The veteran said MLB accommodates players who want to put their faith first by having access to chapels and churches on Sunday.
"We have a cool system here in baseball," he said. "On Sundays, they come to us and provide us with a chapel to worship and also provide a church because since we play on Sundays, sometimes it is very difficult to get to church. When we are playing at home, I make sure I go to church, especially during all of the off-season."
The 35-year old said he does more to get involved in his faith.
"That is all good and great but as you become more disciplined, then there is more of a need for God and all of a sudden, you take on a more proactive approach," he said. "I'm in it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Whenever I can hear the word of God, I'm there. It's important to really seek God whichever position you are in."
The Gold Glove winner (2008) and 2009 All-Star Game participant (both as a Tampa Bay Ray) travels all over the country as a baseball player and says he always has his Bible with him.
"I make sure I have time to read the word of God and also have time for prayer," he said. "I lead my dreams and requests to God and pray on a daily basis. Ever since I was a kid, I told God and prayed to him that if it is your will, let me be a baseball player. It was shown to me that I had to work hard and put forth a lot of effort to get here but I never forgot the number one priority was making sure that God allowed it.
"Every time I go out there on the field, I pray to my Savior that I can perform and do well."
Peña said critics who say that God doesn't care about sports don't get the nature of God.
"God is omnipresent and He is everywhere all at once," Peña said.
"We shouldn't put God in a box and say he is only there for Sundays. You need to bring Him with you everywhere you go. Whether you are a baseball player or working in an office, you need to bring Him with you. We are trying to be an expression of Him. I want to be the vehicle he uses to express myself to really build the kingdom. We are working for God at the end of the day. In my vocation as a baseball player, it is really cool to hit a home run because it feels like divine intervention, that God had a hand in it."
Peña said God loves everyone.
"So I think it is wrong to think that God only cares about big things," he said. "Of course he cares about big things but He also cares about trivial things. I also think it is silly to think that God only listens to certain prayers that are more important than others. I think it is silly to think that way. It goes against what God is."
Having reached the World Series (with Tampa Bay) in 2008, Peña believes that God uses professional players like him to serve the youth.
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"We have a platform here, where it's cool to be a professional athlete," he said. "This makes us have a power of influence over a lot of young people to bring people to church. There are a lot of distractions the youth have to deal with such as drugs, crimes, and peer pressure. But, when they see an athlete on television that's hitting home runs and praising God at the same time, it sends a powerful message to them. So I think that's how God uses me as a vehicle and I never take that for granted. It's a gift from God. I make sure I use that platform for God."
Posted with permission from the Catholic Sports Association, an organization dedicated to highlighting Catholic sports professionals and enriching junior high and high school student-athletes with Catholic sports articles, conferences, a Web series, and other programs.