Question of Faith
A weekly question of faith answered by Cleveland Catholics. Fr. Damian Ference, Vicar of Evangelization and Deacon Mike Hayes Director of Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland co-host with frequent guests from the Diocesan Office who join in the conversation. Sponsored by Briefcase Marketing--check them out at https://www.Briefcase.marketing
Question of Faith
Are There Threats to the Papal Conclave?
The papal conclave beginning May 7th faces various threats including political influences and spiritual challenges, requiring worldwide prayer for the 124 cardinal electors during this sacred process.
• Catholics can "adopt" a cardinal to pray for through adoptacardinal.org
• Vatican preparations include three white cassocks in different sizes for the new Pope.
• The Cardinals and any staff took an oath of secrecy for the conclave proceedings.
• A previous participant described feeling the "palpable presence of the Holy Spirit" during the conclave.
• Speculation centers on Asian candidates like Cardinal Tagle from the Philippines.
• The next pope may choose the name Paul VII or John XXIV rather than Francis II.
• The conclave may last 2-3 days, likely concluding by Friday or Saturday. Although Deacon Mike firmly believes it will be faster.
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Fr Damian invites you:
Jubilee Year pilgrimages will happen across the Diocese of Cleveland:
June 12th at St. John of the Cross to Lourdes Shrine.
July 19th at St. John Bosco to Shrine of the Queen of the Holy Rosary at Incarnate Word Academy (especially for young adults),
July 26th at St. Anne Shrine (focused on grandparents and families).
On today's Question of Faith. Are there threats to the papal conclave? Hey everybody, this is Question of Faith. I am Deacon Mike Hayes. I am the Director of Young Adult Ministry here in the Diocese of Cleveland and I'm Fr Damian Ferencz, the Vicar for Evangelization.
Speaker 3:And I'm Christy Kavaniss, Director for Missionary Discipleship.
Speaker 1:Woo-hoo, Christy's back. Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 3:Thanks, you know I for having me she's back.
Speaker 1:Thanks, I said to Father Damien the other day. I said you know we've been talking about the conclave for a little while here, for a couple episodes, I said, but we haven't had a woman's perspective yet. So welcome Christy.
Speaker 3:Oh, thanks, I don't know what perspective.
Speaker 1:I bring. So are there threats to the papal conclave? I've been reading a lot, obviously, about all of these things and obviously there are right. I mean, every conclave, not just this one, has had sort of threats, whether those are political threats, people trying to influence during this sort of interregnum period, Spiritual threats. I sent you that thing from Monsignor Rossetti yesterday. Yeah, talk about that.
Speaker 2:So, if you're not aware, monsignor Rossetti is a clinical psychologist. He used to work at the St Luke's Institute, which is a place where priests go when they need some help, maybe with drinking or hoarding or relationship things, and he also eventually became a trained exorcist. So he has a little web presence and I from time to time see some of his things. And he mentioned he was trying to answer the question are there threats? So you know everybody's asking all sorts of questions and I guess we're asking that too. So certainly there are threats that could happen to the conclave.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and that's why we pray for the cardinals, right? Yeah, so I saw a website the other day my friend sent me to called Adopt a Cardinal. I don't know if you've seen this yet. No, so it's in German. You have to have it. You know you have to use a little translate button, but when you go on there, you just put your email address in. We'll put this in the show notes. Just put your email address in there and then they send you a cardinal to pray for. So guess who I got?
Speaker 2:Who did you get? Is it an American? No, it is not. Oh, okay, oh, pete Zavala, then Correct.
Speaker 3:That's such a great name for a cardinal. It is.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. If he gets elected, it's because I prayed. You're welcome, your Holiness.
Speaker 3:Oh right, Well, also I saw on one of the Facebook pages I follow with catechetical leaders, somebody had created like baseball trading cards for all the cardinals. Like we did at our ballpark mass, yeah, when they were ordained and then when they were elevated, and then where the archbishop of, or what their post is, and then their picture and everything. So the kids could pray for the cardinals as well, which I thought was really cool.
