Latest / Arena Ablaze Podcast / Forged by Mary, The Making of a Christian Man | Father Bernie Georges

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Forged by Mary, The Making of a Christian Man | Father Bernie Georges · Arena Ablaze Podcast

0:02
Welcome into the arena.
0:04
This is the arena blaze podcast.
0:06
I'm your willing host Marco Sandoval I'm joined
0:09
as always by my fellow son of muck
0:11
Todd powers.
0:13
How are you doing today, Todd?
0:15
I guess we're gonna find out aren't we
0:16
I keep waiting for you to say Today
0:21
we're joined by Father Bernie Georges He's a
0:25
beloved priest of the Wichita Diocese and a
0:27
true man of action We'll be discussing the
0:30
importance of Mary to Christian masculinity But before
0:33
we get started if you find value in
0:35
this conversation, please like and subscribe to receive
0:38
alerts When we release new content, also, please
0:42
leave us comments and suggestions We appreciate any
0:45
feedback we can get to take the conversations
0:47
in a direction.
0:48
That is most beneficial Our true algorithm is
0:51
the Holy Spirit and let's begin by renewing
0:54
our total consecration to Jesus through Mary that
0:57
we may do everything with in through and
1:01
for Mary as her instrument so that she
1:04
can lead us to more perfectly do everything
1:06
with in through and for Jesus I Todd
1:10
powers all a repentant sinner Renew and ratify
1:14
today in your hands Oh immaculate mother the
1:19
vows of my baptism I renounce Satan and
1:23
resolve to follow Jesus Christ even more closely
1:27
than before Mary I give you my heart.
1:31
Please set it on fire with love for
1:33
Jesus Make it always attentive to his burning
1:37
thirst for love and for souls Keep my
1:40
heart in your most pure heart that I
1:43
may love Jesus and the members of his
1:45
body with your own perfect love Mary I
1:49
entrust myself totally to you my body and
1:53
soul my goods both interior and exterior And
1:58
even the value of all my good actions
2:00
Please make of me of all that I
2:03
am and have Whatever most pleases you Let
2:08
me be a fit instrument in your immaculate
2:11
and merciful hands for bringing the greatest possible
2:14
Glory to God if I fall please lead
2:18
me back to Jesus Wash me in the
2:21
blood and water the flow from his pierced
2:23
side and Help me never to lose my
2:26
trust in the fountain of love and mercy
2:29
with you Oh immaculate mother you who always
2:34
do the will of God I Unite myself
2:37
to the perfect Consecration of Jesus as he
2:40
offers himself in the spirit to the father
2:43
for the life of the world Amen, all
2:47
right.
2:47
We're with a father Bernie Georges father Bernie
2:50
was ordained a priest in 1995 He served
2:53
as pastor in Winfield Chinoot st.
2:56
Peter Schulte and is currently the pastor at
2:59
st.
2:59
Joe host He started totus to us while
3:03
still in the seminary in 2002 he helped
3:06
establish the Cairo house at Kansas State University
3:09
and Continues to assist the house monthly while
3:12
also saying mass at st.
3:14
Isidore's on the first Monday during the academic
3:17
year Hey father, Bernie.
3:19
How are you doing?
3:20
Margo?
3:20
How are you doing?
3:21
Ready to be here good Thank you in
3:23
the name of the Father the Son and
3:24
the Holy Spirit Come Holy Spirit come by
3:28
means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate
3:31
Heart of Mary your well-beloved spouse Amen
3:33
in the name of the Father and Son
3:35
and Holy Spirit.
3:36
Amen Thank you brother.
3:38
Well, we're gonna be talking about Christian masculinity
3:41
and the importance of Mary And I'm probably
3:44
gonna start here with just a little rant.
3:46
Hopefully I don't go too crazy But so
3:48
when we're looking at Christian masculinity or any
3:51
topic sometimes it's useful to look at the
3:53
negative of it the opposite side of it
3:55
to try and learn more about what Truth
3:58
is in what you're trying to study.
4:00
And so I don't know if you happen
4:02
to see yesterday or the last couple days
4:04
they had Dr. Fowchee or Fowchee or whatever
4:09
his name is.
4:10
Well, I'm gonna bleed the fifth he exactly
4:12
he came in front of Congress and just
4:15
I Just look at that and I just
4:18
see the exact opposite of what we're called
4:22
to be as Christian men, I think The
4:25
lies the lot there's so much lies so
4:28
much deceit dishonesty that permeates our society I'm
4:31
in that situation, you know, just a brief
4:33
story It's really weird when I go back
4:36
and put my mind in that time, but
4:37
I was actually working on a biodefense facility
4:41
in Manhattan, Kansas Didn't really know what it
4:44
was and I had a friend of mine.
4:47
Who's a doctor Send me a graph and
4:50
she was saying that this is it's a
4:51
dangerous thing here.
4:52
Look at this graph.
4:53
Well, I'm just an engineer I'm lowly little
4:55
engineer looking at a graph and and I
4:58
Could have got a better product out of
5:00
a kid with a big chief tablet and
5:01
a box of crayons It was when we
5:03
were trying to flatten the curve and I
5:05
looked at that graph and there was no
5:06
numbers on it There was no date time
5:09
stitching and I thought this is a lie
5:12
and I knew it from the beginning So
5:14
I think we're wired for that This is
5:18
the way I understand it.
5:20
Dr. Fauci.
5:21
It was Catholic or raised Catholic.
5:23
I didn't know and he's a He's a
5:25
fallen away Catholic.
5:26
And so, you know, I think it's a
5:29
Pope Leo from the past who said Those
5:34
who will attack the church are falling away
5:35
Catholics will attack the church though the most
5:38
difficult so anyway, I just I wanted to
5:40
put that out there as kind of the
5:41
negative archetype for Christian masculine, but we can
5:46
come up with all kinds of archetypes.
5:47
Yeah.
5:48
Yeah Yeah, and then just kind of pose
5:50
the question to you as somebody who I
5:53
see as an authentic Christian man How did
5:58
the Blessed Mother play?
6:00
A role in your formation as a man
6:02
from your young huge huge.
6:04
Yeah.
6:05
Well, first of all, you know, and let
6:07
me just say I I've never come up
6:11
with an original thought in my life.
6:12
I've stolen everything that I That I speak
6:18
to or what-have-you sometimes you go
6:21
back to the fathers of the church or
6:22
whatever, but everything I have I can't remember
6:25
where this comes from but I I Read
6:29
this this book.
6:30
I think it was on Christian warriors or
6:33
something like that But said a man has
6:35
to have three things a man has to
6:37
have three things to be a man He
6:39
has to have a battle to fight he
6:42
has to have an adventure to win or
6:46
to live an adventure to live and a
6:49
woman to win and And that's hit me
6:53
over the last couple decades, you know, so
6:56
who what is my battle?
6:58
What is my adventure and what is that
7:00
woman?
7:01
that I have a desire to win and
7:04
I Go back.
