Latest / Beyond The Beacon / 20: On a mission! We hear from one of our parishes about service in Appalachia

Transcript

20: On a mission! We hear from one of our parishes about service in Appalachia · Beyond The Beacon

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Jay Agnish, Communications Director for the Diocese and editor of the Beacon Newspaper.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Bishop, how are you doing today?
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good, Jay.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: How are you today?
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Doing well, thank you.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: What's cooking?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: What's new?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the summer's running too quickly as usual, so uh now that I'm back from Portugal and kind of back to back to work, uh there's plenty of things going on.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: I had a wonderful experience this past Tuesday on the uh feast of the Assumption to um receive the solemn profession of two religious sisters, uh the uh Franciscan sisters of St.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: Elizabeth who serve in Parsippany and uh do great work with uh educating the young.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: And uh these two sisters were originally from, are originally from Indonesia, and the community has many from India and many different parts of the world.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but um we'll put some stuff up on social media, but uh it's a wonderful, wonderful uh way to celebrate the Assumption.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: My Indian sisters, I'm half I'm half Indian.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: You say a couple of them are Indians?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's great.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, um want to introduce our guests with us today.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: So uh several of our parishes in the Diocese of Patterson participate in mission trips to parts of Kentucky and West Virginia.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: They partner with local organizations to assist struggling homeowners.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: On today's show, we welcome representatives from one of those parishes, St.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Joseph's in in Mendem.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: So with me is Mark Tasso to my left.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: He's the director of the Middle School and High School Youth Ministry program at St.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: Joseph's.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: He also leads confirmation.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: This was his 13th mission trip with the parish that began this type of volunteer work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Across the way from me is Lynn Connor.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: She's trip co-director and adult volunteer for the past three years.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then off screen for now, but we're gonna have her on is Hannah DeCruz, one of the youths who participated in the mission trip.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome everyone.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for joining us.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_07: Thanks for having us.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks, thanks for being here.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh looking forward to the conversation.
• 2:14
  unknown: Wonderful.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna turn it over to Bishop for opening prayer.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um we'll begin our conversation.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: We'll place ourselves in God's presence in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: As we come together in the name of our Lord Jesus, who's present here amongst us, and as we ask for God's help and bl and answer to our prayers, we'll pray through the intercession of Mary, our blessed mother, at this past World Youth Day.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: The theme was Mary went in haste.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: When Mary left, um after hearing, receiving the news that she would be the mother of God and conceiving by the Holy Spirit and being told that Elizabeth, her king's woman, was already in her sixth month.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_03: She went to Zachariah's house in the hill country and she went in haste.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and as we know, when her greeting reached Elizabeth's ears, the baby in Elizabeth's womb wept for joy.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: And Elizabeth Mary gave her beautiful uh magnificat.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh in during the days of World Utah, and even as we celebrated the Assumption, Mary's our model also as missionaries, missionary disciples, missionaries of joy.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: And as we'll reflect on the mission trip of St.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: Joseph's today, we ask the Lord to inspire each of us to be truly missionaries of his joy and peace.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: And we ask Mary, our blessed mother, to help us as we pray.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_03: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_03: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: Saint Joseph, pray for us, Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: All holy men and women, pray for us.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: Pray for us in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh well, thanks again for being here.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: And um I thanks for sending the video, which I found out now is from 2018.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: But uh hopefully we can put a link uh that can be available, is that right?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so there's this wonderful video.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and as even as I was praying, uh St.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: Joseph's Parish, uh St.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: Joseph the Carpenter, the worker, and um, so there's certainly a connection there.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: But um, Mark and sorry, Lynn.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_03: Lynn Lynn, sorry, uh, maybe just give us some background.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: Jay mentioned your mark so many trips, uh, but maybe your involvement in these mission trips and um and what led to uh your continuing that by uh having your mission trip this past this just a few last month, I guess.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_04: Well thank you, and thank you for uh having us here today.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_04: Uh our uh St.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_04: Joseph's parish has really uh had a focus on um youth ministry since our our pastor Monsignor Angioli came uh and has made this a real priority in everything that we do.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_04: Uh for the last 15 years or so, we have done uh a mission trip to uh either West Virginia or eastern Kentucky.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_04: Uh it was started actually by uh a parent in the parish with Monsignor Angiinoli's support, uh Monica Mycera.