The chaplain called it “humbling” to serve as a soldier alongside military personnel | Tech Reddy

By Rick Sneck

PROVIDENCE, RI (CNS) – Father Lukasz J. Willenberg misses being part of a regular church family at home in the Diocese of Providence, which has led him to serve members of the U.S. military for the past eight years. an unparalleled level of joy.

Father Luke, former associate pastor of St. Luke’s Parish in Barrington, Rhode Island, was ordained in 2013 by Providence Bishop Thomas J. He had been a priest for about five years when Tobin allowed him to become a priest. With the Archdiocese of the US Military Service.

The priest wanted to serve his newly adopted country while continuing to serve as an incardinated priest of the Diocese of Providenia.

Born in Dzialdowo, Poland, the triathlete was physically fit to enter the military world, where he quickly discovered that he had the opportunity to speak a language full of acronyms, wear the same uniform and share the same risks as his brave soldiers. He was “humble and respectful”.

“Our service members and their families have a spirit of selfless service and are willing to make sacrifices for a cause greater than themselves and worthy of honor,” Luke told The Rhode Island Catholic, the newspaper of the Diocese of Providence.

He said this in a recent interview while preparing for another new assignment.

That posting brought Father Luke to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he serves the Green Berets at the field level. The priest was promoted to the rank of major on October 1.

This is his second time in the special forces community, known as the most experienced and skilled “quiet specialists”.

Such religious tasks demand the best of the military in terms of spiritual stamina, physical fitness, mental toughness, technical skill and moral character.

His previous assignment was at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where for 14 months, Father Luke was the chaplain at Basic Combat Training, welcoming 600 new recruits each week for a 10-week training cycle and shaping the future of the Army.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to be there for the ‘kids’, to serve them, to enrich their lives and to bring them the sacraments every day,” he said.

For him, the best part of the assignment was celebrating one Sunday Mass that attracted more than 1,300 trainees. He felt blessed to have the opportunity to share the Eucharist with so many faithful people at the same time.

He had been looking forward to that Mass all week and waiting for the opportunity to bring Christ to the many people who felt “tired and burdened” while they were training.

Father Luke ministered to the spiritual needs of his troops in several dangerous situations, including while serving on operational bases in Afghanistan.

In 2014, the triathlete himself organized the troubled nation’s first officially sanctioned Boston Marathon, a year after completing the state race.

“I think God’s on my side,” joked Father Luke, who finished the race in 2 hours, 44 minutes, 59 seconds — 11 minutes faster — in a 2014 phone call from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to Rhode Island Catholics. his 2013 Boston Marathon finish.

In 2016, Father Luke broke the record for the fastest 12-mile run by any soldier who graduated from the US Army’s elite DeGlopper Air Assault School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

At that time, the priest was the chaplain of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Brigade of the 505th Parachute Rifle Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He broke the long-standing record for the march by a full seven minutes, finishing the morning walk in one hour and 42 minutes.

The march served as the final test of endurance in a grueling, 10-day training course in which only 65 of the more than 100 soldiers in the class completed the Go or Go system.

As part of the course, Soldiers are exposed to everything from timed rappelling to practicing the skills needed to order a 9-line MEDEVAC from a UH-60A Blackhawk helicopter flying the 90-foot “Hollywood Rappel.” 9″ refers to the nine types of information transmitted in a call) or to provide air support for a call.

The march was the capstone of what has been dubbed the “Toughest 10 Days in the Army.”

While these physical exploits and others demonstrate the speed, strength, and teamwork that the U.S. military uses to protect the nation’s freedom, members and their families also rely on service members to help strengthen their spiritual lives.

The Archdiocese of the US Military Services is entrusted with the pastoral care of 1.8 million Catholics in the United States and around the world, including men and women serving in the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force and Coast Guard. with their families; Veterans Affairs medical center patients; and US government employees and their families outside the country.

According to Father Luke, 41, it is definitely a “call within a call” to meet the spiritual needs of service members and their families.

“It’s a gift I never deserved, but one I’m grateful for every day,” she said. “I have been prayerfully reflecting on the generosity of our loving God who called me to be a priest, his mercy and the divine care that has caused me to share my priesthood as a soldier.”