ClarkCast Chapter 9: Father Braxton Neciase Is Awesome!

My good friend and Kiln native Father Braxton Necaise, Parochial Vicar of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Long Beach and Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Biloxi, discusses faith, growing up in Hancock County, and much more on this episode of ClarkCast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Clark Cast is on the air.

SPEAKER_03 0:02

So Father Braxton, you're about to do something awesome, whether it's uh play kickball or something with the kids at the school, walk into a room, something's going on. What's your walk-on music? Like, and I'm not talking about your entrance music when we're when you're walking to into mass and to the Eucharist, but like you're doing something else. What's your walk-on music?

SPEAKER_04 0:26

I would have to say my walk-on song would be uh, I don't know if you're familiar with that song, Jeff, turned out for what?

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Right on.

SPEAKER_04 0:33

Like that is like there are certain beats that just like get me really jazzed and really excited, you know? Um, and and that's one of them. That's one of them. In fact, I have my Spotify playlist is like so eccentric. It goes from like country to rap to like literally anything under the sun.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Welcome to Podcast, conversations about life, love, music, and the facility of your host.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

He needs no introduction, but he deserves an introduction. He deserves all the accolades, all the praise. Uh, Father Braxton Nikes. He is the parochial vicar at St. Thomas Church, uh St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Long Beach, and he's also the director of vocations for the Diocese of Biloxi. He's a good friend of mine. He's my one of my spiritual advisors, one of the people I turn to. Uh, I just I cannot tell you how much I love going to St. Thomas with you and Father Satish. You know, I mean, it's just it's a real blessing, man. It truly is.

SPEAKER_04 2:09

Praise be to God. And it's such a joy to be here with you today, uh, Jeff. Really, really great.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

I've always found you so interesting. We have a lot of mutual friends, a lot of people who've known you like through throughout your life. And that's where I'd like to start. Like, I find it so fascinating that you grew up in the kill, and now you're you're part of our parish and uh at St. Thomas Church. Tell me like some of your core memories about growing up in the Kill.

SPEAKER_04 2:38

So uh, you know, I'm an only child, uh, which is kind of interesting, uh, born and raised in the Kill. Um and really in the Rocky Hill community, you know, sometimes that's that gets uh when I'm when I'm sharing my story, I don't really hit on that. Um, but the Rocky Hill community and literally, man, um, very close to my family. Um, you know, my cousins, my first cousins are like siblings to me, you know. Uh so despite the fact that I really don't have, you know, brothers or sisters, I do have some, you know, some half-brothers. Um, but I'm really excited, you know, and I really have great memories of of sharing just great memories with with my cousins. Uh and and the majority of my cousins I still speak to very, very frequently, you know. Um, and so, you know, it was just some some fun memories of growing up in the kill, uh, whether it would be like swimming in the the swimming pool in the backyard at my mama and papa's, you know, just I mean, it wasn't a it wasn't a fancy swimming pool, Jeff. Let me just tell you that. It was one of those, and it was well water. And even on the 4th of July, well water is pretty dang cold when you're a kid. Um, and just like spending that time with family, those, those great memories, um, you know, uh having good laughs, having good food, sharing that fellowship. Um, you know, there's something about family and and coming together as with with those people who who you love. Um and, you know, have some great memories growing up. Um, you know, I I as a as a man who discerned the priesthood, I know you haven't asked me this question, but I'm here, you know?

SPEAKER_03 4:24

I'm hating you. You're you're doing great, man.

SPEAKER_04 4:26

This is awesome. As a man who discerned God's call for his life, um, you know, that was a question for me. Like, you know, how am I going to, if, you know, with me being an only child, what's that going to look like in terms of, you know, uh the possibility for my mom and dad to have grandchildren? Um, and and I really felt that call of God, you know, despite that. And so um, you know, God has been so incredibly grateful to me, you know, I'm so grateful to him. He's been so good to me, you know, as the priest of Jesus Christ. Um, I have a great joy in getting to walk with people in their faith, getting to be there on some of the happy days of their life, you know what I'm saying? But also in some very difficult moments. Um, and and it's an honor and a truly a privilege. Uh, and I think going back to that question about those core memories, you know, Jeff, I think that really it was my family that instilled that faith, that identity of who I am. Um, you know, I I think of that old song, uh, I think it's Bon Jovi, Who Says You Can't Go Home? You know, um, and and so there's something about home. There's something about the people that formed you, the people who create who who helped you to become the man that you are, that I am right here, right now. So I would absolutely, you know, say I had some amazing memories of of my family growing up, um, very close knit, you know. Uh, so really great joy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

