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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Fr. Gregory Merkley (00:00):
How did God call me to the priesthood?
Well, growing up, my familyalmost never went to church,
although we did occasionally forChristmas and Easter.
As it turns out, my Grandma onmy Dad's side was very very
strong in her Catholic faith.
She prayed the Rosary everyday.
She still does, I imagine, forthe family.
And uh and so I think she isreally a key part, uh, of my
(00:23):
vocation by her prayers.
My family, we only wentoccasionally, but not really
seriously.
So as I got older, I didn'treally go to church much.
In fact, I strayed away fromchurch and religion for many
years, thinking that it didn'treally make sense.
It seemed to me like there wasa lot of rules.
I didn't understand why I wouldfollow those rules, and uh I
(00:43):
just wanted to have fun and be agood person, but I didn't
really understand how religionand God and Jesus had to do with
that.
But then when uh I was in mythird year of university
studying psychology at WilfordLaurier, it was close by, so I
went there because I'm inKitchener, and uh I started
dating a young lady who wasgoing to church every Sunday,
(01:05):
and even she went to somethingcalled Eucharistic Adoration,
where we would spend time infront of the Eucharist, and I
never even knew such a thingexisted.
And although I wasn't uh strongin the faith, in fact, I'd even
written a paper in philosophyabout why I thought there was no
good evidence for God'sexistence.
I started going because she wasgoing and I was genuinely open
and curious.
Sheila Nonato (01:25):
"The Eucharist is my highway to heaven," newly
canonized saint Carlo Acutis hadproclaimed.
He said, "People who placethemselves before the sun get a
tan, while people who placethemselves before the Eucharist
become saints." This year, thepath to holiness can be joined
together with a Jubilee year ofhope, proclaimed by the late
(01:47):
Pope Francis.
And now, the Catholic Church'snewest Pope, Leo XIV, is
welcoming pilgrims from aroundthe world to the eternal city.
The invitation to go onpilgrimage during the Jubilee
Year of Hope is not only aninvitation to a physical
journey, it is also a call togrow deeper in one's faith and
(02:10):
to grow closer to Jesus Christ.
Let's hear the story of amillennial Canadian priest,
Father Gregory Merkley of StoneyCreek, Ontario, and his
inspirational Jubilee pilgrimageto Italy a few days after the
papal election of Pope Leo XIV,and his remarkable journey to
the priesthood.
Thank you and God bless.
(02:32):
Hello and welcome to the Veilin Armour Podcast.
This is your host, SheilaNonato.
I'm a stay-at-home Mom and afreelance Catholic journalist.
Seeking the guidance of theHoly Spirit and the inspiration
of Our Lady, I strive to tellstories that inspire,
illuminate, and enrich the livesof Catholic women to help them
(02:54):
in living out our vocation ofraising the next generation of
leaders and saints.
Co-Host (02:59):
Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour
Podcast, where stories comealive through a journalist's
land in Mother's Heart.
Sheila Nonato (03:08):
Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast.
We have Father Gregory Merkleyfrom Immaculate Heart of Mary
Parish in Stoney Creek, Ontario.
And Father, would you please beable to start us off with a
prayer?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (03:20):
Sure.
In the name of The Father andof the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
Lord, we has come to you thisday, knowing of your love for
us, asking your Holy Spirit toguide everything we do.
We also entrust this time andwhatever we might be going
through personally, back to theImmaculate Heart of Mary, to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, theprotection of Saint Joseph, as
well as Saint Michael and allthe Holy Angels and saints.
(03:40):
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 andof the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (03:50):
Thank you very much for that, Father Merkley.
And I was wondering if you canplease introduce yourself to our
listeners.
Fr. Gregory Merkley (03:56):
Sure.
My name is Father Greg Merkley.
I'm blessed to be pastor hereon Immaculate Heart of Mary.
And I have been a priest forjust over six years.
Been here for almost two years.
Uh and I am 36 years old andloving life, living the dream,
striving to be a saint, and I'mfrom Kitchener.
Study at St.
Augustine Seminary, Toronto.
(04:17):
This is my fifth priestlyassignment.
Anything else you want to know?
Sheila Nonato (04:22):
So I'm very curious, Father.
You are 36 right now.
How did God call you to thepriesthood?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (04:29):
How didn't God call me to the priesthood?
Well, growing up, my familyalmost never went to church,
although we did occasionally forChristmas and Easter.
As it turns out, my grandma onmy dad's side was very very
strong in her Catholic faith.
She prayed the Rosary everyday.
She still does, I imagine, forthe family.
And uh and so I think she isreally a key part uh of my
(04:52):
vocation by her prayers.
My family, we only wentoccasionally, but not really
seriously.
So as I got older, I didn'treally go to church much.
In fact, I strayed away fromchurch and religion for many
years, thinking that it didn'treally make sense.
It seemed to me like there wasa lot of rules.
I didn't understand why I wouldfollow those rules.
And uh I just wanted to havefun and be a good person, but I
(05:15):
didn't really understand howreligion and God and Jesus had
to do with that.
But then when uh I was in mythird year of university
studying psychology at WilfordLaurier, it was close by, so I
went there because I'm inKitchener.
And, uh, I started dating ayoung lady who was going to
church every Sunday, and evenshe went to something called
(05:36):
Eucharistic Adoration, where wewould spend time in front of the
Eucharist, and I never evenknew such a thing existed.
And although, uh, strong in thefaith, in fact, I'd even
written a paper in philosophyabout why I thought there was no
good evidence for God'sexistence.
I started going because she wasgoing and I was genuinely open
and curious.
And as I went, I started to askthe priest questions, I started
(05:58):
to get even more involved.
I went back to confession, Iwent on some retreats, my life
was transformed.
Eventually, I just had deepexperiences of God, his love,
his healing, his mercy, and thejoy of belonging to the church.
And uh it was in that contextthat I started healing, uh,
sorry, feeling and hearing acall to the priesthood that at
first I kind of fought because Iwas like, oh man, I couldn't be
(06:21):
a good priest, and I'm alreadyplanning to be with this lady.
But then Jesus gradually guidedme and strengthened me.
And eventually I uh I said,okay, I better look into this.
So I spent a few yearsdiscerning my vocation.
I even thought about religiouslife for a little bit, but
eventually God drew me to applyfor the Dawson priesthood in the
(06:41):
Hamilton Diocese, which is myhome diocese.
And lo and behold, after sixyears of formation, I was
blessed to be ordained a priest.
