Today, Troy loves visiting and sharing his experiences with the people who stop in at his pub. He also sees it as an opportunity to help others.
Over the years, he said, he has had many chances to talk through people’s problems with them. In offering them support and advice, he often encourages people to pray about their difficulties. He believes that God has given him a special ability to speak and connect with people, and that he should use this gift to help others.
All Catholics are called to be “charitable people,” he explained, and we can all do something “in our own little silent way.”
One of the ways in which Troy tries to give back to the community is by hosting Theology on Tap, a program that is sponsored by the diocese of Arlington. He welcomes young adults to his pub multiple times each year to hear speakers on a variety of topics involving faith and contemporary life.
Troy said that he has had a “wonderful” experience hosting Theology on Tap over the years, and that it has become a kind of “family community.”
He recalled a particularly touching experience several years ago, when he asked Theology on Tap participants to pray each week for his new granddaughter, Mairead, who weighed less than two pounds at birth.
Everyone did, and today, Mairead is a healthy 4-year-old girl, whom Troy has even brought into the pub on several occasions.
Troy has returned multiple times to visit Ireland, a country that has undergone significant changes since his youth. He reminisced about the days when the churches in Ireland were nearly full. Now, he noted, they are almost empty.
Troy said that he is sad to see so many young people leaving their faith. But he believes that the Blessed Mother “will intervene” on behalf of Ireland and the country “will come back” to the Catholic Church.
Despite any challenges that the future may hold for him, Troy is confident that God will continue to guide and bless him. “It all comes because of your faith,” he said.
Michelle La Rosa is deputy editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. She has worked for CNA since 2011. She studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.