Try that in a Small Town with Fr. Sean O’Brien

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Transcript:

Try that in a small town

Fr. Sean O’Brien: [00:00:00] [00:01:00] The Catholic Man Show contains high levels of manliness. If you think you may be too weak to withstand the manliness represented in the following program, please do yourself a favor and stop listening now. If you choose to continue in spite of this warning, If at any time you feel yourself overcome by the manliness, stop immediately and consult your closest medical professional.

And now, for the not so fair, faint, or frilly, [00:02:00] we present The Catholic Men’s Show.

Adam Minihan: Welcome to the Catholic Man Show. Alleluia. I said it. I said it. Alleluia. It was a long time coming. We’re on the Lord’s team, the winning side. So raise your glass. Adam and Anne here with Sir David Niles. We also have a good friend, fellow priest of the Diocese of Tulsa in Eastern Oklahoma. And of God.

And of God. Also a brother in law to David 

David Niles: Niles. In the order of Malchizedek. 

Adam Minihan: Also a, a good friend of ours all the way from kindergarten as 

David Niles: well. It’s kindergarten class reunion 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: right here. It’s a few years ago, that’s 

David Niles: it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, just a handful. 

Adam Minihan: Father Sean O’Brien. [00:03:00] Great to have you 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: here. Good to be here.

Adam Minihan: We also have Jim here. Jim. Jim, it’s been, it’s been a long 40 days. 

David Niles: We’ll see what Jim is back. Yeah, we’ll see how you rate the yummy skill today. I’m not sure, I’m not sure what your rating is gonna be. I’m interested to tell, to 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: hear. Today. But he is here with his strength. I feel very secure. Yes. I am sitting 

David Niles: next to him.

I feel like our whole conversation is gonna be like 

Adam Minihan: more at ease. Yeah, we were pretty People uptight the last 40 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: days. You just never know. People can break through the door. Not sure. Totally. And that’s gonna be okay 

David Niles: if they do. I mean, if they do now. Oh yeah. If they do now, yeah. Yeah. You get what you, you get what you, you sow what you reap.

It’s their own fault. No. You reap what you sow, Anna. Yeah. Although, ironically, you also do sow what you reap because those are the seeds that you have. Unless you buy the 

Adam Minihan: seeds. Unless you do that. We have entered into a new season, a new liturgical season. The best. The best season. I’ve also entered into a new stage of fatherhood.

Oh. I have now entered into [00:04:00] the stage of fatherhood of Did you turn out the lights, 

David Niles: fatherhood? 

Adam Minihan: Yes. One that I never thought I would, I would get to, because I just did not think that was gonna be, that was gonna be me. Mm hmm. My, my dad did it all the time. Yeah. I did not think it was that big of a deal growing up.

I did not think that it was something, you know, Really to, to, like, be concerned about. It’s like three cents for the light to be on. 

David Niles: Especially now with 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: LEDs. So are you feeling, are there more lights being left on? Yes. Is the electricity the issue? Is it? Oh, 

Adam Minihan: that’s not it. It’s not, no, it’s just like It’s the principle of the thing.

Right. It’s about having order and, like, having responsibility in 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: the home. We’re conservatives here. We will conserve 

David Niles: electricity. That’s right. We don’t leave the water running in the sink. That’s right. When you’re not 

Adam Minihan: there, don’t leave the light on. I just did not realize that I was going to come to this.

To this level of fatherhood, but here I am. 

David Niles: Congratulations to you. Yeah, I’ve also been at this level. For a while. And it’s very weird. You know, and it [00:05:00] sneaks up on you. Turn off the lights! A little bit. It does. It’s not like one day You just decide. You put on a new pair of pants and then you’re, you know, that kind of dad.

You just kind of realize, at some point, you hear words coming out of your 

Adam Minihan: mouth and you say, I haven’t heard those words for 20 some odd years. And it was from my 

David Niles: father. Right. Right. Like, Obi Wan Kenobi. It’s like, that’s a name I have not heard in a long time. Yeah, which is very weird. Well, congratulations.

Thank 

Adam Minihan: you. It’s really good about it. Yeah, it’s a true father. All right We’re having this this evening Penelope straight rye whiskey toasted Barrel finished which I’m not sure what kind of finish 

David Niles: What’s the finish 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: barrel? It was I 

Adam Minihan: think actually metal all Yeah, all whiskeys are barrel 

David Niles: finished. I don’t yeah and barrel started and barrel 

Adam Minihan: middled.

Yeah but they do, oh, so here’s, here’s what it is. They, they finish the straight [00:06:00] rye whiskey in a new freshly toasted barrel. Okay. So like it’s a toasted barrel finish. That’s what it’s not. 

David Niles: Oh, it does say toasted. It’s not toasted barrel finish. It’s 

Adam Minihan: toasted 

David Niles: barrel finish. That is confusing because it’s a different size.

The word toasted, different line, different size, 

Adam Minihan: different color. So, 100 proof. It’s a rye whiskey, so it’s gonna have a little bit of bite, a little bit of sting to it. Hopefully. We’re on the Lord’s team. 

David Niles: The winning side. So raise your glass. Cheers. 

Adam Minihan: Cheers to Jesus. Cheers. Cheers. To the, to the risen 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Christ.

And to my goddaughter whose name is Penelope. One of mine. Ooh hmm. Cheers to her. 

Adam Minihan: Shout out to Penelope. Jim, what do you think? 

David Niles: Do you need some time before you, do you need some time before you come up with a yummy 

Adam Minihan: scale? Okay. He’s just so, I mean, he is probably a little rusty. 

David Niles: I mean, 

Adam Minihan: when you look at him, his palate is probably a, like, needs to get back acclimated too.

Yeah. 

David Niles: We’ll let you, [00:07:00] we’ll give, we’ll give you give, we’ll give you a minute or two, Jim, 

Adam Minihan: we’ll, we’ll catch you on, on, on the flip side, 

David Niles: I’m not a rye guy. I mean, I just don’t drink it very often. Mm-Hmm. . It’s not my preference and this is kind of, yep. It’s a rye. I don’t have a lot to say about it because I think it’s probably good as, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: as rye go.

How do you describe that rye flavor? I feel like there’s like a low flavor, I don’t know how to describe it. Is it that lowness 

Adam Minihan: there that I’m, yeah, it’s a, it’s the, it’s a little bit of that burn that, that strength at the very end, that catch that you catch. Also has, because it is toasted, you can almost like.

Smell like burnt marshmallows. How do you toast whiskey? You toast the barrel. You put the barrel on the fire? Like the inside is all 

David Niles: charred. Yeah, sometimes they’ll have a barrel. Upside down on a conveyor belt and then they have like the biggest flamethrower you’ve ever seen and they just char it for like 15 seconds and Like they let they let it have it.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Mm hmm. Take that [00:08:00] whiskey. You’re gonna be toast 

Adam Minihan: Yeah Now father Sean you are the pastor of three 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: parishes three parishes in two counties in two different counties The floor County has County Poto Spiro and Stigler of the towns And I’m also the pastor of every town in between. 

David Niles: That’s true. Even though there’s no church.

You know what? That is interesting. What makes it interesting? I just wouldn’t have thought 

about 

Adam Minihan: Can you be a pastor without the Do you have to have a church to be considered a pastor? You, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Oh, that’s a good question. I never thought about that. You would have to have a territory at least. 

David Niles: Right, yeah, so 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: it like puts it in your And I would assume that you need a location to celebrate the sacraments so that would be the parish.

