How God Hauled Me Kicking and Screaming Into the Catholic Church. Kevin Lowry
Church is to experience the joy of the Gospel! No heavy tome of theology, no obtuse reflection on the interior life this. It is nonetheless theologically grounded and no less reflective of the joy-filled, Holy Spirit-fueled struggle of allowing oneself to be transformed by grace. I found myself nodding in agreement, smiling, and sometimes laughing out loud as I saw similarities between my conversion to the Catholic faith and Kevin’s story. Whether you are a ‘cradle’ Catholic, a convert to the Church, a non-Catholic Christian, a practitioner of another faith tradition, or have no faith tradition at all, I encourage you to read this book and, God willing, be transformed.”
— Brother Rex Anthony Norris, spiritual adviser to the Coming Home Network International
How God Hauled Me
Kicking and Screaming
Into the Catholic Church
How God Hauled Me
Kicking and Screaming
Into the
Catholic Church
Kevin Lowry
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition copyright © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. (Where noted, some texts are taken from the King James Version [KJV] of the Bible.)
English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. — Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. — Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Excerpts from the English translation of Rite of Penance copyright © 1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
Every reasonable effort has been made to determine copyright holders of excerpted materials and to secure permissions as needed. If any copyrighted materials have been inadvertently used in this work without proper credit being given in one form or another, please notify Our Sunday Visitor in writing so that future printings of this work may be corrected accordingly.
Copyright © 2016 by Kevin Lowry. Published 2016.
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza, Huntington, IN 46750; 1-800-348-2440
ISBN: 978-1-61278-840-1 (Inventory No. T1646)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-843-2
LCCN: 2016935310
Cover design: Lindsey Riesen
Cover art: Shutterstock
Printed in the United States of America
Dedicated to my parents,
Margaret and Douglas Lowry,
for the firm foundation they gave me in life;
to my beloved wife, Kathi,
who helps keep me on the right path;
and to all our children and grandchildren;
whose lives I pray are transformed through Christ.
Contents
Introduction — Transformed: Lessons of a Grateful Convert
First Stumbling Block: The Eucharist