The grace of God and the Rosary

By Megan Marley

God’s grace works in mysterious ways, especially when Our Lady gets involved, as Lucas Carey could tell you. More than three years ago, he sat in jail looking at a seven-year prison sentence for domestic violence and was ready to go back to “a life of sin and depravity” as soon as he got out.

Then the Rosary happened.

‘I HAD A LOT OF QUESTIONS’

Though raised Presbyterian, Lucas was functionally an atheist when he graduated from high school. By 19, he was homeless and doing drugs in California.

“But it was actually out in California that I started believing in God,” Lucas said. “It was a really strange event, but I don’t know that without it I would be believing in God at this point.”

Vibing to Bob Marley’s song “Jah Live” while working in a plant nursery, he suddenly felt caught up in light and was struck by a “thunderous voice that said, ‘I AM your God; you have denied me your whole life and you will know my name.’

“I was stuck there in the middle of what I was doing, tears just running down my face ... I had to take an early lunch break in order to gather myself,” Lucas recounted.

“This was before I knew anything about the Bible. I had a lot of questions ... What if Jesus was a real person and what would that mean? What it all meant, his death on the cross — it’s insanity! But from there, I still kept going down a bad path.”

‘IT WAS A NECKLACE, AS FAR AS I KNEW’

Interestingly, Our Lady had lassoed Lucas during his time on the streets.

“I was homeless for quite awhile and people were always giving out rosaries — almost throughout the entire time I was homeless I had a rosary somewhere on me. I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t know how to pray, I really just thought it was a necklace, as far as I knew,” Lucas said.

After a couple of years of rough living, Lucas ended up back in Kansas City and in trouble with the law.

“The night before I went to jail, I had gotten this rosary at a thrift store that was actually broken. So I was like, ‘OK I’ll give the rosary a home, I’ll fix it up,’” he recalled. “I wanted to pray the Rosary. I don’t know why.”

“I knew that it consisted of Our Fathers and Hail Marys, but I didn’t know how to say a Hail Mary … I said like this half of a Hail Mary, and I ran through the entire broken Rosary,” Lucas said. “I fixed it wrong, too, now that I look back at it — I had a decade hanging off where your three Hail Marys are supposed to be. Then I went to jail.”

‘A GREAT FIRST STEP’

In that jail, rosaries and other potential strangle hazards are not allowed. But religious pamphlets are.

A fellow inmate had a collection of religious materials and gave Lucas a copy of the Legion of Mary’s daily prayers, which included instructions on how to pray the Rosary.

“I started reading the Bible when I was there, but I never had a formal prayer life,” Lucas said. “It’s really hard to structure your own prayer life, so the Rosary is kind of a great first step. It was like, here’s the structure, take it, it’s already formed!”

To aid in praying, Lucas took a strip of bed sheet and tied a couple of knots in it to keep count. He still has that reminder today.

“I kind of took to heart that quote from Saint Paul, “with fear and trembling work out your own salvation.” I started journaling and everybody in there thought it was pretty much day and night with me ... Mary flipped a switch on her side: things that I would have normally done all of a sudden seemed extremely wrong.”

As Lucas got more engaged in his faith life, “Father Mike (Roach) helped me out; he came to visit me in jail and then when I got out I was on house arrest, and he came to visit me a couple times.”

Lucas recalls Father Mike thought he was already Catholic, since he had knowledge of the faith from reading books in jail, and invited him to St. James Parish: “After I got off house arrest, I started coming to daily Mass.”

Lucas finally entered the Church and received his First happy to bring Communion on February 9, me along.” 2020, and was Confirmed in March 2021. He’s also an active member of the Legion of Mary and helps assemble homeless care packages that include a welcoming flier for St. James Parish, plus a rosary and instructions on how to pray it.

“Conversion is a long process, and it’s a deep process. I’m still far from perfect, but Mary is so happy to bring me along,” he concluded.

“Just the other day, I was looking back at where I was and thinking, ‘How is this even possible?’ I was on the streets in California, homeless, shooting up dope; and I was the hardest atheist in the world. I mean how is this possible, it makes no sense! The grace of God, you know, it’s absolutely incredible.”

COMING HOME TO COMMUNION

During the 2021 Easter Vigil, more than 210 catechumens and candidates entered the Catholic Church within our diocese. While there isn’t a final tally for 2022 yet, we do know that this year’s converts will be entering a final intense stretch of prayer and discernment following liturgies known as the Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion.

This year’s Rites of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion will take place at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 5 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 6 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in St. Joseph. Be sure to keep our catechumens and candidates in your prayers!