0:00:00 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
This week on they that Hope. We talk just a little bit about sports, but we talk a lot about my conversation with an astronaut which I'm very jealous that I wasn't a part of.

0:00:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
We also get to talk about the conclave and memorable masses. You can check out this episode and many more at theythathopepodcast.com. Come Welcome to they that Hope, with Father Dave and Deacon Bob seeing humor and hope in 2025, the Jubilee of Hope. This podcast brought to you by Franciscan University of Steubenville, faithandreason.com, OSV Podcasts and here we are face-to-face a couple of silver spoons.

0:00:48 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
What the heck?

0:00:48 - Dcn. Bob Rice
does that mean? Don't you remember that TV show? Here we are face-to-face, Like it had Ricky Schroeder in it. Remember Ricky Schroeder, Mm-hmm.

0:00:58 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
And maybe Jason Bateman Wasn't the name of the show Silver Spoons. Yes, that was. Oh, I thought you said yeah, yeah, A couple of sisters.

0:01:02 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I don't remember this song Two of a kind. I think it was about two rich kids, though.

0:01:08 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah.

0:01:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Were you a rich kid. Yeah, oh, really yeah.

0:01:11 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Nice yeah.

0:01:12 - Dcn. Bob Rice
You're a rich kid.

0:01:14 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
There we go.

0:01:14 - Dcn. Bob Rice
What's gone too far?

0:01:15 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So we're in finals week.

0:01:17 - Dcn. Bob Rice
We are in finals week, so you're in finals week ways NBA finals, nhl finals and Franciscan finals.

0:01:24 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Well, we're not in the finals for the NBA and the.

0:01:26 - Dcn. Bob Rice
NHL. Well, I guess we're heading there. We're in the playoffs, we're on the road to the Cup. We won't say much about it because more exciting things will happen. Cavs lost last night Very tragic.

0:01:36 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
But just one game. Just one game, not this series.

0:01:38 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Just one game, thank you. The fun story, I think, in the NBA is the Golden State Warriors, who were a play-in team. You know Steph Curry, they got Jimmy Butler. They beat the no 2 Houston Rockets. They went to Game 7. And that is going to be fun to watch. The Lakers are out. They were no 3. Gone, which is not fun in the West, but we'll just see. We're okay with that. You're okay with?

0:02:04 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
that you know what. I'm okay with the fact that there's no chance the Lakers will play the Cavs.

0:02:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Because I would have like cried. That's true, I would have cried. It would have been very difficult. Other fun sporting news this weekend was the Kentucky Derby. I have no idea what happened, but my favorite thing I heard was Kevin Gaffigan's joke about it. What did he say? The Kentucky Derby is like prom for gamblers. Well, there you go, there you go. They all get dressed up and they talk about how much they're going to bet on stuff.

0:02:30 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, so real quick, it's fun. It's kind of a fun day. Let's see Sovereignty won.

0:02:36 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Not journalism.

0:02:37 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
No, journalism got second Journalism was like some of the people you are listening to. It's like if there was ever a time to choose it's journalism. There's nothing like this. Horse journalism ended up getting second sovereignty one, uh, really, really rainy and wet and that kind of thing. So you don't know exactly that, but the interesting statistic about this was every horse was connected in some way to sovereign, to um secretariat. So part of the lineage of secretariat, which was in the 70s I, I think.

0:03:04 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah right.

0:03:05 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So when they do that, 23 and me on horses.

0:03:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Secretariat was a part of every horse's lineage, so that was kind of cool.

0:03:12 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
We should go to the Kentucky Derby sometime.

0:03:14 - Dcn. Bob Rice
No, okay, why don't we go to a Star Wars Day baseball game? I?

0:03:18 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
did All right.

0:03:22 - Dcn. Bob Rice
This podcast is going to be therapy, by the way, just to buckle up everybody. I have a lot of open wounds that we're dealing with, and the first is that he went to a baseball game without me, which normally I'm fine with, I rejoice in, I'm glad for Yet you send me a picture and there's stormtroopers in PNC Park.

0:03:37 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Actually it was really kind of fun. So it was myself, father Rufino and Father Pat which is actually very fun to go to baseball games with them because they actually like baseball.

0:03:45 - Dcn. Bob Rice
So like some of the times, like that's an important part of it.

0:03:47 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Some of the time when you go to the Friars I mean it's great to be together, brotherhood's lovely, yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. But I mean they just don't know baseball. So actually to have conversations about baseball with Friars was really fun, but it was. May the 4th be with you so the whole game. Between every out there was some sound effect from Star Wars. Darth Vader was there. What was that red thing? Was that the red thing that I sent? It was one of the pictures.

