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BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — The current chaplain of the Chicago Cubs was the main speaker for the three-day parish mission at St. Joseph Church, Nov. 19-21, on the theme “From Bench Warmer to Hall of Famer: The Call to be Saints in 2019.”
Father Burke Masters, director of evangelization for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, spoke of his conversion to Catholicism while in high school.
He shared how he attended Mississippi State University on a baseball scholarship and later was tendered a Minor League contract in the White Sox organization. His strong devotion to the Eucharist eventually resulted in the call to priesthood.
Ordained in 2002, Father Masters began as the Cubs chaplain in 2013. His baseball abilities and close connection to the majors qualified him to cite some of the greatest athletes of all time and match them up with a saint of similar virtue or determination.
Father Masters challenged those in attendance “to get up off the bench” and try to become people of heroic virtue.
Parishioner John Babin, who attended all three nights, said, “I thought it was very informative, easy to comprehend and topical for someone who played baseball, like myself.”
Father Masters concluded the mission by saying, “My dream is that we can all work together — clergy, religious, and laity — to build up missionary disciples and fulfill the mission that Jesus gave us, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’” (Mt. 28:19).
Father Masters is currently working with his niece to publish a book on his life and mission.
Caption: Chicago Cubs chaplain Father Burke Masters speaks at a three-day parish mission, held at St. Joseph Parish in Brecksville, Ohio, Nov. 19-21. (Photo: Bill Babin)
As published in Horizons, Dec. 8, 2019.
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