SEEKING HIDDEN TREASURES TO SHARE | KAIROS GLOBAL | MARCH 2021

Author: George K Paul

Intro: George Paul speaks of his unique personal encounter with the Lord, important choices in life, his second conversion and life’s mission.

I didn’t know what I didn’t know 

Growing up in the eighties, religion was never a big part of my life. Born in a middle-class family in central Kerala, I was an average kid, enjoyed sports and movies and was a fervent reader of comics and detective novels. My only brother was five years older than me, and we had a very friendly relationship. We did not receive a very religious upbringing save for the routine daily family prayer, obligatory Sunday Mass, and Sunday school. None of these activities had a great impact on my idea of faith or God. The spirit of secularism was quite dominant in our lives. 

It was in 1992 while I was attending St Berchmans College for pre-degree studies, that my life underwent a profound change. It started with a group of my brother’s old friends, who came over to conduct a weekend retreat for students at our old school. Dr Manoj and Fr Mathew Abraham, who were doing their MBBS at that time, were leading the group and they invited us to join them. We knew that both had gone through some kind of conversion experience, but the details of their story were then unknown to us. Besides, their ‘charismatic’ ways were a complete novelty, as we had never seen anything like it before. As the retreat came to an end, they signed my brother up for another programme, a five-day retreat at a centre in Bharananganam¹. After seeing the radical change in his friends' lives, reluctance gave way to intrigue and he decided to attend the retreat. Five days later, he returned a changed man. I was startled by this sudden change in my brother and I kept querying him on his new convictions about God, prayer and the Catholic faith. By the end of the day, I had enough faith, or curiosity… to give it a try. So I decided to pray. 

Encounter & Journey 

I prayed and started reading from the Bible hoping that God would speak to me. I was on Luke 24, the road to Emmaus. As I read the passage, I was suddenly struck by a vivid presence of Jesus in my room and the realisation dawned of his constant companionship, though I had failed to recognise him, just as the disciples, on that road to Emmaus. Tears started rolling down my face and I slept with a divine peace that night. I woke up the next day and found myself brimming with an inner joy and freedom that could not be described in words. Overnight, I was convinced that the Scriptures were true, Jesus was alive, he cared for me, and the best way to live my life was to follow him!

This was the beginning of a long journey with the Lord and despite several failings along the way, the Lord has been patient and merciful towards me. I came to know about a Jesus Youth group that was active on campus and I started attending their prayer groups and programmes. I have been associated with Jesus Youth ever since in some way or the other. There was a vibrant Jesus Youth group at TKM College where I did my Bachelors in Engineering. I had a wonderful time during those four years, enjoying the fellowship of my brothers and sisters in the faith, learning from them and taking part in every outreach activity, bearing witness to the Catholic faith. Twenty-five years later, I’m still close to most of my JY friends from that period. Over time, I developed the habit of daily Mass attendance and setting apart a time for personal prayer and reflection. Currently, I’m primarily involved with Jesus Youth Formation programmes in my locality which is blessed with several dynamic young adults eager to serve the Lord.

The Importance of Choices 

While I was in my final year, my father died of cancer and I had to stay at home for a year after my course due to the circumstances that emerged following his demise. It was a tough period for me, but the Lord gave me strength and guidance through the Eucharist and my elders. It was during this time that I started thinking seriously about my mission in life. After several days of prayer and reflection and many sessions with my elder, I made the decision to pursue Communication Design as my career as it would also benefit my work as a Catholic evangelist. I went on to do my master’s in visual communication from IIT Bombay where I was blessed with the opportunity to learn from some of the best design educators in the country. After finishing the master’s programme, I ran a design firm for ten years. Subsequently, I decided to close my firm and step out of the rat race and the 9-to-5 rut. I continued to work as a freelancer with various companies, ministries and NGOs, and currently as a part-time consultant with the Catholic Health Association of India. This gave me a significant amount of freedom and the ability to choose how to use my time.  

As an avid reader of the Bible, I didn’t fail to notice the passages in the New Testament which talk about our state of life (Matthew 19:12, 1 Corinthians 7) that made me think hard about my vocation. I had a sincere desire to give my whole life to the Lord and his Church, and the words of St Paul, ‘An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs’ made perfect sense to me. The priesthood was always an option, but I was getting a growing conviction that my role was to be fulfilled as a member of the laity. Thus came the decision to remain single, to be ‘concerned about the Lord’s affairs’ and focus on the realisation I had over twenty-five years ago – to follow him and follow him completely.

These three choices – communication design, freelancing and celibacy– have been fundamental in allowing me to identify my vocation and pursue it wholeheartedly, giving me ultimately ‘a peace that surpasses all understanding’. Each person has their own unique vocation and mission to discover, but the process of discerning seriously and making choices was crucial and has been very helpful in my life.  

Second Conversion and Mission 

As a single man with no serious financial liabilities, I enjoyed a lot of free time especially after 2013, when I closed my design firm. In the late nineties and in the early years of the third millennium, we did not have many Catholic resources on the web (the Catholic Answers website and forum would be an exception). However, with the growth of YouTube, many new Catholic ministries sprang up and we’ve witnessed a burgeoning of excellent online resources during the second decade of this century. Having access to such resources made a significant change in my understanding of the Catholic faith, Sacred Scriptures, Philosophy, Theology and Church history. Ours is a rich intellectual tradition, illuminated by Divine revelation and endowed with contributions from a long line of saintly geniuses under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As I made my way through the plethora of books, videos and talks, I discovered a deepening of my convictions of the Catholic faith and it has undoubtedly reshaped the way I think about almost everything. I call it my second conversion. Among the authors who have helped me the most are St Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, Pope Benedict XVI, Peter Kreeft, Bishop Robert Barron, Scott Hahn, Edward Feser, Brant Pitre, Aidan Nichols and William Lane Craig. Along with my informal learning, I also completed a Diploma course in Theology from Marthoma Vidyanikethan, Changanacherry². I’m currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Theology from Domuni University.

Across the world, there is a growing interest in the intellectual side of the Christian faith, particularly as an aid to apologetics, in response to the challenges and allegations raised against Christianity from various quarters. In Kerala, I’m associated with a few new initiatives involved in training youngsters in Catechesis and Apologetics. 

In pursuing this course of study, I have realised that the Church has all the answers to man’s questions – seamlessly blending faith and reason. Unfortunately, most of this is ‘hidden treasure’ unknown to the majority of Christians. So in the second motto of the Dominicans, Contemplare et contemplata aliis trader (to contemplate and to give to others the fruits of contemplation), I have found a personal mission. Except in my case, it would be to study and to give to others the fruits of learning.

 ¹ Bharananganam is an important centre of pilgrimage in Kerala, India.

² Changanassery is a place in Kerala, India.

George Paul speaks of his unique personal encounter with the Lord, important choices in life, his second conversion and life’s mission.