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_04: She was and uh she worked with Father Frank Agresti, who was a parochial vicar at the time there, uh, to really to start to start the uh the first mission.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_04: And really the idea is uh to bring our young people kind of out of our community with the support of our entire parish and our community to go down to give a week of Christian service uh to uh folks who are in need.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_04: And so for the last 14 or so years, we've been going to uh a town in eastern Kentucky called Paintsville, uh which is uh an area which used to be a big coal mining area and uh is really sort of is really a special place, and uh everyone has an opportunity to really give a give a give a whole week's of uh of hands-on service of of repair and construction.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_04: So uh it's very much an effort, you know, it's for our teens.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_04: This year we brought 54 teenagers and 25 adults.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh one associate priest, I understand.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Father Vic was uh a huge part of it.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: But uh it's really an effort of the entire community.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we so we have uh there's all the parents, there's ever we have fundraisers at the church, we do a pasta dinner, uh, and and it's a really neat thing because it brings the entire parish together.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: I'll have older folks who are, you know, come at a daily mass and they'll ask be asking me about the trip and they're so excited about it.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_04: We have prayer partners from the folks back at home to the the young people on the trip.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: And so we really feel that this is not, you know, it's not just a youth ministry program, it really is a mis a ministry of the entire parish, looking to witness to our faith and our words and our actions uh everywhere we go.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_04: We're really we're proud to be a part of this legacy that was started before us, and we we're really we feel very much called to continue to have it continue.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, and as a as a parent, so um I this is my uh third, this was my third summer on the trip, uh first year as co-director.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_07: But um I will say, you know, through the years, so I had two children go through St.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_07: Joseph's school in Mendem.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_07: And from the early years, first second, I'm sure Hannah can uh attest to this later, but it's ingrained in them that this is a rite of passes at St.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_07: Joseph Parish.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_07: From that early age going through, you saw the teens, you saw the fundraising and the um spirit around that trip, and it's such a part of our St.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_07: Joseph Church community.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_07: They've done an amazing job um making this trip just uh a team, you know, team community building part of our church.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_07: And uh my kids couldn't wait, you know, from kindergarten, first grade too.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um that's a good question.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_07: So sophomore year, we've kind of let the sophomores come on to the trip.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_07: COVID messed us up a little bit.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_07: So we've had some uh a couple of years we've had to kind of figure things out.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_07: But I think um uh finishing sophomore year, going into junior year, they can apply and uh come on the trip.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_07: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Did you miss one year because of COVID?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: We were blessed just to miss one year.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: I remember that you were back at it pretty quickly.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I guess that would have been 21, right?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: Where Yes, right.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_04: In this the summer of 2020, the community really came together for us to because by the time we got to July of that first year, at least you know, it was important for young people, especially to be getting out and to be able to see one another in a safe way.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_04: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I think you did some things more locally during 20, right?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_03: Even in the midst of the Trevor Burrus, we did.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_04: We called it our Mendum Mission.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_04: And our our our T-shirt that year was uh had uh Garden State Parkway colors, the green and the yellow.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_04: Uh but that was yes, we we worked in uh uh local uh low-income senior housing and also in uh uh some of the parks in town, too.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_04: And actually the the community and the local government was really helpful for that.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_07: And so we had And then you said both of your children uh went um They they went through the school and then they've also both been on the mission trip.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: So both my daughters went to the Trevor Burrus, maybe to share a little bit about uh their experience, you know, maybe looking forward to it and then the reality of going and maybe what surprised them or what they found.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_07: That's a great question.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_07: So I I would say I I hope I'm not gonna embarrass them by saying this on camera, but uh there's a lot of apprehension from you know, I think the teens, you know, this is a they're really putting themselves out here.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_07: This is a really step outside your comfort zone.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: I guess for some it's probably the first time away from home.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_07: Absolutely, no doubt.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_07: And so we prepare them, we bring them together a lot before the trip, they get to know the team, but to go down to Kentucky, and it's um we'll talk about it, but a very different place, very different culture, uh, a lot of apprehension.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_07: But I will say within the first 24 hours, it they the the environment just it it shapes them to be um, you know, missionaries and and um stepping into a totally different world, but they take that on very quickly and even more quickly than some of the chaperones do.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_07: You know, we have apprehension too, but they just they go with it.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_07: I always love to say watching the teens walk into onto a work site, which can be very eye-opening, um, within a couple hours are like, let's go, let's get to work.