0:04:15 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Those might have been the Emperor Guards. Okay, Emperor.

0:04:17 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Guards. Yeah, and the Sith guy was there.

0:04:19 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Sith and Sith guy.

0:04:21 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
And they raced the pierogies and had a Pod racing yeah and they raced the pierogies and had a Pod racing. Yeah, no, no, no, no. Oh the pierogies.

0:04:27 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I know, I know they normally do. I didn't know if they Star Wars up to the pod race. They had this little race kind of thing and then they had a fight. The pierogie race is the best part of the baseball game.

0:04:34 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Well, yeah, add stormtroopers to that.

0:04:45 - Dcn. Bob Rice
That's I mean. I like the Padres. Did you see Juan Soto? Wait, is he still there or no?

0:04:48 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
No, he's with the Mets now he's with the Mets. Okay, yeah, but it was an okay game. I've not seen him pitch yet. Actually we were talking about that, but it was gorgeous. Rain was expected, so it was a really small group it it ended up to be a beautiful day, did it rain yesterday here. A little bit later in the day, Okay yeah, so it was beautiful, but actually I thought about you and sent you pictures, so you ought to think gee, father, that's really lovely. Gee, father, that's really lovely.

Yeah, it was great Actually it was great, it really was. It was good to be with the Friars. Yesterday was the anniversary of my, so I sent my family a game.

0:05:23 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I said happy anniversary to me.

0:05:26 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
And my family said why are we not surprised?

0:05:29 - Dcn. Bob Rice
you go to a baseball game We'll talk more about that later, I'm sure and your godson Colby ran the Pittsburgh half marathon yesterday. Yes, that's what I heard yeah, he did it, One of our friars.

0:05:38 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Brother Peter.

0:05:39 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Davidson Seven-minute nine-second mile.

0:05:42 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
That's good. Yeah it's insanely good at nine second mile. That's good.

0:05:43 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, it's insanely good. It makes me actually angry. That's crazy. Yeah, he did it in like an hour and a half. Yeah, wow, and he didn't even try that hard.

0:05:51 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, it's like what should I do this morning?

0:05:53 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Oh, let's go run a half marathon. I'll stretch a little bit, I'll be fine, but that was actually really cool. No, I think we do, but we have one more sportsy thing? Oh, we do. Oh yeah, this is my question to you, you didn't even know about this.

0:06:11 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So, scotty Scheffler, who is a golfer, yes, you might remember him as the guy that got arrested.

0:06:13 - Dcn. Bob Rice
The country, yes, the convict golfer. He finished the 31 under par. That's just unbelievable. Like that sounds inhuman.

0:06:21 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, I mean, that's unbelievable.

0:06:23 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Is, was it a record? It was a four-day total of 253. So I guess, do the math there and it tied the record for the lowest ever on the. PGA Tour.

0:06:34 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So yeah, it's a record, I guess. Yeah, that was really really crazy. It was the Byron Open right, is that what you said?

0:06:40 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, yeah, the Byron Open.

0:06:42 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
That sounds like Super Mario Golf score. Yeah, no, that's unbelievable. Yeah, they really. They'd probably get paid $2 million, $2.5 million, for that win. I don't know, it's crazy, it's crazy money.

0:06:51 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Is that how much they make with it? Something like that, I mean the Masters was $4 million. You know, oddly enough, I'm like the Masters would be like $10 million or something.

0:07:04 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I think it's $4 million just for the win and then everything else that goes with it. That's crazy. Scottie Sheff, that's really great, although it'd be interesting. We'll keep you folks posted on whether or not Rory will get the sweep this year.

0:07:16 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I mean he won't, but I hope he wins another major. We just kept you posted. I hope he gets another major. I hope he gets another major.

0:07:22 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Graduation coming up.

0:07:23 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Wait, is that sports?

0:07:26 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, okay, oh perfect, yeah, real quick Graduation coming up. Our baccalaureate mass will give an honorary degree to Bishop Cousins a friend of ours for a long time yes, Long before he was bishop and before I was priest. And before or not, before I was priest?

0:07:41 - Dcn. Bob Rice
before I was president Right.

0:07:44 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Before you were deacon. Oh yeah, so he also was the chairman of the board, I think, really the worker behind the Eucharistic Congress.

0:07:51 - Dcn. Bob Rice
So just a really wonderful evangelist. Like when he was choosing bishop, I said he's an alum from-. No, no, no, no, he seems like he is. He's been here for so he should be. He spoke at our youth conferences for years and years. So just because you said that, so now he will be.

