He once dropped his National Hockey League (NHL) gloves to enforce his will on opponents; now John Scott is the patriarch of the Scott family and leading their fight for eternal salvation.
As John attests, it is a good fight worth pursuing.
God is working in the hearts of the Scott family in an effort to model the essence of the domestic church. John and Danielle, his wife of 15 years, are parenting seven girls ages 1-11, and Danielle also serves as educator as she homeschools four of the seven girls.
The Scotts are parishioners at Holy Rosary Parish in Cedar, where John is an altar server and some of the Scott children serve as cantors during weekday Masses.
Daily Mass is an important part of their school day, as it teaches the girls how to center their priorities during their formative years. The Mass is the prayer of all prayers. We go to offer ourselves and give thanks for all he is doing for this family, reflects Danielle.
Our days are structured with schoolwork, music and duties around the house, but this structure also allows for flexibility to be able to attend daily Mass and have time in the mornings and throughout the day for prayer, she adds.
“I have a real love for the Divine Office,” shares Danielle. “And one of my favorite parts of homeschooling is being able to pray the psalms in choir with my girls. It’s such a gift.”
As the patriarch, John works to enforce the teachings of Christ for his family through his commitment to the family prayer life.
“I think it is really important for men to stand up and lead their families,” says the retired NHL player who is now a mechanical engineer in Traverse City.
“Don’t be afraid to stand up and say, ‘We are praying a rosary’ or ‘We are going to church.’ That is lacking in today’s society. I feel like the wives and these women are just holding up these men. Whereas it should be the other way around.”
John’s words embody strength and clarity for the formation of the domestic church and for family life. His conviction is an inspiration for all those trying to lead their families through the challenges of secularism in today’s society.
Navigating the Temptations
His life, however, was not always rooted in the Catholic faith nor clearly focused. While his priorities were grounded during his years in the NHL, life on the road had its temptations.
“I have always had my guardian angel in overdrive,” John states as he reflects on his days in the league. The league can be an outlet where individuals lose their moral grounding if you are not focused and vigilant.
In a previous interview, John states, “When you go out on the road and you are with your teammates, these guys are making decisions that are not necessarily good. Most of the time it is not a good decision. You go out to eat with them at a restaurant and then most of them go out to the bar afterward or to the club. And I will go home.”
John admits that he is not perfect, but his morals are rooted in family life.
“Players get caught up in the money, fame and success and live this superficial life. To some degree, I was the same way. While I didn’t get caught up in the night life of the league, I was not going to church much, or praying at all,” he reflects.
John was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. He arrived in the States to play college hockey for Michigan Technological University in the U.P., which is where he met his then future-wife Danielle.
Growing up, he was not associated with any formal organized religion, so his moral foundation during his playing years was largely instinctual but became cultivated through Danielle’s guidance and loving wisdom.
Simply put: “Behind any good man is an even better woman,” he says.
Leading The Good Fight
both parents need to act as roles models
and lead their seven daughters in prayer daily.
Here, the whole Scott family are on their
way to Mass.
His perspectives became steadfast when he met Danielle, a cradle Catholic from Traverse City; they married and started a growing family.
John reflects, “As my children were getting baptized in the faith, I felt it was time to do this and jump all in. To take the faith seriously, and get baptized to lead my family.”
Since his baptism in 2017, John has been immersing himself in the faith. “The kids see the role of the father and his impact. It is important to see the father engaged in prayer.”
John and his wife make it a daily practice to pray a family rosary, say the Angelus and make a morning offering. Likewise, they reserve time for reading scripture and spiritual meditation and reflection.
“My family is my sanctification,” says Danielle. “God is good; each child makes me love in a new way. They wear down my selfishness, test my patience and draw out of me a purer love, one day at a time.” she adds.
When asked how she keeps things together with seven children, Danielle reflects: “It’s all grace. Most days I have no idea how things are going to work out, but I put my best foot forward, and then trust. I also tend to talk a lot to Our Lady, and my angel, which of course helps. Not everything happens the way that I’d like or would expect, but I find that the important things always manage to get done.”
