Bailey Landry
Episode 17
27 MAY 2019
She has played softball for Team USA as well as professionally, plus she enjoyed a college career at LSU that consisted of three Women’s College World Series appearances and her being named an All American two times. She is a relative newlywed and a cradle Catholic. Among other great reflections, she talks about the Catholic church in Thailand that she and her husband found on their honeymoon and why it was unique in terms of imagery.
Guest Quotes:
“It really scared me after my confirmation that I was no longer going to receive formal religious education. And so it really took me to step up and say okay well I want more, I want to dig in more, and now, knowing, okay, it’s the gifts of the Holy Spirit, working in me, drawing me closer to him, I really dove in.”
“I was a brand-new student-athlete in a whole new situation. It was just, a lot of different things were moving. But I was very lucky that at LSU, at Christ the King – the Catholic church on campus – they have amazing, amazing ministries there. And so, I had a teammate that, within the first few weeks, invited me to go to adoration and praise & worship.”
“Putting yourself in front of Jesus, like, there’s no way you can’t be transformed.”
“It was big for me to have a community of people who weren’t just athletes. I think it just kind of opened up my mind to different avenues of the faith as well.”
“It is difficult to play sports at an elite level… That requires quite a bit of time, effort, energy, all of the above. But so does your faith. And so, I think that a lot of times elite athletes don’t always make the opportunities to give equal energy to both.”
“I really didn’t have solid faith-based people that I was able to lean on until I got to college, as teammates. And so, some of my very best friends I met at LSU, who are all faith-loving women.”
“Before every at-bat I pray a Hail Mary, just to myself, in the dugout, just for the grace that Mary was able to exemplify, whether I succeed, whether I don’t.”
“They always (ask), ‘What’s your best advice on, I’m going into college – What’s your best advice?’ And one thing I always tell them is that, it’s okay to not be okay, and, to make sure that you are surrounding yourself with good people.”
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