And and some of my favorite moments at St. Thomas are when you're is when your daddy comes and you know, he he's there and and part of the Eucharist with us. It's it's always like it's really amazing and sweet to to see that, you know.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

You know, it's really cool. So I was on uh I was on a cruise last year during Ash Wednesday, and uh it's not very often that your father gets to give the priest ashes, okay? But there was not another priest on the cruise ship. And so I have a picture. My stepmom is all about pictures, okay? Uh so KK, if you're listening, like this is my shout out to you. So, so literally, like we're on the cruise ship and I'm celebrating Mass, and she snaps a picture of Daddy giving me ashes on Ash Wednesday. And uh, I thought that was so incredibly cool, you know, for because that doesn't happen. I don't know if that'll ever happen again in my life, you know. So that was just really an awesome moment. And it's a great joy to see him and my stepmom, uh KK come to Mass and be here and celebrate Mass with us here at St. Thomas.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

And you've also, like I've heard you during some of your homilies talk about what what was your church? What's the church of the kill that that you attended?

SPEAKER_04 7:11

So I was uh actually baptized at Annunciation and the Kill. Um, and then when we when we moved to probably around seventh grade, um my mom's family is from the little community of Dito.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Dido, right.

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Which is a like, like it is so they've got a bigger church now, but Jeff, it was like a little house on the prairie church. Um just very small, very, very quaint. Um everybody would hang out after mass and talk, you know, because everybody was related. Uh, and so uh that was an amazing experience getting to be uh a parishioner there at Sacred Heart in Dito and the Dito community and really be involved in that with the people there.

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SPEAKER_03 8:54

And I I I I going back to your homilies, like sometimes you talk about, and I remember this like when you were attending Sacred Heart, you had it timed out so you could go to the store and like in between something, you would get back, wouldn't miss math, you know. Yeah. And and you were an altar server there.

SPEAKER_04 9:12

I was actually, I was not an altar server in Dito. Um, funny thing is, I was an altar server at Annunciation in the Kill. Um, and that is where uh that's where, you know, I always share with our altar servers.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

You know exactly where I'm going.

SPEAKER_04 9:27

I know exactly where you're going with this. Like, you know, um, I'll never forget, I think I was maybe uh third grade, and I literally was lighting the candles on the altar at Annunciation Church, and they had some, they had a bush that was close to the candles. And what do I do? I light the the the candle and the bush catches on fire. And I will never forget the look of horror on my face. And luckily, Father Henry McInerney, who was the pastor at the time, they had some holy water on the altar. So he just doused out the uh, you know, the plant. But I always share that story with our altar servers and I tell them, you know, guys, look, you can screw something up on the altar, you can try to burn the church down, even I'm now a priest, you know. Uh so it's, you know, it's we we make those mistakes, man.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

And and then that's like such a great reference for real life. We can make those mistakes. We and you can still do amazing things for God.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

Amen to that, man.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

Right. Um, what and you went to Hancock High?

SPEAKER_04 10:36

I'm a product of public education all the way. I graduated in 2004 uh from Hancock High School. Um, literally, yeah. Um I was Mr. Hancock High School when I graduated high with high school. Um, you know, we just celebrated, my class just celebrated, I think it was our 20th, 20th, I can't remember. Yeah, and don't ask me to do math, okay? Yeah. Um I have many gifts, but math is not one of them. Uh, but we just had a big uh reunion. I was unfortunately not able to attend, but it was a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

Uh so and you then Southern myth after that, right?

SPEAKER_04 11:17

Actually, um, I did not. I went to Pearl River Community College. Uh famously, the we used to call it the Walmart campus. So this was the Pearl River in Bay St. Louis away from old Walmart. Uh and so I took some of my basics there, transferred over to Gulf Coast Community College, JD Campus, um, and then actually transferred over to Holy Cross College in New Orleans. Um I you know it's interesting, Jeff. I really wanted to teach religion in the Catholic schools. Um, I've always known I wanted to teach since like being a child. Uh some of the those core memories for me as a child were some teachers who just had who passed on that that love of learning and that love of uh of just knowing more. And and they inspired me. And so I had plans to go to uh I actually started off planning to go to Southern and majoring in history. Um, but when I figured out you have to take four consecutive language classes of a of a of a foreign language, I was like, I don't know if that's gonna work for me because I have many gifts, but language, a foreign language is not my gift. Uh so I decided to go to um Holy Cross College over in Algiers, a really small little commuter school. Um, had some great memories there. In fact, two of my professors who literally taught me at the seminary and formed me as a priest, taught me there, and uh had had the opportunity to go there, and it was just a great experience, man.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Awesome. I I I mentioned that about Southern MISC because you and I have had a discussion about the press box there before. You told me, you know, when you know I cover stuff for the Gazebo Gazette, and you're like, oh, I used to go for that press box all the time.

