{"id":2747,"date":"2008-10-03T09:53:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-03T09:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html"},"modified":"2008-10-03T09:53:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-03T09:53:00","slug":"leap-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"Leap of faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Well, now for something completely different. <\/p>\n

From Florida comes this unusual story<\/a> about a priest who has his head in the clouds: <\/p>\n

There is a variation of a well-known proverb that reads: \u201cIf at first you don\u2019t succeed, skydiving is not for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obviously Father Gerard Critch, parochial vicar at Epiphany Cathedral, was unaware of this humorous wisdom when he received a special gift: a ticket to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.<\/p>\n

Just the thought of skydiving made his heart race, his anxiety increase, and true panic set in \u2013 because, ahead of his fear of snakes, Father Critch\u2019s greatest fear is his fear of heights. Resolving to honor the intention of the gift, he decided that a normal jump wouldn\u2019t be high enough. After researching skydiving locations, he contacted the Skydiving Space Center near NASA to schedule the world\u2019s highest tandem skydive \u2013 a jump of more than 18,000 feet.<\/p>\n

Tandem skydiving allows a novice to skydive with the help of an instructor harnessed to their back. Once the jump door is opened, the instructor quickly nudges the jumper out of the airplane before the lack of oxygen causes loss of consciousness.<\/p>\n

Father Critch said the scariest part of the experience was getting out of the plane quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, I had to get out of the airplane quickly due to the lack of oxygen with the door open. Being nudged to the edge of the open door and then being the last to get out, that didn\u2019t help either. But once you jump, it\u2019s unbelievable, different, peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the best part of the experience was the freefall.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing down and being able to direct your fall with your body, that was absolutely beautiful. You can finally relate to an eagle or a bird because you\u2019re not directed by a parachute and it\u2019s absolutely spectacular. It is also spectacular coming closer and closer downward to a cloud instead of looking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Father Critch said he went through small clouds and actually got wet.<\/p>\n

Going through clouds \u201craces your heart because you get two experiences about height and about landing. \u2026 When you come out of the clouds, oh my goodness, all of a sudden you\u2019re into this open space again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Father Critch said he relied on his faith and prayer prior to the jump.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s before the jump and it\u2019s when you\u2019re being nudged over to the edge of the door that you rely on (faith): being nudged in life by God and being nudged by my tandem instructor,\u201d said Father Critch. \u201cIn life, it\u2019s like that. He was nudging me over and then I thought, \u2018Oh my goodness. Am I ready? What am I doing here?\u2019 And then the whole thing was, \u2018OK, I\u2019m ready. I\u2019m ready to put my hands totally in somebody else. I have to let go. Oh my God!\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Take a look at the rest of the story right here<\/a>. Unless you’re afraid of heights. <\/p>\n

Photo: Fr. Gerard Critch, bottom, skydives.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, now for something completely different. From Florida comes this unusual story about a priest who has his head in the clouds: There is a variation of a well-known proverb that reads: \u201cIf at first you don\u2019t succeed, skydiving is not for you.\u201d Obviously Father Gerard Critch, parochial vicar at Epiphany Cathedral, was unaware of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links-r-us","category-this-and-that","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"\nLeap of faith - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leap of faith - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Well, now for something completely different. From Florida comes this unusual story about a priest who has his head in the clouds: There is a variation of a well-known proverb that reads: \u201cIf at first you don\u2019t succeed, skydiving is not for you.\u201d Obviously Father Gerard Critch, parochial vicar at Epiphany Cathedral, was unaware of…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-10-03T09:53:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SOYlGqnxwaI\/AAAAAAAADFM\/U1AlQSBQwsA\/s400\/20080926_ven_critch_2-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leap of faith - The Deacon's Bench","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Leap of faith - The Deacon's Bench","og_description":"Well, now for something completely different. From Florida comes this unusual story about a priest who has his head in the clouds: There is a variation of a well-known proverb that reads: \u201cIf at first you don\u2019t succeed, skydiving is not for you.\u201d Obviously Father Gerard Critch, parochial vicar at Epiphany Cathedral, was unaware of…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2008-10-03T09:53:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SOYlGqnxwaI\/AAAAAAAADFM\/U1AlQSBQwsA\/s400\/20080926_ven_critch_2-1.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html","name":"Leap of faith - The Deacon's Bench","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SOYlGqnxwaI\/AAAAAAAADFM\/U1AlQSBQwsA\/s400\/20080926_ven_critch_2-1.jpg","datePublished":"2008-10-03T09:53:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-10-03T09:53:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/5a7b3c6e9d155e382842aa310ff9b1ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SOYlGqnxwaI\/AAAAAAAADFM\/U1AlQSBQwsA\/s400\/20080926_ven_critch_2-1.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0DySLTT4PWo\/SOYlGqnxwaI\/AAAAAAAADFM\/U1AlQSBQwsA\/s400\/20080926_ven_critch_2-1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/10\/leap-of-faith.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Leap of faith"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/5a7b3c6e9d155e382842aa310ff9b1ee","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/114\/1144d939be636f641ea021e1d347f9fdx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/114\/1144d939be636f641ea021e1d347f9fdx96.jpg","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"description":"A Roman Catholic deacon serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, Greg Kandra is News Director for the diocese's cable channel, NET (New Evangelization Television.) Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. You can contact Deacon Greg at dcngreg@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/gkandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}