The Sunday Special: Going against the grain
Standing alone for the right thing is hard
"When being seen choosing sides is easy, we should be wary."
— Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing
You’ve likely not heard of Father Jerzy Popiełuszko.
He was a priest in Warsaw, Poland, during the anti-Soviet Solidarity movement. For his service to the people, he was murdered by agents of the Communist secret service on Oct. 19, 1984. He was just 37 years old.
At the time, I ushered the Saturday evening Mass at the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá — the old Spanish mission founded by Father Junípero Serra.
Our pastor at the time, a monsignor no less, was also the chaplain for the San Diego Chargers — the at-the-time beloved pro football franchise here in town.
And on that following Sunday following Fr. Popiełuszko’s murder, the Chargers were playing the hated Los Angeles Raiders two blocks from the Mission at Jack Murphy Stadium.
While we almost never saw the pastor at a Saturday evening Mass — which was more sparsely attended than the Sunday morning Masses he preferred — that particular Saturday, Oct. 20, 1984, the monsignor graced us with his presence. This was likely because, as team chaplain, he was planning to attend the big game the next day, and thus needed his assistant pastors to fill in for him — so I’m guessing he traded Masses to free up his Sunday morning.
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