54. Highway to Heaven: How can we do a Jubilee Pilgrimage? What can we learn from the saints? A Millenial Priest visits the tomb of the first Millenial Saint

Chapters

• 0:00 From Skeptic to Seeking
• 2:45 Grandmother’s Prayers and Early Drift away from the Catholic Church
• 5:20 University, Adoration, and Conversion
• 9:45 Hearing the Call and Letting Go
• 14:10 Sacramental Roots and Teen Years
• 18:40 Questions, Mercy, and “All In”
• 24:05 Discerning Vocation and Breakup
• 29:30 Joyful Evangelization through Rap

Transcript

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 0:00

How did God call me to the priesthood? Well, growing up, my family almost never went to church, although we did occasionally for Christmas and Easter. As it turns out, my Grandma on my Dad's side was very very strong in her Catholic faith. She prayed the Rosary every day. She still does, I imagine, for the family. And uh and so I think she is really a key part, uh, of my vocation by her prayers. My family, we only went occasionally, but not really seriously. So as I got older, I didn't really go to church much. In fact, I strayed away from church and religion for many years, thinking that it didn't really make sense. It seemed to me like there was a lot of rules. I didn't understand why I would follow those rules, and uh I just wanted to have fun and be a good person, but I didn't really understand how religion and God and Jesus had to do with that. But then when uh I was in my third year of university studying psychology at Wilford Laurier, it was close by, so I went there because I'm in Kitchener, and uh I started dating a young lady who was going to church every Sunday, and even she went to something called Eucharistic Adoration, where we would spend time in front of the Eucharist, and I never even knew such a thing existed. And although I wasn't uh strong in the faith, in fact, I'd even written a paper in philosophy about why I thought there was no good evidence for God's existence. I started going because she was going and I was genuinely open and curious.

Sheila Nonato: 1:25

"The Eucharist is my highway to heaven," newly canonized saint Carlo Acutis had proclaimed. He said, "People who place themselves before the sun get a tan, while people who place themselves before the Eucharist become saints." This year, the path to holiness can be joined together with a Jubilee year of hope, proclaimed by the late Pope Francis. And now, the Catholic Church's newest Pope, Leo XIV, is welcoming pilgrims from around the world to the eternal city. The invitation to go on pilgrimage during the Jubilee Year of Hope is not only an invitation to a physical journey, it is also a call to grow deeper in one's faith and to grow closer to Jesus Christ. Let's hear the story of a millennial Canadian priest, Father Gregory Merkley of Stoney Creek, Ontario, and his inspirational Jubilee pilgrimage to Italy a few days after the papal election of Pope Leo XIV, and his remarkable journey to the priesthood. Thank you and God bless. Hello and welcome to the Veil in Armour Podcast. This is your host, Sheila Nonato. I'm a stay-at-home Mom and a freelance Catholic journalist. Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of Our Lady, I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate, and enrich the lives of Catholic women to help them in living out our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Co-Host: 2:59

Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour Podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's land in Mother's Heart.

Sheila Nonato: 3:08

Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast. We have Father Gregory Merkley from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Stoney Creek, Ontario. And Father, would you please be able to start us off with a prayer?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 3:20

Sure. In the name of The Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Lord, we has come to you this day, knowing of your love for us, asking your Holy Spirit to guide everything we do. We also entrust this time and whatever we might be going through personally, back to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the protection of Saint Joseph, as well as Saint Michael and all the Holy Angels and saints. May you lead us and inspire us, Lord, and help us to hear your voice, to experience you. We pray this in Jesus' name. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sheila Nonato: 3:50

Thank you very much for that, Father Merkley. And I was wondering if you can please introduce yourself to our listeners.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 3:56

Sure. My name is Father Greg Merkley. I'm blessed to be pastor here on Immaculate Heart of Mary. And I have been a priest for just over six years. Been here for almost two years. Uh and I am 36 years old and loving life, living the dream, striving to be a saint, and I'm from Kitchener. Study at St. Augustine Seminary, Toronto. This is my fifth priestly assignment. Anything else you want to know?

