JESUS IN THE PUJA ROOM | KAIROS GLOBAL | FEBRUARY 2022

Author: Shaji Antony

Intro: From a daily temple-goer, Shaji Antony shares how he journeyed from Hinduism to the Catholic Church.

As a Hindu, it was habit to visit the temple every day, from my childhood. We had a puja (Hindu worship) room in our house and one day I noticed that a picture of Jesus Christ was placed there, among the other gods. My grandmother asked me to light a candle for Jesus during my daily prayer. One day, we visited St Antony’s Shrine, Chettikkad¹ along with my neighbour – my first time to a Catholic church. And then, my mother happened to attend a retreat at Divine Retreat Centre, Muringoor². This made my mother a strong Christian believer and it was a turning point in our faith journey. Though this incident influenced my faith, I continued to be a passive believer. I would pray only for my personal gain, without any conviction or God experience.

Time flew and I began to work in the UAE. Life went on smoothly until the day my father, who was also working in the UAE, was jailed for failing to repay a debt. We were isolated by our relatives and were even strongly criticised that our Christian faith was the reason for all the crises in our life. But instead of losing it, this incident actually strengthened my faith.

I got married to Saumya who was a Hindu by birth, but Christian at heart. The first thing she asked for after marriage was to receive baptism, but I was reluctant. Years passed by and we faced many challenges in life. We did not have children, I faced problems at work, and so on.

One Friday, my wife asked me to go for Holy Mass. I went half-heartedly but towards the end of the service, was filled with an unusual happiness and peace of mind. That day onwards, I longed to go for Mass every Friday and it changed my life. I came to know about the Jesus Youth movement there and their fellowship was a great consolation to me. Unfortunately, attending daily Mass began to become both unaffordable and time consuming. So, on an insight received at a prayer meeting, we decided to give our best time in the morning for Jesus every day by reciting 101 Hail Marys for this cause. By God's grace, we were able to find a person going by car to church daily from our place! We believe that God arranged him seeing the desire of our heart. I attended Holy Mass daily for two-and-a-half years before my baptism. 

The Middle East conference was happening in Jerusalem in 2016 and I decided to participate in it. My friends suggested that if I was willing and ready, they could arrange for my baptism there. I agreed and my baptism took place in Jerusalem in the River Jordan.

The Holy Mass is my stronghold and answer to all my problems. Every Catholic is part of the Body of Christ and the realisation that I have a unique place in the Church brought me closer to her. The love and devotion to Mother Mary, who is an inseparable part of the Church is another reason for my being a part of the Catholic Church. This is something unique about the Catholic Church. The presence of our dear saints in the Church makes it even more precious to me.

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Shaji Antony works in a private firm in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is currently a member of the JY  regional mission team.