HEARTS OF CONVERSION

BY MAEGAN MARTIN

There are moments in our lives that change us forever. Maybe not all at once, but over time the impact can be seen and felt. For Devin and Ashley Owens, this change began back in 2019 as they encountered the beauty of the Catholic Church for the first time.

Devin and Ashley were both raised in Christian homes, Devin, Baptist and Ashley, Methodist. They grew up going to church on Sunday and even spent time in youth groups and serving on overseas missions, but during the later years of college and throughout medical school the couple became busy, and their faith fell through the cracks. Ashley even mentions that when she met Devin, she would have probably identified herself as agnostic.

During medical school, Devin and Ashley were married in the Methodist Church and started their family. In their fourth year of medical school, they welcomed their first child, Evelynn. “We started residency right after that,” Ashely shares, “and during that time frame we went to church only a handful of times.” During residency, Ashley and Devin welcomed their son, Peairs. “We read books and Bible stories with them,” Devin says, “we had the idea that we would get them involved slowly later.” But even then, faith was never something the family would talk about with much intentionality. This incredibly busy season of life leant itself to putting their faith on the back burner.

After medical school, the Owens family moved to North Carolina. During that time, they got plugged into a group of families mostly from Louisiana who were also in North Carolina for medical training. The Muller’s, a young Catholic family, began to befriend the Owens family. Over time this new friendship became the starting point of asking some bigger questions about the Catholic faith. While Ashley went to work, Devin stayed home with their children and was part of a homeschool co-op with Leah Muller and her children. “Thankfully, Leah was so bold about her faith,” Ashley shares, “She and her husband Sam are so instrumental in our conversions.”

When the Owens family walked into the Muller’s house for the first time, they saw different things all around their home that pointed to their faith. “I think the first thing we noticed is that they had daily practical routines of living liturgically,” Devin says, “They celebrated feast days, they finished meals with traditional Catholic prayers, they shared stories about popes and Saints, and I could see how effective that was for the kids to have something every day.”

Devin and Ashley began to seek out more and more information about the Catholic faith after encountering the Mullers’ witness. Devin attributes their journey into RCIA to a Father Mike Schmitz YouTube Video, Why Be Catholic and Not Just Christian? But everything changed after a visit with Sam and Leah Muller about the foundation of their faith. Ashley recalls the very moment, “Leah told us, ‘Jesus started the Catholic Church,’ and I thought ‘Why didn’t I know that before?’” At that point nothing else mattered. The Owens family knew that if Jesus Christ established the Church then any questions or hang ups they may have had with the Church could be answered in time, but they had to become Catholic.

After wrapping up their time in North Carolina, Devin and Ashley packed up their family and settled in Houma, Louisiana in the Summer of 2020. Upon their arrival, they googled “Catholic Church in

Houma” and ended up attending Mass at St. Bernadette Catholic Church. “We walked in the wrong door, we were a couple minutes late, we weren’t sure what to do or when to do it, and we were nervous,” Devin remembers. “But even with all that,” Ashley shares, “I remember tears just kept rolling down my cheeks and I just couldn’t understand why I was so overcome.” Devin shares that his experience of attending Mass was striking because it was nothing like his past experience of going to church, “it was about Jesus and him being present. Leaving Mass, I thought, ‘that’s something completely different.’” The couple enrolled in RCIA that week and were brought into the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass on April 3, 2021. Sam and Leah Muller were their sponsors. “Early on I remember thinking, I’ve always needed this. Physically Jesus providing his body, blood, soul, and divinity every time we’re in Mass was a game changer,” Devin says. Since coming into the Church in 2021, the life of the Owens family has never looked the same. They have become active in the community and in their home. The family attends Mass as often as possible, prays at several points during the day, lives more liturgically, frequents the Sacraments, and makes decisions based on prayer. The couple has also found a community thanks to retreat experiences with organizations like Domestic Church. Devin and Ashley even take their children to Eucharistic Adoration and different nights of prayer in their parish. One night in particular, “Father Mitch [Semar] was doing a Eucharistic Procession at St. Thomas Aquinas, and we’d never seen that before,” says Devin, “Evelynn (their oldest child) was sitting on my lap when they came up and the graces from just being there with Evelynn and praying with her were awesome.”

The family expressed just how much their mindset has shifted from the hustle and bustle of two busy careers in medicine to embracing a slower pace of life that is centered on Jesus. The couple has decided to classically homeschool their two children and teach them through a Catholic worldview. Evelynn received her First Communion this past Spring and likes to remind the family when it’s time to go to Confession. Peairs, their youngest child, can’t wait to be able to receive the Eucharist and take part in the Sacraments. The family encourages those around them that find themselves struggling in their faith or with life in general to pray for fervor and vigilance and to spend time in Adoration. “When you spend time in front of the Eucharist, it will change you,” says Ashley, “it can’t not.” When encountering those who have questions about the faith, Devin and Ashley advise them to seek out resources online or council from trusted priests or like-minded community.

Dr. Devin Owens practices family medicine at Family Doctor Clinic in Houma and Dr. Ashley Owens will be changing her job description to full-time mom and part-time physician to stay home with their growing family. The Owens family is expecting the arrival of a baby girl in September of this year.

“Remember, when you gather others into the People of God through Baptism, and when you forgive sins in the name of Christ and the Church in the Sacrament of Penance; when you comfort the sick with holy oil and celebrate the sacred rites, when you offer prayers of praise and thanks to God throughout the hours of the day, not only for the People of God but for the whole world – remember then that you are taken from among men and appointed on their behalf for those things that pertain to God. Therefore, carry out the ministry of Christ the Priest with constant joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns but to those of Jesus Christ.”

-Bishop Dorsonville in his homily for the Mass of Ordination on July 15th at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral