the next one he moves into leaven. Uh the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat, uh flour until the whole batch was leavened. And I think the other the the kind of the little surprise or the twist in this is you know the leaven was considered unclean, right? They they use unleavened bread. And um, and so it's it's a bit of a twist that they would mix the leaven in and with this this flour, so it would be seen as kind of unclean. Um, but we see what what can happen, how it how it uh arises and it produces a lot of good things. So I think for me, um I say this a lot too, but for me, you know, to live our lives in the midst of a lot of difficulty and a lot of trial, and you look around a lot of evil. I mean, there you you read the paper, you look on the internet, things like that, you got wars going on, you have murder taking place, and all these different things. We want to make sure in order to build up the kingdom that we want to make sure that we're we're staying in the right path, which is in the footsteps of Christ. And um, at the end of the time, the Lord will be the one that will will separate them out, right? We want to be counted amongst the sheep, right? Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell, to quote quote cake. And um, so that's kind of just uh an overall um uh look at the at the gospel for this weekend.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

Might be the first time cake has been quoted in uh in any kind of podcast or homily about faith. I love that um yeah, the I love this this first parable, the the wheat and the weeds. Uh to me, it gives such hope because I know sometimes we can get scandalized when there's uh bad things that have happened in the church. And um, I think Jesus is trying to say there's gonna be evil everywhere, and do not let it scandalize you. I'm in charge. He's like, let it all grow together. At the end, I'll be the judge. And you know, if you pull up the weeds, you might pull up some of the wheat as well. And so I think it speaks to God's um permissive will. Like God allows things to happen, but he can always bring good out of even the worst circumstances. So, even like some of the scandal that the church has been through, God's gonna bring good out of it. And uh, he doesn't want it to happen, of course, but he allows it to happen for some greater good. And so um, you know, evil is parasitic on the good. And uh, if you go back to the the early church, the the first apostles, you know, Judas allowed the evil one, he was a first-round draft pick, if you will, and he allowed the evil one uh into his heart, and we see that he, you know, um, you know, turned betrayed Jesus, and God allowed that to happen, but what happened from it was, you know, Jesus's passion, death, and resurrection that brought about the salvation of the world. The the you know, James and John were fighting over who's the greatest, and you know, Peter denied Christ, and Thomas is doubting, and so there's always going to be the enemy's always gonna be there trying to tempt us, um, especially those who are you know in leadership positions, uh even leaders of families, because if he can get one, you know, he can get a lot of people after him. So don't let it scandalize you. It doesn't mean we condone it, it doesn't mean we accept it, but know that God can bring something good out of it. You know, I think of as a pastor, difficult things that have happened in our parish, um, just trusting, okay, God's ultimate goal is that we are with him for eternity, salvation. And so I think part of that is why he allows the wheat, the weeds to stay with the wheat, because he wants the weeds to to repent and be converted, you know. You don't want to pull them too soon, otherwise they don't have a chance to. That's why we're we're against the death penalty if it can be prevented at all costs, because who knows what God can do with that person for their salvation, you know, uh being in prison. So uh that's some of the things that are going on in my own heart is you know, God can bring good out of every bad situation and to keep our eyes on him.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Um we're never never beyond the reach of the mercy of God. The evil one will whisper in our ear and try to tell us we are, but obviously what is he? He's the master, he's the father of lies, so he's gonna he's gonna lie to us. Don't believe that.

SPEAKER_02 41:44

Mike?

SPEAKER_01 41:48

And and just a few thoughts. Uh, number one, you know, when I was born, uh, I was only a four-pound, two-month, I was two months premature. And my mom, you know, said, Look at this great man that you've uh grown to be. And I have probably 20 or 30 cards that I've saved over the years for my mom on my birthday. And she always calls me her little mustard seed, you know, and uh that that God raised up this little miracle that had a 50-50 chance to make it through the night on the day I was born. My mom spent the whole night praying in the rosary. My dad sat outside the street on a street corner overlooking Angel Stadium, and the dream that he gave up of being a major league ball player praying for his little boy, and just to know God's grace has brought me to this wonderful day where I could share a podcast with a bishop and a priest that I love and consider two of my best friends. Um but um, but yeah, just what a gift it is to be considered um something so small, and yet to see how God has raised us up. And uh yeah, shout out to my mom. Yeah, just she's uh the greatest Saint Monica that I've ever known. Before I even read about Saint Monica, I already knew the story because I have a mother that's just like her. Uh she's the most loving, godly, selfless woman. And every every morning she would get up at 4:30 to make my dad coffee and iron his clothes before he headed off to the beer distributorship to go drive a big truck and deliver beer to take care of the family. And every we always had three hot meals a day. And you know, she's just she was a Proverbs 31 woman before I ever read Proverbs 31. Um and I just want to say, you know, by the grace of God, I'm a I'm a Catholic and a Christian, but without without my mom and dad raising me up, I don't know who I'd be. So yeah, thank God that uh I that God gave me the gift of the wheat, right? The gift of our faith. And um and I uh yeah, I just want to honor my mother. For being the heart of our home and you know, calling you that little mustard seed that we read about today. It really means a lot to me.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Um yeah, I love that image. A little mustard seed. And uh because you know, it's so easily, you know, things look things that are little or small, or or as you know, Poe Francis says, kind of on the peripheries, it could easily be overlooked. But you know, every every life is precious and sacred, and and uh no matter if somebody is born right on time, or as you as you mentioned, you know, two months early. Is that what you are? Two months early. And um praise God, you we were able to pull through that. And uh, but I love that that that little that little muster see. I was uh Lila Rose, she's a she's a great champion for for pro life, and she I I follow her on X and she's always pointing out little premies, or you know, I was three and a half weeks, so I'm a preemie too. And follow you a premium.

