Hello and welcome to the Providence College podcast. My name is Joe Carr. For the next little while, we're going to talk about mission and ministry at Providence College in Worcester College's vice president and associate vice president of that particular part of the college's operation to begin by talking about an exciting book project.

But let's start by welcoming Father James Cutie, class of 1998, vice president of Permission and Ministry. Hello, Father.

Hey, Joe, how we doing?

Our most frequent guest on the podcast so far over the course of several years and for the second time, associate vice president information in the history. Bob Pfunder, also a P.C. graduate from the class of two thousand nine.

Hi, Bob.

So you realize he is the brains of the operation here?

That's what he was telling me, so improper. So it's good. Good to know. Good to know. We really appreciate your time today. So much going on as we prepare to begin the fall semester. So much is different from the way it was last year at this time.

But let's let's talk about this book project, because it's been really during this summer something that, frankly, all three of us have been involved in a lot. And it's been exciting. And it's really getting to the point where we can see it taking shape.

What the book would be called Providence College are Catholic and Dominican Mission and Father, maybe it would be good to start by asking you to describe how this this came about. What's what's the purpose of this and what was the impetus?

Yeah, I appreciate that, Joanna and Bob, and I appreciate the time to speak with you and to communicate this to all of the listeners of the podcast, because this is a horribly exciting thing for us, is, you know, maybe some of the listeners know Bob and I have been working together for a long time now, going back

to when I was chaplain of the college and Bob was a campus minister, coming right out of a lot of good work and graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame. And one of the things we noted then was that there wasn't a shared language on campus when it comes to mission.

You know, so if you took 10 people at random, faculty, staff, students, and asked them to describe in a few sentences what we mean by Providence College is Catholic and Dominican. You could very easily get 10 different responses and some would be spot on.

Some would emphasize one point to the exclusion of others. Some might just be coming completely out of left field. And we realized that when we're talking about something so important in something that's foundational for what we do at the college to to start from a place without a shared language and a common understanding among all the members

of our community was just setting us up for frustration and failure. We've seen this for years. And even to the point and this is pretty funny, if we get into a contentious moment on campus, whether it's, you know, an event takes place or is is proposed, and it might not be entirely clear that this is something that

would be well suited for the college. Everyone would always claim mission. We need to do this. The mission demands it. We couldn't possibly do this. It's not in accord with the mission of Providence College. You know, mission was would be used oftentimes by people making contradictory arguments.

And so we we said, all right, we've got an opportunity now to do this from the office of Mission Ministry to provide a service to the community to say what is it exactly that we mean when we talk about Catholic and Dominican?

And that's what we we've we've tried to do over the course of the past couple of years, and really in particular in focused, intense way over the past year. It's what we try to do in this book. And, you know, I'm really happy where we are and hope that of hope that we've been successful.

Bob, tell us about Father Cutie presenting this project to you and how would he describe what the what the work ahead would be like?

Yeah, we I mean, part of I think one of the things that Father James wanted to cultivate in this position is I think intrinsic to a a very well integrated, kind of mission driven organization like ours in a Catholic sense, is we need to find ways to give our way faculty and staff and students a sense of

kind of responsibility, shared responsibility for the mission. And one of the ways you do that is you you kind of you can set a vision and you can invite people into that. And so I think when Father James approached me, our hope was that we'd write a book that was not going to be like, you know, a

doctoral level dissertation. We're not looking to go into those kinds of detailed sorts of things, but we're trying to set a vision. We're trying to share some of the fundamental stories of Catholic and Dominican mission and to do it in a way that invites each of our community members or deeply into that mission.

So write it in an invited tour away and write it in a way that is. Hopefully going to be a blessing to the lives of everybody that's here. So that was the essentially the pitch. And then, you know, we spent a lot of the last year writing it and throwing drafts in front of a number of different

community members and keep rewriting those kinds of things and kind of move forward from there

as near the finish line, almost in final draft form now. And it's been getting to play out. We've seen design concepts for it. It's going to be about 80 pages long. Should be terrific, Joe.

I don't know if all of the listeners of the podcast appreciate the many different hats that you wear on campus in the role that you've played in in helping to bring this project across the goal line. So, you know, Bob and I want to express our gratitude to you and the the unique talents that you bring here

in the making available your wonderful team to help this happen. All that being said, I'd like to take the opportunity beyond thanking you to ask you when in God's name you're going to finish our book. I've been waiting for this to see this thing come out, come out, come out, Joe.