0:08:03 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, I have to say that he's an alum of Benedictine. Yeah, oh.

0:08:06 - Dcn. Bob Rice
That's okay, you didn't have to say that I did.

0:08:08 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I want to honor him and them. But yeah, he's just like when he was chosen bishop. I got a note fairly early and I thought to myself this is the same thing with Joe when Esbjorn became bishop, and so he's just really, really a great priest, a good friend, good friend of the university. And then the other is Seamus Hassan and Mary Hassan. Seamus started the Beckett Foundation, which argues a lot of cases before the Supreme Court, in fact the one just most recently with the Maryland situation. Did you follow that at all? No, there was a case that was argued in front of the Supreme Court related to Maryland and whether parents could opt their children out for all this transgender, that kind of thing, and they said no, and parents said we ought to be able to do that. So the Beckett Fund they take care of mostly religious liberty, I mean, they've got all kinds of things and pro-life things. So he and his wife are just an amazing couple. First time we've ever given a married couple.

0:09:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Oh fun, they're both getting it. Yeah, and Mary is. Do they get two separate ones? How does this work?

0:09:12 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yes, they do. It's interesting, though, he has really disability with a Parkinson's.

0:09:18 - Dcn. Bob Rice
So he's not able to travel.

0:09:19 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
He won't actually be able to be be with us, but I remember the first time I went to their annual gala, and it was maybe my second year as president. I'm thinking, ah, I guess it's just something you have to do as president. Right, go to galas.

0:09:31 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:09:32 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I walked away from it totally inspired. It was really crazy because it was their big thing is they fight for religious liberty and they said if one group doesn't have religious liberty, then nobody does. So in that room was people, theologically, that I certainly disagree with in many ways, and yet we were there for one reason to protect the right for an individual to worship the way that God is leading them. So it was really. I walked away from this and said this is really really good what they're doing. So Seamus and his wife Mary is it's interesting her father was Charlie Rice was a Notre Dame professor in law school, who he honestly got an honorary degree with when Father Mike was president.

So it's a mother-father-daughter thing. But she works a lot with dignity of woman, dignity of the human person, real good friends with Deborah Savage. So they're really, really beautiful, amazing couple. I think they've got eight kids or something like that.

0:10:24 - Dcn. Bob Rice
So it be really fun. So they'll give the speech excuse me, yeah, she'll give the speech. That's so cool. Yeah, it'll be fun. Well, let's continue with our group therapy. Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an astronaut? Yes, yes, I have. In fact, we've talked about it on the show.

0:10:43 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I've wondered, but I get to talk to him so often.

0:10:45 - Dcn. Bob Rice
If so, you'll want to check out our his newest episode of In Person. In the episode, Father Dave sits down with retired Air Force General Kevin Chilton to talk about his love for flying, what it's really like to be a NASA astronaut and how he received the Eucharist while in space. He also gives advice on being a virtuous leader and living your faith while in the military, but we only care about the space stuff. It's a great conversation you won't want to miss, but I did. I live here. Yeah, I live here. I'm just going to stop the nonsense. I live here.

We have talked about the only person we want on the show would be an astronaut. We have. Yes, I'll go back to the Patrick do like a and find that episode. We had a conversation about this when they were like stuck in space and we said the one caveat we'd have would be if somebody was in space. We want to talk to you on the podcast. I shared my. I've been to space camp twice. How many times have you been to space camp? Zero? And not only do I find out, he did this thing, which you can watch at faithandreason.com. Then he tells me oh, I talk to him all the time well, all the time is probably a stretch.

I don't talk to anybody all the time.

0:12:02 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Ok, first off, he's been on campus spoken several times, of which it's been advertised do.

0:12:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I haven't seen the advertisement. Do you send them to faculty or is it just like that? Yeah, generally, yeah, no, you don't.

0:12:13 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
All right, Patrick, go back and check all of our emails.

0:12:16 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Our faculty and staff boards.

0:12:18 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
That's right that's right. No, he's really, he's just a wonderful, wonderful guy. Both he, interestingly, both he and his wife are generals.

0:12:28 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Really.

0:12:28 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, which is pretty. That's like what we like to call a power couple. Right, I was going to say, but the cool thing, so In the Air Force Air Force. Okay, I remember the first time he came he was coming to kind of give his witness and his testimony, which is lovely and beautiful and I'm really glad he loves the Lord.

0:12:42 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Amen, amen, and I'm not being Now get to the space stuff. Well, time here at francisco.

0:12:49 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
so it was really, I mean I was just totally geeking out. This guy's actually been in space on three different occasions I can imagine your enthusiasm. He was also a test pilot, okay, so um so we he started that mean all these new planes that are okay, that's right, right, right.

