by Gordon Nary
Gordon: When and where were you born? Tell us something about your family and one of your favorite memories from childhood.
Father Burke: I was born and raised in Joliet, IL on December 17, 1966. I am the youngest of four boys – Brock, Michael, Blaine and Burke. Michael died right before he was born because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. My parents, Tod and Jan, were wonderful parents. They were raised in Christian homes (Southern Baptist and United Church of Christ). We were raised with Christian morals but we never went to church.
One of my favorite memories from childhood is playing with my brothers. Our house was the center of sports. We hosted basketball, football, baseball and tetherball in the backyard on a daily basis. Even though I was the youngest, I worked hard to be able to keep up with my brothers.
Gordon: Tell us about your conversion to Catholicism.
Father Burke: I went to Providence Catholic High School because they had a great baseball program. It was there that I first encountered priests, religious sisters, the Mass and the Eucharist. I was intrigued by what I was learning and was drawn to the Eucharist. At a retreat my junior year, a visiting priest was celebrating our closing Mass. I had never been in a Communion line before this Mass. I usually stayed in my seat and watched.
At this Mass, the priest started coming to us with the Eucharist. I didn’t know what to do when he stood before me and said, “The Body of Christ.” I opened my mouth to say, “I’m not Catholic,” but before the words came out, I was giving my First Communion by accident. It was so powerful because I knew in my heart that this was more than just a piece of bread. I felt the power of God rush through my body.
I started taking classes with Fr. Mike at Providence and was baptized on May 26, 1985.
Gordon: Where did you attend university, what degree did you earn, what was your favorite course, and why was it your favorite?
Father Burke: I attended Mississippi State University to play baseball and study Mathematics. I love math because it comes naturally to me. I have always loved math since I was a little boy. I would figure my batting average in my head after each game. My undergraduate degree is a B.S. in Mathematics.
I was a four-year starter on the baseball team. The highlight of my career happened on May 26, 1990, five years to the day after my baptism. I went six for six with a grand slam against Florida State University to help us get to the College World Series in Omaha, NE.
Gordon: What positions did your hold after graduation and your primary responsibilities at each position?
Father Burke: I was not drafted into major league baseball, but I signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago White Sox and played a short time. My major-league dream did not materialize as I had hoped. I struggled for a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
I worked as an actuary for Kemper Insurance in Long Grove, IL for a short time. Actuaries work with statistics for insurance companies to help determine insurance premiums. Although I loved working with numbers and I made a lot of money, I discerned quickly this was not my call in life. I was bored and dreaded waking up in the morning.
My dad thought I was crazy giving up a well-paying job. My mom told me, “Do something you enjoy.” I did some soul-searching and realized that I enjoy baseball and people. I decided I wanted to become a major league general manager. I attended Ohio University and received a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration.
I then worked for the Kane County Cougars, a minor league team in Geneva, IL affiliated with the Florida Marlins at the time. I served as the ticket manager there for four years.
Gordon: When did you receive your vocation, with whom did you first discuss it, and what was their advice?
Father Burke: During my time in Geneva, I dated someone who introduced me to Eucharistic adoration. We went every Tuesday for an hour of adoration. During that time, I went from being afraid of silence to craving it. I had surrounded myself with noise and distraction so I didn’t have to face myself or God. But the time in adoration made me face both God and myself.
I started to hear God say to my heart, “I want you to be a priest.” I didn’t want to be a priest. I wanted to get married and raise a family. I loved my job in baseball and had a real possibility of becoming an executive in major league baseball.
I bargained with God for a while and asked for signs. He started to send people into my life to say things like, “Burke, you will make a good priest.” After a long battle with God, I finally surrendered my life to God and went to seminary in August 1997.
Gordon: Where did you attend seminary, what was your favorite course, and why was it your favorite?
Father Burke: I attended Mundelein Seminary outside of Chicago to study philosophy and theology. My favorite thing to study was Scripture. Not only was it practical because I knew I would be preaching the rest of my life on the Scriptures, but my heart was also moved deeply the more I prayed with the Word of God. I was ordained for the Diocese of Joliet, IL on June 1, 2002.
Gordon: Tell us something about your first pastoral assignment.
Father Burke: I was assigned first to St. Mary’s Parish in West Chicago. This surprised me because this community was about 80% Spanish-speaking. I had studied Spanish but was not ready to minister in Spanish. It was challenging as I was hearing confessions and preaching in Spanish from the first weekend there. I almost threw in the towel and asked the bishop for a transfer to an all-English-speaking parish. Fortunately, one of the parishioners named Jesus helped me with the Spanish and I started to feel at home there. I was there four years and didn’t want to leave when my new assignment came.