7:06
I go back even to my young teenage
7:08
years or whatever and that's really what what
7:11
I think was driving me so much is
7:13
This the face to battle to live the
7:15
adventure and who's that woman?
7:17
Well as I got older and older, especially
7:19
17 18 years old I had this introduction
7:23
to our Blessed Mother There there was a
7:27
there was a book it was called to
7:30
my beloved priest or something like that I
7:34
Called the Marian movement of priest and it
7:36
was it was that book that you began
7:38
to read and her messages to Father Gobi
7:41
that made this woman alive and I want
7:46
to say that in 1982 when I made
7:48
my first consecration Some of you listening out
7:52
there weren't born yet.
7:53
But anyway in 82 when I made that
7:55
consecration That's where my Love for the Blessed
8:02
Mother came about and that is also where
8:05
I found that that's the woman I'm gonna
8:09
die for that's the woman That I'm gonna
8:13
win Now again, I'd had no priesthood in
8:17
In my mind at that time.
8:19
I mean priesthood didn't come to me until
8:21
I don't know.
8:22
It's 22 or something like that 21 22,
8:25
but it was that was that was the
8:27
woman I wanted to win and Those other
8:31
women that I would date and what have
8:33
you they had to have that connection to
8:35
that woman.
8:36
I wanted to win and So I had
8:39
some very uncomfortable dates if you will with
8:42
Protestant women who didn't know that it didn't
8:44
know our Blessed mother and so it was
8:47
kind of like, okay, so I dated very
8:48
few they'd very few Protestants, but One thing
8:53
I did find is that in Dayton Catholic
8:58
women that's where you know You begin to
9:03
see that and then we would pray when
9:06
we go out And always the Hail Mary
9:09
at least the Hail Mary and of course,
9:10
my name is Bernard and so Bernard of
9:12
Clairvaux is Known for coming up with the
9:15
or legend has it comes up with a
9:17
memorare So I'd always throw that in there
9:19
too.
9:20
Yeah, and and what I found then is
9:22
that That's where the courage came to You
9:28
know your decades later.
9:29
I Remember reading that I think it was
9:31
Ignatius that said that you can't You can't
9:36
pray and sin at the same time you're
9:38
either going to keep praying or you're going
9:40
to keep sinning you can't do both At
9:43
least at the same time anyway, but anyway,
9:45
so I had to say that that is
9:47
where You look the lives of the Saints
9:50
and the Saints had this love for our
9:52
Blessed Mother and that is where that that
9:55
true masculinity came out to live and die
9:59
for Jesus Christ and Mary the first disciple
10:03
is the one and I have to say
10:06
that that That was the woman.
10:09
I was gonna that was the woman I
10:10
was going to win To the best of
10:13
my ability, but then at the same time,
10:16
what was my battle?
10:17
What was my adventure?
10:18
And I have I am such of a
10:21
such a certain personality that I always have
10:25
battles And I always have adventures I brush
10:29
my teeth with conflict every morning And that's
10:34
just the way and that's the way I
10:36
think God put me together unfortunately, but For
10:40
most days, but um, well, there's so much
10:42
there that I love well like the consecration
10:46
That's such a huge thing in my life.
10:48
I feel like my life Totally changed through
10:50
the consecration Let me put an image out
10:54
here for you that I think about see
10:56
what you think of it, but I think
10:57
often of Mary in terms of a forge
11:00
Okay fired by the Holy Spirit Like especially
11:05
in terms of her womb where her and
11:07
the Holy Spirit met to forge the ultimate
11:10
perfect man divinity and Manifested in Jesus Christ
11:16
And so when I think of myself often
11:18
I think man I want to enter the
11:22
Forge of Mary so that I can come
11:23
out the other side another Jesus Christ in
11:27
the world What do you think about that
11:29
image?
11:30
That's what I think true devotion to Mary
11:32
is.
11:32
Oh, I have to I have to Spend
11:35
some time with that but In order to
11:41
run the forge It has to be energy
11:44
oxygen has to be introduced to get higher
11:49
temperatures and then the coal can produce and
11:52
So that iron I think there's different types
11:55
of iron.
11:55
But anyway, usually it's 1200 some degrees iron
11:58
begins to melt and So the I'm getting
12:03
I'm just you just you caught me here
12:04
But anyway, this is beautiful So with the
12:06
with the breath of the Holy Spirit with
12:08
it with the movement of the Holy Spirit
12:10
It can enkindle that coal to burn beyond
12:14
that its capacity to burn beyond its potential
12:17
even to burn hotter than Even if left
12:21
alone it burns hotter Because of the power
12:24
of the Holy Spirit and is that Holy
12:27
Spirit then that takes a piece of steel?
12:31
With the flame and the heat divine love
12:35
and it begins to Permeate That still so
12:43
that the molecules in that still become excited
12:48
and They get excited and and they continually
12:54
because of that movement because of that separation
12:58
Moving from a state of solid to almost
13:01
a state of liquid right that molecules are
13:03
so alive Then and only then can they
13:08
be molded and then hammer and anvil are
13:12
introduced and Can shape that steel it can
13:19
move?
13:21
with blow after blow Shape it form it
13:26
and Give it an ability.
13:31
That's beyond the steel itself and so that
13:37
in the proper form after after Enough strikes
13:42
if you will and you get the preferred
13:44
shape and what have you of that steel
13:46
eventually it's going to be quenched and It's
13:52
going to set those molecules What we're talking
13:57
about is a long process.
13:59
Oh And a lot of heat have to
14:01
be willing.
14:02
Yeah to say yes to it But again
14:04
when those molecules are set that's called tempering.
14:09
I Didn't know he's gonna come with this
14:10
analogy.
14:11
This is very cool though.
14:12
So when you temper that steel it is
14:15
not gonna bend anymore It's gonna break Before
14:20
it bends all to be in to the
14:22
degree in which it is tempered And so
14:24
when I'm making a tool out in the
14:26
shop You know, there's some parts of it.
14:28
I temper some parts.
14:29
I don't temper.
14:30
I want it to bend.
14:31
I want it to give Certain aspects of
14:35
it.
14:35
I want it to be able to break
14:36
before it gives So it's stronger than any
14:40
other steel around So you get the right
14:43
alloys of steel and I don't you got
14:45
me going down into the weeds there brother
14:47
Anybody I loved I loved the to see
14:50
the Blessed Mother as that forge where the
14:53
Spirit breathes into us and brings us beyond
15:00
what we think our potential is and Takes
15:04
us of above and beyond that a supernatural
15:07
potential now is coming to be and so
15:12
and I believe that that's what Mary And
15:16
her mother's love wants for every single man
15:22
to become more than just a man and
15:29
That's what I think, you know when you
15:30
go to the catechism of the church and
15:32
it talks about baptism it it says that
15:35
we become a new creature and In becoming
15:40
a new creature we're no longer human being
15:43
We're a baptized human being And that is
15:47
where we move from a natural potential to
15:51
the supernatural potential and The Blessed Mother I
15:54
believe because her whole focused her whole goal
15:57
is to bring us closer and closer to
15:59
that heart of Jesus Christ Is that she
16:02
will she will direct us to?
16:05
continue to actualize that potential to the greatest
16:10
of our ability I Don't you know I
16:13
forget who told me this but years ago.
16:16
I was with this gentleman and and he
16:19
says You know he says If we're going
16:24
to ask ourself if the Holy Spirit is
16:26
involved in some of our activities He says
16:29
we have to analyze it such How much
16:33
energy are we putting in?
16:35
What are we doing?
16:37
to what degree and Then what are we
16:41
seeing?
16:42
That's occurring What is the ultimate effect and
16:47
He says that gap between here the supernatural
16:50
and the natural.
16:52
He said that gap is the Holy Spirit
16:55
And so that's what I see with this
16:58
image of the Forge this analogy of the
17:00
Forge where the coal is only so hot
17:04
But we're through the power of the spirit
17:07
That coal is going above and beyond what
17:11
it could do that it could liquefy steel
17:15
This is one of the things I love
17:17
about you so much as I was I
17:19
went back and I was telling Todd I
17:21
was watching some of the st.
17:23
Joseph consecration videos.
17:25
Oh my god.
17:25
Yeah all 33 days of st Joseph consecration
17:28
are out there, so please I'll put a
17:31
link in the notes for it But you're
17:33
you were just imagining st.
17:36
Joseph and all these different scenarios, and you're
17:38
just willing to imagine What it might be
17:41
like and maybe give some artistic license to
17:45
the imagine because that's that's the thing you
17:47
read scripture But then you apply it and
17:49
as men you imagine yourself in the story
17:53
Yeah, well, you know okay, and we lose
17:54
imagine and today was today's the feast of
17:57
st.
17:57
Ignatius He is Loyola okay, yeah Loyola and
18:03
he's the Founder if you will of psychology,
18:07
I would say that Maybe even modern psychology
18:11
because he was this he was the he
18:13
was the He was the he understood medicine
18:21
for the soul and Part of the medicine
18:27
of the soul He's a practitioner.
18:30
He's a physician and And so part of
18:33
the medicine of the soul is To use
18:36
not only intellect and free will But he
18:40
also challenges us to use our imagination and
18:44
so if I can use just a simple
18:47
simple example I was preaching on this this
18:49
morning, but To put yourself to put yourself
18:52
at the the great mystery of the nativity
18:55
the birth of Jesus, right?
18:58
to put yourself as a fly Or a
19:02
little bird.
19:04
I think he uses the example of a
19:05
mouse Often the corner at the in that
19:09
cave at the birth of Jesus and That
19:12
you become a third-person perspective in this
19:17
in this mystery the undergoing of this mystery
19:20
and so you use your imagination and With
19:26
that imagination you're using a little bit of
19:28
creative license You're you know Some would go
19:33
so far as to say that, you know,
19:35
you could even look upon this figure of
19:39
Joseph Mary, baby Or even the the Objects
19:45
within this cave to be able to smell
19:50
To be able to see the shadows To
19:53
be able to see the wrinkles in a
19:55
person's face You know you get deeper and
19:58
deeper in that imagination and I believe this
20:01
is where the beauty of Christian art comes
20:03
about I mean the the great Christian artists
20:06
are so steeped in Not only that spiritual
20:10
moment or that spiritual mystery But they use
20:15
their creativity their God-given gift of creativity
20:17
to be able to make that image come
20:20
alive That mystery come alive But I know
20:24
so when I when I'm meditating on the
20:26
mysteries of the Rosary for instance, you know
20:28
My mind goes back to all the different
20:30
Christian art that I've seen throughout my life,
20:33
you know and and so those images kind
20:37
of helped me on keep on track and
20:39
then and then when I bring myself into
20:41
actually that that that meditative moment Using my
20:48
mind using my imagination Entering into that meditation
20:51
it is there that's something a Wrinkle in
20:58
the wrinkles in Elizabeth's face As she's speaking
21:03
to Mary I guess you get caught in
21:07
that sometimes mm-hmm, I'm a little Those
21:11
are is I'm a nerd here.
21:13
Okay, so I'm a little bit of we
21:15
little crazy, but I can go down these
21:17
rabbit holes in my mind and All of
21:20
a sudden 10 or 15 minutes passes and
21:22
I don't even know it That's what freaks
21:25
me out.
21:26
Yeah, we're pretty devoted to the Holy Face
21:29
of Jesus around here We spent a lot
21:30
of time with Father Carney and one thing
21:32
I'll say about doing that devotion and you're
21:34
focusing on the five senses of Jesus and
21:38
so I find myself Reading scripture doing the
21:42
Rosary put myself in the mysteries and trying
21:45
to imagine What he heard what he saw
21:48
what he smelled what he tasted, you know
21:50
the sour wine in his mouth The blasphemies
21:53
that are being said about him behind his
21:55
back as he's in front of the Sanhedrin
21:57
all that kind of well I'll make I'll
21:59
make a public apology here Public confession.
22:02
I I don't know anything real.
22:04
I've heard of the devotion.
22:06
I don't know anything about it really people
22:10
By me saying this I'm gonna get bombarded
22:13
right because I said that one time I
22:15
think in a homily of that it really
22:16
meant no and people from all over they
22:18
just all this information They gave him to
22:20
me.
22:21
So father.
22:21
I'll be willing to take the second Saturday
22:23
of every month father Carney When we process
22:28
from Seneca Park, uh-huh down to Nafs
22:31
Kerr Park with a lit lantern and a
22:36
In the Holy Face and we pray in
22:39
Latin and it is a beautiful experience and
22:44
we Are trying to get more people Devoted
22:48
to this.
22:48
It's a processional.
22:49
It's in public and it's for the reparation
22:52
of Sin, and it's an amazing experience And
22:58
it's a every other Saturday the second Saturday
23:01
of every month.
23:03
So it'll be this coming Not not tomorrow,
23:06
but next the 8th.
23:08
Okay, they'll start at Seneca Park at 1015
23:10
They'll walk all the way down to Nafs
23:12
Kerr Park and then pray the rosary and
23:14
Latin in the park Coco, we would love
23:17
to have some of your pressures come out
23:19
and join us I think as a man,
23:21
we're typically a little outnumbered by the women
23:24
generally, I think is that right?
23:25
Yeah, but we want a lot of strong
23:27
man because we were setting our face into
23:29
the world It feels like a very masculine
23:31
activity because you sweat.
23:33
It's a pretty good protesters out there most
23:36
Number us.
23:37
Well the protesters No, we're everything.
23:40
Yeah, okay.
23:41
Well, that's the protesters.
23:42
Yeah Okay, it was Pride Month there there
23:46
was all that stuff down there and it's
23:48
are they still going no Okay, they're there
23:52
every time I've carried it Really?
23:54
I don't know if they're there every weekend.
