Fr. Rick Heilman was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin; baptized at Queen of Peace; went to St. Maria Goretti school, Edgewood HS, Loras College (earning a BS in Psychology) and then to the seminary in Mundelin, IL. He has a Bernese Mountain Dog named Angel that he says is the love of his life. His immediate family consists of his dad, 3 sisters and 2 brothers that all live in the Madison area. Beyond a strong Catholic upbringing, Packer parties have always been a highlight of the fall season for the Heilman family. Fr. Rick has memories of everyone gathering on Sunday afternoons for a lot of excitement of cheering the Packers on!

Fr. Rick was quite a football player in his day, and was named among players for All-State honors back in high school. He had every intention of developing into a Green Bay Packer someday, when he suffered a cracked bone in his neck during his first year in college that ended his football career. God had a different plan for him, and he eventually entered seminary to study for the priesthood.

Current ministries reaching beyond parish life? Regular guest host of Relevant Radio's The Inner Life, founder of the Catholic men's apostolate - Knights of Divine Mercy, founder of the Holy League, offers daily contributions to his teaching blog at Mary's Anawim, is the chaplain for the West Madison Homeschool families - Holy Family Homeschoolers, and a strong pro-life advocate.

What are some of your hobbies? Golf, voracious reader of all things related to being Catholic, watching sports - mainly the NFL.

What is your favorite music? Confesses he has refined his taste in music as his love for God and sense of beauty has deepened. Hans Urs von Balthasar once said, “We can be sure that whoever sneers at Beauty’s name . . . can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love.” Admits he's fallen in love with Sacred Polyphony and Chant, and has a love for all classical music. You may find him listening to hits from the 40s, 50s and 60s from time to time -- an era of simplicity and strong character that he highly respects.

What are some of your favorite books you've read? Happy Are You Poor by Fr. Thomas Dubay, Boys to Men: The Transforming Power of Virtue by Curtis Martin and Tim Gray, and Search and Rescue by Patrick Madrid.

What is your Philosophy of Life? SIMPLY LOVE

What is your favorite quote? “To say that I’m made in the image of God is to say that Love is the reason for my existence, for God is Love.” (Thomas Merton)

What is the greatest need in the world today? To recover a Godly sense of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. The secular war on the supernatural has been severe as it has devastated the hearts and minds of many of our loved ones. We must champion the cause to lift our culture beyond the debasing standards the world imposes, and begin again to live by heaven's standards. There will be no real movement in this direction until we see real reforms in the Mass which call us away from recent banal and vulgar innovations, to the splendor and majesty of sublime worship in the presence of the Divine.