SPEAKER_02 44:57

Nope, I'm uh well, eight days if you call that premi. I was due on Christmas Day, and my mom said, I need I've got two boys at home. I need to I need to be home, and so uh I came on the 17th.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

There you go. I'm not you're not known to be late, so I I I would say and actually today you were really early, and uh he had us all scared. I'm sitting here drinking coffee and I get a text like I'm on right now, and they're like, What? We got on a half an hour early in a panicking running around at mom's house trying to get ready.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

So connecting the dots here. Correct me if I'm wrong. Um I remember doing a talk on Messi. Wasn't he didn't he struggle growing or something when he was younger? And uh you know, he wasn't expected to do much. Here he is, he's probably one of the maybe the most known athlete in the world, um, maybe. Um and yet he's he's small in stature, uh, but and and a man of faith. Uh a man of yeah, five seven. He's five seven. I think I remember, you know, when he was little, like his growth plates or something, there was there was something happening. And uh I used his example in a parish mission.

SPEAKER_00 46:16

I think he had to go to I think he had to go to Germany or something. I remember reading something. I've been trying to remember this. Is just right off my memory. I think I think he had to go to Germany or someplace in Europe to do growth hormone shots or something like that, or something to help him grow. And uh look at him.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

I love it how he's always making the sign of the cross after a little mustard seed uh you know. It's a great way to uh evangelize. Hopefully he can bring a lot of people to God through all that I am, all that I have, all that I'm able to do.

SPEAKER_00 46:50

All that I yeah, yeah, are gifts from God. Unless I want to use those for to uh so I'm gonna copyright that.

SPEAKER_01 47:02

There you go. Let me get my t-shirts ready.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

Anything else? I think that's a good place to finish up, right?

SPEAKER_00 47:12

Yeah, I think so too.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

Yeah, just one thing, Father Burke and Bishop Wall, the greatest thing about my mom, yeah, she was a servant. But what I remember is waking up in the morning and you know, not I wasn't awake when she was ironing clothes or making dad coffee at 4 30 and making breakfast for all the eight kids. But what I do remember is waking up and it's still being dark, and she's sipping a cup of tea with her Bible every morning and she taught catechism uh at the church, she taught confirmation, she babysat, you know, 15 to 18 kids every morning. Just she was like a modern day saint. Uh she just the door was always open, never locked our front door. She just she said our our door will always be open. She she allowed friends of ours who were going through tough times to live with our family and relatives, yeah. Her and my dad, just just amazing. So just a cool way to honor her.

SPEAKER_02 48:12

Um celebrate their 50th anniversary. How many years ago is that now?

SPEAKER_01 48:19

50th. That's been about four years. I'm gonna pull up the picture. Here's uh here's a picture of uh the family on. I don't know if you can see that. My mom and dad, the eight kids. Got the kilts going and uh 50th wedding anniversary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:46

Bishop, will you close us in prayer?

SPEAKER_00 48:49

I'd be happy to. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Oh Saint John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing. Bless the church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading her along the paths of the world in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Bless the young who are your great passion. Help them dream again, help them 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 his precious and indispensable divine spark, the 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 you 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.

SPEAKER_02 50:07

Thanks everybody for watching or listening. Please put your comments in. We'll uh we'll read them and respond uh uh if if there is a need. And uh please like, subscribe, and share this podcast with anyone that you think might be helpful. So as St. Pierre Giorgio Frasati reminds us the higher we go, the better we shall hear the voice of Christ. Keep striving verso l alto in your faith and pursuits, and until next time, God bless you.