As the new head of Family and Youth Ministry in the Springfield diocese, Patrick O'Toole plans to rally the troops to get the word out that families and solid marriages are alive and well and flourishing.
{mosimage}"There are so many good families out there, so many who are embracing the culture of life. We have to get the message out to others that what the culture is selling - sexuality, consumerism, and rugged western individualism - is a lie. Rugged western individualism isn't working," he said.
"All we have to do is get the message to them, and they'll see the truths. But the places we're delivering the message - in the churches - they're not there to see and hear it. Our challenge is how are we going to reach them? The families that are there in the churches are a start."
O'Toole comes to the Curia from Morrisonville, where he has served at St. Maurice Parish for the last two years as a pastoral associate and director of religious education, as well as tribunal advocate. He is a diaconate candidate in the Class of 2009. O'Toole has his bachelor's degree in theology from St. Francis College, and served as director of faith formation for St. Charles Borromeo Church in Port Charlotte, Fla.
He and his wife, Danielle, have nine children, the six youngest of whom live at home, and range in age from 13 years to 5 months old. "The children are a combination of hers, mine and ours," said O'Toole, who is in his third marriage. His first wife passed away when she was 24 years old. His second marriage ended in divorce, and he went through the annulment process.
"I am a strong advocate for the annulment process," says O'Toole. "Danielle and I knew each other at the time I was going through the process. It was good for us discussing things. I sponsored her through RCIA. We are both pretty dedicated to what the church teaches, and we became certified to teach Natural Family Planning.
"In Natural Family Planning, you learn to space children, to enhance the opportunities for having children. It is buying into what the church is teaching about life. I see what the church is teaching and I buy into that. It is not because the church teaches it; it is because I believe it."
One of the biggest threats to society today is the destruction of the family, he said. "When you think of family, you think of raising children. If we are going to get more and more families embracing the culture of life, we have to get the word out that what the culture is selling is a lie. Couples of all ages are needed to be part of this army.
"I believe God has called me to this job. I really feel this is where my heart is. Having been through a divorce and an annulment and the sacramental marriage I'm in now, I am looking forward to working in Family and Youth Ministry." He began his new job Sept. 4.