Episodes

Julia Webb

(PARENTS MIGHT SCREEN THIS EPISODE BEFORE LISTENING WITH MINORS.)  With two very powerful stories that she shares here (and a borderline third at the end), she is in her second season as an assistant coach with the Ave Maria University cross country and track programs. Previously she’d been an assistant coach for the cross country and track programs at the University of Arkansas Little Rock for two seasons. She also has coaching experience at the high school level, having coached at two high schools in the Portland, Oregon area. While there, she also spent five years as a running coach at Nike World Headquarters. Back in her college days she was a decorated student-athlete, and has remained an active runner, currently holding the world records for fastest 10k race and fastest half marathon finished while pushing a stroller.

Notable guest quotes:

“I started playing sports probably as, like, a one-year-old playing basketball in my basement.  But, I’ve always been extremely active… I always had a basketball in my hand or a soccer ball, played a little bit of hockey in our backyard, I started playing on team sports when I was in second grade, gymnastics from about first grade up ‘til eighth grade… Later in life I discovered that I was a much better runner, so I didn’t start running until my senior year of high school.”

“I grew up Catholic and my mom is a strong reason for that.  She has been very faithful, and she’s always been a role model to me in the faith.”

“I did know it was very important to go to Mass.  That was engrained in my being.”

“I still found myself attending Mass.  And I believe that is one reason why I am here where I am now… Faith is the center of my life, along with my family.”

“I have four daughters and… I’m trying to just get them to fall in love with Jesus on their own and not be a forceful thing.”

“It just shows that you can actually put your kids in situations that are good and stuff, but you also have to be aware of who are the friends… You gotta kind of supervise to see where your kids are going.”

“It’s (my mom’s) prayers why I’m here at Ave Maria where Jesus, the Eucharist, I pretty much get almost daily.”

“I also was going through Confirmation and… there was definitely a spiritual turning there.”

“My team was incredible in college; we were just surrounded by Christian friends… We did have a group that would go to Mass.”

“I had also done some sidewalk ministry with St. Pius X church in Portland… and I just felt very called.”

“That’s what we’re called to do, we have to stand up and be persecuted… for Christ and if we’re not it’s like we’re just being private with our relationship and it’s not meant to be, it’s meant to be shared, we are meant to preach.”

Related link:

Julia’s bio on Ave Maria University athletics website

(This episode contains a prayer originally from catholic.org, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Ray McKenna

A Washington, D.C.-based attorney and former general counsel of the General Services Administration. He served as a lay baseball chaplain for eight years and is the president and founder of Catholic Athletes for Christ. He has served in sports-related ministry for close to 30 years including ministries associated with Major League Baseball, the NFL, professional boxing, and youth sports programs. He was a participant in Rome at the Vatican’s first-ever sports conference in 2005 and has been working with the Vatican’s sports office to promote the Church’s mission in the United States.

Notable guest quotes:

“I was born and raised Catholic and I’m a product of Catholic education all the way from grammar school through college.”

“My uncle – my godfather – and my dad, they both played baseball, they both were semi-pro baseball players.  My uncle was very accomplished.  He was offered a contract by the Yankees.”

“I played just about every sport that I could, mostly first in the streets.  I played baseball most primarily and basketball in school… I went to St. John’s University, and I didn’t make the baseball team there, I tried, so I was involved with the baseball program in an advisory and a coaching capacity for many years after I graduated also.”

“I appreciate very much my mom and dad sacrificing to pay to put me in Catholic school and I really had a wonderful time there.”

“I actually became rejuvenated in my Catholic faith through evangelical Protestant sports ministries.”

“I was invited by a friend at one point to help him with a sports ministry called Baseball Chapel – which still exists – and they do wonderful work.  They minister, provide, like, a sermonette, to baseball players in all the major leagues, all the minor leagues, and now even in the Latin America and the independent baseball leagues.”

“I began to really feel the Holy Spirit had put on my heart… that there was a real void, that there wasn’t a room for Catholics to practice their faith as Catholics… in baseball most Catholics didn’t have that opportunity to go to Mass during the season and I felt that that was not right.”

“I’m a big fan of St. Paul and many others who had, not that I had a moment like his on the road to Damascus, but if there’s hope for me there’s hope for everybody.”

