Soofoo's Blog

Soofoo's blog. Yes, that's right. I lack the expertise, time, and energy to produce a full-blown website at this time, but I have been told that I can write fairly well, so this seemed like a good way to get some thoughts out in the open.

Who am I? My name is Paul Sadek. As of this writing, I am 52 years old, married almost 27 years, the father of one daughter, age 21. I am a Catholic convert of 26-going on 27-years. I wanted to work in radio from the time I was about 12; and when I entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, I wanted to put my mass-media talents and energies to work in the service of the Church. So today, I manage a Catholic radio station in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The time in between amounts to several other stories; and perhaps I'll get to them in time.

Who is Soofoo? Back in about 1986, Fr. Hal Stockert talked me into buying my first modem. The internet was not yet available to the public, but he invited me to participate on some Catholic forums on standalone online services. Fr. Hal is forever known as "Avatar" (or "'Tar" for short), and it was necessary for me to concoct a screen name quickly. At the time, I lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and a locally used nickname for the town was "Soo Foo": The team name of the local Baptist college, the University of Sioux Falls, was the Cougars, and they were affectionately referred to as the "Soo Foo Coo"; a local drumline, composed of area high school students, calls itself "Su Fu Du." So, at a time when modems were relatively new consumer items, and the internet was not even yet a widely known term, I became Soofoo. It's a screen name which I have used in various online activities, most recently on IRC (Internet Relay Chat), on a channel called #catholic on the DALnet IRC network. I answer to Soofoo, Paul, or "hey, you."

Why Catholic? That could be a book in itself, but I'll try to summarize it quickly in this first post. I was raised in a mainline Protestant denomination; but from the time I began to learn about the Catholic faith in my youth, I had a "gut feeling" that it was the "real thing." When I married a Catholic girl, it was the "excuse" that I needed to look into it more deeply. Somewhere along the way during my instruction, I received the grace to believe that the Catholic Church has the authority to teach-and that made the rest easy to first accept, and ultimately embrace. What was the main draw? Simple: the eucharist. The Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ which we have the privilege of receiving, consuming, and becoming a part of, at every celebration of the mass.

There are many details on which to elaborate, and I will get to those. Patience.