A Multitasker for the Lord
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Fr. Kuna with St. Monica’s teachers-Teresa Rentar (l) and Rowena David (r) (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
“I have a habit of multitasking to keep up with my interests. So, I’ll have a Dodgers game in the background at the same time I am reading a book.” It isn’t pedantic puffery when he claims, “I find almost everything fascinating and am trying to feed my curiosity about things.”
Dodger Stadium, 2014 (the MLB team does not permit selfies) (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
Finding His Vocation in the Midwest
Fr. Vince and his older sister, Ramona, grew up in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. He is the son of Preciosa and the late Richard Kuna. His Polish American father was a biology teacher, counselor, and dean of students while his mother was a nurse. The former Preciosa Pineda came from the city of Santa Rita in Pampanga Province. She studied nursing at the University of Santo Tomas before immigrating from the Philippines to the United States in 1963.
Late father Richard, Mom Preciosa, sister Ramona, dog (Becket) (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
After earning a business degree while swimming varsity at Notre Dame University, Fr. Vince started a career as a consultant for MetLife, Inc. Two years later, he entered the seminary and was ordained in the Congregation of Holy Cross at Notre Dame in 2009.
Fr. Kuna at Notre Dame (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
He felt “the tug” of a religious calling in college but a secular path couldn’t be ignored without regret. “I went into it with the attitude of let me try it (the business world) for a year or two to confirm it’s something I don’t want to do.”
While his first instinct proved correct, the ardent priest doesn’t regret his time for discernment. As a result of his experience in what non-clerics might call the real world, “I know what it means to work. I know the stress of paying bills and having to balance a social life with a lot of different interests.” He admits, “It was nice to have more money and freedom. I was free to date.”
A Golden State
Fr. Vince has lived in Southern California for ten years. In addition to a master’s degree in divinity, he has an MFA in Film and Television Production from the University of Southern California. When he’s not celebrating daily Mass or teaching at St. Monica’s High School, he serves as a fulltime producer in the film and television studio of Family Theater Productions in Hollywood.
Fr. Kuna with parents Richard and Preciosa. MFA from USC graduation (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
A career in filmmaking made him the rare priest with an IMDb page. Where religion intersects art, Fr. Vince will neither be found picketing Martin Scorcese’s Last Temptation of Christ nor authoring encomia to the same director’s screen adaptation of Silence, Shüsaku Endõ’s novel on Jesuit missionaries in Seventeenth Century Japan. He appreciates mainstream movies (particularly those featuring Natalie Portman), calls himself a “huge Star Wars fan,” and his favorite streaming service is the Criterion Channel, which is embedded in the definition of cinephile.
Father Kuna on the set (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
“I agree with my boss, Father David Guffey at Family Theater. He sees a unhealthy pattern when it comes to new information technology. The Catholic Church condemns it initially, though the technology in and of itself is neutral. Then the Church will find a way to work with the new medium.”
Fr. Vince finds “it’s a tough balance to tread. You don’t want to always condemn it, but you don’t want to always exalt it either. You should investigate how a new technology can be used for good. I think if Saint Paul (the Apostle) had the medium of the internet, TV, or film available, he would have used it.”
Fr. Kuna at Windrider Summit/Sundance Film festival (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
Sports Theology
In the sports sector, Fr. Vince doesn’t toss Hail Mary’s or bash humdingers, but he’s more than a spectator. He has been a chaplain for the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2014 and has for almost as long celebrated Masses for visiting teams that are playing the Los Angeles Rams or Chargers.
While he may be amused by a divine bias alluded to by Tommy Lasorda’s “Big Dodger in the Sky,” Fr. Vince never petitions heaven for a team victory. “I suppose my reputation in MLB circles made for a good reference to the NFL. Part of the reason is that I never pray for one team or the other to win. I would think God is more concerned with playing up to the ability God gave athletes through their talents.”
Whenever Novak Djokovic wins, Rafael Nadal fans can take solace that Saint Mary, whose Feast Day of the Assumption this year was on August 15th, couldn’t change God’s mind either. An expert homilist, Fr. Vince explains, “Our Lady watched her son die. It wasn’t her desire for Jesus. It was the ultimate sign of humility for God.”