Enough podcasts, get back to work.

What do you think, Bob? You shouldn't be much more than a few more months, right?

Technically, that's not what going to sell the rights to this thing for the movie. It's going to be our Catholic, our Catholic and Dominican mission. The full length motion picture,

the father, James Cutie's story is a

perfect title. My guess, best guess would be October 10th, October 15th, something like that.

For the love of Peter and Paul, I believe when it's

going to take a month to print it. And that's kind of where we are now. But I think it will. I know it'll be very well received. It's a beautiful job. Let's talk a little bit about the collaborators and contributors to several voices in this, including some very familiar to people in and who are listening audience, because

they've been part of the Providence College community for quite some time.

I appreciate I always appreciate the chance to come on and spend a little time with you jokes in. And I've got particular reasons every time as well. Particular reasons. And I mean, I want to recognize my my my teammate Bob Underwrite right here.

When you talk about all the different voices for those those who don't have the good fortune of knowing Bob personally, if you're on campus, make it a point to go say hi to Bob. There's he's got a brilliant mind and he's a very fine writer in the way that he's been able to think through so many of

these issues pertaining to Catholic and Dominican mission identity, both theologically and sort of a principled and abstract way are great. The practical implications of of those those theological truths that have been culled along the way are made in eloquent in, I think, accessible ways.

And so when we talk about the different voices that you're going to see in this book, I've got to say first and foremost how happy I am and how appreciative I am for my my man right here, for all the good work that he's done.

And even appreciate that, Alison. This is what I'm giving you in lieu of a raise this year. So I hope you enjoy that.

It's just as good.

Is it a question mark now and then? But then one of the things that we we realize, too, and I certainly want to hear Bob's take on all of us if this were just a father, Cutie and Bob Pfunder say this is what mission is, the project might not get any further than the door of our office

. You know, we're very, very much convinced and and, you know, really, really believe very, very strongly that mission is the work of the entire community. And by virtue of the fact that you're a member of the Providence College community, whether currently or a member of the alumni family, our extended family, that you have something to say about

this, you have a part to play that the fulfillment of the mission or living of the mission? Well, really depends on the participation of each member. And for that reason, it wasn't enough just for us to come out and say this is what it is.

But it was important to to hear from others and to bounce some ideas off and solicit feedback from others. You know, and I think if you were to go through all of the different drafts and all of the different sections and see the various iterations of this book as it went along the way, you'd really see the

great contributions that many others have made. And if this is if this is a good product, in the end, it's in in gratitude in large part to the participation of. More people than we can count. We can save them.

Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't say it. I want to answer you a question, Joe, I guess, in two sorts of collaboration. The first is what you notice in the book is that there's a main narrative as you read through it.

It's kind of the main narrative of the text. That's kind of the main story we're trying to tell about what Catholic and Dominican mission is. But we wanted to make sure that this wasn't too abstract. We wanted to make sure that for the every reader in our campus that they hopefully find a way to see themselves in

it so that places within that text where we do that. But we also created a host of different breakaway sections. And these are going to be sections that are focused on on campus spotlights of programs or research that's being done that we think kind of is a wonderful example of the ways in which Catholic and Dominican mission

integrates into the intellectual and that formative missions of the university. But also, you know, we have an introduction, Dominican St sections, and this is I think this is the vision for this is we have community members introduce you as a reader to various Dominican Saints.

So it's kind of like here, check out my friend St. Thomas Aquinas. This is what I love about and this is how I encounter Thomas at first. And this is why I think you should give him a shot.

Those sorts of things. So we try to make it personal. There's elements of personal witness about what they what different community members find value in the mission, those sorts of things. We try to sprinkle that throughout the entire text to make certain maybe some of the more conceptual points kind of come alive with a little flesh and

blood, but also to to kind of give it a real incarnational sense to kind of use a more of a theological term, kind of God becoming man. So we want to see the mission taking on life in the lives of our community.

