October 23, 2025 • 40 mins
How can a food pantry in one of the most impoverished cities in New Jersey feed 22,000 people each month? What does it take to empower the staff and volunteers of a drug and alcohol treatment center that helps hundreds of people in recovery every day? We answer these questions and more.
Tim Potter and Scott Milliken are the guests on this episode, which explores how the annual Diocesan Ministries Appeal is having a significant impact on many lives across the three counties of the Diocese of Paterson.
Potter is chief development officer for the Diocese of Paterson, and Milliken is chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Paterson. They join co-hosts Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and Communications Director Jai Agnish.
The annual Diocesan Ministries Appeal funds seminary education, priest retirement and health care needs, Catholic Urban Education, and Catholic Charities. Learn more by listening and by clicking on the links below.
Thank you for giving to the appeal!
SHOW NOTES:
https://dopappeal.org/about.html
https://dopappeal.org
https://www.ccpaterson.org
For the Diocesan Ministries Appeal Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5SGaBjPwt0
Email questions and topic ideas to Bishop Kevin at beyond@patersondiocese.org.
Produced by Jai Agnish and Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney for the Diocese of Paterson. Engineered, edited, and theme song by Jai Agnish. Illustrations by Dennis Dalelio.
Beyond The Beacon on Instagram and Facebook. Bishop Kevin on Instagram. The Diocese of Paterson on Instagram, Facebook (English) / Facebook (Spanish).
Every three years, each Diocese in the USA has the graced opportunity to make a scheduled pilgrimage as one Diocesan family with their Bishop to the National Shrine in the nation's capital. 2026 is once again "our year!" Please note the two-day and one-day options: Oct. 16, Friday, and Oct. 17, Saturday. Visit the Diocese of Paterson website here to learn more!
On Coffee with Kupke, we have a cup of coffee and sit down with diocesan archivist, Monsignor Raymond Kupke Ph.D., to delve into the history of Catholicism in the Diocese of Paterson, N.J. Hosted by Father Paul Manning and Msgr. Kupke. Listen to Coffee with Kupke wherever you get your podcasts, or watch it on the St. Paul Inside the Walls YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@stpaulinsidethewalls.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:08):
Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin
Sweeney, a podcast of theDiocese of Patterson, New
Jersey.
Join us for conversations aboutour Catholic faith, and together
let's strive to live a life offaith, hope, and love.
We're so glad you can join us.
I'm Jay Agnish, and with me isBishop Kevin Sweeney.
Bishop Kevin, how are you?
I'm doing well, Jay.
How are you doing?
I'm doing well, thanks.
(00:29):
So so what's new?
What's going on with sports orwhat's going on in the in the uh
with the Pope?
I guess there's a new encyclicalthat was recently issued.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
He loved us.
Um he loves you, I guess.
Um uh following and being helpedby um Pope Francis who started
this uh letter encyclical.
Yeah, and um Pope Leo Francisco.
Yeah, excuse me, Pope Leo pickedup the baton, as we say, and uh
yeah, but it's very much hisown, although it's um I think uh
(01:02):
I haven't read the full uh textyet, I look forward to doing
that.
But um uh Pope Francis, I thinklast encyclical was uh Delixit
No, he knows he loved us.
Um and this is even morespecific, and we can talk a
little bit today about how uhhe's encouraging us and
reminding us of uh living thegospel means caring for our
(01:23):
brothers and sisters who are inneed.
Um and and as um the cardinalsaid to Pope Francis when he was
elected, um remember the poor,don't forget the poor.
And uh so I think uh beingreminded of that uh as well.
Again, hopefully uh do todaywith our guests uh is is
something that we can all use umuh uh use to hear.
SPEAKER_03 (01:47):
Um, I certainly need that reminder every day.
I uh yeah, there I just rememberI looked at some excerpts
briefly and um was really movedby, you know, it talks about uh
how we see the face of Christ inthe poor, a common theme, I
think, biblical theme.
And so but we're gonna get moreinto that in a little bit.
(02:07):
Um so today we're gonna betalking about Catholic Charities
and the Diocesan Ministriesappeal, and we're gonna we have
two familiar faces who arejoining us.
So Tim Potter, our ChiefDevelopment Officer for the
Diocese of Patterson, and ScottMilliken, the Chief Executive
Officer for Catholic Charitiesfor the Diocese of Patterson.
So welcome.
Thank you both for being backon.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
How many years of service to the diocese combined?
Uh you're thirty thirty-three.
Thirty-three and scott?
Thirty-four.
Thirty-four.
Um I'm the new guy.
You've seen a few things and afew priests and bishops come and
go.
Yeah.
God bless you for your um workfor our diocese and leadership.
(02:48):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (02:49):
So should we open up and pray?
SPEAKER_01 (02:50):
Sure, we'll continue in our Jubilee um year of
Pilgrims of Hope and and we'llpray our Jubilee prayer.
Um and certainly um uh we striveto be yes, pilgrims of hope and
instruments of faith, hope, andlove, and uh and uh we'll hear
how that's done through the workof Catholic charities and
(03:11):
Catholic charities and othersare able to do that work because
of the support that they receivethrough the ministry's appeal.
So um we wanna, as we pray, wethank all those who um are real
instruments and pilgrims of hopeum by what they do and and also
by their generosity and supportfor for the ministries of our
diocese.
So we have you in mind um andour brothers and sisters who are
(03:33):
in need as well, and those whocare for them as we pray
together.
Uh now we'll place ourselves inGod's presence in the name of
the Father and of the Son and ofthe Holy Spirit.
Amen.
And together as pilgrims of hopein this jubilee of hope, we'll
pray the Jubilee prayertogether.
Father in heaven, may the faithyou have given us in your Son,
Jesus Christ, our brother, andthe flame of charity enkindle in
(03:56):
our hearts by the Holy Spiritreawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your kingdom.
May your grace transform us intotireless cultivators of the
seeds of the gospel.
May those seeds transform fromwithin both humanity and the
whole cosmos in the sureexpectation of a new heaven and
a new earth.
When with the powers of evilvanquished, your glory will
(04:19):
shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubileereawaken in us, pilgrims of
hope, a yearning for thetreasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread thejoy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you, our God, eternallyblessed, be glory and praise
forever.
Amen.
Our Lady Seed of Wisdom, OurLady of Hope, pray for us.
(04:41):
Saint Joseph, pray for us, SaintJohn the Baptist, pray for us.
All holy men and women, pray forus, pray for us in the name of
the Father and of the Son and ofthe Holy Spirit.
Amen.
I know this will come out nextweek, but we're recording on um
October 15th, which is the feastof Saint Teresa of Avala, uh,
the first woman to be declared adoctor of the church and um the
reformer with John of the Crossof the Carmelite Order, and I
(05:04):
was blessed this morning to beable to say Mass for our
Carmelite sisters uh in in theCarmel and Morristown.
So uh Saint Teresa of Avala alsowe ask to pray for us.
SPEAKER_03 (05:14):
My wife was listening on Hallow and learning
all over her somewhere today,one of her favorite saints.
Um good, so where should webegin the conversation, Bishop?
So a lot going on with CaptainCharity, a lot going on with the
diocese.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
I guess with with Tim here, we can say it's that
time of year again, right?
A beautiful time of year.
It'd be better if the Yankeeswere in the World Series.
Old Tim would work for anotherteam, but uh so uh but neither
one of them is there,unfortunately.
And uh Scott and I, as Jet fans,are um trying to be pilgrims of
hope in the NFL, which is not soeasy for um so um uh more
(05:47):
importantly, um uh this is thetime of year when we ask um your
generosity uh in the support ofthe Dasin Ministries appeal, and
Tim will share some of what youallow us to do, and Scott can
share that as well.
Um but Tim, maybe just give usan update on where we are in uh
the 2025 DASIN Ministriesappeal.
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
Sure.
So uh the Diocin MinistriesAppeal funds uh a wide array of
of needs in the diocese uh andministries and programs,
specifically seminary education,um, uh priest retirement and
health care needs, uh Catholicurban education, and Catholic
charities.
Um these have been somethingthat have been um great in the
(06:33):
response from the parishionersthroughout the years because
their the needs are are thereand um it really helps us
respond as Catholics to what'sgoing on and to respond to the
gospel.
Um the theme this year for theappeal is three counties, one
family of faith.
And uh it's great to w in a wayto celebrate the different
counties and all the work that'sbeing done there because again,
(06:54):
being the Diocese of Patterson,you kind of think of Patterson
as as the place, and it iscertainly, but it encompasses
Morris, Bassaic, and Sussexcounties, and there's so much
work, especially with Catholiccharities, that is being done in
all the different counties,dozens of programs, and so it's
it was good to highlight thatthis year specifically for each
county to see how everybodyacross the diocese benefits from
(07:16):
the appeal.
SPEAKER_01 (07:17):
Um and uh the it'll be in the last weekend of
October, right?
