Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Oct/91

Contributor - Murray Bannon

Title - My Conversion

Topic - Testimony

Before his conversion to Protestantism Rev. Murray Bannon served in the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. In this short essay he describes what he felt when he stood at the threshold of his personal reformation. Rev. Bannon is now retired and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America.

I stood at my desk and looked at my books. They were all opened at the same subject. The Anglicans on the left said the Mother of Jesus may have been assumed into heaven. The Roman Catholic, in the centre, said she was so assumed. The Greeks, on the right, said they believe she was, but the Church had never spoken on the subject. Nor was she likely to do so.

It was late at night. The rectory was quiet. The fluorescent lights flooded my little office. What was there to fear?

I was writing a catechism. The catechism was to convert anyone, everyone to Roman Catholicism. It followed the articles of the Apostles Creed. Most of the biblical research was done - except for the Chapter on Mary. The Marian dogmas had no foundation really, except the papal statements. The case in point was the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. As a friend of mine remarked, "I have no trouble believing Mary was assumed into heaven; what I have trouble with is how they got her up the first hundred feet." The light in the room changed.

A burning, bursting fire covered my eyes. An opaque, oily mist covered my vision, blocking the brightness, in part. A thin film of blood covered, then opened my eyes. I staggered around the desk to a chair, holding on to the desk for support.

I knew my world had changed - and changed forever. I can remember thinking that, even if Mary was assumed into heaven, what a waste of time. I had spent years reading, thinking, praying about Mary. What did that do to Jesus' teaching, "No man comes to the Father but by Me?"

The door that slammed shut in my soul that night soon influenced my preaching. The congregation and my colleagues in the priesthood soon no ticed. They chided. They scolded. Then they scorned and despised me.

But the new Captain in my ship guided me through the storms and taught me to laugh at them.

Who is this that even the winds and the waves obey Him?

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