Things get messy, but as Danielle attests: “The messes help us let go and rely more on God, they teach us to put our trust in him and not in ourselves.”
“I’ve learned that it’s where my natural abilities end that the good stuff happens. It’s uncomfortable, but if I just remember to love, then God makes the worst of situations beautiful. I just have to focus on loving the person in front of me, because that is really all I can do, and in the end the only thing that matters.”
Danielle’s insight is a testament to what God calls all of us to do: to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and place our challenges under his guidance.
The Scotts emphasis on living out an authentic witness of the faith is further grounded in John’s near death experience when he fell into icy waters while clearing off his dock to ice skate and play hockey.
John grew up playing pond hockey in Canada, and has always felt comfortable on the ice, but in 2019 everything changed. He went down to clear the rink for a family skate, even though there were fishing shanties in clear sight, the ice gave way beneath him.
Very quickly he was hit with the realization that he was alone in 20 feet of freezing water and that his young family was at home waiting for him. Somehow he was able to pull himself out and make it safely back to the house, but his perspective on life changed.
He assessed his position in his spiritual life and really took stock in preparing himself for death. “Are you right with the Lord? Are you going north or are you going south? What’s going to happen when you die?”
His experience puts this life in perspective and demonstrates that taking self-assessment with one’s immortal soul is necessary for an eternal judgment.
Growing in Holiness
When asked what the Scotts envision for the future, they agree it is to continue to grow in holiness as a family. “Our parish has become our little Garden of Eden,” reflects John. It offers countless opportunities to grow and continue understanding God’s call and how it is at work in our life.
Danielle adds, “I’m so grateful for what God has given us to form our girls in the faith, it’s so much more than I ever had, and it gives me a lot of hope. Yes, we live in dark times, but there are thriving Catholic communities that are really living the truth. We saw this recently when we traveled to La Crosse, WI to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
“I loved it there! I had to keep pinching myself. It really felt like a little slice of heaven on earth. The beauty of the grounds, the church, the music and the liturgy, but it was really the people that you encountered there. You could see God working in all of them. He is alive and providing for those that love him.”
John and Danielle also reserve their monthly Teams of Our Lady outings as a date night and growth opportunity.
Teams of Our Lady is an international lay movement in the Catholic Church, designed to enrich marriage spirituality and make good marriages better. Teams provide a proven method of increasing and improving prayer life, which will help couples grow closer to God and each other.
“We don’t always look forward to our meetings, but it’s good for us and it helps keep us accountable. It’s so important to invest in your marriage. We’re also in a local Catholic business group called Martinus, which we look forward to each month as a night out with like-minded friends. It’s an opportunity to take time to reconnect and have fun.” says Danielle.
“Marriage is hard, but that is why God made it a sacrament! I find a lot of peace in knowing that grace does the heavy lifting. We will be sanctified as long as we are willing and don’t give up,” she adds.
Their unified oneness is how they approach all family matters because, as John reminds, the end goal is eternal life in heaven.
The tides of marriage shifted in 2016 when John relied on the steadiness and support of his wife to negotiate a challenge in his NHL career.
He was voted to the NHL All-Star Game, but conflict and actions taken by NHL league officials trying to prevent him from actually playing in the game was tiring him out. Despite questioning the possible good in the situation, John stayed the course and through an abundance of fan support and votes, he got on the ice and he went on to score two goals in the game and win the MVP of the game.
He chronicles the events in The Players Tribune article, “A Guy Like Me,” which is moving towards motion picture adaptation with an unknown release date.
As John and Danielle attest through these events, God has a plan for everything. John’s play in the game narrates an inspirational story of perseverance that is rooted in the guidance of God and the steadiness of his loving wife.
Both John and Danielle lean on each other for support in raising their girls. Their commitment to each other and God is a loving witness for the domestic church: God will provide and offer graces to negotiate the challenges of life.
The “enforcer” reputation that he garnered during his career has transitioned into an “enforcer” of love and wisdom for the ultimate All-Star game: growing in holiness in this life. This is what John and Danielle are working to instill in their seven girls.
