Having little to lose, I accepted his number

I’d like to briefly share my story in support of the difference a catholic priest has made in a life

I left the Church in 1975 as a 17 year old…for many of the worn out reasons people have left for centuries. In the end, it was mostly due to ignorance of what was ‘being left’.

Fifteen years later, I found myself a married father of three children, living a ‘relativistic life’: unhappy and in spiritual and emotional pain. My sister suggested I speak with a priest who had helped her. Having little to lose, I accepted his number. (The grace of my parent’s continuing prayers on my behalf enters here, in an unusual moment of openness…)

This priest was living life with a great deal of personal sanctity. In fact, I later learned some of his students called him ‘Father God’. ‘In Persona Christi’ was (and is) his mode of being. We didn’t speak about the faith and he didn’t attempt to convert me. Its hard to describe but the effect of his presence was penetrating, profound and immediate. Entering our first meeting a confirmed ex-Roman Catholic, I left that meeting with a changed heart. And so it came to be.

Almost 20 years later, I have been an extraordinary minister for some years. Now a conservative Catholic, having ‘colored outside the lines’ for a large part of my adult life, I know the pain of sin and its consequences. My wife and I have had our vows blessed and we have returned to full communion (with the faith). I know the Catholic faith as it proceeds from the Seat of Peter is true because He who deposited that faith is Truth itself. I know this in my head. Perhaps more importantly, I know this also in my heart, which now belongs to Him.

I thank God often for that priest; called to an extraordinarily high level of sanctity, he answers that call everyday at 4:21am as he rises to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.


Chris

The Holy Spirit was doing His work

The Holy Spirit was doing His work
My name is Rogerio, Brazilian, Roman Catholic and living in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. I am 55 years old, married and father of 2 beautiful young boys and a beautiful young woman.
Around 2002 I had several problems and financial difficulties. I had to close my business and our family went through serious financial problems. At that time my wife and I were patrons of a community of lay Catholics, focused primarily on evangelism. Despite all the difficulties, we were sure they'd get out of the desert that we were, by the Grace of the Lord. Although we attended a parish for more than 15 years, we felt that we needed something more. The words of the Priest did not give us much encouragement. We were at the celebration week, but always hung out with a feeling that we were missing something.

In 2005, still in our midst of the crisis, we decided to go to a special celebration, held in the Parish of Our Lady Queen.

It was a celebration with much singing, much prayer of healing style celebration of the Charismatic Renewal. I remember I sat in the third row. The church was completely full (900 people) and the Holy Spirit was doing His work. During the sermon the priest, totally unknown to me until that moment, as if it were nailed directly to me. He fixed his eyes on me and confirming the promises of Jesus. Reaffirmed several times that my desert was near the end and that I remain faithful. The words that priest (Father Alexander) picked me up at that moment, I felt that God spoke directly to me by Father Alexander.

Thank you Father,

Rogerio

The Purple Stole

The day was filled with the brisk cold air of autumn in Middletown New York. It was Saturday and we started at 6:00am with mass and breakfast in the priest’s refectory. We had one task and two rewards. Help a family in the parish and play basketball the rest of the morning finishing up with pizza at the local Italian restaurant.

These were wonderful days of study and seeking the pathway God had for us. For me they also held deep wounds that never seemed to heal. At least that is what I felt in the quiet moments.

Fr. Denny was never one for saintly pursuit on the basketball court, and smiled broadly as he blocked my one good shot. Ah the days of youth and of companionship. We walked back towards the dorm and the darkness began to fill my being. I certainly did not want it to ruin this beautiful afternoon, but that did not seem to be something I could command. As I reached the door Fr. Denny grabbed my shoulder and guide me to his room.

“Maybe you have a few minutes to talk Bill?” A simple question and a gentle hand - I followed. Denny took up the floor between his desk and the window and pointed to the stool. I sat.
“I can see it in your eyes Bill,” his voice was calm. “What is bothering you?”
Now as a young man it was more my place to help others than to be helped. I was named William, the Great Protector - I had a lot to live up to. This moment was different though, and for the first time in, well most of my life, I let out the pain that held me bound to sadness.

This man of God, this gentle Priest listened and let my pain run its course. Then he did something that will always fill me with the true gratitude. Reaching across the desk he picked up his purple stole and, kissing it, placed in around his neck. “Well since we got all this dark stuff out and we are here in God’s presence, why not make it official. In the name of the Father...”

The ritual of the sacrament never came so alive to me than in those emotion filled moments. God did not give us Confession to handle sin. He gave it to us so we may find joy and peace. Fr. Denny healed a man that day of sins he did not know how to voice and gave me the true essence of God’s love. He gave me God’s forgiveness and filled me with the desire to be part of His life.

Thank you Fr Denny and thank you God.

Your humble servant,

Bill

Memory of Father Thomas Vincent Brody

In Memory of Father Thomas Vincent Brody

...it is written in the law of the Lord: Every [first-born] male shall be called holy to the Lord… Luke 2:23

I had a brother who was a priest! Thomas Vincent Brody was the first born in our Irish Catholic family of 10 kids. Our parents, Tom Brody Sr. and Jennie McKee Brody, came to the United States from County Clare, met in Chicago and married. We kids all went to Catholic grammar school and Catholic high school. How my parents ever raised us 7 girls and 3 boys during the Depression had to be a miracle. They instilled in us the old Catholic traditions, and I have passed them on to my family as well.

