The chaplain of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team encouraged students of Marian High School’s chapter of Catholic Athletes for Christ to follow coach Marcus Freeman’s mantra, “choose hard,” in their academic and academic pursuits during a Zoom meeting held Monday at Marian.

The Rev. Nate Wills gave of his time on a hectic day to discuss the importance of living one’s faith in athletics and beyond during the 11 a.m. to noon presentation arranged by Marian’s theology department chairman and director of campus ministry, Pat Smith, and Mark Napierski, development director at the Allentown Diocese Mercy School for Special Learning, a former Irish football player for the 1985-86 season.

Joining the program was Dean Donaher, principal of Bethlehem Catholic High School, who said he is interested in forming a CAC chapter at the diocesan school.

Father Nate, the author of “Pray Like a Champion,” spent time with the student-athletes just 1-2 hours before he was to concelebrate the funeral Mass of legendary Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz.

During questioning, he addressed how the Notre Dame student-athletes incorporate their faith into their hectic schedule and hinted the Marian students can do the very same, stressing, “Notre Dame is not the only place you’ll find a deep life of faith in Christ … but I’d encourage all of us, wherever we are, to be that light shining in darkness that is so needed in our world today.”

Speaking about Freeman’s “choose hard” philosophy, the priest said it “is so important for the next generation to follow that mantra,” which Freeman created in the team’s weight room, telling his players they could either go through the motions or push themselves, or select a harder, more rewarding path daily.

The mantra emphasized all students on the South Bend, Indiana, campus to embrace difficult choices in everything they do, as opposed to “taking the easy path.”

Father Nate noted, “There are more temptations today than ever before to take the easy path in life. Your generation will have to find ways to battle that. Learning is hard, athletics is hard, academics are hard, but there is no shortcut to overcoming them, and you can, if you ‘choose hard.’ ”

The session gave students a number of Father Nate’s outlooks and experiences he had for the past 18 years on the college campus, including how to focus on their faith, how the Fighting Irish players make time to do that, and creating relationships that last a lifetime.

“At Notre Dame, we’ve maintained a culture that has been pretty remarkable and a lot of it is being driven by students who are taking ownership and responsibility,” he said. “And they stay close to scripture. The more we can stay close to scripture (the better), that’s the heart of living a Christian life.”

Asked about the atmosphere at South Bend, Father Nate said, “It’s a culture built on fellowship and trust. The trust that is built is an essential part of it. You know people are going to be there for you, that they’ve got your back. So it’s a movement towards embracing humility, owning your mistakes, being honest and doing what’s right.”

When a student queried him about pursuing their faith in a college atmosphere, he suggested, “Keep it simple and don’t overemphasize it; spend 15 minutes a day in silent prayer; attend Mass on Sundays; and stay close to scripture.” Suggesting the students can follow the same path, he added, “College is a time when you are forming the life ahead of you, your beliefs, who you are and what you really believe in and who you want to be. One of the most joyful things of my experience is seeing people come alive in their faith and take ownership of their faith.”

Father Nate told the students they have choices to make with regard to their exercising their faith, saying, “(At Notre Dame) A number of guys have a deep faith and keep God close to them, but they don’t wear it on their sleeve. That’s OK. Some are more comfortable being teachers and evangelists, and that’s OK, too. Others take the position they are going to be a witness to their faith by actions, such as how they treat other people, are they there for others, do they invite others into conversations, or asking them about their journey.

“There’s room for all those options. There’s many ways in which you can evangelize.”