 Hey friends, you're watching behind the scenes divine intimacy radio We have special guests coming up from the patrolman's paternity of st. Michael Excited to talk about that when I first heard about these guys. I was pretty pretty encouraged on my son Jordan Who's gonna be co-hosting days usually the producer of the show was a police officer and so I have a Little place in my heart for the incredible the incredibly Difficult work they do but also was encouraged to hear of some spiritual Support for officers who out there in the thick of things. So we'll be talking to them in just a minute before we jump in I want to tell you about a We so we've been selling out our divine intimacy marriage retreats and then had you know ending up with huge waiting lists And so we decided to go ahead and add another one this year, which we hadn't planned on doing So it's divine intimacy and marriage a November 3rd through the 5th and That'll be at the shrine of the most blessed sacrament in Hansville, Alabama Just for the guys out there The difference between this and a lot of retreats is we don't ask men to act like women We don't we don't we don't sing kumbaya. We don't hold hands. We don't make you cry so the whole thing is we let men be men and women be women and It's Even even the macho guys that come are really surprised and delighted by our approach One of the things I really appreciate about Stephanie when we first got married or when we were courting as she said I don't expect men to act like women or misspe. I don't think I don't think men are misbehaving women I don't treat men like misbehaving women Men men are men and it's fine. You know, they are what they are So anyway, she of course then designed this retreat. We designed it together But it's very powerful changing a lot of saving a lot of marriages had multiple marriages this last retreat One of the other spouse said I'm Lee. I was gonna leave my spouse and I'm not going to anymore I have hope, you know, so it's pretty amazing and then there's also folks who are just have good marriages that really want to make them better and So it's for a whole spectrum of folks. So spiritual direction calm the events tab You can find all the events that we have going up going on and then Lasting is a course at the Abba Institute that is awesome The professor is just extraordinary Dr. Michael Gamma Exploring the source and summit so life-changing encounter with Jesus and the Eucharist And now we can deepen our devotion to the Lord and his profound self-gift in the liturgy So that'll be coming up on April 25th. So head out to avala-institute.org for all of your spiritual formation needs so So Jordan what we'll probably do I'll let you ask whatever questions you want to ask But you're gonna do the intro after the introduction of these guys after we do the opening, okay? So let's go ahead and jump to it. You guys ready? Sure thing. All right on your mark get set go This is Dan and Jordan Burke. Welcome to divine intimacy radio your radio Haven of rest Your it was because you're not Stephanie you're not used to Your monastery of the mind where we lift our hearts and minds to heaven To draw on the wisdom of the saints to help us to navigate this to this tumult of life I'm excited to have on the show with us today Two guys from the patrolman's fraternity of st. Michael when I first heard about it I thought we really got to get this on the air Jordan was a cop for a number of years and it really softened my heart for the Incredibly difficult job that police officers have and in particular in our time So if you know a police officer or you care about a police officer You'll be encouraged to hear of this patrolman's fraternity of st. Michael Jordan once you introduce our guests to two bios Yeah I Possibly dedicated to the sanctification of law enforcement professionals in a territorial society for fallen officers Matthew is a retired NYPD sergeant having served point two and a half years and leaving as a result of the NYC mandates Vaccine mandate to So welcome to the show guys Thanks for having us honored to be here you bet now So just to get us started with the first what what is the purpose of the? Patrolman's fraternity of st. Michael. How did it begin? You know, what what are you trying to achieve? So I think I could speak to that the patrolman's fraternity at its root is Just what it says it's an apostolate for men in law enforcement Just taking a look at the modern cop and the Challenges the trials the crosses that he faces as a younger guy who had his reversion to the faith before entering the profession I quickly saw this landscape and saw that there was a lot of challenges that a lot of my fellow officers A lot of them baptized were unequipped to handle in a proper way and unequipped to profit from as the faith teaches us we could do so I had the great fortune of Meeting Matt here at a retreat Given by the illustrious father John Pericone Local to us where we both immediately connected and having a lot of the same thoughts in that There's a lot of different apostolates out there online for traditional Catholics generally There's not really one that's focused on our vocation, which has a lot of unique challenges and you needs and needs More support maybe than some other vocations would need because of the challenges that we do face as you had said Dan Hmm Yeah, the the audio is kind of moving around a little bit But you know when I was younger I had an interest in the police force