Sheila Nonato: 4:22

So I'm very curious, Father. You are 36 right now. How did God call you to the priesthood?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 4:29

How didn't God call me to the priesthood? Well, growing up, my family almost never went to church, although we did occasionally for Christmas and Easter. As it turns out, my grandma on my dad's side was very very strong in her Catholic faith. She prayed the Rosary every day. She still does, I imagine, for the family. And uh and so I think she is really a key part uh of my vocation by her prayers. My family, we only went occasionally, but not really seriously. So as I got older, I didn't really go to church much. In fact, I strayed away from church and religion for many years, thinking that it didn't really make sense. It seemed to me like there was a lot of rules. I didn't understand why I would follow those rules. And uh I just wanted to have fun and be a good person, but I didn't really understand how religion and God and Jesus had to do with that. But then when uh I was in my third year of university studying psychology at Wilford Laurier, it was close by, so I went there because I'm in Kitchener. And, uh, I started dating a young lady who was going to church every Sunday, and even she went to something called Eucharistic Adoration, where we would spend time in front of the Eucharist, and I never even knew such a thing existed. And although, uh, strong in the faith, in fact, I'd even written a paper in philosophy about why I thought there was no good evidence for God's existence. I started going because she was going and I was genuinely open and curious. And as I went, I started to ask the priest questions, I started to get even more involved. I went back to confession, I went on some retreats, my life was transformed. Eventually, I just had deep experiences of God, his love, his healing, his mercy, and the joy of belonging to the church. And uh it was in that context that I started healing, uh, sorry, feeling and hearing a call to the priesthood that at first I kind of fought because I was like, oh man, I couldn't be a good priest, and I'm already planning to be with this lady. But then Jesus gradually guided me and strengthened me. And eventually I uh I said, okay, I better look into this. So I spent a few years discerning my vocation. I even thought about religious life for a little bit, but eventually God drew me to apply for the Dawson priesthood in the Hamilton Diocese, which is my home diocese. And lo and behold, after six years of formation, I was blessed to be ordained a priest.

Sheila Nonato: 6:50

So you were a baptized Catholic?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 6:53

I was baptized. In fact, I had an emergency baptism at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, and, uh, my parents were told I wouldn't live. And so my grandma was very passionate that I would be baptized. And so uh then I was baptized, I went to Catholic public school, so I had first holy communion, confession, and I had confirmation. But because our family didn't really go to church much, there was a time when even when I was in grade two, actually, I was really interested in the Bible. I asked my parents to get me a Bible. I even had a cassette tape of the Bible that I would listen to as I go to bed. I thought it was so neat. But then as I get older, as I said, just the things of the world took me away. So I was sacramentalized, but I wasn't evangelized.

Sheila Nonato: 7:35

Wow, that's quite the Baptism story. So since that time over the years, how did you fall away from your faith?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 7:43

So when I was about 13, 12 or 13, my parents separated. Eventually they had a divorce, and eventually an annulment down the road, thanks be to God, and his long-term, beautiful providence, both our parents would become very strong in the Catholic faith and be remarried in the church. So we thank God for the way he's worked. Yeah, he's really, uh, made something beautiful out of great brokenness. And so just again, even just as we know in our world today, as people get to teenage years, we start getting interested in a lot of things, but it's not usually, unless our family or friends are really playing a big role in our lives, it's not usually likely that it's God that we're most excited about. So things drifted, and I just kind of continue to get more interested in other things of the world.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 8:27

And it was only later again that I started really reflecting and uh thinking more about what is true, what is the purpose of life, what what is the meaning and the way that I'm called to live. And uh, and so it was a really powerful conversion. When I came back, it was a really powerful conversion. Like once I realized God was real, that Jesus Christ is God, that the Catholic Church is the true church, that has the fullness of truth, I was like, well, that the what the heck is the point of not going all in with God? Once I knew the truth, had I found the joy of walking with Jesus that I'd always been looking for. It was really fast, but it was things of the world that had kind of made it harder for me at first to probably hear that call.

Sheila Nonato: 9:10

So did you read something? Did somebody say something to you that made you come back to the church?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 9:16

You know, when I started coming back to church because of this young lady, she was really the catalyst. God, God uses whatever he has to bring us back to himself. And so we were going to an adoration chapel every week for an adoration hour, and I saw there was a little book, and it had a little picture of Jesus on it, and it was a picture about divine mercy, and it had a picture of Jesus, and it said, "Will you help me?" And it was this idea that Jesus was reaching out for help. And for some reason, the Holy Spirit drew me to that little book, not very large, and uh and I would take it and I was reading through it kind of chronologically, and it actually talked about St. Faustina and Divine Bercy, which many of us are familiar with. Uh, it also talked about like the Ten Commandments, the precepts of the church, and it talked a lot about some really profound things that really got me thinking. And I'll be honest, just by going to church, I did have more peace, but I had a lot of questions. And so it was kind of a process of encountering the Lord, having questions, seeking answers, finding answers, encountering the Lord, just repeating that. And enough of that eventually you go, yeah, I just I just need to give my life to the Lord.