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_07: And they do it and they do it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_07: And my kids come out, my both of my girls come at the end of the week saying, This went too fast, you know, when's next year?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_07: And we have a lot of repeat people, and it's it's really great.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_07: So yeah.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's so inspiring uh what you do.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's a it's a great uh testament to Catholic social teaching and and uh community building for the parish.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, just so much that you're doing doing right there, and I definitely applaud your efforts and our other parishes that are involved in trips like this.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: I uh wonder if you could just take us to Paintsville, Kentucky, uh tell us what that community is like.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I I look some things up on Wikipedia, but I want to hear from you from you guys what's what's your impression of that community, why why that community are you helping the homeowners there?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what's the need and just yeah, any anything you want to go into in in there?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_07: Let me take you on things.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_07: Go for it.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_07: Um well it's it's a former coal mining um it's it is in Appalachia and it's a very poor area, you know, that that um there's a lot of of um drugs, there's a lot of um it's it's very eye-opening when you go down there.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_07: And it is people who um the good neighbors organization that we work with, and Mark can talk more to this too, um, they really are working with the working poor.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_07: So this is a niche that cannot get the the um support they need, um that the poor that they get down there.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_07: And so these people struggle, they're struggling to make repairs to their home and much needed repairs.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_07: We can talk about some of our work sites, but they good neighbors works with these people.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_07: We they interview them, they get job sites for us, and we go out and work there.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_07: But Paintsville itself is actually kind of a interesting community.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_07: It's got a Lowe's, it's got a Walmart, it's got a Dairy Queen, which we absolutely love to go to after a really hard working day.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_07: Um, but they I I what I said, like what we say about that community is they know when we're coming to town.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_07: They know when we're in town.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_07: We have eight white vans all around town, but they are so appreciative of the work that we do down there.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_07: And I was telling Mark, like uh when I was in Walmart one day and I had all these big carts full of food, and they literally came around the corner, uh, around the counter and gave us a hug.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_07: Thank you so much for being here.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_07: We cannot tell you how appreciative they're they they are so grateful.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_07: And it it really, you know, I come away from that trip being so grateful they let us down into Paintsville to let us do this.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_07: You know, they they humble themselves and then we have to humble ourselves to say what a gift they're giving us.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_03: As you're describing the experience, and and Mark, maybe you can talk about um, you know, kind of being there at the beginning, uh, and uh we talk about the uh invitation of Pope Francis to be part of this synod on synodality, and um it's been said, you know, the church has kind of always been synodal, and uh synodal basically means uh walking the journey together.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_03: But um one of the things that Pope Francis has emphasized is that um uh uh encounter listening and discerning.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, we walk that j journey together so often and maybe in a parish like St.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: Joe's with the people that we know.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_03: But when we go a little bit further on that journey outside of our comfort zone and make new relationships, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure there were some relationships that started when you when you when the first trip was first planning, and now now the relationship with the community is there, right?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe a little bit about how we encounter one another on the journey and and those the importance of those relationships.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_04: Well, as Lynn said, people know when we're there.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's partly because you also have some loud people from New Jersey, right?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_04: So it's talk funny.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, it's there's a there's a culture sort of shock there.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_04: I find myself every time, right, because we're in a hurry, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_04: New Yorkers, New Jersey, we got places to go, and I will be there in the Walmart and the and and the the cashier is checking out the person in front of me, and they are chatting.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_04: They are not checking out, and I'm about to stroke out.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_04: And I have to have I have to take this deep breath.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_04: I say this every year, all right?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_04: Let's just take a deep breath, say a little prayer, and realize that we are right.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_04: In a different place.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: We're in a different place.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_04: And there, there's the what you have are people in this area that's hilly, there's there are mountains, you really are in the mountains.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_04: You have people who have deep, deep roots there.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_04: Many of these families were there before the American Revolution.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_04: Long, long-standing roots.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_04: Uh a lot of the streets and you know, the hollers are named after family names, right?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it would be Sweeney Holler, like there'd be the Holler.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we would call it like uh hollow, but that would be pronounced it hollow there, right?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_04: So that the uh the space between kind of two hills.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of people build their homes along kind of the stream that that goes by there.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_04: So people have deep roots, they have a great love of the mountains, of mountain culture, of the music, of being out in nature, of hunting, right?