David Niles: Yeah. I have never thought about, oh, being the pastor of a place where there’s no church, but Missionary, you know? Yeah, but it makes, it does make sense that, hey, this is your 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: territory. At least a territory. 

Adam Minihan: Yeah, it’s [00:09:00] your territory. I’ve always understood it to be like that you’re the spiritual father of all of those, like you’re, you’re, you’re in charge of those souls that are in your quote unquote territory.

You know, it’s not, it’s just like here in Broken Arrow, we have Saint Benedict, But Father Brian Brooks is in charge of more than just the people who go into Yeah. St. Benedict. Walk through the 

David Niles: doors. Actually, because whether you’re Catholic or not. Right. He’s got their soul. Yeah. So you have like the O’Brien triangle between your three parishes.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: You can describe it as 

David Niles: that way. Yeah. As you wish. That’s how I like to, I like to, starting 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: right now, I like to say walk into this triangle. You’re toast. You’re Catholic. This 

David Niles: is 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: You’re like this whiskey. Game over. You’re toasted. You’re toasted. Flamethrower of grace upon your soul. Love it. Sacred heart burning you 

Adam Minihan: up.

And you, you’ve been there for how many 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: years now? Going on completing three years. So two and almost three years. This is my third 

Adam Minihan: year. Okay, and before that you 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: were I was an [00:10:00] associate pastor here in Tulsa, at two different parishes, three here also in Broken Arrow, but at the other church, not y’all’s place, St.

Anne’s, and then one year at the church we call St. Pius. Mm hmm. That’s where I got my Spanish feet underneath me. Nice. Not very well. The people suffered my Spanish, but they suffered it with grace. 

David Niles: Your Spanish 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: now is pretty good, though. It’s, it’s good. I’m just thankful. Yeah, I do 

Adam Minihan: it well, but so this is your first like, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Pastor assignment?

First pastorate. Yeah. I’m the first I’m the pastor. Nice. 

David Niles: Yeah. And you are, how many years a priest? 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Eight. Think seven plus, I think this is almost eight then. Yeah. Yeah. About ready to complete eight years. Praise God. Praise love it. I love it. Yeah. This is 

David Niles: the best eight best. That’s, that’s a, that’s a big year.

It’s like, is it? Well, you know, there’s like the seven, eight year. Seven eight is like. A good number. It’s the, cause it’s the days of creation plus one. Okay, I buy that. You know, like, sometimes in churches you’ll see eight. Like eight pointed [00:11:00] stars. Baptismal, baptismal font has eight sides. Right, because it’s the, it represents the eighth day of creation, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: which is the eternal.

The first day of the new creation would be the seven plus the one. Right, exactly. Just like we heard on Easter Sunday. On the first day of the week. That means seven days have already been completed, and this is day number eight. A new cosmos has arrived. 

Adam Minihan: There you go, yeah. And you’re also a 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: podcaster yourself.

I am, I am. Deep Dives with Father Sean, the Super Catholic Catechesis podcast. This has been inspired by the catechism’s reminder that times of renewal in the Church are inspired by tense moments of catechesis. That’s a quote from the catechism. So, yeah, that’s what I do. Good book. I strive to do it every week.

It’s tough as a pastor. There’s you know, it’s, just to be frank, it’s a lot more exciting to be a pastor than a podcaster. I don’t, I mean, if I had a podcast like y’all’s, this would be super cool. Instead it’s just me doing catechesis. But you know, there’s a market for that. I mean, some people, I know I just met a [00:12:00] girl who I had never met before.

Young lady. And she was like, You should know that I listen to your podcast, and I like it. I was like, Hey, cheers to you. You’re awesome. I knew there were some other awesome people in the world. High five. So You know, there’s some people out there who are like, Yeah, you know, I like the banter. And I like to hear some good Catholic nuggets in the middle of that.

Yeah. And there’s other people who are just like, Just give me the meat. Yeah. And that’s about what I can give. 

David Niles: Sweet. Yeah. And episodes are, how long? 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: I aim for a half an hour, every once in a while. I do go beyond. I do go beyond. 

David Niles: Occasionally the spirit moves 

Adam Minihan: in such a way. Yep. Awesome. Well, in tonight, we’re gonna talk about how to, how to reignite maybe a small town.

Turn them all Catholic. 

David Niles: Light it up. Or evangelizing in a, in a location where there’s not a Catholic church. Culture, right? Cause I think we all, maybe we don’t all live in small towns, but I think we all have 

Adam Minihan: like 

David Niles: moments, moments in life, the office or whatever. [00:13:00] So we’ll get into it. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Bring it on.

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David Niles: And that’s exactly what you’re getting with Select International Tours. So, for more information, go to their brand new website, SelectInternationalTours. com. They have been a sponsor of the Catholic Man Show for a long time now. Even during the COVID pandemic, they were still sponsoring our show. A lot of other tour companies were really shutting down.

These guys were consistent. So, go to SelectInternationalTours. com to find out more information about all the great pilgrimages they offer.[00:14:00] 

Welcome back to the Catholic Man Show, I’m Adam I am David Niles. Most of the time. I have dreams of being Adam Minahan. These got weird 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: real fast. Some are nightmares, some are good dreams, I 

David Niles: guess. Special special guest today is my family resident priest. I don’t know what that What the 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Father Sean O’Brien thinks I’m not a residence, resident at his family.

I live 

David Niles: in a different place. That’s technically true. But I appreciate it. A lot of things you’ve been saying, Dave. It’s just awesome to have a priest in the family. There you go. Is what it is. It is my honor. You should say it that way. Yeah. It’s just I’m the family priest. It’s hard to it’s hard to put that emotion into a title.

I did my best. Okay. So before we before we get on, I just want to tell this story. We did a wishbone today, and I told you guys this story already. Yes. It’s just really funny. I hope so. So [00:15:00] I, you know, I slaughtered a rooster this last week, because the kids were afraid to go outside. Death to Chanticleer.

Chanticleer is dead. Yes. And and And there was much rejoicing. Yes, and we ate him today. We had chicken and dumplings this evening for dinner. It was delicious. And so we had the wishbone, and I was showing my oldest two. It’s like, alright, you both make a wish, and then you break it apart. And they looked at me and was like, what?

And I was like, it’s just a game. Like, it’s not magic. It’s okay. And so, then they did it. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Superstition for some, but 

David Niles: for us, it’s not gonna be. It’s just fun. Okay, make a wish. Okay, it’s fun. And so, Elizabeth won. It’s And I forget what she wished for, but then I asked Mary, I was like, what’d you wish for?

And she’s like, everything. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: It’s like, 

David Niles: what? You can do, it’s a good thing you didn’t win, I guess. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Yeah. That’s too much. 

David Niles: You broke the rules. Too much wishing.

But you’re awesome. Also. I love the big imagination, but also like next time, [00:16:00] magnanimity, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: you won. You won the award of mag. I’m getting most magnanimous. 

David Niles: Most magnanimous Wisher. Yeah. Goes to Mary Niles. Cheers 

Adam Minihan: to Mary. Shout out to my guide. Dot age 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: seven. Yes, that’s right. We should all use her as a model. I want all the graces of God.

Gimme every single charism to the utmost agree . I can use them all. God 

David Niles: please. Chump only asked for one. I want them all! 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Give me yours. Oh wait, God is not limited by this. I will take what you have and 

David Niles: you can share it still. Speaking of embodying all the graces. Over the, the break, you were just talking about what you’re going to be doing in your county, one of your counties, in the O’Brien 

Adam Minihan: Triangle.