The second, though, is related that second story, collaboration. And that would be, I would argue, what comes next. I think the mission book is the first volley in a conversation. And as our community members are going to be reading this, I'm excited for what's going to come over the next few years in terms of the initiatives, the

programs, the ways in which teaching and learning and community life are all shaped by some of the key principles. The key stories in the key sense of kind of the images of mission that we provide in this text.

So I think my sense is that this is this is a first draft, but the second draft is going to be largely written in the lives of our community members and moving on down the line. So, you know, it's the first volley.

That's how we're looking at it.

And let's name some names, because Bob Bob, you approached all the people who have contributed to this book with respect to writing. So and including your father, Teddy took one of the Saints right off the top and told that story.

So tell us about the folks we can hear we will hear from in this book.

Yeah, we have. Well, with the Saints, we have Dr. Holly Taylor come in from the Department of Theology. We have Professor Rick Berry from theology as well, and Pam Tremblay from Campus Ministry. We've got quotes from a variety of different students involved on different things on campus.

But also we've got a kind of like a Hollywood Squares section at the end of the book where we have a bunch of faculty and staff, quote, quotes about Menschen. So, you know, we've got Tyris Riley in IEH.

We've got Quincy Beverly in Idai. We've got a proposal. Do we have we have a lot of them. It's the James,

one of the things that that we've talked about in this podcast before, Joe, is the the the image of the Dominican order as being a long white line, starting with Saint Dominic and his first followers. And if you line up all the Dominicans from that time until now on to the into the future, until the Lord comes

again to glory, you're going to see all kinds of figures responding to all different kinds of historical situations, responding to the needs of their times just as creatively and faithfully as they can. And that line goes through the centuries and gets to us here at Providence College and other places in the Dominican world right now and stretches

out beyond us. And so it's kind of neat to think that this is our moment within the Dominican order. And so, you know, Bob's mentioned some of the people who were contributing. But, you know, for folks who are encountering this book and maybe encountering Catholic and Dominican things for the first time, you're going to hear from Saint

Dominic. You know, unless than talking about St. Thomas, we're going to have the St. Dominic Saint Catherine Siena Saint Martin to pause. You can hear about some you know, those are some of the big Dominicans you hear from, you know, contributions from some lesser known Dominicans.

So one. A full and wholly and great writers and preachers in their own right, you know, just anyone anyone's going to come up on the on the short end of the stick when you talk about St. Dominic's. So people like Father Walter Wagner, who's a great pastor in our Dominican province and a wonderful, very holy man in

here, about Father Gustavo Gutierrez, who's Dominican, who's who's largely considered to be the father of liberation theology. You're going to you're going to you know, well, you might not see the names there, but they're contributing contributions from a number of different Dominicans whose work has really been foundational for the kind of work we're doing.

I don't do it. But do we does this, Father Murray, get mentioned explicitly by the Paul Murray? It's an Irish Dominican talking about Dominican spiritual.

Doesn't know. He said he's coming

back around, but no, he's in there. You know, we get a lot of we've got some contributions and guidance from from our presidents, from Sakha, from Father Shanley before him. So it's it's interesting to to see we've got, you know, the Dominicans from the past whose legacies we try to build upon, in whose example we try to

emulate being spoken of in lives by a lot of contemporary figures who make appearances directly and indirectly in the text. So it's a I think it's a neat part of the project.

I was vague about this a minute ago, but Father James wrote the page about St. Dominic. So that's that was the reference there. And it's it's excellent like the whole thing. So I think that people should be looking forward to this book being available to them before very long.

It's going to be something that I think will really benefit from him in many ways, as Bob indicated, for a long time to come. So, yeah,

this is as Bob says, it's the you know, the first volley, you know, is as hard as this has been for Bob Pfunder at this this great head of hair before the whole project began. And now he's going to ball like the rest of us.

You know, as is as difficult as the whole process has been to shepherd the the project along here. This is really just the very beginning. But boy, is it is it exciting.

And we will once the book is published, we're working on a Web version of it, too. So we'll make it available in some form digitally as the fall semester rolls along. There should be hopefully that will expand its usefulness to our community, be something to look forward to.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the things going on in mission and ministry and brother. I've heard you tell this story a few times, but Father Shanley called you, I guess, when you were in New York at one point a couple of summers ago and said, you're coming back.

Father James leaves the church where you're the pastor and we want you to be the vice president for mission and ministry here in PC. And then what was the first thing you did?

