Carmel Returns To The Catholic Church
Carmel Rafeeq enjoys life. In sharing her testimony of how she journeyed away from the Church and then God led her back, it was evident that she was someone who has a close relationship with God through Jesus Christ His Son. She is the mother of three boys and is also a grand mother. Carmel together with her siblings, grew up in a strict Catholic home where they went to Mass every Sunday, then Sunday school, and when they were old enough, they had to join the Legion of Mary. Carmel shared that both of her parents had a deep devotion to Our Blessed Lady and as such, she and her other siblings prayed the Family Rosary very often.
Carmel got married quite young at the age of eighteen, to a Muslim, under Muslim rights. Such a marriage is not recognized by the Holy Roman Catholic Church, which technically meant that Carmel was living in sin. Being raised in the Catholic Faith as she was, this meant that Carmel could not receive Holy Communion. So she thought that since she could not receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, what was the sense in going to Mass. Not long after that, Carmel stopped attending Mass. She lamented about feeling rejected and like an out cast since after she stopped attending Mass, no one came, no one called to find out why. Carmel testified that even though she had stopped attending Mass, she held firm to the Catholic belief and never had a desire to become Muslim. Muslims mind you, do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Over the years, Carmel faced additional challenges within her marriage that ranged from gambling to alcoholism to physical abuse. Praying the Rosary at nights was the only conform she found from the pain was very difficult to bear at times. After twenty years of marriage, Carmel’s husband died of a heart attack. Not long after that, she met the Mormon Missionaries and became very friendly with them. They made her feel welcome and loved, especially at her time of grief. “I felt very comfortable around them” Carmel recalled, “so I found myself being able to open up and talk to them, and share my problem with them. I had no one to speak to.”
The Mormons would come by her office very often to speak with her and to find out how she was going. They would share the Gospel and readings from the book of Mormons, and would talk a lot about their founder, Joseph Smith.
Carmel a businesswoman, lost most of her business due to looting in the aftermath of the 1990 attempted coup here in Trinidad. Her husband’s death came some six months thereafter. The combination of the two made life financially difficult for Carmel whom you may recall had three sons to look after.
After getting deeper and deeper into their teachings, Carmel was eventually baptised into the Mormon’s faith. In spite of it all and through the difficult times, she never let go of her belief in the Holy Roman Catholic faith as she continued to pray the Rosary, wear a crucifix around her neck as well as have sacred Catholic pictures hung on the walls of her home. She was told that as part of her new faith, she should not have the sacred pictures at her home, nor wear a crucifix, nor continue with any of the other Catholic practices. But Carmel held firm to her belief in the Catholic church and declared that she had no intentions of removing her pictures of her Blessed Mother, of the Sacred Heart and that she certainly had no intention of removing the crucifix from around her neck.
Because of her belief in the Catholic faith, Carmel started to lose favour with the mormons. As the years went by, she became unhappy and restless. It was St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, who said, “our hearts are restless Lord until they rest in you.” This was Carmel’s experience. She started to openly question their faith and their teachings, comparing the Bible with the book of Mormons.
Carmel recalled that over the years while she was away from the Catholic Church, there were people who were praying for her, including an aunt who was a Carmelite Nun. Her aunt would call her very regularly – almost daily she recalled – to remind her to pray the Rosary. After almost thirty years, Carmel returned to the faith that she knew to be true – the One True Catholic and Apostolic Church, and after having confession, with great joy and tear-filled eyes, she received Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
“Everyday, I praise and I thank God and the Holy Spirit for my conversion”, Carmel said. She continued, “I thank my Holy Mother for her love and her protection. ” “So often we say that we are Catholics, but do we know what our faith is all about?” Carmel asked. She challenged her listening audience to spend time thinking and praying about their faith and to be aware of what they were doing when ever they were receiving Jesus in Holy Communion.
As we continue through this season of Lent, I would like to add to what Carmel has already said and challenge you to allow a hunger for the truth and beauty of the Catholic Faith to fester within you. We live in an information age, where information is readily available. Please spend time and visit sites like The Vatican, EWTN and find out more about your faith. If you do this with a sincere heart, I promise you one thing will happen – you will be pleasantly surprised and blest with what you will find.
May God guide you in His truth