Gordon: Tell us about the positions that you held at the Joliet Diocese in Illinois, and one of your favorite memories at each position.
Father Burke: On July 1, 2006, I became the Vocation Director for the Diocese of Joliet. This position included promoting vocations to the priesthood, screening applicants, and walking with them until the day of their ordination. The highlight every year was attending the ordination of the men that I had walked with for years. On those days, I understood the beauty of spiritual fatherhood. I am proud of the many good priests who were ordained for our diocese.
I then served as the Director of Evangelization and Catechesis from 2018-2022. In this role, I helped pastors and parish staffs develop ways to help people fall in love with Jesus and become His faithful disciples. My most memorable work in this role was starting Be Formed in 2020. This is an adult faith formation program that helps people grow in faith, friendship and discipleship. It is still growing and developing within and beyond the Diocese of Joliet (www.beformed.net).
Gordon: When did you apply to be Catholic chaplain for the Chicago Cubs and tell us something about the interview process.
Father Burke: The Catholic chaplains for Major League Baseball are assigned by an organization called Catholic Athletes for Christ. I spoke to Ray McKenna, the president and founder of CAC in 2012. When he heard that I had played baseball and was a priest in the Chicago area, he said, “We need a Catholic chaplain for the Chicago Cubs. Although I was not a Cubs’ fan growing up, I was excited to be back in baseball to share my faith in Jesus Christ!
Gordon: What are your primary responsibilities as Catholic chaplain for the Chicago Cubs?
Father Burke: Since 2013, I attend spring training in Mesa for a few days to get to know the new players and staff. Then during the season, I go to Wrigley for Sunday home games for Mass at 9:30am. Then I go to the locker room to speak to the guys and just be available for confessions or other spiritual conversations. Now that I am a pastor, I usually celebrate half of the Masses and invite my brother priests to cover the other Masses. We also have an annual retreat for CAC in California in November or December.
Gordon: What are some of your favorite memories when the Cubs won the 2016 World Series Championship.
Father Burke: I was present for games 3-4-5 in Chicago. Fortunately the Cubs pulled out game 5 and headed to Cleveland down 3 games to 2. I don’t travel with the team, so I was returning to my work as Vocation Director when I received a call from ESPN to do an interview at the Cubby Bear near Wrigley Field before game 6.
In that interview, they asked me to give the Cubs a blessing, almost as a joke against the curse of the Billy Goat. I didn’t want to make it a joke, so I gave the Cubs a real blessing and prayed that they would play to the best of their ability, no one would get hurt, and the best team would win.
The Cubs won game 6, so ESPN invited to do the same interview before Game 7. The interview said, “I’m not saying that they won because you prayed, but…you prayed…and they won! So let’s do it again!” So I gave them another blessing and amazingly the Cubs won game 7 and their first World Series Championship in 108 years! It was a joy to be a part of that experience.
Gordon: Tell us about the Catholic Sports Camps in the Diocese of Joliet.
Father Burke: Mike Sweeney played 15 years in the major leagues and is a very faithful Catholic. After his career was over, he began the Mike Sweeney Catholic Baseball Camps. I went to Seattle to experience one of these camps and was blown away by the beautiful way he combined the game of baseball and our Catholic faith. His motto is, “We are going to tell the greatest story ever told (Jesus) with the greatest game ever played (baseball).”
The camp begins with Mass each day. We teach them about the beauty of the Eucharist and Mass. Then we go out to the baseball field to stretch, throw and work through fundamental baseball drills for the rest of the morning. During lunch we ask two of the coaches to share their faith testimony to show the kids that you can love baseball and love Jesus at the same time.
After lunch we play the virtue games. Mike developed fun things for the kids to do each inning to learn different virtues. For example, during the “backwards 4th inning” the kids run to third base when they hit the ball instead of 1st base. We are teaching the kids that sometimes we have to consciously change our habits. They have so much fun while still learning lessons.
We finish the day teaching the kids about the beauty of Mary and we pray a decade of the rosary, usually made up of baseball beads. We then talk to them about the power of confession and the kids get so excited to go to confession to priests who are located at the positions on the baseball field.