Yeah, because we, we were joking, we were like, before the break, we were like, what should we do when we’re, you know, around heathen, a heathen culture, like, you know, the United States, like how do you evangelize? Look at you, California. Everybody, [00:17:00] and then I said, kind of offhand, I said, Well, what you do is you just consecrate that place to Mary and let her do 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: it all.

Yeah, and that is the correct 

Adam Minihan: answer. And that’s what, actually, then 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: you brought up. I’m doing it Monday, baby. It’s happening. Yeah. Monday is the day of the eclipse. More importantly, it’s the day of the annunciation. More locally important, it’s the day of our consecration. Consecration of our Major county 

David Niles: to is this an annual thing or is 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: this something that this is the first time okay?

This is the what we’re doing so you know podo Used to be maybe still is I don’t really know well It used to be the drug capital of Oklahoma, just to be frank, and I think the rest of Oklahoma is just kind of caught up to it. Poto 

Adam Minihan: hasn’t slowed down. Everybody has just upped their 

David Niles: game. Poto started a YouTube channel and everybody else figured out how 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: to look into it.

Yeah, I mean we got places that are like the Spunky’s skunk and they sell marijuana and We put the pot into poto and stuff like that, so it’s still there in [00:18:00] force. Those 

David Niles: are medical 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: facilities, Father Sean. That is true, you have to have some kind of a medical signature. You had to have paid a doctor money.

But, yeah. So anyways, we’re going to give the county to Jesus through Mary because it’s better that way. Back, and this was kind of a long time in the works, and back in the summer, I was like, this has kind of just gotta happen. And so, on the Feast of St. Michael, we kind of have this annual tradition there in Poteau of doing a holy hour for the, just for evangelization in general.

Maybe more specifically for those who have, left the church, that they return. And so we, we prayed some prayers of deliverance. I am an exorcist, but not like an official one, just, just in the nature of my priesthood. So we prayed some deliverance prayers. And then at that point I announced that we will, Consecrate our county to Jesus through Mary and where are you gonna be doing this?

I will do this on the top of the tallest hill in the world Cavanaugh Hill not spelled like you would think c a v a n a l [00:19:00] not like that Maybe was it Scottish or Irish English spelling? I’m not sure. A u g h That’s weird, complicated. We’re simple people in Poto, you know? So, top of the highest hill in the world, on the day of the eclipse, there’s a question if that road is gonna be like jam packed because of the tourists wanting to see the top of the highest hill in the world.

Cuz I would if I wasn’t 

David Niles: down. It’s like, not like a big road. It’s 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: not a big road! There’s hairpin turns, and the hairpin turns are on a road that’s not so hot. Yeah. So if you’re in town, come for the consecration of merit to the tallest hill in the world. If you’re just a tourist. 

David Niles: You can see the eclipse from anywhere.

Yeah, you can see it from anywhere. Like, getting on top of the hill doesn’t make the eclipse 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: better. We are in full totality. The original maps Show that we were not. I guess they like, you will be in full totality. We’ve, we’ve been adopted by a full totality. What? Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. So anyways, we’re, we’re going to consecrate the county to Mary.

Oh man, maybe. We’re giving it to Mary’s name. So what’s, 

Adam Minihan: what’s gonna happen? 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: How do you [00:20:00] do it? We’ll be up there at 530. I will offer prayer. I should do a little research to draw up a little prayer and do it. Unless there’s official prayers already out there. I’m not sure. And then we’re gonna come down, do mass at 7pm.

And at that, then we will also have the opportunity for individuals. To consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary all together. So individually, but all 

David Niles: together. Do you happen to know when the eclipse? I haven’t looked it up. Do you know? It’s midday ish. Okay, so this is after the eclipse. It’s after the eclipse.

Come for the eclipse, stay for the consecration. Yeah, exactly. Mm hmm. It’s gonna be awesome. That is a great idea. Mm hmm. That’s the kind of stuff, like, we need more of. Yeah. I feel like it is, like, outward. Very public things, like processions. I like, I totally, like that just gets me jazzed when I see people doing processions.

Jazzed even. Yeah. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: It does. Not just upset, but jazzed. Yeah. You know, I think a lot of churches have kind of rediscovered, specifically like the Corpus [00:21:00] Christi Eucharistic procession. And for good reason, for good 

David Niles: reason. Cause it is so, it’s like when people see it, I, that’s one of my favorite things. I mean, obviously the best part of a procession is the, the glory and honor it gives to our Lord, consecrated in the Eucharist.

A good second place is seeing the look on other people’s face. Yeah. When they’re driving or walking by, Wow, those people are different. Totally mystified. And you can just tell they, they immediately know. They’re like, what are they doing? Oh, like, and they, they can see what they’re doing. There’s something very special.

Well, it’s kind of like, you 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: know, bring it out the window. Principal evangelist. You know, the priest is not the principal evangelist, the people are not the principal evangelist, the people have a more role in evangelization than I do. But I’ve clearly learned that the one who’s in charge of evangelization and bringing souls to, into unity of the Most Holy Trinity, It’s Jesus.

It’s Jesus. I mean, it’s very clear from my experience. It’s hard to [00:22:00] evangelize, but when God’s involved, He just, like, chooses the people He wants. He’s like, I want you, and I want you, and I want you, and they’re just gonna show up, and that’s, that’s awesome. I don’t want to say, like, we don’t have responsibility because it’s certainly our joy and our privilege and our honor to go out there and share, but we’re not as effective as Him.

Just not. What 

Adam Minihan: I, what I like about when you do processions is, like, the people who, who don’t know really what’s going on, Most of them still exhibit some sort of reverence. They do. They, they, they’re 

David Niles: not, they’re not 

Adam Minihan: sure, like, what’s, what’s taking place. Yet they know, something is different, something is set apart, and I must, you know, and like, they, they, like, become reverent to the best of their abilities as they’re either walking by, or they’re, you know, they may, I’ve seen a lot of guys, you know, just kind of bow their head as it goes by.

Like, they don’t know what’s going on. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: They’ll at least, like, stop and, you know, Be in awe. Right. 

Adam Minihan: Right. Which 

David Niles: is, which is great. Which is, you know, what, like That’s a great You should be the Lord. What a profound moment for them. I mean, that might be the [00:23:00] most profound moment they’ve had in a long time. And so what a gift the procession is for all those people, because I mean, there are just so many people who have zero encounter with the Lord, forget a daily basis.

I mean, you know, maybe every now and then they’re struck by the beauty of something. You know, okay, and they have some contact with a transcendental. But here in this procession, all of a sudden, it’s like, Here’s God! And you don’t know what, but you’re struck by it. Totally. 

Adam Minihan: One thingso, Father, you’re, like we’ve said, you’re a pastor of three parishes, all in small towns.

One thing that I love about small towns, especially in Oklahoma, is the community is strong. It’s still like a sense of there’s still a sense of community like there’s still a sense of Well, maybe at least where I were the small towns that I that I then I’m around maybe not yours in particular But there’s still a sense of [00:24:00] a need or 

David Niles: you just mean like in the town 

Adam Minihan: Like there’s a sense or a need of understanding like that.

We need each other like oh, I you know I I give this guy dear meat. He gives me fish or you know, like There’s a, there’s a sense of camaraderie and neighborliness. And like thinking about the other person, like as a neighbor Oh, I wouldn’t, I’m not going to do that because of this neighbor’s doing, you know, wouldn’t want me to do that during this time or, you know, I don’t, there’s just a sense of cooperation.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: There’s a, that’s an interesting point of conversation because I would say rural. The rural experience kind of leans in two different directions. One is maybe like where there are more like, there is more of an established culture. There are still kind of the old world values. The old world values, I mean, coming from Christ ultimately.

