A FRIAR FOR PEOPLE
As the nation battles an opioid crisis, Father M.J. Groark shares his story in hopes of showing others a path to recovery and redemption.
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hen Michael Joseph (M.J.) Groark found the Capuchin Friars, he knew he was home. He felt called to pursue a vocation to the priesthood, but he worried they might not let him enter. Covered in tattoos, he had “a hell of a backstory,” as he puts it, centered around his addiction to opioids, heroin, and other substances. But after hearing M.J.’s story of addiction and recovery, sin and redemption, a friar told him, “You’re going to help so many people.” Father M.J. was vested in the habit in 2009 and ordained a Capuchin priest on December 7, 2019. Currently based in Chicago, he serves as the vocation director for the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph. Today, he gives talks to parish groups and other ministries on his backstory, which he says he receives many requests for, given the opioid crisis in the United States today. “You name it. I’ve done it. I’ve been to the gates of hell,” Father M.J. says. Through those darkest days, his parents’ newfound Catholic faith sustained them and would provide a lifeline to M.J. Today he testifies to the transformation that took root the day he tagged along for Mass and experienced the presence of Jesus in a palpable way.
‘A RECKLESS EXISTENCE’
Raised Lutheran in Sacramento, California, Father M.J. grew up in a “poor, rough neighborhood.” His parents, however, worked hard to shield him and his brothers from negative influences and give them a happy childhood. They raised them to know the Bible and Jesus. M.J.’s introduction to drugs came in high school in Portland, Oregon. He thought he would convert the school for Jesus but quickly learned that wasn’t the way to be popular with his classmates. “That was the first time in my life where I realized how easy it is to compartmentalize God, morality, my value system, in order to feel accepted,” he recalls. He got into sports and cliques, and his interest in God waned. “Then I got into my experimental phase. About the 10th grade, I found out what marijuana was like and drinking and chasing girls,” Father M.J. recalls. For many young people, these phases are temporary, but for others they can be the start of a dark trajectory. “That sort of harmless, experimental phase for me went from zero to 100 real quick,” says Father M.J. By his sophomore and junior years, he was “experimenting with every substance out there”—hallucinogens, amphetamines, alcohol.
Story by Joyce Duriga Photography by Karen Callaway 32 • October 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
