ENCORE: Burn survivor to Catholic educators: ‘You can make a huge difference!’

It’s really important, I think, that we grab folks where they are, to humble ourselves to be with them, and then to walk with them.”

John O’Leary, inspirational speaker

CLICK HERE to read a related story about “Soul on Fire” in the St. Louis Review.

This article was originally published in the Oct. 7, 2011, issue of The Catholic Missourian. John O’Leary’s life is the subject of “Soul on Fire,” a major motion picture that will be released into theaters Oct. 10.

John O’Leary knows firsthand how much of a difference a sacrificial commitment can make for a child.

So Mr. O’Leary, who as a 9-year-old survived third-degree burns to 100 percent of his body, asked 610 Catholic school educators to pray and write down their best answer to the question: “What more can I do?”

“It’s a simple question,” he said. “Ask it from the core of your being. Be bold and vulnerable and big in your commitment. Then slip into the silence of God. And then take action.”

Mr. O’Leary, an international motivational speaker and lifelong Catholic raised and educated near St. Louis, was the keynote speaker at this year’s Diocesan Teachers Institute Sept. 26.

The theme was “Catholic Schools: Keys to the Future, Keys to the Kingdom.”

In pictures and words, holding up the heroism of his own family and a man with a familiar voice, he pleaded with teachers, parents and leaders of all stripes to make the leap from anger to love, from fear to faith, and from despair to hope.

“People can change if they’re fighting for something bigger than themselves,” he said. “When you know your WHY, you can endure any HOW.”

Now happily married, with a good job and three children (four children as of 2025), Mr. O’Leary clearly remembers the fire that ravaged his body and left him with almost no chance of survival.

“Twenty-six years ago, I was a little guy on my back, lying there naked, wanting to die,” he said. “And I had no clothes and I had no skin and I had no hope and I had no faith.”

He talked about how his brother burned himself while carrying Mr. O’Leary outside and got burned while rolling Mr. O’Leary’s still-burning body into the yard and put the fire out. He told of how his 11-year-old sister held onto him and kept repeating, “Have faith in God. It’s going to be okay,” and how his 6-year-old sister kept crawling into the smoke-filled house to fill up a glass of water to pour onto his scalded face.

“And her faith, her courage that morning in many regards is why I have my face today,” he said.

He talked about he expected his parents to be angry with him for accidentally setting himself on fire. Instead, they were unconditionally loving and reassuring.

“Mom and dad were my heroes, and not because they were perfect, but because they believed in me, no matter what,” Mr. O’Leary said.

He remembered asking his mother if he was going to die. She held his hand and asked him, “Do you want to die? It’s your choice, not mine.”

She then lovingly told him: “You’ve got to take the hand of Christ, you’ve got to walk the way with Him, and you’ve got to FIGHT like you never thought you could.”

“That advice rings true to me today,” he said. “That day was a day for fighting, not looking back, and to move forward not out of anger, but to move forward fueled by love.”

He also remembered his dad saying to him, “John, I have never been so PROUD of anybody in my entire life. My little boy, I am so proud today of YOU!”

“Hey, kid ...”

Mr. O’Leary then talked about the man who decades of St. Louis baseball fans knew as “The Voice of the Cardinals.” Mr. O’Leary was tied to his bed and could not move, eat, speak or see during the first of Jack Buck’s numerous visits to his hospital room. By promising to celebrate “Jack O’Leary Day” during a Cardinal game at Busch Memorial Stadium, Mr. Buck helped Mr. O’Leary find a reason to survive.

A nurse told Mr. Buck that the boy had almost no chance of surviving. Mr. Buck responded by going home, weeping about it, praying about it, and then asking, “What more can I do?”

He kept coming back to visit, almost daily. Then, by sending him a baseball signed by Hall of Fame Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith and other players each time he penned a thank-you note, Mr. Buck gave him an incentive to learn how to write again so he could go back to school.

Mr. O’Leary said it’s the kind of creative, ingenious thing Jesus would do — standing face-to-face with people, motivating them on their own terms and then walking with them.

“It’s really important, I think, that we grab folks where they are,” Mr. O’Leary stated, “to humble ourselves to be with them, and then to walk with them.”

It took Mr. O’Leary about 20 years, but he now believes his scars are “an amazing gift from God.”

He reminded a cathedral full of educators that they are called by God to serve Him in a special way, by serving children who are created in His image.

“In serving, you inspire people to move forward toward the kingdom,” he said.

The audience gave Mr. O’Leary a long, standing ovation.

“Unremembered acts of love”

At Mass, Bishop John R. Gaydos preached a homily about Jesus’ instruction to His followers to welcome children as they would welcome Him, and about St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s “little way” of serving God.

“This is what Jesus wants us to do — living simply for each day, because each day may be our last,” the bishop said. “The little things become the map through which we trace the territory of our lives, discovering in detail the sense of those little unremembered acts of kindness and love that surrounds us.

“It’s a tall order, but it is a great theme for us to try to help share with those in our charge in this coming year, the Good News of God’s love and the power of His grace in the most incredible ways,” he said.

A choir made up of Catholic educators from throughout the diocese led and accompanied the singing at Mass. Deacons James Skahan and Michael Brooks, principals of St. Joseph School in Westphalia and St. Patrick School in Rolla, respectively, assisted the bishop. Volunteers for the day included students from Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City.

The rest of the day, teachers and administrators attended workshops on various topics, given by local and national speakers.

Before leaving, they all prayed, “As we take away what we have learned from today’s presentations, give us the grace we need so that we truly will be the key to success in our schools. We pray all this in the Name of Jesus.”