Speaker 2:It is very cool. I follow a guy on Instagram called Catholic Traveler and he just posted things from the Vatican News where they put pictures up of the three new white cassocks. There's a tall one, a medium one, a short one, then three surpluses, so just getting ready for this thing, and they built the new floor in the Sistine Chapel, so everything's on the same level. And people just took an oath of secrecy today, not just the cardinals, but the lay folks and everybody who's helping around the elevator operators and the cooks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:It's exciting.
Speaker 2:It's exciting and terrifying both. Yeah, exactly For sure, when I saw those I'm like, oh my gosh, if I was a cardinal in there. You look at it like somebody's life is going to change. Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:In to change in a profound way. I just read this morning that I didn't know that this was the case. Is that one of the rulings is that the cardinals all have to cease their duties, effective immediately from the moment that the pope dies. Because of the sake that we don't know who the Holy Spirit will move the cardinals to vote for, to put into the seat as the next you know what is it? The successor to Peter and that, so, then, that their posts can start to figure out what that will look like if they were not there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it makes sense because it makes it easier for the new guy coming in to say this is who I want. So Fernandez, the one cardinal. Someone referred to him as the former moral theologian because he lost his title, as did everybody else, when the seat is vacant, so that you can pick it up right again if the pope wants, or he can appoint somebody new. Yeah, yeah, it makes sense, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a lot that goes on, you know, and, like you know, we were talking about like are there threats to this? You know, the thing that I'm always thinking about, too, is like to this. You know, the thing that I'm always thinking about, too, is like, okay, all these guys get together, they lock them in a room and do they feel the pressure, like if, okay, we're at four ballots and we haven't gotten anybody yet and the people are clamoring for this and we can almost feel that, even though we're all locked away and so a couple cardinals have said that this week they said in former conclaves were like, okay, come on, guys, we've got to elect somebody because the people are waiting. And somebody else said I don't know what podcast this was on. They said, well, god, I really hope that they don't do that. I hope that it takes as long as it takes, and the Holy Spirit should just work and they should just keep going until they find the person that they really are called to find. You know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think an amazing story that our pastor told this week. We had our Mass for the Remembrance of Pope Francis On Tuesday night. He told the story there and then he told it again on Sunday to the whole congregation gathered. And it was he was serving in a parish where someone was getting married and it was the nephew of a cardinal. So the cardinal came in and you know you can't just let a cardinal show up at the rectory and let himself in.
Speaker 2:That's really inappropriate.
Speaker 3:So he was there with one of his friends and they welcomed him in and they had dinner. And when they were sitting around for drinks his friend asked the cardinal so can you tell us what happens at a conclave? Because it was not long after Pope Francis was elected. And he said you know that we're all sworn to secrecy and of course I cannot tell you what happened during the conclave, but what I can tell you is that I have never in all my life experienced the palpable presence of the Holy Spirit the way that I did in that space. And he said it was.
Speaker 3:And he said he got, almost he got emotional and he said he was a strong, tough man and that the pastor was saying that this cardinal was a strong, tough man. He didn't seem the type to get you know sort of weepy about it, but built up with the emotion of. And he said and even once then Francis was elected he said you could see a physical change come over his emotion of. And he said and even once then Francis was elected, he said you could see a physical change come over his demeanor and that each one of us, when we shook his hand there wasn't a dry eye in the house that we were all just so honored to have this be the choice and know fully that the Holy Spirit had had his moment with us to make this happen. So I think that's also something that we should be praying for the movement of the Holy Spirit too.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the docility of the cardinals to the movement of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit always shows up. And that's where I think the threat is, and it's not just with the conclave, but anytime you're trying to do something good for the church, the devil, as Pope Francis would remind us, is trying to get in there and screw things up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly and similar to your story. I was reading Pope Francis' book Hope and one of the things he said in there was he said so, they elect me, he goes. And as the election is coming up, I went uh-oh, it's like okay, it looks like it's headed toward me and he goes. And then when his friend said to him, don't forget the poor, he said this overwhelming feeling of calm came over him and he said Francis of Assisi, pray for me. Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:And he took the name and he said and then when he went into the room of tears, he said he was just okay, you know, this is what I'm going to do now. Clearly, this is where the Holy Spirit's leading us. I know it, they know it, and now you know. And he even said like you know, there's all those reports about him, like you know, sort of eschewing the papal dress, which he did. But he said that, like with the shoes, they presented, the red shoes and he said no, no, no. He said I'll just wear my own shoes. I've got really flat feet and these are orthopedic.
Speaker 1:I don't want to fall on my face the first day, you know, and you know, he said I have had this pectoral cross since the first day I was a bishop. But he goes I'm carrying the prayers of all my people with this. I'm going to keep this cross, and you know, and he, I'm going to keep this cross. And he just didn't want any of all the other accoutrements, which I think is more about the vow of poverty that he's taken as a Jesuit as well.
Speaker 2:You sent that clip to me today or last night, or I saw it early this morning. There was a woman influencer on Instagram who was talking about that some of the things that, because he was a Jesuit and because he took a vow of poverty, may not be for the next Pope. I was thinking that too, because I read that the Holy Father had like $100 to his name. Yes to his name. Yeah, but he wasn't a diocesan priest, correct, so he didn't get a paycheck.
Speaker 2:So If you're part of a religious order, you really don't own anything. Like Cardinal Sean O'Malley is the same way. He lives now back with the Capuchins at 4121 Harewood Road in DC at Capuchin College. But for a diocesan priest like we are responsible for, we get a salary that's enough, but we're responsible for taking care of ourselves into retirement. So if we didn't have any money when we died, it would be highly irresponsible because you'd be putting that burden on the church. So I do think that's a distinction that's helpful, that if a religious becomes the Pope, it's different than a diocesan priest, because diocesan priests do have to provide for themselves in a way that, like buy my own car, my own car insurance, and we do get money to do those sorts of things.
Speaker 2:So, I don't think you want someone who's wealthy but a diocesan priest do have to provide for themselves in ways that religious priests or popes don't. Now I think when you're pope, you're taken care of, you're doing okay.
Speaker 1:I would hope so.
Speaker 2:You've got everything you need.
Speaker 1:But even the small things that he did along those lines. It's interesting. I was thinking about this too. I was like, has he sort of changed that now, though? In some ways I think he was really moving us to see the pope in a more humble fashion, if you would like. Moving out of the papal apartments, so 200 people come up here? This is way too big for me. Moving out of the papal apartments, so 200 people come up here, this is way too big for me. Is the next guy going to be looked down on if he takes the papal apartment?
Speaker 2:From what I understand, the papal apartment wasn't that big, but what he desired was to live with other people because he's a community guy, he's a Jesuit. And diocesan priests. A lot of them are better off living by themselves than living in communities.
Speaker 1:Do you resemble that remark, Father? Sometimes, sometimes.
Speaker 2:So I do want to avoid the trap of now the bar is set and everyone has to be this way, because part of that was him being a religious. I mean his love for the poor, simplicity, poverty as an evangelical council. I think all that's right, but people come from different cultures and different backgrounds and I think we have to be aware of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and some people need time alone and it might be better to have a papal apartment where they can move on. The other thing, too, is security. You know I think the pillar said this in their podcast recently. They said that one of the things that we don't realize about that move was that now Santa Marta has to become, like you know, the most secure hotel in the world. You know.
Speaker 1:And that cost all kinds of money too and like all kinds of things. They had to move all kinds of things around and it was kind of a problem and they said it would be kind of a relief to the papal staff if he moved back to the papal apartments now in some ways too, one of the things Pope Francis did was he stopped going to Castle Gandolfo.
Speaker 2:If you remember, the popes would go there during the summertime because Rome is really hot. So this is out in the mountains and a lot of Europeans will take the month or Romans in particular will take the month of August off and they'll go out because it's so hot there. That's when all the tourists come in. So I wrote a piece not too long ago saying that was one of the things I thought was in solidarity with the poor. But then someone said but for workaholics it's good to take a break too.
Speaker 1:Do you know what I mean? That's true, yeah. If we're constantly working all the time and the Pope died with his boots on. He did. He was kind of a workaholic at times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think he, but he also prayed for two hours every day. Yeah, right, I mean he had a deep relationship with the Lord.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:But there are different styles and so I think with each pope there's going to be a different style and different things that are nuanced, and I value individualism.
