November 17, 2025 • 38 mins
Just back from the fall meeting of the United States' bishops, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney shares his perspective on participating in the issuance of a rare “special message” regarding the bishops' concern for the evolving situation affecting immigrants in the United States.
For the second half of the episode, we go remote to the 2025 Diocese of Paterson Youth Conference, "Anchored in Hope," where Bishop Sweeney interviewed participants.
Guests:
- Jessica Martinez - Christ is Alive Youth Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima & St Nicholas in Passaic, N.J.
- Juan-Pablo Martinez - Christ is Alive Youth Ministry, Our Lady of Fatima & St Nicholas in Passaic, N.J.
- Janely Jose - Youth Minister at Our Lady of Fatima & St Nicholas in Passaic, N.J.
- Meryl Payyappilly - St. Jude Parish in Budd Lake, N.J.
- Etelka Moliner - St. Jude Parish in Budd Lake, N.J.
- Mary Hill - Youth Minister at St. Jude Parish in Budd Lake, N.J.
Show Notes:
- U.S. bishops issue a ‘Special Message’ on immigration from assembly in Baltimore
- Bishop Kevin Sweeney's column titled, "St. Frances Xavier (Mother) Cabrini, Patron Saint of Immigrants"
- Video: Remarks by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, on the Feast of Mother Cabrini and in solidarity with immigrants
- Office of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Paterson
Email questions and topic ideas to Bishop Kevin at beyond@patersondiocese.org.
Produced by Jai Agnish, Cecile Pagliarulo, and Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney for the Diocese of Paterson. Engineered by Cecile Pagliarulo and Jai Agnish. 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_00 (00:08):
Welcome to Beyond the Queen 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.
I'm Jay Agnes with me is BishopKevin Sweeney.
Bishop, how are you?
I'm good, Jay.
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
How are you doing?
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
Doing I'm doing well.
Thanks.
I if I can, I just want to saytoday's my wedding anniversary.
And you had a birthday.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Yeah.
When was your birthday?
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Uh November 6th, so last week.
Thank you.
So, Annette, happy anniversaryto you.
The love of my life.
Um, so you just got back fromBaltimore.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
And you were down there for thefall meeting of the United
States bishops.
These are very importantgatherings.
They don't happen that oftenduring the year, and a lot was
happening there, including theelection of a new U.S.
(00:55):
C C B president and vicepresident, and the issuance of a
rare special message regardingthe bishop's concern for the
evolving situation affectingimmigrants in the United States.
Something I know that's beenweighing on your heart and mind,
something you've written aboutand done a video about recently.
Tell us more.
SPEAKER_02 (01:13):
So um you said uh a reporter had reached out to ask
about uh the statement that wasreleased yesterday on the feast
of um I do have your statementhere.
Say Mother Cabrini.
That's okay.
Uh just uh to I when I thoughtabout it, I uh you know
reflected um as a son ofimmigrants and as an American
(01:39):
who loves our country and is sograteful as we look forward to
Thanksgiving.
Um and uh most importantly as aCatholic and a Christian um to
be there and to have been partof the process, even you know,
just one of two hundred and Ithink forty or so with the
retired, I think there wereabout two hundred and twenty or
(02:01):
so vote that voted.
Um the retired can vote in this.
No, no, the retired don't vote.
They don't vote, okay.
Right, right.
But um um you know, they gave usa draft of a statement on on
Tuesday morning, and um westarted with a morning of prayer
on Monday morning, and um thenum we break into regions um at
(02:22):
one point each time we meet.
Uh so that's the bishops of NewJersey and Pennsylvania, and and
I think I don't know, there'slike 15 regions, you know, dip
geographically throughout theUnited States, and uh they asked
each region as a group to reviewthe statement, the draft, uh,
and offer some comments.
There were four bishops thatwere on the writing team, I
believe.
(02:42):
I hope I get it right.
Bishop Richard Henning, who wasthe Long Island guy, we went to
the same seminary, and he's nowthe Archbishop of Boston.
Um Bishop uh Michael Burbage,I'm a big fan of his walk humbly
podcast, uh, and uh I thinkBishop Daniel Flores, who's now
the vice president, and uhBishop Mark Seites, who's the
chairman, um, and they receivedback uh I think I heard 150
(03:07):
suggestions or uh uh you knowthere was some conversation on
Tuesday, I think an executivesession where um talking about
too many cooks in the kitchenthere.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
I don't know.
SPEAKER_02 (03:18):
Well, um you know, uh it's also an experience of of
communion, you know, of ofprayer together and uh listening
and um and I think um you knowcertain uh education and
experience and um leadership anduh how they um took those
(03:41):
suggestions and yeah I mean thefirst draft was there was a lot
of good in it.
You know, the message was kindof there, but um to add some
more scripture and um to nuanceit and um you know to try to say
that um yes, we're concerned umuh sadly about some of what's
happened in our country over thelast you know 10, 11 months.
(04:04):
And um but also at one point tosay we oppose um the way that
some are being treated and umthe lack of due process and
people who are here legallyusing their or in a le a process
to uh regularize their legalstatus, you know, all of a
sudden now even being deported.
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
Um uh uh separated a a family separ that was
separated in your column acouple of weeks ago.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
It's something that it's real.
It's um again, when people havebeen here 20, 25, 30 years have
raised children, the childrenwent to our our schools and are
now giving back, and thosepeople have been working and
paying taxes very often.
And you know, nobody's overthose 20 th plus years uh said,
well, uh you have to leavebecause you're not quote unquote
(04:51):
legal.
Um they've been part ofparishes, they've been um you
know serving uh some uh you knowuh children that their children
serve in the military.
And and now what's been theirhome for 20, 30 years and where
they raise their children andgrandchildren, now they're
afraid that they could be thrownout of and um uh we we uh no you
(05:12):
know the the administration, ourgovernment, uh the there's this
clear emphasis, you know, canonlaw uh nations have a right and
a responsibility to have secureborders, yes, and and and it's
nobody's saying that this issimple, but but we need to treat
one another with with dignityand um and and again it it was
(05:33):
used a number of times aspastors we're saying this
because w we're reflecting whatwe're hearing from those that we
serve on a daily basis, thosethat are priests and and and and
and parish and catholiccharities and other ministries,
we we're hearing from our peopleof how afraid they are and
what's been happening, and um,you know, not only that some of
(05:54):
those we see a lot in the media,um, but it's maybe more those
one-on-one people that you'veknown over all these years, and
you're saying this is not, Imean, I love, love, love this
country.
Um, and I think at times, youknow, no country's gonna be
perfect, and um the church isn'tperfect.
Uh, but um when something is isclearly against what what the
(06:15):
scriptures teach us, what Godasks, what the church teaches,
we, and against the dignity ofthe human person, yeah, we have
a responsibility to to uh toraise our voice and uh and um
and it was a privilege to be tobe part of that process as a son
of immigrants, as a proud, youknow, proud American, loves our
our country, and um, but also asa as a disciple, as a Catholic
(06:38):
and a Christian, that now as abishop to say um you know who
knows what who's gonna listen toit or you know whether it's
gonna have an impact, but uh wefelt you know it needed to be
said.
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
So um, so why now?
And it's great to see uh so manypeople voted in favor.
SPEAKER_02 (06:57):
There were only 98 percent, yes, yes.
Um you know um I think therewere five who voted against it.
And who knows, you know, they'refollowing their conscience.
I um so um I think a fewabstained, but uh uh over well
over two hundred Yeah, twohundred and sixteen in favor,
five against three up.
Yeah, so um uh Leo as it is.
(07:19):
And if you follow the the thebishops in of the United States,
we don't always see um but thereport it's great.
Uh towards the end of theconversation, um uh a a young
recently ordained bishop um whocame with his family as uh uh as
a kid from Mexico and uh hespoke as an immigrant um uh how
(07:41):
how much he felt supported byhis now brother bishops um and
how important this would be forhis family and his community um
to feel that and hear thatsupport.
Um you know, and that um it wasthe day before and the day of uh
the feast of Mother Cabrini.
Uh I think that could be morethan a coincidence.
(08:02):
Um, you know, the first Americancitizen came here as an
immigrant, um, and and shebecame a naturalized citizen.
So we have that um longtradition of um people get here
in different ways.
Uh it it I think it's it's toosimple to say some came the
right way and some you know uhcame illegally.
(08:23):
Um it's not that simple.
Um it's it's not uh uh again andpeople, you know, and and and
look at the Lexeite, uh the thePope Leo's recent teaching and
the long teaching of the churchfrom the from the going back to
the Old Testament, welcome thestranger, uh people when they
come fleeing for their lives,um, you know, uh desperate um uh
(08:44):
and and and uh leaving theirhomes so that they can come here
and work and send money back tocare for their family who's
starving.
You know, we have to um look atthis with um uh uh our hearts
and our heads and and say thatwe can, yes, support uh uh the
the the the the the moralresponsibilities that that our
(09:06):
elected leaders have.
Um yes, we we want to be good uhuh St.
Thomas More.
Um I'm I'm the king's goodservant, but I'm God's first.
But uh, you know, we believe andwe we're called to be faithful
citizens, the salt of the earthand light of the world.
That means being part of the thethe public discourse and and
voting, and uh and so um, butalso sometimes, you know, look
(09:28):
at the civil rights movement, uhother uh um uh going back to
slavery, you know, when uh therehave been laws that have been
unjust, there have been uhinterpretation of laws or um,
you know, uh that that have notrespected human dignity, and and
um we have responsibility to toraise our voices when when the
when innocent people aresuffering.
