Articles Archives - The Coming Home Network

The Queenship of Mary – CHNetwork Community Question

mattswaim — Thu, 09 May 2024 14:40:33 +0000

The month of May includes a special devotion to Mary in Catholic parishes throughout the world. In 1987, the bishops of the United States dedicated the month of May to Mary as the Queen of Heaven, encouraging the May Crowning devotion, where a statue of the Blessed Mother in the church is crowned with a wreath of flowers, and flowers are laid at her feet.

Devotion to Mary can often be a stumbling block for Protestants who are curious about the Catholic Church. This month, we asked our members: “At any point in your journey, have you been bothered by talking about Mary as ‘Queen of Heaven?’ If so, why? And has anything helped you better understand this title for her?” Here is what some of them had to say:

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“Seeing Mary as the woman with the 12 star crown standing on the moon in the heavens in Revelation 12:1 was a clincher very early in my journey to the Catholic Church along with us being the rest of her offspring in Revelation 12:17.”

– Howard H.

“I used to be (troubled by it), until it was explained that in history, the mother of a king was often the queen of a nation. Then it made sense that Our Lady is the Queen of Heaven.”

– Janis J.

“I privately asked the question on occasion where our heavenly mother was over the years. There was never a context for it in my understanding of Christianity. Protestants barely acknowledge Mary and denigrate her implicitly. But, I thought, in families there’s a father and mother. I wondered who the mother was in the heavenly family. Now I know. Understanding the Queen Mother’s role was the key that unlocked the Church’s theology on Mary in that regard.”

– Anna Y.

“When I first read about it, it made perfect sense. It was a kind of ‘DUH!’ moment (Mother of the King is the Queen Mother) and it also clicked with the woman crowned with the twelve stars in the Apocalypse. So no, it didn’t bother me except for the fact I never realized or thought about her much at all until that point.”

– Leonard A.

“Honestly? It still bothers me even though I have been Catholic for 15 years. I know all of the verses and apologetics for it. That said, I trust the Church’s judgment more than I trust my own gut reactions and I remind myself of that.”

– Laura F.

“This was my biggest hang up, coming from the Evangelical space. All of the points above really helped me understand her role better. It’s been such a healing process finding a rela- tionship with her. I read Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary and that completely shifted my thoughts. Highly recommend!”

– Meghan G.

“I had hesitations with parts of the Hail Holy Queen prayer, but not Mary as Queen. It helps to look at history and know the role of queens in the royal courts. She is never equal to the King, but she rep- resents the crown. It all fits together so nicely!”

– Morgan C.

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Here’s what the Church has to say about Mary as Queen:

“Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son’s Resur- rection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians… CCC 966

Mary, Queen of Heaven, Pray for Us!

“Because the Virgin Mary was raised to such a lofty dignity as to be the mother of the King of kings, it is deservedly and by every right that the Church has honored her with the title of ‘Queen’.” – St. Alphonsus Liguori
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CHNetwork Community Question: Catholic Converts Share Perspectives on Tithing

mattswaim — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:59:18 +0000

With tax deadlines as part of everyone’s Spring routine, and reviews of our annual charitable contributions on the brain, we asked our members if the previous faith traditions and congregations they came from had specific teaching on tithing or financial obligations. Here is what a few of them shared:

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“[For the Latter Day Saints,] it is a mandatory 10%. In fact, it’s so mandatory that it’s required to get into the highest heaven. You have to receive temple ordinances to get to the highest heaven, and you have to tithe 10% to get into the temple. So a 10% tithe is one of the major points on which your eternal destiny hinges. Also, we gave a “fast offering” every month that goes to the needs of those struggling in our congregation specifically. That is left to the discretion of the giver and is often based on how much money you save by fasting for two meals on the first Sunday of the month (an LDS tradition which is actually one of my favorites).” -A.C.

*****

“When I was an Evangelical, we were taught to give ten percent. We had a lot of teaching about money. Occasionally we had some pretty guilt-inducing animated videos inflicted on us about tithing. A popular one was using the story of Cain and Abel as a lesson in tithing. Also it was said that unless you were a regular ‘ten-percenter,’ you would never be considered for the church eldership team. When I looked up Catholic teaching on giving, it made a lot more sense I’m glad to say!” -V.W.