and I ran into I was a actually a Protestant at the time I ran into I think it was an organization called cops for Christ. Is that you guys know if that's still is that organization still around? Oh Can't hear Matt hold on Matt. There's something is up with the audio here What this will all be edited out of the final show That goes to terrestrial radio Any clue why he's not coming in Any sense Jordan Can you check could see if you're muted on your side Matt on your own settings Getting good now. All right, let me Go ahead Matt. Let me see if we can hear you Test no, we can't hear Matt. Hmm. I got him on my end. I can hear him What the audios So who is that who went digital is that matter was that? Logan, can you say something sure test test? Say it again test test One won't just keep talking from it. Yep. Test test interesting Should we try to exit out and re-enter the session or what do you think? Okay, yeah connection issue. Are you guys both in this in a similar location totally different spots? Okay, so let's Hmm well, let's do this. We'll do a couple things so though you're listening in the audience I'm gonna pray the umber leno prayer While we're working on our audio problems, and we'll probably restart the show. I think somebody doesn't want this transmission I was just gonna say the prayer to say Michael might be good at this point prayers Deliverance prayers for the lady Warner umber leno prayer for technology here we go Lord Jesus Christ sovereign king and thrown in heaven in your love and mercy Establish a perimeter of protection with your precious blood around our communication devices and all technology Used during the session the cameras or webcams microphones Speakers displays and any and all software Wi-Fi connections in the air both my router and the router of our guests and Anyone assisting the optic cables involved in the transmission of data the light waves being used to transfer data Cleanse them with your precious blood and drive them from them any centonic influence Establish around them a sanctuary of your mercy where Satan and any other evil spirit or human agency cannot interfere I asked father that you would block Bind review could remember round render impotent any assault of the evil one from them in any way father So long as these instruments are utilized in this ministry of divine mercy We ask you to allow them to enjoy the protection of blessed Mother st. Michael the archangel and all the holy angels we asked us in your most holy name the name before which every knee shall bow in heaven and earth and Under the earth that is Jesus Christ our Lord amen All right, so let's let me hear you again Luke. Let's see Logan. I'm sorry. Give me some right audio test test Okay, you're good. How are you? How's he sounding for you sounding good for you? And then let's hear you Matt test test Okay, we're all good with that So so I think what we'll do So we're probably about three minutes in when everything started to go down I Think we'll keep the intro as it is and we'll we'll go back to the first question as if we're coming right out of the Biose well, I was muted the whole time. So you were muted. Okay, so we got a re-record. All right, so we'll just start over. That's fine Okay On your mark. It's that go. This is Dan and Jordan Burke. Welcome to divine intimacy radio your radio haven of rest Your hermitage of the heart your monastery of the mind where we lift our hearts and minds to heaven to draw on the wisdom of saints To navigate this tumult of life. I'm excited today to have To talk to the patrolmen's fraternity of st. Michael Jordan. Why don't you introduce our guests? Logan is a police officer former division one athlete a new husband and a father with a young daughter and son on the way Or with the young daughter and a son on the way had a reversion to his faith in 2017 and his co-founder Patrolmen's fraternity of st. Michael an apostolate dedicated to the sanctification of law enforcement professionals and a purgatorial society for fallen officers Matthew is a retired NYPD Sergeant having served 22 and a half years and leaving as a result of the New York City vaccine mandate He is also a member of the patrolmen's fraternity of st. Michael Matt is married father of two boys that attended traditional Catholic school fully and he is fully committed to bringing the beauty of the Catholic faith to a society that is starving for truth meaning and beauty in their lives Yeah, so why have Joe why is Jordan on today instead of Stephanie? It's because he knows something about this topic Jordan was a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama For how many years? I think it was a little over six over six years pretty challenging assignment Yeah, in every way in every way So so we have compassion for police officers, especially those in probably the the most hostile environment for the for the police in the history of the United States You know, I don't know of a time when it was more difficult to be a cop I don't know what you think about it. Yeah, it was weird when I was when I went in it was prior to the Ferguson riots and so there was a market shift and how we handled things prior to that event and then after that event and then the reoccurring things that happened or the subsequent things that happened afterwards and watching The entirety of the law enforcement profession shift in particular directions Was kind of wild to to see and be a part of at that time. I'm sure Matt. I mean he