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of a lot of uh this is very different than New Jersey, but a lot of people uh uh uh uh kids learn to hunt and and fire a gun when they're four years old, five years old, very different, right?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_04: You know, from what we're used to, but a real sort of connection to to being out there and being in nature and fishing and and all those sorts of things.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_04: And those are things to to to to your point or the Holy Father's point about encounter, which is a real key thing for us to learn in this.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's this slowing down and realizing that the most important thing we may need to do is to sit here on the porch and chat.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: Listening with the grandmother.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_04: Because we're helping her bu build a room on the side of her house so she can take care of her grandkids because uh her her son is not in a position to be able to do that now for whatever reason, right?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_04: And so to hear those sorts of stories.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_04: Lynn talked about there's a the you know uh to to to be aware of the sort of humility that it takes to uh invite someone into your house when maybe your house is not entirely put together, right?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_04: I I uh uh to you know to and the grace of sort of being able to to ask for help at a time when things are not there.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_04: That for us is a really profoundly moving experience.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_04: And so you see this at the beginning of the week, as as Lynn will say, where it's a little awkward on Monday.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_04: And then by as the week goes on, you know the dog, you know the family stories, you know that and at the end of the week, there are a lot of tears.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_04: People are hugging, and and and there's and there's this sense of of of real connection.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_04: That it's not just, hey, here, take this.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_04: It's really about uh spending time and and recognizing uh uh the face of Christ in one another.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Ross Powell And I think that uh as the again the Holy Father talks about encounter, listening, and discerning, uh are there prayer times at the towards the end of the day?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: Or I know that's part of the experience, and I'm sure that helps the uh young people, especially and the chaperones probably to reflect on on what it is that they've been experiencing in the course of the day, is that right?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_04: Aaron Powell Yes, absolutely.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_07: Aaron Powell And even at lunchtime too, lunchtime we we circle around every lunchtime and uh usually like Father Vic in his homilies at Mass or Daily Masses, which was such an amazing part this year.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_07: We'll get into that in a second.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_07: And then Mark gives a reflection talk before we go off for the day.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_07: We all circle around and Mark just gives us kind of our theme for the day or something to think about.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_07: So at lunchtime on our sites, often with our families, we all gather, we all talk about it, we pray about it.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_07: Um, and it's really kind of after all of the sweat and hammering and digging, and then you focus again.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_07: This is why we're doing it.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_07: It was really hard this morning.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_07: It was really hot.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_07: Why are we doing this?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_07: This is why we're doing this, and then you go through the rest of the day.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_07: Um so it's it's it's all a part of very important part of what we do.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I I just want to say there is some hunting and fishing in in northern New Zealand.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's funny, I haven't run into that yet.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure it's there, but I've heard it somewhere.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: A little different in the Appalachia region.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna get Hannah in, is that right?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh to the Ross Peter.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So we have Hannah DeCruz, one of the youths who participated on the mission trip.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hannah has been uh you participated all four years, right?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you're just just graduated, you're on your way to college.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um how are you?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for coming on.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks for having me.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: So so tell us uh what why you decided to go on the trip and and what that trip has been like for you.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_05: So the first year I did like a mission trip was with the Menda mission.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_05: And I think like a highlight of that for me was that like we really built like a really strong community.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_05: So I think just working together and like like we all have like a mission that we're we know we're there to do something for someone else and like we really get to know each other because we're like united in that mission.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: And is it so it it builds bonds with your with your friends, with the the youth of in in the parish?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um what else can you tell us about um your first maybe your first impressions?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Do you remember that first trip when you went down?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: The vans rolling into Paintsville, Kentucky.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: What were you thinking?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_05: So I was really nervous going into it, but I think having like the other teens there, there's there's like a very welcoming atmosphere.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_05: And so like like right from the beginning, like I know like I walked into, we leave like really early in the morning, and like when I walked into the parking lot, there were already people there to say like hi, like this is our van, this is what we're doing.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_05: So it was it's like a very welcoming experience.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: And was this your second or third trip to Kentucky?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_05: So this year was my third trip.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_03: Your third.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_03: Uh third trip.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe you can talk a little bit about I presume you took on a maybe more of a leadership role and and and maybe Mark to talk about how maybe some of the young people that continue um uh gain skills as leaders, I'm sure, right?