23:56
Okay there every time we've carried it.
23:58
It's it's very special and Father Carney does
24:02
a wonderful job.
24:03
There's this This holy face That we it's
24:10
a secondhand relic it's been touched to the
24:12
actual veil of Veronica in Rome, okay Okay,
24:16
and we would love to have more more
24:21
support in in this capacity, I think a
24:25
long time ago when Christendom existed in and
24:27
in our Governance was really Catholicism by state
24:33
and country and it was imposed Cities Municipalities
24:38
and people and communities did things.
24:41
We did things publicly, right?
24:42
Right, right, and we don't do those anymore.
24:45
Father Carney talks about during World War two
24:48
this parish and had 30,000 people would
24:52
come to pray for Men fighting in World
24:55
War two and they'd bus them in they'd
24:57
bring them in.
24:57
It was all day.
24:59
There were so many people and You can't
25:02
get 25 people to come for this public
25:05
procession And so it's just a way for
25:09
us to try to to bring out into
25:12
the open our faith Right, right now in
25:16
a public in the public arena.
25:18
Mm-hmm.
25:18
Yeah.
25:19
Yeah, you know you mentioned You know the
25:21
boys in war there is a parish at
25:24
st.
25:24
Mark and they have our ladies grotto Mm
25:28
-hmm.
25:28
They're dedicated to the World War two Boys
25:33
and I've I don't know the whole story.
25:37
So I probably shouldn't have mentioned this but
25:38
anyway, but there was a group of the
25:40
gathered I think I don't know if it's
25:42
every day every night Once a week, I'm
25:45
not for sure There's a little story there
25:46
a little plaque But they prayed those boys
25:49
home and they never lost a single boy
25:50
and there's a 20 30 some men there.
25:53
I think you know But again, it's not
25:57
necessary that wasn't necessarily public I mean in
26:00
the public arena or the In the marketplace
26:03
going back to the to the Holy Spirit
26:05
I I Think a lot and I've talked
26:09
to Marco about this the burning bush and
26:11
I am who I am.
26:13
Yeah Yeah, I I am existence itself.
26:16
That's what that says to me.
26:17
I am life I am existence itself when
26:21
you ask living and living Yes, and when
26:23
you ask me and I could get emotional
26:25
about this real quick, but I am Todd
26:27
powers I don't separate body and soul from
26:31
who I am Which is part of the
26:34
fall of Adam because Adam coexisted with God
26:37
in Existence itself and then when at the
26:41
fall he became Adam his id his this
26:45
is only my this is only a man.
26:47
Okay thinking when I have First of all,
26:52
I had to go through my own Catastrophic
26:55
failures in my life to be open I
26:58
have a lot of instances in life and
27:00
the last one I was telling Marco was
27:02
at an airport and I sat next to
27:04
a woman and a crowded We're at the
27:07
gate it was crowded.
27:08
It was the only seat and I sat
27:09
down and within a Minute, she says to
27:14
me my husband died three months ago This
27:18
happens to me a lot Wow Wow Something
27:21
came over me.
27:22
I said all my stuff down I Turned
27:26
and I just started talking to her Yeah,
27:29
because I could feel I could feel the
27:32
Holy Spirit and I didn't know what I
27:34
was saying Yeah, and we talked for quite
27:37
a bit My wife was sitting over here
27:40
And then all of a sudden I got
27:43
up and I boarded the plane and I
27:46
was gone I don't remember the converse a
27:48
whole lot of the conversation that is my
27:54
Feeling where the id where the Todd powers
27:58
fades Okay, I got you.
28:00
I see which is yeah, and but I
28:02
have to be open because I'm all in
28:04
my mess I'm all in my stuff and
28:06
this will happen sometimes and I'll be like
28:09
what this person's talking to me Yeah, yeah,
28:13
and then something will tell me slow down
28:16
slow your brain down Listen listen listen, okay,
28:21
but okay As I hear you say that
28:25
it's kind of like you're getting replaced and
28:28
I'm gonna say no No, I would say
28:31
I'm saying that but it's a feeling the
28:33
full Todd body blood soul of Todd and
28:41
I will say also this other word divinity
28:44
of Todd Came together all at one moment
28:48
at that moment and the Holy Spirit used
28:51
this vessel as good-looking as you are
28:56
use this vessel and spoke to the woman
29:00
through you Through you.
29:03
I felt it.
29:04
Yeah, and you know you talked to a
29:06
lot of priests And they're in their airplane
29:10
experiences, it's always kind of a fun topic
29:14
to talk about you know some people were
29:18
Some priests will won't wear their collar because
29:21
of the priest experience as we get.
29:23
Yeah Get people up chucking their lives Inappropriately
29:27
and you know, especially when you're tired and
29:29
you just did a 17-hour flight.
29:31
Yes, and it's like, okay I have to
29:33
crash I got to go from you know
29:36
from Asia to LA and I just need
29:40
to sleep and you sit down Are you
29:44
a priest But anyway, but you I mean,
29:48
but what's amazing is that God uses All
29:53
of us who are baptized if we are
29:55
open to it.
29:56
Mm-hmm If we're open we could fight
29:59
it We you could have fought that moment
30:01
and just rolled your eyes and say I
30:02
could have pulled out my phone And I
30:04
don't want to hear this.
30:05
I don't have the bandwidth.
30:07
I'm gonna detach.
30:08
I'm gonna detach.
30:09
Yes This is not my property right there.
30:11
Yep.
30:11
Yeah, and we could do that and we're
30:13
still free to do that Mm-hmm, but
30:15
if you let your guard down You see
30:17
that's what I call the adventure.
30:20
Yes, that is there and back again my
30:22
Bilbo bag That is the adventure that you
30:29
God allows you to enter into another person's
30:33
life and That other it in you are
30:37
allowing another person into your life.
30:40
Mm-hmm You see I'm convinced that that's
30:43
the Holy Spirit thing.
30:44
Okay, so let's go back to you did
30:46
this much maybe and you saw this Much
30:48
result.
30:48
Yes, that's the Holy Spirit that gap It's
30:51
the Holy Spirit and I believe the Holy
30:52
Spirit is using every single one of us
30:55
man woman child using every single one of
30:58
us To do that if we'd be willing
31:01
if we but but Embraces Holy will and
31:05
I had to go through my own trials
31:06
You know when I was younger and I
31:08
would look down my nose at somebody who'd
31:10
been divorced I looked down my nose at
31:12
somebody that had a DUI.
31:14
I would look down my nose and guess
31:16
what happened Yeah, I got the you eyes.
31:20
I got divorced I Struck and all the
31:24
sudden I'm in the I'm in the room
31:25
with people in recovery and I'm in I'm
31:28
losing every friend of All the families I
31:31
had at st.
31:32
Jude because now I'm not like them.
31:34
Yeah, I'm divorced and I'm different until I
31:38
Realized that I was walking past people in
31:42
my life that were in utter catastrophic pain
31:46
that you couldn't see because I Experienced that
31:51
yeah, and then and when that happened it
31:54
really changed the way I look at my
31:55
fellows.
