Episode Summary
What happens when a Dominican is invited to preach at a Franciscan feast?
In this episode of Poco a Poco, the friars welcome Fr. Jonah Teller, OP, a Dominican priest who preached at their celebration of the feast of St. Francis. It starts out light, with plenty of laughs, including a viral video from Washington Square Park and a few jokes about priests being “public utilities” whenever a camera is around.
Then they ask Fr. Jonah about his parish, St. Joseph’s in Greenwich Village, where more young adults have been coming to the Church. He says there was never a five-year plan. It grew from Eucharistic adoration, serious liturgies, lots of confession, and trying to be normal and welcoming to whoever God sends. He emphasizes that priestly ministry is not measured simply by visible success, but by faithfulness.
The friars also talk about the tradition of Dominicans preaching at the feast of St. Francis, and Franciscans preaching at the feast of St. Dominic. Fr. Jonah shares why he said yes right away, how a week of preparing a homily can feel like fear, prayer, and then real joy in the pulpit, and why he thinks of preaching as jazz.
Then they look at the homily itself. Fr. Jonah focused on seeing the light of God in Francis, like light passing through a raindrop to make a rainbow. He presents Francis’s poverty and openness to God as allowing him to reflect God’s light.
Fr. Jonah then points from Francis to Jesus, whose self-giving reaches its fullness in the Eucharist. The friars share what stayed with them, including the idea that Francis was not afraid, even of death.
The episode ends with a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins and a closing prayer. Fr. Jonah’s concluding image is that every saint is Jesus shining His light through a real person.
Pull up a chair and join the friars as two religious families honor each other and point to Jesus.
Episode Transcript
[00:00 –> 00:20] If I’m like me here, I wanted to pause for just a moment and thank all of you, who helped make the Poco Poco podcast possible through listening through your prayers, through sharing it, through spreading the word, and in particular, this moment, through your generosity. Every episode we share is the fruit of many generous hearts and hands.
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[00:44 –> 00:51] Poco. Our poco bombs are. You got so much pedigree. Nothing. You know that we are. We make our way.
[00:51 –> 01:17] I am fellow Mark, me and Father Petey. Hey, everybody. Father Anderson here. Hey, everyone following us. And we are joined by the father, Joe and, teller. I don’t know of another one. What’s up, guys? Our biggest yet of all time for this year. I want to tell here on the podcast, we’ve had another Dominican on here, too.
[01:17 –> 01:34] I forgot we won’t name him for the third time. Oh, yeah. Let’s go, let’s go. You know, it’s the first time I’ve ever been placed over him in anything. And so we like you. We like you a lot. Well, we’re not going to put. We’re not going to put guys against each other. Oh yes okay. Fair enough. I thought we would we would never do that.
[01:34 –> 01:54] But that has been recorded live there. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Now we know, for you, I got a question for you. What’s up? What are you doing walking around looking so majestic. You got an aisle? Majestic. That my guy Ono, Ono and Lou. Yeah. Do you guys know about this video out there? Yeah, I think someone.
[01:54 –> 02:16] So it’s for it’s, you know, because it’s New York, it’s for an adult audience. There’s some other words that the recorder is using, but he kind of comes pretty aggressively to you at first while you’re walking. That’s Columbus Circles. That was called no, no it’s Washington Square Park. So park my bad. Yeah I, I go for a daily walk in Washington Square and there is this one day it was like, you know, a summer day.
[02:16 –> 02:35] So it’s packed. I just tons of people and I just, I hear, like, what the f you doing? And I turn to look, this is like, six foot six, like burly dude walking towards me with this other guy right next to him. They’re kind of like walking up there, all sort of amped up. And I’m like, oh, what do you mean?
[02:36 –> 03:00] Yeah. It’s like white walking around looking so majestic. And I was like, all right, that’s. I’m a Catholic priest. I know, that’s cool. So we chatted for like, 30s, and I didn’t think much of it because that’s kind of par for the course if you’re a friar walking around Washington Square. But it was a little weird because of how quick he pivoted from being, like, aggressive and confrontational to, like, really chummy.
[03:00 –> 03:26] And it was maybe a couple weeks later, this everybody started texting me this Instagram clip of that interaction, because what I didn’t know is that he was wearing those metal glasses, like the Ray-Bans that can record and stream, and what he does is he he’s like a TikToker that goes around and he does like rage baiting or joy baiting is what he calls like, kind of like just coming on really aggressive and mean and then turn it into some kind of compliment to see how people react.
[03:26 –> 03:46] So, so the whole thing was recorded on like glasses. It was like so I didn’t know I was being recorded the whole time. Oh that’s interesting. Yeah that shows up I love New York. Yeah I’ve seen him like a few times subsequently. So. Okay. Yeah. Are you guys like cool. It’s all the out of, out of it’s all, it’s all love.
[03:46 –> 04:02] It’s only. Yeah. We don’t have to get into it. But there’s also, there’s, something I like went I don’t know, like 5 million people saw it on Twitter. And it’s a picture of a cat of a. It’s a focused chap on a sleep on a plane. It’s about like an interaction with them. But it was a picture of him asleep and then they posted it.
[04:02 –> 04:21] And it’s like millions and millions of people, we might use it as like a formation because, you see, some some people are like, what are you doing? Taking a picture of a stranger asleep and other people are like, it’s a priest. He’s public. He, like, belongs to everybody. So, yeah. Like, I mean, we kind of our public utilities are like this walking around.
[04:21 –> 04:53] Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah. There might be some. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, Father Jonah in the, I just want to congratulate you on your the growing in your, success in the popularity contest that it’s obviously going on with the Saint Joseph Province. You know, the mannequins. Yeah, certainly some of the, you know, the God’s winning guys maybe got, like, a job, but you’ve, you’ve you’ve really been able to, like, come on strong with the brother.
[04:53 –> 05:12] You know, your brother component with the hillbilly Thomas. And now you know, you can’t read a Catholic, you know, an article about the Catholic Church without reading about Saint Joseph’s and Father Jonah Tyler. So just we just wanted to bring you wanted to continue. Great. Congratulate you for your success and hopefully, you know, throw a little bit behind it.
[05:12 –> 05:31] This is like how people talk to me sometimes and it’s it’s awkward. But yes, usually I’m kind of squirming right now but you know. But it’s been let’s go. Okay. Let’s talk about my success. Fine. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. You know to this earlier, this is like, why you became a priest, right? You know, just 100%. Yeah. I mean, well, my the goal of my priesthood is to become more famous.
[05:31 –> 05:51] And Father Patrick, Mary Briscoe. So that’s like, a clear goal is to just eclipse him and have him forgotten by the world. That’s that’s tough. Because now, like, he used to be in charge of, like, a, a whole, like, media outlet, and now he’s in the in charge of like your communications. Is that true? Yes. He is literally in charge of the communications of the entire Order of Preachers, of which I’m a member.