(09:49):
And I think that's the casehere.
Um I don't know, we're nottalking about intentions, but
but hardworking, um uhlaw-abiding, um uh taxpaying um
members of our community um, youknow, are are suffering
unnecessarily.
SPEAKER_00 (10:05):
Yeah.
(10:45):
Well wow, Bishop, thank you forthat inspiring uh those
inspiring words and it's uh andfor your leadership in this
area.
Um Okay, so should we move on toother aspects of the And uh
encourage you to you know readthe full statement, it's not
long.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
Yes, um we'll have links show notes.
Uh and pray for us, you know, umand pray for our president and
our elected leaders.
Um we're happy that thegovernment has been reopened and
uh um I was glad that I was ableto drive to Baltimore and back.
There were some that were uhtaking uh flying and and nervous
about you know uh delays andcancellations, so please that'll
(11:23):
work be worked out.
SPEAKER_00 (11:25):
What else was the uh experience?
How else what was the experiencelike for you in in other ways?
I know there's fraternaldialogues.
Who do you who'd you sit withthis time?
SPEAKER_02 (11:33):
Uh uh our neighbors from Pennsylvania.
Well, actually, our neighbor uhBishop O'Connell from Trenton
and uh Bishop Bambera, who's theBishop of Scranton,
Pennsylvania, and Bishop AlSlert, who's the Bishop of
Allentown, so at a nice table,and a bishop from California,
Brennan, Bishop Brennan, one ofthe newer bishops from
California.
So but also um uh we voted uhBishop Andrew Cousins, the
(11:57):
Bishop of Crookston, had pickedup the baton from Bishop Barron
on the Eucharistic revival andthe Eucharistic Congress and the
processions, and uh uh veryhappy that we're uh um the
summer before last was thewonderful Eucharistic Congress
in Indianapolis.
That uh was the 10th NationalEucharistic Congress.
The ninth National EucharisticCongress had been in 1925, so we
(12:20):
had a long gap.
Uh and uh so uh the 11thEucharistic Congress will be in
2029.
Uh so I was glad that there wasagain over 80 percent, I think,
voted in favor of that.
So um God bless them.
They do great work and and wecan see the fruits of the
Eucharistic revival and and andsigns of hope uh as we're coming
towards the end of this Jubileeyear of hope.
(12:41):
We still remain as as pilgrimsof hope, uh faith, hope, and
love.
St.
Paul tells us those those arewith us always until the end.
SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
So uh um so uh maybe a good time to plug our closing
mass for the the Jubilee year ofthe Jubilee, that's on December
28th, right?
Yes.
Cathedral.
SPEAKER_02 (12:57):
The Sunday between Christmas and New Year's not the
uh easiest time to come to amass on three o'clock on a
Sunday, but uh we have greatnumbers for the opening, and
hopefully we'll have greatnumbers uh to come and close the
Jubilee uh Sunday, uh December28th.
Um uh we don't want time to gotoo fast.
Thanksgiving's around the cornerand Advent and Christmas, but um
(13:21):
but uh yes, we'll have thatclosing mess on uh on on Sunday,
December 28th at the St.
John the Baptist Cathedral inPatterson.
SPEAKER_00 (13:28):
And so uh back to the to the meeting.
So um I think the I know thatBishop Barron was among the
candidates to potentially becomeuh I I mean that was the odds on
favorite, I I think you'd haveto say from the article I I
read.
SPEAKER_02 (13:46):
Um, you know, I um Bishop Coakley, um Archbishop
Coakley has been serving as asecretary that maybe not
everyone knew.
And um uh there has been, Ithink, not always, but uh
somewhat of a tradition orcustom that um the one who
served as vice president willbecome the next president.
But Archbishop Laurie ofBaltimore was serving as the
(14:08):
vice president, and there's anage rule that if you're gonna be
75 in the course of the termthat um then you're ineligible.
So um so in some ways ArchbishopCoakley was you could we could
say he was the next in line, andum, you know, uh um I think
those who have been part of theconference um uh longer than I
have, um, you know, um uh I'msure know Archbishop Coakley
(14:32):
well.
And obviously there's a lot ofconfidence in his leadership.
SPEAKER_00 (14:36):
Yeah, so he's the new president, and then you
mentioned Bishop Daniel Floresof Brownsville is the new vice
president.
SPEAKER_02 (14:41):
And I think uh Bishop Flores led us through the
Senate process, and um um That'swhere I know the name.
Okay.
Yes, uh um and he's um a greatservant of the Latino community
as well.
And um um uh I my dealings withlimited, but um I I've uh I know
maybe this Bishop Flores alittle bit better than Bisho
(15:02):
Archbishop Coakley, but I'mhappy that both of them have
been picked and uh I'm surethey'll do a great job.
SPEAKER_00 (15:07):
Well we won't tell them you voted for someone else,
but you're bearing.
You know, I'm curious, like sooften when the media discusses
the election of a new USCCBpresident, the conversation's
often about, you know, whichcandidate's more conservative or
more left-leaning.
There's some assumption, rightlyor wrongly, that this person
will shape the conference agendafor the next three years.
(15:27):
How do you approach your votefor president and and what do
you think in those terms, youknow, as far as right or left,
or or is it more about theperson of what they've
accomplished pastorally?
SPEAKER_02 (15:36):
Well, for myself, I think um I I just think, you
know, the president, I think defacto becomes the spokesperson
for the conference and even forthe church and the country.
And um uh, you know, BishopByron's certainly a uh wonderful
communicator, and um and I andyou know, talk about right or
left or liberal or conservative.
(15:56):
If if you listen closely toBishop Byron, you're gonna see
someone who right down the line,uh uh um uh inside the Vatican,
uh I thought they did a greatjob.
I wrote about it uh there twoepisodes ago when they talked
about Cardinal Newman uh bebecoming a doctor of the church
and new documents and um uh um Iwant to say uh shout out to um
(16:18):
our friends at America.
Yes, uh Colleen Dulley and umJerry O'Connell are the um hosts
of uh Inside the Vatican, buttheir sister podcast, um our
friends uh Ashley and Zach werethere as observers.
So I got to say hello to them.
So I was wondering if you didn'tknow.
Yeah, yeah.
Um so uh and uh and their recentepisode, they have a segment at
(16:41):
the end, one friend speaks toanother, and they had this woman
on who wrote uh uh an articlethat was um you know challenging
some of what um our vicepresident J.D.
Vance has said on uh immigrationand uh but the conversation was
beautiful, and she talked aboutum growing up and they had
neighbors living next door whoum I'm gonna bless today a new
(17:01):
DPD house, Murray House inClifton.
She had um some people withadults with special needs living
next to her, and she talkedabout as a kid she didn't really
understand that, but her motherwas so welcoming.
It's just a great story.
The Jesuitical podcast, um the Ithink the episode um uh from the
week of um uh let's see, aroundNovember 7th or so.
(17:22):
Okay.
Um but um so in terms of uhchoosing, oh, and on the uh
inside the Vatican podcast,there was something said about
uh a uh press conference at theVatican, maybe when Pope Leo was
elected or at some other point,I don't remember the details,
but they said someone a reporterasked, is the new Holy Father
more liberal or moreconservative?
(17:44):
And the Vatican representativesaid, are the gospels more
liberal or more conservative?
Um look at the scriptures, boththe old and new testament.
Um uh I think um you know uhthose that that's not the
question.
Um uh we're we're called to bedisciples, Catholic Christians,
(18:05):
um to love God and love others,uh to love as Jesus loves.
And uh yes, there's differentways of um understanding that,
interpreting it, um priorities,um, and you can it's easy to put
a label on someone, but youknow, I think um from Pope John
Paul II to Pope Benedict to PopeFrancis, and now I'm sure Pope
(18:26):
Leo will have his own style.
But yes, some pi may say PopeJohn Paul II was further to the
right and more conservative andand and and and far and Pope
Benedict was in his uh similaruh vein, but um and Pope li uh
Pope Francis by some would besay more left.
I think you've got to lookclosely.
Uh I I think we look for thebalance.
Um, but um, but um um even somewould say, you know, the Second
(18:51):
Vatican Council and Pope John,St.
Pope John the XXIII and uh SaintPope Paul VI, uh well you know
would have said maybe John theXXIII was more liberal and Pope
Paul VI was more conservative.
But it's the Holy Spirit guidingand we believe giving the church
who we need, whether it be asPope, as the um president and
vice president of the USCCB, asuh a local bishop or priest or
(19:14):
parent or teacher.
Um it's not a and and you know,here in our country, I I think
when we put those labels, that'swhat divides us.
Um if we're all Americans, thenum if you're on one part or the
other, okay, let's have aconversation, but let's focus
more on what brings us togetherrather than what divides us.
So uh I think we have to becareful about those questions.
SPEAKER_00 (19:36):
Well, thank you.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (19:37):
Well, we have um wanna wanna anything else you
want to add about the theconference or anything that's
going on before we transition tothe It was nice to uh come back
from Baltimore on Thursday andhead right to our Caritas Gala
that took place um on theevening of Mother Cabrini's
feast, Thursday, November 13th.
And uh Monsignor Herb Tilliathat was there, who's the uh
(19:58):
president emeritus, uh FatherMarty Glenn is the current CEO
of the board, and Scott Millikendoes such a great job, and
Joanna Miller, the head of DPD,and um uh Angela Um Nikola Nikil
Nikolovsky, uh not pronouncingyour name maybe exactly, but we
have great leadership inCatholic charities, and uh we
had a great uh Caritascala, andthere's wonderful things coming
(20:19):
up, which Scott had said.