31:56
Yes Yeah, the human beings that I was
31:59
being Being with the thing is that they
32:02
never did change.
32:03
They were always there.
32:04
They were I couldn't see him to see
32:05
him Yeah, it was the seen world in
32:08
the unseen world.
32:09
Yeah, the Again, we're Ignatius of Leola today
32:14
He has a 30-day retreat And I
32:17
was received the great fortune before I was
32:19
ordained a deacon to go through that and
32:23
To my recollection it goes something like this.
32:26
You have the first there's four weeks to
32:28
it When I say week, I think some
32:32
are five day weeks and some are eight
32:34
day nine day weeks or whatever, but anyway,
32:36
so the week in my recollection the the
32:41
first week is Horrible because basically he gives
32:47
you the opportunity to see your sin and
32:50
you have to look at the mirror and
32:54
What we pretended to be All that pretense
32:59
the facade is all removed by the end
33:02
of that week you are a sinner and
33:06
You feel just draped in it.
33:09
It's it's you you are disgraced and Because
33:13
again he Edges us and he doesn't throw
33:17
us into the water he takes us slowly
33:20
into it and you begin to see how
33:23
deficient and selfish and Greedy and name it
33:28
name name the vices That's who we are
33:31
We need to know where all the bodies
33:33
are buried Well, you can't change and you
33:36
can't be impressed upon if you're not honest
33:39
where the bodies are buried Well, yeah, okay.
33:42
Okay, cool.
33:43
In other words what he does he reveals
33:45
the heart.
33:45
Mm-hmm He shines the Holy Spirit into
33:48
the deep deep recesses of our heart So
33:51
that we can see it not covered up
33:55
not pretending and then the next week It
34:00
is an amazing week because It it is
34:05
revealed to you How much God loves you
34:08
because you're so screwed up You're so selfish
34:12
you're so because of not in spite of
34:14
well and because we are sinners and So
34:19
Ignatius again using imagination using You creativity?
34:26
He asked you to enter into the scenes
34:29
of the Annunciation the visitation the nativity and
34:32
the presentation of Jesus And because God so
34:35
loves you Not so God so loves the
34:38
world Yeah, he does but he so loves
34:41
you that he did this for you and
34:46
He comes into the world and he brings
34:48
about this moment of salvation for us So
34:53
in this US you establish your identity I
34:58
Am a sinner and I need to be
35:01
saved You fly your standard and you've now
35:05
decided where you're marching into battle Almost You're
35:11
not there yet.
35:12
Not not the March yet.
35:13
He just wants your identity He's gonna unfold
35:16
for you a mission later.
35:17
That's the that's the marching and So the
35:20
third week I we call hell week.
35:22
Mm-hmm, and that's where and I think
35:24
it's the longest week, of course It's horrible.
35:27
But anyway, it's where we where we see.
35:29
Okay.
35:29
God so loves us.
35:30
Yes.
35:30
Yes He sends us on into the world.
35:32
But then all of a sudden now, here's
35:34
what he's gonna suffer And so if I
35:37
could just use the analogy of the sorrowful
35:39
mysteries, you know So you go deep deep
35:43
deep deep into the agony in the garden
35:46
Deep into a scourging crowning mockery ridicule.
35:49
Okay, you get that heavy cross and I
35:52
don't know for two or three days You're
35:53
carrying that cross with the Lord and then
35:56
finally I think two or three days you
35:58
are at that crucifixion as well And he
36:02
asked you to enter into those mysteries and
36:07
you are So not you're not crushed anymore
36:12
The first week you're crushed the second week
36:15
you experience God's love The third week you
36:21
are in tears because Someone loved us so
36:29
much That he was willing to do this
36:32
for us Because again, his whole focus is
36:38
just to know the The sacrifice of Jesus
36:44
Christ, I remember very clearly during that retreat
36:48
How the mass all of a sudden exploded
36:50
for me?
36:51
I was about to be ordained a deacon
36:53
when I went through this in 94 And
36:56
all is that Matt is like, oh my
36:57
gosh, I'm at the foot of the cross.
36:59
This is like whoa, right?
37:01
The last week is the glory week, of
37:03
course, so I'll use the analogy of the
37:04
glorious mysteries, right so That is where and
37:08
so we end and it concludes with the
37:10
Acts of the Apostles.
37:12
There's the mission.
37:12
Okay, so I don't know if you Are
37:16
you military you were military?
37:17
No, no, my brothers came home as Marines
37:19
and They talk about boot camp and they
37:23
said the first thing they do is they
37:25
strip you down to nothing and then they
37:28
build a Marine Right, of course, you know,
37:31
but and that's like I think what Ignatius
37:33
did Ignatius stripped us down to the bare
37:40
Humanity infused humanity with the Holy Spirit and
37:45
then he builds up this tremendous man of
37:51
Valor and I said, you know and that's
37:54
and if I recall right again, this is
37:56
all to my recollection But, you know that
37:58
is where in that last week is that
38:02
you are willing to say, you know God
38:04
I Know my identity now and now I
38:10
also understand my mission and another number one
38:15
mission for each one of us for every
38:17
one of us is always going to be
38:19
to do God's most holy divine will and
38:24
And I think what what assisted me with
38:26
with that is that I get out of
38:29
the way Short story long.
38:32
Can I use that phrase?
38:35
It was the 17th of March in 1984
38:38
st.
38:38
Patrick's Day That I had this Notion during
38:44
this retreat during hell week that I Am
38:50
such a sinner There is no way I'm
38:55
going to afflict this guy me Upon the
39:01
bride I love and that bride is the
39:04
church I'm a month and a half two
39:07
months away from my deaconate and I said
39:10
there is no way I'm going to harm
39:13
my love You know, it's one thing, you
39:17
know, I'll go back to the old catechism
39:19
the old Baltimore catechism Where it says, you
39:23
know, why did God make you God made
39:25
me to know him love him serve him
39:26
so I could be happy The more I
39:29
began to know about the faith know about
39:31
the church know about my relationship with God
39:34
The more I began to fall in love
39:35
with the faith fall in love with the
39:37
church fall in love with God And then
39:40
and love is an action.
39:41
Therefore it causes you to take action to
39:45
serve my faith to serve my church to
39:48
serve my God and That is and that
39:52
was in my 20s, you know and What
39:57
I found during this retreat because I had
40:00
my identity staring right at me You know
40:06
sinner but saved I Said I'm such a
40:11
sinner.
40:11
I don't want to inflict that on the
40:13
church So the 18th I informed my Spiritual
40:18
director that was a Thursday.
40:20
I think if I recall I informed my
40:24
spiritual director that I'm not going on I'm
40:29
not going to go on to be a
40:30
ordained a deacon and My spiritual director was
40:36
Friar Tuck of the Franciscans, I mean he
40:38
was huge guy Friar Tuck Father Lawrence Landini
40:43
rest his soul.
