Today I heard something very simple but powerful from Father Justin Huang, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Vancouver. I’d just got off the tennis court after a great session of hitting and doing drills with him.
I’ve had the great honour of knowing Father Justin since he was a member of Life Teen at St. Paul’s Richmond. As it turned out, in those days I would see him in the summers playing junior league tennis for Richmond Tennis Club against my Arbutus Club team. He always was and still is the hardest-working player on the court.
As I saw today after his five-year layoff from the sport, he’s over-exuberant at times, but there is never any lack of effort or shortage of footwork. The last time he played, he thought he might have come out on top in a match versus Father Lucio Choi of St. Matthew’s in Surrey. Father Justin is also a very good student of the game: he retains information well.
So, I always enjoy the wisdom that comes from Father Justin, whether during a homily or after our games; but what did he say that really made me want to follow up?
What Father Justin mentioned is simply that many parishioners don’t realize that priests are regular people who have other interests and gifts as well. It may be sports, music, art, photography, or many other areas of interest.
Our priests, of course, do so much to find out about us, our life history, but do we ever take the time to find out about their background and interests? We are their family, after all, and this is one way of showing them our love.
A second way we can help them is to encourage them to stay active and if possible to help facilitate these activities. In fact, I am currently trying to propose a project which will get our priests regular physical activity or even competition, which will keep them physically healthier and mentally energized.
Listed below are a few priests that we may know with a few athletic notes. There are many others, and I welcome any stories not mentioned here.
Father James Hughes, pastor at St. Patrick’s in Vancouver, has had an athletic background that has been documented in The B.C. Catholic previously. He was especially instrumental in getting the Men in Black soccer team of archdiocesan priests started. I am not sure if he was the MVP of the team when they played local Catholic school teams and other groups, but he was their spiritual leader. My sources tell me he also put together a tennis tournament for parishioners in recent years.
Did many of you know that the multi-talented Father Mark McGuckin, from St. Mary’s in Chilliwack, was a very strong high school level basketball player? (He also was an improvisational comic, actor, and filmmaker, but that is for another day.) I’ve played against him on the hardwood, and it didn’t go well for me. For a big man he has good hands.
Bishop Mark Hagemoen of the Diocese of Saskatoon attended Vancouver College with me and served the Archdiocese of Vancouver for many years. He is an avid outdoorsman now, and in high school he was a successful football player and wrestler. He never lacked intensity in his sporting events.
Father Julio Lagos of the Opus Dei prelature is an excellent shooting guard in basketball. If he teamed up with Fathers McGuckin and Huang, we could have the start of a holy dynasty.
Deacon Richard Conlin from Corpus Christi Parish was a highly decorated national level golfer. He won many awards before his calling to the priesthood, and he had ambitions of playing on the PGA tour.
Then there is my dear friend Msgr. Gregory Smith from Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver. He is a very humble man when it comes to his sports abilities, but ask him about handball and he might have to admit to being a decent player.
This is only a partial list of the athletic prowess of our priests. I will no doubt be adding to this list in the future (please send along any stories you have). For those priests and religious who serve our spiritual needs and are family, let’s get to know them and love them especially during these challenging – and, for them, exhausting – times.