It’s hobby time! 

Varied interests help priests relax, stay fit, and enjoy some time off 

By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
Managing Editor

Although priests are technically “on the clock” all the time, for their sake and the good of the people they serve, most clergy wisely take breaks to relax away from the church and the rectory when their schedule allows. Of course, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of our diocese, is well known for running many marathons and is nicknamed “The Holy Goalie” because of his interest in playing hockey still to this day!  He’s even written and published books relating sports to spirituality. 

In the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, no matter their ages, our priests have interests and hobbies that are as unique as they are. We asked a number of our priests just what they like to do in their spare time. Here’s what some of them told us. 

Father Jayke White

Father Jayke White, parochial vicar at Christ the King Parish in Springfield, says he loves to fill his spare time with baking and reading. “I first started cooking when I went to college seminary and realized that if I didn’t know how to cook, I’d be eating a lot of cereal and milk,” he said. “I particularly enjoy baking because it’s so beautifully structured.  I like a solid plan and series of steps. Baking provides exactly that sort of thing, through its step-by-step instructions and necessity of exactitude.”

Father White says he loves the joy of providing a tasty dish to friends, family, and guests. “There’s a particular sort of love that is communicated with feeding others, and I believe meals of any sort foster a sense of community and togetherness,” he said. Until recently, when he moved to Springfield, Father White was assigned to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Effingham with Father Peter Harman. “Between his skill with entrees and my baking expertise, we put together a pretty good meal,” Father White said. 

“In addition to baking, I’ve enjoyed reading since I was a small child,” he said. “At 3 years old, I told my mom that it was probably time for her to teach me, and I’ve been devouring books ever since!”  He reads spiritual texts and scripture, of course, but has a deep love for high fantasy and mystery novels, as well as history and other nonfiction. “My favorite authors are C.S. Lewis, Brandon Sanderson, and Fredrik Backman,” he said.

Father Zachary Samples

Father Zach Samples, Director of the Department for Discipleship and Vocational Services and Director of the Office for Vocations, says traveling around the world is one of his favorite activities. 

“I do love to travel! Traveling is truly a spiritual experience for me,” he said. “Seeing how different people, cultures, creeds, language groups, and so on live, move, and have their being in the world helps me grow closer to God. If God is the source of all creation, and He is, everything we experience when we travel is just an unfolding of His central reality of love. He loves all of creation, and in turn all of us, into existence.” 

Father Samples has visited the following countries in this order: Canada, Haiti, Poland, Spain, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, and Ireland. He will visit South Korea next year for World Youth Day.

Father Samples says that traveling helps him see God’s presence “ever more deeply in the world around us.”  “This is stereotypical, since I am a Catholic priest, but the first stop for me in any new country, is to visit a church,” he said. “Seeing the same Jesus present in every tabernacle of the world is very comforting. No matter how difficult things are in the world, He is quite literally there in the midst of it. We just have to seek Him out.” 

 “I hope to travel to the Holy Land (Israel), Jordan, and Egypt this coming October, but that will depend on the state of affairs in the Middle East,” he said. 

Father Peter Harman 

For Father Peter Harman, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Effingham, hiking is a great way to keep in touch with nature. 

“I have always had a love of the outdoors,” Father Harman said. “I grew up camping with my parents at a nearby state park and am an Eagle Scout. I have kept up with hiking because I so much enjoy the scenery. For me it’s like ‘free exercise’ because you get the rewards of the beauty without realizing how much you are working the body. And if you know me, you know I love to be on the go.” 

While Father Harman lived in Italy for years during leadership stints at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, he took advantage of the area by getting to the mountains regularly.  He also takes hiking trips with his friend from seminary days, Bishop Adam Parker, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore.

“We have kept up with at least an annual camping trip,” he said. “We have been to the Colorado and Canadian Rockies, all over Italy and Switzerland, the Pacific Northwest, and Glacier, Mt. Baker, and North Cascades National Parks. Our next trip is going to be this September in the Beartooth Mountains of Wyoming and Montana, north of Yellowstone.”

Although he used to camp out, that’s changed some in the most recent years, he says. “Now we rent a house or cottage and do day hikes for eight to nine days. It’s so relaxing and enjoyable, it is probably the activity I love the best.” 

Father Wayne Stock

When the weather is right, Father Wayne Stock likes to take to the water.  “I got a kayak a number of years ago,” he said, explaining he probably put the kayak to its best use while he was pastor at St. Alexius Parish in Beardstown, St. Fidelis Parish in Arenzville, and St. Luke Parish in Virginia.  “During that time, I was really close to the river,” he said.

“I grew up out in the country, south of Vandalia. So, I like being outdoors. And I like to go fishing, too,” said Father Stock, who has been assigned to several parishes and schools in our diocese.

For those who aren’t familiar, there are differences between a canoe and a kayak, which is a narrow, closed-deck boat, he says. “A kayak has paddles on both sides, so you paddle back and forth.” 

When he does have a chance to use the kayak — the best time to go kayaking is the spring, he says — he is careful to be safe.  “I am a good swimmer, but I always wear my life jacket,”

Father Rob Johnson

Now in his late 30s, Father Rob Johnson has been active in outdoor activities nearly all his life. “I grew up fishing,” said Father Johnson, who was raised in Illiopolis. “I have been fishing since I was just a little guy.” 

However, when he was about 13 or 14, young Rob Johnson was introduced to a new hobby. “One of my uncles took me hunting. I got my first deer when I was 15,” said Father Johnson, who is pastor of Mother of Perpetual Help in Maryville and holds several other diocesan roles. 

Deer hunting season in Illinois usually runs from early October to mid-January, but Father Johnson says he thinks November is the best time to go. When the weather is warmer, he also likes to golf. 