40:44
But anyway He says to me so boldly
40:47
he says who said it's up to you
40:50
Who said it's your decision?
40:53
And I said, well whose decision is he
40:55
goes maybe the church wants you to be
40:56
a priest Maybe you need to ask her
41:00
I said, well, what what do you mean?
41:01
How do I ask?
41:04
He goes you've for the last three years
41:06
you've had professors and you know priests religious
41:09
or whatever all they're working with you in
41:11
the Classes and otherwise, you know, he says
41:14
ask them So I concluded.
41:19
Oh, anyway, so let me stop there.
41:20
So I said, you know me.
41:21
It's not my decision.
41:23
So at that moment at all that evening,
41:26
I Remember this huge weight lifted from my
41:32
shoulders Because I didn't have to make the
41:35
decision the church my beloved My woman my
41:40
bride is gonna tell me So the next
41:46
day and again This was in Ohio Columbus,
41:48
Ohio and my experience of Columbus, Ohio for
41:51
four years was that it was always overcast
41:53
is always dreary It was always horrible weather.
41:57
But anyway That aside the next morning on
42:02
the 19th of March.
42:04
I Woke up and the Sun was shining
42:07
The birds were chirping The bugs were flying
42:11
around and the ducks were on the pond
42:12
doing their thing, you know what they do
42:14
in the spring but anyway, they were doing
42:15
their thing and I was just like this
42:18
is a whole new life I live it
42:21
again And that's how I'm entering into the
42:25
the week of glory.
42:26
Mm-hmm the fourth week.
42:27
Okay now that being said I Got out
42:32
of the fourth week and went back to
42:36
Grad school and I asked all the professors
42:40
What do you think I should do?
42:42
What do you think I should do?
42:45
What do you think I should do?
42:46
Do you think I should be a deacon?
42:47
Should I be a priest, you know?
42:50
And they kind of you know to one
42:52
degree or another hemmed hawed and they finally
42:54
said well, yeah.
42:55
Yeah, we think so on the I Don't
43:03
know maybe a week out took me a
43:05
while just to visit with all the different
43:07
professors.
43:09
I Met with my PFP.
43:11
What do you got personal formation director?
43:16
and That priest said to me he says,
43:19
you know Bernie said I've been here 17
43:20
years and at this time of year We're
43:24
always the faculty always votes on Every deacon
43:29
every fourth-year men Whether or not to
43:34
be a deacon or not so that he
43:35
could advise so they advised the rector so
43:37
the rector can advise the bishop And I
43:42
said, yeah, so and he says I've been
43:44
there 17 years and we've never had a
43:47
unanimous vote on any man Except for mr.
43:52
George's until this week.
43:54
Yeah And I was the one mm-hmm
43:58
and I don't know what the heck I
44:00
mean because I'm so flawed so goofed whatever
44:03
anyway, but and I have all these idiosyncrasies,
44:07
but That was my yes And I never
44:11
looked back since Put my hand to the
44:15
plow and didn't look back, you know, and
44:18
so that would then as I You know,
44:23
you flip reflect back over that last what
44:25
30 40 or 30 years or so That
44:28
was my identity That was revealed to me.
44:31
Mm-hmm sinner, but saved and my mission
44:37
That we leave the cynical we leave the
44:40
upper room Filled with the power of the
44:43
Spirit and we preached Jesus Christ crucified 3
44:48
,000 were converted that day 5,000 the
44:51
next day or whatever the acts of the
44:53
Apostles, you know that becomes the mission That
44:56
we do whatever we are called to do
44:58
God's most holy will that he provides the
45:01
mission and then finally What is their destination?
45:04
our destination Is this every unity with Christ?
45:12
So I would say Todd All your life
45:17
You've had the intuition To be able to
45:20
read to fill God's holy will when you
45:25
sit next to a person Some things had
45:31
to be stripped away.
45:32
Mm-hmm so that you might be able
45:34
to actualize the true potential I've run in
45:38
more and more people Because I'm the probably
45:40
the most sensitive person that no just kidding
45:43
the opposite I am the most insensitive person
45:46
that you were getting because I'm so wrapped
45:48
up in my own head all the time
45:50
and my own self, but I've met people
45:55
that are so intuitive Discernment like a gift.
46:01
Yeah So intuitive and it's just like wow
46:06
if I only had a thimble full of
46:11
their intuition of their empathy a Thimble full
46:17
Their great connection in there and again when
46:20
I say intuition I'm talking about being able
46:22
to read the room to read another person's
46:25
heart, you know No, so I get I
46:29
get yeah I love that roadmap that you
46:31
laid out because I feel like there's a
46:34
lot of men sir I mean the church
46:36
numbers are coming up people are coming to
46:38
the Catholic Church There's a lot of people
46:40
searching for meaning in their life And I
46:42
just think that that process of being stripped
46:45
and I look back in my generation We
46:48
have so many attachments and from such a
46:50
young age Like we've just got led down
46:53
a path to all of this stuff that
46:55
just sucks all of our energy away makes
46:58
it difficult for us to ever get to
47:00
the point of actually Having a relationship with
47:04
Christ with the Holy Spirit being fertile ground
47:08
Fertile ground to bear fruit.
47:10
Mm-hmm a fertile ground it has been
47:14
my understanding that that is created through pain
47:18
through suffering and that that suffering tills that
47:22
ground and Suffering without reason is just suffering
47:27
and until I learned to pick up my
47:29
costs and carry it with a joyful heart
47:31
Yeah, and that that's the joyful heart part.
47:34
What's humility?
47:35
I always think of in terms like the
47:37
base root of humility is basically soil humus
47:40
humus more humility you have a closer to
47:44
the earth you have to me I always
47:45
think of that seeds You know seeds of
47:49
the Eucharist coming unto you on the fertile
47:52
ground and right?
47:54
Well, you know, okay.
47:55
So in the Gospel of Matthew, I don't
47:57
forget what chapter we've been reading to this
47:59
Like three or four times during these last
48:02
three weeks we get this over in the
48:03
seed and then we get it again and
48:05
then we get it again and then we
48:06
get to Separate it.
48:07
Then we have the weeds and the rocks
48:09
in it.
48:09
Okay There was amazing reflection the other day
48:15
about on this feast st.
48:18
Martha It used to be this feast of
48:20
st.
48:21
Martha.
48:21
Now that it's the feast of Martha Mary
48:23
and Lazarus and before I go further, it's
48:29
Bernadette of Clairvaux, did I mention the greatest
48:33
doctor and the father of the church anyway,
48:34
I love it But the Bernadette of Clairvaux
48:44
Said you know, it was at the end
48:46
of the 12th century He said a lot
48:48
of people talk about there are the Martha's
48:50
in the world and there's the Mary's of
48:52
the world You know, he says no, no,
48:54
no, no The Martha and the Mary is
48:57
in each one of us So it's not
49:00
just the active folks.
