Dave Hrbacek, the chief photographer for The Catholic Spirit, discovered his love for fishing from his father, who passed on the tradition to Hrbacek and his four brothers.
“We grew up fishing and I really love fishing. It’s been an important part of my life in many ways, and I’ve just always appreciated the chance to get out on the water and to try to catch fish,” Hrbacek told Rachael McCallum, producer of the “Practicing Catholic” show, for an episode set to air at 9 p.m. May 16 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Father Troy Przybilla, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, had a similar experience, having grown up fishing with his family. But to Hrbacek and Father Przybilla, fishing is more than just a seasonal sport. It is interconnected with their faith.
Hrbacek said that he has found God in the peace and quiet out on the lake.
“I think one of the things I’ve always enjoyed is being out on a lake fishing as the sun is going down because everything just kind of gets still,” Hrbacek said. “In 1979 when I graduated from high school, I was struggling with a lot of things and I ended up going through chemical dependency treatment that summer. And I know that I spent a lot of time on the water fishing. And my dad came with me and it was really a time to refocus and think more intentionally about my faith. … It was a time to change the trajectory of my life so that I could be a man of faith and establish that pattern in my life and fishing really was a big part of that. It continues to be so to this day.”
Father Przybilla said he is struck by the beauty of creation when he’s out fishing.
“I’m always struck by a presence there,” Father Przybilla said. “There (are) just the signs of God’s existence everywhere and I know that just sitting there in the peace and quiet, just fishing with my dad, kind of just letting my mind just drift off into a beautiful, sunny summer day fishing and just watching the sun glistening on the water and just imagining what heaven must be like. I think that that’s how I’ve encountered God, is in the beauty of it all.”
Once while fly fishing in Canada with his dad and two of his brothers, Hrbacek said, they started catching big northerns, but his brother Paul couldn’t get one in the boat.
“It was a moment where I just felt like he was going to get another chance and I said to Paul, ‘God is going to give you another chance. Don’t give up.’ And literally minutes later, he caught a fish that was the same size as the one I caught the day before,” Hrbacek said. “It isn’t so much that we look for God to give us lots of fish. It was an instance where I really felt like God was with us. He was blessing us, and even though Paul failed to hook that first northern, that God just said, ‘Well, I’ll give you another chance.’ I think that was a lesson in understanding God giving second, third, fourth, fifth chances in life.”
To hear more from Hrbacek and Father Przybilla about finding faith while fishing, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. May 17 and 2 p.m. May 18.
Also on the program, transitional Deacons Randy Skeate and Steve Boatwright reflect on how God led them to the priesthood. Also, Father Colin Jones and Dominic Wolters share their experience studying in Rome during the papal election.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