“Deer hunting is really my favorite. I get a deer every year,” he said, adding that after all these years, hunting is still a hobby he enjoys with his family. “All of the deer we harvest, we clean and process them ourselves for meat and sausage.  I know how to cook it and of course, then I eat it. Mostly, however, I just like to do things where I can be outside.”  

Father Seth Brown, Father Marty Smith, and Father John Titus 

Sometimes when priests share a common interest, that’s a good reason to get together to travel. That’s why Father Seth Brown, Father Marty Smith, and Father John Titus began visiting presidential history sites. “We decided to visit some of the presidential museums because it was something the three of us would enjoy, and enjoy doing together,” said Father Seth Brown, who is the new rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. 

Over the years, they have visited the graves, museums, and homes of Presidents Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison and his grandson Benjamin Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan. 

“I wouldn’t consider myself a real history buff, but I think Father Marty and Father John Titus (who are both pastors of several parishes and deans of the Jerseyville Deanery and the Mattoon Deanery, respectively) are more so,” said Father Brown. “Father Titus is especially knowledgeable concerning Illinois politics and politicians. “

Vicki Compton, who knows these priests and has worked in Catholic schools, at the diocesan curia, and at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, started calling their trips “the nerd tour,” Father Brown said, with a chuckle.  

Father Marty Smith 

If you have any questions about birds of prey, Father Marty Smith is the man to ask. 

Father Smith, who is assigned to several parishes in Jersey County and is dean of the Jerseyville Deanery, says birdwatching is one way to see the beauty of God in nature. The hobby came about because of some work he did before he entered the seminary, nearly 20 years ago.  

“I used to be a volunteer at the Illinois raptor center, so my birdwatching mainly applies to birds of prey like owls, hawks, and falcons,” he said. “I used to help take care of all of those and help with the education programs. I usually go to state parks and places that are very remote.”

Father Daniel McGrath 

Father Daniel McGrath attributes his real love of music as beginning with some simple lessons he learned from his childhood pastor. While he took saxophone lessons as a fifth-grader, he admits he “rarely practiced and most of the time forgot to even bring it to lessons.”  Then in eighth grade, things changed.

 “The priest in our parish, Father (August) Sperl (now deceased) … needed help moving things into boxes and out of his rectory. In exchange for some help with that, Father Sperl taught me and my brother how to play the harmonica. It was that experience that really began in me the discipline of regular practice and would one day lead to a love of music.”

During his freshman year of high school, Father McGrath, who is currently doing graduate studies in Rome, joined the school band. By the time his junior and senior years came around, he was playing baritone saxophone, piano, guitar, flute, and clarinet. “I ended up studying music in college for the year I was at Eastern Illinois University before going to seminary,” he said. “I was double majoring in computer science as well, but I had a passion for music. There in college, I learned to love playing the piano, music theory, and working on all my instruments.”

In seminary, Father McGrath says he “mostly stuck to piano.” “I took lessons all through college seminary at the university. Once I left for major seminary, I no longer took lessons but played the piano every day.” While working at parishes, he still played some kind of music every day. He likes playing with a group because he says, “It is so life-giving to me.” He says his latest interest has been working in baroque music on the alto recorder. “It sounds boring but is super fun!” 

Besides music, Father McGrath has a life-long interest in art. Although he admits to putting artwork aside because he’s busy keeping up “the busy life of a priest and with a bit of music each day” one of his favorite memories from seminary was helping to set up an art show for all the seminarians. “I was able to paint an image of the Sacred Heart and also a really awesome image of the seminary itself in oil paint that I was able to leave behind at the seminary in one of the lounge rooms,” he said. 

Photo by Kim Gunter

Father Joe Molloy

If you ever want to see something unique, you should check out Father Joe Molloy’s extensive miniature liquor bottle collection. Stepping inside Father Molloy’s rectory home in Chatham, where he is pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, you’ll find shelves in various rooms and hallways lined with those unique pieces. It’s hard to know what to look at first.

“I’ve been collecting for 42 years,” Father Molloy said. “Right now, I have close to 3,000 mini bottles.” His interest in the mini bottles began when he was a young parochial vicar at St. Aloysius Parish in Springfield. That’s when a parishioner gave him three little liquor bottles for Christmas and noted that the young priest might want to start a collection, which Father Molloy took to heart.

Now the president of the Midwest Miniature Bottle Club, Father Molloy recently attended the annual club meeting in St. Louis. There, bottle dealers set up tables and people go through to buy, sell, or swap bottles, he said. Father Molloy sometimes takes bottles from his own collection to donate. Bottles usually sell from about $1 to up to $150 each. Sets sell for about $200. A bottle is considered good if the seal is still intact, he explained, and contains wine, cognac, brandy, beer, and other liquors. 

The mini bottle shows are great places to get acquainted with other collectors, he says. Over the years, he’s met collectors from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, England, Puerto Rico, and Vietnam. 

Most of Father Molloy’s mini bottles are artfully displayed on shelves that were crafted by a former parishioner in Newton. One set, which depicts a New Zealand town, is featured on a table. There are too many to specifically mention, but some of the bottles are even religious in nature, like his Peruvian Nativity sets, and bottles that feature Pope Francis, and Jesus crowned in thorns.

Although with such a huge collection, it may seem hard to choose a favorite. Father Molloy admits he has become more particular as his collection has grown. “I’m kind of more specialized now,” he said. “My favorite ones to collect are called figurals.”  For example, he has a set of mini bottles that depict the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White, that he ranks as probably his personal favorite. “The Dwarfs are very unique.” 

Photo by Diane Schlindwein