Yeah, and we'll have moredetails, but uh uh uh that was
wonderful.
And uh I'm actually as I saidblessing uh a new um DPD home in
Clifton uh later today.
SPEAKER_00 (20:31):
Yes.
Okay, so for this episode, we uhwe were at St.
Elizabeth's University in MorrisTownship for the Dioson Um Youth
Conference.
And while we were there, you hadinterviewed some uh some youth
ministers along with some youthinvolved in youth ministry.
So uh we're gonna we're gonna goto that now.
SPEAKER_02 (20:53):
Right, and we thank uh Father Paul Manning and the
whole team at um St.
Paul's inside the WalzoreEvangelization Center, but in a
p particular way John Camarada,our Dice and Director of Youth
Ministry.
Um and uh we're gonna maybe lookat getting um uh a um no, who
was the uh Array of Hope, Arrayof Hope for the um leaders of
our Diocin Youth Day.
(21:13):
They did a great job, music, uhinspirational talks.
Um I was happy to have mass.
Um and we thank St.
Elizabeth's University forhosting us, and uh hopefully
you'll see in the interviewswith the young people and the
youth ministers, uh, there's alot of enthusiasm and uh a lot
of reasons to be hopeful.
So um maybe as we go to um theinterviews from the youth day,
we can uh pray our Jubileeprayer uh and uh um ask the Lord
(21:38):
to guide us as we're we movetowards uh on our pilgrims of
hope is journey and hope we movenow towards uh Thanksgiving and
uh national youth nationalCatholic Youth Conference in
Indianapolis.
Um on Wednesday I'll be headingthere and uh um uh look forward
to sending some pictures backand uh uh keep an eye out for
social media.
There's gonna be a lot of goodthings happening in Indianapolis
(22:00):
at the National Catholic YouthConference on the weekend of um
Friday the 21st, Thursday the20th till um I think Saturday
the 22nd.
Um so um so keep that in yourprayers and uh then Thanksgiving
will be around the corner in theseason of Advent.
And so let's ask the Lord toguide us as pilgrims of hope.
Name of the Father and of theSon and of the Holy Spirit.
(22:21):
Amen.
Giving thanks to God for thegifts and blessings of each day,
for the gifts of faith, hope,and love for our one holy
Catholic and Apostolic Church,for um the church here in the
United States, for our bishops,for our leaders, um, praying
through the intercession of St.
Francis Cabrini for ourimmigrant sisters and brothers,
praying for our president andAll of our elected leaders
praying, continuing as pilgrimsof hope in this jubilee of hope.
(22:46):
Let us pray together our Jubileeprayer as pilgrims of hope.
Father in heaven, may the faithyou have given us in your Son
Jesus Christ, our brother, andthe flame of charity enkindled
in 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
gospel of the seeds of thegospel.
(23:07):
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
shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubileereawaken in us pilgrims of hope
yearning for the treasures ofheaven.
(23:34):
Be glory and praise forever andever.
Amen.
Our Lady, Mother of the Church,Queen of Peace, Our Lady of
Hope, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Pray for us.
Saint Francis, Savior, MotherCabrini, pray for us.
All holy men and women, pray forus.
Pray for us.
Name of the Father, the Son, andof the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
(23:59):
Hello, my brothers and sisters.
Welcome to Beyond the Beacon ina new location for today.
We're here at St.
Elizabeth's University on AllSouls Day, Sunday, November 2nd,
and we're with some of theparticipants in our diocesan
youth day.
And happy that you'll have thechance to hear about all the
good things that are happeningin our diocese and all the
(24:20):
wonderful things that arehappening amongst our young
people who uh are together.
We have about 200 young peoplefrom different parishes
throughout our diocese.
SPEAKER_09 (24:28):
And here with us today are I'm Janale Jose, youth
minister of Our Lady of Fatimaand St.
Nicholas Church.
SPEAKER_02 (24:34):
And has been in youth ministry since For about
18 years, since 2007, right?
Yes.
And Juan Pablo.
Juan Pablo from DePaul Catholic.
And uh sophomore, you said?
Yes, I'm sophomore, yeah.
Uh and his older sister.
SPEAKER_06 (24:49):
I'm Jessica from our Lady of Adam and St.
Nicholas Parish.
And I go to Seaton Hall.
SPEAKER_02 (24:54):
After graduating from DePaul, right?
Yeah.
Right.
So thank you very much for beingwith us.
How's the day going so far?
SPEAKER_06 (25:00):
It's going good.
SPEAKER_02 (25:00):
Yeah.
I love it.
Yeah, uh some good music?
Yes, it's really good.
Array of Hope.
Array of Hope.
And uh can you just turn for asecond?
You got uh anchors, right?
Uh t-shirt anchored in hope.
Great, great, that's good.
Um so um uh about the Jubileeyear, right?
The Pilgrims of Hope and theJubilee of Hope, and that anchor
is a symbol.
(25:21):
Have you learned something aboutthe anchor?
SPEAKER_06 (25:23):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (25:23):
What'd you learn?
SPEAKER_06 (25:24):
We learned to stand firm in our faith.
SPEAKER_02 (25:26):
Stand firm in our faith, right?
Uh it began um earlier thismorning.
We're gonna have mass later.
Um what's been the best part sofar?
SPEAKER_06 (25:34):
Best part was I forgot his name, but one of the
speakers.
One of the speakers, he wastalking about how we have to
have courage to stand up.
We did for the music.
He said, if you guys don't feelit, you don't stand up if you
don't feel it.
You have to stand up because youwant to, because you have to
take that first step.
Did a lot of young people standup?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (25:52):
Good, good, good.
And uh you've been part of youthministry for a long time.
SPEAKER_06 (25:56):
Yeah.
Since it started when our Ladyof Fatima and Saint Nicholas,
when they merged together, wecreated a new youth group.
SPEAKER_02 (26:03):
There were two parishes in Passaic that are now
united as one, our Lady ofFatima and Saint Nicholas.
Juan Pablo, how long you've beenpart of youth ministry?
SPEAKER_03 (26:11):
Um, as long as her which was part of like five, six
years.
Great, great.
And uh what's been the best partof the day so far for you?
The music.
The music.
SPEAKER_02 (26:18):
I love the music, yeah.
Oh, and you're a musical family,right?
Yeah, yeah.
Your mom uh leads music at theparish, and your dad is a
deacon.
Yes.
Um and Janelle, uh, how's theday going for you?
SPEAKER_09 (26:30):
It's been going well.
I really love that the messageoverall is just telling them to
be courageous, right?
To follow God, to have arelationship, right?
A lot of times our teens arethere because of tradition or
family expectations, but themessage is you need to have a
personal relationship with God.
SPEAKER_02 (26:49):
And uh it can have some fun too, right?
Uh and a little lunch and somegood food out.
Food was great too.
And uh I think Ginelli isstanding beside something that
was made um connected with thethose relics of Carlo Acudis,
right?
Then you're saying Carlo Acudis.
Uh did you get to do that orsee?
SPEAKER_06 (27:06):
Yes, we got to see the relic of the Carlos Accudis.
It was I was trying to figureout what was inside.
SPEAKER_02 (27:11):
Right, right, well, it was it was hair.
Yeah, it was hair.
So Ginelli's gonna come backthis way to um uh tell us about
uh your work as a youth ministernow over 18 years.
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_09 (27:25):
So I started fresh out of college because I used to
be part of um youth ministry asa teenager, and so while I was
in college.
Yes, I did, and I grew up inthat parish in St.
Nicholas.
SPEAKER_02 (27:37):
Beautiful church, right?
SPEAKER_09 (27:38):
Exactly.
So that's where you know myparents basically have been
since before I was born.
So I've been there all my life,and so after college, I decided
to go back and start up youthministry because it wasn't going
on for a few years.
And I've been there ever since.
The rest is history, you say,right?
The rest is history, and so itused to be gift youth ministry,
(27:59):
and um, we used to meet onMonday nights, and then when we
merged with Fatima, I had theopportunity to meet other
leaders that wanted to work withme, and so now we have an even
bigger youth group.
We changed the name, now we areCIA Youth Ministry, which is
Christ is Alive Youth Ministry.
Yeah, and so now we all worktogether, have more leadership,
(28:23):
and our group has growntremendously, like she said.
Started with maybe 12 kids, andnow we have over 30.
Wow, wow.
SPEAKER_02 (28:29):
How many came today?
SPEAKER_09 (28:30):
Today is a group of 18.
SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
18, wow, that's great, that's great.
SPEAKER_09 (28:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (28:34):
Uh and what do they start right after confirmation
or before even?
SPEAKER_09 (28:38):
So we accept students from seventh grade and
up.
SPEAKER_02 (28:40):
So uh and you do some ministry in the neighboring
parish as well, right?
With those preparing forconfirmation?
SPEAKER_09 (28:45):
Yes, so I do um work with confirmation in St.
Mary's Parish in Pisic as well.
And I have a class of about 30plus teenagers at this time.
SPEAKER_02 (28:55):
Great, great.
Have you been to Youth Ministry,uh, Donison Youth Day before?
SPEAKER_09 (28:58):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (28:59):
Uh so it's a pretty good spot we have for it now at
St.
Elizabeth's.
We thank St.
Elizabeth University for welcomeopening their doors.
Welcome to the beautiful HolyFamily Chapel where we'll be for
mass later.
Um, and uh um as this now acollege student, uh, how does
your experience in youthministry uh impact your life as
a as a freshman at Seton Hall?
SPEAKER_06 (29:19):
Well, it helps me not forget my faith because I
know sometimes in college youget wrapped up in like these
different organizations you'rein and your classes.
So it helps me to stand firm inmy faith and to not forget where
my roots came from.
SPEAKER_02 (29:32):
And now you're a youth uh a leader in the group,
right?
And so you're able to tell someof your younger sisters and
brothers uh maybe what to lookout for and what yeah, um that's
great.
Uh and Juan Pablo, uh how you'rein youth group and part of your
parish, and you go to a Catholicschool, DePaul Catholic.
Uh how is uh the does that helpin the combination of living
your faith?
SPEAKER_03 (29:52):
Uh yes, it does.
It helps me learn more about myfaith and um grow in in my
knowledge in it.
SPEAKER_02 (29:59):
And you see a connection between what you're
doing at home and it's Sundaysin a youth group and what you're
learning at school at DePaul?
SPEAKER_03 (30:04):
I see many connections.
That's great.
That's great, that's great.
SPEAKER_02 (30:06):
Well, thank you very much.
Uh we uh hope that uh otherswill uh would you encourage
others in their parishes to getinvolved in youth ministry?
Yes, yes.
Yes, yes.
So um we pray that uh our churchwill continue to grow and we
thank our young people for theiryes to their faith and uh and
their leaders.
Uh Janelli, Juan Pablo, andJessica, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_09 (30:26):
You're welcome.
Thank you.
God bless you.
SPEAKER_02 (30:27):
Enjoy the rest of the day.
SPEAKER_09 (30:28):
See you Church for Mass, right?
SPEAKER_02 (30:30):
Yes.
God bless you.
Enjoy the day.
Thanks.
We're back at our Daasin YouthDay here at St.
Elizabeth's University inConvent Station on November 2nd,
Old Souls Day, and uh we're herewith Mary.
(30:53):
Mary uh from St.
Jude in Bud Lake.
Your dad is Jim Sweeney, uh, theuh uh state deputy now for the
Knights of the United States.
Yes, he is.
He was just on the podcast.
I know, you're seeing a lot ofus.
Uh and how long have you been ayouth minister?
SPEAKER_05 (31:09):
So uh we started our youth ministry at St.
Jude uh three years ago.
Three years ago.
So we're still young, but we'rewe're working hard and these
two.
SPEAKER_02 (31:17):
There are two of your leaders here who were there
with you from the start.
Uh your name again?
SPEAKER_05 (31:21):
Itelka.
SPEAKER_02 (31:21):
Itelka.
And um how long have you beeninvolved?
Three years.
I've been involved since Istarted.
Yeah.
I was one of the first people tojoin.
And how long ago did you makeconfirmation?
SPEAKER_08 (31:30):
Last year.
SPEAKER_02 (31:30):
Last year.
Last year.
Um Itelka and Merrill.
Merrill, Merrill.
Uh you're you start you've yougo to school together, is that
right?
Yes, we do.
At Mount Not all of high school.
Not all of high school.
And uh you've both been involvedin youth ministry.
Yes, for military years.
And how many are in the groupnow?
SPEAKER_05 (31:48):
Uh we're still small, we still have a core
group of approximately five toeight students, but we're
constantly working with ourconfirmation students.
Uh so we have events everymonth, that's what we're
striving to do, and we have newstudents coming all the time, so
evangelizing every day as wecan.
SPEAKER_02 (32:05):
Have you been to this dialogue day before?
SPEAKER_05 (32:07):
Yes, we've been.
SPEAKER_02 (32:08):
Over the past three years, so really exciting.
Uh and how's the day going sofar today?
SPEAKER_08 (32:12):
It's really good.
We've been having a great time.
SPEAKER_07 (32:13):
We're doing really well.
Like the band is really awesomeas well, and there's like a lot
of fun.
SPEAKER_02 (32:18):
You had a speaker this morning?
Yes, yes, yeah.
And then you got to um see therelic of Carlo Ocudis, right?
SPEAKER_08 (32:25):
We love that.
We actually learned about CarloOcutis last year, so it was
really nice to meet you.
Yeah, it's really nice to seethat.
SPEAKER_02 (32:29):
Uh and um what's great about being in a youth
group?
SPEAKER_08 (32:34):
Oh, I think the fact that we get to meet every month
and we see each other and wetalk about things you don't
usually talk about.
You want to talk about it withyour sports team or at home, and
it's really just being with agroup of people that think the
same way you do, and you get totalk about God and all the great
things.
So it's really fun.
It's really fun to be surroundedby those types of people.
SPEAKER_02 (32:50):
Are you an athlete as well?
Do you think what is it?
SPEAKER_08 (32:52):
Yeah, yeah, I play sports.
I swim.
SPEAKER_02 (32:53):
Swim, great, great.
Uh Meryl, what's great aboutbeing in the youth group?
SPEAKER_07 (32:56):
I think just like like Telka said, like the sense
of community, it's really niceto have people who feel the same
way about God and aboutCatholicism as you do.
It's really nice to kind of likebe a part of something that's
bigger than yourself.
Um so I would say like that's myfavorite part about it.
SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
Great, great.
And uh your youth leader wassaying that she was part of a
youth group uh a few years agoand got an opportunity to go on.
SPEAKER_05 (33:20):
Uh World Youth Day.
Yeah, a few years ago was kind.
Father.
Um yeah, I had the opportunityto go to Toronto back.
Oh gosh, I don't even want tosay one, but um It was still
John Paul II, was it?
It was it was his, I think oneof his last ones.
And so uh Seoul Korea coming up.
These girls, once I told themabout my experience, their eyes
(33:40):
lit up and they're lookingforward to it.
They've been looking forward forit.
SPEAKER_02 (33:44):
Have you already started uh we're very excited?
SPEAKER_07 (33:46):
We're gonna start fundraising soon.
We're looking to go with therest of the diocese as well, so
we're really excited about thattrip.
SPEAKER_02 (33:52):
Right.
Uh yes, and we'll be sharingmore information uh uh to invite
as many young people aspossible.
How does it feel uh being with200 of uh young Catholics uh at
the at the day?
Does that does that help to itfeels amazing?
SPEAKER_08 (34:04):
It feels amazing.
I think you leave with such asense of community and you feel
like something like Meryl wassaying, you feel like you're a
part of something bigger thanyourself, and you don't really
see that.
Like our youth group is reallysmall, but when you see all
these people here, the same ageas you and they feel it the same
way you do, it feels reallygreat.
SPEAKER_02 (34:18):
Right.
Uh the speaker was um just as wewere just before we started
recording, was talking about theearly church, right?
And Jesus started with 12, so uhit's it's it's common for us as
Christians to start small and togrow, and we have that
responsibility to share the goodnews, right?
So it sounds like you've beendoing that.
Uh some other things that you'vedone over the years in youth
group, do you do serviceprojects or social activities or
(34:40):
uh uh retreats or retreats.
SPEAKER_05 (34:42):
So mainly we've been focusing on the retreats for our
confirmation students in thepast couple of years.
Um and we're doing serviceprojects this coming November.
Um we're thinking about makingrosaries, um wrapping gifts for
you know some of the of thecommunity as well, uh just a
whole bunch of mostly service.
That's really what draws in theyouth, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (35:03):
Any activities that stick out or things that you've
done in your time in the youthministry that have been helpful
or exciting or uh a learningexperience, maybe?
SPEAKER_08 (35:12):
Well, I really remember when we learned about
Carlo Kudis last year.
That was really, really a bigmoment for us.
It was a lot of we had a lot offriends there too.
So it wasn't just us, we had alot of friends there, and we all
learned about him.
And especially the fact that hewas 15.
Right he was really young, hewas our age, to think about
someone our age doing thingslike that was really
eye-opening.
SPEAKER_02 (35:29):
I was blessed to be able to visit uh his resting
place in the CC just uh yeah,yeah, yeah.
That's amazing.
Uh he's uh a great example,right?
Of uh and uh using his computerskills to make the uh uh uh
website of Eucharistic miraclesuh amazing.
Uh uh anchored in hope, he's asign of hope, right?
That we're remembering mind thisworld called to holiness.
(35:50):
And Merrill, something uh anactivity or uh that you've found
in youth in your years of youthministry that's been helpful or
enjoyable or yeah, I reallyenjoy the retreats that we do
with the confirmation students.
SPEAKER_07 (36:02):
Um myself have been part of one of the retreats when
I was getting confirmed.
Um it's really nice to seeleaders um kind of come and and
educate you about the differentthings and about their
testimonies, and it's justreally inspiring to see how
people around the same age asyou um has have been through the
same things and understand thesame things that you're going
through.
So that was definitely somethingthat I've really enjoyed and
(36:24):
felt inspired by.
SPEAKER_02 (36:25):
And as a youth minister, it must be great to
have uh leaders that can help onretreats, huh?
SPEAKER_05 (36:30):
Yes, no, it's beautiful.
And you know, just watch themgrow too as leaders is it's a
blessing.
It's a blessing to watch andsee.
SPEAKER_02 (36:37):
That's great.
Uh and your pastor, FatherAntonio, right?
Gives great support, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_05 (36:42):
Um, yes, yes, yes.