49:01
It's not just the folks and the nuns
49:03
and the Religious in the monastery or the
49:06
or the convent Every single one of us
49:10
has the Martha and the Mary and we
49:11
have to find a balance.
49:13
I Read in the in the reflection the
49:15
other day and the office of readings that
49:18
he also mentions Lazarus and that Lazarus represents
49:27
Penance Lazarus Represents the man going to his
49:32
death Rappers Lazarus represents humility Stripping himself of
49:39
this world and going to the grave where
49:43
Christ would eventually come and say rise again
49:49
and again, I It just it's it's just
49:53
awesome.
49:54
It's just that there has to there is
49:56
the rebirth in human So I guess I
49:58
ask your listeners to you know just to
50:00
imagine we have the Martha at the Mary
50:02
and the Lazarus that we are called to
50:04
bring into our own souls to bring into
50:06
our own lives and their experience Struggling for
50:12
the balance between the Martha and Mary the
50:14
work and the prayer But then also the
50:17
necessity of the Lazarus that our pride Our
50:27
Agenda our attachments.
50:30
They're all stripped from us And as there
50:35
I think we can be untied Now we
50:40
remember the first steps out of the grave
50:41
Jesus says untie him And I think and
50:47
it's all that those three and it just
50:50
just kind of came upon me here Just
50:51
the other day on the feast of Martha
50:53
or Martha Mary Lazarus that that is our
50:56
soul That is who we are that's part
51:00
of our identity and Jesus says be untied
51:07
So that you could be that man that
51:09
we're called called to be and again I
51:12
Bishop Gerber one time.
51:14
He said to me he said that I
51:16
think I talked to him about I Was
51:20
talking about just the balance in life and
51:22
stuff like that or what I mean and
51:24
he made some sort of Comment I used
51:27
an analogy, but he says the furthest we
51:29
can ever travel travel in life Is from
51:34
the head to the heart and from the
51:37
heart to the head That's the greatest distance
51:40
that we will ever travel So what I
51:45
mean, but so that I think you know,
51:47
I talk about, you know, the battle to
51:48
fight the adventure to live and the woman
51:51
to win that I believe is It's in
51:56
our own soul The battle the adventure and
52:01
the woman And I believe more and more
52:06
For me that woman has been married that
52:08
woman has been The bride the church And
52:14
that's just who we are So as we
52:17
understand greater and greater our identity Mary teaches
52:21
us as she looks always to the Christ.
52:24
She teaches.
52:26
This is our destiny So we have our
52:29
identity our mission and our destiny our destination
52:35
and our mission is always about Keeping our
52:39
true north to our destination.
52:42
It was Jesus Christ Bravo awesome.
52:47
Yeah Like I said, I wish I could
52:49
have said that's all from myself, but I
52:51
know I stole it from something By the
52:54
greatest thing.
52:55
What do you what do you think has
52:56
been?
52:58
From a physical material world standpoint your most
53:01
vivid adventure that you've experienced Let me see
53:09
if I understood your question, what is my
53:11
greatest adventure?
53:13
Yes, I've ever Just mentioned traveling back from
53:15
Asia to LA.
53:17
So there's got to be is there been
53:19
what you're curious about Medjugorje?
53:22
Because I know you went there as three
53:24
times.
53:24
Yeah.
53:25
Yeah, and I always think of Mary in
53:27
terms of Mary in the Bible Mary in
53:29
the apparitions and then Mary in your personal
53:32
experience with her.
53:33
Yeah Where do I begin You have a
53:43
different aura about you than most priests you
53:46
seem to have a fulfilled some people call
53:49
it aura People have other words to explain.
53:55
Mm-hmm.
53:55
Yeah.
53:56
Oh I feel that you have a full
53:59
life.
54:00
Oh bursting at the seams.
54:02
Yeah.
54:02
Yeah, you know What somebody said, how do
54:08
you do today better than I deserve right
54:11
that's Dave Ramsey.
54:12
Mm-hmm.
54:13
I Say that that is so true.
54:15
I say there's still time to make the
54:17
evening news Okay short story
54:27
long I Went on this retreat.
54:30
I had it had a day off work.
54:33
Oh two and a half years maybe two
54:35
and a half three years and My brother
54:39
took some time off I think it was
54:41
towards the winter of January maybe and He
54:46
took some days off which was we just
54:48
didn't do that and They convinced me.
54:51
Hey, I have to go do this and
54:52
go on this retreat Back then they called
54:55
it soldier.
54:56
They called it search So anyway, so I
55:01
scheduled my retreat in April and Took some
55:08
time off.
55:08
Well again, I'm used to working.
55:10
I don't know 80 90 hours 100 hours
55:12
a week and All of a sudden I
55:16
go on this retreat Friday Saturday Sunday retreat
55:20
and of course, I couldn't sleep because I
55:22
never did I'm always used to that, you
55:24
know, so I'm pacing the halls of the
55:29
retreat center there or the school.
55:30
We went to st.
55:31
Teresa's and Hutch and Sat down and listened
55:36
to these different talks and we shared a
55:39
little bit about the talks and Every on
55:43
our table we you know we all wrote
55:45
down a few reflection there on the talk
55:48
that was given and I would write my
55:50
little piece and Of course up, you know,
55:53
I went to high school.
55:54
No, no college.
55:56
I'm sitting around with all these college boys
55:59
But anyway at the end of the little
56:02
session we all read each other's little Reflection
56:07
and they all chose mine For the first
56:11
talk for the second talk third talk fourth
56:13
on all the talks They all chose mine
56:18
to be read And I thought this was
56:22
kind of weird but Again, it was a
56:25
move.
56:26
It was a movement within my art And
56:29
then this gentleman stood up and talked about
56:31
Mary Now again, we're going back to the
56:36
Early early 80s early 80s and he basically
56:40
gave this little presentation about Mary and that
56:45
But the Hail Mary and the Rosary that
56:47
was all old-fashioned We need to get
56:52
You know, he's talking about prayer and he
56:53
talked about the Hail Mary talked about the
56:55
Rosary That was really kind of unfit prayer
56:58
We have to get more It'd be more
57:01
spontaneous Drop the Rosary and stuff like that
57:05
and I became more and more in livid
57:12
Frustrated I don't angry might be too strong
57:14
of a word, but I was just frustrated
57:17
and Finally everybody and I couldn't write a
57:20
thing couldn't write a thing And so somebody
57:21
on my table and everybody basically confirmed everything
57:24
that he said that the Hail Mary our
57:26
father the Rosary is all old-fashioned And
57:30
then you get beyond that and I let
57:35
everybody speak and The leader said, okay well
57:39
the next thing we're going to do and
57:40
I raised my hand stood up and I
57:42
said I'd like to say a few words
57:43
and for 15-20 minutes I Spoke of
57:48
the power of our Blessed Mother.
57:50
I spoke to the power of the Rosary.
57:53
I spoke to the power of Consecration to
57:57
our Blessed Mother and The mysteries especially of
58:03
the gospel which at that time we called
58:05
the mysteries of the Rosary, right?
