New Book Brings St. Faustina's Message of Jesus to You
Catholics who know their faith are often frustrated at the plethora of ignorance and misunderstandings about the Church and its teaching.
You might find yourself saying with impatience, “Why don’t they just find out what the Church really teaches and convert?”
It’s helpful to know that many of these people ignorant of Church teaching are sincerely open to the fullness of truth, and that God honors their good intentions with his graces.
Recall to mind the words of our Lord, “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold….” (John 10:16)
The Church’s Vatican II document, “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions” (Nostra aetate) says that,
[O]ther religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions.
And a few sentences later in that document, the Church says that it,
[P]roclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself.
So we must respect what is good in other religions, and at the same time point to the fullness of the faith that is found within the Catholic fold.
One example is the journey of Fr. Daniel Bowen, O. de M., who was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, and then became involved with the Assemblies of God as part of his search for the truth. That search led to the Catholic Church and eventually to the priesthood.
Father Daniel shared his experience recently on the popular EWTN program “The Journey Home. with Marcus Grodi.
After many experiences as a young man searching, he said, “I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God the Father loves me,” he told the host.
“And that he loves me as a son, in his Son Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. And my whole world was changed in a deeper way. The stage had been set within the Catholic Church, but it had not really sunk down.”
Read the full coverage of the EWTN interview, “From Jehovah's Witness to Mercedarian Priest.”
There were happy memories growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness. He remembers his mother easing her sons to sleep, who had the typical childhood fears. “She would read from the Scriptures, the New World Translation of the Bible. And she would stay in the chair until we had fallen asleep. Good memories of that nature.”
Growing up in a Witness family, he learned of Noah and Adam and Eve and all the figures of the Old Testament. “As a child I firmly believed in Jehovah God, as God,” he recalled.
However, as a young teen he, like many people his age, questioned his religious upbringing. Among those 18 to 34 years old, 30% do not have any religion at all, according to a University of Chicago study. So he left the Jehovah’s Witnesses and fell away from religious practices.
But his religious interests were rekindled after he began dating a Catholic girl. “The idea was that if you wanted to be serious with her you had to go to Mass,” he explained. He began RCIA classes to learn the faith in earnest. Fr. Daniel was received into the Church on Easter Vigil in 1994.
However, he fell away from the practice of his Catholic faith. But God, who is sometimes called the hound of heaven, sought him out in an unusual way. It was through membership in the Assemblies of God. He experienced a firm belief in God. “My whole world changed in a deeper way,” he said.
Then, a friend invited him to go on a Catholic retreat entitled, Teens Encounter Christ. Although an adult, he experienced God’s presence in a powerful way. He went to confession, and joined in with anointed songs there. And God seemed to speak to him in the Eucharist. “This is where you belong” He seemed to say.
And although Father has found “home” in the Catholic Church, and as a Mercedarian priest, he has great respect for evangelicals, such as those whom he met in the Assemblies of God.
“The Spirit was definitely alive in the Assembly and with those people.”
Fr. Daniel professed his solemn vows with the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy in 2014 and was ordained a priest in 2015. Read more about Father’s early experiences with the Order of Mercy.
When asked what advice would you give to a young person who is considering religious life, Fr. Daniel says,
“It is a great gift given by God to some, not all. It is a precious calling to be intimate with God and others in a way that no other lifestyle can match. It is a summons to love fully and without holding back. To proclaim boldly to our world that not only God exists, but that He knows and loves us.
“That I am willing to forsake the goods of this life and world, in order to embrace, here and now, the blessing that God desires for us in heaven. My advice: Go for it!!! Do not be afraid, or put it off, go find out if this is God’s will for your life. If it is, you will have the best life. If it is God’s will, then there will be a peace and a deep, profound joy that will be under it all.”
Read the full interview with Fr. Daniel on the Catholic Writers Guild website, or the Aleteia article, “From Jehovah’s Witness to religious priest and vocations director: Meet Fr. Bowen.”
Men, where are you in your spiritual journey? Is God calling you to religious life? To life as a friar in the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy? Why not find out?
Contact Fr. Daniel Bowen, O. de M., at frdanielbowen@gmail.com, or Br. Dominic Whetzel, O. de M. at socialmediacoordinator.merced@gmail.com. Learn more by going to the vocations page of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, or call 727-348-4060.