Yeah, absolutely supporting.
SPEAKER_02 (36:45):
So great, great, great.
Um, well, thank you.
I hope you enjoy the rest of theday, and we'll be together uh
for mass in uh the Holy Family,beautiful Holy Family Chapel.
Yes, yes.
Thanks so much, God bless you.
SPEAKER_08 (36:55):
Thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
And Meryl, thanks so much.
Keep up the great work.
God bless you.
SPEAKER_05 (37:01):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (37:01):
Thank you for joining us.
Please subscribe, comment, andleave a positive rating.
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Get in touch if you have aquestion for the bishop or a
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See you next time.
SPEAKER_02 (37:21):
Thanks, everybody.
God bless you.
Welcome to Beyond the Queen 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.
I'm Jay Agnes with me is BishopKevin Sweeney.
Bishop, how are you?
I'm good, Jay.
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
How are you doing?
SPEAKER_00 (00:25):
Doing I'm doing well.
Thanks.
I if I can, I just want to saytoday's my wedding anniversary.
And you had a birthday.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Yeah.
When was your birthday?
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
Uh November 6th, so last week.
Thank you.
So, Annette, happy anniversaryto you.
The love of my life.
Um, so you just got back fromBaltimore.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
And you were down there for thefall meeting of the United
States bishops.
These are very importantgatherings.
They don't happen that oftenduring the year, and a lot was
happening there, including theelection of a new U.S.
(00:55):
C C B president and vicepresident, and the issuance of a
rare special message regardingthe bishop's concern for the
evolving situation affectingimmigrants in the United States.
Something I know that's beenweighing on your heart and mind,
something you've written aboutand done a video about recently.
Tell us more.
SPEAKER_02 (01:13):
So um you said uh a reporter had reached out to ask
about uh the statement that wasreleased yesterday on the feast
of um I do have your statementhere.
Say Mother Cabrini.
That's okay.
Uh just uh to I when I thoughtabout it, I uh you know
reflected um as a son ofimmigrants and as an American
(01:39):
who loves our country and is sograteful as we look forward to
Thanksgiving.
Um and uh most importantly as aCatholic and a Christian um to
be there and to have been partof the process, even you know,
just one of two hundred and Ithink forty or so with the
retired, I think there wereabout two hundred and twenty or
(02:01):
so vote that voted.
Um the retired can vote in this.
No, no, the retired don't vote.
They don't vote, okay.
Right, right.
But um um you know, they gave usa draft of a statement on on
Tuesday morning, and um westarted with a morning of prayer
on Monday morning, and um thenum we break into regions um at
(02:22):
one point each time we meet.
Uh so that's the bishops of NewJersey and Pennsylvania, and and
I think I don't know, there'slike 15 regions, you know, dip
geographically throughout theUnited States, and uh they asked
each region as a group to reviewthe statement, the draft, uh,
and offer some comments.
There were four bishops thatwere on the writing team, I
believe.
(02:42):
I hope I get it right.
Bishop Richard Henning, who wasthe Long Island guy, we went to
the same seminary, and he's nowthe Archbishop of Boston.
Um Bishop uh Michael Burbage,I'm a big fan of his walk humbly
podcast, uh, and uh I thinkBishop Daniel Flores, who's now
the vice president, and uhBishop Mark Seites, who's the
chairman, um, and they receivedback uh I think I heard 150
(03:07):
suggestions or uh uh you knowthere was some conversation on
Tuesday, I think an executivesession where um talking about
too many cooks in the kitchenthere.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
I don't know.
SPEAKER_02 (03:18):
Well, um you know, uh it's also an experience of of
communion, you know, of ofprayer together and uh listening
and um and I think um you knowcertain uh education and
experience and um leadership anduh how they um took those
(03:41):
suggestions and yeah I mean thefirst draft was there was a lot
of good in it.
You know, the message was kindof there, but um to add some
more scripture and um to nuanceit and um you know to try to say
that um yes, we're concerned umuh sadly about some of what's
happened in our country over thelast you know 10, 11 months.
(04:04):
And um but also at one point tosay we oppose um the way that
some are being treated and umthe lack of due process and
people who are here legallyusing their or in a le a process
to uh regularize their legalstatus, you know, all of a
sudden now even being deported.
SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
Um uh uh separated a a family separ that was
separated in your column acouple of weeks ago.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
It's something that it's real.
It's um again, when people havebeen here 20, 25, 30 years have
raised children, the childrenwent to our our schools and are
now giving back, and thosepeople have been working and
paying taxes very often.
And you know, nobody's overthose 20 th plus years uh said,
well, uh you have to leavebecause you're not quote unquote
(04:51):
legal.
Um they've been part ofparishes, they've been um you
know serving uh some uh you knowuh children that their children
serve in the military.
And and now what's been theirhome for 20, 30 years and where
they raise their children andgrandchildren, now they're
afraid that they could be thrownout of and um uh we we uh no you
(05:12):
know the the administration, ourgovernment, uh the there's this
clear emphasis, you know, canonlaw uh nations have a right and
a responsibility to have secureborders, yes, and and and it's
nobody's saying that this issimple, but but we need to treat
one another with with dignityand um and and again it it was
(05:33):
used a number of times aspastors we're saying this
because w we're reflecting whatwe're hearing from those that we
serve on a daily basis, thosethat are priests and and and and
and parish and catholiccharities and other ministries,
we we're hearing from our peopleof how afraid they are and
what's been happening, and um,you know, not only that some of
(05:54):
those we see a lot in the media,um, but it's maybe more those
one-on-one people that you'veknown over all these years, and
you're saying this is not, Imean, I love, love, love this
country.
Um, and I think at times, youknow, no country's gonna be
perfect, and um the church isn'tperfect.
Uh, but um when something is isclearly against what what the
(06:15):
scriptures teach us, what Godasks, what the church teaches,
we, and against the dignity ofthe human person, yeah, we have
a responsibility to to uh toraise our voice and uh and um
and it was a privilege to be tobe part of that process as a son
of immigrants, as a proud, youknow, proud American, loves our
our country, and um, but also asa as a disciple, as a Catholic
(06:38):
and a Christian, that now as abishop to say um you know who
knows what who's gonna listen toit or you know whether it's
gonna have an impact, but uh wefelt you know it needed to be
said.
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
So um, so why now?
And it's great to see uh so manypeople voted in favor.
SPEAKER_02 (06:57):
There were only 98 percent, yes, yes.
Um you know um I think therewere five who voted against it.
And who knows, you know, they'refollowing their conscience.
I um so um I think a fewabstained, but uh uh over well
over two hundred Yeah, twohundred and sixteen in favor,
five against three up.
Yeah, so um uh Leo as it is.
(07:19):
And if you follow the the thebishops in of the United States,
we don't always see um but thereport it's great.
Uh towards the end of theconversation, um uh a a young
recently ordained bishop um whocame with his family as uh uh as
a kid from Mexico and uh hespoke as an immigrant um uh how
(07:41):
how much he felt supported byhis now brother bishops um and
how important this would be forhis family and his community um
to feel that and hear thatsupport.
Um you know, and that um it wasthe day before and the day of uh
the feast of Mother Cabrini.
Uh I think that could be morethan a coincidence.
(08:02):
Um, you know, the first Americancitizen came here as an
immigrant, um, and and shebecame a naturalized citizen.
So we have that um longtradition of um people get here
in different ways.
Uh it it I think it's it's toosimple to say some came the
right way and some you know uhcame illegally.
(08:23):
Um it's not that simple.
Um it's it's not uh uh again andpeople, you know, and and and
look at the Lexeite, uh the thePope Leo's recent teaching and
the long teaching of the churchfrom the from the going back to
the Old Testament, welcome thestranger, uh people when they
come fleeing for their lives,um, you know, uh desperate um uh
(08:44):
and and and uh leaving theirhomes so that they can come here
and work and send money back tocare for their family who's
starving.
You know, we have to um look atthis with um uh uh our hearts
and our heads and and say thatwe can, yes, support uh uh the
the the the the the moralresponsibilities that that our
(09:06):
elected leaders have.
Um yes, we we want to be good uhuh St.
Thomas More.
Um I'm I'm the king's goodservant, but I'm God's first.
But uh, you know, we believe andwe we're called to be faithful
citizens, the salt of the earthand light of the world.
That means being part of the thethe public discourse and and
voting, and uh and so um, butalso sometimes, you know, look
(09:28):
at the civil rights movement, uhother uh um uh going back to
slavery, you know, when uh therehave been laws that have been
unjust, there have been uhinterpretation of laws or um,
you know, uh that that have notrespected human dignity, and and
um we have responsibility to toraise our voices when when the
when innocent people aresuffering.
(09:49):
And I think that's the casehere.
Um I don't know, we're nottalking about intentions, but
but hardworking, um uhlaw-abiding, um uh taxpaying um
members of our community um, youknow, are are suffering
unnecessarily.
SPEAKER_00 (10:05):
Yeah.
(10:45):
Well wow, Bishop, thank you forthat inspiring uh those
inspiring words and it's uh andfor your leadership in this
area.
Um Okay, so should we move on toother aspects of the And uh
encourage you to you know readthe full statement, it's not
long.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
Yes, um we'll have links show notes.
Uh and pray for us, you know, umand pray for our president and
our elected leaders.
Um we're happy that thegovernment has been reopened and
uh um I was glad that I was ableto drive to Baltimore and back.
