“If What the Catholic Church Teaches About the Eucharist is True...”

Peter Hannah was an aspiring golfer... until he aspired to a higher calling:

If things had gone according to the dream of his youth, Dominican Brother Peter Hannah would have been playing in this year’s PGA Championship. The tournament, which runs Aug. 8-11 in Rochester, N.Y., showcases the best players in the game, and it is the final leg of professional golf’s four major tournaments (the other three being the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open).

While the PGA Championship was something Brother Peter had hoped to play in one day, God, as they say, had other plans.

Instead of focusing on golf, Brother Peter’s mind is now intent on the feast of St. Dominic, Aug. 8. The founder of the Dominicans inspired Brother Peter, 35, to join his order and become a priest. Brother Peter is currently a deacon, and he is scheduled to be ordained to the priesthood on the feast of the Visitation, May 31, 2014.

Brother Peter recounted his conversion story to Register correspondent Trent Beattie in time for the feast of St. Dominic. 

How did you start playing golf?

I remember seeing the beautiful green golf courses on TV as a child, but it wasn’t until the summer after eighth grade that I started playing. There was a neighbor friend my age who was also interested in golf, and we were on the greens many hours over that summer. There was something about the beautiful courses, clean air and the atmosphere of respect for an ideal of sportsmanlike conduct. That, combined with a desire to get lower and lower scores, was a marvelously addictive experience.

It almost seems like a religious experience.

Yes, I didn’t realize it at the time, but, eventually, I came to treat golf as a replacement religion. When there’s a spiritual void, something has to fill it, and oftentimes that something is sports. It’s easy to make recreation a religion these days, and men in particular tend to fall into this trap.

...

While attending a Mass I was invited to by a Catholic friend, I had quite an experience. When the priest elevated the Host, it was like a lightning flash of inspiration. I was kneeling there, with hundreds of people at the Sunday Mass, and I thought, “If what the Catholic Church teaches about the Eucharist is true, this is the most astonishing and beautiful thing that I have ever seen. If the Catholic Church is right about the Eucharist, then I must become Catholic, since God is manifesting himself here in a way he isn’t in other Christian communions.”

There's more at the link.

I find stories like this to be beautiful and affirming.  

Here's hoping some all of you do the same.