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_03: As they um I'm sure it was different from the first time you went to being back this year now.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: Is it uh did you take on some extra responsibilities and maybe encourage some of the first timers who were a little nervous?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, definitely.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_03: Did you find you were able to do that?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, so we did a few meetings like before we went on the trip just to like plan like what activities we were doing.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_05: And as part of that, like we really wanted to like make sure like the newcomers felt welcome.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_05: So like that was a big part of especially the first day.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um we get together for like a barbecue after we arrived.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_05: And there's like games and things, and so just making sure everyone had something to do and someone to talk to was like one of the things that like the returning people did.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I guess you got to meet some of the young people down there as well, right?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: Not only the ones that you traveled with from St.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_03: Joe's, but some of the uh local uh young people as well.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_05: Aaron Ross Powell Um So some of the families did have kids on the site.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_03: Right, right.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_05: The families where I've been, we haven't really had like other kids.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_05: But I know one year a kid from another, I don't remember where he was from, but from another state came and worked with us.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_04: So very often we'll be on work sites where this year I was on one where there were four four kids running around all the time and you're trying to keep it.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: On the video I saw the little guy that was with the hammer and the bull of energy, right?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_04: Away from power tools and also to really spend time because this is a you know it's a big deal for them too to see a bunch of uh I remember being a little kid.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_04: If I saw a kid in high school, like they were I thought they were the coolest people in the world, right?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_04: So but uh to your point about about the leadership, uh we really do rely on our our returners uh to to set the tone and the culture for everything that we do.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: We have uh uh volunteers, I think, from about eight different schools, eight different high schools who have come on this trip.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_04: So we are always, you know, we're always very aware that there are people who may know a bunch of people and there are other people who may not know that many people.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_04: And so one of the things that we really try to cultivate in our uh in our interactions with one another and also you know in our prayer life is to be present.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_04: So if if these guys have heard me say anything one time, it's a million times, it's about being present, right?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_04: And and and that's really having our phones away and being there together, right, and and really uh uh spending time and doing things that, you know, uh uh tossing basketball around and uh uh playing games in in this gym that we have.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_04: We have a uh dodgeball tournament that we do, we go to a local high school, which is one of the highlights of the week for everyone.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_04: Even going to Dairy Queen after at the end of the workday, uh you know, we'll all we'll we'll we're coming at staggered times, but everyone's there together and everyone's saying, Oh, what'd you do today?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_04: What did you do?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_04: And chatting with people, it's it's a real sort of rediscovery of of that connection.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_04: And and I find, and and I don't know if Hannah can speak to this too, but there's so much so much of technology these days is very isolating.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_04: Uh right.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_04: It it it isolates us into kind of our own little world, even though it's supposed to connect us.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_04: And experiences like this, I think, are really they're profoundly important for helping us step.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_04: outside of ourselves connecting with people we haven't met, connecting with our peers, and and also being in a position then to really to pray deeply and to and to hear you know what the Lord is calling us to do.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_04: Is that fair?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_05: Is that uh Yeah definitely and I think also like because we're away from home and it's like like we have a time to just like be with each other especially like during both while we're working but also like when we come back at the end of the day.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_05: There's like a lot of time just to like spend time together and like really like get to know each other and like be ourselves with each other.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes uh symbols can help uh uh I thank you for the this was the bracelet for this year is right right Dominus est it is the Lord you want to say a word about that or the imp then I thank you for the uh gift I'll be glad to wear it uh uh what's what's the importance of the wristband?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_05: So we wear them like during the week and I think it helps a lot when you get on the worksite that like there there's a lot of hard work to do.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_05: But I think when you put on your work gloves and like you have the wristband above it kind of reminds you like why you're there and what you're doing.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: For the Lord, right?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: Right yeah and you've brought uh something else with you.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_05: So um can I say yeah sure so at the end of the week um last year I was with this woman who her husband used to be a wrestler.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_05: Oh and um yeah so he but he has Alzheimer's now.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_05: Oh wow and so she was taking care of him and her house was in really bad condition.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_05: So um like the floors in two rooms needed to be redone.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_05: So that was our project for the week.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_05: But we also like spent a lot of time with her.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_05: We got to know her um and at the end of the week like she was so grateful to us so she gave each of us a gift and so she gave us like a piece of coal from Appalachian to remember our trip by that'll help to remember huh?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah right and has meaning right from uh um though meeting new friends and uh re realizing the the journey that people walk on their lives right and in the lives of faith.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah yeah um and um maybe uh as you now have graduated from Villa Walsh I believe right and uh heading to Villanova University uh maybe some lessons that you learned that maybe you can bring to the classroom or might um have an impact on I don't know if you've decided what you're gonna study um but uh could you say there's some things um that the uh the interaction um there in Appalachia the work the what you learned um uh that's a classroom in itself as well right a kind of a classroom outside the classroom maybe some of the things that you've learned from the experience and how that might have impacted your studies or maybe will impact your studies in the future?