There were some that were uhtaking uh flying and and nervous
about you know uh delays andcancellations, so please that'll
(11:23):
work be worked out.
SPEAKER_00 (11:25):
What else was the uh experience?
How else what was the experiencelike for you in in other ways?
I know there's fraternaldialogues.
Who do you who'd you sit withthis time?
SPEAKER_02 (11:33):
Uh uh our neighbors from Pennsylvania.
Well, actually, our neighbor uhBishop O'Connell from Trenton
and uh Bishop Bambera, who's theBishop of Scranton,
Pennsylvania, and Bishop AlSlert, who's the Bishop of
Allentown, so at a nice table,and a bishop from California,
Brennan, Bishop Brennan, one ofthe newer bishops from
California.
So but also um uh we voted uhBishop Andrew Cousins, the
(11:57):
Bishop of Crookston, had pickedup the baton from Bishop Barron
on the Eucharistic revival andthe Eucharistic Congress and the
processions, and uh uh veryhappy that we're uh um the
summer before last was thewonderful Eucharistic Congress
in Indianapolis.
That uh was the 10th NationalEucharistic Congress.
The ninth National EucharisticCongress had been in 1925, so we
(12:20):
had a long gap.
Uh and uh so uh the 11thEucharistic Congress will be in
2029.
Uh so I was glad that there wasagain over 80 percent, I think,
voted in favor of that.
So um God bless them.
They do great work and and wecan see the fruits of the
Eucharistic revival and and andsigns of hope uh as we're coming
towards the end of this Jubileeyear of hope.
(12:41):
We still remain as as pilgrimsof hope, uh faith, hope, and
love.
St.
Paul tells us those those arewith us always until the end.
SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
So uh um so uh maybe a good time to plug our closing
mass for the the Jubilee year ofthe Jubilee, that's on December
28th, right?
Yes.
Cathedral.
SPEAKER_02 (12:57):
The Sunday between Christmas and New Year's not the
uh easiest time to come to amass on three o'clock on a
Sunday, but uh we have greatnumbers for the opening, and
hopefully we'll have greatnumbers uh to come and close the
Jubilee uh Sunday, uh December28th.
Um uh we don't want time to gotoo fast.
Thanksgiving's around the cornerand Advent and Christmas, but um
(13:21):
but uh yes, we'll have thatclosing mess on uh on on Sunday,
December 28th at the St.
John the Baptist Cathedral inPatterson.
SPEAKER_00 (13:28):
And so uh back to the to the meeting.
So um I think the I know thatBishop Barron was among the
candidates to potentially becomeuh I I mean that was the odds on
favorite, I I think you'd haveto say from the article I I
read.
SPEAKER_02 (13:46):
Um, you know, I um Bishop Coakley, um Archbishop
Coakley has been serving as asecretary that maybe not
everyone knew.
And um uh there has been, Ithink, not always, but uh
somewhat of a tradition orcustom that um the one who
served as vice president willbecome the next president.
But Archbishop Laurie ofBaltimore was serving as the
(14:08):
vice president, and there's anage rule that if you're gonna be
75 in the course of the termthat um then you're ineligible.
So um so in some ways ArchbishopCoakley was you could we could
say he was the next in line, andum, you know, uh um I think
those who have been part of theconference um uh longer than I
have, um, you know, um uh I'msure know Archbishop Coakley
(14:32):
well.
And obviously there's a lot ofconfidence in his leadership.
SPEAKER_00 (14:36):
Yeah, so he's the new president, and then you
mentioned Bishop Daniel Floresof Brownsville is the new vice
president.
SPEAKER_02 (14:41):
And I think uh Bishop Flores led us through the
Senate process, and um um That'swhere I know the name.
Okay.
Yes, uh um and he's um a greatservant of the Latino community
as well.
And um um uh I my dealings withlimited, but um I I've uh I know
maybe this Bishop Flores alittle bit better than Bisho
(15:02):
Archbishop Coakley, but I'mhappy that both of them have
been picked and uh I'm surethey'll do a great job.
SPEAKER_00 (15:07):
Well we won't tell them you voted for someone else,
but you're bearing.
You know, I'm curious, like sooften when the media discusses
the election of a new USCCBpresident, the conversation's
often about, you know, whichcandidate's more conservative or
more left-leaning.
There's some assumption, rightlyor wrongly, that this person
will shape the conference agendafor the next three years.
(15:27):
How do you approach your votefor president and and what do
you think in those terms, youknow, as far as right or left,
or or is it more about theperson of what they've
accomplished pastorally?
SPEAKER_02 (15:36):
Well, for myself, I think um I I just think, you
know, the president, I think defacto becomes the spokesperson
for the conference and even forthe church and the country.
And um uh, you know, BishopByron's certainly a uh wonderful
communicator, and um and I andyou know, talk about right or
left or liberal or conservative.
(15:56):
If if you listen closely toBishop Byron, you're gonna see
someone who right down the line,uh uh um uh inside the Vatican,
uh I thought they did a greatjob.
I wrote about it uh there twoepisodes ago when they talked
about Cardinal Newman uh bebecoming a doctor of the church
and new documents and um uh um Iwant to say uh shout out to um
(16:18):
our friends at America.
Yes, uh Colleen Dulley and umJerry O'Connell are the um hosts
of uh Inside the Vatican, buttheir sister podcast, um our
friends uh Ashley and Zach werethere as observers.
So I got to say hello to them.
So I was wondering if you didn'tknow.
Yeah, yeah.
Um so uh and uh and their recentepisode, they have a segment at
(16:41):
the end, one friend speaks toanother, and they had this woman
on who wrote uh uh an articlethat was um you know challenging
some of what um our vicepresident J.D.
Vance has said on uh immigrationand uh but the conversation was
beautiful, and she talked aboutum growing up and they had
neighbors living next door whoum I'm gonna bless today a new
(17:01):
DPD house, Murray House inClifton.
She had um some people withadults with special needs living
next to her, and she talkedabout as a kid she didn't really
understand that, but her motherwas so welcoming.
It's just a great story.
The Jesuitical podcast, um the Ithink the episode um uh from the
week of um uh let's see, aroundNovember 7th or so.
(17:22):
Okay.
Um but um so in terms of uhchoosing, oh, and on the uh
inside the Vatican podcast,there was something said about
uh a uh press conference at theVatican, maybe when Pope Leo was
elected or at some other point,I don't remember the details,
but they said someone a reporterasked, is the new Holy Father
more liberal or moreconservative?
(17:44):
And the Vatican representativesaid, are the gospels more
liberal or more conservative?
Um look at the scriptures, boththe old and new testament.
Um uh I think um you know uhthose that that's not the
question.
Um uh we're we're called to bedisciples, Catholic Christians,
(18:05):
um to love God and love others,uh to love as Jesus loves.
And uh yes, there's differentways of um understanding that,
interpreting it, um priorities,um, and you can it's easy to put
a label on someone, but youknow, I think um from Pope John
Paul II to Pope Benedict to PopeFrancis, and now I'm sure Pope
(18:26):
Leo will have his own style.
But yes, some pi may say PopeJohn Paul II was further to the
right and more conservative andand and and and far and Pope
Benedict was in his uh similaruh vein, but um and Pope li uh
Pope Francis by some would besay more left.
I think you've got to lookclosely.
Uh I I think we look for thebalance.
Um, but um, but um um even somewould say, you know, the Second
(18:51):
Vatican Council and Pope John,St.
Pope John the XXIII and uh SaintPope Paul VI, uh well you know
would have said maybe John theXXIII was more liberal and Pope
Paul VI was more conservative.
But it's the Holy Spirit guidingand we believe giving the church
who we need, whether it be asPope, as the um president and
vice president of the USCCB, asuh a local bishop or priest or
(19:14):
parent or teacher.
Um it's not a and and you know,here in our country, I I think
when we put those labels, that'swhat divides us.
Um if we're all Americans, thenum if you're on one part or the
other, okay, let's have aconversation, but let's focus
more on what brings us togetherrather than what divides us.
So uh I think we have to becareful about those questions.
SPEAKER_00 (19:36):
Well, thank you.
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (19:37):
Well, we have um wanna wanna anything else you
want to add about the theconference or anything that's
going on before we transition tothe It was nice to uh come back
from Baltimore on Thursday andhead right to our Caritas Gala
that took place um on theevening of Mother Cabrini's
feast, Thursday, November 13th.
And uh Monsignor Herb Tilliathat was there, who's the uh
(19:58):
president emeritus, uh FatherMarty Glenn is the current CEO
of the board, and Scott Millikendoes such a great job, and
Joanna Miller, the head of DPD,and um uh Angela Um Nikola Nikil
Nikolovsky, uh not pronouncingyour name maybe exactly, but we
have great leadership inCatholic charities, and uh we
had a great uh Caritascala, andthere's wonderful things coming
(20:19):
up, which Scott had said.
Yeah, and we'll have moredetails, but uh uh uh that was
wonderful.
And uh I'm actually as I saidblessing uh a new um DPD home in
Clifton uh later today.
SPEAKER_00 (20:31):
Yes.
Okay, so for this episode, we uhwe were at St.
Elizabeth's University in MorrisTownship for the Dioson Um Youth
Conference.
And while we were there, you hadinterviewed some uh some youth
ministers along with some youthinvolved in youth ministry.
So uh we're gonna we're gonna goto that now.
SPEAKER_02 (20:53):
Right, and we thank uh Father Paul Manning and the
whole team at um St.
