Fr Stephen Gadberry
Episode 65
27 APR 2020
The pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Batesville, Arkansas, AND St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Newport, Arkansas. He was on Season 10 of “American Ninja Warrior” on NBC in 2018 and also enjoys archery and is an avid hunter, plus he coaches CrossFit. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Texas, Germany, and central Iraq.
Notable guest quotes:
“Whenever I’m working and I’m being productive, for me that’s a very sacred moment.”
“I remember starting tee ball when I was probably five years old? And pretty much every year since then I’ve done some sort of sport.”
“Throughout my life, just, I’ve always trusted the people who were over me: my parents growing up, my superiors in the military, my formators in the seminary, and now, of course, the bishop and the dean – the priest in charge of that area that I’m in – I trust that Christ will speak to me and I can hear His voice. One of the ways I can hear it most clearly is through them.”
“(the bishop) was also concerned about my soul. He said, ‘I want you to do (American Ninja Warrior) as long as it doesn’t affect you negatively spiritually’.”
“Spring of 2018 I get the call from (American Ninja Warrior). They say, ‘Come, we’ll do the filming.’ I did that in Dallas, of all times, it was Palm Sunday night.”
“One of the best ways to preach the gospel is, just be joyful.”
“Through American Ninja Warrior I was… hoping to share this human aspect of this priest, because we’re called to live out the incarnation of Christ. We’re called to share His grace, to manifest His divinity in the world through ministry, but we’re also called to embrace our own unique identity with our strengths and weaknesses that we have. And so, He’s given me that particular skill set of… physical exertion, you could say. So I just embraced it and trusted that if the Lord gave it to me and I use it well, that He’ll do what He needs to do.”
“(Saint) Augustine and Joseph Ratzinger, two of the greatest minds and greatest hearts in the history of the church.”
“I’ve been able to meet countless you could call them ‘famous’ people. But at the end of the day, they do one thing and they do it well. Everything else? They’re just like you and me. Which does not discourage me, but actually it encourages me to do, that one gift that God has given me, it encourages me to do it well.”
“It’s in the basics, the still, silent moments of the basic times of life that you can most perfectly hear the voice of the Lord.”