Uh well um we started uh uhmailings have already gone gone
out and thank God people havealready responded, right?
SPEAKER_02 (07:29):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (07:29):
Both um returning by mail and electronically offering
their support and gifts andpledges.
Uh and then uh in this um lastweekend, in the last weekend of
October we'll uh show in theparishes.
Many of the parishes will showthe video, which is also
available online.
Um but um but we'll also ask uhat at Mass, right, for that that
(07:49):
NP weekend for for help ofparishioners.
SPEAKER_02 (07:52):
That's correct.
October 25th and 26th is the NPweekend, where we ask
parishioners who have not yetmade a pledge to consider doing
so.
Um and Bishop, you're right,they're gonna be uh showing a
video um about the work of theappeal or an audio homily.
Um but all this is meant to justkind of put a face to the work
(08:12):
that we do.
Um and so uh the video I hope isa good representation again of
how each uh county benefits fromthe work of Catholic charities,
especially.
Um and so uh we're asking forthat kind of support.
And we've gotten it, we'vegotten the support over the
years just because people dounderstand the needs that we
have and and have beenincredibly generous.
(08:32):
So we're so grateful for that.
SPEAKER_03 (09:13):
I love the video.
It's it's always a greatstorytelling device, and it just
illuminates what's happening inthe dice.
It's the beautiful work thatmany folks are doing.
And so for people who arelistening to this episode, you
can click on the show notes.
There'll be a link for thevideo.
And for people who are watchingit, we're gonna play the whole
video at the end, and you'll seesome clips during during our
(09:34):
conversation as well.
SPEAKER_01 (09:35):
And Tim, you said 34 years, right?
Was it was originally called uhthe bishop's annual appeal,
right?
And uh when you came to visit mein Patterson before it was even
installed, uh, and you hadsuggested, and I guess I've been
thinking up for uh for a time,it's really more accurate to say
the DAS is ministry's appeal,right?
Because yes, it helps the bishopin my work as as shepherd, but
(09:56):
we're all in this together asthe church.
And uh we have ministers, uh ourpriests, our deacons, our
religious, uh, our layministers, our our Das and staff
and other um uh Catholiccharities uh uh has so many um
employees, but they they're notin it for the money, I don't
think.
Uh Catholic charities, right?
It's a vocation and ministry,right?
(10:17):
For and Scott can share someabout that ministry.
And so uh yes, Catholic schoolsand our retired priests and um
and seminarian education, thosefuture uh ministers of the
gospel.
Um but um was the appeal aroundwhen you arrived or oh yeah.
Yeah, going back to does it goback to Bishop O'Dimer?
Was is he one of those?
SPEAKER_02 (10:36):
Uh the appeal started in 1991, and I worked on
that uh uh for two years outsideof the diocese.
And then when I came to thediocese in 1993, I continued it.
So I I've been w working on thedi uh the appeal for since 1991
in this diocese.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
And uh thank God, even you know, challenging time
the last few years, uh the thepeople of our diocese um respond
so generously, right?
In the last two years, I thinkwe've done very, very well.
SPEAKER_02 (11:02):
Yeah, we've we've we've always done well uh thanks
to the parishioners of thediocese, even during COVID um in
2020, uh when so many uh uhappeals honestly were not doing
as well because for obviousreasons with with parishes being
closed and the COVID situation,um we actually did better than
the year before.
(11:22):
Um and again, I think that wasbecause people saw the need,
they understood that some peoplewere hurting and might not be
able to give to the appeal likethey did in previous years, and
so others stepped up to make upfor that.
So um that's what's so greatabout the parishioners of this
diocese is that they respond sowell to it.
And and it isn't just theparishioners, but it's the
(11:43):
pastors who promote it in theparishes.
We could not do it without theirsupport.
The pastors, right, are soimportant.
SPEAKER_01 (11:48):
Um and uh as there are those uh the the main uh
areas that receive support, aswe've mentioned, um have been
there, I guess, for some time.
But um there are times when uhthere's a special need, and uh
Scott being here today can tellus about the new um newly
renovated building for ourCatholic charities um food
pantry, also known as the FatherEnglish food pantry.
(12:11):
Um and uh so the last couple ofyears there's been an extra um
uh dedicated uh uh support of umthe um the the food pantry.
Uh Scott, maybe you want to tellus a little bit about how that's
going and and where we are withuh our food pantry.
SPEAKER_00 (12:28):
Sure.
Uh I would say about three yearsago uh I came to Bishop uh
Sweeney and uh you know gave himour heartfelt message that our
food pantry is falling down.
It had asbestos, it had wallsthat were collapsing, uh no
(12:50):
HVAC, no proper uh refrigerationunits for serving the poor.
Uh at right before COVID we weredoing uh 2.6 million pounds of
food a year.
Um since COVID, we're doing fourmillion pounds of food every
single year.
The need has just increased.
(13:11):
And if we didn't do somethingradical to fix the food pantry,
then uh the building.
The building is we wouldn't havea food pantry.
Um uh yeah, I think everybodyknows Carlos Rodin.
He's our our food pantrydirector, and he's so passionate
(13:31):
about um, you know, him comingfrom a uh situation of poverty
where he was hungry as a childand he's made it his life
mission to to feed the poor.
Uh he just told me yes yesterdayhe came in on Sunday just to
check the lights, and somebodywas outside, and he opened a
door and fixed a bag of food forthem.
SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
Uh we thank uh St.
Joseph's Hospital, St.
Joseph's Health, right?
That has allowed us to be in abuilding uh warehouse on a busy
street.
Um but Carlos has adjusted, andthat's been the temporary
location now for a little over ayear, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Yes, and we haven't dropped one day of not giving
food out even during thetransition.
SPEAKER_01 (14:12):
Um and the change of location might have even made it
more visible for some and uhsome who didn't realize it was
in the original spot.
SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
Absolutely.
And and then the new food pantryis is going to be a choice food
pantry as well, which isextremely important.
Uh the whole um objective is toprovide as much dignity as
possible to people who aresuffering.
And with a choice food pantry,all the renovations are going to
allow somebody to not only comein, not have to wait online
(14:43):
outside, but wait in a waitingarea and then shop with a
basket, being able to go into aCostco-like cooler and
refrigeration unit and cost apoint system, like a point
system based on uh need andfamily size, that uh a family
will get a certain amount ofpoints, and be coming come in
(15:04):
and shop.
SPEAKER_01 (15:05):
We might have a future episode on the Holy
Father's new letter about uh,you know, it's not only about
giving charity, right?
It's about encountering thepresence of of Christ and and
recognizing the dignity of everyperson.
And uh Carlos in the food pantryhas been doing it for some time
and now in they're gonna be ableto do that in a a new a new way
in a newly refurbished building,right?
SPEAKER_00 (15:26):
Yes.
Um I ironically, uh this pastweek I was with uh 88 of my
fellow CEOs of Catholiccharities across the country in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, and inthe Apostolic Ex Exhortation
came out that week while we werethere.
(15:47):
And uh everything that Catholiccharities is based on our
Catholic social teaching isrepresented in in this in this
uh exhortation.
Um and it shares just a littlebit about um that always
resonates with myself becauseone of our staff had said it uh
(16:08):
to me when I first started thatum Catholic charities and the
diocese and the church that forsome folks we are the only face
of Christ that some of themmight ever see because of their
current situation, and Catholiccharities provides help and
creates help.
And the diocese and ministriesappeal and the funds that come
(16:31):
in for that, um, what separatesus from all the other
nonprofits, it's our faith andour our reflection back on
Catholic so Catholic socialteaching.
And it allows me and our ourstaff to say yes when so many
others um turn the turn theirturn away.
(16:53):
Um so these funds directly helpus to help those people who fall
through the cracks.
So can you you you printed uppart of the exhortation?
Sure.
Can you share something?
This is um a ref a reflectionfrom Pope Leo.
I've chosen re to recall the ageold history of the church's care
for the poor and with the poorin order to make clear that it
(17:16):
has always been a central partof her life.
Indeed, caring for the poor ispart of the church's great
tradition, a beacon, as it were,of evangelical light to
illuminate the hearts and guidethe decisions of Christians in
every age.
That is why we must feel boundto invite everyone to share in
the light and life born ofrecognizing Christ in the faces
(17:39):
of those suffering and those inneed.
So it's exactly you know what wetalk about.
I think Tim several years ago wehad the face of Christ on the
posters made of all the picturesof all the people that we have
served over.
SPEAKER_01 (17:54):
And he gave a little shout out to the beacon.
Oh, yeah?
He talks about the beacon.
Yes.
So um uh but yes, uh uh uh it Ijust had the chance to be in the
Sisi, and you know, you think ofthe going back to St.
Francis and the Sisi and beforethat as he talks about it's who
we are as the church that fromthe very beginning, the care for
(18:15):
the poor, and seeing um CarloAcudis buried there, um, you
know, uh 800 years after St.