Sheila Nonato (06:50):
So you were a baptized Catholic?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (06:53):
I was baptized.
In fact, I had an emergencybaptism at Sick Kids Hospital in
Toronto, and, uh, my parentswere told I wouldn't live.
And so my grandma was verypassionate that I would be
baptized.
And so uh then I was baptized,I went to Catholic public
school, so I had first holycommunion, confession, and I had
(07:14):
confirmation.
But because our family didn'treally go to church much, there
was a time when even when I wasin grade two, actually, I was
really interested in the Bible.
I asked my parents to get me aBible.
I even had a cassette tape ofthe Bible that I would listen to
as I go to bed.
I thought it was so neat.
But then as I get older, as Isaid, just the things of the
world took me away.
So I was sacramentalized, but Iwasn't evangelized.
Sheila Nonato (07:35):
Wow, that's quite the Baptism story.
So since that time over theyears, how did you fall away
from your faith?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (07:43):
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, andhis long-term, beautiful
providence, both our parentswould become very strong in the
Catholic faith and be remarriedin the church.
So we thank God for the wayhe's worked.
Yeah, he's really, uh, madesomething beautiful out of great
(08:07):
brokenness.
And so just again, even just aswe know in our world today, as
people get to teenage years, westart getting interested in a
lot of things, but it's notusually, unless our family or
friends are really playing a bigrole in our lives, it's not
usually likely that it's Godthat we're most excited about.
So things drifted, and I justkind of continue to get more
interested in other things ofthe world.
(08:27):
And it was only later again thatI started really reflecting and
uh thinking more about what istrue, what is the purpose of
life, what what is the meaningand the way that I'm called to
live.
And uh, and so it was a reallypowerful conversion.
When I came back, it was areally powerful conversion.
Like once I realized God wasreal, that Jesus Christ is God,
(08:49):
that the Catholic Church is thetrue church, that has the
fullness of truth, I was like,well, that the what the heck is
the point of not going all inwith God?
Once I knew the truth, had Ifound the joy of walking with
Jesus that I'd always beenlooking for.
It was really fast, but it wasthings of the world that had
kind of made it harder for me atfirst to probably hear that
(09:09):
call.
Sheila Nonato (09:10):
So did you read something?
Did somebody say something toyou that made you come back to
the church?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (09:16):
You know, when I started coming back to
church because of this younglady, she was really the
catalyst.
God, God uses whatever he hasto bring us back to himself.
And so we were going to anadoration chapel every week for
an adoration hour, and I sawthere was a little book, and it
had a little picture of Jesus onit, and it was a picture about
divine mercy, and it had apicture of Jesus, and it said,
(09:39):
"Will you help me?" And it wasthis idea that Jesus was
reaching out for help.
And for some reason, the HolySpirit drew me to that little
book, not very large, and uh andI would take it and I was
reading through it kind ofchronologically, and it actually
talked about St.
Faustina and Divine Bercy,which many of us are familiar
with.
Uh, it also talked about likethe Ten Commandments, the
precepts of the church, and ittalked a lot about some really
(10:03):
profound things that really gotme thinking.
And I'll be honest, just bygoing to church, I did have more
peace, but I had a lot ofquestions.
And so it was kind of a processof encountering the Lord,
having questions, seekinganswers, finding answers,
encountering the Lord, justrepeating that.
(10:23):
And enough of that eventuallyyou 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 totalk 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 bebecause I mean, everyone's
different, so um that's that'sone thing, but really I think
that my faith became soimportant to me, uh, so so
profoundly essential that itstarted to create even some
(11:02):
tension in the relationship.
That I was really like, well,you know what, I don't even want
to go to this place anymore, Idon't want to go do this
anymore.
This I don't think this is theway that God is calling me to
live.
And I also had those thoughtsof the priesthood, and at first
I kind of was like, nah, butthen they kind of started to
grow on me.
And eventually I prayed aboutit, and I really felt the Lord
saying, like, yeah, you need toto end this relationship.
(11:24):
So as kindly as I could, eventhough I'd already asked her to
marry me and her parents hadalready 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 andso we ended that relationship.
Which I had peace with, but Ishould just say this.
(11:45):
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 thiswas uh the the task the Lord
had for me in that moment, anduh and God, if he ever, you
know, asks us something, it's sohe 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 runshe was able to get over that,
and uh and I know that we wisheach 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 likeactively avoiding her.
Um she's got her life, uh she'sdoing her thing, and uh and so
I'm doing my thing, she's doingher thing.
But if she reaches out, I'llhappily say hi for sure.
Absolutely.
There's there's not like anyavoidance or anything.
Sheila Nonato (12:36):
I think I saw a video of a priest who was the
officiant at his ex-girlfriend'swedding, 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 dohave 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 bitabout that?
How did it get started?
What do you do, and what do yourap about?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (13:01):
Sure.
I have this fascinating hobbyof rapping.
Uh R-A-P-P-I-N-G, not likeW-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 writingpoetry.
I always was really fascinatedby poetry and rhyming and beauty
and the written word, but alsothe spoken word.
(13:24):
It has great power.
And uh I I really kind of saw abeauty in that, but I saw how
most people who rap, it's it'snot for there are some really
amazing Christian rappers, waybetter than I'll ever be.
But unfortunately, what we seein the mainstream media is
really not from God.
It's really opposing Jesus'kingdom a lot of the time and
and really hurting our youngpeople.
(13:45):
And so just as fun, just for funin in seminary, I started
little rhymes, little songs, andI organized a talent show one
year, and uh me and anotherseminarian did a collaboration
where we rapped.
He mixed some beats, and uh, wewrote a song, and I had like a
verse or two.
(14:05):
And so it was a lot of fun, andpeople people enjoyed it.
And yeah, it was kind of funny,kind of silly, but but also
like very sincere from the heartand about Jesus.
And uh it's kind of got its ownbrand.
So when I uh started uh mypriestly ministry, my first
assignment was at St.
Ann's in Ancaster, and, um,this was uh around the time that
(14:27):
Kanye West he had a newChristian album, not promoting
Kanye West here, but I'm justtelling you the context.
And uh and it was kind of inthat light, people were talking
about Christian rap again in avery prominent mainstream way.
And I was like, I'm gonna tryit, I'm gonna do it.
And uh, and so I started rappingfor the students at the school,
and they loved it.
They thought it was so muchfun.