SPEAKER_04 13:07

Yeah. So uh I would I would actually, as the procureal vicar up at St. Thomas Aquinas in Hattiesburg, uh, we have the opportunity to sometimes just go see what was going on in the press box. Um, right on. Which was kind of cool, you know, because that's something that you don't get to see very often, you know. Um, and and it's like you get to see the inner workings of of what's going on behind the scenes. Um, and and if you know anything about me, I'm very much a I don't like to be front and center, Jeff. That's just not me. That's out of my comfort zone. I really like to be the person behind the scenes uh who's who's making the magic happen, so to speak. And so really to kind of see that from that perspective was really amazing. And and you know, actually, I don't know if you know this. I actually took stats. I was a statistician for the uh Hancock High School basketball team when I was in high school. I actually got a letterment for that, which was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Right on.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

Uh I can't fit in the letterment anymore. You know, that's you know, Father Braxton's gotten a little bit bigger since then. Um, but but no doubt about it. It's been really, you know, that brought back a lot of memories for me to get to go up to the press box at Southern Mess.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

You know, and and it will go into another chapter of your life, something that that you reference often, and that was your time at the Credit Bureau, the credit union? The credit bureau. That was Keisler. That was Keysler, yeah. Yeah. How how was that experience for you? I know you still talk about your co-workers and right.

SPEAKER_04 14:35

So uh, you know, it's funny. I literally um I had an interview at the credit union two days prior to my high school graduation. Um and so I was 18 years old, and and I was just I was gonna go, you know, I applied for a job as a part-time teller. And my plan was to literally go and just work and go to college. And I started working there, and man, I really enjoyed it. You know, in fact, I thought that was gonna be the place where I finished my career. Uh, in fact, I said this morning to one of our parishioners here at Long Beach, I said, you know, if I would have stayed at the credit union, I would be, I would be coming up on I think 25 years. I don't know. Don't, you know, don't correct, don't, don't, do, don't do the math. Yeah, no math. This is not a math podcast. This is not a math podcast, but um, you know, I had some great memories there. Um, a lot of people who I great created some great bonds with. Uh you know, we had some some ladies over in in Biloxi, the Biloxi office we all worked in. And one of the things that we would do is we would come together, and we all had different backgrounds. Like one was had a Pentecostal background, one was uh uh Jehovah's Witness and then had become Baptist, and then myself as a Catholic, and we would pray together, you know, and that was really kind of neat, you know, even though we had some some differences uh in in our understanding and in our understanding of faith, but we knew like we could come together and pray together. That was that was remarkable. And and you know, even when I was in the seminary, Jeff, um, those ladies, I would keep in touch with them and we would say, Hey, we're they would say, Hey, Braxton, we're lifting you up in prayer. I'd call them and say, Hey, I've got a big test, you know. Um, it was it was great. Uh and and reflecting on that chapter in my life, you know, uh, it's really cool to help somebody get a loan, you know, to help their financial dreams come true. Um it's really amazing because that's a that's some, you know, that's big, big things for people in their life to to get a new their first automobile, their first house loan. You know, but but I think as a priest, you know, helping someone get to heaven, that really, you know, uh was a pivotal moment for me, you know, and I'll never forget even discerning that question, you know, saying this is great working in the credit union. And let me tell you, Jeff, I got some of the most amazing experience at the credit union, you know, in working with people, um, in in helping people to to problem solve. But I think it prepared me in what I do now as a priest of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 17:27

Right. And and you know, you you you're so good at this, you you keep you you're staying a step ahead. You know, I was gonna ask you about when, like, what was that moment when you you were absolutely like 100% sure? Because I'm sure there were moments where there was like, I think I want to do this, I think I want to do this. What was that like burning bush, so to speak, moment for you?

SPEAKER_04 17:46

Well, you know, so I'll share this with you. Like, I remember as a kid, um, so this is going back to when I was an altar server, right? Like serving on the altar of enunciation after I tried to burn down the church. Okay. Um, I'll never forget, I thought you had to be Irish to be a priest. Um, because so many of our priests here in in Mississippi, God bless our Irish priests, you know? And so that's what I thought. You know, you had to have that funny kind of Irish brogue and be able to, you know, and I was like, I'm not Irish. Um and and I'll never forget it was going to college at Holy Cross uh in New Orleans. I was taking a class with Dr. Brant Petrie, uh, who's a very famous theologian, uh, who's a great scholar, uh, got a great sense of humor, amazing teacher. Uh, and one of the things that he said in my first class with him, he said, if you are looking for the perfect spouse, let me just tell you marriage is not for you. Okay, Jeff, let me tell you that hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted a huge family, I wanted like 10 kids. Okay. I wanted to be the dad who had the big van, you know, like the 15 passenger van. That's what I wanted. And that really hit me. And I began to ask that question, God, are you calling me to the priesthood? And and I'll never forget, this was, you know, uh, going forward a few years, uh, going, going when I was in college, uh, I was also a youth minister at Sacred Heart and Dito, where I worked with some of our young people. I was teaching a confirmation class on a Sunday morning. And I can, I can like as I close my eyes, I can smell the room that I was in. Okay. Uh, you know, it just, you know, those core memories. It's just such a moment. Um, I literally was teaching on one of the sacraments, and I couldn't tell you what sacrament I was teaching on, but I heard in the still small voice of God saying to me, Braxton, instead of teaching, I want you to be. Let me tell you, that was terrifying. That was terrifying. You know, because you're like, okay, God, are you calling me to like leave the country and go be a missionary to people who don't know English? You know, that's not what he called me to do. But um, you know, there was an openness there, a lot of fear, you know, and and Jeff, I'll tell you, like, even leaving the credit union, you know, because I was there for 10 years. Um leaving the credit union that last day there, that was tough. You know, leaving uh my young people at Sacred Heart and Dito um as I went to seminary, to Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, that was tough. Um, in fact, I really grieved in that sense of loss um for for getting the opportunity to walk with them in faith, you know, the people at the credit union, the people, you know, that the young people in Dito. But I felt like God was calling me. And uh, I'm so grateful. I used to have that conversation with some of the guys in the seminary, and I would say, you know, those words of Jesus, uh, I think it's Peter comes to Jesus, and he, uh, Peter, Jesus says to Peter, Are you gonna leave me too? And uh, and Peter says, Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life, you know. Uh, and so that's been a great consolation. And I shouldn't say consolation, because consolation that sounds like a cheap prize you would get in a fair, you know. Right. It's been a great joy, a true joy to be a priest of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Was there ever a moment in your life, and I know with with with myself, like I did, you know, move away from my faith for and question my faith for for a period of of time in my life to to you know, not good results, right? Like there there's nothing good's gonna come out of that. But like, was there ever a point in in your life where where you were where you questioned it?

SPEAKER_04 21:52

You know, I won't say that I questioned it. Um you know, I don't know if you know this part of my story. Six months after being ordained as a priest, I lost my mother. And that was a challenge. Let me let me say that that shook me to the core. In fact, you know, my mother was my biggest supporter. And literally, when I say she would FaceTime me at seminary, she would help me study for exams. Okay. Like that's just I would fax, I would scan a copy of my study guide and she would FaceTime me and call things out to me like in the seminary. She was my number one supporter. She prayed for me. Um she was a great uh witness of faith. And you know, oftentimes we don't see the impact that others have in helping people to grow in their faith until they're gone. You know, but it was such an outpouring of people who said, wow, Lynn really, my mother, Lynn had such an impact on me. She, you know, would answer questions, she would pray with me. You know, she was there and and really, you know, so I I that was a tough moment for me. Um, I'll never forget I was actually at R Lady the Gulf in Bay St. Louis at the time, um, when mom passed. And um Father Mike O'Connor and Father Satish were actually in India. Okay. So I had R. Lady the Gulf by myself. Okay. Mom's literally on her deathbed. We didn't know that she was, she was just an ICU and she ends up dying. And uh, and I'll never forget thinking, Lord, what a way to to bring in a brand new year as a priest. You know, six months. And uh, and I remember thinking, Lord, if this is how it is for people who you love, you know, uh, I I remember asking that question, but but Jeff, I felt so incredibly blessed to be in Bay St. Louis at Our Lady of the Golf. The people were so understanding and were so when I say they surrounded me in prayer in one of the most difficult times in my life, it literally they endeared themselves to me.

unknown 24:16

No.

SPEAKER_03 24:17

That's awesome. I mean, not that they're that that that wasn't painful, but what a beautiful thing to to to go through that in Bay St. Louis, you know, yeah, and with the people who love you the most.