Speaker 1:Right, you know in some ways Like it's like. You know we're all individuals. You know it's one of my strengths finder things is individualization. If I could pronounce it, it would be great.
Speaker 3:That would be terrific.
Speaker 1:But you know, like treating each person as an individual, you know, and we should probably treat the Pope as an individual, he has his own gifts and talents, and likes and dislikes. So, you know, let him be who he is.
Speaker 2:That's why we elected him. After all, coming from South America is not coming from Germany, is not coming from Poland and is not coming from Italy. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see if we get an Asian pope or an African pope what that would bring to the office.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that would be different. Yeah, exactly A reminder that World Youth Day will be in South Korea 2027. 2027. So it would be interesting if Cardinal Tagle or, oh, I'm not remembering the cardinal from Singapore who was all over Instagram the other day. But if one of them were elected, it would be an Asian pope at World Youth Day in an Asian country.
Speaker 3:There are several really good candidates from the Asian countries that I think could be easily elected as our next Holy Father, so it would be interesting to see.
Speaker 2:I live currently with two Filipino priests across the street. They were telling me that the one that everyone knows is Cardinal Tagle, who was at the National Eucharistic Congress. They said there's two others too, so who knows?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and my associate pastor is from the Philippines, father Lito, and he knows Cardinal Tagle, he's been with him many times?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:I think he may have said that. He said he has been with him many, many times, but he said that he's very. He said first of all, he's brilliant. Second of all, he's very, very kind. And he said that. He said I hope he's strong enough to be the Pope. He said, you know, he said he said he doesn't let people walk all over him, but he said he thinks that he takes everything to heart, and so that would be. You know, that might weigh heavy on him in some ways.
Speaker 2:He studied here in the States. He's a Catholic U guy. He's a Catholic U he's from CUA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, studied under Avery Dulles and Joe Kamanchik and a couple other folks. Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah, he talks about his time in the United States a lot, which would be interesting. So I mean that was one of the questions I was going to ask who would you not be surprised to see elected? Like you know, if somebody came out onto the loge you would say, oh yeah, that makes sense. So Cardinal Tagli would be who? I would say, for sure I would not be surprised to see him Any name that I've heard.
Speaker 1:I guess I wouldn't be surprised If it was someone I never heard of, then I'd be surprised. That's very good, Father. I'd say it that way.
Speaker 3:So who would you be very surprised to see? I think that where we are, with the papacy and everything the work that Pope Francis has done, I think that I would be surprised to see a cardinal who is sort of made himself known as very conservative. I don't know that that's necessarily the direction that the church is going, and I don't think that that's what the cardinals would—they want a middle ground guy.
Speaker 3:I think, but I—Mike you and I have talked about this before I do think that they might be looking for somebody that can manage and handle the stresses. It's sort of—I've heard some things said that like there needs to be a Paul VI after John XXIII, that Pope Francis got some things going and stirred up and that we need a pope that can come in and actually like kind of do the finishing of like, put stuff into order, an implementer kind of person, exactly exactly as opposed to a visionary, maybe.
Speaker 3:Right, yeah, exactly. So I don't think it'll be. I would be surprised if it was somebody very similar to Pope Francis. I think that's what I would say Sure yeah.
Speaker 2:So Paolo Sorrentino, who wrote the Young Pope, have you seen?
Speaker 3:that on HBO? I have not seen it.
Speaker 2:It's really good. Jude Law plays the Pope. The original had a very liberal pope replacing the Holy Father because it was written about Benedict, but then, when Francis came in, they wrote it with Pius XIII. Jude Law played an American pope. He was 47 years old who came in and I loved his character. There's great development. I reviewed the series. I don't think it'll be an American. I'll just say that I don't think it'll be an American.
Speaker 1:I'll just say that I don't think it'll be an American. Yeah, I was going in the same direction. I said I'd be very surprised if it would be an American. I would even say you know, with the exception of one, I think I wouldn't be too surprised if Cardinal Tobin came out from Newark, who's been talked about a lot, but anybody else.