was he was a cop at that time I don't know Logan, but Probably could say something similar Yeah, and so knowing all those difficulties. I was excited to hear about the patrolman's fraternity. So Logan or Matt, why don't you tell us? What's the fraternity about? How did it how did it come how did it come to fruition? sure So just as you guys have been saying The law enforcement profession is comes with plenty of challenges and trials and crosses I was fortunate enough to revert back to the faith prior to my the beginning of my career So when I first entered law enforcement, I you know as a lot of young guys do I think you have a little bit of rose colored glasses going in certain expectations of what it is What you think it's gonna be and then the reality kind of hits you and at that point though I still did have I had you know the faith I wanted to do this because I believed it was my vocations the work that God wants me to do So I wanted to do it in a certain way and when I got you know into the field and and you know through the academy and everything Like that I quickly realized that even though a lot of my compatriots are baptized Catholics They were not able to really assist me in doing the job as a Catholic Not just being a good cop which is obviously important but doing it in a way that is also Virtuous and pleasing to our Lord and I think if you look at just a brief sketch of the modern cop as he is and what he faces It's uh men who are maybe naturally virtuous, but who are faced with these Uh very difficult very heavy crosses and challenges that they're not spiritually equipped to handle So they Fall into some particular vices that I think we can we can pretty easily identify and and getting to certain things that Are not what our lord wants from them to put it just to put it plainly So having this in mind. I was very fortunate to go on a retreat Uh given by the illustrious father john pericone Um and that's where I met matt and when uh father introduced me to him very quickly He knew that I was uh, you know a young police officer just starting out He knew that matt had plenty of experience. So it was a natural connection and we both shared Similar observations similar ideas and and recognized the need for an apostolate directed particularly towards Cops in assisting them handle these trials these crosses these challenges Matt uh you're so how long have you been a cop logan? A couple years now I graduated the academy in uh 2019 and matt how long were you in I did exactly 22 years and six months and uh in three days. I believe it was Yes, no, but not count nobody's counting. No not counting at all. Yeah, right So what what was it about this idea that you know got you excited? Obviously have been in the force as long as you were you've seen every kind of permutation of evil and difficulty that a police officer could face Yes, yes, I saw an awful lot things my mother would never want to know that I saw But unlike logan the first the first uh 10 years of my my police career I was for for all intents and purposes a fall in a way Catholic, you know, I'd go with the family for christ I'm sorry for uh christmas in in easter and things like that but um It was very nominal and then around the midpoint of my police career. I had a very profound profound reversion back to the faith Uh, I could talk a lot on that for a long time But uh, I believe a mutual friend of ours had a big part in that along with my wife's Conversion to Catholicism Luthanism. That's father Matthew McDonald. Oh, yeah, a very very good friend of the family Yeah, it's a good piece part of our community. Yeah. Yes. Yes and um, so Going on this journey just seeing uh And I'm sure you know, Jordan can speak to this as well just remarkable amounts of dysfunction and evil Uh, both within what you see in society and within the police profession. There's remarkable dysfunction uh So again coming into a point where I had a very, you know profound reversion uh working in the law enforcement community and seeing that there was really virtually um Really nothing there to help officers to to be virtuous To stay on that narrow path that our lord has commanded us to to stay on and um, so I got involved with trying to To do something within the nypd because there really was nothing going on at the time and uh And you know starring the patrolman's attorney of st. Michael went on for a number of years and and we were able to to um To do some things I'm not going to get too deep into what we were able to do because I think that with um You know meet and logan here It's really kind of a renewal of what the original purpose was to do Because things have deteriorated considerably I fully agree with what uh, Jordan you stated previously around the furgusson time I I usually think around 2013 2014 That's when things really changed dramatically Uh, and it's been a downhill slope ever since and we have a lot of very good officers within the profession who have The right intentions they have natural virtue but it is a It's a profession wrought with with dangers temptations that are legion And there has to be something there That can that can act as a buffer against falling into these temptations which I am uh ashamed to say that um, you know once upon a time I fall fell into many of them myself And um, there has to be something and logan and I feel very strongly about that because We love these guys They are our brothers We want to see the best for them. Uh, we know that