Even practicing Catholics, serious ones, have a huge weakness. They believe that one can be saved outside the Church. Consequently, out of human respect, they are afraid they might hurt the feelings of Protestant (or non-Christian) family members or friends by asking them to become Catholic. It’s such a simple question. It’s such a charitable question; indeed no other invitation compares to this one. The salvation of a soul is at stake. It was the first question Father Feeney, our founder, would ask a Protestant after Father became a crusader for the dogma, “No Salvation Outside the Church”. Many Protestants thanked him for the invitation and, consequently, converted.
That is why the following brief account from Courageous Priest website filled me with joy. Here we have a priest, Father Charles Nwora Okeke, who is not afraid to ask Protestants to become Catholic. “To our Protestant brothers and sisters I would give this counsel…and challenge,” he writes, “Stand before the exposed Blessed Sacrament and say, ‘Lord, if You are truly present in this Sacrament, then enlighten me and I will serve You with all heart and soul.’ If you are sincere, you will soon become Catholic.”
One day a Protestant minister came walking into his church. The minister was obsessed by the devil. He did not know what led him to the rectory of Father Okeke, but when he entered the church with the priest he felt relieved of his burden. Father Okeke relates the story:
“About a week ago, I had a visit from a Baptist clergy. He was very much agitated as he keeps seeing things at his home; people walking through the living room and then vanishing into the wall. He had moved into a hotel room but then he began to experience something moving through his body; he could even follow the movement by the raising of the skin. And whatever it was would sometimes fall on him like a dead weight and he would be paralyzed for a while, especially while trying to get to sleep. Now he is afraid to go to bed.” Read the rest of the story here. God bless Father Okeke.