Speaker 2:I think I would be surprised to see an American. Yeah, there's some other guy I never heard of, but I just heard of him the other day and he was a nuncio in peru and he's an american that no one talked about.
Speaker 1:So I guess prevost his name, I think yeah, he was seen going into cardinal burke's apartment the other day apparently so who knows what that means, but it means it might be his friend. That's's right. That's what I said to someone too. All right, Long conclave short conclave Saturday oh wow.
Speaker 2:I have a wedding on Saturday at like 1 o'clock at St Stephen's and I told the couple wouldn't it be cool if?
Speaker 1:the first time you prayed. The would be cool. Yeah, what do you think long short, I think medium.
Speaker 3:I think probably two or three days, I don't think it'll take them too long.
Speaker 2:So if it's Wednesday, you think by Friday or Saturday, yeah, I think.
Speaker 3:Friday.
Speaker 2:Yep, I think by Good Shepherd Sunday, which is a Sunday. Oh, that would be great, that would be perfect, that would be.
Speaker 1:I'll say it'll be a very quick one. I think it'll be two, three ballot stops. Oh, so you think like by the end of the day, wednesday, they'll have a ballot on yes, thursday, thursday, paul VII. Yeah, I was going to say people name was my next question. Yes, that is what I think it's either Paul VII or John XXIV.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it would be John XXIV Francis.
Speaker 1:II would be too obvious. Yeah, that would be too obvious. Yeah, that would be way too obvious yeah. And you don't want to be, like you know, a carbon copy of the last guy.
Speaker 2:You know Well, I've said this before about Paul VII the conservatives didn't like him because of what happened with the liturgy, the liberals didn't like him because of Humanae Vitae, and then when he published Evangelium Nuntiandi in 1974-75, no one paid attention. Which is why, francis, I mean we try to revive.
Speaker 3:So many of those ideas and enjoy the gospel.
Speaker 2:But yeah, we'll see. I have no idea. Like, what do we know anyway, absolutely. I mean, it's fun, it's kind of like guessing the NFL draft.
Speaker 1:So when Benedict XVI was elected, I was with a friend of mine, father Ron Franco. Father Ron Franco and I probably at the time this is not true today, but at the time we probably agreed on the time of day and maybe not much more. And we're watching Pope Benedict get elected and then they say that you know Cardinal Ratzinger. And I said wow, ratzinger, okay. And he says he goes wait, wait, what's the name, what's the name? And they go Benedict XVI. He goes oh, that's the name I would have chosen. And I said, wow, new pope, just got so much better. I was like, because it's not you, that's funny, that's the name.
Speaker 3:I would have chosen.
Speaker 1:However, if it was Paul VII, that's the name I would have chosen. Now think, honor my Paulist friends. Probably right, and I have an affinity for St Paul also. So I think that would be– I'm hoping that he does take Paul VII. I think that would be good.
Speaker 2:We were talking at lunch yesterday. There's never been a Peter II. Yeah, that's true. And I guess when it happens, the world's supposed to end and there's never been a Pope Joseph either.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I would like that. That's my favorite saint, st Joseph. Yeah, yeah, never been to St Joseph. Pope Joseph, rather Interesting. Well, we'll find out soon, that's for sure. I think too, the thing that I was thinking about the other day is during the sort of quiet period where they're all sitting inside waiting. You know, all these prognosticators on TV. I'm thinking about this as a former media person. I'm like, wow, that's a lot of time to fill. They want to share a conglomerate.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm just thinking about.
Speaker 1:Like you know, father Dave Dwyer is out there for Sirius and Lena Rooley, you know, sitting around saying okay, what can we talk?
Speaker 3:about now. I mean, there's a lot of guys so I feel like you could do like a bio history whatever about what they've written and you know the work that they've done. So, that could be interesting too.
Speaker 1:And no shortage of other journalists and things like that to interview. Sure, yeah, We'll all share each other for a little while you know. So you can do CBS today and I'll do NBC. I mean, you can see these people doing all these things, so it'll be fun, anyway. So Papal Conclaves starts on May 7th, which, by the way, is my father's birthday. By the way, here's another. What was your dad's first name? Mike, Same Mike, oh, mike. Yeah, pope Michael has there been.
