Ep. 36: Fr Bill Byrne - Talks about living in the now and how to tune into peace - Wash Archdiocese
Father Bill Byrne, Priest at the Archdiocese of Washington and Our Lady of Mercy
Father Bill Byrne is a chronically hopeful person. He is the priest of the Archdiocese of Washington (and a radio and YouTube star) and currently serves as the pastor of Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac Maryland. He was the chaplain at the University of Maryland, Pastor of St. Peter's on Capitol Hill and secretary for social concerns for the Archdiocese of Washington. More importantly Father Byrne is a friend and his beloved in our community where he serves.
In this podcast Father Byrne talks about how his chosen profession is a never ending source of fun and joy even in the midst of really challenging moments. He sheds light on the healing and transformation the Catholic church has faced in recent years and what he sees for the future.
He believes that many people think they will be happy when they get retired and can relax. “But it's a shame because everything is being revealed in the now. So happiness is not a destination. Happiness is a by product of doing good and of being yourself”, he explains. He goes on to add, “Happiness is the experience of being in the right place and embracing wherever you are. There are many roads, but you know which is the right road, and when do follow that road as lovingly and joyfully as possible then you will know peace.”
Father Byrne believes that his job involves 90% listening, which he does as a daily practice of meditative prayer with God for one hour a day. He also listens to the younger priests by having dinners, and listens in weekly staff meetings -- which he invites everyone. He says “I want as many ears hearing an issue as we possibly can.”
He lost 50 pounds with one simple change to his diet, cutting out sugar. He explains that “If a cracker has sugar in it, it probably has twenty nine ingredients. If the cracker has no sugar it probably has only four ingredients.” Avoiding sugar essentially meant avoiding processed foods.
More From Fr. Bill Byrne
Official Website http://adw.org
Twitter @FrBillByrne
Instagram @washarchdiocese
Five things with Fr Bill Byrne YouTube Channel
Recommended Books
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
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Show Notes
[02:36] And my mother said you know I'd love to have a son who's a priest -- I'd hate to have one who was a priest.
[03:05] I was ordained a priest at 29. I went to the seminary at 24. And then it's been a fabulous roller coaster ride ever since.
[03:16] This year is my 25th anniversary of being a priest and I'm more joy filled and more delighted each and every day. It's a never ending source of fun and joy even in the midst of really challenging moments.
[03:40] I am a chronically hopeful person… Easter didn't end with death it ended with new life.
[04:24] There's these signs of life and vitality which I think just proof of my own instinct that God is bringing new life continually -- so it's not the time to walk away. It's the time to step forward and be a messenger of hope. And of course a time of healing for victims and for those who have suffered at the hands of the church and the ministers -- all of this is about bringing new life.
[05:11] And I think it's a really exciting time not just to be a priest but to be a lay person engaging in this whole process of healing.
[05:55] I think radio silence is a big mistake on anybody's part.
[06:15] People were angry, and I knew they weren't angry at me, but I was the only face that they could talk to.
[07:03] It's a current issue, in that we're discovering things now that happened in the past. But statistically the drop off is 20 years old in terms of when these atrocities most of them happened and many of them are 30 40 years ago. So I think it was shocking because there was this sense of cover up.
[07:36] They were trying to preserve unity by avoiding scandal and little did they know that every time that they move somebody sort of underneath the surface -- unity was cracking up. As soon as that all came tumbling down then there was a greater disunity than if we had just dealt with it as we now know we should have.
[07:59] A broken heart a broken heart lets light in, and lets love in, and sometimes it takes that pain in order for us to really become most fully alive.
[09:31] (The Priesthood) It's not something I do, it's who I am.
[09:41] I believe the job of being a pastor is about 90 percent listening. And most people think it's about 90 percent talking. I think the more listening you can do -- the number one listening is to God, to Jesus. So I do a holy hour every day. I spend an hour in meditative prayer and spiritual reading. And I do that every day.
[10:48] I have a weekly staff meeting and I invite everybody the secretaries everybody involved. I want as many years hearing an issue as we possibly can.
[12:10 ] Many people think that in this culture that happiness is a goal -- like I want to achieve happiness and then they end up setting themselves up for that sort of next thing. So when my kids get into high school or my kids get into college then I'll be able to relax and when I get retired or whatever there people are constantly living in a “not yet”. But it's a shame because everything is being revealed in the now. So happiness is not a destination. Happiness is a by-product of doing good, of being yourself.
Happiness is not the destination, it's the experience of being in the right place and embracing wherever you are.
[13:17] It's more like the many roads -- but you know which is the right road -- and you follow that road correctly and try to do it as lovingly and joyfully as possible and then you know peace.
[17:39] God's constantly speaking to us. And we're usually not tuned in. It's like we're in the TV section at Best Buy and there's 15 TV is going on.
[17:47] So when God's trying to blink over here we're staring at the one about our radiator or the dry cleaner or how we're mad at our kid or whatever is on all these TV. And suddenly when a tragedy strikes those TV's go dark and then they're able to see those God moments those angel wings, God wings, whatever you want to call them.
[20:40] If a cracker has sugar in it, it's got twenty nine ingredients. If it doesn't have sugar in it it's has four. Well I don’t need monosodium glutamate, at least probably not in my body
[20:59] That was a huge redo for me. It forces you to eat healthy because you're not eating any processed foods.
[27:43] There will always be another party if you miss one, don't be too sad, because it's going to be one just like it next week.
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““People are constantly living in a “not yet”. But it's a shame because everything is being revealed in the now. Happiness is not a destination. Happiness is a by-product of doing good, of being yourself.” – Fr. Bill Byrne
“There will always be another party if you miss one, don't be too sad, because it's going to be one just like it next week.” - Fr. Bill Byrne
“If a cracker has sugar in it, it's got twenty nine ingredients. If it doesn't have sugar in it it's has four. Well I don’t need monosodium glutamate, at least probably not in my body.” - Fr. Bill Byrne
“It's more like the many roads -- but you know which is the right road -- and you follow that road correctly and try to do it as lovingly and joyfully as possible and then you know peace.” - Fr. Bill Byrne
“Sometimes it takes that pain in order for us to really become most fully alive.” - Fr. Bill Byrne
Keywords
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