Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, sometimes referred to in the Catholic press as the "Holy Goalie," has collaborated with his brother Joe Paprocki to pen a book on how faith and fitness can be intertwined.
In Holy Goals for Body & Soul — 8 Steps to Connect Sports with God and Faith (Ave Maria Press) Bishop Paprocki writes about the connection between athletics and God that he's developed throughout his life. He began that faith journey, he notes, as a young boy growing up in a family of nine, which included two girls and seven boys.
Sports have long been important to Bishop Paprocki, who has served as goalie in practices with the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. In fact, he is pictured on the cover playing goalie and dressed in the Chicago Blackhawks hockey uniform.
The 160-page book is meant to be used both in pastoral and youth ministry, notes publicist Amanda Skofstad. Bishop Paprocki particularly encourages young people to draw connections between playing by the rules of sports and playing by God's rules, she says.
Moreover Bishop Paprocki has identified eight steps on the way to connecting sports and God: fear, frustration, failure, fortitude, faith, family, friendship and fun. He concludes each chapter with a quotation from a saint or someone named "Blessed" by the Catholic Church, a promise (to be filled in and fulfilled by the reader) and a prayer that he composed.
In his book, Bishop Paprocki describes the invigorating feeling of playing goalie outdoors on a frigid Chicago night and the pain of athletic injuries. He remembers running his first marathon with his brother Allen by his side. He writes about his physical and spiritual growth, recalling his life's journey from boy, to teen, to a young man in the seminary and now as a leader in the Catholic Church.
Bishop Paprocki grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, a time when youngsters spent more time playing outdoor games than watching television and, of course, when video games were non-existent. He describes that boyhood, when he and his siblings and friends played endless games of baseball and rode their bikes through the south side of Chicago.
From time to time Bishop Paprocki gives readers glimpses into other boyhood memories, proving that he desired to be a priest at a very early age. For example, in the chapter entitled Step 6: Family Bishop Paprocki relates a fond memory of his childhood. He remembers playing Mass at home — one time while his brother Jim sat on a ledge washing the windows of the family's second-floor apartment.
In a typical brotherly fashion young Jim asked their mother, "Why doesn't Tommy help me wash the windows?" to which the future bishop responded, "I'm praying so you won't fall out the window."
Now as a middle-aged man and a bishop, Bishop Paprocki says he has learned many lessons — for example how to face fear, which he discusses in one of the chapters. Fear motivates us, he says.
" ... we can't resist the opportunity to rise up to the challenge ... we're everyone's last hope. We're the one everyone's relying on. And that challenge is absolutely thrilling." We should use fear as a motivator, through a conversion of mind.
Within the pages of various chapters, Bishop Paprocki discusses faith issues, often tying them in to sports figures like baseball pitcher Tommy John, Chicago Bulls basketball superstar Michael Jordan, football quarterback Tim Tebow, baseball great Ted Williams, Black Hawk Hall of Famer Stan Mikita, and Olympic medalist and female goal tender Sarah Tueting, to name a few. Of course, he writes about the lives of the saints, Scripture and more.
At age 60, even with a slew of diocesan duties to fill up his schedule, Bishop Paprocki still finds time for sports, which he writes has attributed to maintaining his healthy weight and blood pressure and general good health. He currently plays goalie in a master's hockey league. He's also a goalie coach for the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School (Springfield) hockey team and, as a runner, has completed 18 marathons.
Among many of Bishop Paprocki's church appointments, several are sports related: He is episcopal advisor for Catholic Athletes for Christ and is chaplain for the LIFE Runners group. He is also planning to run his 19th marathon (with the LIFE Runners) in October.
Joe Paprocki says he was happy to collaborate on the book with his brother. "What I like best about the book is that it is a positive story of a Catholic bishop at a time when we are surrounded by so many negative stories about the church and the hierarchy.
"Likewise, it speaks to a subject that receives so much attention — sports — and, instead of demonizing it, shows how grace can be encountered through it," he says. "We do not find God by removing ourselves from the world but rather by recognizing his presence within it and transforming it through his grace."
Holy Goals for Body & Soul (ISBN: 978-1-59471-366-8) is available for $13.95 through Ave Maria Press at its website www.avemariapress.com or through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or at the Marian Center in Springfield.