Fr. Vince has a recommendation that applies to more than competitive sports. “We can pray in specific way for the outcome, but simultaneously be open to the will of God. If things don’t go our way, it is a virtue to be humbled before God.”
This view of humility was illustrated by Kinzang Lhamo of Bhutan in the Women’s Olympic Marathon in Paris. “This young lady finished an hour later than the other runners, but fans stayed to cheer her on. The most uplifting participant was the one who finished last. We witnessed the paradox of the last will be first.”
But He Doesn’t Look Filipino
Fr. Vince’s dual ancestry will be a revelation even to some who see him every day. But then again, a Roman collar has a way of monopolizing attention before other observations can germinate.
Not to suggest nobody’s curious: “As a biracial, most people know I’m ‘something’. I don’t get upset if someone asks me what ethnicity I am as it usually comes from a point of curiosity and not intended to offend.”
He views his Filipino heritage as a blessing. “Simply put, Filipinos are the most joyful culture to be around. My mother is the oldest of nine siblings, so I have many cousins, and I’m considered an uncle to my cousins’ kids. Anytime I get together with them, I know I’m in for a great time.”
During winter break from his studies in 2001, he visited the Philippines with his aunts and cousins for his first and only time. They spent time in Metro Manila and his mother’s Province of Pampanga. Asked what stood out, he replies, “The faith of the people. My cousins and aunts are very devout, so there was a religious component to it. The level of faith and hospitality is inspiring.” Even to a member of the clergy.
AI and the Unfeeling Homily
Fr. Vince has a bibliophile’s repository of facts should he ever need to craft prescriptive sermons suited for elevated pulpits. Except homilies, not sermons, are the means of guidance in Catholic liturgies. Homilies use experiences to bring scriptures to life. By going places, doing stuff and seeing things, the modest reverend has personal recollections in abundance to engage listeners with the gospels and readings. AI is the master of objective truth and can be witty at times, but it doesn’t yet have personal stories regular folks can relate to.
Fr. Kuna at mass (Photo courtesy of Fr. Vince Kuna)
ChatGPT has an answer for every question, including how many sermon writers can fit in an elevator: “If an elevator has a capacity of 1,000 kg (2,200 lbs.) and you assume each sermon writer weighs about 75 kg (165 lbs.), the elevator could hold approximately 13 sermon writers (1,000 ÷ 75 = ~13).”
Ask ChatGPT for a sermon on the Bible’s Prodigal Son, you get five of them. For example, of the Father’s Unconditional Love, an excerpt reads: “This is the heart of the Gospel—the unconditional love and grace of our Heavenly Father. No matter how far we have wandered, no matter how deep our sin, God is always ready to welcome us back with open arms. He does not hold our past against us but celebrates our return. The father’s embrace is a powerful reminder that God’s love is not earned but freely given. It is a love that restores us to our rightful place as His children.”
He views his Filipino heritage as a blessing. “Simply put, Filipinos are the most joyful culture to be around.”
ChatGPT has four homilies based on the Prodigal Son. A portion of its response regarding the Father’s Unconditional Love goes: “This image of the father running to his son is a beautiful depiction of God’s love for us. God is always ready to welcome us back, no matter what we have done. His mercy knows no bounds, and He rejoices when we return to Him. This is the heart of the Gospel—the good news that God’s love is greater than our sin, and His forgiveness is always within reach.”
Not bad for a machine, but homilies aren’t advice columns. AI homilies aren’t based on human experiences to relate parables to people. Maybe someday ChatGPT will have access to ubiquitous surveillance cameras to build its database of firsthand observations on human behavior, but for the foreseeable future, Fr. Vince has the upper hand.
Last year, Anthony Maddela enjoyed life and deeply valued time with caring friends and family along Lake Maggiore in Italy and throughout the Brittany region of France. This October he and wife Susan hope to see the Northern Lights and puffins when they’re in Iceland. Travel doesn’t make us immune to disease, but it does inject happiness into whatever time we have left.
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