Bengaluru: “My wife is the first Catholic in her family in over 400 years. After we became Catholics, my wife Janet and I lost both of our families. They would not talk to us. We lost every friend we had in two weeks and we have found better friends now.”
A 3000-strong audience rained thunderous applause on July 24 as Baptist-turned-Catholic Stephen K. Ray, an American, shared his life story at a Catholic charismatic convention in Bengaluru, southern India. They came from across Bengaluru for the ‘Magnificat’ conference organized by the Divine Retreat Centre of the Vincentian Congregation.
Sharing his conviction that the Catholic Church and its hierarchy are established by God Himself and “to which all other denomination must be drawn to,” the 61-year-old said, “I like you to know that you are very blessed to have the Archbishop here because there’s lot would like to steal him away from you. He is a good man. You take care of him also keep your priests by frequenting the confession and seeking spiritual help from them for they are ordained by God to serve the Church”.
“How many of you would like to be up here speaking with the archbishop sitting right there in front of you?” he asked the crowds.
He was talking on the lines of the vast exodus of Catholics out of the church to the hundreds of neo-Christian groups popping up all over the city. He observed that some are small storefront operations while others are huge Assemblies of God churches with tens of thousands of members and many pastors own four homes and lives an opulent lifestyle.
Archbishop Bernard Moras set the tone of the conference in his homily saying, “The Gospel parable of the weeds and the wheat growing together throws light on the kind of world we live in today. We are constantly exposed to enemies of the Word of God who through the evil one sow seeds of destruction and discord in our hearts and minds. “Only when we are strongly founded on God’s Word, we will be able to stand united together against the schemes of the evil one”.
The prelate, who sat through the four-hour conference, also added “In this Year of Mercy, declared by the Holy Father, the parable also invites us to contemplate on God’s mercy like the farmer who waits patiently till he separates the weeds from the wheat”.
The gathering of priests, religious and laity, mindless of the dark clouds that threatened rain listened with rapt attention as Ray began. “You pray to Mary, We pray to God. You get to heaven by your Works and we get to heaven by Faith alone and we figured that Catholics have everything upside down and it was our job to get you all saved. And now look where I am.”
After the crowds burst into laughter and applause, he continued “I am standing up here to tell you why I love that tradition and I became a Catholic, and when I did, my wife and I never looked back.”
Ray and Janet were received into the Catholic Church with his whole immediate family on Pentecost Sunday, May 22, 1994. They live with their four children in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Raised in a devout, loving Baptist family and whose father was a deacon and Bible teacher, Ray recounted how he himself was involved in the Baptist Church as a teacher of Biblical studies and lectured on a wide range of topics.
Tracing his path to conversion from scorn of the Catholic Church to embracing it with deep conviction he testified “Most of the time I start to cry in the Mass when I say ‘I believe in the One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church’ because I could never say that before. I love being Catholic. I also cry when I walk to the aisle to receive the body of Christ (Holy Communion). I used to make fun of and mock the Holy Eucharist. We (my wife and I) cried through the whole Mass during first six years.”
Adding a dash of humor, he said, “Becoming a Catholic has turned me into a big cry baby. It’s a good thing I think. I always wanted to have a tender heart to the Lord”.
Ray who visited The Holy Land at least a hundred times and read as many books on the Catholic Faith before making the “big decision” observed that only the Catholic Church has the Sacred altar where Christ stands in the person of the Priest while other denominations have only the pulpit.
Commenting on the mushrooming of ‘house churches’ and splinter Christian groups in the city and also such ‘Church pastors’ across the world indulging in money dealings he asked “Why do want to steal members from the Catholic Church? Can they bring people from other religions to Christ and form a Church like the Catholic Church?”
Heaping praise on the congregation gathered under a huge tent, Steve said “I always hear people say Catholics can’t sing only Protestants can sing. You proved them wrong to me”. He applauded the Faith of Catholics here as “devout Indian Christians come to praise Jesus, celebrate the Mass and hear a talk to be inspired to become better Christians.”
Joseph Aloysius Kanthraj, a participant and organizing team member, told Matters India “Steve’s testimony of conversion makes me feel proud and empowered to be a Catholic. His exhortation to be deep-rooted in the Word of God, obedient to authorities in the Church who are our Shepherds and to realize that the Catholic Church is the first to give us the Bible makes me feel strengthened in my love for the Catholic Church. I am sure this is everybody’s experience today…”
Ray spends time researching, writing, and teaching about the Catholic Faith across the world.