Francis, this young kid umgrowing up in a family that
wasn't all that religious, butsomething in him attracts him to
the Eucharist, to the Mass, andthen he realizes he needs to see
the face of Christ in uh thosewho are in need, and he would
organize food uh drives in hisschool and and and uh personally
(18:37):
reach out to to people who arein need.
Um and uh um and and maybe say alittle bit, Scott, about the
your staff, this our staff atCatholic Charities, not only the
food pantry, but we're openingum a new uh uh rebuilt uh uh
straight and narrow drugtreatment facility.
And um we also have the DPD umhomes, uh which again all are
(18:59):
supported by the people of ourdiocese through the ministry's
appeal, right?
We had the special uh part of itfor the the um the the food
pantry the last few years, butum but uh Catholic charity is
more than just the food pantry,right?
And and and now the staff, someof the staff that we have.
SPEAKER_00 (19:15):
Yes, uh the ministry's appeal is directly
affecting our at-risk at-riskyouth in Patterson.
Uh we're going to be able to buyum and start a robotics program
for uh the inner city youth ofPatterson, um which they don't
have access to that.
And uh our students from ourCatholic schools are are because
(19:38):
they have it, are volunteeringto come in and teach those
robotics um to the youth.
So without the diocesanministry's appeal, that wouldn't
happen.
We're opening up a uhstate-of-the-art.
We just received the CO lastFriday.
So uh as soon as it's licensednow, we'll um we have a uh a
(20:01):
newly renovated kitchen that'lldo 3,000 meals uh a day.
Uh it'll service over three tofour hundred people coming in
for outpatient counseling everysingle day, and it has a halfway
house for men for 75 bedsupstairs, um, plus the
administrative office ofstraight and narrow for Catholic
(20:23):
charities.
SPEAKER_01 (20:24):
So in the heart of the city of Patterson?
SPEAKER_00 (20:27):
Yes, right in the heart of city in the city of
Patterson is actually was theold Carter Wright building that
was built airplane wings forWorld War II.
Um and because the train trackswere right there, they used to
build the airplane wings, putthem right onto the railroad and
ship them overseas.
Oh cool.
Uh so that is our new newbuilding, and it's uh dedicated
(20:50):
in honor of Monsignor HerbertTillier.
We'll be there for uh thededication, right?
The dedication is December 8th,uh, and we're really looking
excited to and very excited toopen that.
At the same time, we're openinga medical day program.
There are 3,000 uh folks who arehave HIV and AIDS or AIDS that
(21:11):
are under the poverty level.
Uh they will come uh 50 people aday to straight and arrow to
assure that they have um propermedication, uh, a meal, and see
a doctor and a nurse to makesure that they're keeping up
with their regimen ofmedication.
We just opened up a fullyfunctional CrossFit Gym that is
(21:37):
fully functional now.
We're doing six classes a dayfor men, women in recovery at
straight and narrow.
So, straight and narrow, there'slots of things really moving and
shaking.
Uh then at the food pantry, uhwith the the help of the
diocesan ministries appeal, wewe're just trying to get the new
(21:58):
electrical service, theelectrical service that was
there, uh for those of you whoremember Eddie and the Munsters,
you know, with the big, youknow, that's what it looked
like, the electrical panel.
Uh we're we're you we're waitingfor the new electrical service,
so permitting, and as soon as weget that in, um the all the the
(22:20):
stuff that the the shelves andeverything is all coming.
And including hydroponic?
Yes.
So we are opening up the firsthydroponic farming system in any
urban area in New Jersey.
And uh again, just waiting onpermitting, but uh once we get
through those permits, uh It itactually grows uh It's gonna
(22:42):
give a whole new meaning to avegetable garden, right?
Yes.
It grows five hundred heads oflettuce a week.
Yes a week, two thousand headsof lettuce a month, um
twenty-four thousand heads oflettuce a year, and it will be
grown right in the parking lotof the food pantry and brought
across the driveway, fresh rightinto the new coolers that we
(23:04):
have, um, refrigeration units,and that will be going just to
give out to the poor.
SPEAKER_01 (23:10):
So um and I had the opportunity to visit a number of
times to uh give tours to uh forthe that was the before part,
right?
When the building was still thenwe some some one wonderful,
generous donors joined us there,and uh we'll you're looking
forward to we're looking forwardto having a little gathering,
right, to um see the newlyrenovated uh Father English Food
(23:30):
Pantry, Catholic Charities FoodPantry.
And yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:32):
Catholic Charities USA um has a uh a a statue, a
bronze statue outside of thecorner office, right by the in
between the courthouse and theCatholic charity's main
headquarters of uh Jesusembracing a homeless man.
And it is just uh you walk pastit and it is just beautiful and
(23:56):
thought-provoking, and uhthey've encouraged Catholic
charities across the country toput this in their most
vulnerable area.
And uh thanks to everyoneinvolved with the food pantry
and and the renovation of thefood pantry, we will have that
beacon of hope sitting outsideour new food pantry.
So it's gonna be a gloriousgrand opening when when we get
(24:20):
there.
And uh we're all anxious for itto open and and really just
start serving the poor andcontinue to serve.
SPEAKER_01 (24:28):
The food pantry uh uh straight and narrow, family
services, all that Catholiccharities does, and then there's
something called DPD.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (24:37):
Uh DPD is our Catholic uh Department for
Department for Persons withDisabilities.
Uh we service folks withintellectual and developmental
disabilities.
Uh it's been around over 50years.
Uh Father Worlin started itmany, many years ago with
through with uh Bishop Nava.
(24:58):
And uh it's been going strongand growing ever since.
And how many homes?
Uh 13 homes all together.
Uh case case management servicesfor young adults uh graduating
from high school and and agingout of the school system, uh 275
case management uh services forthat, as well as a a day program
(25:22):
for adults to go who are kind ofum learning skills and yeah,
there's such um you talk aboutmeeting the seeing Jesus, right?
SPEAKER_01 (25:30):
And uh the when you when you see some of the
residents in uh in our in ourDPD homes that you can lift and
see.
SPEAKER_00 (25:39):
You know, if you're having a bad day, just go to
Grohner Center.
Your whole day will will and andr uh attitude on where you're
currently at changes veryquickly.
Um but we're opening the thehomes that were originally had,
you know, there was no thoughtof people aging and aging in
place.
So uh Murray House is is one ofour first homes that was is
(26:02):
actually the longest runninggroup home in the state of New
Jersey.
Uh and the Murray family isstill involved.
The Murray family's stillinvolved.
There's been a board member ofon Catholic charities since its
inception of of uh of of of uhcharity's history.
And uh we're purchased wepurchased two new homes, one for
(26:24):
Murray House and one for WorlandHouse in West Milford to move
them to more rant-style homes.
Uh this way people can age inplace because if they can't go
up and down the stairs,licensing is involved and fire
evacuation becomes an issue andsafety.
So this allows people to age inplace who might not have the
opportunity to stay with us ifthat uh changes.
(26:48):
And then we're we're looking,currently looking for another
ranch-style home, which is verydifficult to find in more
specific Sussex County.
Uh, but we're looking foranother home to open Smitherman
House.
And uh Smithman Donald Smithemanwas a uh a parent who had four
children with developmentaldisabilities, all who lived with
(27:10):
Catholic charities.
And um after passing in hischildren's past, he left an
estate to Catholic charities toopen up a Smith herman home.
So um we're looking, activelylooking.
If you have a Rand style homeout there, let us know.
Let us know.
Let us know.
Okay.
So lots of exciting things atCatholic Charities.
SPEAKER_03 (27:30):
In Catholic charities, clearly bringing out
the best in people with with thefinancial support and finding
homes and the leaving estates.
It's pretty, pretty amazingstuff.
SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
Um and there's web the Catholic charities and the
ministries appeal, right?
There's uh people can go um tothe different websites, right,
and and get some information.
SPEAKER_02 (27:51):
So uh to make a gift to the diocese of ministry's
appeal um online, which a lot ofpeople do, um, it's it's
actually growing each year.
More people more and more peopleare doing that.
It's very simple.
It's 2025appeal.org.
SPEAKER_01 (28:03):
2025appeal.org.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
And they can make an online gift, and uh it's very
very simple.
So uh I encourage people to dothat as well.
SPEAKER_01 (28:12):
And uh you mentioned Monsignor Tillier, um, I think
also of Monsignor Jim Mahoneyand for and Bishop Saratelli.
Um the effort, I we may havementioned it before, but uh, you
know, there was almost threeseparate organizations, right?
Catholic charities, familyservices, DPD, um uh um and
straight narrow.
And uh over these past six,seven years, I guess now, um
(28:35):
it's really come together as oneCatholic charity, right, Scott?
And is that reflected that Ithink it's g it is or it's gonna
be in in the website as well,right?
Because you can go to one placeand hear all the see here and
see all the good news.