And kind of continuing to pervade culture. And then there’s other towns where it’s just like, the main work is left. And if you have a desire for a job, You’ve left town. [00:25:00] And the people who are left there, you know, they’re just the people who maybe couldn’t get out or something like that. I don’t want to insult anyone.

But it’s, it’s just not the same. And so it’s tough. It’s kind of like, there’s groups that are like, yes, we’re holding on to it. And there’s other groups that are just like, oopsie, we’ve totally dropped off. But 

Adam Minihan: when there are times where it’s like, yes, a lot of people have left that actually yields itself to like, Hey, in order for us to keep going, we have to bond, like we have to work together.

Right. Maybe 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: I, I, that’s, I don’t have a lot of experience with it. That definitely is the ideal. It’s gotta be restored or it’s gotta be found or it’s gotta be made. Right.

Adam Minihan: After the penitential season of Lent, it’s time to celebrate. Easter is the most important season of the church’s liturgical calendar, but we often don’t know how to celebrate it. We can rediscover Easter’s festivities by extending it through the entire season. It’s a full 50 days. I don’t know about you guys, but normally we, [00:26:00] the Minnehans, wake up Easter Sunday to find candy in the Easter baskets.

We go to Mass, we maybe have a family dinner, but then it seems like everything goes back to normal the next day. But Easter is the greatest celebration of the Christian year, and with the Octave of Solemnities and a season of 50 days lasting longer than Lent, We should really be intentional about how we celebrate this.

That’s why I want to invite you to Easter 50 by Exodus 90. Go to exodus90. com and download the app. Easter 50 will help you take advantage of the entire Easter season as a time of festivity. Now we have the right occasion to celebrate and a community to celebrate it with, with our family and our fraternity that we’ve been establishing for over the 90 days.

And all we need to do, in addition, is plan some times to feast and celebrate together. So if you are curious on how to do that, go to exodus90. com, download the app, and join us for Easter 50 as we are sons of the resurrection.[00:27:00] 

Welcome back to the Catholic Man Show. So, we are currently giving away, for their first pie, or, I’m sorry, pie. 50 patrons, there’s 10 more a month. Go to patreon. com slash the catholic command show and you sign up to become a patron. You receive, you will receive two candles, 100 percent beeswax candles, prayer candles for, from Ambrosian Candle Company, made by a good catholic family.

And you can go to brosiancandles. com and look at all of their beautiful candles. But we’re, we’re giving two of them to you as a gift, as a thank you gift for signing up for the first 50. We’ve had quite a few already sign up, but if you go to patreon. com slash the Catholic Man Show, you will most likely be able to squeeze in and get a couple prayer candles.

Something that would be really great for you and your family as you guys are praying through these 50 days of Easter together whether you’re reading, yeah, whether you’re reading the bible or praying the rosary together Dave and I have talked about on the show quite a [00:28:00] bit that the more you can incorporate the the smells and bells so to speak in prayer time with family the the the higher Success rates that you have with engagement with the young kids.

So that’s always a good thing. Fire is the best. 

David Niles: Works on everybody. Works 

Adam Minihan: on me. And we also have, also for our patrons, we have a new, we have a theologian that’s going to be answering questions. So if you have a question on, about the Catholic faith, we have Dr. Aaron Henderson that will be available to you to answer questions about the Catholic faith.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Jesus is the answer. 

Adam Minihan: He has a very easy, he has a very easy job. All he has to 

David Niles: do is Sneak peek. Jesus is the answer. Yeah. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: So anyway, every question. Who is the savior of the universe? Jesus. That is correct. Yeah. You are a theologian. Thank you. You are welcome. I would like a diploma, please. It runs in the family.

Sorry. Yeah. 

David Niles: So Sean, I want to follow up on something you said earlier. When you’re talking about Jesus being the primary Evangelist. Evangelist. [00:29:00] Definitely. Because I think that that’s true and we all have to keep that in mind as we like go about, it’s, I think you’re setting yourself up for failure if you say, I am going to go.

evangelize this person? You know, obviously you need to be, say yes to like the call to evangelization for this person but like if you’re trying to like go in there and win, you know, like I’m gonna go win, I’m gonna have all the right answers and stuff, it’s just probably not gonna go very well. So how do you, and you just like your own experience how do you, that attitude of like, okay, Jesus is the.

The evangelist. What does that actually look like when you’re encountering somebody who you think is like, this is a moment of evangelization? 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: First off, the background is necessary. It means that you pray as if you believe that he’s the primary evangelist. So you have to recognize that when he says, ask, seek, knock, he ain’t jokin Like, if you’re You should be praying a whole lot more than you were [00:30:00] evangelizing because if you don’t ask, well, maybe he won’t answer.

If you don’t seek, maybe you won’t find. If you don’t knock, maybe he’s not gonna answer the door. And I would say he won’t, because of his words. Do you believe that or not? I mean, do you put your knees before the Lord on a regular basis, on an everyday basis, and do you just count on his word? If you’re not praying, it ain’t gonna get done.

You know, I like to think, if God ain’t doing it, it ain’t getting done. And I mean, my experience of those people who have entered So when I first got there, you know, it was right after COVID, kind of all the structures have kind of fallen apart. All the kind of the social, you know, the people have told me that like, oh, yeah, before COVID, we used to get together in all these different ways.

And it was very nice. And after COVID, it has not been the same. And it’s not been the same in a number of different, for different reasons, but. And that’s true kind of all over. Yeah, I would imagine so. And and so I, you know, it’s, the question [00:31:00] is like, who is going to bring the souls to the Lord? And my experience is that a whole, whole lot more people just show up out of the blue than who.

are actually quote unquote evangelized by our members myself or whoever it might be. And, I mean, it’s just awesome! You know, it’s just awesome! You know, it’s just like, God just like, brings people in. My big prayer was like, Lord, bring me leaders, bring me evangelizers, bring me people who can who can lead forth.

Bring me apostolic people. And like, the strange thing was, is like, he didn’t bring forth converts. First off, he just like moved people into the area. We had all of a sudden, all these people who are already like really good Catholics. Just show up out of the blue moving in from like out of state. That was kind of a unique phenomenon maybe my first year there and It’s just like oh, oh my gosh, Jesus.

You’re like answering 

David Niles: my prayer. Yeah, but still like a very visible 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: answer. A clear answer. Yeah, I mean and and you know when I first got there, you know, I had [00:32:00] no idea what I was gonna do, you know, I was a brand new pastor. Three parishes, one’s a half an hour away from my main hub, and the other’s like, 50 minutes away from my main hub.

It’s not a hub, because they don’t come to each other. They’re so far apart. And there’s also the nearby major city of Fort Smith, semi major city of Fort Smith, which is actually in a different state. I serve in Oklahoma, Fort Smith’s in Arkansas, and some of my parishioners are like 10 to 15 minutes away from like the beautiful churches there that have all the family ministry, the beautiful choir, etc, etc.

And what do we have? You have a small church that looks like a metal building that no one made to be a church. Yay, come join us! And it’s just like, well, you know what? People just showed up. I mean, it’s just crazy. It’s awesome. I really, truly dedicated myself to prayer. I’m just not toot my own horn here, but like, I just had no idea what to do.

