Sundays with Fr. Rick
You may see him preaching on Sundays or wandering around campus strumming his guitar. Rev. Richard Malloy, S.J., is not only known on campus as “Father Rick,” the University chaplain, but also as an enthusiastic, energetic member of the Scranton family with a great sense of humor. Just as he feels lucky to be a priest, we are lucky to have a man with such a big heart. Read on to find out what a typical Sunday is like for Fr. Rick!
Sunday Doesn’t Start on Sunday
The interesting thing is that Sunday doesn’t start on Sunday; Sunday starts on Monday. One of the things that people don’t know is that the primary duty of the Catholic priest is to preach the gospel so you prepare the homily all week. You’ve got to get a good joke, and you’ve got to boil it down. I always have like 80 things to say and I have to boil it down to two.
Morning Routine
My morning pick-me-up is Folger’s French vanilla coffee made in the Mr. Coffee maker. Nothing is better than the Mr. Coffee maker. When I stay away from the donuts, that’s a really good thing. Sometimes there’s a Mass out at the lake on a Sunday morning, but when there isn’t, I’ll get up, make coffee and I’ll pray. That’s the main deal. I’ll have my coffee, I’ll pray, and I’ll ask God to make me a good priest and a good Jesuit. If I’m good, I’ll go to the gym; if I have an hour, I’ll go fishing.
Weekend Preaching, Weekday Teaching
My idea of Sunday is that I have to take everything that I’ve been given in the last 40 years and give it to you on Sunday. On a Sunday when you get up there at that pulpit, you’ve got seven to 12 minutes to preach the gospel, to let people know that God loves us and that we’ve got to make the world a good place. We have some great people here. The priest doesn’t do the Mass by himself. It’s kind of a mad privilege to stand up there and realize “What am I doing up here?”
From Gouldsboro to Yellowstone
Most Sundays I have the mornings pretty free, which is uncharacteristic for a Catholic. A few Sundays this year I’ve gone down to Gouldsboro for the 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Mass to help out at the parish. It’s really a nice change of venue from the University. Five Sundays a year I get to go out and be the chaplain out at Yellowstone National Park.
A Nice Night for the Jesuit Dinner
Sunday evenings are interesting. Sunday’s a nice night for the Jesuit dinner. If I don’t have the 7:00 p.m. Mass, I’ll eat dinner over at the Jesuit house. Sunday is a nice time to end one week and get ready for the next.
Feeling Lucky
I feel very lucky to be a priest. It was something that was kind of surprising when I was a young man, and the more you get into it, the more you realize how lucky you are to get to do this. It’s areal fun thing.
Sunday Doesn’t Start on Sunday
The interesting thing is that Sunday doesn’t start on Sunday; Sunday starts on Monday. One of the things that people don’t know is that the primary duty of the Catholic priest is to preach the gospel so you prepare the homily all week. You’ve got to get a good joke, and you’ve got to boil it down. I always have like 80 things to say and I have to boil it down to two.
Morning Routine
My morning pick-me-up is Folger’s French vanilla coffee made in the Mr. Coffee maker. Nothing is better than the Mr. Coffee maker. When I stay away from the donuts, that’s a really good thing. Sometimes there’s a Mass out at the lake on a Sunday morning, but when there isn’t, I’ll get up, make coffee and I’ll pray. That’s the main deal. I’ll have my coffee, I’ll pray, and I’ll ask God to make me a good priest and a good Jesuit. If I’m good, I’ll go to the gym; if I have an hour, I’ll go fishing.
Weekend Preaching, Weekday Teaching
My idea of Sunday is that I have to take everything that I’ve been given in the last 40 years and give it to you on Sunday. On a Sunday when you get up there at that pulpit, you’ve got seven to 12 minutes to preach the gospel, to let people know that God loves us and that we’ve got to make the world a good place. We have some great people here. The priest doesn’t do the Mass by himself. It’s kind of a mad privilege to stand up there and realize “What am I doing up here?”
From Gouldsboro to Yellowstone
Most Sundays I have the mornings pretty free, which is uncharacteristic for a Catholic. A few Sundays this year I’ve gone down to Gouldsboro for the 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Mass to help out at the parish. It’s really a nice change of venue from the University. Five Sundays a year I get to go out and be the chaplain out at Yellowstone National Park.
A Nice Night for the Jesuit Dinner
Sunday evenings are interesting. Sunday’s a nice night for the Jesuit dinner. If I don’t have the 7:00 p.m. Mass, I’ll eat dinner over at the Jesuit house. Sunday is a nice time to end one week and get ready for the next.
Feeling Lucky
I feel very lucky to be a priest. It was something that was kind of surprising when I was a young man, and the more you get into it, the more you realize how lucky you are to get to do this. It’s a