“…been… back to the Vatican a number of times… to try to be a part of the Vatican’s effort to share Catholicism in the world of sports.”

“John Paul II was a great athlete… and Pope Francis is a big soccer fan.”

“One of the initiatives we have that’s a little over ten years old began in the Trenton New Jersey Diocese under the leadership of Bishop Dennis O’Connell, which is still flourishing, which is our high school chapter program.”

Related link:

Catholic Athletes for Christ website

Chris McManes

He is entering his eighth year as Assistant Baseball Coach at DeMatha Catholic High School near Washington, DC, having been the freshman head coach for two of his years there. He has also worked as Sports Information Director at Catholic University, which is also near our nation’s capital. His career in sports has also included work as a journalist, covering NBA games in DC. More recently, he coached T-Ball for eight years, coached 10-and-under basketball, and along the way picked up a Coach of the Year honor. This all followed his having been a student-athlete back in his high school days. Listen for the physical challenge he overcame to play four different sports!

Notable guest quotes:

“My mother was Catholic… My mother did have the foresight to get me into Catholic school… I went to St. Anthony in northeast Washington (DC).”

“I remember, about when I was 14, and I’d see a lot of things on TV, and it got me to thinking about God and the consequences of not having a relationship with the Lord and I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to go to hell’.”

“I actually became very good friends with the pastor of that church, Fr. Aldo Petrini, and we would do a lot of things together at the rectory and go visit different places together.”

“My father became the head football coach at Catholic University… When I worked at Catholic University I went through the archives, and I was hoping to find some pictures of my dad… They had plenty of photos… but he wasn’t in any of them, however I was in a couple of the shots.”

“I think they probably still do it… They would have a pre-game chapel service, and they had a specific chaplain that would lead it, and this was held maybe an hour before game time.”

“When you’re doing good things, I think, like, doing things that are good that are helping you to advance spiritually and strengthening your faith life, good things happen.”

(On Sep. 11, 2001, in Washington, DC) “I went to the Noon Mass at St. Matthews Cathedral, which is the same church where President Kennedy’s funeral was held… we… felt compelled to go to church.  We felt like we needed God on this terrible day.”

“Still my faith sustained me.  My faith was really strong… I just knew that although things were not looking good… that God was still in control of everything.”

“I just make sure that we pray after every practice… I’ll try to encourage the (student athletes) to make sure they go to church.”

“It’s an all-boys school – we have over 800 – and our main mission, our main goal, is to develop faith-filled gentlemen and scholars.”

“I just think, when you trust in God and realize things happen on His time, that good things happen.”

“I still always have that desire to attend church, to have the Eucharist, to receive the body and blood of Christ.”

Related link:

DeMatha High School athletics

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Mick Souza

He is a former World Bodybuilding Champion, including having won Mr. Universe in 1992.  All told he competed in AAU Mr. East Coast, AAU Mr. USA, AAU Mr. America, and NABBA Mr. Universe — some of those more than once and earning three first place finishes and two second place. He also competed in the 1991 Tokyo Sumo Wrestling Premier Event, winning the bronze medal.  In addition, he also became a professional skateboarder; even holding the world record for jumping onto a moving skateboard — four feet and ten inches. And he was even a semi-professional boxer for three years.  As a student-athlete he had broken records in high school for the high jump and track events. STAY TO THE END FOR AN EMOTIONAL STORY ABOUT HIS BROTHER.

Notable guest quotes:

“The greatest image that I’ve got when I remember my grandmother is her sitting in a chair doing a rosary… and I’m sure that’s part of God’s grace for me, what saved me.”

“I don’t think I ever trusted anybody else, so I always gravitated towards individual sports.  I’m sure my father leaving (us) at a young age had a lot to do with my trust issues.”

“The first night that I stayed I had a gym bag as a pillow on the cement floor of the garage at World Gym.”

“My second night in California I was staying with Roger, and Roger and Arnold did a lot of training together, so within about 48 hours, here I was training with Arnold (Schwarzenegger).”

“I surfed most of my life and I loved surfing in hurricanes.”

“I said, ‘God was calling my mom home and you were getting in the way’.”