And I recognized, I truly believed that if God ain’t doing it, it ain’t getting done. And God was, was truly faithful. Truly, truly faithful. [00:33:00] And I mean, it continues to be the case. I mean, people. Just show up out of the blue, you know, they’re like they find Jesus on YouTube, you know They find Jesus just because of they moved from another town and they had already kind of established some kind of a connection with the church and now they’re kind of looking to Finalize this or fulfill what they have been interested in.

I’m just just like whoa, like thank you. Thank you Jesus You do make this very easy You know, I had one guy, I mean, I mean, I could just go on story after story after story. You know, I had one guy, he’s like, Hey Faller. He called me up. I had never met him before. Hey Faller, grew up in Stigler and I moved away, met a girl.

She was Catholic. We got married. I became Catholic and I’m about ready to move home and I want to sit down and talk with you about how we can evangelize Stigler. I was like, well, we can sit down and we can talk about that and do it. Yes, please. I’m ready for this. Yeah, and let’s 

David Niles: skip the talk and just do it now.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: But you know, I mean it takes a little bit of it. I mean this guy surely has the gift [00:34:00] of the charism evangelization But it’s also like okay, you’re in like a huge spiritual high So we’re also gonna have to like recognize like, you know, First off, you have to, like, be friends with people, you have to establish, like, a, a bridge of trust.

And, you know, for people who have just come to the church, some people will intuit that, and other people will just be like, Okay, slow down, slow down, slow down, like, you know, you don’t, don’t burn your bridges. You’re with your zeal. Mm hmm. Just gonna, you know, make a bridge. Be a friend to them. Be a friend, make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ.

Right. Yeah. 

Adam Minihan: So, what, so one of the, and maybe this is, You, you didn’t bite on the whole community aspect. Oh yes, I forgot about that. My, my, and so maybe this is the wrong angle or, or the wrong direction, but I have found in, where, where I’ve been in the small towns is that while maybe community might be lacking at times, there are still events that happen in small towns that yield itself The need to gather together, right?

So whether it’s a wedding or a [00:35:00] funeral or something where, where something is happening, where you’re getting people together in one, in one place. And I have found that in a lot, in several small towns, it’s, it’s typically the Catholic church. That they gather, like the Catholic Hall you know, that they, that they either rent out, or they, you know, they use Even for people who aren’t Catholic?

Yeah, even for people who are not Catholic, because it’s like, that’s just the place that is, is available. And so, I guess, I guess my question, like, the important, I guess, the importance of making sure that when you have that opportunity that you are, that you are ready. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Always being ready is certainly an excellent key and to jump on those opportunities.

I will say at none of my three parishes, we are like a community center. We don’t operate as a community center. The community sees us as kind of a fringe community. There’s not a lot of trust with the Catholic Church. I mean rural Oklahoma, there’s there’s fundamentalists all over the place. Yeah, 

David Niles: it’s rural Oklahoma is a Drastically [00:36:00] non 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Catholic.

So I would say that the people, I mean, they’re enough postmodern to be like, oh, they’re at least nice people, you know, we can, we can at least talk with them without, you know, hating their guts, but I mean, they kind of like worship Mary and they kind of are like, Weird and I don’t really want my kids to hang around with their, it’s not quite as bad as we don’t want their kids, they don’t want their kids to hang around with our kids, but, but there is a lack of distrust.

I will say a huge, I see a huge part of my role as kind of the, maybe in a certain sense of the principal evangelist, Jesus is the principal evangelist, as I said. But my big role as kind of being the public face would be to be the bridge of trust. To be that bridge of trust. I make little YouTube videos and I pay YouTube to put that in front of a lot of people.

And you know, they’re just simple messages. Simple messages. I’m not like quote unquote like trying to convert people, but I am trying to be a bridge of trust. Because, you know, the priest who comes after me, the [00:37:00] people who are out there talking with these people, you know, they’re going to be able to receive, they’re going to be able to kind of receive the harvest in a way that, that I can’t, you know, I don’t know these people personally.

They don’t know me, they don’t trust me, but if they see my collar, they recognize that I’m a Roman Catholic priest, and if they kind of recognize, like, eh, he’s actually got a reasonable message, he’s not crazy. So I do that with YouTube, you know, I had a little editorial in the newspaper for a while. And you know, this past Holy Thursday, I spoke at an kind of little, just a little prayer service, ecumenical prayer service, which I thought was actually very nice.

Different churches kind of got together in a little town of Stigler and And it was the first time that I preached the genre of devotion. And then you’ll give a little devotion father. I was like, okay, I think that means I just preach And try to bring people to a higher devotion. So it’s the first time I did that genre But I think it went great, and you know, a lot of people told me afterwards, that’s the first time that we’ve ever had a Catholic priest.

Like, period. So it’s like, just being that bridge of trust, because with that bridge of trust, no one’s gonna [00:38:00] listen. No one’s gonna pay attention. 

Adam Minihan: Okay. So, I mean, there’s obviously different obstacles that you have to overcome. Interesting. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Holy Spirit overcomes, but it takes time. Yeah. Barring miracles.

I think 

Adam Minihan: that the key there is like, how do we get the community involved? Right? We’ll talk about that on the break.

David Niles: Welcome back to the Catholic Man Show. I’m David Niles, here with Adam Minahan and our special guest, Fr. Sean O’Brien. Hi. Jim. Jim, the yummy scale is here. What is the yummy scale? A 3. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: A

David Niles: 3. And is that out of 5? Are we still out of 5? [00:39:00] Yeah, whatever. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Whatever. I’m a 3 out of 5, or I’m 3 out of 

David Niles: 10, whatever 3 out of whatever you think. 

Adam Minihan: 3 out of 3. What did you wish for? Everything. Everything. 3 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: is the magic number. It’s the Trinitarian number. You 

David Niles: should have heard the way she said it. It wasn’t everything, it was everything.

It was like a definitive everything. I wished for everything. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: I wanted all, dad. It was so awesome. 

David Niles: I will take it all. Okay, so Oh yes, this is gonna be fun. If if you don’t check out our YouTube channel, you really should because In between breaks, we end up talking about the best things. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: We strategize, it’s excellent, it’s fun, it’s good.

David Niles: Sometimes stuff we say in the break is way better than all the other stuff. So we were talking about, in between the break, about feasting. Feasting, yes! And I’m so glad that we’re moving in this direction because, like, I think festivals and moments of communal joy that you have, like a, if you have a [00:40:00] parish festival, I’m gonna, let me come about this from a kind of a roundabout way.

Roundabout. One, one way, one thing I think a lot of people, myself included, and I, I try not to get hung up on this, about evangelizing is, I feel reticent sometimes to invite someone to mass with me. Because I, they’re gonna, I know that they’re gonna be, feel out of place, no matter, no matter how welcoming I am, and if I was, you know, like, occasionally when that happens, you know, I’ll tell them a little bit about, hey, this is what we’re gonna do, it’s, and, you know, make them try to feel welcome, but then, like, oh, when they come to receive communion, are, are they gonna go receive communion?

And so, like, if I’m just telling people willy nilly, you should go to Catholic Church on Sunday, you know, rightly or wrongly, I don’t know, Where my hang up is rightly placed here. I’m just a little bit reticent to do that out of my Reverence for the Eucharist that people might be Illegitimately receiving communion through no fault of [00:41:00] their own right, but I think a lot of people share that 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: hesitancy for sure I mean, it’s like you show up to mass and you’re like, well, that was weird I don’t, that was just weird.

I don’t really feel called to come back again. Huh. Yeah. Right. 