We brought this Mike Sweeney Catholic Baseball Camp to the Diocese of Joliet in 2015, and we have expanded to other sports like soccer, basketball, softball, football and hockey. You can get more information at www.catholicsportscamps.org.
Gordon: Tell is about your work at John Paul II Healing Center.
Father Burke: Dr. Bob Schuchts, author of “Be Healed” and many other books, founded the John Paul II Healing Center as a Catholic apostolate to bring healing to the heart of the Church. I attended my first retreat with Dr. Bob in 2017 and have been participating and helping with their retreats ever since.
We now have Be Healed retreats in the Diocese of Joliet. It has been a privilege to see how God works powerful in peoples’ lives as they heal and find freedom from past wounds. No matter how good our life and our families are, we all have wounds that can be healed.
I often ask people, “Have you ever done something, and as soon as you do it, you ask yourself, ‘Why did I do that?’ Or have you ever said something, and as the words are leaving your mouth, you ask yourself, ‘Why am I saying this?’” If your answer to either of these questions is yes, you need healing.
Dr. Bob works closely with Sr. Miriam James Heidland and others in this powerful ministry to bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful. You can find more information at www.jpiihealingcenter.org.
Gordon: Approximately how many retreats do you conduct annually?
Father Burke: We usually offer four Be Healed retreats each year (two for men and two for women). The Catholic sports camps are offered once a year during the summer months. I also am a big supporter of Cursillo retreats that are offered in most dioceses.
Gordon: Tell us about St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Hinsdale, IL where your serve as pastor.
Father Burke: St. Isaac Jogues Church is located in the Diocese of Joliet on the border with the Archdiocese of Chicago. We have about 2500 registered families which includes about 10,000 individual members. We also have a school with about 580 students currently and the numbers grow each year. We have a beautiful church and adoration chapel attached to the church.
We follow our Bishop Hicks’ mission to catechize (teach people about Jesus), evangelize (help people fall in love with Jesus) and put our faith into action. We use the Sienna Institute’s “Called and Gifted” program to help individuals discern their charisms. Then we try to match people’s charisms and gifts with ways to serve (the corporal and spiritual works of mercy). I have found that when people are using their God-given gifts in a meaningful way, they find joy and God’s mission is furthered in the world.
Gordon: Approximately how many sermons have you posted on YouTube?
Father Burke: I will have to look that up, but I have been posting daily videos on the Mass readings for over four years. During Covid, I felt the Holy Spirit asking me to use social media to keep people connected to God and to one another. In addition to the daily reflection videos, we stared Be Formed, which is an adult faith formation program to help people grow in faith, friendship and joy. You can find more information about Be Formed at www.beformed.net.
Gordon: What inspired you to write A Grand Slam for God and an overview of the book?
Father Burke: When I was vocation director for the Diocese of Joliet from 2006-2018, I traveled around the diocese sharing my story of conversion from a Protestant baseball player to becoming a Catholic priest. Every time I shared the story someone would say to me, “You should write a book!” I started the book around 2013, but life got busy, and it sat on the shelf. My niece Mackenzie graduated from Colorado State with a degree in Creative Writing. She called around 2017 and said, “Uncle Burke, I can help you finish that book.” I was overjoyed! Together we finished the project and it was published by Word on Fire Publishing in August 2023. I have been very humbled at the success of the book.
Gordon: Who is your favorite baseball player of all times and why is he your favorite?
Father Burke: My favorite player growing up was Mike Schmidt, the former 3rd baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies. I loved the way he played the game and admired the great combination of being a great defender and one of the best hitters of his generation.
My favorite player and person now is Mike Sweeney, who not only was a great baseball player, but he is an even better person, husband, father and Catholic.
Gordon: How can sports bring us closer to God?
Father Burke: Sports have taught me some great things – discipline, hard work, dedication, endurance, perseverance, winning with class, losing with grace, and working with many different types of people. I often use sports analogies when I preach and teach because they are so relatable to people. Just as Jesus used farming examples a lot in his parables because so many people related to farming, I think we can use sports to get peoples’ attention, and then we bring them the Gospel of Jesus Christ while we have their attention.
Gordon: If baseball had be invented twenty centuries ago, and Jesus played baseball, what position would he hold on his team and why?
Father Burke: Hmmmm, that’s a good question and one that I have never thought about before today. I think Jesus would be a catcher because the catcher is the one who calls the pitches and directs traffic on the field. Catchers are usually very perceptive and good leaders.
Gordon: Thank you for an exceptional and incisive interview.