So that's what he did. So he was in the air force and he was a test pilot for the air force and then he obviously became, uh, NASA astronaut. He went to space three times. I mean he really is just a phenomenal guy, but I kind of get out of it Did he ever do a spacewalk. He was the pilot generally on that side. Honestly, I don't remember.

0:13:22 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I don't remember.

0:13:22 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
These are the questions I would have asked, but I asked all kinds of questions. I don't know if I could have asked that you could have.

0:13:28 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I could have been in the room with you. It's possible that I did ask that how come there can't be like a third person?

0:13:34 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
A third wheel. You're right, I would love to be a third wheel, you're right. You're right, you're right.

0:13:37 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I feel like I'm a third wheel on this podcast. Sometimes I'm not even sure how that happens.

0:13:41 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, that's right, that's right.

0:13:43 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I'm the sidecar.

0:13:44 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
It was really, it was really about his faith, which is a really beautiful story. He's the Lord.

0:13:54 - Dcn. Bob Rice
You want to affirm this it's a great story. Don't fast forward through that part when you watch in person.

0:14:00 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I wanted to talk about space and what's it like? And what's it like five minutes before the shuttle goes up? Do you think he?

0:14:06 - Dcn. Bob Rice
just wants to share his heart and have somebody treat him with dignity as a human person for existing. And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah so space.

0:14:12 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
No well, it's the final frontier, so no, I shouldn't have said that.

0:14:17 - Dcn. Bob Rice
It's funny because when he's here and he's talking to the students, why can't you say it's the final frontier?

0:14:19 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Because I figured you were going to go off on some Star Trek thing for 30 minutes.

0:14:21 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I was.

0:14:22 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I was. So he'll walk away and I'll say to the he's an astronaut. He's been in space three times, which is just really do you remember the?

0:14:31 - Dcn. Bob Rice
very, I'm assuming the the Brian Reagan yes, isn't that the best he's like you know the best thing you can do at a dinner table is just say I walked on the moon, yeah, yeah, when nobody nobody can beat you you know when they're trying to up you or something it's like.

0:14:44 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Oh oh well, I remember when I was walking on the moon that's really great.

0:14:48 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Now on my lunar rover.

0:14:50 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
interesting, though, because he talks a little bit about this. He was able to with permission of his priest, obviously take communion with him, and he talks about just the amazingly beautiful thing it was to be able to receive Eucharist. Obviously, there's not a church, local church that he could go to. And I just thought it was beautiful when he was thinking about okay, what do I want? I want to be able to receive the Eucharist. But it's interesting because a lot of people complained about that. They thought it was inappropriate and you shouldn't have done that.

It's kind of like come on people.

0:15:19 - Dcn. Bob Rice
People are lame.

0:15:20 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, it's not like he has other options.

0:15:24 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Because you're in space. It's not like a day trip. You're up there for a bit, yeah, yeah.

0:15:29 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I think nine days, average of nine days something like that.

0:15:32 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, yeah, yeah but yeah, you'll listen.

0:15:34 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I think you'll really really enjoy it. I'll listen to all of it, yeah.

0:15:38 - Dcn. Bob Rice
And you'll still be, though I might do the double speed up until he talks about the space stuff.

0:15:42 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Okay, well, you know, Buzz Aldrin received communion on the moon. Sorry.

0:15:50 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Heather, that was me. Yeah, that was totally Dave, but you know when? Neil.

0:15:53 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Armstrong, but not.

0:15:54 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Catholic. Buzz Aldrin's not Catholic. How did he receive the Eucharist?

0:15:58 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
It wasn't Catholic Eucharist, it was, I think. I'm not sure what it was. What are?

0:16:02 - Dcn. Bob Rice
you talking about. Are you sure about this?

0:16:05 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I'm 95% sure. Come on, let's keep going. We'll get back to it next week. Back to it next week.

0:16:09 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Sorry, that's right. We never want to fact check ourselves. All right, my opinion is that Buzz Aldrin is in fact Catholic and received the actual Eucharist. Okay, all right, and we'll find out next week. Okay, but in the meantime, watch in person faithandreasoncom. Oh, that was all for our in person thing. That was the longest promo we've ever done, but I feel healed by it.

0:16:29 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
There, buy it, not really.

0:16:30 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I'm probably just going to watch the video and just get mad.

0:16:33 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
What was actually saying that was healing for it.

0:16:35 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I was just trying to make it sound like it was good. I'm trying to move on. That's what I'm trying to do. Let's just move on.

0:16:40 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So I shouldn't tell you that he took me up on the space shuttle with him for a ride.