[05:51 –> 06:10] So, you know, but hey, look, this is a year of comebacks. The Knicks were down every single game and they came back. And that is a divinely appointed moment. So I may be behind by about 50 points on father PNB, but you know, hey, all it takes is a slide of the hand tipped the ball in and were good.
[06:10 –> 06:28] There were two hands tipping that ball in right there. Yeah it’s a great yeah I’ll just say he hasn’t been on our podcast you know so he probably. Yeah that’s great. So you’re probably I mean I can imagine what this is going to do for your knowledge though. Well, this is this is a real thing. Real. Yeah.
[06:28 –> 06:48] But you know, you know, in all seriousness, there is, there is this kind of a beautiful trend happening out there. And, you know, I don’t want to belittle it by using the word trend, but there’s just like at this movement of grace, we can call it, right? There’s like this sort of new harvest and that’s, that’s happening of just a lot of people sort of showing a renewed interest in the church to the point of like wanting to join the church.
[06:48 –> 07:10] And one of the, you know, the focuses of this certainly has been like the parish where you work. I think you’re parochial vicar. And and now pastor. And so, I don’t know, like, what’s your I know, I know we don’t have like a whole episode to talk about and you have a lot of nuance. Things probably say what’s your kind of understanding of like what’s happening?
[07:10 –> 07:36] I think that the pastor before me, father born of us indoors, built an adoration chapel and natural consequences of that follow. I mean, honestly, that’s like I think that’s at the heart of it is that, yeah, Jesus wants people to come to him and in his own mysterious time, in a mysterious way. He’s he seems to be drawing people to himself in a really strong way.
[07:36 –> 08:02] But yeah, I think that’s at the heart of it is the Eucharistic love of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit on a natural level. Outside of that, I think that at Saint Joe’s, there was always just this. At least it started very small, this group of normal friends who loved going to church and loved each other and wanted to talk about God and spend time using the church as like a hub for their for their life.
[08:02 –> 08:22] And it just grew naturally. In no way, at no point ever did the priest at Saint Joseph sit down and say, our five year plan is to become a young adult parish. That was never talked about. It was it was never even, like explicitly desired or like that. We were just like this is great. Look at these people.
[08:22 –> 08:44] Let’s try to be, I think, try to be normal, try to promote normalcy and have serious liturgies here. A ton of confession, do Eucharistic adoration and then just catch whoever God throws at you too, because, you know, it’s also part of this is where we are. We’re in a really cool part of Manhattan. We’re in Greenwich Village, just is cool.
[08:44 –> 09:00] And we have a great subway stop. Right. I went West Fourth Station right next to us. There’s a lot of other kind of random things that are happening, but, you know, man, it’s just, I don’t know, it’s a delight. It’s great to be around it, but it’s part of it. It’s just like, I don’t know, this is just happening.
[09:00 –> 09:20] It’s snowballing. Yeah. Father. I’m really. I mean, I’m just. Yeah. I love hanging out, Dominicans. I yeah, just you guys. It doesn’t surprise me, right? Because the fruit that’s for with again, you have the Eucharist in humanity, right? Like I love how you’re holding both of these together. Your humanity, the brothers humanity is going to be attractive, right?
[09:20 –> 09:39] There’s no five year plan, but it’s living the gospel. Right. And so I love yeah, I guess I love just the fact that it’s, it’s, I was going to say the recipes really Franciscan actually. But this is in compliment to you. If I could come, let me just. Yeah, exactly. I was like, oh, I want to hear this.
[09:39 –> 09:58] Love it. Because, yeah, I’m. No, but it’s it’s not like Saint Fortuna of the cow parts, but it’s not this grand plan, but it’s it’s men living the gospel. It’s, it’s it’s young people living the gospel. And it’s life that evangelize is it’s life in love with Jesus. It’s like close to the Eucharist. And I love like the normalcy.
[09:58 –> 10:22] Right? It just bears fruit that this is the gospel is for everyone and the gospel brings life and enjoy. So I just love I love the fact that it’s it’s not about a plan, but it’s about like humanity fully alive. Yeah. You’re just following Jesus wherever he goes and you’re trying to live your normal lives. Yeah. And there’s a poet I see all and says, you shall love your crooked neighbor with all your crooked heart.
[10:22 –> 10:41] And that’s what we’re doing. We’re just kind of like trying to love each other with our crooked hearts, following the Sacred Heart. And he’s in charge of the success that he just is. Like, this could all go away tomorrow, or we could all get martyred tomorrow, which would be pretty gnarly, you know? Like, you just we just don’t know what’s going to happen.
[10:41 –> 11:02] We don’t. And so we can’t you can’t get complacent. You can’t become super self-congratulatory or also start to think that this equals being a good priest. I think that’s like a constant you have to remind us of, like just because, like, I have 199 people. It’s such a freaking humble brag. I’m so sorry. Like, I have 199 people in okay.
[11:02 –> 11:24] Right now. Like, you know, but that doesn’t that in a certain way that just doesn’t matter, because there are way holier priests and parishes and people are probably just like, there’s missionaries out there where, you know, they’re just surviving. So I don’t know, Mother Teresa said, we’re not called to be successful, that faithful. So that’s the bumper sticker.
[11:24 –> 11:50] Yeah, yeah. Amen to that. And I think, you know, what’s funny is I, I heard, I guess, like, I came across the articles somewhere and they were, you know, they’re highlighting it’s Saint Joseph’s right. Saint Joseph’s parish and you know, a lot of the people who are, you know, on the, the thumbnail or the kind of the lead picture of the, the, the articles, things like that were parishioners particular kind of like young adult parishioners.
[11:50 –> 12:06] And so that was kind of happening for a minute. And then I at some point down the road, I like, looked into it further and saw that it was a Dominican parish. And, you know, there’s probably a picture of you sitting on that sort of the front steps on the side there welcoming people and yeah, looking majestic.
[12:06 –> 12:36] And you do? Yeah. And then and then like as soon as I saw, I’m like, oh, of course, like like a Dominican parish, like, oh, that makes all the sense in the world. And I think this kind of goes back to this idea that like the, the recipe in a certain sense isn’t complicated. Right? It’s like you try and live the gospel and you try and preach the gospel, and you bring people to the sacraments and you proclaim the truth and love and, and the fruitfulness of it just kind of like follows from that.
[12:37 –> 12:55] Yes. Yeah. To try to treat God like he’s real, try to take the liturgy seriously, but not fussy, treat preach the truth with tones of love and just try to be normal and I. But when I say that, what I mean by that, I mean like really actually try to see the person in front of you and mold yourself to them.
[12:55 –> 13:13] That doesn’t mean that you become like somebody who just, is a yes man to whatever moral question they have. But you do try to say like, all right, you are who you are, you are where you are. And my job is to be there with you, wanting you to move closer to Jesus. But I can’t just stand on the high and yell at you.
[13:13 –> 13:33] I have to be. I have to try to be normal. Which we saw, you know, modeled in your video. We can, we hope that you know that’s, that’s the talk is the great teacher of normalcy for. So that’s what I heard. That’s where. Yeah. That’s what Father Innocent has been saying that all the time. I yeah.
[13:33 –> 13:50] But so do you know these guys on here? I mean, I know I saw you guys, like, yesterday or. Yeah, we met a couple days ago. Like. Yeah, your faces are familiar. I’ve seen you guys, like, around, but I don’t know if we’ve hung out much, which, you know, it’s great to hang out with. Enough. Yes. So.
[13:50 –> 14:09] So, Father Pierre, you saw is he’s the servant of. We call them like, you know, we talk about. Yeah. You guys got priors prior? Yeah. So he’s he’s a he’s a servant in, in the Bronx, early the angels. And he’s on our general counsel, and he’s our director of teepee formation for Angel idea. Wow. Yeah. It’s off.
[14:09 –> 14:33] Man. I would have been so much more respectful. Straighten up please. Yeah. I mean, we’re practicing our meeting you with normalcy, you know? Thank you. Yeah, but Father Angels is the servant at, Saint Joseph’s Friary, and he’s our postulant director. Cool. And then Father Innocent is. He was. And him and Father Angelus are triplets. If you were to have two or triplets.
[14:33 –> 14:50] Do you see that? Yeah, I’m the third. Yeah. And the third? You’re get. I love this audio too. It’s it really comes across in the audio. Yeah. It’s funny though because a lot of people because they kind of have twin voices too. And so there is the especially like a new listener who doesn’t know that they’re different people.
[14:50 –> 15:14] And he’s like, really confused at how innocent Angeles he’s like got weird hyphenated. Yeah. Oh yeah. That guy talks a lot. He just kind of seems to respond to himself. It’s the same question. Their response? Yeah. Oh, and then Father Innocent, was the servant and pastoral director for a long time, and now he’s up in our house of prayer, and he is also on the council, and he’s in charge of ongoing formation.
[15:14 –> 15:41] I say that because father innocence, our little he’s like our our little hermit, you know. Okay, so so he’s really I’m like a little hermit. He’s really he’s really our our big pop culture guy. Oh, yes, I know exactly. Yeah. Sometimes you’re on the pulse. Yeah, yeah. Oh well well sometimes do I will I, I’ll just take ownership but I will do a bit where I do some pop culture things to see how if other innocent knows any of it.
[15:41 –> 15:58] We did Savannah Bananas a couple months ago, which I did. What that was not. Oh that’s a nice safe one too. That’s cool. Yeah yeah yeah. We we to get old man just to realize like people will say words and you, you truly don’t even know what the word means. You know, insert like 15 minute old man rant of like.
[15:58 –> 16:24] That’s right. Here’s another word. It it’s just yeah, it’s great to know that you’re no longer the target demographic for stuff. Yeah. I’m just passing us by. That’s right. I, I’ve heard this word. Pick me. And, those are two words I. Thank you. Okay? Okay. Yeah, well, those who are Dominican American, but, you know, you’re not even the Franciscans should be able to know those first few stories.
[16:25 –> 16:46] Yeah, well, I’m working on it, you know, vocal poco, you know? Yes. That’s it. But I still don’t really know just to say I’ve heard it, and I’ve seen it use. And I can’t wrap my head around it. Yeah. So not that that’s what we came here to talk about. Well, by the end of the pod, we’ll definitely like, come up with the definition for me.
[16:46 –> 17:08] Yeah. I think Father Angelus, excuse me. Is, might be able to pick me. Okay. That’s a joke. It’s not a nice thing. Oh, well, if it’s a nice thing, it’s. It’s not a joke. If it’s if it’s not a joke, you know, it’s it’s still yet to be determined. Exactly. Yeah. We were talking about this. How much do you know about.
[17:08 –> 17:29] So there’s this tradition of Dominicans preaching at a Franciscan like celebration for Saint Francis. Honestly, Saint Francis, and vice versa. Franciscan preaching at Dominican Saint Dominic, because we refer to Saint Dominic as Holy Father Dominic and Dominicans refer to Saint Francis, Holy Father Francis. How much do you know about that tradition? And I know that is a thing.
[17:29 –> 17:47] Yeah, I know where I have. I have no idea where to. I just know that it’s like, you know, you show up as a student for the House studies and they’re like, there will be a Franciscan preaching to that. All right. Cool. I like traditions. I don’t know where it comes from. Do you guys? Okay, so this might not be factual, but I’ll say it like it is factual.
[17:47 –> 18:10] Yes. I think at some point in time, right there was, wasn’t there like a house close to Portugal? Or there’s an exchange of, of fish or something like back in Francis’s time and eventually it came into like preaching and honoring each other. Like the exchange of fish. Yeah, dude. When we do our joint podcast together, we’re going to call it an exchange of fish.
[18:10 –> 18:31] Exactly. Yeah. Just handing a salmon back and forth. Yeah, I’ll look more into that while we get going. Yeah. You talked. You said you think that has the Americans the fish thing? You mean the Benedictine thing, bro? The Benedictine thing? Yeah. Oh, see, I just I just know something, bro. You and you together. Dang it. I mean, the Benedictines are there.
[18:31 –> 18:50] The. Oh, is. I mean, when, you know, we’re celebrating around 800 years, both of our orders. But when we were founded, they were 800 years old, which is just how easy it’s crazy, you know? Yeah, I think because I think they like, Well, we had no way to know where to lay our head. I think they took us in.
[18:50 –> 19:11] I think you’re right. That’s. They’re good at that. Yeah. So and then we give like, we usually give them fish. Yeah. There you go. So it all conflicts for me. And then we preached and then the Dominican started. And then the demon. Right. This. That’s beautiful. Oh, yeah. Chester. Yeah. Okay. One last. Oh go ahead, I started I don’t know if this is true or not, so thank you.
[19:11 –> 19:46] Yeah, I helped me discover the truth in that, most beautiful book is working together. So we really. We’re good at working together as Franciscans. Yeah. Speaking of working together and staying together as one, what’s the deal with why there’s only there’s not all these break offs of Dominican orders and there’s countless numbers for us. Well, in Washington, DC, at our House of studies, we have a beautiful chapel which survived, Vatican two spirit movement, you know, church destruction stuff.
[19:46 –> 20:09] And you’d like to think that it’s because we had a whole bunch of holy Dominicans who were like, you must not touch our chapel. But I think the reality is we had a whole bunch of guys like Abby. Too much work to actually, like, change it. So there’s a certain type of, like, just entrenched, nonpolitical conservatism of like, we just don’t want to do the work to split off and, like, do our own thing.
[20:09 –> 20:28] That’s the dumb reason. But I think part of, like, we have this ingrained like, we’ll just keep do it. We’re going to stay in our lane even if we don’t always like our lane. And I think in some ways, too, I was seen by this because I got to preach for y’all on Sunday, on the feast of Holy Father Francis.