Paul's inside the WalzoreEvangelization Center, but in a
p particular way John Camarada,our Dice and Director of Youth
Ministry.
Um and uh we're gonna maybe lookat getting um uh a um no, who
was the uh Array of Hope, Arrayof Hope for the um leaders of
our Diocin Youth Day.
(21:13):
They did a great job, music, uhinspirational talks.
Um I was happy to have mass.
Um and we thank St.
Elizabeth's University forhosting us, and uh hopefully
you'll see in the interviewswith the young people and the
youth ministers, uh, there's alot of enthusiasm and uh a lot
of reasons to be hopeful.
So um maybe as we go to um theinterviews from the youth day,
we can uh pray our Jubileeprayer uh and uh um ask the Lord
(21:38):
to guide us as we're we movetowards uh on our pilgrims of
hope is journey and hope we movenow towards uh Thanksgiving and
uh national youth nationalCatholic Youth Conference in
Indianapolis.
Um on Wednesday I'll be headingthere and uh um uh look forward
to sending some pictures backand uh uh keep an eye out for
social media.
There's gonna be a lot of goodthings happening in Indianapolis
(22:00):
at the National Catholic YouthConference on the weekend of um
Friday the 21st, Thursday the20th till um I think Saturday
the 22nd.
Um so um so keep that in yourprayers and uh then Thanksgiving
will be around the corner in theseason of Advent.
And so let's ask the Lord toguide us as pilgrims of hope.
Name of the Father and of theSon and of the Holy Spirit.
(22:21):
Amen.
Giving thanks to God for thegifts and blessings of each day,
for the gifts of faith, hope,and love for our one holy
Catholic and Apostolic Church,for um the church here in the
United States, for our bishops,for our leaders, um, praying
through the intercession of St.
Francis Cabrini for ourimmigrant sisters and brothers,
praying for our president andAll of our elected leaders
praying, continuing as pilgrimsof hope in this jubilee of hope.
(22:46):
Let us pray together our Jubileeprayer as pilgrims of hope.
Father in heaven, may the faithyou have given us in your Son
Jesus Christ, our brother, andthe flame of charity enkindled
in 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
gospel of the seeds of thegospel.
(23:07):
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
shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubileereawaken in us pilgrims of hope
yearning for the treasures ofheaven.
(23:34):
Be glory and praise forever andever.
Amen.
Our Lady, Mother of the Church,Queen of Peace, Our Lady of
Hope, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.
Pray for us.
Saint Francis, Savior, MotherCabrini, pray for us.
All holy men and women, pray forus.
Pray for us.
Name of the Father, the Son, andof the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
(23:59):
Hello, my brothers and sisters.
Welcome to Beyond the Beacon ina new location for today.
We're here at St.
Elizabeth's University on AllSouls Day, Sunday, November 2nd,
and we're with some of theparticipants in our diocesan
youth day.
And happy that you'll have thechance to hear about all the
good things that are happeningin our diocese and all the
(24:20):
wonderful things that arehappening amongst our young
people who uh are together.
We have about 200 young peoplefrom different parishes
throughout our diocese.
SPEAKER_09 (24:28):
And here with us today are I'm Janale Jose, youth
minister of Our Lady of Fatimaand St.
Nicholas Church.
SPEAKER_02 (24:34):
And has been in youth ministry since For about
18 years, since 2007, right?
Yes.
And Juan Pablo.
Juan Pablo from DePaul Catholic.
And uh sophomore, you said?
Yes, I'm sophomore, yeah.
Uh and his older sister.
SPEAKER_06 (24:49):
I'm Jessica from our Lady of Adam and St.
Nicholas Parish.
And I go to Seaton Hall.
SPEAKER_02 (24:54):
After graduating from DePaul, right?
Yeah.
Right.
So thank you very much for beingwith us.
How's the day going so far?
SPEAKER_06 (25:00):
It's going good.
SPEAKER_02 (25:00):
Yeah.
I love it.
Yeah, uh some good music?
Yes, it's really good.
Array of Hope.
Array of Hope.
And uh can you just turn for asecond?
You got uh anchors, right?
Uh t-shirt anchored in hope.
Great, great, that's good.
Um so um uh about the Jubileeyear, right?
The Pilgrims of Hope and theJubilee of Hope, and that anchor
is a symbol.
(25:21):
Have you learned something aboutthe anchor?
SPEAKER_06 (25:23):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (25:23):
What'd you learn?
SPEAKER_06 (25:24):
We learned to stand firm in our faith.
SPEAKER_02 (25:26):
Stand firm in our faith, right?
Uh it began um earlier thismorning.
We're gonna have mass later.
Um what's been the best part sofar?
SPEAKER_06 (25:34):
Best part was I forgot his name, but one of the
speakers.
One of the speakers, he wastalking about how we have to
have courage to stand up.
We did for the music.
He said, if you guys don't feelit, you don't stand up if you
don't feel it.
You have to stand up because youwant to, because you have to
take that first step.
Did a lot of young people standup?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (25:52):
Good, good, good.
And uh you've been part of youthministry for a long time.
SPEAKER_06 (25:56):
Yeah.
Since it started when our Ladyof Fatima and Saint Nicholas,
when they merged together, wecreated a new youth group.
SPEAKER_02 (26:03):
There were two parishes in Passaic that are now
united as one, our Lady ofFatima and Saint Nicholas.
Juan Pablo, how long you've beenpart of youth ministry?
SPEAKER_03 (26:11):
Um, as long as her which was part of like five, six
years.
Great, great.
And uh what's been the best partof the day so far for you?
The music.
The music.
SPEAKER_02 (26:18):
I love the music, yeah.
Oh, and you're a musical family,right?
Yeah, yeah.
Your mom uh leads music at theparish, and your dad is a
deacon.
Yes.
Um and Janelle, uh, how's theday going for you?
SPEAKER_09 (26:30):
It's been going well.
I really love that the messageoverall is just telling them to
be courageous, right?
To follow God, to have arelationship, right?
A lot of times our teens arethere because of tradition or
family expectations, but themessage is you need to have a
personal relationship with God.
SPEAKER_02 (26:49):
And uh it can have some fun too, right?
Uh and a little lunch and somegood food out.
Food was great too.
And uh I think Ginelli isstanding beside something that
was made um connected with thethose relics of Carlo Acudis,
right?
Then you're saying Carlo Acudis.
Uh did you get to do that orsee?
SPEAKER_06 (27:06):
Yes, we got to see the relic of the Carlos Accudis.
It was I was trying to figureout what was inside.
SPEAKER_02 (27:11):
Right, right, well, it was it was hair.
Yeah, it was hair.
So Ginelli's gonna come backthis way to um uh tell us about
uh your work as a youth ministernow over 18 years.
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_09 (27:25):
So I started fresh out of college because I used to
be part of um youth ministry asa teenager, and so while I was
in college.
Yes, I did, and I grew up inthat parish in St.
Nicholas.
SPEAKER_02 (27:37):
Beautiful church, right?
SPEAKER_09 (27:38):
Exactly.
So that's where you know myparents basically have been
since before I was born.
So I've been there all my life,and so after college, I decided
to go back and start up youthministry because it wasn't going
on for a few years.
And I've been there ever since.
The rest is history, you say,right?
The rest is history, and so itused to be gift youth ministry,
(27:59):
and um, we used to meet onMonday nights, and then when we
merged with Fatima, I had theopportunity to meet other
leaders that wanted to work withme, and so now we have an even
bigger youth group.
We changed the name, now we areCIA Youth Ministry, which is
Christ is Alive Youth Ministry.
Yeah, and so now we all worktogether, have more leadership,
(28:23):
and our group has growntremendously, like she said.
Started with maybe 12 kids, andnow we have over 30.
Wow, wow.
SPEAKER_02 (28:29):
How many came today?
SPEAKER_09 (28:30):
Today is a group of 18.
SPEAKER_02 (28:31):
18, wow, that's great, that's great.
SPEAKER_09 (28:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (28:34):
Uh and what do they start right after confirmation
or before even?
SPEAKER_09 (28:38):
So we accept students from seventh grade and
up.
SPEAKER_02 (28:40):
So uh and you do some ministry in the neighboring
parish as well, right?
With those preparing forconfirmation?
SPEAKER_09 (28:45):
Yes, so I do um work with confirmation in St.
Mary's Parish in Pisic as well.
And I have a class of about 30plus teenagers at this time.
SPEAKER_02 (28:55):
Great, great.
Have you been to Youth Ministry,uh, Donison Youth Day before?
SPEAKER_09 (28:58):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (28:59):
Uh so it's a pretty good spot we have for it now at
St.
Elizabeth's.
We thank St.
Elizabeth University for welcomeopening their doors.
Welcome to the beautiful HolyFamily Chapel where we'll be for
mass later.
Um, and uh um as this now acollege student, uh, how does
your experience in youthministry uh impact your life as
a as a freshman at Seton Hall?
SPEAKER_06 (29:19):
Well, it helps me not forget my faith because I
know sometimes in college youget wrapped up in like these
different organizations you'rein and your classes.
So it helps me to stand firm inmy faith and to not forget where
my roots came from.
SPEAKER_02 (29:32):
And now you're a youth uh a leader in the group,
right?
And so you're able to tell someof your younger sisters and
brothers uh maybe what to lookout for and what yeah, um that's
great.
Uh and Juan Pablo, uh how you'rein youth group and part of your
parish, and you go to a Catholicschool, DePaul Catholic.
Uh how is uh the does that helpin the combination of living
your faith?