Oh, I think it was the first thing to do was was Weps copious amounts of. Yeah, well, the first thing the first thing I did was was I had a meeting with with him and with Father Sicard was executive vice president at the time, because, you know, I got this word from the provincial who makes all of

our assignments. And I said, so this is what's happening. Am I am I crazy? I said, no, this is what's happening. I said, are you sure? Yup. And said, all right. In that case, the first thing I want to do is I want to have Bob Pfunder serve as the associate vice president, which is not a that's

not an exaggeration. That's not a tall tale. I said I want to I want to bring Bob. From his role as campus minister to the campus ministry. I want I want Bob to be my teammate here in the in the office.

And so they said, OK, yeah, whatever you whatever you want, if that's what you need greater. And approximately eight to 10 minutes later, I was on Bob's porch, Bob and his Bob and his lovely wife, Liz and daughter Grace lived in the neighborhood at the time.

And I made a beeline from the executive offices to Bob's porch and call him and say, what's going on? You're going to just put the baby to bed. I said, Krupali. I said, I know. I'm on your porch, and so you see the blinds start to rustle and he looks out and I'm there waving and I'm like

an idiot with the phone in my hand. And so he puts the little one down and comes out to talk, say, guess what just happened? I said. I'm coming back to D.C. to serve in this capacity, and Bob offered condolences in some some measured excitement.

Oh, I know. That's unbelievable. I said, well, guess what? I said, I want I want you here doing this with me. And he said those words that you always want to hear, Joe. He looked at me askance and said, I don't know.

Let me think about it. I said, well, I'm not 100 percent. You know what he really said. I need to pray about it, which is a bad Shinjo. Whenever someone says I need to pray about it, it means I don't want to do it.

Let me pray about it. And so I said I said to him, and Bob, of course, correct me if I'm exaggerating, you're so loathsome. You know how much I appreciate you in the work that you do, the creativity, the the the brilliance that I mentioned earlier.

You know, I really respect all of that and respect your work. I think we work well together. I think it will work for that reason. You know, I've got a great personal affection for you and your family. And I think, you know, we've been friends since we started working together and the friendship continue.

When I went down to New York, I said I think we'd enjoy working together so I can work for that reason. But even if those two things aren't compelling, wait till you see the pay differential. And if neither of those first two things convince you, you know, you'd be raking in that big time associate vice president money

at the college. So even if you hate me and you have no interest working together, you know, at least take the check. And I don't know what to which of the three reasons were compelling, Joe, but he called back about 15 minutes later after praying on it, apparently.

And here we are now

made an offer you couldn't refuse. Bob, is how does what's your version of the story?

I mean, it's similar. It's similar. Father James, I think, is so. He's hired me now twice. The first time he hired me, my wife and I were going on an anniversary weekend together. And I said, do you mind when he offered me the job on a Friday?

I said, hey, I'm I'm heading out this week. And you mind if I take this over the weekend? Talk with my wife, reflagged pray, et cetera. We called it a discernment retreat jokingly, but he didn't appreciate that very much.

But so this is a this is a call back to that. But I I'll say this. When when he told me it was I was shocked this shocked at the offer. But I also then thought back to all the good work in front of us.

You know, I mean, PC is a place where I have been gifted, are given some of the greatest gifts in my own life. This is where I met my wife as a student when I was working in campus ministry.

This the community that helped us welcome our daughter Grace and has supported us through all of that. This is a place that formed my mind in profound ways. It's a place where I think the Lord gave me a chance to do ministry here that I really believed in and that I built some incredible relationships.

I mean, I think I consider, you know, being able to to work on of the James leadership is one of the not only in terms of my professional life career, but just as both friend and personally, just one of the greatest gifts that I've received here.

You know, he's the kind of guy you want to follow into battle, and he's the kind of boss who supervisor who becomes a friend and becomes fiercely loyal and who who really seeks your good in all these situations.

And so I knew this was somebody that I knew that was going to support me and that was going to really value my perspective and sense of things. And this is going to be somebody that we could kind of create, hopefully some good mission driven initiatives and serve the university that brought this giving us so much together

. So I needed to talk and pray about it because, you know, I had to talk to my wife, but I also wanted to be sure this was the right fit for us. We spirituality's felt confirmed in it and it didn't take too long.