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_05: So I think like the idea of serving someone and like like what a difference you can make in someone's life really like had an impact on me.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_05: So I'm actually planning to um like study theology and biology.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_05: Great and hopefully theology and biology that's a great combo excellent and hopefully do like something pre-med so I can like keep serving.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_05: Great.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_05: So and I think like being part of this trip and seeing that like like the people the families we talk to and just like us being there with them but also like the things we do for them like it really makes a difference to them.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_05: Like I know last year the woman we were working with said like I'm gonna miss you guys next week.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_05: And like just to know that we like made a difference by being there for one week to spend time with her.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes when we see the conditions that other people live in we um are a little more grateful for what we have at home, right?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_05: So in her case like she was she had such a positive attitude but like when we went inside her house we saw it was like so different from what we're used to.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_05: And like in spite of that to see like the way she just was like so such a like I guess she just had like a relationship with God.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_04: She was like a very she was taking care of her husband and to see like how much we have we don't necessarily find happiness in material things right it's uh yeah well thank you Hannah um anything else Jay then yeah I guess just um maybe in terms of uh Mark if you could maybe talk about youth ministry a little bit um this seem this would strike me as maybe one of the one of the the bigger uh trips you on other mission trips um is is this kind of the one of the highlights of of the youth ministry at at the parish or um just in general anything you want to talk about with youth ministry um our goal why don't you yeah our goal our goal is uh to to really be a community of people who are witnessing to to the love of Jesus uh as we live it through his church and so our uh we have service opportunities all throughout the year a lot of them much more local throughout our diocese and so for our middle schoolers and for our high schoolers whether it's uh it's homeless outreach whether it's it's uh construction projects that are in our in our local community uh so we're we're we're always on the move with those sorts of things I think our our approach to this particular trip is really it's kind of for our middle to upper high school students really to to to take that that next step and with the idea uh that you know I uh you know going beyond that it will always be a part of of of what it is that they do.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_04: But um you know for sure we are uh we we gather regularly in prayer we gather regularly in community um we have a lot of teen dinners that we put together so we cook together and we eat together and we have reflections and we have a just a kind of a whole raft of sorts of things.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: But and sorry Mark you mentioned that the begin well about the mission trip that it kind of started from a parent uh reaching out to Monsignor Angianoli and the role of the pastor both in supporting a trip like this and in youth ministry in general I know Monsignor Angianoli um provides that leadership right and encouragement for for yourself and I'm sure the young people and uh uh and then maybe we can have Lynn on from uh back again uh because I just want to hear a word about uh the daily masses with Father Vic uh on the trip but maybe just a word about the importance of Monsignor and Ginoli role and and Father Vic and both on the trip and in and youth ministry in general in the parish.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely I mean you know the the reason that we have a youth ministry program here is of of Monsignor's leadership uh and his support for this this this big enterprise and his support too just to make it a part of the of the core of what we are called to be uh as Catholics right which is really to encounter Jesus in the in the sacraments uh in the Eucharist and then to bring that uh to bring that forward in everything that we do and so he's been hugely enthusiastic over over 15 years to to make everything that we we need to to be able to do to make it happen.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_04: And it's a it's a big operation but even supporting you know youth ministry in the parish is a big operation too and it's uh uh you know we are we're very much blessed by his sort of far-sighted view and also his encouragement of the involvement of all sorts of other people in this we talk about the trip is the whole parish right it's not just those right it's the whole parish you talk about 50 14 you have so many families that are involved in that behind them you talk about 25 adults there are families there behind them and there's a raft of people who volunteer for this and and for other sorts of things and so to really sort of set that out there as a goal of what we should be doing as a parish together in this particular way um you know it uh it it also helps us highlight all the other ways that that our that our parish you know that our parish is uh reaches out um Hannah we were talking before uh we started uh you've gotten to know a few priests over your years in the parish right um father now father Vic and um father Stephen right and a few others along the way yeah yeah um and uh you're gonna stay connected to St.