SPEAKER_04 24:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

You know, and you know, moving on to like uh something a little uh l lighter, I guess. So you you and Father Satish are roommates, right?

SPEAKER_04 24:36

We are roommates, yes. I have an Indian roommate.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

And and like that, you you have to tell me about that dynamic. Like, you know, I know both of you, both of you are are are so different from from homilies, from patient level, all of it. Like, uh how how do you uh what what's it like living with Father Satish?

SPEAKER_04 24:56

So, Father Satish, you know, I'll say this. Father Satish, uh, I'm so thankful for Father Satish.

SPEAKER_03 25:01

Yeah, me too, man. 100.

SPEAKER_04 25:02

Father Satish, um, Father Satish was actually at St. Matthew's in Parkinson with with many of my family as their pastor uh up in White Cypress. And uh he and my grandpa were very close. And so uh when I found out that I was coming to Long Beach, I was really excited to be with Father Satish. Um, you know, we have very different ideas of cooking, okay? Let's just say, like, I'm a redneck from the kill. Okay, my idea of cooking is very different from an Indian. Okay. But, you know, I've gotten to really enjoy some, he's an amazing cook. Let me just tell you, Father Satish is like phenomenal in cooking, and he's very hospitable. Um, cooks an amazing, uh, amazing curry. Like, there's just no curry like it. If I go somewhere and eat curry, I'm like, that's not Father Satish's curry, you know, and I'm just disappointed. So uh, you know, it's a joy to be here uh at St. Thomas with Father Satish, you know, and to to really be a shepherd of souls here. Um, we actually, so uh right now, one of the dynamics in our house, um we're dog sitting, so to speak, right now. Um, I can't say that I've done a lot. Okay, let me just be honest. Okay, I have not done a lot. I'm not a dog person, um, but the dog is cute. Okay, it's a cute little dog, all right. Um, but Father Satish, I'll I'll be in my room and I'll hear him like barking a little bit. I think it's Father Satish, I don't think it's the dog. So I think he barks to the dog every now and then, you know, and it's like to get to get a rowl out of the dog. Um, but it's interesting because you know, Father Satish also has chickens. I don't know if you knew this, but he does not. Right. He has chickens. Father Satish claims himself to be an Indian redneck, okay? Uh, so uh he loves the outdoors, you know, he's he's all about that. Um, and so he loves to go out with his chickens, and we have a big chicken coop in our backyard. I mean, it's a bougie chicken coop. It is a bougie.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

I'm sure absolutely. How could it not be?

SPEAKER_04 27:09

It's a nice, yes, it's a nice chicken coop. Uh, and so we get fresh eggs, you know. Um, and so yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

Was are there ever like moments where you know you you want to watch Safferd and Son and he wants to watch Murder She Wrote? And you know, a little little tension, you know.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

So I'll tell you this. Uh, I have gotten to understand and to see a little bit of Bollywood. Are you familiar with Bollywood, Jeff?

SPEAKER_03 27:35

Um, you know, I I'm familiar, yes, you know, sure.

SPEAKER_04 27:39

So it's interesting because a lot of the movies that Father Satish watches, um they're not in English, they're in like an Indian, and there's different languages in India too. So like I don't want to use Indian as a language, so to speak. Um, but it kind of cracks me up because I've seen different trends, right? Like there's gonna be this dance sequence with like colored smoke somewhere in the movie. Um, and then and so he'll oftentimes uh inform me a little bit of historical context of what's going on in the movie, which I appreciate. And it's really interesting because sometimes we won't even have subtitles and he'll just tell me what's going on, you know, and and he calls me. So this is a term of endearment. I don't know if you've seen it on my license plate, um, Father Bracks. But Satish, Father Satish calls me Brack. And so he'll say, Brac, this is what's going on in the movie. And so I appreciate that. You know, I'm getting the commentary from Father Satish, who's sitting in the recliner while I'm sitting on the couch. And uh it's it's good, it's good. So I'm I'm being enculturated in uh and I really appreciate it, you know, because I think that's that's something to see, you know, where he comes from growing up. And so uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

Does uh are there ever any any moments where he like he's like Brack, you know, the this Amazon shopping thing is kind of getting out of control? Like, you know, you had a couple more packages today. Do you need can I help you? We're gonna I say that because you're very open about you loved Amazon, you love online shopping.

SPEAKER_04 29:18

I am like the Amazon King. Okay. Uh in fact, you know, uh this weekend we're getting ready to have our diocesan youth conference over in Biloxi uh with probably about 500 teenagers from throughout the diocese. And uh, as we were loading up today, Jeff, um, we had to take three or four dolly loads full of boxes. And and I mean, this was not one box, two box. This was, I know we had 40 boxes. And so as we're loading them up, okay, praise be to the Lord Jesus, it's not September or August right now because it we had a little bit of a, you know, some colder temperatures. I literally, as I'm loading the trucks up, and and I've got two of our wonderful parishioners here who are helping me. Uh, I told them, I said, y'all, this is this is the office staff and Father Satish always talk to me about you you shop too much on Amazon. I said, but see, this is where what it's all from. This is what it's all going to. It's all for vocations, you know. Now I do get certain things on Amazon. Don't get me wrong, but a lot of it is for that. And so uh, yeah, um, I I love Amazon. I'm all about the Amazon, man.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

And another one of your trademarks is your passion for Birkenstocks. Oh, appreciation for Birkenstocks.

SPEAKER_04 30:34

Word, word for the Burks, man.

SPEAKER_03 30:37

Right on.

SPEAKER_04 30:38

So, you know, it's funny. Um I don't know where I started that. Actually, I can tell you, um, I haven't always worn burks. It wasn't, I went to uh the Holy Land uh a few years ago. It was I think it was my second trip to the Holy Land, and uh and my feet were hurting, and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna wear my Birkin stocks. And I was like, this is the best thing ever because Birkenstocks, when you get them broken in, there is not a better shoe for you. It just molds to your foot, and plus it goes so in with the quote unquote beach priest theme. You know what I'm saying? Like, I mean, come on, we've got we've got the beautiful Mississippi Sound across from us right now, you know. And so um, I love the Birkin stocks. I'm a huge Birkenstock fan. In fact, I claim that I am the reason Birkenstocks are coming back, Jess.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Yeah, absolutely I I give you that credit too. I absolutely, man, for sure. Um, you know, we're we're all so very blessed to have two really amazing, amazing deacons in our church, Deacon Buddy and Deacon Jerry. Um, you know, Charlie, my son's an alter server, he serves with you all the time. And it was through Charlie. I I said to him one time early on when I start we started really getting involved with St. Thomas, I was like, wow, I think I would like to become a Eucharistic minister one day and help with that. So Charlie goes right up to Deacon Jerry, and he's like, My dad wants to do that. And Deacon Jerry's like, come on, you know, and told me, started meeting with me, going through the stuff with me. Um, and and you mentioned them a lot in your homilies too. You always you you referenced them a lot. Like, what what's it been like for you to have those guys in your corner?

SPEAKER_04 32:24

So, you know, I am so blessed as a priest of Jesus Christ, and and there is a lot of work to do in the vineyard. Um and and I appreciate both Deacon Jerry and Deacon Buddy in huge ways. Um, you know, Deacon Buddy does a lot of outreach in the prisons. And uh so his his outlook on life is very different, you know, and and he's worked in construction for a number of years. Um and so his outlook is very different than mine. Uh, but even even Deacon Jerry, you know, Deacon Jerry, who was a previous fire chief, you know, worked in in the fire service, um, I value their opinion, you know. Um and and if I'm having a tough day, sometimes I reach out, you know, and they are always so incredibly encouraging. Um, you know, Deacon Jerry and I, funny thing, Deacon Jerry and I are related, um, which which is kind of cool. Uh, and so it's not very often you get to serve at a parish where you're related to the deacon, you know, right? Um, and and Deacon Jerry has some quick wit to him. I don't know if you pick up on that in his in his homilies, you know. Um, but sometimes I'm as I say something, I'm thinking he's gonna respond with this. And I'm starting to get to the place to where I know what he's gonna say, you know, which kind of scares me a little bit, uh, because I know him so well. But uh it's a it's a great joy to to to really work with these guys. You know, I think St. Thomas here at Long Beach is an amazing place, got amazing prisoners.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

Um uh I love it. I love it so much, man.

SPEAKER_04 34:06

I just you know but even the feel, and and you know, Jeff, it's really cool because the people of St. Thomas are what makes the St. Thomas so cool. You know, um when when my dad and my stepmom, like the first time they came to Mass here, uh they literally were like, the people are so hospitable here. You know, uh Long Beach is a remarkable place. It really is. It is. And and and I'm so thankful to be here in this small town, you know. Uh, and and really, you know, even the other day I was at the Dollar General, okay. And because it's a small town, I had uh the the lady who was checking me out at the Dollar General, uh, she said, Oh, are you a are you a priest? What parish are you at? And I told her, what parish? And she said, Oh, you came to my house at a difficult time.

SPEAKER_01 34:56

Right.