“For the first time I heard the Word of God come into me and saying, ‘It’s time to change if you want your mom’s life to matter’.”

“All glory to God because everything has purpose, right?”

“At this time in my life I had never read a book, ever, in my life.  I was 30 years old, 31 years old, and here I am grabbing the Old King James version and it’s going to be the first book I ever read.  God gave me the gift of discipline.”

“I now had Jesus as a role model, and I was learning from Him as I read… He sculpted me from the outside.”

“The book of James is one of my favorite books.  I identified with James early on the first time that I read it because James is a doer.  He always seemed like a physical guy that’s ready to do work.”

“A real Catholic man is a doer of the word not just a reader of the Word.”

“I basically challenged God and I said, ‘If you want me to continue to teach, then you’ve gotta change me’.”

“God writes straight lines with crooked pencils and I’m about the most crooked pencil God could’ve ever picked.”

“I begin my day between 2 and 3am with, the first hour goes to God.  One of the things that I learned was God gave me the discipline, and it’s for me to return it back to Him.  So, I give Him the first fruits of my life which I call the first hour of each and every day that I have.”

“It was one of the most blessed and worst experiences that I’ve ever had.”

[This episode contains a prayer (poem) by Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, PA) Principal Ed Bernot, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport]

Pat Flynn

He got into martial arts in high school and competed in Tae Kwon Do in college, along with a little Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That got him heavily into fitness and especially kettlebells, which led to him starting various fitness platforms and writing books related to minimalist methods of strength and conditioning. On the faith side, he has an amazing reversion story and next month will mark the release of his fifth book, this one to be titled, “The Best Argument For God.”  He also has his own podcast that teaches listeners why it’s better to be better at many things, not best at just one, covering everything from fitness and mental health to business and writing to philosophy and theology.

Notable guest quotes:

“I wanted to start trying to get in shape.  I wanted to try to start losing weight and trying to get stronger.  But I didn’t really want to go to the weight room.  Why?  Because all the friends that picked on me were there.”

“I, like, begged the instructor to just let me clean toilets and work for him just for lessons and tuition and he graciously accepted.  And he was a wonderful coach… So, I was very blessed to be set on a proper path.”

“I remember thinking… ‘Hey this seems sort of in conflict with whatever sort of theology I received in kindergarten.  Where’s Adam and Eve?  Where’s the snake in all this’?”

“You just kind of follow the example of what your parents do in all sorts of ways.  It wasn’t like I had the ability to drive myself to church anyways… at that (age).”

“One of the major turning points for me was when I really stumbled upon St. Thomas Aquinas.”

“I really did feel like I had found a philosophical system that was extremely robust in terms of its explanatory power of making sense of questions of being and meaning and morality and identity and destiny and all these questions that are important to all of us.”

“I went to the Mass, and it was a profound experience for me, especially once the Eucharistic Prayer and the Eucharist was confected, at that point I just knew I was right where I was supposed to be.”

“It’s… not a good thing to completely neglect your health.  That would be a sin against prudence and possibly issues of intemperance and gluttony and all that.”

“God gave us this body and that is a very good thing, and we have real obligations to care for our body and to be healthy and try to be prudent in the types of decisions we make with the activities we do with our body and the things that we eat.”

“What’s going to perfect you is union with God Himself and friendship with God Himself.”

“Fitness should be somewhere on your value scale, but it should not be at the top of it.”

“Now I can see fitness as something that hopefully, with God’s grace, is facilitating other virtues.”

Related link:

Pat’s official website

(This episode contains a prayer seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Terry Malone

He has more than 30 years of coaching experience and currently serves as a senior offensive analyst for LSU football. His coaching career includes winning a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints in 2009 and capturing the 1997 national championship with Michigan, having been a part of five Big Ten Championships with the Wolverines. Prior to coming onboard with LSU, he spent three years at Bowling Green where he served as offensive coordinator along with coaching the running backs and offensive line. That was his second stint with their program, having previously been there from 1986-1995 when he served in a variety of roles and helped them to back-to-back MAC Championships and bowl game victories in 1991 and 1992. He also coached at Western Michigan, Purdue, Holy Cross, and Boston College after having begun his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Arizona.

