PARISHIONER
Tom Januzzi:
O
n Aug. 11, 2016, Tom Januzzi had an extraordinary experience that has since inspired him every day. “I am a judge, and it had been a hard day at work as we had heard some difficult cases,” Tom says. “I went outside and saw that the sky looked so beautiful, so I took a picture of it. Then I noticed that it was about to rain, and there was a lady walking outside who was going to get poured on. I got her attention, and she said she was deaf and could only read lips. So, I gave her a ride home, took her cart out of the car, and gave her a hug. She said, ‘thank you’ in sign language to me.” When Tom arrived home that evening, Our Lord had a unique blessing in store for him. “I looked at the picture I had taken, and I clearly saw the face of Jesus in it,” Tom says. “When I looked at it a few weeks later, I saw other images in it as well, including one of Mother Mary. In fact, whenever I look at it, I see holy images in it, and it reminds me of the qualities of God’s love.” Years later, Tom still cherishes the photo and spreads its message of hope with those he cares about. “I give a copy of the photo along with my faith story to each one of our grandchildren when they make their First Communion,” Tom says. “I will continue to do this because I consider it to be an important part of our family history. I want them to know that their grandfather believes in Jesus and that his prayer life gives him a special relationship with God and the Blessed Mother.” The experience Tom had with the photo often reminds him of the blessings and spiritual gifts he has enjoyed throughout his life and encourages him to grow ever closer to Christ. Since 2014, he has prayed the Rosary every single day without fail. He also prays at least an hour and a half before he begins each day. “The more you pray, the more you will have a connection to Jesus, the Father, and the saints,” Tom says. “And page 4
The photo taken by Tom Januzzi on Aug. 11, 2016
even though you may be busy, I have found that the more you pray, the more you have time to pray.” Tom draws wisdom, strength, and peace from his wellspring of daily prayer. This enables him to be a faithful husband to Margie and a dedicated father to their four daughters and 12 grandchildren. When Tom and Margie were raising their children, they lived a full Catholic family life, embracing the stewardship vision, which essentially begins at home. “We went to Mass every Sunday, and we sent all four of our daughters to Catholic school from kindergarten through high school,” Tom says. “We always had prayer time at meals and in the evenings. I began teaching Parish School of Religion (PSR) when our daughters were in school. The Catholic faith has always been very important to our family. Thankfully, all of our children are still churchgoing Christians, with three of them being Catholic. Our grandchildren attend church regularly as well, which is something we encourage them to do.” Tom embraces his call to Catholic fatherhood by sharing God’s truths with his children in creative ways.
