Jun
16
Vocation Story of the Week
Fr. John Corapi, SOLT
Father John was born on May 20, 1947 in Hudson, New York and early in life exhibited a prowess for the good life, excelling as a gridiron star in high school, attaining a blackbelt in Karate and getting his degree in Business Administration from Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. He had it all. The Vietnam conflict was looming and so he joined the military becoming a member of the prestigious Green Berets. After discharge from the service he went to work as a CPA which eventually took him to “Sin City” – Las Vegas where he became a casino auditor and fell in with the jet set. This translated into an opportunity to plunge into real estate which made him a millionaire with all the wealth of the rich and famous as he accrued it all – from a yacht to a Ferrari to a scenic home overlooking the Pacific. As so often happens to those who seek the world, the flesh and the devil – they find it and Father John found his hellhole in Los Angeles where he became addicted to cocaine, losing everything and wandering aimlessly as a homeless person in downtown LA.
Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grace of God, he was miraculously saved, largely in part to the prayers of his own mother who, like Saint Monica prayed night and day for her son Saint Augustine. Like that noble Doctor of the Church, Father Corapi followed the same path and has, in a sense, become a modern day St. Augustine. He answered God’s call to the priesthood and threw himself 100% into doing his part, immersing himself in studies at the Ecclesiastical Faculty of Theology at the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain where he obtained his Bachelor of Sacred Theology summa cum laude and later a Licentiate in Sacred Theology, also summa cum laude. It was a far cry from the old days when he would have concentrated on drinking, carousing and running with the bulls for which Pamplona is famous for. Not finished, he achieved the highest degree available from that University, obtaining a Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) and awarded a Magna cum Laude for his thesis: “The Cross of Christ in the Magisterium of John Paul II.” Prior to receiving the latter degree, he also obtained a Masters in Sacred Scripture from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut, graduating with the highest honors.
He was drawn by the sincerity, dedication and holiness of Father James Flanigan, S.O.L.T., founder of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity near Corpus Christi, in Robstown, Texas and thus mosied down to south Texas to join the community of S.O.L.T. where he was ordained a transitional deacon on May 26, 1990 by Corpus Christi’s Bishop Rene Gracida after a decade of religious studies. Exactly one year from that day he was ordained a priest. But his ordination was special for he had the immense privilege of being ordained by Pope John Paul II himself at St. Peter’s Basilica on May 26, 1991.
He returned to the states largely because the Holy Father asked him to “Go back to America where I need you.” His first assignment was in his own Diocese beginning as a pastoral assistant at St. Mary’s Parish in Hudson, New York which had to thrill his mother, rewarding her for her faith and perseverance. He then transferred to St. Anthony’s Parish near S.O.L.T. headquarters in Robstown, Texas where he became extremely interested in the plight of the Mexican migrant farm workers and ministered to them. But his real talents lay in his “Apostolic Preaching” which is to ‘teach the truths of the Fatith with such authority and clarity that even the hardest hearts might be brought closer to God’ and so his superiors discerned that, with this gift and his expertise on the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Church would be better served by his active preaching ministry. Thus he transferred to the Diocese of Sacramento where he was welcomed by Bishop William K. Weigand and appointed Director of Catholic Faith Formation for the Diocese followed by his assignment as Director of the Diocesan Project for the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Though he prefers the contemplative life in his hermitage, most of the time he is on the go, preaching parish missions, retreats and conferences throughout the Western Hemisphere and touching souls as God intended. His preaching is so treasured that Mother Angelica has invited him to preach the annual retreat next month on the Solemnity of the Assumption weekend in Irondale, Alabama for her Sisters of the Eternal Word. You can learn more about Father Corapi and his ministry by going to his website at SOLT Media Ministry where you can also order his tapes and writings as well as going to the S.O.L.T. official web site maintained by Father Richard Gant, S.O.L.T. to learn more about the Order, their ministry and charisms. Father John is living proof that the spirit of St. Augustine lives today, embodied in this dynamic priest who, at only 52, has reached the heights of spirituality and an immeasurable satisfaction that had always eluded him when he lived his life without God. He wants to share his life experiences and lessons learned, as well as his learning, with others as a sign that Jesus Christ will never abandon us for “His Mercy endures forever.”