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“As a non-denominational Christian, tithing was 10% of our gross income. Giving is a representation and demonstration of your faith and following of Christ. And is one of the items of the checklist to become a member.” -T.K.

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“My husband belonged to a church where the pastor mentioned tithes at every service. Scripture was read about giving and receiving 100 fold, and about God blessing those who tithed. Testimonies were given about how a raise was given at work or blessings were received due to being a faithful tither. It seemed like something from a prosperity-type gospel. Of the Catholic Churches I’ve attended, I’ve never heard tithing mentioned except once, and that was when there was the possibility of some of the smaller Churches being closed, including that particular church.” A.J.

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So what about Catholics? Is there a set amount one must tithe in the Church?

It turns out that your obligation to give, according to the Catholic Church, doesn’t have a specific number or percentage attached to it. That may be in part because Catholicism has a wide socioeconomic range among Her membership, which includes people from both the wealthiest and poorest places on earth. But the Church DOES have something to say about the obligation to give, and it’s detailed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church starting around paragraph 2041. That information is included in what are called the Precepts of the Church—essentially the “bare minimum” obligations
for a Catholic. Giving is addressed in the fifth one:

You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor.
You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.
You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church (primarily
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday).
You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.

You’ll often hear Catholics refer to three ways to fulfill that 5th Precept: Time, Talent, and Treasure. What that means is that you can provide for the Church’s needs by giving time to help out in various efforts or works, talent in the sense that you bring your personal gifts and skills and offer them in some way for the building up of the Church, and treasure, meaning financial support in whatever way you discern God is asking of you.

“Give something, however small, to the one in need. For it is not small to one who has nothing. Neither is it small to God, if we have given what we could.” -St. Gregory Nazianzen
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Catholic Converts Share Perspectives on Tithing appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Marcus Grodi on EWTN Live with Fr. Mitch Pacwa

mattswaim — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 13:41:52 +0000

Recently, Marcus Grodi joined Fr. Mitch Pacwa on EWTN Live to talk about how he’s been spending his retirement, the history and philosophy behind The Coming Home Network, and a new book from EWTN Publishing: Guideposts for The Journey Home. Check it out!

The post Marcus Grodi on EWTN Live with Fr. Mitch Pacwa appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Conversion Conversations: From the Head to the Heart

mattswaim — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 19:06:22 +0000

In speaking with those who are exploring the Catholic faith, we sometimes notice different themes emerge. It can be helpful to hear how those questions are answered by others as we consider our own responses should we ever be on the receiving end of the question ourselves. Below is an excerpt of a conversation between an inquirer and Matt Swaim, Director of Outreach:

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INQUIRER: How do you balance the onslaught of information in religious education with becoming a Catholic who has a personal relationship with God—how do you solve the head/heart conundrum?

MATT: I absolutely had to sort through that kind of thing on my way toward the Catholic Church; I still do with some regularity, if I’m honest. I think it comes from the particular kind of Evangelicalism I was raised in, which emphasized the familiar/relational aspects of God—a lot of language about “personal relationship” and a primary emphasis on friendship with God.

At the same time, there wasn’t a strong emphasis on the intellectual aspects of Christian faith—at least not until I got to college. When I discovered them, it was like walking into a candy store, and I got very prideful about what I was learning, a lot of which was pointing to the transcendent, infinite, and philosophical questions about Christianity. It was confusing and exciting at the same time, and when I got beyond C.S. Lewis and into people who’d been dead a lot longer than him, it got even more exciting and confusing.

Catholicism wasn’t on my radar until well into this exploration, and while I can’t put my finger on all of it, I can say that the Church is very old and wise and understands human beings very well. The Church knows that if she is to be universal, and the true Body of Christ, there has to be room for peasants and kings, for scholars and those with intellectual disabilities, for introvertsand extroverts. St. Gregory once described all of it as being like a river, where it’s shallow enough for a lamb to cross in one part and deep enough for an elephant to swim in another part. It has to hold up to intellectual scrutiny, but it also has to speak to the deepest desires of the human heart. St. Paul appeals to the intellect when he says “test everything; hold on to what is good” (1 Thes 5:21), but he appeals to our human longings when he says “the Spirit himself intercedes for us in groans that cannot be expressed.” (Rom 1:26)

In terms of the head/heart conundrum, my advice is to tap back into the realizations that got you excited about Christianity in the first place, because those are absolutely still valuable. I know I can get inside my own head, and sometimes I just need to experience silence, meditation, and prayer instead of research and study and diving into arguments. Have you checked out Eucharistic Adoration yet? Or had a chance to visit some beautiful area parishes to just look around and soak it in? I know those things have helped me when my head and heart seem to be in conflict with one another. But most of all be patient with yourself; absorbing Catholicism is like eating five thousand elephants.

