Tag: christianity

The Military Life Welcomes a Civilian

Daniel

I got a surprise invitation Monday that I couldn’t have been more grateful for, from someone who has been helping me out for more than seven years now.

As I was laying out my plans for my trip, one of the few places I knew I wanted to attend Mass was on a military base. In the spring of 2019, I reached out to Taylor Henry, director of public affairs and media relations at the Archdiocese of the Military to see if that would be possible. And to my delight, it was not just possible, but Mr. Henry handled my request perfectly. He understood exactly what I needed and set me up with Monsignor McManus at Ellsworth Air Force Base to write about Catholic life in the service. It was an incredible experience.

So, as I’m now putting together stories for the new book, I knew I again hoped to include the story of a man or woman who had come home to the faith while on active duty. I reached out to Taylor again, who once again came through with a gentleman I hope to be interviewing in the near future.

But, that wasn’t all. Taylor wondered if I would be interested in being a guest on his podcast, Catholic Military Life. Since I never pass on the chance to prattle on about my experiences, I jumped at the chance. We had a nice 30-minute conversation on Tuesday and the podcast is already up on the site.

Thanks so much to Taylor and the Archdiocese of the Military for all of the help they’ve given me. And a thanks as well to all of the men and women serving in our armed forces. May God protect you in your service.

You can find the podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/catholicmilitarylife/catholic-author-daniel-Dan Markham

Completion, at last

Daniel

My 52 or so weeks on the road was the experience of a lifetime, vastly exceeding my expectations. The only regret happened in Maine, when, due to a misunderstanding on my end, I missed out on the opportunity to accompany Deacon Robert Curtis to the Maine State Prison as he fulfilled his obligations as a prison ministry chaplain.

I rectified that today.

I joined Marty Arlinghaus, director of prison ministry for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and founder of the Serenelli Project on his weekly visit to Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon, Ohio. It was an amazing experience.

Since we had no priest with us today (a situation Marty hopes will be fully rectified soon, as new Archbishop Casey has appointed someone to serve specifically with the prison population), Marty, an acolyte, offered a communion service. We closed out the service singing Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. If I’ve ever had a more powerful musical experience than adding my voice to those of a dozen or so inmates singing that beautiful song, I can’t remember what it could have been.

Before the service, an inmate informed Marty he wanted to be baptized. And Marty explained that, at his age, he will be baptized, receive Holy Communion and Confirmation all at once, but only after a process that ensures his is a body and soul receptive for the faith to take root, sharing Christ’s Parable of the Sower. Rather than be discouraged by the idea of a lengthy process to baptism, the young man beamed with joy at the prospect.

More of the inmates joined us for a video presentation on St. Maximilian Kolbe and his devotion to Mary, followed by a group discussion. There, Jerome (who has been in prison for 37 years but just received some positive news from the Innocence Project) answered Marty’s question that there is nothing stopping anyone from living God’s will in prison. And, after some lively back and forth, John pointed out that “None of us is in here for doing God’s will.”

Thank you Marty, the Ohio Department of Corrections and the warm and welcoming men of Warren Correctional Facility. I hope to be back soon to partake again in this wonderful ministry.