My father never called us boys by our first names, always by our middle name. So my brother was called Vincent, Vin or just "V". We as kids had trouble pronouncing his name. One of us found it much easier to just call him "B" - for what reason I'll never know. Well, the nickname stuck. So the rest of his life that's what we called him. He was Father Tom to everyone else, but to my kids he was Uncle B.

“B” was born January 22, 1910 and received his training for the priesthood at Quigley Preparatory Seminary and St Mary's of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. There were 50 young men in his ordination class. WOW!!

I can remember going to visit my brother when he was studying at Mundelein. I was about 7 or 8 years old at the time. It was during the Depression when money and food were hard to come by. We didn't own a car and so had to rely on friends, relatives and neighbors who had cars to take us out to visit my brother. And they were very strict at the Seminary; you could only visit once a month. Oh, how I remember that day he was ordained to the priesthood – April 7, 1934. How proud we all were of him!

He served as an assistant pastor at St. Mary's Church in Riverside, Illinois and St. Theodore's in Chicago. During World War II, Father Tom spent nearly four years as a Naval Chaplain assigned to the 4th Marine Division. He was wounded on Tinian and received the Presidential Unit Citation and Purple Heart.

He returned to Illinois to be an assistant at St. Peter Canisius in Chicago, and spent 13 years at St. Athanasius in Evanston before becoming founding Pastor at St. Patricia’s in Hickory Hills.

What a great Irish personality he had. He was loved by everyone who came in contact with him. I surely looked up to him. What a fine example he was. I miss him terribly and loved him dearly.

His brother,
Joe Brody

Catholic chaplain Rev. Thomas V. Brody offering communion in vestments made from a captured Japanese parachute. The silk of the parachute was made into vestments.

-USMC- OFFICIAL U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTO PLEASE CREDIT

Message from Teena and Anne, Join us in our grassroots of gratitude healing for priests

You can write about divorce, grieving, loss of jobs, happiness, whatever part of life a Priest helped you with. Thank them for words that guided your life. I am doing this for healing, and to reflect the values and strengths of the Catholic Church. Priest give up many things we take for granted. Sharing our gratitude will hopefully clarify the depth of healing so many Priests have given to the Catholic community and beyond.

I need help getting to those that are not online. Please talk to your Priest and post in the Bulletins to give those not online a chance to participate. The online community has been overwhelmingly in support of this project. It will make you proud to be a Catholic.

What a great gift to give your children on their wedding day. A guide to life with strength, dignity and ethics during life's challenges.
Letters To Priests, Thanking The Men Of The Catholic Church is now a LinkedIn group. http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2656614/
Live up to it,
Anne Hughes and Teena Adamick

Happy Father’s Day, Father! By Mary Lou Rosien

Happy Father’s Day, Father!

By Mary Lou Rosien

My husband and I recently had our parish priest over for dinner. We totally enjoyed his company and I hope he enjoyed the food. After dinner we sat around and talked as our children started their homework. When my son came across some difficult math problems, it was Father Gonyo who jumped in to help him. He gave my son his time, attention and expertise (of which I am sadly lacking) in math. It was at that moment that I reflected on how our priests are truly fathers to us all.

As we approach Father’s Day I find myself thinking about that evening and about the role of our priests. They dedicate their lives to the Church, to us, and in doing so, they give up the possibility of having their own families. I know this is a welcome sacrifice for them, but it also deprives them of opportunities to interact as we did that evening at homework time. Often, our priests become close to those in their parishes only to be reassigned in a few years. Sometimes, they are taken away from their own parents and siblings as they are obedient to serving the Lord in the places the Church sees fit. They may grow old without any real family or support systems around them. Although they gladly serve, they can experience times of loneliness.

This Father’s Day, we can make a special effort to remember our priestly fathers as well as our earthly ones.

1/ Invite the parish priest into your classroom for a Father’s Day celebration or to your homes for dinner.

2/ Have your class make Father’s Day cards for your priest.

3/ Give your priest a spiritual bouquet from your class. For example: One child offers up a Hail Mary, another gives up chocolate for a day, still another offers their Mass and Communion for the priest, and so on.

4/ Show an interest in your priest as a person. Ask him to share why he chose the priesthood. When did he receive his calling? What are his favorite parts about being a priest? Does he have siblings? Sometimes we see our priests in the role that they fill and forget that they are human beings just like us.

5/ Greet your priest with a warm, “Happy Father’s Day, Father,” on Sunday, June 15th.

Although Father’s Day is a wonderful time to remember our priests, anytime kindness is shown is an appropriate time. Extending an invitation to your parish priest, a priest friend, or a retired priest to join you at dinner, a family outing or event, is almost always welcome.

To Father Gonyo, my husband, my dad and step dad, and to all the dads out there, Happy Father’s Day and may God continue to bless you.

Reprinted with permission. Originally appeared in OSV online Catechist Know How column, June 2008.