Restless Hearts
Four spiritual journeys that led to the Catholic Church
By Rich Reece / Pictures by Denmark Photo & Video
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(left to right) Ron McNeil, Sara Johnson, Daphne Flowers, and Shannon Mante |
On Saturday evening, April 7, more than 600 men, women and children in the Diocese of Raleigh will join the Catholic Church. For each of them, the Easter Vigil will mark the end of one spiritual journey, and the beginning of another. For the last year, these catechumens and candidates have learned and shared in preparation for reception into a community they have chosen, but for which, the Church believes, they have also been chosen.
Every journey is different. That was evident when, recently, NCC spoke with four soon-to-be-Catholics from Cathedral Parish in Raleigh: Sara Johnson and Daphne Flowers, young first-time mothers; Ron McNeil, a former NFL athlete; and Shannon Mante, an artist who grew up as a Jehovah's Witness. Listening to their stories, it's easy to remember the words of a famous convert to Catholicism, St. Augustine. "Our hearts are restless," he wrote, "until they rest in Thee." Each of the four we interviewed seemed to have found in the Catholic Church that spiritual "rest" the saint was talking about.
"Growing up in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, as a Jehovah's Witness," Shannon Mante says, "I viewed God as… not someone with whom I could have an intimate relationship. He seemed cruel, jealous and legalistic, someone to fear." Shannon hadn't known his biological father, but he was rumored to have been an artist, and as a youngster Shannon developed his own passionate interest in art and writing. He questioned Witness teachings, and rebelled against his parents. "By the end of high school I just broke with them and left home," he recalls. He tried to "provoke the establishment" by dressing unconventionally, reading "radical" books and smoking, something which could lead to his being banned from his parents' church.
Young Shannon wasn't happy, though. He describes himself at that time as "disintegrated," "directionless," a "stranger in the world." He remembers sleeping on a cold basement floor for days on end just to avoid going home. "I thought about God a lot," he says, "but the thoughts were bitter. I knew the Bible very well, but when my grandmother died painfully from asthma, I couldn't see any reason for her suffering other than God's cruelty, or his non-existence."
Then, suddenly, came a period of what Shannon describes as "settling down." "I met the woman who would be my wife,' he says. "She was Catholic. And I met my biological father. Then, amazingly, my parents left the Witnesses." Shannon believes that the Lord was guiding him that year, bringing him to a place where "I could feel grounded." Then one night, watching television in a hotel room, he saw a trailer for the movie The Passion of the Christ. "Suddenly," he says, "I knew that Jesus was the Son of God. I got down on my knees and wept, and prayed that prayer, ‘God, if You're there….'" The next morning, he says, "The sun was brighter, the air was cleaner and the people crowding the sidewalks were my brothers and sisters."
Daphne Flowers had a relatively happy, involved religious life growing up in the Methodist Church, "but I drifted in my teenage years." When she met her husband-to-be, who had converted to Catholicism in his late teens, she began to read about the Catholic Church. "I was attracted to the structure of Catholicism," she says, "and the symbolism of the Mass." She married at St. Patrick Church in Fayetteville. When she entered the RCIA program at Cathedral, she found that her reading had been good preparation.
"A lot of what we learned wasn't brand new to me," she says, "but I enjoyed the focus on Mary – that was new – and exploring the Rosary. I loved learning about the Sign of the Cross, and breaking down the Nicene Creed, and being with people with similar values."
In RCIA, Daphne met a new friend, Sara Johnson. The two gave birth to their first children, one month apart, during the process. A program director for an RTP pharmaceutical company, Sara grew up Lutheran in Minnesota. She attended college in Memphis and says that she and her now husband came to North Carolina for the warm weather, as well as for career opportunities.
"My fiance was Catholic, but we hadn't been very active in church," she says. "When we were engaged, though, we knew it was time to find a church in which we could be a family. One Saturday we went to Sacred Heart. I loved the look of the church, the stone and stained glass, and Fr. Jerry's energy! It was such a warm environment; people applauded the newcomers. And when we asked about getting married, the parish was so welcoming." After her wedding, Shannon joined Sacred Heart's wedding committee to assist other brides.
Ron McNeil, nicknamed by his RCIA mates "big Ron," because he is so tall, describes himself with a smile as a "Raleigh-ite, born at St. Agnes Hospital, grew up near Oakwood Avenue." A gifted athlete, Ron attended NC Central University, and in 1974 was drafted as a defensive end by the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. After a year there and a year with the Philadelphia Bell of the now defunct WFL, Ron was sidelined by injuries. Today he works for ConAgra in Garner.
Although he confesses to an understanding of the "wild life" that tempts young men in professional sports, Ron had a firm religious grounding growing up as a member of Rush Metropolitan AME Zion Church in Raleigh. When he resettled in the area after his athletic career, he tried a variety of churches. His wife, Vicki, was a staunch Catholic, though, and eventually Ron started attending Mass with her at Sacred Heart. Immediately he felt comfortable. He cites the homilies, "the boldness of the crucifix," and the mixed congregation as factors that impressed him. "There was a rainbow of people worshipping together here, praying together" he says, "the way God intended. Finally I asked Him if I could be a part of this, if I could walk this walk."
"Ron and Vicki have brought a rich presence to our community," says Sacred Heart RCIA Director Steve Gambino, "and we have come to love them both in a special way. Ron is enduring a cross right now, as he is suffering from an irregular heart rhythm. He is facing a special procedure in three weeks in which they will stop his heart in order to restart it with hopefully a normal rhythm." Ron jokes that he will soon be "born again" in more ways than one.
All four new Catholics have found a spiritual resting place in the Church. But they have no intention of standing still; they look forward to the next chapters in their spiritual journeys. Ron describes his RCIA experience as "momentous," and praises the parishioners and his RCIA brothers and sisters for their love and support. Daphne says, "I know it's not needed, but I feel like being in full communion with the Church will give me ‘permission' to get involved. And it brings my husband and me closer together." Sara, too, talks about the importance of church in raising a family, and of parents' setting an example for one's children. "I was looking for a church where I could be involved beyond just Sunday," she says, "and this was the one."
Shannon describes "a long journey of floating, of not being rooted, and finally finding my place. And finding a Church that is comfortable with mystery. Because it's the unanswered questions that keep us going."