They have in many respects been shown a false uh version And for all intents purposes of what catholicism really is they don't understand. There's something more out there They just don't know it and we would very much like it to be part of our vocation And uh, and it's a possible going forward to to bring that to our brother in the law enforcement community Uh, to help them stay on that narrow path that we spoke that we speak of quite frequently Yeah, we mentor a lot of young men and I've had quite a few of them who find out that I was a cop and they come up And they're like, yeah, I think I want to be a cop and what was your experience And I have to be really careful because I don't want to I don't know what god is calling these guys to right Yeah, so I don't want to dissuade them, but I also but I want to say I can't have rose colored glasses. You got to know what you're getting into Yeah, um, so in turn in those terms, how do you help these guys kind of avoid a lot of the stuff that I fell into as well? Um, how do how do you help them kind of survive and thrive in the faith with what you guys do? So the the pillars of uh, the patrolman's fraternity like anything else are uh, You know prayer the foundation of everything and then you know mortification and disciplines. We're currently as a unit um We've kind of set up a different hierarchy of of participation in the patrolman's fraternity recognizing that some guys are at different spots and others so for myself matt and a couple other a core group of guys We labeled as knights. We take on a pretty hefty Lenten discipline for 40 days prayer fasting mortification These types of things and then the same thing for the other guys auxiliaries just to a lesser degree Those you know tried and true foundational parts of living a virtuous masculine catholic life and as matt said just just The simple fact of introducing them to the traditional faith, you know, what the Examples of some of the saints who were warriors, you know, not that That that being a police officer is is like being a soldier is a legitimate vocation within the church It's not, you know, like a necessary evil or something that a lot of modern liberalism wants to portray cops as as the bad guys, you know It's not the way our lord sees it. It's never been that way So just the mere introducing them to the traditional faith the traditional form of the sacraments this basic, you know, sort of a rule of life essentially um That's really it it's it's bringing them to our lord through those means and his grace takes care of the rest Fantastic. So just I want to put up on the screen the url For the patrolman's fraternity of st. Michael for those who are watching in the live stream Uh, the it's a little bit long. So I will I will break radio Protocol and and repeat it because I I really want them to get a thousand of you Sending them your well wishes sending, you know cops, you know friends that are cops or if you're a cop listening Telling everybody about this. It's it's patrolman's fraternity wix site.com. So p a t r o l m a n s Fraternity f r a t e r n i dot wix S i t e dot com And they promise they're going to get a better url in the future. It's a working title currently working title But um, we really do want you to reach out to cops that you know When we get back from the break, um You know, I think I think it's a good idea to just talk a little bit about The difficulties that you guys face jordan that you faced So that the regular audience can understand because we got we got some diversity out there And I think the way the media is playing portraying policing right now Is uh is pretty egregious And it's as if every cop is bad And policing is bad and you know, but we have in scripture itself In the new testament an admonition for The goodness of civil Order and how we should We should actually comport ourselves in order to be at peace with civil order And so the lord recognizes the authority The legitimate authority of police in civil order and when we get back from the break We'll talk a little bit about more about this. We'll be right back All right friends, uh, I think we're going to just keep running on the show So we'll the next segment will be 12 and a half minutes If you want to watch the clock, you're welcome or I can just cut you off if we're Running if we're coming up to the end of the show And uh near the end we'll just pop the url again And let folks know where to find you All right on your mark get set go welcome back to divine intimacy radio This is dan and jordan berk On a special edition of divine intimacy radio talking about how to help police officers Through the patrolman's fraternity of st. Michael Uh deep in their faith. Uh, it was super excited to hear about this apostolate By the way, grateful to ewtn for air in this show and allowing us to be Uh on all of their radio station system an amazing beautiful Organization helping people to come to their faith all over the united states And in fact, I think mother angelica may be single. Well, probably with fulton sheen Those two probably preserved catholicism in the united states more than any other individuals in our time through uh through uh catholic radio Which is now blossomed into so many other media media outlets and people who are Seeking to form others just like the patrolman's facade for society fraternity In a very special way of st. Michael So talk a little bit about I don't know jordan if you want to talk tell the average person