Sheila Nonato: 10:30

So, how long did it take for you after that experience? How long did it take for you to talk to, was she your girlfriend, your friend?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 10:38

Yeah, so it was about a year and a half of dating this young lady. And uh there started to be because I mean, everyone's different, so um that's that's one thing, but really I think that my faith became so important to me, uh, so so profoundly essential that it started to create even some tension in the relationship. That I was really like, well, you know what, I don't even want to go to this place anymore, I don't want to go do this anymore. This I don't think this is the way that God is calling me to live. And I also had those thoughts of the priesthood, and at first I kind of was like, nah, but then they kind of started to grow on me. And eventually I prayed about it, and I really felt the Lord saying, like, yeah, you need to to end this relationship. So as kindly as I could, even though I'd already asked her to marry me and her parents had already said yes, it was it was clearly not the easiest thing, but it was the right thing for me to to just be upfront and and so we ended that relationship. Which I had peace with, but I should just say this. Someone would be like, Well, how did you feel about that? I had peace. It wasn't the easiest thing, but it was one of those things where I knew deep down that this was uh the the task the Lord had for me in that moment, and uh and God, if he ever, you know, asks us something, it's so he can give us something even better.

Sheila Nonato: 12:02

How did she take it?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 12:04

She was not the happiest. Nor was I at first. Yeah, it was not easy. But thankfully in the long run she was able to get over that, and uh and I know that we wish each other the best for sure.

Sheila Nonato: 12:18

Do you still keep in touch with her?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 12:20

I don't really keep in touch with her very much, but I'm not like actively avoiding her. Um she's got her life, uh she's doing her thing, and uh and so I'm doing my thing, she's doing her thing. But if she reaches out, I'll happily say hi for sure. Absolutely. There's there's not like any avoidance or anything.

Sheila Nonato: 12:36

I think I saw a video of a priest who was the officiant at his ex-girlfriend's wedding, but that wasn't your case, right?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 12:43

No, I I tried to do that, but they didn't invite me, so but I do have yeah. Funny stories, but yeah.

Speaker 3: 12:51

So I heard from my husband that you rap online. Can you tell us a little bit about that? How did it get started? What do you do, and what do you rap about?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 13:01

Sure. I have this fascinating hobby of rapping. Uh R-A-P-P-I-N-G, not like W-R-A-P-P-I-N-G. So I like to rap. I only like Christian rap. I only like good. I mean, I used to like writing poetry. I always was really fascinated by poetry and rhyming and beauty and the written word, but also the spoken word. It has great power. And uh I I really kind of saw a beauty in that, but I saw how most people who rap, it's it's not for there are some really amazing Christian rappers, way better than I'll ever be. But unfortunately, what we see in the mainstream media is really not from God. It's really opposing Jesus' kingdom a lot of the time and and really hurting our young people.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 13:45

And so just as fun, just for fun in in seminary, I started little rhymes, little songs, and I organized a talent show one year, and uh me and another seminarian did a collaboration where we rapped. He mixed some beats, and uh, we wrote a song, and I had like a verse or two. And so it was a lot of fun, and people people enjoyed it. And yeah, it was kind of funny, kind of silly, but but also like very sincere from the heart and about Jesus. And uh it's kind of got its own brand. So when I uh started uh my priestly ministry, my first assignment was at St. Ann's in Ancaster, and, um, this was uh around the time that Kanye West he had a new Christian album, not promoting Kanye West here, but I'm just telling you the context. And uh and it was kind of in that light, people were talking about Christian rap again in a very prominent mainstream way. And I was like, I'm gonna try it, I'm gonna do it.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 14:41

And uh, and so I started rapping for the students at the school, and they loved it. They thought it was so much fun. I also thought it was a lot of fun, and uh, so it was kind of one of those things where once you did it and people liked it, I said, Well, I'm gonna keep doing this. And so now at Immaculate Heart and Mary Parish here, um, people enjoy. Um, sure some do, some probably don't, and that's okay too. Uh, not everyone has to like it, but um, I put out a weekly, usually, like I was in Rome and I was away for a bit, so I had a little pause there. But uh usually we put out a wrap of the week on our social media, and it's about our Sunday, last Sunday's reading, something that connects with how the Word of God is speaking to us now. And it's meant to be something that gets you thinking, uh, especially appeals to our young people who can say, like, oh wow, those that was really different. I haven't seen a priest rap before, and it made me think about the word of God. So it's to be fun, evangelical, playful, and to reach out to those who would find that helpful.