I also thought it was a lot offun, and uh, so it was kind of
(14:50):
one of those things where onceyou did it and people liked it,
I said, Well, I'm gonna keepdoing this.
And so now at Immaculate Heartand Mary Parish here, um, people
enjoy.
Um, sure some do, some probablydon't, and that's okay too.
Uh, not everyone has to likeit, but um, I put out a weekly,
usually, like I was in Rome andI was away for a bit, so I had a
little pause there.
But uh usually we put out awrap of the week on our social
(15:12):
media, and it's about ourSunday, last Sunday's reading,
something that connects with howthe Word of God is speaking to
us now.
And it's meant to be somethingthat gets you thinking, uh,
especially appeals to our youngpeople who can say, like, oh
wow, those that was reallydifferent.
I haven't seen a priest rapbefore, and it made me think
about the word of God.
So it's to be fun, evangelical,playful, and to reach out to
(15:35):
those who would find thathelpful.
Sheila Nonato (15:38):
Okay.
And speaking of, you said idolsand, uh ,just rappers in the
mainstream or more Christian.
Do you have one that you kindof 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 aresome really good Christian
rappers, but I would just say,like, uh, my personality and my
rapping is a bit unique becauseI'm as you get to know me,
you'll find that obviouslydepending on the circumstances,
I can be either a little bitmore like focused.
If it's a Sacred Liturgy, Itend to be very like trying
really hard to do exactly whatthe church has asked and not
(16:13):
draw too much attention tomyself.
But outside of the liturgy, I'ma little more playful.
I like to joke around.
I really believe St.
Philip Mary's quote when hesays, a joyful soul is more
easily made perfect or broughtcloser to Christ.
So I think cheerfulness isreally important, especially in
our world today, maybe even veryfitting for a Jubilee or of
Hope recorded podcast.
People need cheerfulness, theyneed to be lifted up.
(16:34):
And it's in that way that Ifind this kind of playful
rapping that is also reallysincere and connected to God.
For some reason, um, for manypeople, they find it fun,
humorous, makes them smile, getsome thinking about Jesus, can
also be a bit of an icebreakerfor our young people who say,
like, oh, father is he doesstuff other than just say mass.
(16:54):
He actually does something kindof funny or cool or quirky that
makes me feel more comfortableto talk to him about maybe my
questions about God.
And so that's a bit of thebackstory.
Sheila Nonato (17:05):
And I guess as he was saying, rap is a sort of
way to break the ice and also toreach young people.
And speaking of young people,and some of the best videos that
I particularly enjoyed seeingwas the response of the
children, the students.
With the recent Papal Election,when they were waiting for the
white smoke and when the Popewas announced, they were
(17:28):
screaming and jumping.
And particularly in the UnitedStates, when they heard it was
an American Pope.
And then just eruption ofjubilation 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 wasactually here at my home, had a
macular heart of marriage withtwo Protestant ministers and
three Catholic seminarians whenthe white smoke came out.
And we already had pizzabecause it was a bit of an
ecumenical kind of uh fruitfultime that became a conclave
party or an election, a papalelection party.
(18:06):
Yeah, it was fun, it was reallyexciting, and then I got to go
to Rome not long ago, um, fromMay 11th to May 23rd.
So I was there at an audiencejust a few days after Pope Leo
was elected.
And then I got to celebrate,concelate the installation mass
with the Pope, and uh it waslike 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 afterhe was elected, correct?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (18:34):
That's right.
So the election was onThursday, it was on Sunday that
we flew, and this had beenbooked many, many months in
advance, and so obviously wedidn't plan, but thankfully, you
know, by divine providence, Iwas already there, which meant
for both that Wednesday audiencethat was right after.
It was kind of a different thanusual Wednesday audience, it
(18:56):
was about the Eastern churches,and a friend of mine who works
in the dicastery for Easternchurches 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 downto greet some cardinals and
bishops.
Uh that was really cool.
Um, so for that time I justkind 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'regonna be away from us for some
(19:18):
hours.
And then similarly for theinstallation mass, I said, go
enjoy it.
So I took the train uh becausewe also went to Florence,
Venice, Padua, Assisi.
Um, so I got to take the trainaround to catch up with them.
It was a really quite uhexciting adventure.
Sheila Nonato (19:35):
And at the installation mass, can you tell
us what were you what was thescene?
Fr. Gregory Merkle (19:41):
Installation Mass is in St.
Peter's Square.
And uh and if you're a priestand you got the proper
identification and the tickets,which you have to kind of do an
online login through the Vaticanwebsite with, then you get
through various layers ofsecurity uh as you repeatedly
show what they need to see, theycheck your bag, etc.
And so I was sitting um prettyclose to the front.
(20:03):
Um, you know, I would have beento Pope Leo's um about his uh
one o'clock or two o'clock fromwhen he was saying Mass at the
altar there in St.
Peter's Square.
Um, so I was pretty I wasn't inthe front row amongst all the
priests, but I was pretty closethere.
(20:23):
And so definitely compared tolots of other people, very, very
close.
And uh the music wasspectacular.
If you haven't watched theinstallation mass with Pope Leo,
I definitely encourage you.
Very powerful, very moving.
A lot of world leaders werethere, which was also a
beautiful opportunity for PopeLeo to speak about world peace
and the peace that Christ offersand to evangelize.
(20:45):
And I think we evangelize tothem through beauty, through the
unity of the church and throughthe 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 signof peace?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (21:00):
Um, my closest interaction with the
Pope would be that audienceafter we got there.
He was like 15 feet away.
I was like waving and lookingat him, but like I'm not gonna
be unrealistic.
He's looking at a sea ofpeople.
So let's just say that from apure anatomical sense, his eyes
saw me, like his brain activitywas maybe slightly different
(21:21):
because I was there.
But uh, we didn't like talk, wedidn't shake hands because this
audience was a pretty bigaudience, and the insulation
mass was massive.
Like the St.
Peter's Square was just sopacked.
Um, and there's like cardinalsand bishops there, there's all
these world leaders there.
Like, I don't expect him tostep aside and say, "Oh, hey,
it's Father Greg.
(21:42):
Yeah, let me just wander ondown there and have a little
chat." Like, I don't blame him.
He's got a lot of importantpeople to deal with.
And um, obviously each priestis important, each person is
important, but there's a sort ofpriority, 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 onthat pilgrimage when you did,
even though it was planned um ayear ago, and the Pope, the
Papal Election just happened umwhen 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 oncehe finally came out, because
there's that little time whereyou get the white smoke and
you're still waiting like who'scoming and what's happening.