This time around, it felt like a godsend.

Sir, I'm sorry to be arguing with with Bob on your podcast, but I just it's I offer them a job on Friday. He one take a couple of days. He took about he took about 10 days. You know, he made he made Hamlet look like a reactionary.

That's that was

I guess I

don't remember. That's a that's a that's a civil reference right there, if anyone wants to. Yeah. You know, and I don't I should we should probably mention this to hear how our relationship has developed. Bob and Lezak actually asked me to be the godfather to their child.

Very nice. I would sit there growing up. All right. No. So no. But Joe, Bob said. Would you like to baptize the baby? I said I'd be happy to be the godfather to your baby. And we had this awkward situation where he had to wiggle his way out.

He didn't want me to be the godfather. He just wanted me to be the sacramental monkey conferring the sacrament of eternal life on his daughter. I can't. Not good. Not good enough. We got to hire him a third time in order to be a godfather, apparently.

Well, it worked out OK. Right. So it's it's all fine.

And where is our soul?

That's right. And you're a great team. And all of us here, C are really glad you're both in the roles that you are in. And there's so much to celebrate with respect to the things that happen in mission and ministry, but for the benefit of our audience.

Let's talk a little bit about the structure. What do we mean when we say mission and ministry? And what who does that involve and what parts of the operation?

Sure. Well, we are a I feel like you should probably answer some of this

from James also. So broadly speaking, we've got I think that the biggest component of the Office of Mission Ministry is the office of the chaplain campus ministry. And you're going to you're going to see a theme coming up your job.

We've got we just celebrated the conclusion of the Peter Marty Young Wirth's term. And he did a wonderful job, certainly better than the guy before him. I forget his chaplain, to be specific, as chaplain. I forget that guy was the head of IS.

So Father Peter Martyrs' did a great job. We've now got Father Justin Bolger, whom I think has been a guest on your show here. And he's he's hit the ground running very well. You know, so we've got we'll see new things coming out of campus ministry and some some new faces there.

That's very exciting. We've also got the the the Center for Catholic and Dominican Studies. And, you know, it will see opportunities for lectures and study groups and colloquia and, you know, ways of entering into and exploring the Catholic and Dominican nature of the university, but also different Catholic and Dominican related topics.

Some will be found in the mission books. Some will be from from outside their endz that's being led. Now, we've got a new director of that center, Father Augustine Rise now, who's just finished his doctorate at the University of Notre Dame and is teaching in our theology faculty here.

So that's very exciting. We also count the the office of the alumni chaplain as part of our Division two fathers. Stuart McPhail and James Quigley have been longtime alumni chaplains and have done great work and continue in that role in their roles now continuing the great work that they've done for so long and the great faithful service

to the college that they've provided in a number of different capacities for for many decades. And there they were joined most recently by Father Joe Barrenger, who is my old chaplain when when I was a student here, as so he's our new alumni chaplain.

So we've got a lot of a lot of exciting things, a lot of great coworkers and, you know, among whom are some some new and exciting faces. So, yeah, we're excited to to see what we're able to do now with this this whole big team in in the post Covid Providence College World.

Bob, you're uniquely positioned to describe the role of laypeople in campus ministry as, of course, as one yourself. Very important. And the contributions of

of laypeople to this work. Yeah, I you know, I believe that one of the benefits of I see this what I saw as a lay campus minister when I was there is I think we're able to provide a distinctive model of what it means to be a faithful Catholic, but it means to be devoted to the Lord

and to the ministry of the church in the midst of single life or family life, and how to have those balances and to help give our students an example to see of that and to help walk with our students in our own kind of capacities and share the gospel with them and do good work with them.

I and I also think one of the things that's really good for our students to see, too, is kind of good kind of shared ministerial relationships between the Dominicans in the office and the staff in the office. I think seeing us all work together, sharing kind of a shared value for each other's distinctive missions in the office

is a wonderful gift that we can give to our students. It gives it gives our students, you know, kind of a sense of the different locations in front of them. It gives them different types of relationships that they can sort of be with kind of the men and women who work in our office and the Dominicans and

the Fryer's and sisters. And I think it kind of spreads wide. A lot of the different mentoring relationships that can be formed, different speaking, sharing the gospel from different kind of life, shapes of life. I think all of that is of irreducible benefit to our students.