SPEAKER_00 (28:47):
Yes.
Um, you know, in the past we hadthree organizations that um ran
completely separately.
And I remember the wordsMonsignor Mahoney gave to me
when I first walked into hisoffice.
He says, Scott, we are onechurch, we will be one Catholic
charities.
And uh and it always that alwaysalways stuck with me and
(29:09):
resonated with me as well.
And and we're we're you thatstarted and then COVID hit.
Uh so there was somedifficulties just bringing
everybody together, but we'removing to one email address, CC
Patterson.
SPEAKER_01 (29:23):
Monsignor Tillier taking really stepping up at
that point, right?
SPEAKER_00 (29:27):
Yes, and Monsignor Tillier was the only uh person
who had been on all three boardsat at one time in his life.
So he was the perfect option tobe president of of Catholic
charities.
SPEAKER_01 (29:41):
Uh and he did that for a number of years and now
thanks to um Father um um uh thethe pastor.
Father Martin uh Father MartinGlynn uh uh stepped up right a
um uh when Monsignor Tilia wasretiring and uh has been so
involved.
SPEAKER_00 (29:56):
Uh I cut you off, you were saying the what new
website Yeah, c ccpatterson.organd all of the every we have
over 450 staff at CatholicCharities in Patterson, and
everybody will have accpatterson.org.
Uh domain name and emailaddress, uh, because we have so
many different domains out thereand it's bringing it all
(30:18):
together.
Um Bishop thankfully um allowedus to also purchase uh a new
home for Catholic charities inin Parsipony.
Uh so all of the administrativefunction of Catholic charities
will be in one location for thefirst time ever.
Uh so we've been um scattered.
(30:38):
Scattered over the last uh sevenyears.
SPEAKER_01 (30:41):
Father Glenn has been also not only being the the
the head of the board, but uhhe's been hosting right a lot of
meetings.
Yes, he's been hosting our boardmeetings.
SPEAKER_00 (30:49):
In Denver, yes.
Um but it's really when when wefirst started looking at this,
um our buildings and facilitieshave were falling down around
our seas, around the seams.
Our our partnership for peoplein Sussex County has been
completely renovated with theconsolidated board and a focus
mission on hey, what are thepriorities?
(31:12):
Uh and our Hope House in inDover, we were operating out of
a school that was on five levelsand only accessible on the first
level for folks who werehandicapped.
So served people were comingdownstairs, and now we're on
social services row um in Dover,and uh that's Hope House, so we
(31:33):
were successfully able to movethat, and then our our steeple
that was that was falling down,we fixed that.
Uh that was one of our firstprojects, right?
Tim, we didn't want anybody toget it hit in the head.
And then uh, you know, in thefood pantry, and straight and
narrow, obviously, um, and thatwhole lot of moving parts there
to get everything into anenvironment that's conducive for
(31:57):
treatment.
And the last piece of the puzzlewas the food pantry.
And you know, Tim stepped up andBishop, thank you.
And our people and the peoplethat that um so graciously
assisted us in getting thisproject under underway and so so
excited to to show it off, andit it really is gonna be a
(32:19):
beacon of hope for for many,many years to come for people
who are suffering.
SPEAKER_02 (32:25):
And that that's kind of what I like about the appeal
in a sense that it really pivotsto the needs that are happening
at that moment.
Um so we talked about how theappeal helped uh with the
funding of the food pantry um inthese last three years.
Uh this year it's helping withthe at-risk youth program.
And in 2019, uh I think twoweeks before the appeal started
(32:47):
was the fire straight and arrow.
Two weeks before, we hadeverything ready to go.
Uh but Bishop Saratelli at thetime s uh we got together very
quickly and we again pivotedagain and uh made a decision to
use some of the funds for thatyear to help support the
rebuilding of the of the uhStraight and Narrow building.
Um and uh we changed theletters, we did everything, the
(33:09):
marketing changed within twoweeks.
Um so that's that's what I likeabout the appeal is that each
year is kind of fresh and newand responds to the needs of the
people and the community and thediocese.
SPEAKER_03 (33:20):
Awesome.
Well, um I mean so much hashappened in the past few years.
What what's how how do you howdo you do how do you collaborate
across departments like that andmake make effect a change like
this?
Like is there if you couldwhat's the secret?
SPEAKER_00 (33:36):
Um well Bishop is really uh kind of talking about
it.
Yeah, but it's it's not the theleadership division is is the
the leaders we're just directingthe ship.
The the staff who do everythingday to day and work with people
and you know uh our staff whoare working with um soil diapers
(34:00):
and people c enthralled inaddiction from the very
beginning where they're walkingon the street homeless or in
prison.
Uh and bringing those folks inand our dedicated staff who
don't make enough but it istheir mission and their calling.
The staff is what makes us greatand blessed.
(34:23):
Doing what Jesus would do, um,and just caring for people and
giving proper direction andvision, you know, as an example,
the food pantry um when I camewas operating out of a room no
bigger than this with a bigspace and we were renting out
the hall for for weddings,right?
(34:43):
Um and that's not what Catholiccharities is about.
And like from the first day itsaid, no, this is gonna be our
food pantry, and and um the foodpantry is also has it used to be
an old theater and the stage itstill had multiple levels of
flooring and it's all guttednow, it's all one level, and
(35:05):
that is going to be clothing forthe for the needy.
So, and it's gonna be like uhany other Kohl's or JCPenney's,
everything will be sorted bysize and I'm just remembering
now we did an episode in the umtemporary uh um food pantry, I
guess it was last year.
SPEAKER_01 (35:21):
With Carlisle, yeah, yeah.
So we'll have to go back and doone at the newly renovated uh
with the bright light and uh andthe uh when the electricity's
on.
You know.
SPEAKER_00 (35:40):
And um she was amazed about you know how many
families we're serving a day andjust the food insecurity with
the cuts from SNAP and whatfamilies are going through, and
you know, that a lot of peoplethink that the people waiting on
the food pantry line, and and uhPope references this in in in
his um encyclical.
(36:03):
And uh, you know uh most of thepeople who are on the line at
the food pantry, I'm gonna say90 percent are are working two
or three jobs.
They're not looking for ahandout.
And they're there because theyneed food.
Uh the first thing that thatgoes is food because they're
trying to pay their rent.
(36:24):
Um and they're m multiplefamilies living together um to
meet the need to pay uh justbasic necessities, you know,
clothing, housing.
SPEAKER_01 (36:35):
Yeah and not to mention trying to raise
children, right?
SPEAKER_00 (36:37):
And raise children at the same time, and they have
their parents and sometimesgrandparents living with them in
two families in a one or twobedroom apartment.
So um it's so important for usto to try to give them hope and
and food, just the daily basicsof life.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:57):
All right.
Well, this has been somethingincredible hearing all this.
Um thank you both for your hardwork.
Um Bishop, before we wind downthis episode, is there anything
you uh want to reflect on aboutthe conversation thus far?
SPEAKER_01 (37:12):
Uh uh gratitude, thank you to all those who
support the ministry's appeal,all um uh Scott and and Tim for
their great leadership.
Leadership is very important,and we're blessed um by the by
the leadership of both of you.
Um Tim working with a smallcrew, but uh you do a lot with a
little, and and Scott, the largeuh organization that is,
(37:32):
Catholic charities, but as yousaid, also um the demands on on
so many of our um employees andteam members.
Um so we're we're grateful tothem, and then again for all the
support.
And as Tim mentioned, I knowScott knows, and uh uh we're we
all need to be aware of uh theleadership of our pastors,
right?
I mean, and and priests uh uh inour parishes um is um we're
(37:54):
having uh this coming weekend uhthe Vivare Christus Awards where
parishes recognize uh um uhleaders leader, lay usually lay
leaders or religious possibly,but um uh our our pastors and
priests also um whether it be insupporting um and working
together with Catholiccharities, calling Catholic
charities when they encountersomeone in need.
(38:16):
And Scott, your you and yourteam are always so responsive.
Um, but also um in in in in thistime of year, uh uh uh in the uh
in Pew weekend and in otherways, uh what our pastors uh and
parish leaders do for um supportof the ministry's appeal is is
is so important, right?
SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
Absolutely.
They make they they they're makeit happen.
Um so grateful.
SPEAKER_01 (38:39):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (38:39):
So what was that website address?
2025appeal.org.
SPEAKER_01 (38:44):
2025appeal.org.
SPEAKER_02 (38:45):
I say my sleep.
SPEAKER_00 (38:48):
And cc Patterson.
CCpatterson.org and just thankyou for everyone who donates to
the appeal.
And I'll say it again.
It it allows us to say yes whenso many others say no and turn
their backs.
So thank you all.
SPEAKER_03 (39:04):
Okay.
All right, before we uh close uphere, Bishop, uh what are you
looking forward to?
Your your schedule is always sobusy.
You mentioned Christmas.
Um what else is uh coming up?
SPEAKER_01 (39:15):
As uh it'll the episode will come out next week.
We'll be with our priests um onthe uh every three years we have
a convocation um from Mondayevening till Thursday morning, a
time to get away, a retreatslash workshop, and also
opportunity for fraternity.
So um we get to go spend alittle time down by the shore in
Spring Lake, and uh and uh soplease um keep that in in your
(39:38):
prayers uh as we look forward toour our priest convocation.
SPEAKER_03 (39:42):
Okay.
All right, well, thank you all,and thank you for joining us.
Please subscribe, comment, andleave a positive rating.
Get to know us better byfollowing Bishop Kevin's
Instagram and beyond the beaconon social media.
Read the bishop's weekly columnon beaconnj.org and get in touch
if you have a question for thebishop or a podcast topic idea.
(40:03):
And discover our other podcasts,Coffee with Kupke in the Paul
Street Journal.
See you next time.
Thank you, everybody.
God bless you.
Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin
Sweeney, a podcast of theDiocese of Patterson, New
Jersey.
Join us for conversations aboutour Catholic faith, and together
let's strive to live a life offaith, hope, and love.
We're so glad you can join us.
I'm Jay Agnish, and with me isBishop Kevin Sweeney.
Bishop Kevin, how are you?
I'm doing well, Jay.
How are you doing?
I'm doing well, thanks.
(00:29):
So so what's new?
What's going on with sports orwhat's going on in the in the uh
with the Pope?
I guess there's a new encyclicalthat was recently issued.
SPEAKER_01 (00:40):
He loved us.
Um he loves you, I guess.
Um uh following and being helpedby um Pope Francis who started
this uh letter encyclical.
Yeah, and um Pope Leo Francisco.
Yeah, excuse me, Pope Leo pickedup the baton, as we say, and uh
yeah, but it's very much hisown, although it's um I think uh
(01:02):
I haven't read the full uh textyet, I look forward to doing
that.
But um uh Pope Francis, I thinklast encyclical was uh Delixit
No, he knows he loved us.
Um and this is even morespecific, and we can talk a
little bit today about how uhhe's encouraging us and
reminding us of uh living thegospel means caring for our
(01:23):
brothers and sisters who are inneed.
Um and and as um the cardinalsaid to Pope Francis when he was
elected, um remember the poor,don't forget the poor.
And uh so I think uh beingreminded of that uh as well.
Again, hopefully uh do todaywith our guests uh is is
something that we can all use umuh uh use to hear.
SPEAKER_03 (01:47):
Um, I certainly need that reminder every day.
I uh yeah, there I just rememberI looked at some excerpts
briefly and um was really movedby, you know, it talks about uh
how we see the face of Christ inthe poor, a common theme, I
think, biblical theme.
And so but we're gonna get moreinto that in a little bit.
(02:07):
Um so today we're gonna betalking about Catholic Charities
and the Diocesan Ministriesappeal, and we're gonna we have
two familiar faces who arejoining us.
So Tim Potter, our ChiefDevelopment Officer for the
Diocese of Patterson, and ScottMilliken, the Chief Executive
Officer for Catholic Charitiesfor the Diocese of Patterson.
So welcome.
Thank you both for being backon.
SPEAKER_01 (02:28):
How many years of service to the diocese combined?
Uh you're thirty thirty-three.
Thirty-three and scott?
Thirty-four.
Thirty-four.
Um I'm the new guy.
You've seen a few things and afew priests and bishops come and
go.
Yeah.
God bless you for your um workfor our diocese and leadership.
(02:48):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_03 (02:49):
So should we open up and pray?
SPEAKER_01 (02:50):
Sure, we'll continue in our Jubilee um year of
Pilgrims of Hope and and we'llpray our Jubilee prayer.
Um and certainly um uh we striveto be yes, pilgrims of hope and
instruments of faith, hope, andlove, and uh and uh we'll hear
how that's done through the workof Catholic charities and
(03:11):
Catholic charities and othersare able to do that work because
of the support that they receivethrough the ministry's appeal.
So um we wanna, as we pray, wethank all those who um are real
instruments and pilgrims of hopeum by what they do and and also
by their generosity and supportfor for the ministries of our
diocese.
So we have you in mind um andour brothers and sisters who are
(03:33):
in need as well, and those whocare for them as we pray
together.
Uh now we'll place ourselves inGod's presence in the name of
the Father and of the Son and ofthe Holy Spirit.
Amen.
And together as pilgrims of hopein this jubilee of hope, we'll
pray the Jubilee prayertogether.
Father in heaven, may the faithyou have given us in your Son,
Jesus Christ, our brother, andthe flame of charity enkindle in
(03:56):
our hearts by the Holy Spiritreawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your kingdom.
May your grace transform us intotireless cultivators of the
seeds of the gospel.
May those seeds transform fromwithin both humanity and the
whole cosmos in the sureexpectation of a new heaven and
a new earth.
When with the powers of evilvanquished, your glory will
(04:19):
shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubileereawaken in us, pilgrims of
hope, a yearning for thetreasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread thejoy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you, our God, eternallyblessed, be glory and praise
forever.
Amen.
Our Lady Seed of Wisdom, OurLady of Hope, pray for us.
(04:41):
Saint Joseph, pray for us, SaintJohn the Baptist, pray for us.
All holy men and women, pray forus, pray for us in the name of
the Father and of the Son and ofthe Holy Spirit.
Amen.
I know this will come out nextweek, but we're recording on um
October 15th, which is the feastof Saint Teresa of Avala, uh,
the first woman to be declared adoctor of the church and um the
reformer with John of the Crossof the Carmelite Order, and I
(05:04):
was blessed this morning to beable to say Mass for our
Carmelite sisters uh in in theCarmel and Morristown.
So uh Saint Teresa of Avala alsowe ask to pray for us.
SPEAKER_03 (05:14):
My wife was listening on Hallow and learning
all over her somewhere today,one of her favorite saints.
Um good, so where should webegin the conversation, Bishop?
So a lot going on with CaptainCharity, a lot going on with the
diocese.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
I guess with with Tim here, we can say it's that
time of year again, right?
A beautiful time of year.
It'd be better if the Yankeeswere in the World Series.
Old Tim would work for anotherteam, but uh so uh but neither
one of them is there,unfortunately.
And uh Scott and I, as Jet fans,are um trying to be pilgrims of
hope in the NFL, which is not soeasy for um so um uh more
(05:47):
importantly, um uh this is thetime of year when we ask um your
generosity uh in the support ofthe Dasin Ministries appeal, and
Tim will share some of what youallow us to do, and Scott can
share that as well.
Um but Tim, maybe just give usan update on where we are in uh
the 2025 DASIN Ministriesappeal.
SPEAKER_02 (06:09):
Sure.
So uh the Diocin MinistriesAppeal funds uh a wide array of
of needs in the diocese uh andministries and programs,
specifically seminary education,um, uh priest retirement and
health care needs, uh Catholicurban education, and Catholic
charities.
Um these have been somethingthat have been um great in the
(06:33):
response from the parishionersthroughout the years because
their the needs are are thereand um it really helps us
respond as Catholics to what'sgoing on and to respond to the
gospel.
Um the theme this year for theappeal is three counties, one
family of faith.
And uh it's great to w in a wayto celebrate the different
counties and all the work that'sbeing done there because again,
(06:54):
being the Diocese of Patterson,you kind of think of Patterson
as as the place, and it iscertainly, but it encompasses
Morris, Bassaic, and Sussexcounties, and there's so much
work, especially with Catholiccharities, that is being done in
all the different counties,dozens of programs, and so it's
it was good to highlight thatthis year specifically for each
county to see how everybodyacross the diocese benefits from
(07:16):
the appeal.
SPEAKER_01 (07:17):
Um and uh the it'll be in the last weekend of
October, right?
Uh well um we started uh uhmailings have already gone gone
out and thank God people havealready responded, right?
SPEAKER_02 (07:29):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (07:29):
Both um returning by mail and electronically offering
their support and gifts andpledges.
Uh and then uh in this um lastweekend, in the last weekend of
October we'll uh show in theparishes.
Many of the parishes will showthe video, which is also
available online.
Um but um but we'll also ask uhat at Mass, right, for that that
(07:49):
NP weekend for for help ofparishioners.
SPEAKER_02 (07:52):
That's correct.
October 25th and 26th is the NPweekend, where we ask
parishioners who have not yetmade a pledge to consider doing
so.
Um and Bishop, you're right,they're gonna be uh showing a
video um about the work of theappeal or an audio homily.
Um but all this is meant to justkind of put a face to the work
(08:12):
that we do.
Um and so uh the video I hope isa good representation again of
how each uh county benefits fromthe work of Catholic charities,
especially.
Um and so uh we're asking forthat kind of support.
And we've gotten it, we'vegotten the support over the
years just because people dounderstand the needs that we
have and and have beenincredibly generous.