And while there’s plenty to learn as Catholics, I have to constantly remind myself that Catholicism isn’t about knowing a lot of information. It’s about entering ever more deeply into a relationship with God, Who is love. St. John Chrysostom, one of the smartest people in the history of the Church, said that “In the evening of our life, we will be judged on love alone.” Or as St. Bonaventure put it, a little more pointedly, when asked if only the learned could be saints: “Any old woman can love God better than a doctor of theology can.”

The post Conversion Conversations: From the Head to the Heart appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Gerard Manley Hopkins: Convert, Poet, Priest

mattswaim — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 20:05:27 +0000

“The world is charged with the grandeur of God…”

So begins God’s Grandeur, one of the most famous poems from 19th century English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, whose works did not begin to gain wide notoriety until after his death. And while his work is regarded as highly influential in the history of the Western literary tradition, his conversion to Catholicism and his vocation to the priesthood as a member of the Society of Jesus are not as widely known.

Hopkins was born into a prominent Anglican family in 1844, and several of his relatives were involved in various artistic pursuits, from the visual arts to music and poetry, as well as the study of languages. All of these interests were instilled in Hopkins from a young age and led him to pursue an education at Oxford. While there, he developed a friendship with Robert Bridges, who would go on to later become Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. It was also during this time that he became more engaged with both ascetic practices and the pursuit of beauty. These questions began to lead him beyond his Anglican roots and deeper into the Catholic tradition.

This search for his true spiritual home finally came to a head when Hopkins decided to reach out to one of England’s most famous Catholic converts: St. John Henry Newman. Newman had entered the Catholic Church in 1845, a year after Hopkins was born, and was well known in England among Anglicans and Catholics alike by the time Hopkins was studying at Oxford. Hopkins was able to meet with Newman in person in 1866, and it was Newman himself who received Hopkins into the Church in October of that year.

Like many 19th century Anglican converts, the decision to become Catholic caused conflict and estrangement between Hopkins and his family, and also had an impact on his academic and professional trajectory. The employment question was initially resolved when Hopkins was offered a job at the Birmingham Oratory by Newman, and it was not long after taking that position that Gerard felt a strong call to religious life as a Jesuit. Having written poetry for years, he initially perceived there to be a conflict between his poetic interests and his religious vocation; in a moment of passion, he burned most of his poems, and didn’t write again for another seven years. This mix of artistic fervor, ascetic impulse, and melancholic swings would mark the trajectory of Hopkins’ entire adult life.

Over time, however, Hopkins began to see that there need be no conflict between his love of poetry and his priesthood, and he began to write poetry again. Only a few of these poems made it to print during his lifetime, as his innovative use of meter and imagery from nature were not always understood by editors and publishers. Unfortunately, by the time he had reached his 40’s, Hopkins found it more and more difficult to write, due to increasing difficulties with his health, and a nagging worry that pursuing publication of his poetry might lead to pride, which he constantly feared would be an impediment to his vocation as a Jesuit priest.

Hopkins died in 1889 at only 44 years of age, and it wasn’t until 1918 that his work received wider distribution and acclaim. His old friend Robert Bridges, who had been named Poet Laureate in 1913, decided to use his own influence to get some anthologies of Hopkins’ work published. In those years following World War I, the uniqueness of Hopkins’ style and the insights of his writing finally took hold with a wider audience, going on to influence such major 20th century poets as W.H. Auden and T.S. Eliot.

Hopkins was a complex and interesting figure; his struggles with both physical and mental health, especially toward the end of his life, reveal swings between wonder at God’s creation, and melancholy over the state of the world and his own soul. But through all of his poetry, a distinct sacramental worldview shines through. God is the Father of all, by whose hand all things are made, and whatever causes wonder ultimately points to him. As Hopkins writes in the closing line of his poem “Pied Beauty”:

“He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him.”

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Why Do We Pray, Fast, and Give Alms During Lent?

mattswaim — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 18:31:06 +0000

As we enter the Lenten season, Catholics are asked to more intentionally take up the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a way to experience a further conversion of our hearts and minds as followers of Christ. These three pillars of Lent are solidly rooted in Scripture, encouraging us to deepen our reliance on the Lord and grow in relationship with Him, so we may more fully rejoice in His resurrection. The proclamation of Matthew’s Gospel at the liturgy on Ash Wednesday helps properly orient our efforts toward that interior transformation rather than mere external demonstrations of piety.

Prayer

Many of us who come from backgrounds of faith, whether Christian or otherwise, already know the importance of prayer. The season of Lent provides a fresh opportunity to examine not only our personal prayer lives, but how we can better unite our prayers with the prayers of the entire Church as we journey toward Easter together. As Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount:

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Mt 6:5–6)

Fasting

Fasting is clearly both modeled and encouraged by Jesus during his earthly ministry. But depending upon how we were formed in faith, the practice of fasting may be new to some of us. Our fasting not only assists us in detaching ourselves from our worldly affections, but also helps us to identify more closely with Christ, who, before entering into his public ministry, went into the desert to fast and pray.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. (Mt. 6:17–18)

Almsgiving

Lent is an opportunity to not only pray and fast, but to shift our attention from ourselves to those in need, with whom Jesus spent so much of his earthly ministry. We pray to draw closer to him; we fast to deny ourselves of our selfish and prideful impulses; and we give to share the fruit of that prayer and fasting with those who need it most. As Our Lord concludes in his discussion of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in the Sermon on the Mount:

Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them… But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (Mt 6:1, 3–4)

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Get FREE Resources for the Converts in Your Parish!

mattswaim — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 12:24:15 +0000

The Coming Home Network is dedicated to helping men and women, clergy and laity, from every background imaginable on their journey into the Catholic Church.

But we cannot do what we do without the parishes, pastors, and religious educators on the ground who help to bring these people into the Church on the local level!

THANK YOU to all those who work heroically at the parish level to accompany those yearning to join us at the Eucharistic table.

We have many free resources to support you in your work, and to encourage the people with whom you are working… please let us know how we can assist you in walking with those who are coming home to the Catholic Faith!

Find all of our free resources at chnetwork.org/parish.

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Grandma’s Gumbo and the New Testament Canon

mattswaim — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 15:42:37 +0000

No doubt, as Catholics, we’ve had conversations with our Protestant sisters and brothers about how the New Testament Canon of Scripture came to be. We can run the risk of falling prey to a strawman argument when, as Catholics, we think of our Protestant friends as merely asserting that the Bible “just dropped out of the sky.” While no one literally believes that, we think it is a light-hearted (even if hyperbolic) description of how our Protestant friends think the New Testament Canon materialized.

We all recognize that the literary device of the analogy can be a powerful means to communicate a point. Oftentimes an analogy can make clear in a conversation what has been obscure and confusing. In a conversation once with a Protestant friend, this analogy of my grandma’s gumbo came to my imagination in an attempt to explain how the New Testament Canon was developed.

I described this story to my friend:

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Imagine telling someone that your grandma’s gumbo is absolutely incredible. The friend replies, “Where can I get some?” You respond, “It can be found at that large grocery store on 3rd & Main.” Days later, after returning from multiple trips to the grocery store without finding it, the friend says to you, “I searched high and low for something called ‘Grandma’s Gumbo’ but I couldn’t find it—can you tell me the product name and in which aisle I can find it?”

You tell them, “It is not in a single aisle or in a single package, but you can find her gumbo in the Meat Department (for the chicken and sausage) and in the Seafood Department (for the crabmeat or shrimp). You will find the vegetables (bell peppers, onions and celery) in Produce. And of course, in about 8 other aisles, you’ll find the flour (for the roux) and tons of other culinary elements of her gumbo. Indeed, her gumbo is “truly in the store,” you confidently affirm.

Your friend replies with some impatience. “Wait a minute, I thought Grandma’s Gumbo was going to be an already pre-packaged product, found on a single aisle!” You quip, “I never said that; I merely said that my Grandma’s Gumbo can be found at the large grocery on 3rd & Main St., and indeed it can be found there—in about 11 different locations in the store.”