[20:28 –> 20:49] That you all have, the person of Francis kind of very vibrantly present to you, like in his writings and writing and just in his life, you actually have writings of him. We’ve Saint Dominic, we have like two letters, and one of them is kind of like a form letter. And I mean his person, like we have biographies of him written by contemporaries.
[20:49 –> 21:24] And so his person is very important to us. But, it’s more like he founded there’s like the system, the structure of the order and the life of it. Plus then you get Aquinas coming so soon after they sort of put you in this big system and that maybe, I mean, this is me sort of a Psychoanalyzing Franciscans, but that if you’re trying to, like, decide like, who is Francis and what does it mean to follow Francis that might admit of, like, more divergent opinions than just like this is Dominican life that we kind of have some control over it and we it shifts with us.
[21:24 –> 21:51] I don’t know. Yeah, that makes sense to me. And certainly, you know that like there is we understand that there’s kind of a particular kind of unique role Francis plays. It’s maybe different than the way other orders like approach their founder. Yeah. Can I kick it around to the, the, the CFR guys here real quick? If you have you guys ever done have you repeated Dominican celebration and how would like if you got to see Father Jonah in like a month sent you an email?
[21:51 –> 22:09] Okay. Can you come preach at Saint Dominic? Right. How would you guys. What would you guys. How would you internally feel about that? Would you say, go for it? I got an invitation I turned down, so I would, but I was kind of come on. Oh, because I was out of the country or something like that. It wasn’t because, you know, summed up at Saint Dominic.
[22:09 –> 22:24] But I would feel honored, like, in a sense, like, yeah, this is, it’s a thing. It was just actually been around since the 13th century and 14th century. I looked it up as far as preaching, preaching for us and Dominic. Yeah, but I would feel honored if you asking how I feel. But would you do it?
[22:24 –> 22:52] Yeah, 100%. Okay, why wouldn’t I? I mean, yeah, anyway, it’s it’s what I would if I personally I pray for me, think about it, bring it to my spiritual back there and then do it. Seriously. I just got to be honest. We’re we’re all about being honest on this show. I’d be super humbled and honored, obviously, but I have, like, insecure stuff going on, so I, I would just be quick to feel like that.
[22:52 –> 23:11] I, I would struggle. Yeah. I don’t know. I just would be nervous. Probably insecure. I just probably I would probably go and just try to love the brothers. That’s what I feel like. That’s what I got going for me. I don’t have a lot of intellectual kind of stuff, but I would just go and try to love the Blood Brothers, Kurds and and bless them.
[23:11 –> 23:30] But I feel like let my lack of confidence and insecurity there it is. I’m just I probably wouldn’t do it because of a Dominican I know who just said to stay in your own lane, so it’s just totally not my lane. It’s totally not something that that I would feel comfortable doing or, to follow. Know you’re such a good preacher, paternally blessing the guys, enjoying the guys.
[23:30 –> 23:53] That’s one thing, but I just think we have a lot of good preachers you could like. It’s a game you have to step up into, like to come ready to play, to preach to Dominicans. Anyway, that’s just me being honest. That’s what you said. Enjoying staying in my own lane. I would, I would if there were any options other than me, I would, I would not, I would have the I would go that way.
[23:53 –> 24:11] Hey. Accordingly, Pete doesn’t mind at all. Just take it. Just jump in there, bro. Although he’s the only one to actually have been asked. And you know, we’ll never get asked. I’ll never get asked. It’s fine. I don’t, you know, but like, they’re they’re asking us and they don’t expect us to show up as like a Dominican. No, I mean like, no, they know full well who they’re asking.
[24:11 –> 24:27] So Franciscan father, no, we’re going to show up as ourselves and try to do our best to honor Holy Father Dominic. So, I mean, yes, yes, things we’re. Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I, I was I was terrified when y’all asked me. Oh, now that we’re getting to the good stuff, I was like, yeah, I mean, so father Mark, Mary shot me an email and invited me to preach.
[24:27 –> 24:46] And, I mean, there is definitely a Dominican instinct. Like, yeah, of course the answer is always yes. If you’re if you’re being asked to preach like that is they actually tell you this. Like in seminary. We were chatting at lunch once and a professor was like, boys, he didn’t say boys, but you know, boys, if if you’re ever celebrating a mass and the priest turns you and he says, father, would you like to preach?
[24:47 –> 25:07] Always just say yes. Just accept the invitation. So there’s this kind of, I think, ingrained instinct of like, yeah, if you’re asked to preach like, that’s your job, get ready to go preach, then, job and I was I was so honored because, like, I just love y’all. I love the cars. I love the Franciscans. And that was so exciting.
[25:07 –> 25:26] It was also terrifying because, like, man, the first I was like, I don’t know anything about Saint Francis, even though, like, I do know some things. Like he’s like, oh no, I have to talk to people like, you really know him now. And I got to so I, I asked Father Marc Maron to like, send me just like, links to, like, stuff that he that I should know about from Franciscan stuff.
[25:26 –> 25:48] So he sent me this, like, awesome YouTube, channel about Father Benedict Rochelle. That’s, like, really good kind of I. But, you know, it just seemed like really, you know, he said this, you said this thing like that, you’re trying to take this down, so don’t watch this. But he said, this is really helpful stuff. So I started up and then I also had no idea that it was like all y’all, you were going to be there.
[25:48 –> 26:06] I thought he was just sort of like this community of friars. We’re kind of our small thing. And I show up and it’s like literally every CFR, you know, within driving distance. It seems like they showed up. Yeah. Yeah. So. Oh, that part was a total surprise. Yeah, that part was a total surprise. Yeah. Without a would you have done it.
[26:06 –> 26:27] Yes. Okay. Oh hundred percent. Good for you. Yeah. What’s behind what’s like what’s what’s the deeper thing behind. Always say yes and we’re the order of preachers. That’s what you’re okay. That’s that’s what you do. What we are supposed to do. And I think there really is a grace of Saint Dominic and the grace of the order that you experience.
[26:27 –> 26:51] For me, the experience of preaching is like Monday morning. You know, it’s like, get look at the readings, experience terror and self-doubt. Tuesday, look at the readings, experience terror and self-doubt and frantic ness. Wednesday, look at the readings. Repeat all of the above. Start looking at commentaries and reading homilies and thinking about notes and just trying to find images.
[26:51 –> 27:15] Thursday and Friday and Saturdays I kind of like the same. And then you just like, pray a lot on Saturday and then during Mass on Sunday, it’s like terror, terror, terror, territory, territories, step into the pulpit, proclaim the gospel, joy, enthusiasm. Like in just this sort of, yeah, just a real delight in the moment of preaching that, at least that, you know, it might be different.
[27:15 –> 27:37] You know, it might it might be different for other friars, because Dominicans are all different. But for me it is there’s this like real kind of vulnerability and fear every time. And then when you step into it, though, you just have a certain lightness and a confidence of it. And it does get better with time. But yeah, I think I’ve, I think of preaching like jazz.
