Photo Courtesy Catholic News Service
By Mark PattisonCatholic News Service
Jesuit Brother Rick Curry has a new vocation. He's now Jesuit Father Rick Curry.
But he still plans on helping wounded war veterans restore meaning and purpose in their lives.
Becoming a priest at age 66, as he did Sept. 13, might seem to be what in some circles is called a "late vocation." But don't apply that term to Father Curry. He said he views priestly ordination as "an extension of my ministry."
In 2002, after Father Curry had spent 27 years working with his National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped, the workshop administrators were asked to bring returning wounded vets from Afghanistan and Iraq to begin a writers' program so that they could tell their own stories and, as Father Curry told Catholic News Service, "open up the floodgates of post-traumatic stress."
"It was during that time that I began to be asked by the Wounded Warriors (the eventual name of the program) to actually hear their confession. I told them I was a Jesuit brother and not ordained. I told them that so frequently that I began to suspect there was some invitation there," Father Curry said. "I was so happy as a Jesuit brother I never thought of it (priesthood)."
To read more about Jesuit Father Curry's new vocation, go here.
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine
