Total healing only comes through Christ

Father Dan Leary will be a presenter at the 2022 Legatus Summit East to be held Jan. 27-29 on Amelia Island, FL. Drawing on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Scripture, as well as his experiences working in the missions, Father will discuss different ways to heal spiritually, physically, and emotionally – with Jesus Christ as healer.

Father Leary was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1997. Since 2020, he has served as chaplain to the Sisters of Mary, a community of women religious founded by Fr. Aloysius Schwartz (1930-92). The sisters minister at seven sites in multiple countries; Father is currently ministering in Chalco, one of their two sites in Mexico. The sisters provide youth in poor communities a safe place to be educated in the Catholic faith where they receive career and vocational training to help raise themselves out of poverty.

Tell us about your background and what let to your vocation.

I was the youngest of six in a social Irish Catholic family. I was not practicing the faith as a young adult. I was out drinking one night with some friends, and someone bet me $50 I wouldn’t be able to go to Mass every day during Lent. I took the bet, and it changed my life.

I had been working at a major accounting firm making good money at the time, but I felt empty. I went to Confession with a good priest, and it turned into a two-hour boxing match that led me to the seminary. I had always had a heart to serve others—I, for example, was teaching someone to read in my free time, and I would make sandwiches to give to the poor—so the priesthood seemed a natural fit.

I was a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Washington for 23 years before I came to Mexico. I loved serving my people, helping them encounter the living presence of Christ.

What led you to the Sisters of Mary?

While I was in the seminary, I spent a summer working in a company owned by two Florida Legatus members, Tom and Glory Sullivan. They knew Fr. Al Schwartz and were big benefactors of his work. I read some of Fr. Al’s books over the years and met some of the Sisters of Mary. They invited me to come to their missions to offer retreats, which I did, and I became their chaplain.

What impresses you most about Fr. Schwartz?

He was a man who was united to Christ and Our Lady, and the fruit of that union was his service to the poor. It was in my heart to serve the poor in the same way.

What do you do for the Sisters?

I offer retreats and provide the sacraments, especially Confession, in Chalco. I will visit the sisters’ other locations as pandemic conditions allow. At the Chalco site, we have a school serving 3,500 poor girls, ages 13-18, on 15 acres of land; it is a boarding school where girls come for 11 months of the year.

Describe your first missionary year in Mexico.

It has been beautiful. I love it. I am very busy with Masses, Confessions, and spiritual direction. There is an immense amount of suffering endured by girls in poor countries, and those I serve have endured many trials, including physical abuse and abandonment by their families. I’ve seen a lot of healing among the girls since I’ve arrived, and I very much look forward to seeing that continue.