SPEAKER_04 34:56

And and I thought to myself, I went back to that moment when I was at her house for that difficult time. And uh, and she told me reminded me of her name. And uh I invited her to come join us here at St. Thomas. And I thought to myself, you know, had I been anywhere else at a in a bigger city, that may not have happened, you know, but the Lord brought me back to being in front of her in that moment right there. And and I said a prayer with her, you know, it was just a simple blessing, a prayer of asking God's blessing upon her, you know, but it was a beautiful moment. And and I think that that's no coincidence at all.

SPEAKER_03 35:37

I I I love it, man. I love that I'm at a point in my life where 90% of my circle of friends are either parents from Charlie's school or at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic school or parishioners at St. Thomas or both, you know. Like what what a great point in my life to be, you know.

SPEAKER_04 35:53

Amen to that, man.

SPEAKER_03 35:54

It's uh it's awesome. Well, you know, one of my favorite stories about St. Thomas is uh Charlie served with the bishop last year during uh I don't want to call it conference, it was a confirmation. It was one of the services right before that. But anyway, Christy Elias, whom I love, who's an angel, who's just the greatest person. You know, she does the social media for the for the church and does a fantastic job with it. So she's like, hey, I can't make it tonight. Will you take some photos for me? Sure, I will. I didn't think that would be any big deal, but then you know, it's the bishop, and the bishop has a photographer, and I didn't feel comfortable doing like Christine and jumping up and getting in front. And so I I didn't do it, so she fired me.

SPEAKER_04 36:36

Oh, that's funny. That's funny.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Well, I still give her grief about that, you know.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

Well, wait a minute. Let me just say the bishop's photographer at that point, uh, Juliana. God bless Juliana. Dear friend of mine, you would not want to like run into her because she's on a mission, you know. She's on a mission when she was taking her pictures.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 36:55

Uh so no, that's that's awesome. Uh that that's funny. That's funny that Christy fired you, Jeff. That's funny. God bless you.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

Still one of my best friends, but she had to fire me. Um, you know, we've talked about you and I just kind of been passing. You told me before you really like 80s music and stuff. We were at an event, some music was playing. Tell me some more about the the music you enjoy listening to.

SPEAKER_04 37:16

So uh I actually love 80s. So my mom listened when I was a kid, um the alarm clock would would turn on and it would be playing out of New Orleans light 105. It was 105.3, and uh and it was all 80s music at the time, okay. Which you can really hear on like Coast 102 now, which is blowing my mind, by the way, because it's Coast 102 is like the oldies stuff.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

Right, right. I okay.

SPEAKER_04 37:43

And I'm like, I'm like, I don't agree with that because oldies is like really oldies, okay. Oldies is not the 80s. Um and so yeah, I really uh I love me some 80s music in and in fact on my uh I don't know if I had any 80s songs on my Spotify rapt for this year, you know. Um I don't I can't I couldn't tell you what I had off the top of my head for my Spotify rapt, but uh I don't think I had any 80s songs at all. Uh right now I'm kind of in the in this place of listening to uh it's a it's a Spotify channel, calming acoustics. And so it's really like mellow and chill, you know, and and which is really nice because when you have things coming at you from 39 different angles, you know, something that's gonna kind of calm you down, you know, and kind of talk me off the ledge a little bit, Jeff.

SPEAKER_03 38:36

Right. I I I I get it. Metallica is not the not gonna help you out with that. So yeah, yeah. Um, you know, one of my favorite moments during uh a mass is when when you're there is when we uh do the offering and the kids come up and uh you know so at at St. Thomas during our offering, they're walking around collect doing the collection, and then kids come up and and put money in a in a in a jug, and they all want to give Father Braxton a hug or give him a high five, and it's a really, really great moment, man. I mean, it is, you know. And you're very vocal about, you know, kids being a part of our church.

SPEAKER_04 39:16

Right. Right. You know, it's funny, it's funny you say that. Uh so I was at a I cover masses at Our Lady the Gulf too in Bay St. Louis. Um, and I I got the kindest text last Saturday. Uh, we had one of our parishioners from here in Long Beach, who who's um literally brought their child over to the Saturday morning mass. And I could hear the baby just kind of cooing, you know, during the gospel. He loves to, he loves to make noise when I'm talking, not in a distracting way, right? Um, he's not screaming, he's just being a baby. And uh, as I'm as I'm reading the gospel, Jeff, I literally start to get a smile on my face. And I'm like, Braxton, in my head, I'm like, Braxton, hold it together, hold it together, like in a good way. And so my first words out of my mouth were, hey, uh, and I said the parents' names, and I said, Thank you all for bringing him, you know, to church. I said, that's so special. Uh, you know, and and I didn't I really meant that genuinely, and I mean that genuinely. We, you know, if we don't have babies crying in church, we are dying.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

Okay. That's the quote. That's the quote I was hoping you would say, you know, I was leaning into that.