What it's like what what are the What are the difficulties that the average police officer faces? I know it's hard to summarize Well, and you don't want to say certain things that would not be proper for radio, right? I don't know. I was trying to think of a way to say that didn't sound overly dramatic But I was reminded of uh, I can't remember who said it But it's it's kind of like if you stare into the abyss long enough the abyss tears back into you I don't remember who said that but being a police officer you're constantly Every call you go on is somebody's worst day, right? That's why they're calling you If it was a good day, they wouldn't need you and so everything you're dealing with is constantly just negativity And the darkness of the world and the darkness of the enemy And if you don't have proper things in place like for instance in my story I didn't have I didn't have proper things in place I was Catholic before I went in But because I wasn't taking my faith seriously And because I was surrounded by so much darkness I myself became very dark and ended up losing my faith for a period of time So it's important to have these things. I mean, they're they're desperately necessary because if you don't have good guys in there Doing what was necessary and and and pursuing lord and pursuing true virtue and true charity and true justice Then, you know, it's going to be overrun by folks who who don't have the ability to do that And then it's just going to you know, if the media is if what the media I'll say this way What the media is saying now isn't true it will be true if we don't have good guys in there You know, we're not supporting guys in in the profession, right, right? What do you guys think? Well, I would say with regards to that, you know, I think that I used to say as far as the nypd It's a great microcosm of society It's at the time it's still around 35 000. They're having a very difficult time maintaining that number, but When you see what makes up the organization who's coming coming in it really speaks to where the society is And so with with that in mind There there are some issues there are more certainly issues I I could say when I first came on the job there were guys that That we still had a few vietnam veterans that were that were working there Most of guys came on in the late 70s and early 80s And in the time that has gone on since then to the time I I just retired you you see a lot of the change in society One thing I can say that I did see is that Regarding our postulate and speaking to cops about What where we come in living the catholic faith living a virtuous life The older generation were much more Receptive to it They they were much more receptive to it. They had more of a You know more of a formation in a culture where these were these values I'm sorry. I shouldn't say I should say virtues Were much more apparent in and when they when they were formed and when they grew up and when they were in the job the You know the the catholic faith used to be very very much Intertwined with policing at one point in time The nypd is a great example You know the holy name society used to be a very very big organization very robust You'd have thousands of cops that would be there at the annual community breakfast uh, that is completely Gone at this point to put it bluntly. It's not the organization still exists But you just don't have that adherence. You don't have that receptivity through these So what are you guys doing differently? Maybe I don't you're not to criticize them, but What are you finding resistance? You know to to your Organization in police departments or are you are you are they welcoming to you? What's going on with the with the progress of helping guys to to to hold on to their faith and deepen their faith There's certainly resistance to To you know many times even having a conversation about things regarding the faith Even with an average cop There is in sometimes almost instinctual resistance to it Which at times I've had conversations with with guys who have been raised catholic and and it's a very interesting Very interesting uh dynamic at times between myself and speaking to them where they they are There's this this vitriol that will come out of times about a faith that has been in the family for generations, which I I find very troubling Some are some are certainly receptive to it Though it's it's not an easy. It's not an easy Thing to do, you know, we have certainly have had men come aboard and have success in getting members, but because of the lack of Formation the last number of decades in our church and in society I don't think you have the numbers that are that once would have been receptive to it if anything, there's there's great suspicion to Um, unfortunately of faith. They don't really know too much about Yeah, they would they reject something. They're kind of poorly catechized in and all that But tell me what's encouraging about it. I mean you guys you guys wouldn't be doing it if it was a downer to you you know logan maybe What are you seeing that inspiring you about your progress and how you're helping guys? I see that in spite of the the very real and significant challenges that we face mainly I think because of this False perception of what the faith is amongst our brethren whether baptized or not We still have a core group of guys who are willing to Put their money where their mouth is and really take on some serious Lenten disciplines and offer up those