0:16:44 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Well, I knew it's not true. That's all right. Because if it was, you would have plaster Instagram with it.

0:16:48 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Okay, so what's going on this week? Well, other than our Franciscan finals, and graduation you mean worldwide things that other people care about it would be something called.

0:17:01 - Dcn. Bob Rice
The Conclave Did you watch that movie? No, I heard enough about it to not watch the movie.

0:17:05 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Did you watch the movie? No, I did not, but what I did do on a flight was I fast-forwarded to the last 10 minutes. So if you're not familiar with the film, You're familiar with the film.

0:17:17 - Dcn. Bob Rice
It's all over everywhere. There have been enough Catholic people saying don't watch it. Yeah.

0:17:21 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Well, father Mike Schmitz put out this thing. He said I watched it so you don't have to Right. So at the end Thanks, father Mike they, they choose a cardinal. That was transgendered. The whole thing was kind of weird. So I just watched the end because I wanted to see it.

0:17:34 - Dcn. Bob Rice
But speaking of movies you should watch Thunderbolts in the movie theater.

0:17:38 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Talk about wounds, so good.

0:17:39 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Talk about wounds. So good, Did you invite me? No, I didn't. I was actually by myself in Utah. I was speaking at a National Leaders of Diaconate Ministries Shout out to any of you that might be listening now. It was really quite lovely. The conference ended Thursday morning and I wasn't leaving until Friday, so I found myself with an afternoon off, a lot of which I spent time grading.

And then I thought I should just do something else. And yeah, I went to a movie theater. It was like me and three other people Nice, I mean like in the theater, I just went by myself and it was a really, really fun movie. I can't wait. Florence Pugh yes, I know, carries it and does a great job with it. She's phenomenal. She is phenomenal, she was so good in Black Widow.

0:18:24 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yes, she's even better, have you seen?

0:18:26 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Black Widow, she's even better.

0:18:27 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I haven't seen it.

0:18:28 - Dcn. Bob Rice
17 times like you have, stop it. I'm just saying she's even better in. Thunderbolt. Stop it. I'm complimenting her. It's going to be even better. She's got the starring role in this one, yeah, I guess she's good, huh.

0:18:38 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, yeah, that's good.

0:18:39 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I look forward to it.

0:18:40 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, she's the heart of the movie and the other thing that might be going on.

0:18:43 - Dcn. Bob Rice
we should talk about the conc gonna vote for uh, not donald trump, no all right come on go ahead. You share, now you share. It was ridiculous. Yeah, I mean, I didn't follow much of it.

0:19:00 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I just saw a post of him dressed up as the pope or something like well, apparently there was a press conference and somebody somebody, maybe jokingly said would you want to be pope? He was, yeah, I'd like to be pope, that'd be great. Yeah, and and I don't know if I would have had as much of a problem with this if it wouldn't have come from his personal social media account and if it would have come from the White House. So if you haven't seen that, oh, that's where it came from.

0:19:22 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yes, oh, I thought that was just some fan fiction thing.

0:19:24 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
No, that's the problem. I mean, there's multiple problems with this. So they did obviously Sure, so they did obviously an AI image of him dressed up as a pope and he kind of has his hand up as if he's giving a blessing, he's wearing papal garb.

Yeah, if it would have been some guy out there that created this no, it was released by him on a social media, by the White House, and I mean, there's just so many things about that. Timing is everything as well, right? Sure, so we're still in the official time of warning of the Holy Father's loss and you put this out there. You also put it out there at the, dare say, one of the most important weeks that the church has in its history of electing the Pope, and it's kind of putting this out in mockingly. So it was very crass, I think, very stupid. Whoever handles the social, I mean nobody handles Trump's social media let's be honest, except for Trump.

But I thought what Cardinal Dolan said was just really accurate. It was really bad form, it was insensitive, it wasn't thoughtful, but that's so, unlike Trump to do anything, for those words to be used for him.

0:20:30 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Well, and I think you shared before the podcast. If somebody like Biden had done that, or I mean there would have been holy, holy, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and it's sad that sometimes the reaction is just like well that's Donald.

0:20:46 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, trump will be Trump.

0:20:47 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Wah, wah Right exactly I don't know if that's a good excuse for this Right. Exactly I don't know if that's a good excuse for this.

0:20:51 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So people are going to be listening to. Well, this drops at 11 o'clock on Wednesday, right 3 pm. 3 pm on Wednesday Is when we drop the episode, so two minutes after 3, people are just diving in, just waiting waiting, waiting.

0:21:02 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Oh they are, they are.

