Near the end of an interview with Father (Fr.) Lawrence Love of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Mineola, the pastor was asked what simple recommendations he would make in a country which appears to be facing significant challenges on many fronts. 

Without hesitation he answered: “love.”  The interviewer paused, expecting to jot down a lengthy explanation following. There was none forthcoming. 

Looking up from the notepad, Fr. Love was smiling. He said it again, “love.”

“It is really that simple,” he stated. A brief explanation then did indeed follow.

“If we take to heart the commandment of Jesus Christ to love one another, the ill will we see every day in the news would vanish. We are called to truly desire the best for the other – this is Christian love (agape love). To practice agape love is to love God, to love ourselves and to love one another.”

He explained that we may fundamentally disagree on an act or a stance or position on something, but we cannot wish ill on one another. To do so violates charity against ourselves, against the other person(s) or against God – it is sin. He said that removing the ill will toward people with whom we may not share the same ideas removes the venom of our discourse and glorifies God.

The occasion of this specific interview was Fr. Love’s imminent departure from Mineola and St. Peter the Apostle church. Advancing age and unexpected medical problems are preventing him from fully serving his parish.

This month he will take up residence at St. Jude Catholic parish in Gun Barrel City, joining the pastor Father John-Mary Bowlin as a senior priest. 

Clergy come and go, much like a position of leadership in any professional field. This story celebrates not how Fr. Love is departing the flock in Mineola, but rather how he came to be here.  

Lawrence Love began his four-year study in the seminary at age 65. While most folks at that age cringe when considering having to learn something new, Love was embarking on an education which was the beginning of a transformative experience – being ordained a Catholic priest.   

To understand how that came to pass, one must understand that the Catholic faith has always been a part of his life. Love grew up as a ‘Navy brat.’ His father, a career Naval Aviator, was active in his faith and remained a powerful influence in his son’s life.  

Love attended two Catholic high schools, Chaminade High School in Dayton, Ohio and Ryken High School in Leonardtown, Md. Despite an upbringing in the faith and urgings to consider the priesthood, he had decided early in his life to study medicine. He graduated from  the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in chemistry.

While at Chapel Hill, he met a young co-ed, Nancy Meredith Newton. The two would marry and spend a lifetime together. Their two children would come to nurture 12 grandchildren.

Love went on to attain a medical degree from the University of Miami in 1971 and served on active duty as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force. Further study with the Air Force saw him complete a residency in ophthalmology in 1978. 

It was through a contact that he had made while in residency in San Antonio that he became aware of a practice opportunity in Paris, Texas. With some prodding from his friend, the young family made a trip to Paris in 1979 to check out the potential practice situation.

The opportunity was fortuitous. Lawrence and Nancy were looking for a small town in which to raise their children, and Paris reminded Nancy of her hometown of Chapel Hill, N.C.  Paris had an especially well-regarded medical community, and it seemed as though the opportunity had come to them for a reason.

So it was that in 1980, the Love family moved to Northeast Texas.  

Love’s ophthalmologic practice flourished. He became quite skilled at surgical procedures and built a significant client list. Even today, the effect of restoring sight to his patients evokes from him an emotional response. 

Paris is also home to Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, which played a central role in their lives. Love filled practically all positions – through the family’s long relationship with the parish – that a layperson can perform: religious education teacher, music director, extraordinary minister of the Holy Eucharist, deacon and cantor.

Anyone who has been to mass in Mineola can appreciate the satisfaction which Love derived from being a cantor.

Paris was also the backdrop to the challenges faced by Nancy, as she struggled with mental health issues. Due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease, Nancy passed away unexpectedly in 2007. 

Over the course of the next couple of years, Love was increasingly affected by a greater calling to the Church. “Marriage had, for my whole adult life, been my vocation,” he explained, “and now I had a growing sense that I was being called to a further vocation within the Church.” 

Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, then bishop of the Tyler diocese, Father Brendon Miller and Father Morgan White represent the many people who influenced this life-changing decision to pursue priesthood. 

After years of reflection, Love closed his practice in June 2010  and in August began his studies at Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass.   

Ordination into the priesthood normally requires eight years of collegiate study: four years spent obtaining a degree in a philosophical discipline and four years of theological studies at a seminary. Love was granted dispensation for his studies in the medical field to serve as credit for his philosophical studies, but still had to complete the full four years study as a seminarian.  

“I absolutely loved the seminary,” Love confided, “…the academic rigor, the camaraderie, the setting, the contemplation.”

Among the areas of seminarian study are church history, theology, moral theology, christology, philosophy, priestly duties, the sacraments, scripture, and ecclesiology – no light academic load.

On June 28, 2014, Love was ordained a priest of Jesus Christ in the Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul in Tyler by Bishop Joseph Strickland.  

The experience, Fr. Love noted, “was completely overwhelming.”  He confirmed that he felt the love of God flowing into him at the ordination.

What followed was the everyday work of a small parish priest – offering the Holy Mass, administering the sacraments, ministering to the parishioners, all with the goal of helping his parishioners to gain heaven.

When asked what was the absolute best part of being a priest, Fr. Love never hesitated, “There is nothing greater that a man can do than to offer the Holy Mass.”

The pastor remarked that it has been a personal objective to conduct the Holy Mass in the most reverent manner possible, to offer as perfect a prayer as possible. 

Closely associated with the Holy Mass is administering the seven blessed sacraments. As he leaves St. Peter’s, Fr. Love’s favorite memories will be just that – the dispensing of the sacraments to the parishioners, especially those returning to or initially joining the Church.

In his words, the late-in-life quest which brought him to the altar represents nothing less than “the immensity and awesomeness of God.”