Speaker 1:I don't think so. That's a really good question. I don't think so. I can't recall one. I don't think so. That's a really good question.
Speaker 2:I don't think so I can't recall one. I think there was a fake one, or isn't there an artist named?
Speaker 1:Pope Michael, there is a fake one, you're right. Yeah, so that's probably one reason I won't take that one. The other thing, my friend Victor, who you both met at my ordination he was the guy who died like four days after ordination. My college friend, his family's from the Philippines, so I said, and the day of his death is Thursday.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Which will be the day, yeah, the second day of the conclave.
Speaker 3:So I said Victor, Mendoza is going to make sure there's a Filipino cardinal from heaven.
Speaker 1:Oh, that would be awesome, so it'll be fun. So, anyway, pray for the cardinals. Adoptacardinalorg. If you want to pray for a Cardinal, they'll give you a Cardinal's name, and so I've got Pierre Batista Pizzabella. Yeah so it'll be good so.
Speaker 2:I'll be praying for him. I just want to say Catholics do have the best outfits, whether it's like liturgical stuff or Catholic school outfits. We get that, I get that right.
Speaker 3:I think we 100% get pomp and circumstance so well. So that's yeah, I think all of this, like the formality yeah, it's awesome, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I have a nice cassock. I don't wear it very often, but you know, when you've got to get formal you should be able to get formal. It's not all the time, but I just want to say that because I look and I'm like man, those guys look sharp, you know.
Speaker 1:I do sort of like the more grand liturgical things. So like it was deacon ordination this week, but congratulations to deacon Jeff Stutzman in particular yeah, congrats, deacon Jeff Stutzman.
Speaker 1:In particular, who is one of our own here in the diocese, who works in the communications office and helps set up the studio and things like that, as well as his two classmates, deacon Dale and Deacon Rich, who are also there, so a class of three. But I just love like, even in my own ordination, you know, the trumpets flourish and I was like, okay, it's on, you know.
Speaker 2:I was like this is great. Yeah, it's amazed and afraid. It's like the terrifying and also overwhelming. Yeah, absolutely, that's how heaven will be, hopefully, yeah, exactly.
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Speaker 1:Father, in this Jubilee Year of Hope, I don't think we've talked about your pilgrimages that are coming up.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, Well, there's three of them because Bishop Molesik has designated not one Jubilee site in the Diocese of Cleveland but 11. So one parish in each of the eight counties. During Lent and Easter I visited all those I just finished last week and gave a little talk at each one. And now this summer we're going to be doing three separate pilgrimages at three separate shrines. So the first one is in June and it's going to start out at St John of the Cross in Euclid, and I want to say it's June 12th. Does that sound right?
Speaker 1:That sounds right to me, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then we'll start at 3.30, and then we'll process all the way down to Lord's Shrine which is a good—it's going to take an hour to get down there, yeah and then we'll have Mass at 5. Knights of Columbus will cook out, we'll have some Jubilee ice cream from Country Parlor and then July 19th is a Saturday Mass at 4 pm, st John Bosco Parish process down Pearl Road to the Shrine of the Incarnate Word. Again, knights of Columbus from St Peter the Apostle will provide the food at that one Trying to get a band If you're in a band and you want to play, call me or email me and that one particularly aimed at young adults, young adults, correct.
Speaker 2:And not just, again, young adults who are single. But if you're young adults, have little kids like, bring them in the wagon down the street, pray the rosary, it'd be a lot of fun. And then the last one is July 26th and this is sponsored by Marriage and Family Office for all families, but particular attention to grandparents, because the shrine there is St Anne, who is Mary's mother and Jesus's grandmother, and Anna and Joachim. So mass, I think is 4.30 that day, and then a very simple procession out to the St Anne Shrine for some ice cream and devotions, but in the reverse order. I think we'll do the devotions first and then the ice cream. There you go. The ice creams are going to be called Jubilee Indulgence, which is vanilla base with a honey swirl, so milk and honey.
