Years of prayer result in husband’s baptism
Father John McCaslin baptizes Wallace “Wally” Miller of Indianapolis during the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, April 3, at St. Anthony Church in Indianapolis. Miller’s wife, Debbie, was his Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults sponsor. Father McCaslin is the pastor of St. Anthony Parish and administrator of Holy Trinity Parish in Indianapolis. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)
By Mary Ann Wyand
Wallace “Wally” Miller celebrated his 58th birthday on April 3 in a special way.
The Indianapolis resident was baptized by Father John McCaslin then received the sacraments of confirmation and first Communion during the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday at St. Anthony Church in Indianapolis.
His wife, Debbie, who served as his Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults sponsor, said it was a sign from God and meant to be when they learned that he would join the Church on the anniversary of his birth.
His baptism was an answer to many years of prayer by his wife.
A cradle Catholic, Debbie fell away from the Church following an abortion early in their 38-year marriage. She experienced a spiritual conversion 24 years ago during a Christ Renews His Parish weekend, and 10 years ago felt God calling her to begin Healing Hidden Hurts, a confidential post-abortion reconciliation ministry for women. (Related story: Debbie Miller answers God’s call to offer post-abortion reconciliation)
“I started praying for his conversion after I went through my own conversion experience back in 1986,” she recalled. “I feel like this is the fruition of all those years of prayer for him.
“His first RCIA class was on the feast of St. Monica [on Aug. 27, 2009],” she explained, which is significant because this saint prayed for her son’s conversion for many years. St. Monica’s son, Augustine, later became a saint and a doctor of the Church.
“When Wally found out in class that he would be baptized and brought into the Church on his birthday, he said, ‘Now, I’ve got to go through with this,’ ” Debbie recalled. “Before that, he was just inquiring, but then he saw that this was God’s plan for him. He realized that God was saying, ‘This is your time.’ It was very exciting to watch him grow during the RCIA process. … He was really excited about what he learned.”
The second of 10 children, Wally said he “thought about Jesus and always knew there was a God, but just wasn’t religious.”
Even though he “wasn’t raised in a religious home,” he said, his mother encouraged him after he asked her about going to church on Easter when he was about 11 years old.
“We lived in a little town called New Augusta,” he recalled. “There was a Lutheran church two blocks from our house. I told my mom, ‘I want to go to church on Easter Sunday.’ She thought that was nice, and even bought me a new shirt.
“I walked to the church by myself and climbed up the steps,” Wally said. “At that age and as nervous as I was, it felt like I was climbing a ladder. The doors to the church were closed. I stood there and heard music and people singing, but I was afraid to open the door. I knew if I opened the door everybody would turn around and look at me, so I didn’t go in. I turned around and went home and cried to my mom.”
As a husband and father, he occasionally went to Mass with his wife and their two children, who joined the Church during their grade school years.
Last August, 46 years after his childhood desire to know Jesus, Wally inquired about the RCIA process then enthusiastically began to learn about God, Scripture, the sacraments and the teachings of the Church.
He started reading the Bible during Lent, and is enjoying the Gospel stories.
“In my entire life, I had never opened a Bible,” he said. “It’s interesting. I started reading the Gospel of Luke and I’m reading the Gospel of John now. I want to learn. I’m still learning. I’m still growing. I still have many questions that I don’t know how to ask so I sit back and listen.”
Father John McCaslin, the pastor of St. Anthony Parish and administrator of Holy Trinity Parish in the Indianapolis West Deanery, said during an April 1 interview that Debbie’s faithful witness and years of prayer for her husband are an inspirational example of what can happen when people place their trust in God.
“Debbie lived her faith, … and prayed for him and loved him, and honored her commitment to God and to their marriage vows,” Father McCaslin said. “I think that the best thing we can do to help others who are still in their own search and journey is simply living our lives faithfully. Through our example of living our life of faith, the invitation [to others] is finally heard and received and can be answered. What we can continue to do [as Catholic parishioners] is be a place where they feel welcomed and loved and wanted.”
For priests, “it’s a wonderful joy for us to know that we’re helping to bring people into the fullness of the sacramental life of the Church,” Father McCaslin said. “… To be able to celebrate the Easter Vigil [Mass] with the sacramental celebration of initiation is a particularly beautiful aspect of the priesthood and of the life of the [Church] community. … We’re calling people to active participation in the Church and the life of the Body of Christ, and to know that we’re helping people is a wonderful affirmation.”
The Church’s Holy Week liturgies “call us to a deeper understanding of how generous and loving our God is,” he said. “… We experience that great love of God, and our response is, ‘I want to be a better person. I want to be all that you made me to be with joy and love.’ ”
As the clock neared midnight on Holy Saturday at St. Anthony Church, Wally couldn’t stop smiling as he talked about his baptism after the Easter Vigil Mass.
“I feel like a new person, a whole new human being,” he said. “I’m going to try real hard. I have a new life in Christ. This is a fresh start for me. It was emotional. It was great. … Father [McCaslin] asked everybody to come back every Sunday and receive the Eucharist. That’s what it’s all about.” †
(Related: Welcome, new Catholics)