(08:32):
So we're so grateful for that.
SPEAKER_03 (09:13):
I love the video.
It's it's always a greatstorytelling device, and it just
illuminates what's happening inthe dice.
It's the beautiful work thatmany folks are doing.
And so for people who arelistening to this episode, you
can click on the show notes.
There'll be a link for thevideo.
And for people who are watchingit, we're gonna play the whole
video at the end, and you'll seesome clips during during our
(09:34):
conversation as well.
SPEAKER_01 (09:35):
And Tim, you said 34 years, right?
Was it was originally called uhthe bishop's annual appeal,
right?
And uh when you came to visit mein Patterson before it was even
installed, uh, and you hadsuggested, and I guess I've been
thinking up for uh for a time,it's really more accurate to say
the DAS is ministry's appeal,right?
Because yes, it helps the bishopin my work as as shepherd, but
(09:56):
we're all in this together asthe church.
And uh we have ministers, uh ourpriests, our deacons, our
religious, uh, our layministers, our our Das and staff
and other um uh Catholiccharities uh uh has so many um
employees, but they they're notin it for the money, I don't
think.
Uh Catholic charities, right?
It's a vocation and ministry,right?
(10:17):
For and Scott can share someabout that ministry.
And so uh yes, Catholic schoolsand our retired priests and um
and seminarian education, thosefuture uh ministers of the
gospel.
Um but um was the appeal aroundwhen you arrived or oh yeah.
Yeah, going back to does it goback to Bishop O'Dimer?
Was is he one of those?
SPEAKER_02 (10:36):
Uh the appeal started in 1991, and I worked on
that uh uh for two years outsideof the diocese.
And then when I came to thediocese in 1993, I continued it.
So I I've been w working on thedi uh the appeal for since 1991
in this diocese.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
And uh thank God, even you know, challenging time
the last few years, uh the thepeople of our diocese um respond
so generously, right?
In the last two years, I thinkwe've done very, very well.
SPEAKER_02 (11:02):
Yeah, we've we've we've always done well uh thanks
to the parishioners of thediocese, even during COVID um in
2020, uh when so many uh uhappeals honestly were not doing
as well because for obviousreasons with with parishes being
closed and the COVID situation,um we actually did better than
the year before.
(11:22):
Um and again, I think that wasbecause people saw the need,
they understood that some peoplewere hurting and might not be
able to give to the appeal likethey did in previous years, and
so others stepped up to make upfor that.
So um that's what's so greatabout the parishioners of this
diocese is that they respond sowell to it.
And and it isn't just theparishioners, but it's the
(11:43):
pastors who promote it in theparishes.
We could not do it without theirsupport.
The pastors, right, are soimportant.
SPEAKER_01 (11:48):
Um and uh as there are those uh the the main uh
areas that receive support, aswe've mentioned, um have been
there, I guess, for some time.
But um there are times when uhthere's a special need, and uh
Scott being here today can tellus about the new um newly
renovated building for ourCatholic charities um food
pantry, also known as the FatherEnglish food pantry.
(12:11):
Um and uh so the last couple ofyears there's been an extra um
uh dedicated uh uh support of umthe um the the food pantry.
Uh Scott, maybe you want to tellus a little bit about how that's
going and and where we are withuh our food pantry.
SPEAKER_00 (12:28):
Sure.
Uh I would say about three yearsago uh I came to Bishop uh
Sweeney and uh you know gave himour heartfelt message that our
food pantry is falling down.
It had asbestos, it had wallsthat were collapsing, uh no
(12:50):
HVAC, no proper uh refrigerationunits for serving the poor.
Uh at right before COVID we weredoing uh 2.6 million pounds of
food a year.
Um since COVID, we're doing fourmillion pounds of food every
single year.
The need has just increased.
(13:11):
And if we didn't do somethingradical to fix the food pantry,
then uh the building.
The building is we wouldn't havea food pantry.
Um uh yeah, I think everybodyknows Carlos Rodin.
He's our our food pantrydirector, and he's so passionate
(13:31):
about um, you know, him comingfrom a uh situation of poverty
where he was hungry as a childand he's made it his life
mission to to feed the poor.
Uh he just told me yes yesterdayhe came in on Sunday just to
check the lights, and somebodywas outside, and he opened a
door and fixed a bag of food forthem.
SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
Uh we thank uh St.
Joseph's Hospital, St.
Joseph's Health, right?
That has allowed us to be in abuilding uh warehouse on a busy
street.
Um but Carlos has adjusted, andthat's been the temporary
location now for a little over ayear, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Yes, and we haven't dropped one day of not giving
food out even during thetransition.
SPEAKER_01 (14:12):
Um and the change of location might have even made it
more visible for some and uhsome who didn't realize it was
in the original spot.
SPEAKER_00 (14:20):
Absolutely.
And and then the new food pantryis is going to be a choice food
pantry as well, which isextremely important.
Uh the whole um objective is toprovide as much dignity as
possible to people who aresuffering.
And with a choice food pantry,all the renovations are going to
allow somebody to not only comein, not have to wait online
(14:43):
outside, but wait in a waitingarea and then shop with a
basket, being able to go into aCostco-like cooler and
refrigeration unit and cost apoint system, like a point
system based on uh need andfamily size, that uh a family
will get a certain amount ofpoints, and be coming come in
(15:04):
and shop.
SPEAKER_01 (15:05):
We might have a future episode on the Holy
Father's new letter about uh,you know, it's not only about
giving charity, right?
It's about encountering thepresence of of Christ and and
recognizing the dignity of everyperson.
And uh Carlos in the food pantryhas been doing it for some time
and now in they're gonna be ableto do that in a a new a new way
in a newly refurbished building,right?
SPEAKER_00 (15:26):
Yes.
Um I ironically, uh this pastweek I was with uh 88 of my
fellow CEOs of Catholiccharities across the country in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, and inthe Apostolic Ex Exhortation
came out that week while we werethere.
(15:47):
And uh everything that Catholiccharities is based on our
Catholic social teaching isrepresented in in this in this
uh exhortation.
Um and it shares just a littlebit about um that always
resonates with myself becauseone of our staff had said it uh
(16:08):
to me when I first started thatum Catholic charities and the
diocese and the church that forsome folks we are the only face
of Christ that some of themmight ever see because of their
current situation, and Catholiccharities provides help and
creates help.
And the diocese and ministriesappeal and the funds that come
(16:31):
in for that, um, what separatesus from all the other
nonprofits, it's our faith andour our reflection back on
Catholic so Catholic socialteaching.
And it allows me and our ourstaff to say yes when so many
others um turn the turn theirturn away.
(16:53):
Um so these funds directly helpus to help those people who fall
through the cracks.
So can you you you printed uppart of the exhortation?
Sure.
Can you share something?
This is um a ref a reflectionfrom Pope Leo.
I've chosen re to recall the ageold history of the church's care
for the poor and with the poorin order to make clear that it
(17:16):
has always been a central partof her life.
Indeed, caring for the poor ispart of the church's great
tradition, a beacon, as it were,of evangelical light to
illuminate the hearts and guidethe decisions of Christians in
every age.
That is why we must feel boundto invite everyone to share in
the light and life born ofrecognizing Christ in the faces
(17:39):
of those suffering and those inneed.
So it's exactly you know what wetalk about.
I think Tim several years ago wehad the face of Christ on the
posters made of all the picturesof all the people that we have
served over.
SPEAKER_01 (17:54):
And he gave a little shout out to the beacon.
Oh, yeah?
He talks about the beacon.
Yes.
So um uh but yes, uh uh uh it Ijust had the chance to be in the
Sisi, and you know, you think ofthe going back to St.
Francis and the Sisi and beforethat as he talks about it's who
we are as the church that fromthe very beginning, the care for
(18:15):
the poor, and seeing um CarloAcudis buried there, um, you
know, uh 800 years after St.
Francis, this young kid umgrowing up in a family that
wasn't all that religious, butsomething in him attracts him to
the Eucharist, to the Mass, andthen he realizes he needs to see
the face of Christ in uh thosewho are in need, and he would
organize food uh drives in hisschool and and and uh personally
(18:37):
reach out to to people who arein need.
Um and uh um and and maybe say alittle bit, Scott, about the
your staff, this our staff atCatholic Charities, not only the
food pantry, but we're openingum a new uh uh rebuilt uh uh
straight and narrow drugtreatment facility.
And um we also have the DPD umhomes, uh which again all are
(18:59):
supported by the people of ourdiocese through the ministry's
appeal, right?
We had the special uh part of itfor the the um the the food
pantry the last few years, butum but uh Catholic charity is
more than just the food pantry,right?
And and and now the staff, someof the staff that we have.
SPEAKER_00 (19:15):
Yes, uh the ministry's appeal is directly
affecting our at-risk at-riskyouth in Patterson.