0:21:06 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So the first ballot will be done Wednesday.

0:21:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Okay.

0:21:17 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So by the time you hear this, the first ballot will have been done. Well, wednesday afternoon, rome time.

0:21:19 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, yeah, so, yeah, yeah, that's right, but they're only doing one ballot and everybody says it just kind of get a sense, just day one, right, right, right.

0:21:22 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So it's that afternoon.

0:21:23 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Has anybody ever?

0:21:24 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
won the first ballot. That's a really good question. I don't know, yeah, I mean, we've been doing this for a while, so I'm going to go out and say, well, again, I don't even know how long we've been doing it exactly like we do it now actually it's not been that long okay the way that it's handled now, I think a couple hundred years, um, so I'm going to guess no, but then the next day, for the next several days, there'll be four ballots a day.

So everybody says who's everybody, whoever knows, right that the first day is just to try to get a sense of who's involved, like who are the main kind of frontrunners. So at the end of the first ballot you'll have a sense of OK, this, yeah, we know, you know the top five people, or something like that. Yeah, but we won't know. No, no, no.

0:22:03 - Dcn. Bob Rice
We'll just know. It's probably worth saying, for those of you that might not have remembered it from nine years ago or so, that it's a total. Well, 11 years ago that was when yeah, pope Francis was 11 years ago and then Benedict was 9 years before.

0:22:15 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
That total radio silence and they can't even look at the internet and stuff like they're not allowed to have any contact with the outside world, which is kind of crazy in this day and age and they said you know, part of the big thing is securing the Sistine Chapel so that no listening devices can be put in there.

0:22:34 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Oh my, gosh, and so people can't hear.

0:22:36 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So it's all kinds of modern technology. I don't know who all does this.

0:22:39 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, and there's about 180 eligible cardinals. I think I heard that under 80.

0:22:46 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Is that what it is? I was thinking 130 vote. There's 130 voters. Okay so maybe 180 cardinals, 138 or 37 are eligible to vote.

0:22:55 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, maybe there's something like that.

0:22:57 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, so it would be. I mean, there's all kinds of speculation and the joke is always whoever walks in Pope walks out a cardinal. So we'll see. We'll see how it works.

0:23:05 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Okay.

0:23:05 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I mean, the thought is the frontrunner never wins. I don't know if that's accurate, true One, I don't know if that's accurate, but one of the interesting things was you know, how does the Holy Spirit lead this? And I thought this quote was good In 1997. Yeah, so Pope Benedict says. They ask him is the Holy Spirit just? Is the Pope literally chosen by the Holy Spirit? And Pope Benedict would say I would not say so.

In the same sense that the Holy Spirit picks the Pope. I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair but rather, like a good educator as it were, leaves us to much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. He says thus the Spirit's role should be understood in a more elastic sense, not that it dictates the candidate, the one whom you should vote. Probably the only assurance offered is that the thing you should vote. Probably the only assurance offered is that the thing this is great is that the thing cannot be totally ruined. And then he goes on and says the Holy Spirit works in the cardinals. They have free will, they should pray, they should discern, they should take a look at all the different things that are going on. But this idea that the Holy Spirit directly, inspirationally, chooses no, but he uses feeble men that have free will. But I like that thing is the Holy Spirit guarantees that it won't be totally ruined.

And then it goes on to say later that if you look at the history of the church, there were some popes that were not so good, oh, yes. You can't blame that on the Holy Spirit, because that was not the Holy Spirit's fault.

0:24:40 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Right. Well, and also usually those corrupt popes were not picked out of the way they're picked today, which is a prayerful council that was often kind of rigged.

0:24:49 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, that's right From emperors or other things like that. That's a political family thing.

0:24:53 - Dcn. Bob Rice
And that was part of the beauty of the Council of Trent, which really set up the ways to elect a pope, and since then we haven't had any of the quote unquote bad hope Major major tragedies. Yeah, They've all been holy men, some holier than others, obviously.

0:25:08 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Well, that's what Benedict says. And actually Cardinal Dolan I've kind of followed Cardinal Dolan, I like Cardinal, but he says ultimately you want a person that loves Jesus a person that wants to be faithful to Jesus, a person that wants to be faithful to the church and that's what they'll pray for. He's actually he's generally a good voice of reason, so I appreciate that.

0:25:27 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I really love it and right it's the.

0:25:28 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
It's the Holy Spirit's church at the end of the day.

0:25:32 - Dcn. Bob Rice
It's looking for someone who's docile to the spirit, which could be a number of different people. Hopefully it's a lot of different people to be honest. But I think that you know that was something that Francis said a number of times and some people weren't happy with that, but the idea that he wanted the Church to be less about the Pope- yeah, oh, absolutely he talked about that idea of we need to stop thinking of the Church to be all about the Pope.