[27:37 –> 28:02] It’s it’s not preaching is not classical music. It’s jazz that you don’t put every note, every word together and then just execute that. But you have your chords. You know, how the melody roughly goes, but then there’s going to be this moment between you and the people, your brothers and sisters who are in the room with you, and you have to be present to that moment and just start playing jazz.
[28:03 –> 28:24] Yeah, that’s why I like that. I like I like to ask, I don’t know anything about jazz. So. Okay, I didn’t know that. I didn’t know about like the give and take part of it, but that that totally makes yeah. Jazz. Like the structure of how jazz will often go is you’ll have like, let’s say you’ve got a piano trio like piano, upright bass and drums.
[28:24 –> 28:48] The piano, like you’ll give the melody. You’re kind of rough generally, give a pretty straight take on the melody all the way through the piece, and then they’ll start handing it back and forth and then just kind of really start, improvising on it and departing from it and interacting with the original melody and really interesting ways and giving everybody a turn to take solos.
[28:49 –> 29:09] I’ve gotten really into jazz because, well, I’m like, I live near a lot of really, really, really good jazz clubs. And because the general manager of a couple of those clubs got baptized at my church that this last Easter. So I’ve gotten to, like, hear some really, really good jazz lately. That’s awesome. So I think this podcast is a jazz podcast.
[29:09 –> 29:28] Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That’s kind of that’s kind of how we approach. Yeah. How we approach this. Yeah. You try to constrict us classically, but then we break out of the confines of the notes that you plot on the, the give and take the dance beautiful. And then there’s just moment of magic, you know, then there’s this moment we all feel, the audience feels.
[29:28 –> 29:50] That’s what the angel says. Audio cuts out okay, story of my life. Story of my life. I had what were we talking about? We were. We were talking about getting the privilege for you guys. Get invited to preach somewhere in the congregation. Yeah, I, Frances, and one other thing. Before he redeemed rainbows in his preaching. That was interesting.
[29:50 –> 30:18] I want to hear. Did you go through that? Did you go through this whole process? Oh, with the whole like the the self-doubt that this the that the the. Yeah, a lot of what for when I was preparing to preach for for y’all that it was a little different because it was more I really feel blind as to what is it like for you guys to get preached to about Saint Francis?
[30:18 –> 30:40] And so the big fear was like, am I going to roll in there and be like, hey, thought about Saint Francis. They were like, heard it next, heard it. Duh. Everybody knows that. You basic person you like, you know. So you know, that was the fear of like, I really don’t know how you guys talk about Holy Father Francis, how you guys preach about it.
[30:40 –> 31:03] And also like you do this feast every single year. So like, you’ve heard lots of homilies about Saint Francis. And so I was that was very blind about like, I have a couple thoughts. I think that they’re interesting, had to work really hard to kind of read as much as I could about him and by him. But when I was walking in, I was just feeling like, I mean, I hope that this is new.
[31:03 –> 31:29] That was the big thing. Like, I hope this is new. Yeah. And I think it certainly was you at 100 and The Feed. I hope you felt that in the feedback that the guys gave you, it was, uniquely, well received, uniquely good. Cool. Yeah, absolutely. To like, now if we can kind of, like, pivot as if, like, not just talking about the event, but kind of like the the content of it yourself.
[31:29 –> 31:37] Can you just kind of know now kind of speaking more to the audience as opposed to us? You’re kind of sure like what you, what you shared. Sure.
[31:37 –> 31:41] I once asked a father. Andrew Hofer gave a great homily.
[31:41 –> 31:56] Is it really strong, preacher? And I said, a father like, I’d love to, like, get your notes. And he just looked at me and said, whatever’s in your heart from my hobby is what I want you to have. And I was like, dang. I was still like the notes, but that’s a really good line. But I would I would sincerely be interested to hear from you guys.
[31:56 –> 32:16] Like what you retained from from the homily. I’m also happy just to kind of like recap the homily and also like, if you guys don’t remember it, that’s totally fine. Just like it was cool vibe. Is that how I’m with most omelets I’ve ever heard? But I will do it. But I also would be really interested to hear just, what remained from the homily for you guys.
[32:16 –> 32:38] I’m happy to jump in. We’ll pop quiz. Go for it, father. Yeah. So, father, and again, like, I was just really moved, I think. What? And I’m not saying this because you’re on the podcast. I think you have a lot of respect for you. I would say this anyway, but I. I’ve really been, like, praying, like your podcast or, excuse me, your podcast, your humble, just really.
[32:38 –> 32:57] Yeah. Just really like provided a place of prayer and going deeper. I just love the reality of how, yeah, the the light and you, you kind of redeemed the rainbow. We talked about that, but about how the light hits the rain and hits the water and, and but it has to like, go inside and it and then it explodes with light.
[32:57 –> 33:18] Right. And so I just love me was from the crack reading how we, we got this image and I don’t have the text in front of me, but but it was just so beautiful that like, I’ve just I’ve just been really spending time begging Francis and begging Jesus to, like, he just come. I fill me with his uncreated light that I could have a receptive, poor heart.
[33:18 –> 33:37] And then that, like that impression of his, his, his, his life could be in me and then explode out basically. And then this light on people. So I just love I love that because Francis was a man who was so poor and empty because of love, and he was so filled with God. It like the light of God burst into him.
[33:37 –> 33:52] And then because of our humanity and the beauty of it, and then it has this, it’s kind of I’m not going to quote Bonaventure, I just been reading this as well. But like, it’s the impression and the expression, like, we’re impressed by the light of God. And then there’s just explosion outward of the, of his light and color.
[33:52 –> 34:12] And so I just been moved. I mean, yesterday in my, my prayer time, I just, I just was begging for poverty so I could be filled with the light, that, that burst in to, to to the water to make the beautiful rainbow. I hope that makes sense. But it it just felt so doing to me. It was just really moving a way to pray with the light of God coming in to us.
[34:12 –> 34:39] And obviously it did that in a unique way in Francis, that it’s been for 800 years. It’s been exploding out of his, of his own life and, just really exploding the presence of Jesus. But that’s that’s what he’s I praise God. Yeah, that’s really beautiful. Yeah. The line from I think it’s 650, it’s the the original text is about like this priest Simon.
[34:39 –> 35:01] And but it supplies Holy Father Francis and it starts behold him. And who is time the house of God was renovated. And then it goes on and it says, like the sun shining upon the temple, like the rainbow appearing in the cloudy sky. That’s so awesome. I just. And also the brother, I don’t know his name. He kind of looks like Will Ferrell’s cousin.
[35:01 –> 35:20] Who did the reading? You know, curly hair. I don’t remember who he is. How brother angel. Oh, my God. Or the angel like a brother Angelo. You know, he just did a great job of reading it, and I just. I just want to. Yeah, just, like, upvote him because. Yeah, letters are a really powerful part of the mass.