David Niles: However. However. The flip side of that There’s something more awesome to come to! Is like, when you have a parish festival, when you have a celebration of some kind, where you’re getting together and it’s just a feast of, or a communal joyous occasion, those are the moments When, like, unload the bus, bring everybody you know, like, if, if your parish does a festival, definitely invite all your neighbors because for them to come together and see a community that is just, you know, eating, lots of children playing, and it’s just like, like, I think those are the moments where people are going to say, Hey, this is something I want to be a part of.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Yeah. So, you know, you’re, it’s good that you are particularly excited about [00:42:00] that because I will say That your parents have been my principal educators in having a good party. Between the New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve party, July 4th, you know, Christmas. It’s just like, holy smokes, you know, there’s a, this ain’t that hard, and this can be so awesome.

You know, you bring good people together for a good reason, and you have good food, with some kind of good activity, or maybe even more than one. And it’s just like, boom, you know, you just had an awesome party. So, like this is a clear strategy for me as a pastor because it is kind of a simple and accessible platform for people to bring people to, but it’s also helpful because so many of the people you know, in, in so many ways, the Catholics, the people who grew up Catholic, they’re, are toast.

They’re gone. And it’s just super, super sad. Whether in rural Oklahoma they’ve moved away, Or they’ve just, like, dropped off the bandwagon. Mm. So, so many of our people have either moved [00:43:00] from out of state, as Catholics, or have moved into the Church as converts. I guess technically we don’t call them converts, because, by and large, they are already followers of Jesus, but not in the Catholic Church, not in the fullness of that following.

So, you know, this is an opportunity for us to be like, by the way, everyone should know that like, Celebrating, we have the best to celebrate, so we should celebrate the best. I love to tell my people that. We have the best to celebrate, so we should celebrate the best. So, you know, my goal is to like, have these annual traditions.

People know that these excellent celebrations are coming up, and they know what to do on these occasions. We don’t have to invent every, the wheel every single dang time. Sure. So like in, you know, one of our, our festivals is in October. We call it Merry Fest. It’s not October Fest, it’s Merry Fest.

And we kind of have some non lyrical October Fest music playing in the background, you know, I guess the accordions and whatnot, but we, we began with, We began with the rosary before mass, then we had mass, and then we had [00:44:00] bobbing for apples, which was super fun. I had the unique privilege of going first, and I discovered that it was harder than I anticipated.

And then we kind of went from the youngest upward, and the adults got involved. You know, I believe in games and activities that both children and adults can play. And adults can play in. Yes. So, bobbing and apples is one of them. So, after that, we went inside and we had, like, excellent German food.

And then, like, I invited the guys up and we sang a Marian song. It’s just like, boom, baby. We just had Oktoberfest and it was awesome and everyone loved it. Another one that we’ve done, well, another one that’s coming up is kind of a festival for Divine Mercy. And we’re gonna do, like, a procession while we sing the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

And we’re gonna have some excellent food, Vietnamese food. Cause they were here. Are you having pho? I don’t think we’re having pho, I don’t remember. They sent me the, the menu and it was like Whoa, this is rather an extensive menu, cause y’all are super awesome, they just love, love, love to be generous.[00:45:00] 

And so we’re gonna do that, and then we’re gonna have a piñata, and because it’s Divine Mercy, the piñata will have how many points on it? Eight. Okay. Try it again, you’re close. Seven. Seven, because of the seven Sacraments. No. Because of the seven deadly sins. And so you will def you will destroy those sins because of divine mercy, okay?

You will uphold Wait. Jesus. The seven Jesus. Because of Jesus. Because of Jesus destroys the seven deadly sins. That’s right. I mean, that’s a piñata. I mean, isn’t that awesome? Like Yeah. You destroy the seven deadly sins when you hit a piñata with seven points. And so we’re gonna like do that and then we’re gonna do a little karaoke.

It’ll be a little bit of experiment I think we have enough people who will be willing to do a little karaoke. Are you good? Will you karaoke? Again, the priest will have the privilege of going first. Yes. If not the privilege, he will at least be Setting the stage for everyone else to come back from. If not the privilege, 

David Niles: he will go first.

Setting 

Adam Minihan: the bar low for 

David Niles: everyone else to feel better. He will go first, anyway. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: It’s kinda like, you know, you’re [00:46:00] like snowshoeing It’s like, ugh, who wants to go first in snowshoeing? Or you’re like trying to break new territory And it’s like, it’s harder, and so like The priest will do it. He will go first.

He will, he will put his His pride in the line and just make a fool of himself and do it and everyone will be like, That’s awesome! Yay! I want to do it too! That’s the ideal world. Such 

David Niles: a great priest, Father Sean. That’s real fatherhood 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: right there. You know, another one we do is, Do you do the Easter fire?

For the Easter vigil? No, like I don’t know what you 

Adam Minihan: mean by that. So, I Okay, so, one of the old traditions in the Catholic faith was that after Easter, you have an Easter fire. You have an Easter fire. The light of Christ, you spread it around, the warmth of Christ you know, with the risen Christ. And so, like, people would gather together for basically a dinner potluck type of thing, and then they would have a big bonfire, like, a massive bonfire all together.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: The simple answer is no, we have not done that. But I will say that I have been trying to get one of my communities to have [00:47:00] like a big ol bonfire for Pentecost. Fire of the Holy Spirit. Sure. And no one’s really bid on that. I’m like, this is like the clearest, most obvious, most awesome opportunity. And everyone’s like, let’s do something else on another day.

I was 

David Niles: like, okay. Do we not have any men here who will light a fire? 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: So, you know, another like great activity for like kids and adults is like pin the beard on St. Joseph. I don’t know. Pier Pin the Beard and the Saint, and it’s so fun. It’s also a great one for a bilingual community. Two of my communities are bilingual.

Not an easy task, but you know, not an unreasonable task. And you just gotta like, you know, bobbing for apples. You can do that, doesn’t matter what language you speak. Doesn’t matter what age you are. So you’re not talking while you’re bothering me. Pin the beard on the saint, or pin the crown on Mary. You know, those are things that we have done, and it’s like, you shout in whatever language you want, and the person will get close or not get close, and that’s fine, that’s awesome.

And it’s just a good time. And and people will yell [00:48:00] in English, in Spanish, if we had Vietnamese people there, they would probably yell in Vietnamese, I don’t know. And it’s the 

David Niles: kind of thing that you can invite people to. Oh, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: totally, totally. Because it’s like, it’s not like intimidating, like, what am I going to have to do?

Am I going to have to kneel and genuflect and like, prostrate myself? Am I going to have to make the sign of the cross? Are you going to force me to do anything? It’s like, am 

David Niles: I going to have to say the sinner’s 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: prayer? Just come and have fun, yeah, like, This is just awesome. We love Jesus. We love the saints.

So come and just have a good 

David Niles: time. And it’s not, because There’s, you know, two sides to the coin. One side is, no, like, we need to go for, go big on these, like, conversations. It’s like, no, you need to accept Jesus as your, you know, like, you know, the charisma and, you know, like, and you can scare people away with the high pressure kind of stuff.

The other side is, like, oh, don’t ever bring that up. Just be like a really great guy, and eventually, they’ll ask you, okay, and I think both of those And then you 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: can refer to them to the priest because you don’t have the guts or the knowledge to like answer that. Right, 

David Niles: exactly. Both of those miss the mark.

But when you’re [00:49:00] having a party that’s so, it’s like, oh, this is about the Annun. We’re celebrating the Annunciation. This is an Annunciation party. You know? And then like that kind of sets a backdrop that you know, it’s not, oh, just a party. Just ’cause we like to party and we’re great people and you should come hang out with us more often.