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_07: Joseph's even though you're moving on to Villanova right at uh still be your parish right yeah well uh um we'll be interested to hear how you how you do God bless you and um your as you begin your college career and thank you for the service and leadership that you're giving and continue to give um uh theology and biology great combo for good study so let us know how it goes thanks Hannah thank you thanks Hannah Lynn you mentioned uh daily mass was part of the uh experience of the trip and having father Vic with you uh made that uh possible maybe so uh how was that uh an important part of the uh the whole experience yeah absolutely um so father Vic so this was actually my third year but it's actually was my first year having um a priest come the whole week and celebrate um early um morning mass with us just because of COVID and other things that were happening.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_07: So it was such a blessing to have him and it really I you know listen we have teenagers with us right and they did not hesitate to get up in the morning they came down in their pajamas with their glasses on no contacts you know everyone was a little disheveled but they came in you know and everyone gathered for morning mass and Father Vic really um brought everyone in to focus on Christ.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_07: Why are we here?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_07: We're here to do this mission we're here to carry the word of God out to the people here in Paintsville and um to do his will uh no matter how hard it's going to be, no matter how hot it's gonna be, we're here to do this.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_07: And and it totally focused us.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_07: Hannah made a point when we were driving over here about it just really brought the team together.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_07: Like right away in the morning we were shoulder to shoulder as a team heading out into our sites even though we separate out but we're still a team in spirit together no matter what site we were on.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_07: And um Father Vic would give us a message whatever that was that day and then Mark would carry it over into his talk and out we went.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_07: So it was a beautiful beautiful way to start every day.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things about daily mass is many Catholics who are practicing will we go every Sunday you know and hear the readings and sometimes get something out of it, sometimes not so much, depending on the homily and other things.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_03: But uh but the when we have the chance to go to daily mass it that closeness to God's word and especially I'm sure hearing the readings in the context of what you were doing, right?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_04: I'm sure Father Vic and and Mark you said you tried as well to you take something from the maybe that the that scripture in the mass that day and there's always something right that'll speak to us I think it was a profound experience with with uh it you know part of it is what we bring to the mass right so there are times when I I'm certainly guilty of just kind of going there and my I'm not plugged in and I'm not sort of thinking.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_04: This trip whether it was it was uh you know being jangled up uh being tired being working but especially through uh Father Vick's uh priestly ministry every day at Mass whether it was a word from uh scripture or something that he said in his homily or what he gave us as a question to think about was exactly what I needed to hear.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_04: I know the Spirit was so present and we were so much more open to it.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_04: It was like being on a retreat and and so that was it was a profound experience of of of the Eucharist in those days and I and I I that was just for me personally and I I suspect it was true for for everyone else and it kept us no matter what ups and downs we had throughout the week really kept us on on an even keel.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_04: So it was just a a beautiful uh a beautiful witness uh to uh you know father book is just a he's a joyful priest in everything that he does but just the importance of having uh having a priest and having mass be be at the center of everything that we do especially in service.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_07: And one of my favorite things too we we're we're I don't know how to say it but we're blessed spoiled to have we're St.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_07: Joseph is our um our patron saint of our church and he's a carpenter.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_07: So how appropriate is this mission trip as such a big part of our parish and one of the things and I'm sure Hannah can attest to this so Mark has we always say Saint Joseph pray for us.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_07: I loved hearing you say that when we did our prayer because it comes right out of my mouth now like at the end of every prayer I want to say Saint Joseph pray for us you know and that's how the teens are and so at the end of our mass and then at our and Mark when he concludes his speech um talk in the morning his reflection you know Saint Joseph pray for us and we say it three times and it's such a rallying call it it it it gives me butterflies every time I say it like I really feel like Saint Joseph is there with us with everything we do in this mission trip.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_07: And it's on on the inside of our bracelets, you know it just reminds us Saint Joseph pray for us and he's truly with us.