[35:20 –> 35:46] And he did a great job. So did I just behold him. And that really, honestly, from the first moment I started prepping the homily, it was just those two words, behold him. And then it was actually only like maybe less than, like 30 minutes before mass. I was like in the sanctuary, looking at the readings and just going over them again to like, please God, please God, please God, please God.
[35:46 –> 36:20] You know, and I was looking at the gospel again and then I saw, Jesus’s exclamation, I give praise to you, father most Holy, for I thought it was heaven and earth is hidden these things in the wise and learned, but revealed them to little ones. And it was such a awesome moment of insight into the joy of Jesus himself, that if Francis is joyful and poor, Jesus is more just, infinitely more and that that’s actually what’s motivating the heart of Francis is that yes, Jesus.
[36:20 –> 36:45] This the most poor, most little one has his own delight in the father, and that he just wants to share with other people, because then he has that that same gospel passage has this invitation come to me, you know, come to me. And yeah, he is. And he does that, especially in the Eucharist. And that’s like, that was a real delight for me to discover.
[36:45 –> 37:15] And reading more of the writings of Saint Francis was how the Eucharist shows up a lot, and that he has got this just intense devotional focus on Jesus in the Eucharist. And there’s this passage, where he just tells the brothers, keep nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that he, Jesus, may receive you whole because he manifests himself wholly to you, contemplating Jesus in the Eucharist.
[37:15 –> 37:38] How he is for you. I take this. This is my body which will be given up for you. This is the chalice of my blood, which will be poured out for you. It’s just for you. And that Jesus entirely hands himself over to you that you can literally consume him. And the only response is one of keeping nothing of yourselves for yourselves.
[37:38 –> 38:03] I’m reminded of, a young woman who’s a parishioner at Saint Joseph’s who is now, in the contemplative Dominican monastery, Our Lady of Grace in North Gilford, Connecticut. She’s been there for, she entered in January and says, really beautiful and want her every pray for her vocation. All the women there, they live a really beautiful life.
[38:03 –> 38:25] And she was talking to me about her decision to enter was when she was visiting the monastery and looking at Jesus in the Eucharist, and she had this sense of him saying to her, all of me is for you, all of me is for you. And she had this realization. She had to say to him then that all of me is for you too.
[38:25 –> 38:48] And that’s you. You have to keep nothing of yourselves for yourself so that beautiful holiness. And like, that’s where this idea of this need for poverty comes from in a really big way. And that’s a real helpful thing for us, who has taken vows of poverty but have to live it voluntarily. It’s hard. Yeah. Totally. Yeah.
[38:48 –> 39:13] Follow. Joanna, I I was really grateful and we were all kind of sitting together. It’s always great. As you were talking, I think there was, you could see the, the look on a guy’s faces that they, they were really in tuned in enjoying like what you were saying. I don’t know. I think it was towards the, beginning or the middle of your homily, is after, like, talking about how in the light of the light of Jesus, or the light of the Trinity being feels, Francis.
[39:13 –> 39:29] And then you just had this, like, random line. And every once in a while, in a homily, like, I feel, I feel like the spirit come over me. And I felt, like, anointed in that moment. And so this is the that’s why I wanted to mention this, but you just kind of like, beautifully just proclaimed Francis wasn’t afraid of anything.
[39:29 –> 39:47] Yeah, like he wasn’t afraid of anything. And then in this reference towards his love of creation, his reverence, his the joy, you know, the the words that he has and the praises of God or the praises of, of creation. Right. And so I was just really that’s the that’s the one word I prayed with yesterday and today.
[39:47 –> 40:05] Like he just wasn’t afraid of anything and just really captivated and moved by. When the light enters Francis, as the light enters, the raindrop, something shifts and something happens and, so just. Yeah, I was just really struck and moved by that and praise God. And that’s that’s awesome. Is that that was definitely a jazz moment.
[40:05 –> 40:29] That was not a scripted beat. Like the idea of you not being afraid was not there until that moment. I had the idea of I knew I wanted to talk about how he saw the light of God everywhere. And so he’s this kind of maximal friend of creation brother, son, sister moon, brother fire, sister death. So I had that sense, but it was only in the moments, I think it really was the Holy Spirit motivation.
[40:29 –> 40:54] Oh, wow. Yeah. He’s not afraid that he can. Actually he can. He’s not afraid of the dark. He can look anywhere, go anywhere, and he’s just not afraid because he sees God even, even in death. And that was just that was that was a really beautiful moment for me, too, because that was that’s not I didn’t plan. I was like, that was just like, yeah, that was given in that moment.
[40:54 –> 41:18] Yeah. But you know, I just appreciate it. Like super practically just, sometimes, you can at least maybe I feel like I’m held hostage during a homily, like, okay, what’s good? Oh, yeah. Where’s this guy going? Or is this going to end? Yeah, and I never I never felt that once. Oh, praise God, that’s just. Oh, yeah.
[41:18 –> 41:37] And, and even to just like, you’re. Yeah, you just got straight to business, you know, there’s no, like, dancing around as far as sometimes it be apologetic about stuff, but like you. Yeah, this as you mentioned, you started like, behold him, behold him and kind of set the tempo for everything. There’s a role because a lot of what you said is like, what stayed with me specifically like to behold him in the refracting of the light in the rainbow.
[41:37 –> 41:56] So I wanted to be repetitive on these different things, but just my overall experience was just good and that you took the time to obviously pray and and just offer your hearts and your thought about Francis, which I thought were authentic and real and and that stayed with me for sure. But like, man, like volumes really getting after it, got after it and was able to present something that’s that’s true to Francis.
[41:56 –> 42:14] And who’s just. Yeah, just good. Good. And even to, Yeah, I would just never as a friar. Just like put the rainbow even though it’s in Syriac, like with Francis, but just even the way in which you you beautifully said. Because even to once again, the practical thing is like, yeah, it’s real. That’s how light is refracted.
[42:14 –> 42:37] Light comes in through the water droplet droplets and all the scientific things you said. I wish I asked Claude about, you know, like the day before. Yeah, yeah. And, and once again, what lens for me is like the authentic authenticity of the preacher. And like, you had just, like, one thing, once again, this throwaway line of, yeah, Dominicans, we typically just say Latin and keep moving on, you know?
[42:37 –> 42:56] And, I was like, it’s true, but, but even to this, the way in which you, you approach holy Father Francis and. Yeah. To sound like you really not just like, learned about him, but imbibed him and actually, like, allowed to be part of your heart. And so, so yes, it was overall for me, the experience that I had that was as good as opposed to, specific things that you spoke about.
[42:56 –> 43:23] Yeah. Thanks, man. Yeah, I take that really seriously. The, the point of I’m not wasting anybody’s time. Because we’ve all like we’ve all been there and especially there’s, there’s also there’s a ton of filler, you know, and not not to cast aspersions on anybody who might do these sort of things. But like if somebody starts to say like when I started thinking about this hammer, it’s like you’ve already wasted seven words, you know, don’t don’t do that.
