By Father Garrett Braun
From Fields Afar
A few weeks ago, I had the experience of two of my worlds colliding — a merger of my previous life — parish priest in the Diocese of Evansville along with my current role of active-duty priest chaplain in the U.S. Air Force. I had the blessing of hosting Father Tyler Tenbarge, currently on sabbatical four hours away in Turin, and a previous parishioner at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vincennes.
This paradox of spending time with fellow Hoosiers in northern Italy was further magnified when we spent a whole Saturday afternoon with a couple military families at their home just a few miles from base. Whereas Father Tyler and my dear Knox County friend represent all things southern Indiana Catholic, the families we spent time with epitomize faithful military service members — spending the last 20 years or so living around the world, raising their children in the faith, and relying on a litany of Air Force priests to serve as their pastors.
As is often the case, the initial introductions were definitely gracious but inevitably somewhat awkward. All parties, even the party at home, were suddenly in unfamiliar territory and trying to get the lay of the land. What would this day have in store? Just who are these people I am interacting with and what is the group dynamic?
Knowing our hosts to be gracious and amazing cooks, I settled in with a plate of food and tried my best to not force my old and new friends to become instant besties — even if I was hoping for it. Instead, I had to play it cool. I had to let things happen organically. Even as I watched a couple promising conversation topics begin and then stutter, my hope did not waiver. What was the cause of my hope? It was the same as the cause of my joy.
I knew all parties involved to have deeply encountered the love of Jesus Christ and to be cooperating with the graces of the Holy Spirit. They all love the Church and are striving for a life of more perfect discipleship. What opened the flood gates of fellowship was a young military couple sharing their beautiful and deeply personal testimony of falling away from Christ and the joy of being called home, and being called together, by our loving father.
It seemed that the rest of the day just got better and better — we shared food and compared our experiences of Church and family life. We also acted silly, ran around, laughed and played with all the little kids present. At one point, Father Tyler fell asleep on the couch, a 19-year-old wore a Pikachu costume, and the only rivalry was to outcompete each other in charity. My worlds had collided, and with our Catholic faith as the common denominator, the result was pure joy.