by “When you are totally consumed by the Eucharistic fire, then you will be able more consciously to thank God, who has called you to become part of His family. Then you will enjoy the peace that those who are happy in this world have never experienced, because true happiness, oh young people, does not consist in the pleasures of this world, or in earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we only have if we are pure of heart and mind.”
Quote by Pier Giorgio Frassati
This past weekend my youngest daughter Madelyn Rose received her First Holy Communion at St. Brendan’s Parish, alongside classmates and PSR students. It was a magical moment and one unlike any other I’ve ever experienced watching her receive it. Sure, for some, it may have seemed like the routine sacrament most second graders make this time of year, but for Madelyn Rose, she completed a promise I made to my grandfather 15 years ago and fulfilled a prophecy. Allow me to explain.
In October of 2009, I had been dating my girlfriend Emily over 3 years and wanted to propose. She was a God loving girl and I knew I was in love with her, there was not a single doubt in my mind that she would make an amazing wife. There was only one hiccup, she wasn’t Catholic, and that weighed heavily on my soul every single day.
Growing up Catholic I always thought I would marry a Catholic girl, for me, it honestly seemed as though there was no other option. How could there be? My entire life at that point, all 27 years, all I knew was the Catholic faith and didn’t even think it was allowed or possible to marry a non-Catholic.
My Italian Catholic grandparents had instilled the Catholic faith in me, along with my 7 aunts and uncles on that side, as well as my parents. It was all I had ever known. My older brother Donald married a Catholic girl, and again it just seemed as though that was all there was too it. But again, this was a problem for me because I wanted to marry Emily, she was my soul mate, and I knew it.
Thus, I was conflicted and absolutely had no idea what I should or needed to do. That is when one Sunday after attending mass, I picked up the phone and called one of the smartest and most trustworthy people I knew, a man who raised 8 kids on a Mail Man’s salary and never lacked for anything because he had faith, and his children had faith. That man of course, was my grandfather Joe DeLuca.
Grandpa explained to me that if I truly loved Emily, then I should have no hesitation about marrying her. He said that as long as I kept the lord in my life, and kept going to church, that good things would happen. He made me make a promise and then he said the words that I will never forget.
The promise was this, that I would marry Emily in her church, The United Church of Christ and that I would have a Catholic Deacon, Stan Fulton, there for a blessing so it could be recognized by the Catholic Church. I did exactly that in 2011, but that wasn’t the only part of the promise I made that day on that fateful phone call. Grandpa also made me promise that I would raise our children Catholic and attend mass regularly, he said to make sure I kept faith in our daily lives and that my eventual children would know Mother Mary, the sacraments, saints and love Jesus.
It was then, that he said the words I will never forget, “Vincent, if you do all these things, then by the time the first communion touches the lips of your youngest child, Emily will have already converted to become Catholic because she would have seen the love you and your children have for the faith.” Sure enough, he called it.
In 2022 my eldest daughter Maggie made her first Holy Communion. Then the very next day, Emily said, “ I think I want to become Catholic”. She reached out and spoke with Father Tom Woost at St. Brendan’s who is the hero in this story, who got her enrolled in RCIA class with Ed DeVenney. This began a 12-month journey that led to Emily making her first communion, and confirmation at the 2023 Easter Virgil. Finally, this past weekend, sweet little Madelyn Rose completed the trilogy when the same priest, Father Tom Woost served her communion. Father Woost, gave all three of “my girls” their first communions, 3 straight years.
As I watched this past Sunday, as he gave both of my daughter’s communion, then Emily, I got a little choked up as I went to take mine. I could feel the spirit of both my DeLuca Grandparents standing with me at that moment, I led all three of them to Jesus just like I promised I would. All 3, found their paths and for the first time, on April 28, 2024, after making a promise to Grandpa DeLuca in October of 2009, it all made sense and came together. His words rang true!
So yes, while I may have tried to sell the story of a bug flying in my eye to my daughters, the truth is, those were tears in my eyes after taking my communion and heading back to my pew. I felt my grandparents with me witnessing the moments. Despite their passings in 2019 and 2021, I knew they were there with us in spirit for all 3 of those communions, all 3 years.
Folks, I realize this is a sports website, and you count on me to write about sports. But in today’s world of everyone seemingly having a platform, and everyone seemingly having an opinion on everything, both good and bad, I simply thought the world should hear this story. When someone tells you something good is going to happen if you simply listen to what they say, and then go out and do it, it most likely will. The plan is not ours; it is his, open up your hearts and let him in.
My favorite part of mass each week is when Father Tom says, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation”. I firmly believe that I did my duty and from this point on, we can now all take communion as a family.
I started with a quote from Pier Giorgio Frassati and now I will end with one as well. It is only right.
“To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to ‘get along’; we must never just ‘get along’.” – Quote by Pier Giorgio Frassati
Absolutely Beautiful!!!