[43:23 –> 43:44] Because, at least for me, like, not this is not this kind of made sense more about me than about the holiness of preaching. But like, the mentality is, I need to grab you by the throat and you’re not allowed to not listen to me until I’m done talking, you know? In a good way. Yeah, but yeah, but just in the sense of, like, we all know how easy it is for somebody’s attention to go away.
[43:44 –> 43:54] And once it’s gone, it’s just gone. Yeah. So yeah, it’s just gone. Yeah. But thank you. Yeah.
[43:54 –> 44:28] I appreciate that because I do, I’m working with our seminarians and there is something about like, just the importance of you got, like, you got to win them, you got to win their attention, and then you got to, you kind of got to keep winning it, you know? And similarly, I because a lot of these I would, I wouldn’t have gotten right into it because it’s part of how I like, work out my nerves is like a few beginning comments so that, you know, I would I would have, I might have lost you, you know, but I it was like genius.
[44:28 –> 44:48] And it was like something I took a note of, like, this starts like grab like you. Yeah, I couldn’t, I couldn’t breathe. Usually you grabbed me by the throat. I know I don’t want to do I don’t want to do it. Yeah. It’s it’s great. Yeah. What did you do? You know how long it went? If I had to guess, I bet that was eight minutes.
[44:48 –> 45:08] Do you guys, do you guys time stuff in your in your world. No, but I, I preach generally anywhere from eight to like 16 would be long. I got to say like I’m generally in the sort of like 8 to 12 is what my resting point is. Did you you’re right. You’re you’re right on ten. Okay. So Richard’s right where we want to be.
[45:08 –> 45:24] We’re right where we want you. Yeah. Right. Yes. It was that way because we all we all were. We were part of the we got the friars themselves got asked to do the seven last words at Saint Patrick’s. And I think we were on like a super strict ten minute time where it was ten people went over. Some people went over.
[45:24 –> 45:38] So we’re, you know, we’re very tuned in to the, to the. Yeah. How long? The thing is, you know, but that’s, that’s a thing of brevity covers a multitude of sins like, yeah. And it can be, it could be a terrible it could be a lot. It could be tough. But if it’s short, at least it’s short.
[45:38 –> 45:57] Well, that was I mentioned that to you in the sacristy. Like I found something that Francis said of or maybe is in your constitutions about how, like, your preaching should be brief because our Lord lived one brief word. Yeah, yeah. I was like, cool. All right. We’re not. We’re not super good at that. No. Yeah. Well, you know, it’s aspirational.
[45:57 –> 46:16] Yeah. They’re just constitutions. More about deal more of an ideal. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. We’re guidelines than you know. So yeah we might give like 12 brief homilies but we like, put it all together into one homily. No, it’s it’s a, it’s like a rosary. It’s a, it’s like a rosary of homilies. It’s just all these beads together.
[46:16 –> 46:35] Yeah I just you for me, I certainly I think the father with Father Angelo said as well was like, oh I like this, like that was, that would be something where it’s like, okay, this is like, that certainly felt like a fresh, like insight, you know, and sitting with, you know, if you were like, what did you say here?
[46:35 –> 46:55] Like France not being afraid of the dark, being able to see God everywhere and and kind of like leading that to Sister Death. I think that was like, super cool. And insightful and something to kind of continue to ponder. Certainly the thing that was like got me like, not in my head, you know, as, as sometimes somebody in the congregation will do in like, like a positive way is like the, there was it was a three part thing.
[46:55 –> 47:11] It was like a bit of a triptych and I forgot the all three of them. But I know certainly one of them was like, you know, like Francis became poor. You know, the thing like, but like, you know, whatever. Like Christ became more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this whole thing, like, yeah, here’s Francis, but like, look at Jesus.
[47:11 –> 47:36] He did it more. He did it more. He did it more, which is like it. And again, as we talked about in the episode like preceding this, it’ll come up before like it was all about Jesus. Right? And it’s like the the reason the Francis does anything Francis does is because Jesus and just via the if Francis and I think this was a beautiful way of like honoring the feast day of the Saint, but also honoring what, like the feast day of the saint, the way the saint would want to feast day, to be honored by making it like about Jesus.
[47:36 –> 47:56] And I think that was like that was really, really great and really, really moving and powerful. So yeah, extremely grateful. Certainly I felt insofar as I felt, you know, as the one who invited you, I felt sort of on the hook. I felt on the hook. But I felt, you know, I did. I had all the confidence in the world.
[47:56 –> 48:23] I knew what I knew, what I was doing, I know I was, I was sweating bullets, but I never did. No, not even that for a second. Because. Because you’re and I don’t I don’t know how to, you feel like one of us in the things you do and how you do them. Awesome. Thank you. And so I knew I kind of knew that you would you kind of, I think newest from within by by how you are and that you would, you would, kind of speak to us the way in which we can receive it and would want to receive it.
[48:23 –> 48:44] Yeah. But definitely, you know, I felt like it was a big win for me. Yeah. Because. Cuz you rock the for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. To your point about, you know, Francis was the son of a merchant. Jesus is the Son of God. Francis sets aside his clothes. Jesus lays aside the glory of his divinity.
[48:44 –> 49:08] That. And then Jesus lives in Francis. The the thing I was thinking of behind there is Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, as Kingfishers Catch Fire. Do you all know that one? Father. And just. That’s you. Wow. Really? You just totally threw me on the bus there. So, anyway, Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Jesuit priest who wrote, like, phenomenal poetry.
[49:08 –> 49:21] And he wrote this a bunch of sonnets. And this is a song, actually, if you guys, I’ll see if I can actually remember the whole thing. I don’t know if I can. Yeah. Do it. Oh, come on, come on. This is, this is as Kingfishers Catch Fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
[49:21 –> 49:52] As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame as tumbled over rim and round Roundy well. Stones ring like. Each tucked string tells each bells bow swung vines tongue to fling out broad its name. Each mortal saying does one thing in the same deals out that being indoors each one dwells selves speaks itself myself. It speaks and spells crying. What I do is me.
[49:52 –> 50:30] For that I came, I say more. The just man justices keeps grace that keeps all his goings. Grace’s acts in God’s eye. What in God’s eye he is Christ, for Christ plays in 10,000 places, lovely in limbs and lovely in eyes. Not his two of the father. Through the features of men’s faces, and often come. This is the love that like that its Christ plays in 10,000 places that it’s he’s to the father.
[50:30 –> 50:58] But through the features of men’s faces. That to me is like the idea of sanctity, that it’s Jesus who is just going back to the father, but he loves to like the just man. Justice is like the the virtues become this conduit of the light of Jesus Christ in each one of us. And so with Francis or with Dominic, whenever you’re thinking of that, it is Jesus expressing his light refracted through that real person.
[50:58 –> 51:01] It’s really awesome.
[51:01 –> 51:21] Yeah, you’re the man, Father John, and thank you. Thank. Yeah, I’m just a I mean, come on. That that’s awesome. Like, this is why you are you, you know. Yeah. Your eyes open top of your head. Yeah. I also have no way of knowing if I actually got the poem right. Okay. Sounded good. Right? It’s good. It’s amazing for me.