Sheila Nonato: 15:38

Okay. And speaking of, you said idols and, uh ,just rappers in the mainstream or more Christian. Do you have one that you kind of model yourself after? Is there somebody?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 15:51

There's no rapper that I model myself on, but I would say like there are some really good Christian rappers, but I would just say, like, uh, my personality and my rapping is a bit unique because I'm as you get to know me, you'll find that obviously depending on the circumstances, I can be either a little bit more like focused. If it's a Sacred Liturgy, I tend to be very like trying really hard to do exactly what the church has asked and not draw too much attention to myself. But outside of the liturgy, I'm a little more playful. I like to joke around. I really believe St. Philip Mary's quote when he says, a joyful soul is more easily made perfect or brought closer to Christ.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 16:24

So I think cheerfulness is really important, especially in our world today, maybe even very fitting for a Jubilee or of Hope recorded podcast. People need cheerfulness, they need to be lifted up. And it's in that way that I find this kind of playful rapping that is also really sincere and connected to God. For some reason, um, for many people, they find it fun, humorous, makes them smile, get some thinking about Jesus, can also be a bit of an icebreaker for our young people who say, like, oh, father is he does stuff other than just say mass. He actually does something kind of funny or cool or quirky that makes me feel more comfortable to talk to him about maybe my questions about God. And so that's a bit of the backstory.

Sheila Nonato: 17:05

And I guess as he was saying, rap is a sort of way to break the ice and also to reach young people. And speaking of young people, and some of the best videos that I particularly enjoyed seeing was the response of the children, the students. With the recent Papal Election, when they were waiting for the white smoke and when the Pope was announced, they were screaming and jumping. And particularly in the United States, when they heard it was an American Pope. And then just eruption of jubilation and squeals of joy. But you were in Rome. You were there. Please tell us more.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 17:45

I was there for the Installation Mess. I wasn't there for the uh I was actually here at my home, had a macular heart of marriage with two Protestant ministers and three Catholic seminarians when the white smoke came out. And we already had pizza because it was a bit of an ecumenical kind of uh fruitful time that became a conclave party or an election, a papal election party. Yeah, it was fun, it was really exciting, and then I got to go to Rome not long ago, um, from May 11th to May 23rd. So I was there at an audience just a few days after Pope Leo was elected. And then I got to celebrate, concelate the installation mass with the Pope, and uh it was like unforgettable, it's really profound.

Sheila Nonato: 18:27

And so you planned this already before the papal election. You went there a few days after he was elected, correct?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 18:34

That's right. So the election was on Thursday, it was on Sunday that we flew, and this had been booked many, many months in advance, and so obviously we didn't plan, but thankfully, you know, by divine providence, I was already there, which meant for both that Wednesday audience that was right after. It was kind of a different than usual Wednesday audience, it was about the Eastern churches, and a friend of mine who works in the dicastery for Eastern churches was able to get me a very close seat where I was, uh, able to be like 15 feet away from the Pope when he came down to greet some cardinals and bishops. Uh that was really cool. Um, so for that time I just kind of briefly separated myself from our pilgrimage group. They were totally happy for me. They said, go see the Pope. Like, we're not sad that you're gonna be away from us for some hours. And then similarly for the installation mass, I said, go enjoy it. So I took the train uh because we also went to Florence, Venice, Padua, Assisi. Um, so I got to take the train around to catch up with them. It was a really quite uh exciting adventure.

