As I was preparing my last instalment of high-level athletes-turned-priests, a couple of things struck me.
First, it surprised me how many priestly vocations have come from the world of sport – every sport. Also, from every part of the world, including Vancouver priests Father Richard Conlin (golf) and Father B.J. Hamilton (basketball).
Second, there are many similarities between the discipline needed to become a priest and a high-performance athlete, with hours and years of training and sacrifice in life and the need for a coach every step of the way.
Let’s look at some priests who have excelled in hockey, baseball, and football.
Bishop Thomas Paprocki has written a book called Holy Goals for Body and Soul. Writing for teenage athletes, he covers a range of topics and beautifully brings together the athlete’s journey and ways it can help a young person live a holy life.
Bishop Paprocki was born and ordained in Chicago and currently serves as Bishop of Springfield, Ill. Known as the “Holy Goalie,” he has practised with the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets and currently plays in an over-30 league.
Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., at Father McGivney Catholic High School in Glen Carbon, Ill. Bishop Paprocki has written a book on sports and living a life of faith. (CNS photo/courtesy Elizabeth Moody, Father McGivney Catholic High School)
The Bishop has also run numerous marathons around the world and hosted a charity hockey game for more than 10 years to raise money for Catholic charities.
He told Jim Mancari of The Tablet, “You don’t have to be a bishop to be a holy goalie, however, as a bishop I have a unique opportunity to speak from behind the goalie mask about how holiness can be found in something as routine as sports.
God knows how impactful sports are in many lives and how influential athletes can be, and Bishop Paprocki says sports “can be even more fun when we think of God taking pleasure in our accomplishments.”
He talks about the inevitability of fear and failure for athletes, which we all experience in life. The important takeaway from Bishop Poprocki is, “How do we respond?”
The answer is always to bring Our Lord into the solution and to remain resilient, hopeful and persistent in prayer.
Father Michael Cunningham of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter serves in Baltimore. He had major league baseball skills as a catcher but his lack of offensive output kept him in the minor leagues. Like Bishop Poprocki, he also discusses the fortitude needed to work through hard times, something he learned in baseball.
Father Cunningham believes baseball, more than other sports, is a sport of failure. A .300 batting average (30 per cent ) is considered successful.
After his baseball career ended, his faith became supernaturally invigorated after a friend took him to a traditional Latin Mass in South Carolina. He soon began having thoughts about becoming a priest, but remained very uncertain.
“One day, I just flat out asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to ask her son what he wanted me to do – get married or become a priest.”
The answer came soon after. “When I was visiting my mom, I was saying my Rosary and my mom emptied her purse. There was a cross which had the name Mike written on the vertical beam with a heart below it. I looked closely at the horizontal beam and it said Father.”
The message was clear. While Father Cunningham understands what our ultimate goal is – heaven – we need to take joy in the daily journey.
“Kids mostly start baseball for fun. There might be some thoughts of a World Series someday, but that’s not the primary reason that we play. We should see our Catholicism in a similar way; take pleasure in the Mass, the Rosary, in giving to the poor and in asking people if they ever thought of becoming Catholic,” he told Trent Beattie of The National Catholic Register.
Joseph Freedy was playing quarterback for the University of Buffalo, yet his heart felt restless. He could not understand why he could not find happiness until he read The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn.
As a young boy, Freedy lived a faithful life, but like so many top athletes his chosen sport – football – started to become his identity, along with an active party scene.
While visiting his parents’ house, he saw The Lamb’s Supper and started to look deeper into the Mass and its significance in his life.
“My heart began to be filled by peace, joy and love,” he told The Register.
Like Father Cunningham, he debated with God for some time before spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Although reluctant to let go of his own designs for life, he eventually surrendered.
“God knows better than we do what is best for us,” he said, and all we need to do is trust, let go, and let God lead us.
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