He loved to argue, about anything, and just for the sake of arguing. Stu loved movies, going to restaurants, and just hanging out, joking and talking with friends. His irreverent and quick sense of humor was a big part of his life, she said.įriends remember that Fr. Stu, Amy remembers, thought a lot of things were hilarious. The film version of “Father Stu,” released April 13, might inspire millions more as it’s shown around the globe.īut Stu’s sister Amy says her brother would have found it “hilarious” to be depicted by Mark Wahlberg, or to see their father depicted by Mel Gibson. Wahlberg added that the movie has impacted his own life, and that he’s made a “real commitment…to do more substantial, meaningful, parts of God's work.” “I just found it to be so inspiring and so comforting, so I really couldn't find a reason to not want to make the film,” Wahlberg told The Pillar. The actor decided he had to make a movie, and to pay for most of it himself. Stu while at a restaurant with a priest who had been friends with him. Stu’s story was not well-known after his death – until Mark Wahlberg decided to make a movie about the priest. Stu” is a beloved figure among the people who knew him in Helena, Montana, where he served as a priest for seven years before he died.īut outside of Montana, Fr. The people who knew him and loved him remember that even as his body shut down, Stu was every bit as tough as he was in his prime.Īnd they said it was the Catholic faith – which he discovered halfway through his life – that gave Stu the strength to endure the crosses he would carry at the end. And he did all that before he died in 2014, at just 50 years old. Then he survived a serious motorcycle accident, had a major conversion, became a Catholic priest, and developed a progressive muscle disorder. Stu was an outgoing guy with a great sense of humor – the kind of guy that people like to be around. He had a muscular build and a sharp intellect, and he treated arguing like a competitive sport. In his early 20s, Stu was a football player-turned-wrestler-turned-boxer who had serious aspirations of turning pro. He loved BigfootĪn undated photo of Stu Long as a young man. Suffering, it turned out, would become the defining quality of Stu’s life, and the measure of his priesthood.īut most people who knew him before his ordination, or his conversion to Catholicism even, would not have predicted that. Ultimately, the bishop told The Pillar, it was because of Stu’s sufferings - and not despite them - that he decided to ordain Stuart Long a priest.īishop Thomas said God kept reminding him, over and over, that a priest is ordained to be like Christ, the Suffering Servant who hung on a cross. That’s what Bishop Thomas remembered in prayer. That's a fundamental idea in Catholicism – Christ redeemed us through his suffering and death on the cross, and in a mysterious way our suffering, united to his, can be redemptive. A serious chronic illness didn’t seem like it fit with the ministry of a Catholic priest.īut Bishop Thomas of Helena believed that suffering is a gift in the Christian life - a gift Stu had received in spades. Seminary formators had raised red flags about Stu, who had an aggressive and debilitating muscle disorder with a poor prognosis. “I kept hearing the same message over and over again: ‘There is power in suffering, move him forward.’”īack in 2007, Bishop George Thomas of Helena wasn’t sure whether to ordain Stuart Long to the priesthood.
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