It’s like, no, no, no, we’re actually celebrating a real thing and, like, it’s something that’s, like, casual to talk about. Like, oh, we’re celebrating the, thank you for coming to our annunciation party, you know, 

Adam Minihan: like, Well, I mean, Pieper says that you actually can’t celebrate without it being, Yes, correct.

Religious. It’s not a real celebration, 

David Niles: anyway. It has to be 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: oriented towards the eternal in one way or the other. Yeah. 

David Niles: So, festivals, high, like, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Aim high. Aim high. And laypeople, please, take some initiative. You know, jump in there. You know, if you expect your priest to do it all, he ain’t gonna do it all, cause he can’t.

So he needs you, he needs you. Take initiative. Be a man. I once heard Cause you’re a Catholic man, listening to the Catholic man 

David Niles: show. I once heard it said that shepherds don’t make sheep, sheep [00:50:00] make sheep. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Exactly, I love that. 

Adam Minihan: We’re out of time on Catholic Radio, go check us out on thecatholicmanshow. com where on the Lord’s team, the winning side, surveys your glass.

Cheers. Cheers to Jesus. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Sheep make sheep. You know, I mean, that’s another thing. I mean, I had this one guy, he’s like, Yeah, like you know, we need to really invest in what we’re doing to the church. Like, money makes money. I was like, Yes, but using that same logic, we’ll also say that faith makes faith. You know, you can’t just throw money at a problem.

Like, If you throw money at a problem, it’s just money at a problem. But if maybe like help a lot, if you like, you can, if you like hire someone who comes into your air from outside and brings a lot of faith, that’s like, Whoa, okay. You just bought faith. Like you can’t quite buy faith, but you moved faith.

You redistributed the faith. And that’s, that’s a game changer. I mean, so like, you know, just. Connecting, you know, it’s it’s strange like the we live in such like a bureaucratic world that people are almost expecting the faith to come At them in a bureaucratic way and [00:51:00] so and it’s it’s hard to break out of that model But I think you can also like use that model, you know, you can connect people with Retreats, you can connect people with, you know, one thing that we’ve done is connect people with Cursillo, with our Hispanics, the, the Charismatic Renewal has been huge they’re, you know, a lot of times I think people give them a bad name for different things, but they’ve been like totally awesome, and they’re like deeper members of our church than like anyone else in the sense of like deferring to the pastor and 

David Niles: different things like, they definitely, they definitely do not lack it.

active participation In the 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: faith. Yeah, I know. I mean ours are different ours are different I mean, it’s a whole different experience in the hispanic community. They like are like they follow the international constitution There’s a written out constitution to it and they follow it of the charismatic renewal.

Huh. They’re not just like people Praying in a charismatic way. That’s an element of what they do, but they follow, like, the constitution. Really? With, and, and they, like, put together, like, a program of evangelization. So, the [00:52:00] people from out of our state in Arkansas have, literally, they come and they do retreats at our campus because of the organization that they have.

There are some designated to be evangelizers outside of their parish, and because of the organization, they can, like, designate people to do that, and so they’ve made a huge influence where we’re at. And now, I mean, Podo’s like five times the size of either of my parishes. Five or six times bigger, size bigger than either of my other two parishes.

And now they’re reaching out to the other one that’s, that’s bilingual. And it’s, it’s like they’re starting up their own little community there. And they’re like heroic. They’re great. They’re excellent. I mean, I am surprised that You know, I know other circles, and they’re just not supported. It’s just like, well, I mean, when they’re like following the, the constitution that’s like established, maybe not established by the church, but approved by the church.

Mm hmm. It’s just like, these guys are like, they are the best. They’re the best, because they are the most evangelical, [00:53:00] evangelistic, Of, of any of the people that I have my faith in. I’m really glad to hear that. Yeah. Oh, they’re, they’re superb. I really am. I have great trust in them. I don’t mind saying that publicly.

Can 

David Niles: I, I want to ask you, I want to ask a evangelization question from kind of a different angle. Maybe more of an interior angle. And I’m just reflecting on my own attempts, failures, and successes. in evangelization. And I, I look back and think about a lot of opportunities I had where you know, the Lord pretty clearly, in hindsight, put a moment of evangelization in front of me.

You know, like something that just came up in a natural conversation and I wasn’t, I was caught off guard, and I just, I missed it. And, immediately afterwards, after that conversation was over, I was like, Ugh! I totally missed, I totally dropped the ball there. And so, when I try to overcorrect, you know, then I try to like, oh, [00:54:00] constantly, I’ve had moments where I was like, over, trying to be over ready, you know, and then, 

Adam Minihan: I can’t imagine Dave being over ready.

You can see how 

David Niles: that would go 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: poorly. Brother, you should become Catholic today. Yes! Jesus loves you, and if you don’t love Jesus, you’re going to hell. Come in. Shut the 

David Niles: door. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: That’s right. I have something to tell you. You’re gonna be here for a minute. 

Adam Minihan: You 

David Niles: cannot, you cannot leave until we, until you agree to this.

So and like, as I’ve gotten older, hopefully a little bit wiser, I like, starting, starting to feel more about like, my focus on those two things about, oh, like, being ready, or like, not, like, that’s putting my attention in the wrong spot. And I, I really want your feedback on, on this. The way I feel about it now is just to like constantly be, instead of being focused on readiness for evangelization, I think about now being just present with Christ as I go about my day.

And as I’m pre if I am present with Him, [00:55:00] then I will, I will be, I will simply be ready. If I just have a, a focus on Him, then sort of that affection for Him will prompt me to want to say something. When that moment comes, because I, you know, if I, if it’s a big if, and it’s, it’s like a huge struggle for me and so what are you asking me to go instead of like being focused on 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: evangelization, what’s the proper like attitude I should have?

Yes, yes, you know, I think that’s an excellent question because I mean, we’ve all been there and we’ve all recognized that we’ve missed opportunities and like, how can I prepare my heart for those opportunities? You know, the, the proper motivation ultimately is love. I think it is also a duty. It’s a responsibility.

I mean, if kind of like what I was saying earlier, if you have the best to celebrate the world, you should celebrate the best. If you have discovered the greatest treasure in the world, and you strengthen that treasure by sharing it, you kind of [00:56:00] got the duty to share it. You know, it’s gonna be better for you, it’s gonna be better for everyone, and you should feel that responsibility.

And then, you know, and it might start out as a responsibility, but I mean, if you dive into that responsibility, recognizing that that Jesus is going to be the principal evangelizer in whatever context, then you will enter more deeply into prayer, and as you deepen your prayer life, you’ll deepen your love for the Lord, and that will purify your motivations above and beyond that of duty and responsibility.

And so, you know, exactly what you’re saying there, To be in the presence of God every moment, you know, to kind of recognize and to appreciate and to cultivate that, that, that truth of the sacrament of the presence of God in every moment. That this moment right here is now an opportunity for me to love God because He’s present here.

And all I have to do is obey Him and listen to Him and it is a beautiful privilege for me to do that right here, right now. Whether [00:57:00] it’s I’m talking with someone or I’m reading a book or You know, it’s someone who’s kind of opened a door. You know, it’s tough. I don’t have the gift of evangelization. I got people at my churches who are much better at evangelizing than me.

I feel that my charisms are much more oriented towards, like formation of my people. But I will nonetheless say that, like, you know, I’m just like anyone else. Like, I gotta be always ready. And I desire to share the faith. But I just, like, don’t really know. Like, I mean, St. Paul, I mean, is also a model.