Once he came out and he spoke,uh, I was just filled with peace
(22:31):
and joy.
And you know, of course he hesaid those words, peace be with
you.
Uh, I was really impressed bythe content of his first words.
I was impressed by his piety inthe early days, like when he
sang the Regina Chaley, and justa lot of uh really thoughtful,
heartfelt, um deep sinceritythat you could see uh was
(22:57):
present.
And then as people learned moreabout him, you know, it was
exciting to be like, man, thisguy, he's got a degree in math,
he is a canon lawyer, he was theprefect for the dicastery of
bishops, which means like he washe was in a lot of things.
He's a very bright guy, but ofcourse, as you know, he was a
missionary in Peru, bishopthere, he was serving such poor
(23:18):
people.
Like, and then more videos ofhim service, and you see him
just doing some really coolstuff, saying some great stuff.
You go, this guy's awesome.
So my short summary is I'mreally excited about Pope Leo,
and I'm really grateful to Godfor the way the Holy Spirit has
guided the Cardinals and theChurch.
Sheila Nonato (23:32):
And just to go back to your pilgrimage, I'm
sure there are many highlightsfor you.
If you could pick one or two,where I guess you perhaps
learned something, and giventhat this is the Jubilee year,
maybe we could also be inspiredto do our own pilgrimage.
Perhaps uh if we can't affordRome, maybe a nearby parish.
(23:53):
What were the two highlightsthat we can learn from from your
own pilgrimage, your Jubileepilgrimage?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (24:00):
Sure.
I okay, so aside from thebiggest highlights, we're seeing
the Pope, I'm gonna be honestwith you.
Uh, I had never been to Europebefore, uh, let alone Italy or
Rome.
So this was excitingly new.
I had say my biggest highlightaside from that was just being
in the Vatican and seeing St.
Peter's.
Uh if you've never been to St.
(24:21):
Peter's Basilica, it's just sobeautiful.
It's so stunning.
There they have the tomb ofPope St.
John Paul II, so he's able topray there.
They also have the Pietà .
They have so much pricelessart.
It's it's really stunning.
There's, of course, there thebody of Saint Peter.
And so for me, a big part ofthe power of this pilgrimage was
(24:44):
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 tombsof so many saints, and I felt
the power.
And so one lesson would be justthe power of the saints and
praying with them and askingthem, but also another thing
(25:05):
would be like the beauty, thegrandeur, the majesty of some of
these churches in Rome is soworth seeing in person.
No picture or video does itjustice.
Once you're there, it hits youand 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 CarloAcutis.
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 tombsof St.
Francis, St.
Clair.
Uh it was really powerful too.
But I didn't even know until wegot there that the tomb of
Blessed Carlo Acutis was there.
So it was like, whoa, we got tosee some incredible big names
(25:49):
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 stillvery young.
You're 37 years old.
Can it inspire the youth tofollow their vocation just like
Carlo Cudis did?
And just like priests likeyourself did.
Fr. Gregory Merkley (26:08):
Yeah, Blessed Carlo Acutis, soon to be
um Saint Carlo Acutis, as youknow.
I think he was only 14 when hedied.
But he had some really profoundlessons that he encouraged
everyone to really take, uh,note of.
He said everyone should go.
He said, first off, you gottago to mass.
He even said if you can't godaily mass.
So he encouraged like monthlyspiritual direction.
(26:30):
So going to some priest orsomeone who could be a spiritual
mentor to you and walk withyou.
He encouraged daily rosary,weekly confession, he went to
confession weekly, and, uh,spiritual reading.
And, uh, so many of the thingshe did were normal things, like
he was using the internet andused the internet to create
beautiful websites, informationabout the Eucharist and
(26:50):
Eucharistic miracles and thesaints.
And so he even played videogames, he wore jeans.
Um really, we can see in him amanifestation of the call to be
holy in the ordinary, but usingthe gifts that God has given us
to be generous and to proclaimthe good news.
And each one of us in ourunique circumstances is called
(27:13):
to that holiness which doesn'trequire big, flashy
achievements.
It just requires us to try tolove God in the littlest of
things, even our emails, ourphone calls, the things on our
to-do list, keeping faithful toour prayer, uh, trying to do
what we do well for love of Godand neighbor, and uh going to
the sacraments regularly.
God can make us a saint, andyou don't have to be some fancy
(27:36):
person.
God wants you to be a saint.
And blessed Carla Cutis is agreat witness to that, and he
gives a great example with greatteachings of how to make it
happen.
Sheila Nonato (27:44):
And finally, as we are doing this interview, we
are wrapping up the month ofMay.
Um, how has Our Lady, didMother Mary play a role in your
vocation?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (27:53):
Mary has played a big role in my
vocation, and probably more thanI even know.
When I came back to the church,I eventually got involved in
something called the Legion ofMary, which is one of many
beautiful movements of theCatholic Church.
It's one of the largest layorganizations around the world.
And in the Legion of Mary, uh,although I had already heard
about it, I became even morefamiliar with the idea of
(28:13):
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 talkabout.
And of course, Father MichaelGately has a great book about
that, 33 Days to Morning Glory.
Anyways, I got closer to Marythrough Legion of Mary.
Obviously, I was bringing therosary every day.
I was entrusting every day toOur Lady, my vocation to Our
(28:35):
Lady, uh, consecrating myself toher regularly, and really
asking her to lead me to her sonand help me to do whenever God
was calling me to, because therewere a few years where I was
like, God, I don't know what youwant.
And I would say, Mary, you'vegot 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
(28:57):
course, because she actuallywants 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 MotherMary?
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 gotme.
And I'm a little bit scared.
I hope that something that Idrop sounds good.
If not, you might not believethat I'm from the Holy Hood.
But I hope that these rhymesstill give you good times.
And even if they're not reallytotally prime, I just want to
say it's been really, reallygood to be here with all of you.
If I could back, I would.
(29:30):
Okay, there we go.
Sheila Nonato (29:32):
Wow, awesome.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate you being aguest today.
Co-Host (29:52):
Thank you for listening to the Veil + Armour Podcast.
I invite you to share this withanother Catholic mom today.
Please subscribe.
to our podcast and YouTubechannel.
And please spread the word.
Let'sBe Brave, Let's Be Bold and Be Blessed
together.
How did God call me to the priesthood?