Notable guest quotes:

“This was a very traditional Catholic family.  We were the family that lived right next door to the church… We were called on for altar server duty anytime day or night, every funeral, every wedding had a Malone on the altar.”

“We got to know all the priests and nuns that lived there, and they became a very special part of our lives.”

“When you look at my background, I went to Catholic school grade school through college.  I went to an all-boys Catholic school… for my high school.”

“I really appreciated everything at Holy Cross (College) because of the influences that were there.  The Jesuits did a great job of keeping the Catholic faith in front of us… It was a terrific environment.”

“I can’t say it enough that I’ve lived a very blessed life.”

“In terms of our faith, there was no question about where we were coming from and how we were raised.  We were raised as Catholics.”

“One of the things I was very surprised about when we got to New Orleans is how Catholic of a city New Orleans is.  And we were blessed that the Saints are owned by a very Catholic family and so the Catholic faith was a big part of what the Saints were all about.”

“We were at the very foundation of a brand new parish… we were able to go from basically a storefront church that we worked out of to building our own beautiful Catholic church.”

“I’ve been involved with the Knights of Columbus for a long time, and I really admire those guys… They’re willing to do the dirty work that helps the Catholic church move in the right direction.”

“When Ann and I got married we had three priests that officiated the service.”

“Throughout my journey… the one constant that I’ve had no matter where I’ve gone and what I’ve been able to do, is that the Catholic church has been there for me.”

Related link:

Terry’s bio on LSU website

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association’s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Rev. Msgr. Christopher Nalty

He was a varsity wrestler at Jesuit High School in New Orleans during which time they won three state championships.  (He was second in the state one of those years.)  He went on to play intramural sports at Notre Dame, played flag football in seminary at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, and was a referee of the annual flag football game when he worked there as a Vatican official.  He is an avid hunter and fisherman, and a PADI Master SCUBA diver, all while serving as the pastor of Good Shepherd Parish in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.  Along the way he had received his law degree from Georgetown University, went on to practice law for six years, eventually leaving to begin studies for the diocesan priesthood at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Notable guest quotes:

“My parish is maybe about ten or fifteen minutes from my mother’s house, where she still lives… I’m the oldest of five kids.”

“My dad was actually in the first class of the permanent diaconate here in New Orleans, and so we were surrounded by the church.”

“My dad had, kind of, two deals with us.  He told us he would pay for us to go to college anywhere we wanted under two conditions; it had to be out of state, because he wanted us to see more of the world, and he said it had to be Catholic.  So, all five of us graduated from Catholic universities.”

“Notre Dame really was a perfect fit for me… going to Mass was like normal… it was just what you did… And so, my faith life only increased there.”

“The first time that I’d ever had a priest ask me whether I’d thought about being a priest was in my second year of law school… I was in the habit of making an annual retreat and it was during my retreat when I would always kind of think about it.”

“We sat down to pray our Liturgy of the Hours and it was kind of at that moment that I’m like, ‘I think this is what I’m supposed to be doing.’  It just felt right to, like, be with men who were manly, normal men and pray.”

“It was just this very eclectic group, but the one thing that we all had in common was that each of us had this kind of crazy idea that God wanted us to be a priest.”

“When I was a Vatican official I would see the guys, they asked me to be a ref, which was kind of fun – at least I wasn’t getting hit.”

“When I went for my apostolate, she said, ‘I’ve spoken to Mother Teresa and Mother Teresa said you must come to Calcutta this summer’ … I went back and I told my friend… and while we were walking down the hill from the seminary… he said, ‘Ya’ know, the last place on the planet that I want to go for the summer is Calcutta…  But if that’s what God wants us to do, I think we gotta go’.”

“The priest handed me the ciborium and said, ‘You distribute communion there,’ and I walked to my spot, and I looked up and the very first person in line is Mother Teresa and, so, I gave her what she wanted more than anything in the world – Jesus.”

“I met popes, and I met John Paul, but, I mean, I spent a lot of time with (Mother Teresa).”

“All the outdoor sports – hunting and fishing and trapping – in that, there’s always an element of God’s providing for you.”

Related link:

Rev. Msgr. Nalty’s bio on Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology website