Be Careful—You're Becoming a Catholic

By Kenneth Murphy

Since April 2011, I have had the honor of bringing a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to the families of East and South Baltimore. This area is always either under the sound of airplanes flying in and out of Baltimore’s busy international airport or within a stone’s throw of Chesapeake Bay.

One of our greatest joys in this particular area of the city is the struggle to bring souls to the Church by teaching them two important first steps: the role of Our Lady and the recitation of the Rosary.

For many Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Jews or Atheists we meet, this first step brings them graces crucial to understanding Catholic teaching. And Our Lady never fails to give that special grace.

Non-Catholics and the Rosary

So far most have been open to learning about the role of Our Lady and they join the Rosary with the help of our “how to” Rosary booklets and a free Rosary.

After reciting the Rosary at one such visit, a Jewish lady asked, “May I keep the booklet?” “Be careful—you’re becoming a Catholic,” joked her Lutheran friend who had also attended and prayed the Rosary. “Don’t worry, I won’t,” she replied. “But. . . I might pray the Rosary.” The same Lutheran lady and her husband also went home with the Rosary and their free Rosary booklets.

Understanding Our Lady

At another time I visited the Ejimkonye family. They attended with wide-eyed interest as I explained the proofs of the miracle of the sun. Only when the mother asked me to explain why Catholics use holy water did I realize that she and her children were Baptist, not Catholic. She then questioned, “Why ask the Mother [of God] for help when we can go straight to Jesus?”

I turned to her children and asked if they knew the story of the wedding feast at Cana, which they did not. I told them how Our Lord’s first miracle was to turn water into wine after Our Lady perceived the servants’ predicament and asked her Son to help them because they had run out of wine.

Several months later I contacted the Ejimkonye family to ask them how they were doing. They have been saying the Rosary each day and are now receiving Catechetical instruction.

From Crusade Magazine: January / February 2012

Header Image: Over half of Balitmore's presentations are with non-Catholics, this is just one of many!