*****

The analogy does not conclude until the point is made: Grandma’s Gumbo does not just materialize out of thin air into one place, but it is indeed true that it can be found in the midst of that large grocery store, surrounded by thousands of products not used for the recipe.

This is analogous to the truth that in the early Church, for the first 400 years, the 27 Books that would become known as the “New Testament Scriptures” were indeed “there,” intermixed with many other writings. So, it is true that the 27 Books of the eventual New Testament were indeed among all the other writings—just as my grandma’s gumbo ingredients could be found in the midst of all other ingredients.

However, it took rationality, intentionality, and indeed the love of my grandmother to bring the gumbo to its full and delicious reality. More importantly, regarding the Scriptures, it was the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church which led intentionally and lovingly to the identification and proclamation of the true, authentic, and inspired 27 Book Canon of the New Testament.

This Lenten Season, let’s enjoy a warm bowl of Seafood Gumbo, while we prayerfully consider the wonderful Sacred Scriptures of Lent—given to us by the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of the Catholic Church.

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Navigating Times of Spiritual Darkness

mattswaim — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 18:41:55 +0000

For some of us who come from Evangelical Christian backgrounds, there can be a degree of confusion about what it should feel like to have a relationship with God. Some styles of worship and theological movements place such an emphasis on finding comfort and joy in following Christ, that those feelings can end up becoming a barometer of one’s Christian faith.

In those situations, a fluctuation in feelings can feel like a crisis of faith. And when the pressure in one’s Christian community is to constantly give the appearance of living in victory and joy, that struggle is often a hidden one. Who in that environment would want to admit to a fellow believer that they’re struggling in their faith, or going through a period where they’re having trouble feeling the presence of God?

Fortunately, in Catholic spirituality, there are many great saints who have not only gone through these spiritual peaks and valleys themselves, but have also shared incredibly helpful thoughts on how to navigate them.

One such saint is Ignatius of Loyola, who came up with 14 rules to help discern the voice of God in our lives. St. Ignatius refers to spiritual consolation as a feeling of joy and the presence of God in the soul, “quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.” But he has several excellent recommendations for when we encounter spiritual desolation, which he connects with words like “tepid” and “unquiet,” and even a feeling of darkness and separation.

For those struggling with desolation in the spiritual life, here are a few key pieces of advice from those 14 rules of St. Ignatius:

Don’t change your spiritual disciplines in times of desolation.

St. Ignatius says to “be firm and constant” in our spiritual resolutions during times of desolation, because we often made those resolutions during a time of clarity and consolation.

Chasing spiritual novelty in order to keep up an emotional high puts the focus back on the self, rather than on God. Some of us have gone through the “church shopping” experience, bouncing from place to place seeking an emotionally satisfying worship experience, and it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on both the believer and the congregation they’re attending to “perform” in a satisfactory way, Sunday after Sunday. The Catholic liturgical life is meant to be an antidote to the impossible burden of having to come up with the perfect way to pray on our own. Keep praying, keep reading scripture, and stay as close as you can to the sacramental life.

Spiritual desolation isn’t necessarily your fault.

St Ignatius gives three main reasons why desolation can occur, and only one of them is related to our own negligence or sin. A second reason he points out is that God may be removing our sense of him in order to strengthen and mature our faith, so that it is not based solely on emotional payoff, but also on loyalty and self-sacrifical love. This leads to a third reason why a believer might be experiencing spiritual desolation:

God may be trying to teach you greater reliance on him.

According to St. Ignatius, sometimes these “low points” in the spiritual life are allowed by God because perhaps He is teaching us that consolation is not something we can manufacture through good works or the perfect devotional routine, but rather a gift of grace that comes from Him alone. St. Paul reflects on this very point in his second letter to the Corinthians, when he recalls his experience of a persistent “thorn in the flesh”:

“Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (I Cor 12:8-10)

Fortunately, in the Catholic world of liturgy and sacraments, we are able to rest on a promise of God’s presence that is not reliant upon our continually changing moods and feelings. We know that by virtue of the promise of Christ Himself, He is truly present in the Eucharist, regardless of where we are on the continuum of consolation and desolation. The grace we receive in the sacraments is not dependent upon our ability to feel it.