prayers and sacrifices So that this apostle will bear fruit. We know that we're in uh, you know, this is a war of attrition It's a long-term battle. We know we're not going to have instant success overnight and while we do want You know this message and this fraternity to spread to the most amount of people possible We know that uh, the main results come from God giving the increase so we would rather have guys legitimately on board willing to go to the hilt In the beginning to merit those graces for the other guys to kind of come along after the fact And so we have a telegram group set up where guys can kind of Chat with a little bit of privacy. It's amongst cops So questions regarding the job questions regarding more sensitive topics that maybe they wouldn't necessarily be comfortable Asking the fellow catholic cop next to them in their department. They could go to us that's been we've had some very fruitful discussions in there and just being able to Have guys that you could go to that are serious about their faith to ask questions to to pray with to to have a mutual Suffering and sacrifice with I think is is very inspiring because god, you know Takes the little mustard seed and can make the the great tree out of it If we you know our patient and faithful enough so You know there hasn't it's not like we've got millions of followers worldwide all of a sudden because you know We started this apostolate, but we know that that that wasn't going to be the case anyway if this is something that Over a longer period of time bears fruit then that's that's what matters and what it's not we know It's not going to be an instant hit Had a curiosity jordan if of all the tools you've learned to use in spiritual disciplines Let's say prayer the sacraments Discernment of spirits all of that if there was one thing you wish you to had as a cop Or you think could most powerfully in you know impact police officers spiritually one of the disciplines that we practice In a possibly va or in our work. What would you what would it be? That's a really good question My gut is to say discernment of spirits because that's just so Instrumental to the in the entirety of life let alone. Yeah, anything as intense as policing But I think in the context of policing Probably mortific self mortification the denial of self Because there's so many times at least in my experience. We're seeing so much evil in and so much just Yeah, evil is the word that you have You know, we have this natural reaction, which is good and you're disgusted by the evil and you're angered by the evil And that's all very good and that's right. That's that's necessary to have otherwise if you didn't have that reaction There's probably you probably have an issue, right? But the question is moving forward from there. How do you respond to that? Right? So do you internalize it or do you get wrecked by it? Yeah, or do you get wrecked by it? Do you pray about it? And I think mortification in this context this denial of self this This subjugating your lower nature to your intellect and your will would probably be extraordinarily beneficial I know it would have helped me then so then I can at least step back I I think that's necessary before you even get into discernment of spirits, honestly Yeah, where it's like I just I just the daily mental prayer is probably the most powerful thing. Yeah. Yeah So what I you know what I what I'd like to do with you guys you ever heard of the book spiritual warfare and discernment of spirits Heard of it. Yes Now that No, I swear this was um For my birthday my fond of Matthew McDonald had my sister buy That in the devil in the castle for my birthday They are two of my most favorite Books, they are my wife is reading spiritual warfare and discernment spirits right now Awesome. So I'd love to donate a case of those books to you guys to the to the patrolman's fraternity I I think that you know just getting into that Will help really guard hearts and minds of guys and we love what you're doing We we we need good holy police officers And we need them now more than ever and it's harder than ever. I'm really grateful to see great Politicians we usually don't say good things about like DeSantis You know saying hey you want to save place to work where we actually appreciate you come on down to florida But if you're a cop if you're a cop and you know somebody who's a cop And you understand the difficulties they're facing in our time Please point them to patrolman's fraternity of saint michael You can find them out at patrolman's fraternity Dot wix site dot com. That's p-a-t-r-o-l m-a-n-s f-r-a-t-e-r-n-i dot wix Site wix s-i-t-e dot com if you're driving you're listening to e-w-t-n radio now Just head out to spiritualdirection.com. We'll have the the show out there or spiritualdirection.com's youtube page We'll make sure you get the information To connect with these guys in the show notes and all of that But thank you guys for all the good work that you're doing and uh be assured of our prayers and all If you could hang with me after the show from and I'll get your address We'll send you out a case of spiritual warfare and discernment of spirits and with that our our time is up Until next time may the god of peace make you perfect in holiness may preserve you whole and entire spirit soul and body You're approachable at the coming of our lord jesus christ amen All right, thanks guys. Um if you could take us off the air kill the life and then i'll get the uh address