Dr. Kuhlman stood with nine Eucharistic ministers preparing to serve communion at the 9 a.m. Mass. Devoted to serving St. Isaac Joques Church, he chose a ministry that made his heart pump faster. He grasped the communion wafer and placed it carefully in the hands of those who approached. “The body of Christ. The body of Christ. The body of Christ.” After communion, he returned to the front pew. He sat alone.
Geoffrey was not a religious child. How could he, being reared in an agnostic family. His dad was Catholic; his mother and younger brother were not. After his father died, Geoff was seven and too young to make any demands on his religious upbringing. His uncle could have raised him Catholic, but the distance between them made it difficult. “I don’t have anger toward my parents because they didn’t go to church, send me to Bible camp or tell me stories about Jesus at Christmas. I didn’t know what I was missing.”
Geoffrey believes that Jesus had a plan for him. In high school and college, he dated Catholic girls. “God was dropping a few hints, I think.” Curious about Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit, he listened to religious conversations. At Loyola Medical School—run by the Jesuits—he met students, nurses, doctors and professors filled with faith. “How could people with science backgrounds believe in God?” he asked.