58:07
The whole room was silent.
58:10
I Didn't realize it at the time that
58:11
there was this lady in the back of
58:14
the room One of the adults on the
58:17
one that older adults with this group or
58:20
whatever she was in tears and so, okay,
58:24
so they went to the next thing whatever
58:26
that thing was and This lady caught me
58:32
as I was the last one in the
58:33
room kind of still shaking because I you
58:36
know had this confrontation if you will and
58:39
She goes you need to read about this
58:41
and she gave me a little pamphlet on
58:43
the Medjugorje Says would you be interested in
58:48
going she says because of your powerful witness
58:52
to the Rosary So I went the first
58:56
time in the fall of Good golly 86
59:03
The fall of 86 I think it was
59:07
And so that was April.
59:08
This is the fall of 86 October of
59:10
86.
59:10
I went to Medjugorje and Witnessed Witnessed so
59:18
many miracles like he's it was just like
59:20
a Miracle would not surprise you.
59:26
I Mean it was it was just it
59:28
was dumbfounding.
59:29
It was just like things would happen.
59:31
You would see things experience Things you would
59:35
you would listen to another person's testimony and
59:38
at first I spent ten days there at
59:41
first It was like whoa and then by
59:45
the day three day five day seven it's
59:47
like yeah That's cool, but I'm not surprised.
59:52
Mm-hmm, you know And so with that
59:56
with that experience and all the countless countless
1:00:00
things that I witnessed there It was just
1:00:03
it was just yeah set free set totally
1:00:07
free and Reconfirmed confirmed so this is 86
1:00:10
four years after my first consecration and Reconfirm
1:00:15
my consecration and my devotion to our Blessed
1:00:20
Mother and so I Back home it used
1:00:25
to be the practice that The Knights of
1:00:29
Columbus and my little parish clawing male st.
1:00:31
John's Would say the Rosary before all the
1:00:35
masses during October into May Right.
1:00:38
That was the thing right?
1:00:39
I was a knight.
1:00:40
Okay, I took my turn say leading the
1:00:43
Rosary before mass So I went back to
1:00:45
the pastor after I came home from Medjugorje
1:00:47
and I said, you know what father that
1:00:48
there is No reason why we can't do
1:00:50
this year round We can't do this year
1:00:52
round And he says cool cool.
1:00:56
Okay.
1:00:56
Yeah, I'll do it or whatever.
1:00:57
We can start in January and I said
1:00:58
cool and He says but he says I
1:01:01
want you know More than just the Knights
1:01:04
of Columbus I went the whole parish right
1:01:06
and he says so we had three masses
1:01:08
every weekend There's five weekends And three of
1:01:12
the months or whatever and he says then
1:01:14
I want ten substitutes.
1:01:15
Well do the math I need 25 people
1:01:17
more to perish of 120 families.
1:01:19
Mm-hmm father I said there is no
1:01:21
way and Then this priest father Charlie Steinwall
1:01:27
He must have known me And he just
1:01:31
looked at me shrugged his shoulders and said
1:01:33
well if you can't do it if you
1:01:35
can't do it you get 25 People he
1:01:37
said yes, we just won't do it And
1:01:40
oh tell me I can't do something.
1:01:44
Oh Mother all right so I Started calling
1:01:49
people put a schedule together.
1:01:51
This is way before cell phones, right?
1:01:52
Didn't have cell phones didn't I put all
1:01:54
this stuff together and I started making phone
1:01:56
calls and everybody said well, yeah Yeah, we
1:01:58
could do that.
1:01:58
We could do that.
1:01:59
I'll take you know, the second mass on
1:02:01
the second weekend on the every month You
1:02:03
know or whatever.
1:02:03
Okay, and It all started coming together come
1:02:06
together come together.
1:02:07
And so I told myself I wanted to
1:02:09
complete this before our lady of Guadalupe at
1:02:13
the 12th of December and Then I made
1:02:16
the fatal mistake of telling Mary That if
1:02:24
I could pull this off I'll go seminary.
1:02:28
Oh Boy Exactly.
1:02:30
What was I thinking?
1:02:32
And here you are.
1:02:34
So here it is the 12th and again
1:02:35
keep in mind.
1:02:36
There's no cell phone So the way we
1:02:37
had to communicate was after work I had
1:02:40
only a short window after work that people
1:02:42
other people would be home.
1:02:44
I Don't know we may or may not
1:02:47
have had What do you call it voicemail
1:02:50
or those recordings?
1:02:51
Mm-hmm.
1:02:52
I don't think we did.
1:02:53
I don't think we had that So you
1:02:55
kind of had to catch somebody and then
1:02:56
leave the message with the wife to the
1:02:58
husband a husband to the wife or whatever
1:02:59
Okay, so it was just a few minutes
1:03:02
a window every evening trying to pull this
1:03:05
together Anyway, so I pulled it off long
1:03:07
story short pulled it off And then after
1:03:10
that I went to the priest and asked
1:03:12
to go to seminary.
1:03:16
I Said what's it take?
1:03:17
What's it take?
1:03:20
Right.
1:03:20
Ah, so anyway, so that was the beginning
1:03:22
of my adventure Very nice.
1:03:25
That's the beginning.
1:03:25
So I guess to answer your question brother
1:03:29
that Began to open the doors To so
1:03:36
many, you know, once I began that process
1:03:39
open their doors to so many Avenues in
1:03:45
my life.
1:03:46
Mm-hmm and With cat porn on the
1:03:49
threads and so with that decision The first
1:03:53
or second Monday of January of 87 I
1:03:57
had a meeting with the vocation director Okay,
1:04:00
it happened that quick Yeah And so from
1:04:04
this from December 12th or 15th or whatever
1:04:06
when I kind of made that told that
1:04:08
with a father I said, okay.
1:04:10
No, what's the process?
1:04:12
What do I got to do?
1:04:13
And he says well, okay, you're gonna need
1:04:15
this that and the other anyway, so you
1:04:16
got to meet with Father Jim Billinger.
1:04:19
Yeah, he was the vocation director.
1:04:21
He was a blessed sacrament.
1:04:22
Oh amazing.
1:04:23
Yeah, amazing guy amazing guy Well, I don't
1:04:24
think we can top that.
1:04:26
Oh, what time is it?
1:04:27
You're gonna have to come back.
1:04:28
Oh my goodness It's gorgeous scratches surface.
1:04:30
I got so much more to talk to
1:04:32
you.
1:04:32
Thank you for blessing us with your time.
1:04:34
Yeah Well, yeah, I love talking.
1:04:37
Okay good.
1:04:38
I love talking.
1:04:39
I'll keep you on speed dial All right
1:04:43
Go ahead Well, I'll just just simply how
1:04:48
about a blessing please the Lord be with
1:04:50
you and with your spirit May Almighty God
1:04:52
bless you all the Father the Son and
1:04:54
the Holy Spirit.
1:04:55
Amen Go brothers