SPEAKER_03 (29:52):
Uh yes, it does.
It helps me learn more about myfaith and um grow in in my
knowledge in it.
SPEAKER_02 (29:59):
And you see a connection between what you're
doing at home and it's Sundaysin a youth group and what you're
learning at school at DePaul?
SPEAKER_03 (30:04):
I see many connections.
That's great.
That's great, that's great.
SPEAKER_02 (30:06):
Well, thank you very much.
Uh we uh hope that uh otherswill uh would you encourage
others in their parishes to getinvolved in youth ministry?
Yes, yes.
Yes, yes.
So um we pray that uh our churchwill continue to grow and we
thank our young people for theiryes to their faith and uh and
their leaders.
Uh Janelli, Juan Pablo, andJessica, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_09 (30:26):
You're welcome.
Thank you.
God bless you.
SPEAKER_02 (30:27):
Enjoy the rest of the day.
SPEAKER_09 (30:28):
See you Church for Mass, right?
SPEAKER_02 (30:30):
Yes.
God bless you.
Enjoy the day.
Thanks.
We're back at our Daasin YouthDay here at St.
Elizabeth's University inConvent Station on November 2nd,
Old Souls Day, and uh we're herewith Mary.
(30:53):
Mary uh from St.
Jude in Bud Lake.
Your dad is Jim Sweeney, uh, theuh uh state deputy now for the
Knights of the United States.
Yes, he is.
He was just on the podcast.
I know, you're seeing a lot ofus.
Uh and how long have you been ayouth minister?
SPEAKER_05 (31:09):
So uh we started our youth ministry at St.
Jude uh three years ago.
Three years ago.
So we're still young, but we'rewe're working hard and these
two.
SPEAKER_02 (31:17):
There are two of your leaders here who were there
with you from the start.
Uh your name again?
SPEAKER_05 (31:21):
Itelka.
SPEAKER_02 (31:21):
Itelka.
And um how long have you beeninvolved?
Three years.
I've been involved since Istarted.
Yeah.
I was one of the first people tojoin.
And how long ago did you makeconfirmation?
SPEAKER_08 (31:30):
Last year.
SPEAKER_02 (31:30):
Last year.
Last year.
Um Itelka and Merrill.
Merrill, Merrill.
Uh you're you start you've yougo to school together, is that
right?
Yes, we do.
At Mount Not all of high school.
Not all of high school.
And uh you've both been involvedin youth ministry.
Yes, for military years.
And how many are in the groupnow?
SPEAKER_05 (31:48):
Uh we're still small, we still have a core
group of approximately five toeight students, but we're
constantly working with ourconfirmation students.
Uh so we have events everymonth, that's what we're
striving to do, and we have newstudents coming all the time, so
evangelizing every day as wecan.
SPEAKER_02 (32:05):
Have you been to this dialogue day before?
SPEAKER_05 (32:07):
Yes, we've been.
SPEAKER_02 (32:08):
Over the past three years, so really exciting.
Uh and how's the day going sofar today?
SPEAKER_08 (32:12):
It's really good.
We've been having a great time.
SPEAKER_07 (32:13):
We're doing really well.
Like the band is really awesomeas well, and there's like a lot
of fun.
SPEAKER_02 (32:18):
You had a speaker this morning?
Yes, yes, yeah.
And then you got to um see therelic of Carlo Ocudis, right?
SPEAKER_08 (32:25):
We love that.
We actually learned about CarloOcutis last year, so it was
really nice to meet you.
Yeah, it's really nice to seethat.
SPEAKER_02 (32:29):
Uh and um what's great about being in a youth
group?
SPEAKER_08 (32:34):
Oh, I think the fact that we get to meet every month
and we see each other and wetalk about things you don't
usually talk about.
You want to talk about it withyour sports team or at home, and
it's really just being with agroup of people that think the
same way you do, and you get totalk about God and all the great
things.
So it's really fun.
It's really fun to be surroundedby those types of people.
SPEAKER_02 (32:50):
Are you an athlete as well?
Do you think what is it?
SPEAKER_08 (32:52):
Yeah, yeah, I play sports.
I swim.
SPEAKER_02 (32:53):
Swim, great, great.
Uh Meryl, what's great aboutbeing in the youth group?
SPEAKER_07 (32:56):
I think just like like Telka said, like the sense
of community, it's really niceto have people who feel the same
way about God and aboutCatholicism as you do.
It's really nice to kind of likebe a part of something that's
bigger than yourself.
Um so I would say like that's myfavorite part about it.
SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
Great, great.
And uh your youth leader wassaying that she was part of a
youth group uh a few years agoand got an opportunity to go on.
SPEAKER_05 (33:20):
Uh World Youth Day.
Yeah, a few years ago was kind.
Father.
Um yeah, I had the opportunityto go to Toronto back.
Oh gosh, I don't even want tosay one, but um It was still
John Paul II, was it?
It was it was his, I think oneof his last ones.
And so uh Seoul Korea coming up.
These girls, once I told themabout my experience, their eyes
(33:40):
lit up and they're lookingforward to it.
They've been looking forward forit.
SPEAKER_02 (33:44):
Have you already started uh we're very excited?
SPEAKER_07 (33:46):
We're gonna start fundraising soon.
We're looking to go with therest of the diocese as well, so
we're really excited about thattrip.
SPEAKER_02 (33:52):
Right.
Uh yes, and we'll be sharingmore information uh uh to invite
as many young people aspossible.
How does it feel uh being with200 of uh young Catholics uh at
the at the day?
Does that does that help to itfeels amazing?
SPEAKER_08 (34:04):
It feels amazing.
I think you leave with such asense of community and you feel
like something like Meryl wassaying, you feel like you're a
part of something bigger thanyourself, and you don't really
see that.
Like our youth group is reallysmall, but when you see all
these people here, the same ageas you and they feel it the same
way you do, it feels reallygreat.
SPEAKER_02 (34:18):
Right.
Uh the speaker was um just as wewere just before we started
recording, was talking about theearly church, right?
And Jesus started with 12, so uhit's it's it's common for us as
Christians to start small and togrow, and we have that
responsibility to share the goodnews, right?
So it sounds like you've beendoing that.
Uh some other things that you'vedone over the years in youth
group, do you do serviceprojects or social activities or
(34:40):
uh uh retreats or retreats.
SPEAKER_05 (34:42):
So mainly we've been focusing on the retreats for our
confirmation students in thepast couple of years.
Um and we're doing serviceprojects this coming November.
Um we're thinking about makingrosaries, um wrapping gifts for
you know some of the of thecommunity as well, uh just a
whole bunch of mostly service.
That's really what draws in theyouth, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (35:03):
Any activities that stick out or things that you've
done in your time in the youthministry that have been helpful
or exciting or uh a learningexperience, maybe?
SPEAKER_08 (35:12):
Well, I really remember when we learned about
Carlo Kudis last year.
That was really, really a bigmoment for us.
It was a lot of we had a lot offriends there too.
So it wasn't just us, we had alot of friends there, and we all
learned about him.
And especially the fact that hewas 15.
Right he was really young, hewas our age, to think about
someone our age doing thingslike that was really
eye-opening.
SPEAKER_02 (35:29):
I was blessed to be able to visit uh his resting
place in the CC just uh yeah,yeah, yeah.
That's amazing.
Uh he's uh a great example,right?
Of uh and uh using his computerskills to make the uh uh uh
website of Eucharistic miraclesuh amazing.
Uh uh anchored in hope, he's asign of hope, right?
That we're remembering mind thisworld called to holiness.
(35:50):
And Merrill, something uh anactivity or uh that you've found
in youth in your years of youthministry that's been helpful or
enjoyable or yeah, I reallyenjoy the retreats that we do
with the confirmation students.
SPEAKER_07 (36:02):
Um myself have been part of one of the retreats when
I was getting confirmed.
Um it's really nice to seeleaders um kind of come and and
educate you about the differentthings and about their
testimonies, and it's justreally inspiring to see how
people around the same age asyou um has have been through the
same things and understand thesame things that you're going
through.
So that was definitely somethingthat I've really enjoyed and
(36:24):
felt inspired by.
SPEAKER_02 (36:25):
And as a youth minister, it must be great to
have uh leaders that can help onretreats, huh?
SPEAKER_05 (36:30):
Yes, no, it's beautiful.
And you know, just watch themgrow too as leaders is it's a
blessing.
It's a blessing to watch andsee.
SPEAKER_02 (36:37):
That's great.
Uh and your pastor, FatherAntonio, right?
Gives great support, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_05 (36:42):
Um, yes, yes, yes.
Yeah, absolutely supporting.
SPEAKER_02 (36:45):
So great, great, great.
Um, well, thank you.
I hope you enjoy the rest of theday, and we'll be together uh
for mass in uh the Holy Family,beautiful Holy Family Chapel.
Yes, yes.
Thanks so much, God bless you.
SPEAKER_08 (36:55):
Thank you.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
And Meryl, thanks so much.
Keep up the great work.
God bless you.
SPEAKER_05 (37:01):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (37:01):
Thank you for joining us.
Please subscribe, comment, andleave a positive rating.
Get to know us better byfollowing Bishop Kevin Sweeney's
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Read the bishop's weekly columnon beaconj.org.
Get in touch if you have aquestion for the bishop or a
podcast topic idea, and discoverour other podcasts.
See you next time.
SPEAKER_02 (37:21):
Thanks, everybody.
God bless you.
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