Tanner Kalina
Episode 36
07 OCT 2019
In college he played Division I baseball and was being scouted by the New York Mets, going on to play at another college before eventually made his way out of the sport. He remains an avid surfer and has also found success in comedy and films, including a movie released earlier this year that he says is, “Littered with Catholicism.” He and a friend are also going around college campuses giving talks, which was spawned from his having participated in FOCUS.
Notable guest quotes:
“Sister Ruth was kind of training me in what being a Catholic looks like.”
“In middle school I’d walk myself to Mass and make sure I was in the pew every Sunday.”
“I have peace about it, and I’ve forgiven them, but, one of them came up to me after my time at HBU and said that they tried to break me.”
“It kind of presented a bit of a spiritual crisis too because I saw everything I had worked for so hard and diligently my whole life, everything I wanted, and everything I felt God wanted me to do just kind of falling through the cracks of my clutch and it made me just see that kind of my whole identity was wrapped up in being a shortstop, being a professional ballplayer, and so I was kind of forced to confront that, lean into God.”
“When I went to UT, the first stop I made was at the university Catholic center. And, the first person I ran into was a FOCUS missionary and she immediately got me involved with a Bible study there. Which, that Bible study became my community and still some of my best friends.”
“Authentic walks are possible. Authentic relationships with God are totally real.”
“I feel my vocation is to bridge the sacred and secular.”
“Your plans are not your plans, and your plans aren’t gonna work out. But just kind of have fun in the freefall that is the walk with God.”
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