Former NBA player Gordon Hayward recently converted to Catholicism in a ceremony held in Rome just weeks after retiring from the NBA, marking his transition to a new season of faith in his life. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services announced that Hayward would be joining the Catholic Church where Archbishop Timothy Broglio performed the sacraments of initiation.
A statement from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for Military services read, “Former NBA player Gordon Hayward joined the Catholic Church this week in Rome. The 34-year-old, six-foot-seven forward who retired from professional basketball in August after a 14-year career with the Utah Jazz, the Boston Celtics, the Charlotte Hornets, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, made a Profession of Faith and received the sacraments of confirmation and his First Holy Communion.”
“His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA (AMS), and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), administered the sacraments to the married father of four from Brownsville, IN, whose NBA career spanned from 2010 until his recent retirement,” the statement added. “The reception into the Catholic Church took place on Tuesday, Oct. 1, during Holy Mass at the Basilica of Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls.”
The Christian Tribune reported on another former NBA player who left the league after just two years to pursue God’s will in his life. Former Atlanta Hawks player AJ Griffin announced that he would be quitting the NBA to “follow Jesus.”
“I gave up basketball to follow Jesus.” He added, “And I know that in a lot of people’s eyes, that seems like, it seems like a loss in the world’s eyes. But I just want to let you guys know that I’m super excited because I truly get to serve God, you know, with my full Yes, and I feel like letting go of basketball is allowing me to, you know, go into full-time ministry and truly serving the Lord with all my heart — with all my time too, as well. So, I’m just excited to see where that leads me,” he said in a video statement.
“Yes, and I feel like letting go of basketball is allowing me to go into full time ministry and truly serving the Lord with all my heart, with all my time too, as well. So I’m just excited to see where that leads me,” he added. “So, like, with that being said, Man, I just want to go through the steps on, like, how, you know, I came to this, you know, realization. I want to let go of basketball and follow God. And this really has to start off with, you know, me giving my life to Christ in 2020 I truly accepted him back then he found me. You know, I know we say we find God, but he finds us.”
Griffin offered an inspiring message to his viewers, stating, “You know, not by sight. You know God, he’s he’s the one that truly provides. He’s the one who takes away and gives. And so just know that it’s all working out pretty good. You know, don’t worry about the outside noise. You know, focus on your personal relationship with Jesus. And you know, everything, everything else will be added.”
Featured image credit: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gordon_Hayward_(37786174482).jpg