New sainthood candidate credited Father Twomey for his vocation

In light of the news last week that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to affirm the cause for canonization for Father Richard M. Thomas, SJ (1928–2006), I thought I would share an anecdote about Father Louis J. Twomey, SJ’s crucial influence upon Father Thomas’s vocation. The following is from my biography-in-progress of Father Louis J. Twomey, SJ, A Priest in Good Trouble:

Dick Thomas entered Jesuit High in 1941; his entire time there overlapped with Father Twomey’s tenure as principal. One day in the spring of his senior year, as he was preparing to graduate as class valedictorian, he was called out of class to the principal’s office.1 Twomey asked him whether he had given any thought to the priesthood.

As it happened, and unbeknownst to Twomey, Thomas had a mystical experience the previous summer in which he perceived a voice from God telling him that he had to be a priest. He had avoided telling anyone about it, for the very thought of being called to the priesthood made him miserable; his passion was for training horses, and he was hoping to make it his career. But he had come to look upon Twomey as a friend and a mentor who had his best interests at heart. In any case, he could not lie: yes, he had given thought to becoming a priest.

Twomey’s response was immediate: “We’d like to have you.”

Dick knew Twomey was referring to the Jesuits. “OK,” he replied.

From that exchange began a journey that would in time lead Dick—as Father Richard M. Thomas, SJ—to found a lay community in El Paso, Texas, The Lord’s Ranch, in 1975 to minister to the poor and to inmates in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The ranch remains in operation to this day.