Well, growing up, my familyalmost never went to church,
although we did occasionally forChristmas and Easter.
As it turns out, my Grandma onmy Dad's side was very very
strong in her Catholic faith.
She prayed the Rosary everyday.
She still does, I imagine, forthe family.
And uh and so I think she isreally a key part, uh, of my
(00:23):
vocation by her prayers.
My family, we only wentoccasionally, but not really
seriously.
So as I got older, I didn'treally go to church much.
In fact, I strayed away fromchurch and religion for many
years, thinking that it didn'treally make sense.
It seemed to me like there wasa lot of rules.
I didn't understand why I wouldfollow those rules, and uh I
(00:43):
just wanted to have fun and be agood person, but I didn't
really understand how religionand God and Jesus had to do with
that.
But then when uh I was in mythird year of university
studying psychology at WilfordLaurier, it was close by, so I
went there because I'm inKitchener, and uh I started
dating a young lady who wasgoing to church every Sunday,
(01:05):
and even she went to somethingcalled Eucharistic Adoration,
where we would spend time infront of the Eucharist, and I
never even knew such a thingexisted.
And although I wasn't uh strongin the faith, in fact, I'd even
written a paper in philosophyabout why I thought there was no
good evidence for God'sexistence.
I started going because she wasgoing and I was genuinely open
and curious.
Sheila Nonato (01:25):
"The Eucharist is my highway to heaven," newly
canonized saint Carlo Acutis hadproclaimed.
He said, "People who placethemselves before the sun get a
tan, while people who placethemselves before the Eucharist
become saints." This year, thepath to holiness can be joined
together with a Jubilee year ofhope, proclaimed by the late
(01:47):
Pope Francis.
And now, the Catholic Church'snewest Pope, Leo XIV, is
welcoming pilgrims from aroundthe world to the eternal city.
The invitation to go onpilgrimage during the Jubilee
Year of Hope is not only aninvitation to a physical
journey, it is also a call togrow deeper in one's faith and
(02:10):
to grow closer to Jesus Christ.
Let's hear the story of amillennial Canadian priest,
Father Gregory Merkley of StoneyCreek, Ontario, and his
inspirational Jubilee pilgrimageto Italy a few days after the
papal election of Pope Leo XIV,and his remarkable journey to
the priesthood.
Thank you and God bless.
(02:32):
Hello and welcome to the Veilin Armour Podcast.
This is your host, SheilaNonato.
I'm a stay-at-home Mom and afreelance Catholic journalist.
Seeking the guidance of theHoly Spirit and the inspiration
of Our Lady, I strive to tellstories that inspire,
illuminate, and enrich the livesof Catholic women to help them
(02:54):
in living out our vocation ofraising the next generation of
leaders and saints.
Co-Host (02:59):
Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour
Podcast, where stories comealive through a journalist's
land in Mother's Heart.
Sheila Nonato (03:08):
Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast.
We have Father Gregory Merkleyfrom Immaculate Heart of Mary
Parish in Stoney Creek, Ontario.
And Father, would you please beable to start us off with a
prayer?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (03:20):
Sure.
In the name of The Father andof the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
Lord, we has come to you thisday, knowing of your love for
us, asking your Holy Spirit toguide everything we do.
We also entrust this time andwhatever we might be going
through personally, back to theImmaculate Heart of Mary, to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, theprotection of Saint Joseph, as
well as Saint Michael and allthe Holy Angels and saints.
(03:40):
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 andof the Son and of the Holy
Spirit.
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (03:50):
Thank you very much for that, Father Merkley.
And I was wondering if you canplease introduce yourself to our
listeners.
Fr. Gregory Merkley (03:56):
Sure.
My name is Father Greg Merkley.
I'm blessed to be pastor hereon Immaculate Heart of Mary.
And I have been a priest forjust over six years.
Been here for almost two years.
Uh and I am 36 years old andloving life, living the dream,
striving to be a saint, and I'mfrom Kitchener.
Study at St.
Augustine Seminary, Toronto.
(04:17):
This is my fifth priestlyassignment.
Anything else you want to know?
Sheila Nonato (04:22):
So I'm very curious, Father.
You are 36 right now.
How did God call you to thepriesthood?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (04:29):
How didn't God call me to the priesthood?
Well, growing up, my familyalmost never went to church,
although we did occasionally forChristmas and Easter.
As it turns out, my grandma onmy dad's side was very very
strong in her Catholic faith.
She prayed the Rosary everyday.
She still does, I imagine, forthe family.
And uh and so I think she isreally a key part uh of my
(04:52):
vocation by her prayers.
My family, we only wentoccasionally, but not really
seriously.
So as I got older, I didn'treally go to church much.
In fact, I strayed away fromchurch and religion for many
years, thinking that it didn'treally make sense.
It seemed to me like there wasa lot of rules.
I didn't understand why I wouldfollow those rules.
And uh I just wanted to havefun and be a good person, but I
(05:15):
didn't really understand howreligion and God and Jesus had
to do with that.
But then when uh I was in mythird year of university
studying psychology at WilfordLaurier, it was close by, so I
went there because I'm inKitchener.
And, uh, I started dating ayoung lady who was going to
church every Sunday, and evenshe went to something called
(05:36):
Eucharistic Adoration, where wewould spend time in front of the
Eucharist, and I never evenknew such a thing existed.
And although, uh, strong in thefaith, in fact, I'd even
written a paper in philosophyabout why I thought there was no
good evidence for God'sexistence.
I started going because she wasgoing and I was genuinely open
and curious.
And as I went, I started to askthe priest questions, I started
(05:58):
to get even more involved.
I went back to confession, Iwent on some retreats, my life
was transformed.
Eventually, I just had deepexperiences of God, his love,
his healing, his mercy, and thejoy of belonging to the church.
And uh it was in that contextthat I started healing, uh,
sorry, feeling and hearing acall to the priesthood that at
first I kind of fought because Iwas like, oh man, I couldn't be
(06:21):
a good priest, and I'm alreadyplanning to be with this lady.
But then Jesus gradually guidedme and strengthened me.
And eventually I uh I said,okay, I better look into this.
So I spent a few yearsdiscerning my vocation.
I even thought about religiouslife for a little bit, but
eventually God drew me to applyfor the Dawson priesthood in the
(06:41):
Hamilton Diocese, which is myhome diocese.
And lo and behold, after sixyears of formation, I was
blessed to be ordained a priest.