Sheila Nonato: 19:35

And at the installation mass, can you tell us what were you what was the scene?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 19:41

Installation Mass is in St. Peter's Square. And uh and if you're a priest and you got the proper identification and the tickets, which you have to kind of do an online login through the Vatican website with, then you get through various layers of security uh as you repeatedly show what they need to see, they check your bag, etc. And so I was sitting um pretty close to the front. Um, you know, I would have been to Pope Leo's um about his uh one o'clock or two o'clock from when he was saying Mass at the altar there in St. Peter's Square. Um, so I was pretty I wasn't in the front row amongst all the priests, but I was pretty close there. And so definitely compared to lots of other people, very, very close. And uh the music was spectacular. If you haven't watched the installation mass with Pope Leo, I definitely encourage you. Very powerful, very moving. A lot of world leaders were there, which was also a beautiful opportunity for Pope Leo to speak about world peace and the peace that Christ offers and to evangelize. And I think we evangelize to them through beauty, through the unity of the church and through the evangelical witness of our new beloved Pope.

Sheila Nonato: 20:54

And did you have any interaction with the Pope? Were you able to share the sign of peace?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 21:00

Um, my closest interaction with the Pope would be that audience after we got there. He was like 15 feet away. I was like waving and looking at him, but like I'm not gonna be unrealistic. He's looking at a sea of people. So let's just say that from a pure anatomical sense, his eyes saw me, like his brain activity was maybe slightly different because I was there. But uh, we didn't like talk, we didn't shake hands because this audience was a pretty big audience, and the insulation mass was massive. Like the St. Peter's Square was just so packed. Um, and there's like cardinals and bishops there, there's all these world leaders there. Like, I don't expect him to step aside and say, "Oh, hey, it's Father Greg. Yeah, let me just wander on down there and have a little chat." Like, I don't blame him. He's got a lot of important people to deal with. And um, obviously each priest is important, each person is important, but there's a sort of priority, so he had to do the duty of the moment.

Sheila Nonato: 21:55

And it seems like God's perfect timing in your case that you were able to go on that pilgrimage when you did, even though it was planned um a year ago, and the Pope, the Papal Election just happened um when you got there.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 22:11

Well, at first I didn't know who uh Robert Prevost, Prevost was. I had no clue. Um, however, just watching once he finally came out, because there's that little time where you get the white smoke and you're still waiting like who's coming and what's happening. Once he came out and he spoke, uh, I was just filled with peace and joy. And you know, of course he he said those words, peace be with you. Uh, I was really impressed by the content of his first words. I was impressed by his piety in the early days, like when he sang the Regina Chaley, and just a lot of uh really thoughtful, heartfelt, um deep sincerity that you could see uh was present.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 22:58

And then as people learned more about him, you know, it was exciting to be like, man, this guy, he's got a degree in math, he is a canon lawyer, he was the prefect for the dicastery of bishops, which means like he was he was in a lot of things. He's a very bright guy, but of course, as you know, he was a missionary in Peru, bishop there, he was serving such poor people. Like, and then more videos of him service, and you see him just doing some really cool stuff, saying some great stuff. You go, this guy's awesome. So my short summary is I'm really excited about Pope Leo, and I'm really grateful to God for the way the Holy Spirit has guided the Cardinals and the Church.

Sheila Nonato: 23:32

And just to go back to your pilgrimage, I'm sure there are many highlights for you. If you could pick one or two, where I guess you perhaps learned something, and given that this is the Jubilee year, maybe we could also be inspired to do our own pilgrimage. Perhaps uh if we can't afford Rome, maybe a nearby parish. What were the two highlights that we can learn from from your own pilgrimage, your Jubilee pilgrimage?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 24:00

Sure. I okay, so aside from the biggest highlights, we're seeing the Pope, I'm gonna be honest with you. Uh, I had never been to Europe before, uh, let alone Italy or Rome. So this was excitingly new. I had say my biggest highlight aside from that was just being in the Vatican and seeing St. Peter's. Uh if you've never been to St. Peter's Basilica, it's just so beautiful. It's so stunning. There they have the tomb of Pope St. John Paul II, so he's able to pray there. They also have the Pietà. They have so much priceless art. It's it's really stunning. There's, of course, there the body of Saint Peter. And so for me, a big part of the power of this pilgrimage was to pray at a lot of saints' tombs, whether it was St. Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Lucy, uh Blessed Carlo Acutis, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Clair, St. Anthony of Padua. I was able to pray at the tombs of so many saints, and I felt the power. And so one lesson would be just the power of the saints and praying with them and asking them, but also another thing would be like the beauty, the grandeur, the majesty of some of these churches in Rome is so worth seeing in person. No picture or video does it justice. Once you're there, it hits you and the Lord speaks to you through that beauty.