Uh we're going to be able to buyum and start a robotics program
for uh the inner city youth ofPatterson, um which they don't
have access to that.
And uh our students from ourCatholic schools are are because
(19:38):
they have it, are volunteeringto come in and teach those
robotics um to the youth.
So without the diocesanministry's appeal, that wouldn't
happen.
We're opening up a uhstate-of-the-art.
We just received the CO lastFriday.
So uh as soon as it's licensednow, we'll um we have a uh a
(20:01):
newly renovated kitchen that'lldo 3,000 meals uh a day.
Uh it'll service over three tofour hundred people coming in
for outpatient counseling everysingle day, and it has a halfway
house for men for 75 bedsupstairs, um, plus the
administrative office ofstraight and narrow for Catholic
(20:23):
charities.
SPEAKER_01 (20:24):
So in the heart of the city of Patterson?
SPEAKER_00 (20:27):
Yes, right in the heart of city in the city of
Patterson is actually was theold Carter Wright building that
was built airplane wings forWorld War II.
Um and because the train trackswere right there, they used to
build the airplane wings, putthem right onto the railroad and
ship them overseas.
Oh cool.
Uh so that is our new newbuilding, and it's uh dedicated
(20:50):
in honor of Monsignor HerbertTillier.
We'll be there for uh thededication, right?
The dedication is December 8th,uh, and we're really looking
excited to and very excited toopen that.
At the same time, we're openinga medical day program.
There are 3,000 uh folks who arehave HIV and AIDS or AIDS that
(21:11):
are under the poverty level.
Uh they will come uh 50 people aday to straight and arrow to
assure that they have um propermedication, uh, a meal, and see
a doctor and a nurse to makesure that they're keeping up
with their regimen ofmedication.
We just opened up a fullyfunctional CrossFit Gym that is
(21:37):
fully functional now.
We're doing six classes a dayfor men, women in recovery at
straight and narrow.
So, straight and narrow, there'slots of things really moving and
shaking.
Uh then at the food pantry, uhwith the the help of the
diocesan ministries appeal, wewe're just trying to get the new
(21:58):
electrical service, theelectrical service that was
there, uh for those of you whoremember Eddie and the Munsters,
you know, with the big, youknow, that's what it looked
like, the electrical panel.
Uh we're we're you we're waitingfor the new electrical service,
so permitting, and as soon as weget that in, um the all the the
(22:20):
stuff that the the shelves andeverything is all coming.
And including hydroponic?
Yes.
So we are opening up the firsthydroponic farming system in any
urban area in New Jersey.
And uh again, just waiting onpermitting, but uh once we get
through those permits, uh It itactually grows uh It's gonna
(22:42):
give a whole new meaning to avegetable garden, right?
Yes.
It grows five hundred heads oflettuce a week.
Yes a week, two thousand headsof lettuce a month, um
twenty-four thousand heads oflettuce a year, and it will be
grown right in the parking lotof the food pantry and brought
across the driveway, fresh rightinto the new coolers that we
(23:04):
have, um, refrigeration units,and that will be going just to
give out to the poor.
SPEAKER_01 (23:10):
So um and I had the opportunity to visit a number of
times to uh give tours to uh forthe that was the before part,
right?
When the building was still thenwe some some one wonderful,
generous donors joined us there,and uh we'll you're looking
forward to we're looking forwardto having a little gathering,
right, to um see the newlyrenovated uh Father English Food
(23:30):
Pantry, Catholic Charities FoodPantry.
And yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (23:32):
Catholic Charities USA um has a uh a a statue, a
bronze statue outside of thecorner office, right by the in
between the courthouse and theCatholic charity's main
headquarters of uh Jesusembracing a homeless man.
And it is just uh you walk pastit and it is just beautiful and
(23:56):
thought-provoking, and uhthey've encouraged Catholic
charities across the country toput this in their most
vulnerable area.
And uh thanks to everyoneinvolved with the food pantry
and and the renovation of thefood pantry, we will have that
beacon of hope sitting outsideour new food pantry.
So it's gonna be a gloriousgrand opening when when we get
(24:20):
there.
And uh we're all anxious for itto open and and really just
start serving the poor andcontinue to serve.
SPEAKER_01 (24:28):
The food pantry uh uh straight and narrow, family
services, all that Catholiccharities does, and then there's
something called DPD.
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (24:37):
Uh DPD is our Catholic uh Department for
Department for Persons withDisabilities.
Uh we service folks withintellectual and developmental
disabilities.
Uh it's been around over 50years.
Uh Father Worlin started itmany, many years ago with
through with uh Bishop Nava.
(24:58):
And uh it's been going strongand growing ever since.
And how many homes?
Uh 13 homes all together.
Uh case case management servicesfor young adults uh graduating
from high school and and agingout of the school system, uh 275
case management uh services forthat, as well as a a day program
(25:22):
for adults to go who are kind ofum learning skills and yeah,
there's such um you talk aboutmeeting the seeing Jesus, right?
SPEAKER_01 (25:30):
And uh the when you when you see some of the
residents in uh in our in ourDPD homes that you can lift and
see.
SPEAKER_00 (25:39):
You know, if you're having a bad day, just go to
Grohner Center.
Your whole day will will and andr uh attitude on where you're
currently at changes veryquickly.
Um but we're opening the thehomes that were originally had,
you know, there was no thoughtof people aging and aging in
place.
So uh Murray House is is one ofour first homes that was is
(26:02):
actually the longest runninggroup home in the state of New
Jersey.
Uh and the Murray family isstill involved.
The Murray family's stillinvolved.
There's been a board member ofon Catholic charities since its
inception of of uh of of of uhcharity's history.
And uh we're purchased wepurchased two new homes, one for
(26:24):
Murray House and one for WorlandHouse in West Milford to move
them to more rant-style homes.
Uh this way people can age inplace because if they can't go
up and down the stairs,licensing is involved and fire
evacuation becomes an issue andsafety.
So this allows people to age inplace who might not have the
opportunity to stay with us ifthat uh changes.
(26:48):
And then we're we're looking,currently looking for another
ranch-style home, which is verydifficult to find in more
specific Sussex County.
Uh, but we're looking foranother home to open Smitherman
House.
And uh Smithman Donald Smithemanwas a uh a parent who had four
children with developmentaldisabilities, all who lived with
(27:10):
Catholic charities.
And um after passing in hischildren's past, he left an
estate to Catholic charities toopen up a Smith herman home.
So um we're looking, activelylooking.
If you have a Rand style homeout there, let us know.
Let us know.
Let us know.
Okay.
So lots of exciting things atCatholic Charities.
SPEAKER_03 (27:30):
In Catholic charities, clearly bringing out
the best in people with with thefinancial support and finding
homes and the leaving estates.
It's pretty, pretty amazingstuff.
SPEAKER_01 (27:41):
Um and there's web the Catholic charities and the
ministries appeal, right?
There's uh people can go um tothe different websites, right,
and and get some information.
SPEAKER_02 (27:51):
So uh to make a gift to the diocese of ministry's
appeal um online, which a lot ofpeople do, um, it's it's
actually growing each year.
More people more and more peopleare doing that.
It's very simple.
It's 2025appeal.org.
SPEAKER_01 (28:03):
2025appeal.org.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
And they can make an online gift, and uh it's very
very simple.
So uh I encourage people to dothat as well.
SPEAKER_01 (28:12):
And uh you mentioned Monsignor Tillier, um, I think
also of Monsignor Jim Mahoneyand for and Bishop Saratelli.
Um the effort, I we may havementioned it before, but uh, you
know, there was almost threeseparate organizations, right?
Catholic charities, familyservices, DPD, um uh um and
straight narrow.
And uh over these past six,seven years, I guess now, um
(28:35):
it's really come together as oneCatholic charity, right, Scott?
And is that reflected that Ithink it's g it is or it's gonna
be in in the website as well,right?
Because you can go to one placeand hear all the see here and
see all the good news.
SPEAKER_00 (28:47):
Yes.
Um, you know, in the past we hadthree organizations that um ran
completely separately.
And I remember the wordsMonsignor Mahoney gave to me
when I first walked into hisoffice.
He says, Scott, we are onechurch, we will be one Catholic
charities.
And uh and it always that alwaysalways stuck with me and
(29:09):
resonated with me as well.
And and we're we're you thatstarted and then COVID hit.
Uh so there was somedifficulties just bringing
everybody together, but we'removing to one email address, CC
Patterson.
SPEAKER_01 (29:23):
Monsignor Tillier taking really stepping up at
that point, right?
SPEAKER_00 (29:27):
Yes, and Monsignor Tillier was the only uh person
who had been on all three boardsat at one time in his life.
So he was the perfect option tobe president of of Catholic
charities.
SPEAKER_01 (29:41):
Uh and he did that for a number of years and now
thanks to um Father um um uh thethe pastor.
Father Martin uh Father MartinGlynn uh uh stepped up right a
um uh when Monsignor Tilia wasretiring and uh has been so
involved.
SPEAKER_00 (29:56):
Uh I cut you off, you were saying the what new
website Yeah, c ccpatterson.organd all of the every we have
over 450 staff at CatholicCharities in Patterson, and
everybody will have accpatterson.org.
Uh domain name and emailaddress, uh, because we have so
many different domains out thereand it's bringing it all
(30:18):
together.
Um Bishop thankfully um allowedus to also purchase uh a new
home for Catholic charities inin Parsipony.
Uh so all of the administrativefunction of Catholic charities
will be in one location for thefirst time ever.
Uh so we've been um scattered.
(30:38):
Scattered over the last uh sevenyears.
SPEAKER_01 (30:41):
Father Glenn has been also not only being the the
the head of the board, but uhhe's been hosting right a lot of
meetings.
Yes, he's been hosting our boardmeetings.
SPEAKER_00 (30:49):
In Denver, yes.
Um but it's really when when wefirst started looking at this,
um our buildings and facilitieshave were falling down around
our seas, around the seams.
Our our partnership for peoplein Sussex County has been
completely renovated with theconsolidated board and a focus
mission on hey, what are thepriorities?
(31:12):
Uh and our Hope House in inDover, we were operating out of
a school that was on five levelsand only accessible on the first
level for folks who werehandicapped.
So served people were comingdownstairs, and now we're on
social services row um in Dover,and uh that's Hope House, so we
(31:33):
were successfully able to movethat, and then our our steeple
that was that was falling down,we fixed that.
Uh that was one of our firstprojects, right?
Tim, we didn't want anybody toget it hit in the head.
And then uh, you know, in thefood pantry, and straight and
narrow, obviously, um, and thatwhole lot of moving parts there
to get everything into anenvironment that's conducive for
(31:57):
treatment.
And the last piece of the puzzlewas the food pantry.
And you know, Tim stepped up andBishop, thank you.
And our people and the peoplethat that um so graciously
assisted us in getting thisproject under underway and so so
excited to to show it off, andit it really is gonna be a
(32:19):
beacon of hope for for many,many years to come for people
who are suffering.
SPEAKER_02 (32:25):
And that that's kind of what I like about the appeal
in a sense that it really pivotsto the needs that are happening
at that moment.
Um so we talked about how theappeal helped uh with the
funding of the food pantry um inthese last three years.
Uh this year it's helping withthe at-risk youth program.
And in 2019, uh I think twoweeks before the appeal started
(32:47):
was the fire straight and arrow.
Two weeks before, we hadeverything ready to go.
Uh but Bishop Saratelli at thetime s uh we got together very
quickly and we again pivotedagain and uh made a decision to
use some of the funds for thatyear to help support the
rebuilding of the of the uhStraight and Narrow building.
Um and uh we changed theletters, we did everything, the
(33:09):
marketing changed within twoweeks.
Um so that's that's what I likeabout the appeal is that each
year is kind of fresh and newand responds to the needs of the
people and the community and thediocese.
SPEAKER_03 (33:20):
Awesome.
Well, um I mean so much hashappened in the past few years.
What what's how how do you howdo you do how do you collaborate
across departments like that andmake make effect a change like
this?
Like is there if you couldwhat's the secret?
SPEAKER_00 (33:36):
Um well Bishop is really uh kind of talking about
it.
Yeah, but it's it's not the theleadership division is is the
the leaders we're just directingthe ship.
The the staff who do everythingday to day and work with people
and you know uh our staff whoare working with um soil diapers
(34:00):
and people c enthralled inaddiction from the very
beginning where they're walkingon the street homeless or in
prison.
Uh and bringing those folks inand our dedicated staff who
don't make enough but it istheir mission and their calling.
The staff is what makes us greatand blessed.
(34:23):
Doing what Jesus would do, um,and just caring for people and
giving proper direction andvision, you know, as an example,
the food pantry um when I camewas operating out of a room no
bigger than this with a bigspace and we were renting out
the hall for for weddings,right?
(34:43):
Um and that's not what Catholiccharities is about.
And like from the first day itsaid, no, this is gonna be our
food pantry, and and um the foodpantry is also has it used to be
an old theater and the stage itstill had multiple levels of
flooring and it's all guttednow, it's all one level, and
(35:05):
that is going to be clothing forthe for the needy.
So, and it's gonna be like uhany other Kohl's or JCPenney's,
everything will be sorted bysize and I'm just remembering
now we did an episode in the umtemporary uh um food pantry, I
guess it was last year.
SPEAKER_01 (35:21):
With Carlisle, yeah, yeah.
So we'll have to go back and doone at the newly renovated uh
with the bright light and uh andthe uh when the electricity's
on.
You know.
SPEAKER_00 (35:40):
And um she was amazed about you know how many
families we're serving a day andjust the food insecurity with
the cuts from SNAP and whatfamilies are going through, and
you know, that a lot of peoplethink that the people waiting on
the food pantry line, and and uhPope references this in in in
his um encyclical.
(36:03):
And uh, you know uh most of thepeople who are on the line at
the food pantry, I'm gonna say90 percent are are working two
or three jobs.
They're not looking for ahandout.
And they're there because theyneed food.
Uh the first thing that thatgoes is food because they're
trying to pay their rent.
(36:24):
Um and they're m multiplefamilies living together um to
meet the need to pay uh justbasic necessities, you know,
clothing, housing.
SPEAKER_01 (36:35):
Yeah and not to mention trying to raise
children, right?
SPEAKER_00 (36:37):
And raise children at the same time, and they have
their parents and sometimesgrandparents living with them in
two families in a one or twobedroom apartment.
So um it's so important for usto to try to give them hope and
and food, just the daily basicsof life.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (36:57):
All right.
Well, this has been somethingincredible hearing all this.
Um thank you both for your hardwork.
Um Bishop, before we wind downthis episode, is there anything
you uh want to reflect on aboutthe conversation thus far?
SPEAKER_01 (37:12):
Uh uh gratitude, thank you to all those who
support the ministry's appeal,all um uh Scott and and Tim for
their great leadership.
Leadership is very important,and we're blessed um by the by
the leadership of both of you.
Um Tim working with a smallcrew, but uh you do a lot with a
little, and and Scott, the largeuh organization that is,
(37:32):
Catholic charities, but as yousaid, also um the demands on on
so many of our um employees andteam members.
Um so we're we're grateful tothem, and then again for all the
support.
And as Tim mentioned, I knowScott knows, and uh uh we're we
all need to be aware of uh theleadership of our pastors,
right?
I mean, and and priests uh uh inour parishes um is um we're
(37:54):
having uh this coming weekend uhthe Vivare Christus Awards where
parishes recognize uh um uhleaders leader, lay usually lay
leaders or religious possibly,but um uh our our pastors and
priests also um whether it be insupporting um and working
together with Catholiccharities, calling Catholic
charities when they encountersomeone in need.
(38:16):
And Scott, your you and yourteam are always so responsive.
Um, but also um in in in in thistime of year, uh uh uh in the uh
in Pew weekend and in otherways, uh what our pastors uh and
parish leaders do for um supportof the ministry's appeal is is
is so important, right?
SPEAKER_02 (38:34):
Absolutely.
They make they they they're makeit happen.
Um so grateful.
SPEAKER_01 (38:39):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (38:39):
So what was that website address?
2025appeal.org.
SPEAKER_01 (38:44):
2025appeal.org.
SPEAKER_02 (38:45):
I say my sleep.
SPEAKER_00 (38:48):
And cc Patterson.
CCpatterson.org and just thankyou for everyone who donates to
the appeal.
And I'll say it again.
It it allows us to say yes whenso many others say no and turn
their backs.
So thank you all.
SPEAKER_03 (39:04):
Okay.
All right, before we uh close uphere, Bishop, uh what are you
looking forward to?
Your your schedule is always sobusy.
You mentioned Christmas.
Um what else is uh coming up?
SPEAKER_01 (39:15):
As uh it'll the episode will come out next week.
We'll be with our priests um onthe uh every three years we have
a convocation um from Mondayevening till Thursday morning, a
time to get away, a retreatslash workshop, and also
opportunity for fraternity.
So um we get to go spend alittle time down by the shore in
Spring Lake, and uh and uh soplease um keep that in in your
(39:38):
prayers uh as we look forward toour our priest convocation.
SPEAKER_03 (39:42):
Okay.
All right, well, thank you all,and thank you for joining us.
Please subscribe, comment, andleave a positive rating.
Get to know us better byfollowing Bishop Kevin's
Instagram and beyond the beaconon social media.
Read the bishop's weekly columnon beaconnj.org and get in touch
if you have a question for thebishop or a podcast topic idea.
(40:03):
And discover our other podcasts,Coffee with Kupke in the Paul
Street Journal.
See you next time.
Thank you, everybody.
God bless you.
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