Now, that's hard for an earlier generation growing up on someone like John Paul II and all we ever knew was John Paul II and he was a saint and he had this incredible story, and so it was easy to think, wow, the Church is John.

0:26:12 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Paul II, Of course.

0:26:13 - Dcn. Bob Rice
John Paul II would have never said that in his lifetime but that was the feeling of it and so you know, I think Francis just trying to say like I'm just a guy, I mean not like- that but you know that idea that hey, you know the Pope is very important and also not important in the sense of it's the Holy Spirit's church, and that's the faith that we need. We need to rely more on the Holy Spirit than on the person of the Pope.

0:26:39 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
You would famously say preach more about Jesus than the Pope. Yeah, that's good advice, that's very good advice. That's good advice. Yeah, so we'll keep you posted. I did a thing with Hallow, with Katie McGrady, so if you want to follow that, it'll just walk us through the concrete, pray through the concrete.

0:26:53 - Dcn. Bob Rice
So that'll be good, awesome, and do you think by the time our next episode drops, we'll know we're Pope, yes, or?

0:26:58 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I'd be shocked if we didn't. That would be one, two, three. I mean that could be a full week, that could be seven or eight. Seven voting days That'd be. I think the longest is five, since they've done this All right. So yeah, habeas popum, we'll have a vote by then.

0:27:15 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Nice. Maybe that'll be our next podcast.

0:27:17 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So I texted Bob and today, as was mentioned yesterday, was the anniversary of my ordination 29 years.

0:27:24 - Dcn. Bob Rice
What's that Velcro? What's the thing for 29 years?

0:27:26 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, you're right and holding and you've been married 20-something years, 20-something okay, 26, maybe 27. Okay, cool, we'll find out, my wife will correct me immediately. Yeah.

0:27:38 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I'm sure she will. Yeah, she doesn't mind when I mess up things like that. She's happy generous about not remembering dates and anniversaries.

0:27:46 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Perfect. So today is the anniversary of my first Mass, which is also 29 years. I didn't wait a year to have my first Mass.

0:27:56 - Dcn. Bob Rice
It's funny.

0:28:00 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I remember, as I was praying, the weeks coming up to my first Mass. I had this dream one night.

0:28:04 - Dcn. Bob Rice
It was an awesome dream. Yeah, I woke up During the that it was an awesome dream.

0:28:07 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, I woke up During the dream. There was no vestments, so I had to celebrate my first mass in a suit.

0:28:13 - Dcn. Bob Rice
In a suit and tie, that was one of those like naked in front of an audience kind of dreams.

0:28:16 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
No, because they didn't have any vestments. So that was kind of odd that I'm sitting there with a tie and a jacket, which I don't even own but anyway, and I don't even own, but anyway. And then the other is, you know, on the missile there's the little ribbons that help you get where you're supposed to be. There were no ribbons, there was nothing on the missile. So I'm standing up in front of the congregation, dressed, in a suit.

0:28:34 - Dcn. Bob Rice
This is what they call an actor's nightmare In a suit and tie with nothing there.

0:28:38 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So, as I was praying about it later there were some other things that had happened prayers, dreams and stuff over the coming months and what I realized is I wanted everything to be perfect and I said you know, Lord, when it's all said and done, I'll be a priest, it's going to be fine. And there was just a sense of peace after that. But I sent Bob a text. My first Mass was on campus, in Christ the King, which was just a great, great blessing. Were you there?

0:29:02 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yes, I was actually.

0:29:03 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
That's right. I remember this now. It was a great blessing, and so I texted Bob and I said let's talk about some of the most memorable Masses you've been a part of.

0:29:11 - Dcn. Bob Rice
So oh, I start Right, I will.

0:29:15 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Okay.

0:29:16 - Dcn. Bob Rice
The first one that came to mind actually was the first Mass that I was a deacon, I mean my ordination Mass, obviously Because you were vested so perfectly, because I was vested so quickly and cleanly. And we were waiting for other people to be vested. But you know the liturgy I celebrated that I got to serve at at Holy Family, where I gave the homily, was a very, very special mass because it was packed.

0:29:41 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Yeah, family was there.

0:29:42 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Family was there, and Holy Family had been my parish forever, and so it was a little bittersweet as well, because I was assigned to a different parish. I mean just up the road right, but in other ways it's like I never see—.

0:29:53 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
It could be a hundred miles away. I mean, you're absolutely right.