There are times when the journey is full of joy and peace, and times when the road is difficult and tumultuous. But we trust that the Lord who has begun a good work in us will be with us all the way, even when He is not present to our senses.

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Discovering Devasahayam

mattswaim — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 19:48:49 +0000

In the story of God, there are no coincidences, not even the way I stumbled upon the life of St. Devasahayam.

Growing up Hindu, I had no idea Catholic Indians existed. I knew about Mother Teresa and her work with the poorest of the poor in my ancestral city, but I never made the connection to the existence of Catholics among people of Indian ancestry. I certainly had no inkling that further south, a man known as Devasahayam Pillai was on the road to sainthood.

Born Neelakanda Pillai in 1712 to an upper-caste Hindu family, he served as a high ranking court official for the Hindu king in Travancore. It was there he encountered Captain Eustachius DeLannoy, a Dutch naval officer and prisoner of war helping modernize the king’s army in exchange for a pardon after his capture. DeLannoy, a devout Catholic, would befriend Neelakanda over the course of their work together, and eventually help him understand suffering through the lens of the Christian faith.

Neelakanda was struggling with a devastating span of severe material losses negatively impacting his standing. He performed many rituals attempting to placate the Hindu gods but found no relief. He felt he was being punished by God, but could not understand why. Upon witnessing his despair, Captain DeLannoy consoled him, sharing with him the story of Job from the Scriptures. Through this encounter, Neelakanda gained a new perspective on suffering, deeply moved by Job’s example of trust in God despite his own misery.

This understanding transformed Neelakanda’s life. He came to believe in the truth of the Christian faith and was baptized in 1745, taking the name Devasahayam, meaning “Lazarus” or “God is my help” in Malayalam, his native tongue. He also dropped the name Pillai, which was a caste designation, a system he now disavowed. His conversion lowered his social status significantly. Only those of the lowest castes were permitted to convert in Travancore, and he had now joined their ranks regardless of any previous upper caste affiliation. In fact, his prior standing made it all the more scandalous.

Despite this, Devasahayam began living his new Christian faith openly within the palace, as well as denouncing the injustices of the caste system. He associated freely with members of lower castes and argued against the superstitions of the Brahmins. Many fellow soldiers converted. This angered the ruling class and other Hindus, including his own family. When the rulers ordered the persecution and exile of Christians, Devasahayam offered himself as their first prisoner. Having repeatedly refused to renounce Christ, he was eventually branded a traitor, imprisoned, tortured, and banished to a forest for three years where he was beaten daily. Devashayam remained steadfast in faith, despite his suffering, trusting in God. Those who encountered him were moved by his kind and joyful demeanor amid humiliating persecution.

After three years of torture and three failed death sentences, Devasahayam was martyred secretly in 1752. St. Devasahayam became the first Indian layman and convert to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on May 15, 2022.

Having no connection to the Indian Catholic or South Indian community, I hadn’t even heard the name Devasahayam Pillai until the week prior to his canonization, which also happened to be the week I was heading to the Coming Home Network to record an episode of The Journey Home. God’s timing is perfect. In encountering his story at this particular time, it put a new lens on my own, which I was still quite nervous to share. In my mind, it didn’t measure up to the deep theological exploration of others. Discovering St. Devasahayam when I did helped me understand more completely that Christ draws us each into the fullness of His presence uniquely, no one road greater than the other.

While my story of conversion didn’t resemble an intellectual dissection of faith, it was a response to encountering suffering in my life, like St. Devasahayam. I may not have jumped head first into the book of Job, but the Catholic understanding of human suffering and solidarity with those who suffer became a great consolation in my own anguish. Plus, like St. Devasahayam, I too had irreconcilable objections to the caste system, having witnessed its devastating effects firsthand. I could not wrap my head around a God (or gods) who would create some people to be worthless. This wrestling led me into the arms of Jesus through the Catholic Church — first, by encountering him in the “least,” and then, by encountering him in the Eucharist, the ultimate demonstration of sacrificial love by a God who chose to suffer with and for us. As I continue to walk this journey of faith, St. Devashayam has become a close companion to my justice-seeking heart, reminding me that Jesus always meets us in our suffering and rejection.

St. Devasahayam, pray for us.

“O Jesus, do not abandon me!
O Beloved Mother Mary, help me!

Into Your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.”

— Final prayer of St. Devasahayam

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