Sheila Nonato (06:50):
So you were a baptized Catholic?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (06:53):
I was baptized.
In fact, I had an emergencybaptism at Sick Kids Hospital in
Toronto, and, uh, my parentswere told I wouldn't live.
And so my grandma was verypassionate that I would be
baptized.
And so uh then I was baptized,I went to Catholic public
school, so I had first holycommunion, confession, and I had
(07:14):
confirmation.
But because our family didn'treally go to church much, there
was a time when even when I wasin grade two, actually, I was
really interested in the Bible.
I asked my parents to get me aBible.
I even had a cassette tape ofthe Bible that I would listen to
as I go to bed.
I thought it was so neat.
But then as I get older, as Isaid, just the things of the
world took me away.
So I was sacramentalized, but Iwasn't evangelized.
Sheila Nonato (07:35):
Wow, that's quite the Baptism story.
So since that time over theyears, how did you fall away
from your faith?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (07:43):
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, andhis long-term, beautiful
providence, both our parentswould become very strong in the
Catholic faith and be remarriedin the church.
So we thank God for the wayhe's worked.
Yeah, he's really, uh, madesomething beautiful out of great
(08:07):
brokenness.
And so just again, even just aswe know in our world today, as
people get to teenage years, westart getting interested in a
lot of things, but it's notusually, unless our family or
friends are really playing a bigrole in our lives, it's not
usually likely that it's Godthat we're most excited about.
So things drifted, and I justkind of continue to get more
interested in other things ofthe world.
(08:27):
And it was only later again thatI started really reflecting and
uh thinking more about what istrue, what is the purpose of
life, what what is the meaningand the way that I'm called to
live.
And uh, and so it was a reallypowerful conversion.
When I came back, it was areally powerful conversion.
Like once I realized God wasreal, that Jesus Christ is God,
(08:49):
that the Catholic Church is thetrue church, that has the
fullness of truth, I was like,well, that the what the heck is
the point of not going all inwith God?
Once I knew the truth, had Ifound the joy of walking with
Jesus that I'd always beenlooking for.
It was really fast, but it wasthings of the world that had
kind of made it harder for me atfirst to probably hear that
(09:09):
call.
Sheila Nonato (09:10):
So did you read something?
Did somebody say something toyou that made you come back to
the church?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (09:16):
You know, when I started coming back to
church because of this younglady, she was really the
catalyst.
God, God uses whatever he hasto bring us back to himself.
And so we were going to anadoration chapel every week for
an adoration hour, and I sawthere was a little book, and it
had a little picture of Jesus onit, and it was a picture about
divine mercy, and it had apicture of Jesus, and it said,
(09:39):
"Will you help me?" And it wasthis idea that Jesus was
reaching out for help.
And for some reason, the HolySpirit drew me to that little
book, not very large, and uh andI would take it and I was
reading through it kind ofchronologically, and it actually
talked about St.
Faustina and Divine Bercy,which many of us are familiar
with.
Uh, it also talked about likethe Ten Commandments, the
precepts of the church, and ittalked a lot about some really
(10:03):
profound things that really gotme thinking.
And I'll be honest, just bygoing to church, I did have more
peace, but I had a lot ofquestions.
And so it was kind of a processof encountering the Lord,
having questions, seekinganswers, finding answers,
encountering the Lord, justrepeating that.
(10:23):
And enough of that eventuallyyou 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 totalk 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 bebecause I mean, everyone's
different, so um that's that'sone thing, but really I think
that my faith became soimportant to me, uh, so so
profoundly essential that itstarted to create even some
(11:02):
tension in the relationship.
That I was really like, well,you know what, I don't even want
to go to this place anymore, Idon't want to go do this
anymore.
This I don't think this is theway that God is calling me to
live.
And I also had those thoughtsof the priesthood, and at first
I kind of was like, nah, butthen they kind of started to
grow on me.
And eventually I prayed aboutit, and I really felt the Lord
saying, like, yeah, you need toto end this relationship.
(11:24):
So as kindly as I could, eventhough I'd already asked her to
marry me and her parents hadalready 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 andso we ended that relationship.
Which I had peace with, but Ishould just say this.
(11:45):
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 thiswas uh the the task the Lord
had for me in that moment, anduh and God, if he ever, you
know, asks us something, it's sohe 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 runshe was able to get over that,
and uh and I know that we wisheach 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 likeactively avoiding her.
Um she's got her life, uh she'sdoing her thing, and uh and so
I'm doing my thing, she's doingher thing.
But if she reaches out, I'llhappily say hi for sure.
Absolutely.
There's there's not like anyavoidance or anything.
Sheila Nonato (12:36):
I think I saw a video of a priest who was the
officiant at his ex-girlfriend'swedding, 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 dohave 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 bitabout that?
How did it get started?
What do you do, and what do yourap about?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (13:01):
Sure.
I have this fascinating hobbyof rapping.
Uh R-A-P-P-I-N-G, not likeW-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 writingpoetry.
I always was really fascinatedby poetry and rhyming and beauty
and the written word, but alsothe spoken word.
(13:24):
It has great power.
And uh I I really kind of saw abeauty in that, but I saw how
most people who rap, it's it'snot for there are some really
amazing Christian rappers, waybetter than I'll ever be.
But unfortunately, what we seein the mainstream media is
really not from God.
It's really opposing Jesus'kingdom a lot of the time and
and really hurting our youngpeople.
(13:45):
And so just as fun, just for funin in seminary, I started
little rhymes, little songs, andI organized a talent show one
year, and uh me and anotherseminarian did a collaboration
where we rapped.
He mixed some beats, and uh, wewrote a song, and I had like a
verse or two.
(14:05):
And so it was a lot of fun, andpeople people enjoyed it.
And yeah, it was kind of funny,kind of silly, but but also
like very sincere from the heartand about Jesus.
And uh it's kind of got its ownbrand.
So when I uh started uh mypriestly ministry, my first
assignment was at St.
Ann's in Ancaster, and, um,this was uh around the time that
(14:27):
Kanye West he had a newChristian album, not promoting
Kanye West here, but I'm justtelling you the context.
And uh and it was kind of inthat light, people were talking
about Christian rap again in avery prominent mainstream way.
And I was like, I'm gonna tryit, I'm gonna do it.
And uh, and so I started rappingfor the students at the school,
and they loved it.
They thought it was so muchfun.
