Posted on 02/02/2014 9:32:03 AM PST by rwa265
February 16, 2004 - Reported in Spirit Daily.com online newspaper. "In 1992 my life changed dramatically," says Father Donald Calloway. "I had a profound conversion experience after reaching rock bottom."
Rock bottom indeed! Now a 31-year-old priest who serves as assistant rector at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Father Calloway had been a runaway youngster who was immersed in everything from drug abuse to theft.
"I had gone through all a boy could do up to the age of twenty," he says. "My mother had been married three times and we had no religion. The family was very hedonistic. There was a downward spiral in my life."
It started in Virginia Beach -- where his stepfather was based in the military -- and continued when the family moved to California. Drugs, sex, smoking, and drinking -- all by the age 11. "It escalated to the point of getting out of control," he now recounts. "We moved near Los Angeles. Then to Japan. That rocked my world."
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He was a drop out, his hair down to his belt. He was tattooed. It was "a life cycle of death." There was another attempt at rehabilitation, but of course, that fell short again. In fact, the drug use got even heavier.
"Then one night in 1992 I knew that my life would radically change, that something was going to happen in my life to cause a radical change," he says. "I knew something was going to happen. Something was coming."
(Excerpt) Read more at visionsofjesuschrist.com ...
Cardinal Dolan was the main speaker, and he gave a wonderful talk on our three most recent popes.
This reminds me of how St. Paul got knocked off his horse, and also how St. Paul got an infusion of spiritual knowledge.
And I guess his mother’s prayers must have gotten it all started.
St. Monica, pray for us!
Fan of St. Monica here!
Dolan. Ugh. Was it necessary to mention him?
Dolan. Ugh. Was it necessary to mention him?
Fr. Calloway will be speaking in Sacramento at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Tuesday, February 11. I bought the book and his story was so riveting, I’ve read it several times. He was wallowing in sin and nothing but a punk!
Just goes to show you God’s mercy is there for the asking! All you have to do is open the door and say yes to Jesus!
Acts 9 doesn’t say anything about a horse.
Glad he got life and focus back on track.
**Fr. Calloway**
God bless you, Father Calloway!
Read it again. St. Paul wasn’t riding a horse. A lot of art portrays one in his conversion pictures however.
Fascinating story.
**What is the most important thing parents can do?
“The best thing that a kid can see in the parents is for a man, a father, on his knees,” says Father Calloway. “That is strength. When a man is on his knees, that is stability. When a kid sees that, it’s a confessional statement. It speaks volumes. And when they see a mom and dad being kind and loving to one another, that’s also important — showing kindness to each other.”**
Could the idea of a horse (though no horse was not mentioned) be a reminder of the danger of “pride” on being on a personal high horse of pride and St. Paul before his conversion was in his mind riding on a high horse of sinful pride?
I don’t know. I just know that Paul was not riding a horse, yet there is usually a horse portrayed in pictures of the conversion of St. Paul.
I hope you are able to attend his talk. It was one of the most inspiring talks I have ever heard. And he had some wonderful insights about the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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