HEAD COAST GUARD CHAPLAIN TO YOUNG MEN:

FIND PEACE IN THE SACRAMENTS

Good Advice from Father Dan Mode

Father Daniel L. Mode speaks of the day it happened — June 28, 2005 — the day 11 Navy Seals died in Afghanistan in Operation Redwing, depicted in the movie “Lone Survivor” starring Mark Wahlberg. Father Mode was their chaplain. 

Now chaplain of the U.S. Coast Guard as well as a captain, Father Mode was a featured speaker at the diocesan men’s conference March 2 at St. Joseph Church in Herndon.    

“Imagine receiving all those bodies and praying for them — imagining what their lives were like, including Michael Murphy, who received the Medal of Honor,” said Father. 

He also talked about his time with Marcus Luttrell at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.  Luttrell had been shot twice and crawled for miles with a broken back before being rescued, as portrayed in “Lone Survivor” by Wahlberg. Father Mode spent four days with Luttrell, a Catholic, praying the rosary and meditating on sacrifice. “Thirty-six soldiers, sailors and marines died on my watch there,” he said. 

Father Mode, who was ordained in the Diocese of Arlington in 1992, didn’t come to just tell war stories, but to exhort men to seek the peace of Christ in the sacraments. “What can be more peaceful than baptism, or any of the sacraments,” he said. “Look at the Mass and how often we say the word peace during Mass — peace be with you — and at the very end of Mass we hear a litany of peace.” 

In the crucible of war, Father Mode came to understand his role as being a missionary of peace by offering Jesus in the sacraments. “I was on 277 missions at 51 different forward operating bases, on 21 different ships,” he said. “During that time, I offered 958 Masses to more than 20,000 persons — that’s peace.”  

For more than 500 men packed into St. Joseph Church, Father Mode’s message was a much-needed spiritual boost. “I’ve always been impressed with the guest speakers they bring to the conference,” said Vince Drouillard of St. Raymond of Peñafort Church in Springfield. “I’d never heard of the Catholic chaplain of the Coast Guard before, but his story was incredible.” 

“It really touched my heart,” said Michael Stabolepszy, parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls. “It brought me to tears and inspired me to do more.”  

Men were encouraged to play offense with their faith by Jonathan Reyes, senior vice president of communications for the Knights of Columbus. Pointing out that many misinterpret what Jesus told Peter about the “gates of hell” not prevailing against the church in Matthew 16. 

“That’s offense man, not defense,” said Reyes. “The battle rages. We’ve been called to go into the strongholds and say, ‘you no longer have to be a slave, there’s good news, come join the resistance. There’s a way out of this.’”  

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge offered Mass and exhorted men in his homily to never compromise when sharing the truth with others, including family members. “It causes a lot of tension and a lot of heartache,” he said. “Pray for the grace, strengthened by the Eucharist today, to leave here renewed in Christ, and with a firm resolve to reflect his light to the world by speaking the truth in love to all those you love and encounter.”