I also thought it was a lot offun, and uh, so it was kind of
(14:50):
one of those things where onceyou did it and people liked it,
I said, Well, I'm gonna keepdoing this.
And so now at Immaculate Heartand Mary Parish here, um, people
enjoy.
Um, sure some do, some probablydon't, and that's okay too.
Uh, not everyone has to likeit, but um, I put out a weekly,
usually, like I was in Rome andI was away for a bit, so I had a
little pause there.
But uh usually we put out awrap of the week on our social
(15:12):
media, and it's about ourSunday, last Sunday's reading,
something that connects with howthe Word of God is speaking to
us now.
And it's meant to be somethingthat gets you thinking, uh,
especially appeals to our youngpeople who can say, like, oh
wow, those that was reallydifferent.
I haven't seen a priest rapbefore, and it made me think
about the word of God.
So it's to be fun, evangelical,playful, and to reach out to
(15:35):
those who would find thathelpful.
Sheila Nonato (15:38):
Okay.
And speaking of, you said idolsand, uh ,just rappers in the
mainstream or more Christian.
Do you have one that you kindof 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 aresome really good Christian
rappers, but I would just say,like, uh, my personality and my
rapping is a bit unique becauseI'm as you get to know me,
you'll find that obviouslydepending on the circumstances,
I can be either a little bitmore like focused.
If it's a Sacred Liturgy, Itend to be very like trying
really hard to do exactly whatthe church has asked and not
(16:13):
draw too much attention tomyself.
But outside of the liturgy, I'ma little more playful.
I like to joke around.
I really believe St.
Philip Mary's quote when hesays, a joyful soul is more
easily made perfect or broughtcloser to Christ.
So I think cheerfulness isreally important, especially in
our world today, maybe even veryfitting for a Jubilee or of
Hope recorded podcast.
People need cheerfulness, theyneed to be lifted up.
(16:34):
And it's in that way that Ifind this kind of playful
rapping that is also reallysincere and connected to God.
For some reason, um, for manypeople, they find it fun,
humorous, makes them smile, getsome thinking about Jesus, can
also be a bit of an icebreakerfor our young people who say,
like, oh, father is he doesstuff other than just say mass.
(16:54):
He actually does something kindof funny or cool or quirky that
makes me feel more comfortableto talk to him about maybe my
questions about God.
And so that's a bit of thebackstory.
Sheila Nonato (17:05):
And I guess as he was saying, rap is a sort of
way to break the ice and also toreach young people.
And speaking of young people,and some of the best videos that
I particularly enjoyed seeingwas the response of the
children, the students.
With the recent Papal Election,when they were waiting for the
white smoke and when the Popewas announced, they were
(17:28):
screaming and jumping.
And particularly in the UnitedStates, when they heard it was
an American Pope.
And then just eruption ofjubilation 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 wasactually here at my home, had a
macular heart of marriage withtwo Protestant ministers and
three Catholic seminarians whenthe white smoke came out.
And we already had pizzabecause it was a bit of an
ecumenical kind of uh fruitfultime that became a conclave
party or an election, a papalelection party.
(18:06):
Yeah, it was fun, it was reallyexciting, and then I got to go
to Rome not long ago, um, fromMay 11th to May 23rd.
So I was there at an audiencejust a few days after Pope Leo
was elected.
And then I got to celebrate,concelate the installation mass
with the Pope, and uh it waslike 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 afterhe was elected, correct?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (18:34):
That's right.
So the election was onThursday, it was on Sunday that
we flew, and this had beenbooked many, many months in
advance, and so obviously wedidn't plan, but thankfully, you
know, by divine providence, Iwas already there, which meant
for both that Wednesday audiencethat was right after.
It was kind of a different thanusual Wednesday audience, it
(18:56):
was about the Eastern churches,and a friend of mine who works
in the dicastery for Easternchurches 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 downto greet some cardinals and
bishops.
Uh that was really cool.
Um, so for that time I justkind 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'regonna be away from us for some
(19:18):
hours.
And then similarly for theinstallation mass, I said, go
enjoy it.
So I took the train uh becausewe also went to Florence,
Venice, Padua, Assisi.
Um, so I got to take the trainaround to catch up with them.
It was a really quite uhexciting adventure.
Sheila Nonato (19:35):
And at the installation mass, can you tell
us what were you what was thescene?
Fr. Gregory Merkle (19:41):
Installation Mass is in St.
Peter's Square.
And uh and if you're a priestand you got the proper
identification and the tickets,which you have to kind of do an
online login through the Vaticanwebsite with, then you get
through various layers ofsecurity uh as you repeatedly
show what they need to see, theycheck your bag, etc.
And so I was sitting um prettyclose to the front.
(20:03):
Um, you know, I would have beento Pope Leo's um about his uh
one o'clock or two o'clock fromwhen he was saying Mass at the
altar there in St.
Peter's Square.
Um, so I was pretty I wasn't inthe front row amongst all the
priests, but I was pretty closethere.
(20:23):
And so definitely compared tolots of other people, very, very
close.
And uh the music wasspectacular.
If you haven't watched theinstallation mass with Pope Leo,
I definitely encourage you.
Very powerful, very moving.
A lot of world leaders werethere, which was also a
beautiful opportunity for PopeLeo to speak about world peace
and the peace that Christ offersand to evangelize.
(20:45):
And I think we evangelize tothem through beauty, through the
unity of the church and throughthe 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 signof peace?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (21:00):
Um, my closest interaction with the
Pope would be that audienceafter we got there.
He was like 15 feet away.
I was like waving and lookingat him, but like I'm not gonna
be unrealistic.
He's looking at a sea ofpeople.
So let's just say that from apure anatomical sense, his eyes
saw me, like his brain activitywas maybe slightly different
(21:21):
because I was there.
But uh, we didn't like talk, wedidn't shake hands because this
audience was a pretty bigaudience, and the insulation
mass was massive.
Like the St.
Peter's Square was just sopacked.
Um, and there's like cardinalsand bishops there, there's all
these world leaders there.
Like, I don't expect him tostep aside and say, "Oh, hey,
it's Father Greg.
(21:42):
Yeah, let me just wander ondown there and have a little
chat." Like, I don't blame him.
He's got a lot of importantpeople to deal with.
And um, obviously each priestis important, each person is
important, but there's a sort ofpriority, 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 onthat pilgrimage when you did,
even though it was planned um ayear ago, and the Pope, the
Papal Election just happened umwhen 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 oncehe finally came out, because
there's that little time whereyou get the white smoke and
you're still waiting like who'scoming and what's happening.