SPEAKER_04 40:25

We need, we need that. Like, that's like you want to see the children at church. And and I got the kindest text from a parishioner in uh Bay St. Louis, and uh, don't get many texts from this man, but he said, Father, he said, you know, um, you really spoke to me this morning. He said, uh, he shared with me a story about him as a child, and he was he was making noise during mass, and one of the priests actually stopped mass and said, You need to get this child out of mass. And and how it affected his mom and his dad. And and I thought to myself, man, you know, I don't want it to be just I'm in a bad mood, let's get this child out of mass. No, let him, let him be, you know. Uh, and because it takes a lot of courage for a parent to go bring their child to mass, you know. Sure. Um, you know, and and I want to be supportive of that, you know, because Jeff, if we're being honest, life is hard. The world that we live in, life is not easy. And so they could be taking their children anywhere else, you know, but the fact that they're coming to the holy sacrifice of the mass, that speaks volumes. That says that they want so much more for their child.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

You know, you you mentioned something that that I've always wanted to ask you. You you mentioned texting. How many texts do you get in a day? Like, well, what does your phone look like in a day? I mean, and I'm guilty of it. I'm telling, you know, but like estimating.

SPEAKER_04 41:53

Like, I can put my phone down for an hour and I have probably 16 text messages in an hour. Um, and sometimes it's just like nothing. Like I just read and move on, you know. But sometimes, and this is where I get a little tizzied. Okay. I get I get a little stressed sometimes, Jeff. And so what I'll have to do is sometimes I'll have to uh and and by the way, I keep my phone on do not disturb all the time. Okay. And and it it bothers my family, okay, particularly one of my cousins. She's like, Rex, how do you keep your phone on silent all the time? I said, I can't be in confession and have you asking, what are you doing for dinner? You know, like that's you know, I I need to be present to my parishioners in that moment. And uh, but um, yeah, it's it's nonstop. I would say probably 30 to 40 text messages total in a day. Um some days are busier than others, though.

SPEAKER_03 42:49

Sure. What what's what's your favorite part about what you do and where or what you get to do?

SPEAKER_04 42:58

I would say my favorite part about what I get to do as a priest of Jesus Christ is literally watching somebody grow in their faith in their relationship with Jesus. Coming from a place of maybe being far off in that relationship, right? Uh, maybe even not having a relationship at all. And then seeing them start to grow and start to be open to that possibility of a relationship, not quite there, but the Lord's doing something, and like coming and talking to me, uh, and and and and sometimes it's just it could be shooting the bull with Father Bryce, and you know, but other times it's like uh they're really asking for that fatherly uh advice, you know. Uh and so I'd say one of my favorite things to do is uh is walking with people in faith. That's amazing. And and and I'll tell you, like, um you know, I take my job very seriously, especially as Director of vocations, sure, you know, here in the diocese. Um I want to make sure that even though I'm an only child, Jeff, I have a big family. There's no shortage of knee cases. And my mother, by the way, was a Latiner. Okay. So there's no shortage of knee cases and ladiners here in our diocese, right? Um I want to see good and holy priests for my families, the future generations of my family, you know? Um, and and and guys who are really passionate about the faith, passionate about the truth, and and help people to have that relationship with Jesus in a real way.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

Awesome. Look, the the last thing I'm gonna ask you, and this I asked this that of everyone I have on the podcast, Christy Lass, everybody asks this question. How do you stay awesome?

SPEAKER_04 44:53

How do I stay awesome?

SPEAKER_03 44:54

Because I think you're an awesome person, like 100%. So how do you stay awesome?

SPEAKER_04 45:00

Don't take myself too seriously. And recognize also that at the end of the day, I'm still human, that I still make mistakes, but also recognize that when I make a mistake, it's okay to say I'm sorry and to ask for forgiveness.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

You know, perfectly said, my man. Um, thank you so much for taking time to do this. I love you. I I love everything you do for my family, for Charlie, for the way you've and Father Satish were there when Dana's mom passed away, all of it, you know. I love y'all.

SPEAKER_04 45:33

Amen. Love you, man.

SPEAKER_03 45:34

Cool. I'll see you soon. Thank you. All right, God bless you. You too.