Ray Ryland - Drawn from Shadows Into Truth: A Memoir

Endorsements for Drawn From Shadows Into Truth: A Memoir

Fr. Ray Rylands Drawn from Shadows Into Truth combines the fascinating story of how a minister in the Disciples of Christ eventually came to the fullness of Christianity in the Catholic Church together with some excellent apologetics. This splendid book will stimulate those who already have the faith and enlighten those seeking for the truth.

IAN KER
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

One of the most amazing men Ive ever known, and also one of the holiest, Fr. Ray Ryland shares his life-story in a way that is bound to inform and inspire. Readers will recognize many familiar landmarks in this divinely scripted pilgrimage: from the US Navy to Harvard Divinity School, from the Protestant ministry to the Catholic priesthood; Fr. Ray remains active even still, in his 90s, as a trusted friend and advisor for groups such as Catholics United for the Faith, Catholic Answers, The Catholic Answer and the Coming Home Network. Full of practical wisdom and profound theological insight, Drawn from Shadows Into Truth is more than a conversion story; it is a testimony to how Gods amazing grace empowered a very faithful disciple to become an extraordinarily fruitful apostle. Highly recommended.

SCOTT HAHN
BEST-SELLING CATHOLIC AUTHOR
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE ST. PAUL CENTER FOR BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

Fr. Ryland has been a dear friend and spiritual guide for many years, but hearing more of the details of his journey has reinforced even more his role as a cherished mentor for all of us on the journey home. Drawn from Shadows is a captivating (and agonizing) narrative of a mans quest for God and truthfrom a poor Oklahoma farm boy to a naval officer to a Protestant minister to a university professor to a Harvard lawyer to a married Catholic priest with five children and over two dozen grand- and great-grandchildren. The story of a pilgrimage is the story of a lifetime. And what a story this is! Get it. Read it. Enjoy it!

MARCUS GRODI
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE COMING HOME NETWORK INTERNATIONAL

Fr. Rylands masterpiece of spiritual autobiography is up there with works of his fellow converts from Anglicism, with Bl. Newman and Robert Hugh Bensongreat men who followed the Truth where it led no matter the cost. Fr. Rays book is a compelling read and will bring many readers to conversion as the new evangelization continues in this still young century.

FR. JOHN MCCLOSKEY
RESEARCH FELLOW OF THE FAITH AND REASON INSTITUTE IN WASHINGTON DC.

In my career I read many conversion storiestoo many, really, since most of them, although written piously, are not written well. A convert will grant a fellow convert considerable literary allowance, having traveled a parallel road and knowing how difficult it is to express what the journey was like. But I am not a convert and am more demanding. I set aside most conversion stories after reading the first few pages, rejoicing to know that the Church has a new member but not rejoicing enough to plow through the rest of the tale.

What a delight it is, then, to pick upand to be unable to put downsuch a well written memoir as Fr. Ray Rylands! His book is full of well-turned phrases and memorable, even touching, incidents. It also is full of theology and history, but the reader nowhere mistakes it for a catechism or a textbook. I cant remember when I last came across a conversion account that made me wish I had been peering over the authors shoulder the entire time, but thats how I feel about this book.

This is the story of a man who wasnt chased into the Church by the Hound of Heaven but who, from a young age, chased after the Hound, not sure for much of the time where the chase would lead but knowing that he had to follow. That makes this a story of spiritual and intellectual adventure, one that speaks both to converts and non-converts.

KARL KEATING
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF CATHOLIC ANSWERS

Drawn from Shadows Into Truth is the touching story of a life well spent in the enthusiastic search for the true Church established by Christ. In its pages Fr. Ray Ryland provides the reader with keen insights into the misperceptions, prejudices, and doctrinal differences that have separated Protestants and Catholics for half a millennium. In doing so, he brings rich new meaning to timeless theological doctrines. He convincingly proves how the truth of such doctrines is never subjective. He further masterfully demonstrates that fidelity of belief in magisterial teaching leads to authentic religious freedom. This book will serve to inspire and challenge anyone embarked on their own spiritual journey. Those resolute in their search for ultimate truth will find that it provides both intellectual and spiritual enrichment. I wish you joyous reading and a deepened faith as you traverse its chapters with Fr. Ray as your trusted guide.

CHARLES LIMANDRI
LAW OFFICES OF CHARLES S. LIMANDRI, A CIVIL LITIGATION PRACTICE

Emmaus Road Publishing
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, Ohio 43952

2013 by Ray Ryland
All rights reserved. Published 2013
Printed in United States of America
16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013932805
ISBN: 978-1-937155-90-2

Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition) Copyright 2006 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Noted as CCC in the text.

Cover design & layout by: Theresa Westling
Cover photo: Monica Lahr

For Ruth Margaret
Next to life and salvation,
Gods greatest gift to me

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1
Long Journey Home

CHAPTER 1:
Pilgrim Roots

CHAPTER 2:
Christian Roots

CHAPTER 3:
Off to War

CHAPTER 4:
Vocation Unfolding

CHAPTER 5:
Vocation on Fire

CHAPTER 6:
Heading for Seminary

CHAPTER 7:
Shedding My Unitarianism

CHAPTER 8:
My First Ordination

CHAPTER 9:
Discovering Anglicanism

CHAPTER 10:
More Wakeup Calls

CHAPTER 11:
Waning Anglo-Catholicism

CHAPTER 12:
Home At Last!

Part 2
Being Catholic

CHAPTER 13:
Toward Holy Orders

CHAPTER 14:
Reflections on Pilgrimage

CHAPTER 15:
Retrospect: Terrains Traversed (1)

CHAPTER 16:
Retrospect: Terrians Traversed (2)

CHAPTER 17:
Submission to Rome

CHAPTER 18:
Does Being Catholic Make a Difference?

CHAPTER 19:
No Salvation Outside the Church?

CHAPTER 20:
Priestly Celibacy

Every story of conversion is at its root a mystery story. The convert never stops asking himself, Why was I chosen, when so many others close to me, in many ways like me, have not been led into the Church?

Clare Boothe Luce, a twentieth-century author and playwright, wrote that the convert never grows weary of reflecting on the variety, the passing strangeness, of the ways in which God, in Francis Thompsons tremendous word,