0:29:55 - Dcn. Bob Rice
I thought, oh, it's just a few minutes up the road, well, that means I never see them because I just don't go to Mass there. So that was a liturgy that came to mind. In terms of my own experience of it, I remember Holy Thursday 1994, because I was a senior in college. The catechism had come out a couple months earlier and I was reading it cover to cover, and up until that point though, I had been Catholic all my life and involved in ministry and other things. I would look back later at my faith formation and say that was lacking. It wasn't even made clear to me that the Eucharist was the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. I mean, I knew it was something special. I wouldn't have said transubstantiation, I wouldn't have even known that word. I knew something. I knew there was something about the Eucharist, but I did not know Something special, right, right, and it was sacred and it was important.

but you know, so it wasn't actually until I was reading through the Catechism and that whole section on the Eucharist. I remember crying when I read it, and that was just a few days before Holy Thursday. I'd never been to a Holy Thursday Mass, so that was my first experience of any kind of Eucharistic adoration. As well, I was in Orlando, because that's where I went to college, and they were processing the Eucharist around and then put it in a back chapel, which I never knew existed at that church where they had adoration and I just, and I was just weeping.

It was just a beautiful. You know, faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It was just a great gift of faith of just seeing Christ in the Eucharist At a Holy Thursday Mass. I don't think I ever went to a Holy Thursday. I didn't know if I knew there was a Holy Thursday Mass.

0:31:43 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
I have a few others, but I'll let you know Well, I was just thinking, just thinking about that as I was praying and reflecting on it just how, when I take a look at my life, the Eucharist has been this, this part of it you know, since my you know, since I remember my first communion.

0:31:58 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Yeah, yeah.

0:31:58 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Oddly enough, I remember my first communion. I really oh, absolutely, wow. Well here's I mean. Yes, I remember it and I remember my first communion. But I also remember the preparation for my first communion and I understood totally that you cannot eat within an hour of communion. What I wanted to get at was how quickly can you eat?

0:32:15 - Dcn. Bob Rice
after.

0:32:22 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So I asked the teacher. I said if I have a Snickers in my pocket, can I eat it on the way back from communion? Because I wanted to know how quickly after communion.

0:32:25 - Dcn. Bob Rice
we could eat, because no way you could go without an hour.

Yeah, yeah, my first communion the one memory I have of my first communion prep was and I hate to be the stereotypical angry nun, but there was a stereotypical angry nun who got very upset that when we knelt we were kind of leaning our butts back on the thing. Oh right, right right, she was not happy she kept smacking the pew Not us, because it wasn't that long ago, but smacking the pew and I remember being terrified that. I'm going to relax a little bit and have my butt hit the pew. God forbid. You did that Right, exactly, yeah, I mean.

0:32:58 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
So the big thing again was that through my life there's been just the Eucharist, has been such a part of it, and different experiences. Obviously, my first mass was just a tremendous, tremendous grace and blessing for me. Um, you know, when I was able to celebrate mass with John Paul, you know, it was just, it was myself and about maybe 30 people I was the one who was able to sit right next to him. That was having my mom and dad. There was just a really beautiful, beautiful experience.

Um, but then also just some of the very simple things I think of mass with my family you know, with my mom and dad, my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews and just the great blessing that there is in that. But it's funny, we were doing an ice cream social last night and one of the students came up and just she just kind of asked me. She said what's it like to be able to consecrate the Eucharist? It was kind of like that's kind of so Steubenville, right, but just, it was really a lovely conversation. And then I asked her well, what's it like to receive it?

And she goes well nobody's ever asked me that right, you know so it was just, and I'm just really grateful that so much of my has kind of been yeah, it's been the constant, the steady, the faithful, so it's been a great blessing.

0:34:08 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Amen, yeah, amen.

0:34:09 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
And there are many more I'm sure we can talk about at another time. Yeah, what did I tell you about the friend of mine who received Eucharist in space?

0:34:18 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Now let's close with a prayer. Let's close with a prayer Heavenly.

0:34:21 - Fr. Dave Pivonka
Father, we ask your Holy Spirit to be poured forth upon us. Give us a deeper love of the Eucharist. We're going to hear in the scriptures today that your bread, that Jesus, will give us the bread of life that will lead us to eternal life. We ask your blessing upon our brothers and sisters who are struggling today, Lord, that they know your peace and your presence and bless the conclave. Amen.

0:34:39 - Dcn. Bob Rice
Amen, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen and bless Buzz Aldrin, who apparently is Presbyterian. So there you go. You're right about everything. You're right about everything. Send us an email lamenting with me that I don't get to talk to astronauts. Hope at Franciscan dot. God bless everybody.