A football Friday in the life of Father John Hollowell

Father John Hollowell, chaplain and assistant football coach at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis, celebrates Mass with the Cardinal Ritter varsity football team on Sept. 25 before their game against Park Tudor School. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

Game day.

For high school student-athletes and coaches, the day of a game always adds extra touches of excitement and anticipation.

So it is for Father John Hollowell, a chaplain, teacher and assistant football coach at Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School in Indianapolis. (Related story: Father John Hollowell knows joy and passion as a priest, teacher and coach)

Here is a look at his jam-packed schedule on football Fridays:

4:40 a.m.—The alarm clock sounds in Father Hollowell’s room in the rectory at St. Malachy Parish in Brownsburg, where he also serves as a sacramental minister.

“If I don’t have a Mass at school, I’ll get up at 3:45 a.m. and celebrate Mass,” he says. “Then I’ll have breakfast.”

5:30 a.m.—Father Hollowell arrives at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis, located next to Cardinal Ritter Jr./Sr. High School.

“They have a Blessed Sacrament Chapel where I do an hour of prayer. It’s nice to start the day that way. Sometimes it’s very hard to focus with all of the concerns I know I’ll have during the day. But it’s my desire to have that hour be prayerful. I wouldn’t cut it out of my day for anything.”

6:45 a.m.—Begins his daily workout in the high school’s training room.

“I usually work out for 30 to 45 minutes. They have a treadmill I like and I lift weights. I turn the radio to 92.3 [FM]. I’ve found that if I’m not able to work out or exercise, I don’t have the same energy for the day. It keeps me in balance, to have the physical and the spiritual in the morning.”

8 a.m.—He often shares a morning prayer with students through the high school’s public address system.

“I’m starting a new thing where I have other teachers do the morning prayer so the students see I’m not the only one in the building who prays.”

8:05 a.m.-11 a.m.—“That’s when I’m planning for my classes, grading papers, attending meetings. It’s my chance to be a presence in the school.”

11 a.m.—Lunch time. On one recent Friday, his lunch consisted of two small bags of pretzels and a bottle of water.

11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.—In the classroom, teaching “Modern Catholic Social Ethics” to high school seniors.

“It’s a Catholic understanding of justice, freedom and truth. For me, my journey to the priesthood was a lot of reading and studying. It was an intellectual journey. I want to pass along to the kids the things I’ve discovered along the way.

“I love teaching. I just didn’t want to be somebody who the kids saw in the hall. I wanted them to see me up close. My students and my players realize that I’m human, that I have moods, and I have some days that are better than others. As painful as that is to see sometimes, it’s better for them in the long run.”

3:15 p.m.-4 p.m.—Celebrates pre-game Mass with the football players and coaches.

“It’s awesome to be somebody who sees them all week in practice and school. I can usually tailor my homily to what I see in them. It’s good, too, because the same guy I was disciplining or getting on at a practice, I’m able to turn around and be his priest.”

4:15 p.m.—More time spent grading papers and preparing lesson plans for his classes.

5:30 p.m.—Boards the bus with the players and other coaches to leave for the game.

6 p.m.—Pre-game warm-ups begin.

“That’s when we take the field. I can start to smell the popcorn being popped, hear the band getting ready and see the sun beginning to set. You can see the look in the guys’ eyes, that something different is going to happen soon.”

7 p.m.—The opening kickoff. With his game face on, Father Hollowell spends the next two hours providing encouragement to the team, shouting tips to the players on the field, and giving individual instruction to wide receivers and defensive backs when they come off the field.

“As coaches, we get as fired up as the players.”

9:10 p.m.—He leads the team in a post-game prayer on the field.

10 p.m.—The team returns to the high school. Father Hollowell talks to individual players and then watches game film and/or gets something to eat with the other coaches.

Midnight—Returns to the rectory at St. Malachy Parish, checks a few high school football scores on the computer, says his evening and night prayers, and heads to bed.

“After the game days, I’m worn out, but it is a good feeling. Even though it sounds like a lot of work, it is actually very life-giving. I love all that goes into game day—all the energy, excitement and getting to be part of such a great game. It feels like a day off.” †