Once he came out and he spoke,uh, I was just filled with peace
(22:31):
and joy.
And you know, of course he hesaid those words, peace be with
you.
Uh, I was really impressed bythe content of his first words.
I was impressed by his piety inthe early days, like when he
sang the Regina Chaley, and justa lot of uh really thoughtful,
heartfelt, um deep sinceritythat you could see uh was
(22:57):
present.
And then as people learned moreabout him, you know, it was
exciting to be like, man, thisguy, he's got a degree in math,
he is a canon lawyer, he was theprefect for the dicastery of
bishops, which means like he washe was in a lot of things.
He's a very bright guy, but ofcourse, as you know, he was a
missionary in Peru, bishopthere, he was serving such poor
(23:18):
people.
Like, and then more videos ofhim service, and you see him
just doing some really coolstuff, saying some great stuff.
You go, this guy's awesome.
So my short summary is I'mreally excited about Pope Leo,
and I'm really grateful to Godfor the way the Holy Spirit has
guided the Cardinals and theChurch.
Sheila Nonato (23:32):
And just to go back to your pilgrimage, I'm
sure there are many highlightsfor you.
If you could pick one or two,where I guess you perhaps
learned something, and giventhat this is the Jubilee year,
maybe we could also be inspiredto do our own pilgrimage.
Perhaps uh if we can't affordRome, maybe a nearby parish.
(23:53):
What were the two highlightsthat we can learn from from your
own pilgrimage, your Jubileepilgrimage?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (24:00):
Sure.
I okay, so aside from thebiggest highlights, we're seeing
the Pope, I'm gonna be honestwith you.
Uh, I had never been to Europebefore, uh, let alone Italy or
Rome.
So this was excitingly new.
I had say my biggest highlightaside from that was just being
in the Vatican and seeing St.
Peter's.
Uh if you've never been to St.
(24:21):
Peter's Basilica, it's just sobeautiful.
It's so stunning.
There they have the tomb ofPope St.
John Paul II, so he's able topray there.
They also have the Pietà .
They have so much pricelessart.
It's it's really stunning.
There's, of course, there thebody of Saint Peter.
And so for me, a big part ofthe power of this pilgrimage was
(24:44):
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 tombsof so many saints, and I felt
the power.
And so one lesson would be justthe power of the saints and
praying with them and askingthem, but also another thing
(25:05):
would be like the beauty, thegrandeur, the majesty of some of
these churches in Rome is soworth seeing in person.
No picture or video does itjustice.
Once you're there, it hits youand 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 CarloAcutis.
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 tombsof St.
Francis, St.
Clair.
Uh it was really powerful too.
But I didn't even know until wegot there that the tomb of
Blessed Carlo Acutis was there.
So it was like, whoa, we got tosee some incredible big names
(25:49):
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 stillvery young.
You're 37 years old.
Can it inspire the youth tofollow their vocation just like
Carlo Cudis did?
And just like priests likeyourself did.
Fr. Gregory Merkley (26:08):
Yeah, Blessed Carlo Acutis, soon to be
um Saint Carlo Acutis, as youknow.
I think he was only 14 when hedied.
But he had some really profoundlessons that he encouraged
everyone to really take, uh,note of.
He said everyone should go.
He said, first off, you gottago to mass.
He even said if you can't godaily mass.
So he encouraged like monthlyspiritual direction.
(26:30):
So going to some priest orsomeone who could be a spiritual
mentor to you and walk withyou.
He encouraged daily rosary,weekly confession, he went to
confession weekly, and, uh,spiritual reading.
And, uh, so many of the thingshe did were normal things, like
he was using the internet andused the internet to create
beautiful websites, informationabout the Eucharist and
(26:50):
Eucharistic miracles and thesaints.
And so he even played videogames, he wore jeans.
Um really, we can see in him amanifestation of the call to be
holy in the ordinary, but usingthe gifts that God has given us
to be generous and to proclaimthe good news.
And each one of us in ourunique circumstances is called
(27:13):
to that holiness which doesn'trequire big, flashy
achievements.
It just requires us to try tolove God in the littlest of
things, even our emails, ourphone calls, the things on our
to-do list, keeping faithful toour prayer, uh, trying to do
what we do well for love of Godand neighbor, and uh going to
the sacraments regularly.
God can make us a saint, andyou don't have to be some fancy
(27:36):
person.
God wants you to be a saint.
And blessed Carla Cutis is agreat witness to that, and he
gives a great example with greatteachings of how to make it
happen.
Sheila Nonato (27:44):
And finally, as we are doing this interview, we
are wrapping up the month ofMay.
Um, how has Our Lady, didMother Mary play a role in your
vocation?
Fr. Gregory Merkley (27:53):
Mary has played a big role in my
vocation, and probably more thanI even know.
When I came back to the church,I eventually got involved in
something called the Legion ofMary, which is one of many
beautiful movements of theCatholic Church.
It's one of the largest layorganizations around the world.
And in the Legion of Mary, uh,although I had already heard
about it, I became even morefamiliar with the idea of
(28:13):
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 talkabout.
And of course, Father MichaelGately has a great book about
that, 33 Days to Morning Glory.
Anyways, I got closer to Marythrough Legion of Mary.
Obviously, I was bringing therosary every day.
I was entrusting every day toOur Lady, my vocation to Our
(28:35):
Lady, uh, consecrating myself toher regularly, and really
asking her to lead me to her sonand help me to do whenever God
was calling me to, because therewere a few years where I was
like, God, I don't know what youwant.
And I would say, Mary, you'vegot 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
(28:57):
course, because she actuallywants 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 MotherMary?
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 gotme.
And I'm a little bit scared.
I hope that something that Idrop sounds good.
If not, you might not believethat I'm from the Holy Hood.
But I hope that these rhymesstill give you good times.
And even if they're not reallytotally prime, I just want to
say it's been really, reallygood to be here with all of you.
If I could back, I would.
(29:30):
Okay, there we go.
Sheila Nonato (29:32):
Wow, awesome.
Thank you so much.
I really appreciate you being aguest today.
Co-Host (29:52):
Thank you for listening to the Veil + Armour Podcast.
I invite you to share this withanother Catholic mom today.
Please subscribe.
to our podcast and YouTubechannel.
And please spread the word.
Let'sBe Brave, Let's Be Bold and Be Blessed
together.
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