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: So well thank you um for sharing and for your time and and for what you're doing at St.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_03: Joe's keep up the wonderful work and keep in touch you know let us uh uh know how things are going uh maybe one of these years I'll get down there for a visit uh to to to to see the work that that's done.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_04: But uh it's um you're always welcome get in the van.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go it's a great ride lots of weird we'll be in touch as we go along but have your blizzard ready for very quite okay gotcha right right well thank you both and thank you to Hannah and uh we uh may God bless you and and St.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_03: Joseph continue to intercede for you and all the work that you're doing at St.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_03: Joseph's in Mindham.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_07: Thanks for having us.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: And he and he will take you up on that offer I better we'll be doing a remote podcast for Kentucky.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Jay will figure out the technical too right Jay and I I just Bishop I wonder if you could reflect on on anything that they shared and and or on youth ministry or on mission trips.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_03: Well um yeah that um I know they happen throughout the diocese and uh we want to encourage them and there was just an article in the Beacon uh about another parish that did mission trips so we'll maybe share some of that good news.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_03: But um you know as we're um gathering today we just got um um information from Catholic charities about uh how to help um those in Maui um just by chance really um at the World Youth Day I accompanied the Bishop of Honolulu to a canochetical session um and uh spent some time with them Bishop Larry Silva uh and uh to he returned to the to the fires and um so um uh you know that who we are as people of faith and and how we have to be there for our brothers and sisters in need, whether it's those in Appalachia uh or those in other parts of the world and uh at the moment uh the people in in Hawaii so um we'll try to maybe uh share a link if um somebody's inspired to you know um share some generosity and support um um those and and there's gonna be a lot of rebuilding um and also in the midst of all that that human spirit that hannah spoke about that that spirit of faith as bad as things might get that that this is this is our land this is our home we'll figure it out God will help us and and so uh not only the the the maybe generous donations to help the people of Hawaii but but with our prayers to um to um ask the Lord to to heal them and and strengthen them and and help those who are going to help them and and please God um you know they'll be able to rebuild but certainly we we have them in our prayers at this time and and we'll see how we may be able to help them going forward.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely and I'd be remiss not to mention some of the other parishes that are doing conducting other trips down to the Appalachia area in Kentucky in West Virginia so St.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: Vincent dePaul Parish in the Sterling neighborhood of Longhill Township Notre Dame of Mount Carmel Carmel in the Cedar Knowles neighborhood of Hanover Township St.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: Vincent Martyr in Madison St.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Patrick's Chatham St.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: Peter's Parsipony Troy Hills St.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: Virgil's in Morris Plains and Assumption in Morristown who used to go uh pre-COVID and now they they go to Candon so shout out to all of them and if we're missing anyone my apologies.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let us know let us know share the good news we're we'll be happy to share it as we can.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely and we try to get that uh photos in the beacon whenever possible and I do rely on the parishes to send us those photos and write ups and Lynn I have to thank you for your write up uh I think it was last year did a great job with that so um bishop anything else uh before we wind on the thanks very much and uh and thank you Jay and let's uh uh pray that the summer goes as slowly as possible between now and Labor Day so we can enjoy as much summer as we can.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely and we pray for all those returning going to to uh to college like um uh like Hannah and and their parents and uh many blessings for them as they will start their college career.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well thank you for spending time with us join us again for the next episode of Beyond the Beacon.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_01: Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening give us a positive rating write a review and if you're watching this episode on Bishop Kevin Smee's YouTube channel be sure to like the episode follow the channel and ring the bell for notifications.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're watching on YouTube it's gonna be a special bonus b roll of uh video and photos from from the trip.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_01: Also don't forget to email questions and podcast topic ideas for the Bishop to beyond at be Patterson di Beyond at patterson diocese dot org.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to Beyond the Beacon.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you and God bless you