We're beginning an academic year at P.S.. We say this all the time, unlike any other one, and that's been the case for a while now with just about just about every juncture. But it's it occurs to me that there may be some unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to ministering to our students, as in many cases

, they come back to a campus where they haven't been for a long time, or they're coming to one from the first time for the first time after a very unusual high school experience. The the variables here are pretty obvious.

But what occurs to you when you think about the ways in which you will be helping students in the roles that you play so much of?

I think so much of what we we do or the opportunities that present themselves to us. Some of them you can anticipate by trying to read the signs of the times and try to think through what some of the needs are going to be.

And then there's a whole other category of them that are really read and respond, you know, in trying to come up with the best way of caring for members of our community based on what they're presenting, you know.

So I think the year ahead is going to look is going to be a combination of the two. So I think we can certainly anticipate, you know, a little bit of rust on the community. And we haven't been able to do the things that we like to do in the ways that we do them for some time

now. And as we start to resume a more ordinary expression of life, that's going to, you know, that might we might have to ease into that a little bit. And, you know, I think we'll try to respond accordingly there.

I think we're certainly I don't think it's crazy to think that we'll be looking at. The need to to help some of our students and to an extent faculty and staff members wrestle with some of the some of the issues that come along that that came along with the the Covid period in periods of isolation and quarantine

and, you know, being out of communion with with each other. And there's you know, there are physical effects, there are spiritual effects, there are psychological effects. And I think, you know, there's there's going to be a lot of those those issues that went on cropping up that that will require some pastoral response.

So, you know, we'll try to do respond accordingly in all of those. Well, does that make sense?

Indeed, it does. Anything to add to that, Bob?

Yeah, I mean, I would say I think in some ways the work of. From what I can tell you, look pretty similar. We're still going to have liturgies. We're still going to pray together. We're still going to have retreats.

We're still going to serve. We're going to do a variety of things like that. But I think one of the gifts that I've noticed with our campus ministry staff is they it's one of the most talented and relational and build groups that I've ever seen doing this work combined together and.

I think a lot of the pressures may be that Covid could be that socially, emotionally, spiritually, whatever those are. I think the form of relational ministry that kind of seeps its way through a lot of what is done in campus ministry and in the division is going to be is going to be the kind of the fertile

soil within which all of that is going to take root. And I think there's going to be I think, as Father James said, we can't really it's hard to know until people are in front of you. But I think a lot of that work is going to be done in the relationships that are cultivated, kind of get

the rust off. But also, you know, this is a chance for students to face things. Maybe they've been running from whatever it is. And I see a lot of good food coming from all of that.

And there's a reason to be optimistic, isn't there, there? We can all think that there's a lot good in front of us, a lot to be excited about, but maybe not right away. But we'll get there.

Joe, Jesus Christ, is this risen from the dead and triumphed over death and sin? And we all get to share in the glory of the glory of the Lord. You know, so this is is the Lord has overcome greater things than Covid, you know, and we're witnesses to that.

And we'll we'll do our best to communicate that as as faithfully, joyfully and and broadly and widely as possible.

Beautifully said, Father. Thank you for that. With father and especially, we generally try to keep these podcasts discussions like that's not entirely appropriate today. We're talking on Friday, the twenty seventh. As you may know, Father James is a Marine chaplain.

And just yesterday in Afghanistan, more than a dozen of your fellow Marines died in service. Father, I'm sure that's weighed on you heavily over the past many hours. And I wonder if you would share some of what you're thinking with us.

Yeah, thanks, Joe. You know, I guess I'm. Yesterday was yesterday was a rotten day, and I was in touch with a number of Marines who are part of my my battalion, my infantry battalion down in New York. And to see what they're, you know, kind of checking in and seeing how everyone was doing and just sort of

touching base, I think. So I hope this makes sense. Well, we didn't know these these particular servicemen. We knew them. You know, we don't know these ones in particular, but you know who you know who they are. You know, the roles that they're being asked to to fill, you know, the spirit with which they'd enter into that

service. And, you know, it personalizes things a little bit to have. Some some inkling of. What was what was going on with them? Standing standing there, exercising their their duties as well in a compassionate way. I think we've all been very moved by pictures and videos that we've seen of service personnel, Marines and soldiers and Navy personnel

over there who have been working on the ground and helping some really poor, vulnerable, vulnerable people. You know, I think that that kind of personalizes things a bit. I think people I've talked to, one of the common sentiments that came out is how blessed and honored we are to to wear a uniform and how willing any any

number of people I talked to yesterday and today are willing to do whatever is necessary in order to to try to bring a resolution to that situation that would protect and really save our own countrymen and women and friends and people who have done great work in in the service of our country.