[51:22 –> 51:51] It’s, I love that poem. Is so good. Yeah, yeah. Did anybody else want to give it a shot at reciting their favorite poem before we. Green eggs and ham? No, I can’t even get that classic. Yeah. Thank you for adding a little sophistication to our group. Yeah. You know, we know the way uni is reading. Thank you for letting me get in touch with my heart as the gift of Franciscans to Dominicans.
[51:52 –> 52:14] We have a head, but not a heart. So you let us, you know, connect with that. We need each other. We so yeah, we do so good. We certainly do. So again for the Journal. Extremely grateful for, yeah. Going all the way back. Just like meaning, just you’re saying yes to. And, joining us for the feast, Saint Francis.
[52:14 –> 52:33] Sorry about surprising you with, the entire order. Grateful you did it. You nailed it. And, Yeah, man. Like, I’m just really grateful for you and the way you live your life and your brothers out there. Just a huge fan of the Dominicans and, had a certain opportunity to get to know some of you guys in the Saint Joseph’s Province.
[52:33 –> 52:56] The is the Eastern Province. And I’m just. Really. Yeah. Really edified. Really moved. I think you guys are. Yeah. I’m extremely grateful we’re on the same team, you know? Yes. And I’m grateful that you guys are doing, Thank you. So we got usually close with a prayer. Would you mind just closing us with a, a prayer and then we’ll we’ll wrap up the episode for sure.
[52:56 –> 53:18] In the name of the father and of the son of the Holy Spirit. And then come, Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, we love you. We believe in you, we trust you. We put all of our weight on you. Ask that you would bless all those who are listening right now, Lord, and that you would speak directly to their hearts and that you would call many fear, uncertainty, anxiety, or wound that they have.
[53:18 –> 53:39] And you would bless these my brothers, his holy sons of Saint Francis, keep them safe, give success to the work of their hands. And we ask Lord, that we would ultimately be given the gift of praise. You united together in heaven for all eternity. We make this in your name, Jesus. Amen, Amen, Amen. Father, son, Holy Spirit. Amen.
[53:39 –> 53:59] Amen. Thank you. Father. I’m not sure if you’re one who shouts people out. Anybody you want to shout out? Oh my gosh, I got a shout out my brother, Father Simon Teller, because he’ll be annoyed if I don’t. And, I don’t know, Hillbilly Thomas. We got a new album out. What’s it called? Yeah, but, it’s called Strange Land.
[54:00 –> 54:20] But above all, just shout out to your nearest adoration chapel. Make sure you get there and spend some time with Jesus. Oh, yeah. Come on. Nice one. Nice. All right. You guys got anything? No, I have no idea. After the adoration chapel shout out. No. Oh, yeah. Thank you. All right, well, thanks, guys, and thanks again, Father John, for making time and being with us.
[54:20 –> 54:22] Yeah that’s right. Thank you guys.
[54:22 –> 54:27] Poco. Our poco bombs are. You got so much pedigree. Nothing. You know that we
Key Takeaways
- A Dominican preaching at the feast of St. Francis is a tradition. The friars explain that Dominicans preach for the Franciscans on St. Francis’s feast, and Franciscans preach for the Dominicans on St. Dominic’s. It is a sign of friendship between the two orders.
- Fr. Jonah says yes when he is asked to preach. He says Dominicans are taught to accept the invitation, because preaching is what the Order of Preachers is for.
- Fear and joy can go together. Fr. Jonah describes a week of nerves and self-doubt, then a real delight once he steps into the pulpit.
- Preaching is like jazz. You prepare the melody, but you also have to be present to the people in front of you in the moment.
- St. Joseph’s grew without a five-year plan. Fr. Jonah points to Eucharistic adoration, serious liturgies, lots of confession, and a simple effort to be normal and welcoming.
- Faithfulness matters more than visible success. Fr. Jonah says priestly ministry is not measured simply by numbers, but by faithfulness.
- Francis’s poverty and openness let him reflect God’s light. Fr. Jonah compares it to light passing through a raindrop to make a rainbow.
- Francis points us to Jesus. Fr. Jonah moves from Francis to Jesus, whose self-giving reaches its fullness in the Eucharist.
- Francis was not afraid, even of death. Because he saw God everywhere, Francis could welcome even “Sister Death.”
- Keep it short. The friars and Fr. Jonah agree a homily should earn people’s attention, and brevity helps.
What This Means for Prayer and Daily Life
Ask yourself one simple question this week: where is the Lord inviting me to say yes? It might be a small request for help, a hard conversation, or a quiet moment of prayer you have been putting off. Fr. Jonah’s yes to a nerve-racking invitation is a good reminder that we do not have to feel ready.
Look for the light. Think of one person who has shown you Jesus through their kindness, patience, or faith. Thank God for them, and tell them if you can.
Choose to be normal and welcoming. Fr. Jonah says his parish grew from simple things: prayer, the sacraments, and noticing the person in front of you. You can do that at work, at school, or at home.
Finally, take his closing advice. Spend some time with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration this week, even for a few minutes.
A simple prayer for this week:
“Jesus, you are the light of the world. Like St. Francis, make me poor enough in spirit to be filled with your light. Help me say yes when you ask, and let your light shine through me to the people I meet.”
FAQ Section
He is a Dominican priest, a member of the Order of Preachers, who serves at St. Joseph’s parish in Greenwich Village in New York. In this episode he joins the friars after preaching at their celebration of the feast of St. Francis.
The friars explain that it is a tradition between the two orders. A Dominican preaches on the feast of St. Francis, and a Franciscan preaches on the feast of St. Dominic. Each order calls the other’s founder “Holy Father.” The friars say they are not sure how the custom began, and one of them says it appears to go back to the 13th or 14th century.
He says Dominicans are taught that when someone asks you to preach, the answer is always yes. He still felt nervous, but he says there is a grace in the Order and in the work of preaching.
Fr. Jonah says a homily is not like classical music, where every note is set. You know the melody, but you also have to be present to the people in the room and respond to the moment.
Fr. Jonah says he does not have a full explanation, and that there was never a five-year plan. He points to Eucharistic adoration, serious liturgies, lots of confession, and a simple effort to be normal and welcoming. He says Jesus draws people to Himself in His own time.
Fr. Jonah talked about seeing the light of God in Francis, like light passing through a raindrop to make a rainbow. Francis’s poverty and openness to God let him reflect God’s light and share it. He then pointed from Francis to Jesus, whose self-giving reaches its fullness in the Eucharist.
Fr. Jonah reads a passage in which Francis tells his brothers to keep nothing of themselves for themselves, so that Jesus, who gives Himself wholly to us, may receive us wholly. Fr. Jonah says Francis had an intense devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist.
Ask where the Lord is inviting you to say yes this week. Thank God for someone who has shown you Jesus. And spend a few minutes with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration.
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