Saving lost souls
In his teens and early twenties, Fr. Malachy was the black sheep from a good Catholic family, running hard from God. He turned to drugs, alcohol, partying, and everything the world had to offer.
At one point, he was making a living by selling burritoes out of the back of a van while traveling as a groupie
for rock bands. His life was an endless cycle of hard living and friends who were even more lost than he was.
Fr. Malachy knew deep in his heart that hew was meant for more than this life of emptiness and sin. He had heard God asking him to be a priest many times but he was afraid.
When an old family friend who was a priest reached out to him and invited him to lunch, he said yes. At the end of an awkward meal and lots of small talk, the priest looked at him and said, “Well, is there anything else on your heart that you would like to talk about?”
The walls inside Fr. Malachy came crumbling down and he began to cry. The priest pulled out his stole, and before you know it, Fr. Malachy was pouring out his heart and his pain in the healing Sacrament of Confession.
He met the incredible mercy of God and was saved. In two months time, he went from daily drug use to daily reception of the Eucharist. Can you believe it? Thanks be to God!
In 2008, we removed the obstacle of Fr. Malachy’s student loan debt so he could enter formation and in 2020, he was ordained a priest of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
Now he ministers to the poor, evangelizes to drug addicts, shares spiritual wisdom online and on missions, and serves as a chaplain of Courage International, a ministry for Catholics who experience same-sex attraction. His profound conversion fuels his missionary love for souls today.
Fr. Malachy still travels around in vans and loves rock music, but now his life is lived entirely as a priest for Christ.
His full yes to his God-given vocation was made possible in part thanks to Catholics like you who removed his student loan debt.
