In his early 20s, Stu was a football player-turned-wrestler-turned-boxer who had serious aspirations of turning pro. He loved BigfootДЄn undated photo of Stu Long as a young man. Suffering, it turned out, would become the defining quality of StuвЂ™s life, and the measure of his priesthood.Д«ut most people who knew him before his ordination, or his conversion to Catholicism even, would not have predicted that. Ultimately, the bishop told The Pillar, it was because of StuвЂ™s sufferings - and not despite them - that he decided to ordain Stuart Long a priest.Д«ishop Thomas said God kept reminding him, over and over, that a priest is ordained to be like Christ, the Suffering Servant who hung on a cross. ThatвЂ™s what Bishop Thomas remembered in prayer. That's a fundamental idea in Catholicism вЂ“ Christ redeemed us through his suffering and death on the cross, and in a mysterious way our suffering, united to his, can be redemptive. A serious chronic illness didnвЂ™t seem like it fit with the ministry of a Catholic priest.Д«ut Bishop Thomas of Helena believed that suffering is a gift in the Christian life - a gift Stu had received in spades. Seminary formators had raised red flags about Stu, who had an aggressive and debilitating muscle disorder with a poor prognosis. вЂњI kept hearing the same message over and over again: вЂThere is power in suffering, move him forward.вЂ™вЂќД«ack in 2007, Bishop George Thomas of Helena wasnвЂ™t sure whether to ordain Stuart Long to the priesthood.

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