Speaker 1:Nice, very biblical.
Speaker 2:And then the other one is called not Moose Tracks, but Pilgrim Tracks, cute, and that is a chocolate base with dark chocolate chunks, reese's Cup or Peanut Butter Cup. Maybe it's not Reese's, it's some other brand, acme or something.
Speaker 1:And then I think there's this caramel swirl in there or something.
Speaker 2:It'll be good. The Roadrunner yeah.
Speaker 3:Acme Reese's All of his products. The Coyote's products were all from Acme, that's right.
Speaker 1:Wile E Coyote, that's correct. Super genius, he never quit, though.
Speaker 3:No, he was determined.
Speaker 1:I used to say all the time rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the roadrunner. I was like you know. Come on, you can't root for the roadrunner, you can root for the coyote. Wait at least once, all right. Our gospel for the fourth Sunday of Easter Jesus said my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I know a little bit about sheep because my father grew up in Ireland and he actually wanted to be a shepherd.
Speaker 3:Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:And he was going to be given a sheep farm in Australia. I think I've told the story of this podcast before, but they sent him to an Irish sheep farm to learn how to do this and he went out and he sheared all the sheep and everything in record time, right. And the owner of the farm came over and was like Wow, mike, you did great. You know you really have a knack for this. All right, and he hands him a cleaver.
Speaker 1:He says finish the job. Oh no, and my dad took the neck of the first sheep and pulled it back and the sheep's eyes got really, really wide and he just went. Ah, you know, and my father things, but you can't tell me that sheep was not afraid. And he goes and I dropped the cleaver and that was the end of the sheep farming. And because of that one little irish lamb I am here today. So but the other thing about sheep too is you know, it says that I, I, you know, I know them and they follow me. The sheep's really do. Sheep really do hear the shepherd's voice. They get to know the shepherd and a lot of times when he first starts as a shepherd, he lies down in front of the gate and lets the sheep walk over him so he can get the smell of the sheep.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:So Francis talked about that a lot, so that would be something I would reflect on this week.
Speaker 3:Cool. I also have a deep affinity to this gospel, mostly because when we came into the church I was just confirmed but my kids were fully initiated. We used catechesis of the Good Shepherd models for formation for my kids, and so we spent a lot of time with Jesus, the Good Shepherd and this part of the gospel. You do this whole thing with little wooden figures of a shepherd and then you swap it out for Jesus and the sheep and everything like that. So it just brings back such fond memories of when my kids were doing their preparation to be received into the church, nice.
Speaker 2:I love Good Shepherd Sunday. I don't know where I'm going yet with my preaching, but it's also Mother's Day, oh, that's right If.
Speaker 2:I could bring those two together, that'd be nice. I did see something and you never know how true these things are when you see them on the TikToks or the Instagram. But it was some real. And this woman was saying that the runt of what do you call a batch of newborn sheep, I don't know, there's probably a name.
Speaker 2:Sometimes the runt needs special care from the shepherd himself or herself and Rachel was a shepherd in the Old Testament so the shepherd binds this little sheep and takes good care of it and then eventually it's able to run around with his siblings, once he heals a little bit and gets his muscle and all that. But I guess it's the runts who spent the most time with the shepherd being taken care of, are the ones who know his voice best because they've been closest to it. And that's a nice image because it's those who have fallen and sinned and realized their neediness upon the shepherd are the ones who can be closest to him. I like that. I don't know where if I'll go with that or anything, but if that's true, maybe it's something to investigate later on in my preaching. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And a good reflection for our next pope too. You know like, are you willing to go after the one that strays from the 99,? You know, and be with the people who are really not all together? You know folks who you know you go out to the margins and find out, when you know all the people that are missing or you're you know? Are you going to lock yourself away with just the 99?
Speaker 1:and just where it's comfortable and it's easy and where they know your voice and you know, like all those kinds of things. What about the one who strays away or the one who needs more help, like the rent from the litter? You know those kinds of things. Yeah, all right. Well, let's pray for the cardinals in the conclave. We'll have this and we'll have a whole lot more next time with the new pope. On Question of Faith.
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