You know, I think of some of these the Afghan citizens who so bravely assisted allied forces over there. And so there's a there's. A willingness to do whatever is necessary in order to support those we're there now and bring this to the best possible resolution.

So, yeah, it was it's it's an awful day. It's an awful situation. And there are a lot of an awful lot of prayers being being offered for the Lord's guidance of that situation on the ground in terms of all of our our leaders who are a in a position to try to determine a suitable course of action

. Let us all join in those prayers for for certain. And this is an example, another example, as we've said so many times in these podcast settings of why we so respect and appreciate your service and that that ministry.

And thank you for that, Bob, as the perhaps closest observer of Father James. What have you noticed in the past couple of years as he has added service as a Marine chaplain to his calling?

It's been, you know, as a. I'll say I'll see this as your friend, it's been a real joy to watch because, you know, I've I've learned all about how Marine uniforms are different than Navy uniforms. For instance, we went all into that.

I've I've learned I've learned a lot about what acronyms as well that I didn't know beforehand, the shape of life. I've even got to meet some of his colleagues in his battalion. It's been a real joy, just as a friend, to be able to watch him do something that he clearly loves, you know?

Father James is in a very administrative position, and he's so we like to joke a man of the people. He may be able man of the people, but he comes a lot. You could tell he's he's he spoke naturally and supernaturally gifted in this sort of ministry.

He's got a lot of courage. He's excited to be in that particular place and people's very vulnerable places in people's lives and potentially a great risk for himself. And he's the kind of guy that's going to run right it.

So it's been it's been a joy to hear. Basically, you know, he gets two weeks and he goes camping, sleeps on the ground and comes back stoked on it. He marries for two weeks, clearly fatigued. I've noticed that, too.

But but it's been you know, I think it's a great gift. And his life is what I've noticed, too. And it's been it's been a joy to see. It's been a joy to see kind of the service kind of bear good fruit.

You're very kind of say that, Bob. But let's be clear, Joan, camping involves s'mores. We're not there are no s'mores out in the field, therefore, it's not camping. One of the other things that Bob neglected to mention is every time I go away, he's left holding the bag here on campus in the office of Mission Ministries.

So as supportive as he's been, whenever I have an opportunity to go out, he's taking a lot of the work of this office on his own shoulders. So he's he's always been very gracious in helping me to get out, but never disappoint him when I come back.

And is he hands me a pile of things. Got to do list for you. Yeah.

We both have busy summer, so that so-called camping was three or four weeks ago leaving Quantico, right? Featherless where it originated from, so. That's right. And the very recent past, Bob, you also had an adventure this summer, which involves some cross-country travel and some wonderful things with your family.

Yeah, we. I'm from San Diego originally, and we we went out to San Diego to visit. My mother just moved to Rhode Island definitively so so the childhood home. So we went out as kind of a final goodbye to the old house, brought my daughter out, went to Disneyland, Legoland, those sorts of things, and made our way

back, which is a lot of fun. My daughter's developed a real love of roller coasters, so she sticks, but it's a lot of fun.

That sounds good. Well, it's been a pleasure to speak with both of you. And once again, the book will be along in a few weeks and it's going to be great. And we appreciate all the work to both of you have poured into this project over the past year.

It is it is a lot. And it's really going to serve us well for a long time, something that the college is needed for a while. And thank you for for making it happen.

Thanks, brother. Thanks, Joe. Thanks for having us.

We'll see you again, have you back here again very soon. We hope and good luck as the semester gets underway. Here we go. No turning back now.

Turn back up, Blasco, perhaps.

Thank you for listening to the Providence College podcast. Feedback is welcome to the podcast at Providence dot edu for our producer, Chris Judge. I'm Joe Karr. Until next time.