Sheila Nonato: 25:19

And you mentioned so you were there and you saw the relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Were you at the church?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 25:27

I was at the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which is in Assisi. So we went to a Assisi ,uh, common pilgrimage site to go see um some churches and the tombs of St. Francis, St. Clair. Uh it was really powerful too. But I didn't even know until we got there that the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis was there. So it was like, whoa, we got to see some incredible big names all in one little town.

Sheila Nonato: 25:51

And how do you think his example, how can that sort of inspired youth? And you yourself, you're still very young. You're 37 years old. Can it inspire the youth to follow their vocation just like Carlo Cudis did? And just like priests like yourself did.

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 26:08

Yeah, Blessed Carlo Acutis, soon to be um Saint Carlo Acutis, as you know. I think he was only 14 when he died. But he had some really profound lessons that he encouraged everyone to really take, uh, note of. He said everyone should go. He said, first off, you gotta go to mass. He even said if you can't go daily mass. So he encouraged like monthly spiritual direction. So going to some priest or someone who could be a spiritual mentor to you and walk with you. He encouraged daily rosary, weekly confession, he went to confession weekly, and, uh, spiritual reading. And, uh, so many of the things he did were normal things, like he was using the internet and used the internet to create beautiful websites, information about the Eucharist and Eucharistic miracles and the saints. And so he even played video games, he wore jeans. Um really, we can see in him a manifestation of the call to be holy in the ordinary, but using the gifts that God has given us to be generous and to proclaim the good news. And each one of us in our unique circumstances is called to that holiness which doesn't require big, flashy achievements. It just requires us to try to love God in the littlest of things, even our emails, our phone calls, the things on our to-do list, keeping faithful to our prayer, uh, trying to do what we do well for love of God and neighbor, and uh going to the sacraments regularly. God can make us a saint, and you don't have to be some fancy person. God wants you to be a saint. And blessed Carla Cutis is a great witness to that, and he gives a great example with great teachings of how to make it happen.

Sheila Nonato: 27:44

And finally, as we are doing this interview, we are wrapping up the month of May. Um, how has Our Lady, did Mother Mary play a role in your vocation?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 27:53

Mary has played a big role in my vocation, and probably more than I even know. When I came back to the church, I eventually got involved in something called the Legion of Mary, which is one of many beautiful movements of the Catholic Church. It's one of the largest lay organizations around the world. And in the Legion of Mary, uh, although I had already heard about it, I became even more familiar with the idea of consecrating ourselves to Mary, entrusting myself to Jesus through Mary, like St. Louis sorry, St. Louis Marie de Mountford, St. Maximilan Colbay, St. John Paul II, many others talk about. And of course, Father Michael Gately has a great book about that, 33 Days to Morning Glory. Anyways, I got closer to Mary through Legion of Mary. Obviously, I was bringing the rosary every day. I was entrusting every day to Our Lady, my vocation to Our Lady, uh, consecrating myself to her regularly, and really asking her to lead me to her son and help me to do whenever God was calling me to, because there were a few years where I was like, God, I don't know what you want. And I would say, Mary, you've got to lead me, help me, help me to know my vocation. So the closer we are to Mary, the closer she brings us to Jesus. She's like, shortcut to Jesus, and not to replace Jesus, of course, because she actually wants us to focus on him most of all, but she leads us to him.

Sheila Nonato: 29:02

And finally, sorry, I am going to put you on the spot. Do you have a rap about Mother Mary? Do you want to close with that?

Fr. Gregory Merkley: 29:10

Hmm, I don't have any rap that was pre-prepared, so you kind of got me. And I'm a little bit scared. I hope that something that I drop sounds good. If not, you might not believe that I'm from the Holy Hood. But I hope that these rhymes still give you good times. And even if they're not really totally prime, I just want to say it's been really, really good to be here with all of you. If I could back, I would. Okay, there we go.

Sheila Nonato: 29:32

Wow, awesome. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you being a guest today.

Co-Host: 29:52

Thank you for listening to the Veil + Armour Podcast. I invite you to share this with another Catholic mom today. Please subscribe. to our podcast and YouTube channel. And please spread the word. Let's Be Brave, Let's Be Bold and Be Blessed together.