|
A Son of the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of the Epiphany Paul was a charming man, and many girls were attracted to him. In fact, many of them wanted to marry him, but Paul would just laugh and tell them that he already had a girlfriend; her name was Mary, and she was out of this world. Paul put his love for God and Mary above everything else. Sometimes girls did not realize that Paul was a member of a lay institute. Once, Paul and Father Duran were taking a summer vacation with some of the other members of the Institute. They were staying in a house in Boise, Idaho, on a lake. There was a woman next door to them who really liked Paul. When they were going to leave, the woman begged Father Duran to stay longer. She said that her daughter was coming up in a few days, and she was sure that Paul and her daughter would be good friends. She told Father Duran privately that Paul was the perfect husband for her daughter. Paul had had a feeling that this was what she wanted, so he told Father Duran not to tell the woman that he was a consecrated lay man. Father Duran reluctantly agreed not to say anything. When the young woman arrived, Paul told Father Duran, “There’s no harm in meeting her.” The girl fell in love with him soon after she met him. Paul was just what she was looking for: good, happy, funny, intellectual, and a very good-looking, successful businessman. Paul didn’t do anything to make her fall in love with him; he was just himself. Paul himself told her that he was consecrated to God. Once, Father Duran read Paul a passage of G.K. Chesterton that basically stated: the way to take care of yourself in all aspects of life is to not think much about yourself. Right away Paul said, “That is exactly my philosophy, too. Many people spend way too much time thinking about themselves to their own detriment.” By this time, the Cursillo movement was growing, and it needed a bigger chapel. Paul left his job temporarily to become the manager of the job of building the Cursillo chapel. He designed a beautiful square building. Father Duran wanted a round building, and among Father Duran, Paul and Mr. Dick Ziegman, a vinculum member of Miles Jesu who was the main helper to Father Duran in raising the funds for the chapel, there were frequent discussions and luncheon meetings. Finally Dick Ziegman wrote a letter to Paul, telling him that he should realize that Father wanted a “round deal.” Paul then understood, laughed and did it. The Cursillo Chapel was the team work of Dick Ziegman, Paul Murphy and Father Duran. They all three agreed to make a round chapel with a stained glass window of Our Lady of Guadalupe with her heart in the middle. This was following the tradition of St. Anthony Mary Claret, who for the sake of not multiplying devotions for the people which sometimes creates confusion, used to put a heart in the statues and paintings of the Blessed Mother. After all, the Heart is the center of any devotion to the Blessed Mother. Sister Antonissima Jamruk, O.S.F., former Vicar for Religious for the Archdiocese of Chicago, met Paul at a national gathering of the Institute on Religious Life. She thought that Paul was very admirable in that he was a handsome young man giving his life happily to God. She said, “What touched me most, and what i could not forget, was that he radiated such peace and joy and conviction about his vocation.” |