Because he prays, I forget where it is in his letters, but he prays that God will open a door for him to share the gospel. And, and that’s true. It’s, it’s again, God, Jesus is the principal evangelist. He opens the door, not just in the opportunities that we experience at the external level, but he opens the door in people’s hearts for them to like hear the truth in a unique and new way.

And so just always being ready with, with love and like, with a [00:58:00] desire, like, I’ve actually found the best thing in the world. And I would love to share this. Will someone give me an opportunity, please? I’m looking for it. Does that answer your question? 

David Niles: Yeah. So, maybe if I rephrase, yes, you did answer my question.

Yes. And I think I would rephrase what I was trying to say is that instead of actually focusing on evangelization, if we focus on our constant desire for Christ. That desire for him. I mean, it’s like we are just really ardently loving him. Like, we’ll be 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: done. Like, kingdom come because your kingdom is awesome.

It’s the best. Yes. Everyone should enter into this, please. Why are people 

David Niles: not? That moment when you have an opportunity, you will, you will, you won’t let it pass you by because out of your just affection and love for, it’s like, Oh, I have, I have so glad you asked, because like, I have this thing that I just absolutely adore, and I have to tell you about it.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: And that’s the height of holiness. It’s, it’s charity. And this is why the saints are gonna be much more profound evangelizers than I could ever be. I mean, please God, he makes me a [00:59:00] saint today, if not today, tomorrow. But I mean, St. John Vianney popping down in Pote, Oklahoma, you know, he’s a game changer. I mean, he radically changes the nature of what, what we’re doing there at the parish.

And or, you know, or of a layperson, too. You know, they can be saints as well, and that’s gonna be a huge game changer. 

Adam Minihan: I find that there’s a strong relationship between somebody who’s a very good evangelizer and somebody who’s a very good listener. Because I find that there’s, most people, like, in order to evangelize, you need to hear their story, you need to listen to them, and you actually, like, understand where they’re coming from and like what their actual struggles are.

Because like you can sit there and be like, listen to my prayer life. Look how awesome this is. This is so great. I want you to have this because it’s so great. Listen to me. It’s like, well, hold on. That’s not even what they’re needing right now. Yeah. And so in order to have, to be a very, you know, Like a strong evangelist, like people want to be loved and so in order to be loved they, you know, most of them they have to tell their [01:00:00] story, or they have to like, share their life with you in order to build that trust, like you were talking about earlier, in order to build, to have those meaningful, deeper conversations.

It’s one of the things that I, you know, I think that just, as I’ve gotten older and doing, you know, You know, trying to share Christ with people, I’ve learned that I’ve become much more successful doing so actually just by listening to that person and understanding them, like, and what they’re wanting to convey, because there’s a lot of times I have so many things that I want to tell them that they’re not either ready for, or they don’t, they’re not interested in, or that they, like, that’s not what they’re asking.

Fr. Sean O’Brien: No, I think that’s a totally good point, and just to give you an example, I remember when I was My first year or two in ministry this guy was telling me like, Hey, Father, I’d love to invite you out for dinner and talk with a few things with you. And he was serving at the church, but he wasn’t going to Mass.

But he grew up Catholic, and so there was some kind of disconnect. And so we went out for lunch. And, and he was just telling me all kinds of [01:01:00] different things, and Nothing like crazy, crazy deep, but he was, he was being sincere, and I was like, Oh, I want to tell you something right now, but hey, you know what?

I just, I just feel the sense that like, I should wait and pause and just, this is just kind of a listening time, you know, you know, this is a relationship here, like, he doesn’t have to be converted today, unless he dies tomorrow, but you know, it doesn’t look like he’s going to. So, you know, I just said like, Okay, I’m listening.

I hear you. Okay. God bless you and, and we concluded the lunch next time I saw him and he said, Oh, father, thank you so much. The advice that you gave me was so excellent. And he started going to church like every Sunday. I was like, I made the conscious decision not to say anything. 

David Niles: I don’t even know 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: what I said to you.

In fact, I made the decision to say nothing. 

David Niles: Father, Father, I totally, I know for a fact I didn’t say 

Adam Minihan: anything. I know, I know that to be the case, right? There are times where I have actively chosen That’s 

David Niles: amazing. And that man was Adam Minahan. Yeah! And we finally 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: got him back in the church! 

Adam Minihan: [01:02:00] Yes! But I, I, I too have made conscious decisions, decisions of like, I have so many things I want to say right now, but I’m not going to.

And I like, pull back and actually don’t say 

David Niles: things. Which is hard because like, I love, like, because I want to, when 

Adam Minihan: you know something, you wanna share it 

David Niles: because it’s a good thing and you’re doing so many things wrong and that, like, these are the, this is the reason you’re, you’re talking to me about how you’re unhappy.

I know why you’re unhappy, but like, I, if I tell you you’re not ready yet, it’s to, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: it’s gonna overload. But no, I have met a number of people who, you know, they do have unique charisms to be able to like see into people’s lives. Yeah. And you know, the first thing they do is they say that because they recognize this grace comes from God.

And if it comes from God, therefore it means that I must say it. But there’s a, there’s a second discernment there. The first discernment is, is this truth of the Holy Spirit? And the second discernment is, is this given to me in order to say it? Or is it just given to me As a particular gift in this conversation because I’ve seen it go well, and I’ve seen it go poorly Yeah, and it [01:03:00] really is kind of a discernment.

Mm hmm. It’s kind of Fascinating 

Adam Minihan: and the interesting thing look kind of like what you said Is that when you make that decision to actually not say say things the next time you talk to them? They do say stuff like that was such a great conversation. It’s like well, actually it wasn’t a conversation. It was you talking, right?

Yeah, but it But you thought it was a good conversation because you actually needed that time to, to share. Because maybe you haven’t had that opportunity, or whatever it is. And then I find that once you start doing that, people actually think, Oh, you’re, you know, you’re so great at having these conversations and like evangelizing you realize like, well, actually all I’m doing is, It’s just being there for that person and 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: listening to them.

Have y’all done a topic on like the five thresholds of conversion by Sherry Wydell? No. 

Adam Minihan: From Intangible Disciples? No, 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: we haven’t. I recommend just like the five, five thresholds because it’s just like, it’s like point blank. This is where someone’s at and this is how you can advance them forward. You’re not going to [01:04:00] do it all in a day.

In a day, in a conversation, but like you can, you can walk with them and help them to come to the next step, next level, next threshold, threshold, meaning like doorway and walk through that next door. I think that’d be a great topic because trust is the first. If there’s no trust, you as an evangelizer, you’re going to have no luck, no, no, no fruit, no luck.

But you know, the grace might be poured out there. But the person is not disposed to receive it and if there’s like no curiosity after the trust I will what makes this guy different. Why does he celebrate these Saints? What makes The saying’s awesome, like, and then, you know, can you move on from there?

I would recommend just those five little thresholds are, would be great. Father, 

Adam Minihan: thanks so much for hanging out with us this evening. My joy, love being with you. The podcast again for people to come and check out. Deep 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Dives with Father Sean. S E A N. The Super Catholic Catechesis Podcast. I love saying that last part.

The Super Catholic Catechesis Podcast. 

David Niles: It is pretty good. 

Adam Minihan: [01:05:00] Awesome. Anything else? 

David Niles: You good? No, thank you, Father Sean. 

Adam Minihan: You’re on the Lord’s team. The winning side. So raise your glass. 

Fr. Sean O’Brien: Cheers to Jesus. Cheers. Ding, ding.