A family's story of searching, conversion and spiritual blessings

Dr. Devin Owens is a family physician who practices at the Family Doctor Clinic in Houma. He currently lives in Thibodaux with his wife Ashley, a pain management doctor for Thibodaux Regional Health System, and their two children, Evelynn, 7; and Peairs, 6.

He and his family are recent converts to Catholicism and his story is an interesting and inspiring one which led the family to the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

The Homer, LA, native is a graduate of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. After receiving his master’s degree in clinical anatomy and his medical doctorate at LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport, he completed a residency in Family Medicine at Baton Rouge General.
 
Devin was raised Baptist; his wife Ashley was raised Methodist, but her mother was Catholic. So they were both brought up with a strong Christian background. After college, he says they both were experiencing periods of spiritual apathy. The two met in medical school while studying in the anatomy cadaver lab. Two years later they were married in a Methodist church in Baton Rouge. During their medical residency, he says their faith unfortunately took a back seat and they were not really practicing any faith. They both felt an emptiness, so they began going to different churches and exploring different Christian denominations.

They moved to North Carolina for Ashley’s fellowship and at that time Devin stayed at home with the children. “We befriended a devout Catholic family who through their witness drew us into learning more about their daily practice of the Catholic faith, which included following the liturgical calendar, intercessory prayer, studying the lives of the saints, and a devotion to Mary. They also introduced us to the sacraments. We saw that they had something special and began to ask more questions. Our friends were bold enough to share their faith and once they knew we were interested, we had many great discussions with their family,” says Devin.

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic as Ashley was finishing her fellowship in North Carolina that she accepted a job at Thibodaux Regional. During that time, they experienced a series of family hardships that put their lives into a spiritual turmoil. Devin says the combination of these hardships, moving across the country, starting new jobs, and Ashley studying for board exams created a perfect storm of stress and uncertainties for their family. “It became even clearer to us that we needed to trust what God had begun in our lives with this spark of searching into the Catholic faith,” he says.

They moved to Houma in August 2020. Their friends from North Carolina had just moved to Jackson and they invited them to a Healing Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Luling, with Father Anthony Odiong.

“We went to this Mass with very little knowledge of what a Catholic Mass was and even less knowledge of what a Healing Mass was, so we just had to take this leap. We followed along as best we could and after the Mass, we followed a group of people into a small chapel who were praying the rosary for the Healing Mass. We explained our situation to Father Anthony, who prayed and blessed each of our family members. He asked that we pray the rosary every day for the following 30 days. It was hard to describe what happened in that small chapel, but we left knowing we had found what we were searching for and what we desperately needed: A renewal of our relationship with Christ and an infinite well of strength to depend on. During the following month we prayed the rosary daily with our family (after googling “what is the rosary” and printing small cards for everyone to read from). It became evident very soon that this consistency of prayer and new devotion to Mary was providing our family with some powerful healing, forgiveness and an abundance of God’s grace,” says the doctor.

Devin explains that in hindsight it was clear that they were being drawn back to God in preparation for incredibly difficult times that would continue to come. They now had this experience and a feeling that they needed to pursue joining the Catholic Church. They googled the closest Catholic Church to their home and that was St Bernadette in Houma. They met with Father Andre´ Melancon, pastor, and began the RCIA process almost immediately, in the fall of 2020. “Father Andre´ has been a huge part of this conversion process,” says Devin.

This was all taking place at the same time Ashley was studying for two board exams. During the RCIA process, he says they had a great team of catechists at St. Bernadette that helped them build a strong foundation. They added resources like Father Mike Schmidt videos on Youtube and the Formed app, that were instrumental in helping them learn the foundations of the Catholic faith.

“At this point, we were realizing we would not have made it through the difficult times our family faced without God drawing us near and allowing us to lean on his strength and the resources of his church.”
They continued through the RCIA process and were confirmed April 3, 2021, with their friends from North Carolina in attendance as their sponsors, who coincidentally knew Father Melancon because he had been recommended to them for marriage counseling.

The Owens family’s time of spiritual growth continued as they transitioned from Houma to Thibodaux and began to meet many young families practicing the faith daily. Father Melancon suggested they meet the Dawson family. David Dawson, the diocesan director of the Office of Parish Support, and his wife Kate have nine children, five boys and four girls.

“David has a great family and just has a wealth of knowledge about the Catholic faith,” says Devin. “After our families became fast friends, Kate mentioned that David did a ‘workout F3 thing’ on the front lawn of their neighborhood. David casually mentioned it was at 6 a.m. and sent me a google map drop in. The workouts last about 45 minutes. They are outdoors and we usually do push-ups, sit-ups, running and calisthenics. The group’s motto is ‘Come for the fitness, but stay for the fellowship and faith.’ I’ve been attending ever since and now we are preparing for our first big community fundraiser event to support the St. Vincent de Paul Tri-Parish Community Pharmacy.”

Devin says that David sent him an email in May about a grant that F3 does each year and asked him for ideas about what they could do this year. He thought about it for a while, remembering that he had volunteered for St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) pharmacy during his residency in Baton Rouge. Something told him to call the SVDP Tri Parish Community Pharmacy in Houma. When he finally spoke to the secretary, Colleen Lewis, he says, “She told me they were struggling and she didn’t know why I called, but that they had been praying for some type of help.”

(For more information about the fundraiser and F3 Thibodaux, see page 20.)

Knowing this article would be appearing in the issue with our Wellness Special, Dr. Owens discusses the importance of physical wellbeing along with spiritual wellness as an important aspect for the complete healing of mind, body and spirit. “We deal with physical versus spiritual wellness a lot. Mental health – it's been the invisible pandemic inside the pandemic. First, we have to consider … is there a treatable mental illness? Do we prescribe meds? Offer counseling, therapy? Use prayer or a spiritual guidance approach?”

Spiritual wellness plays a vital role in all aspects of physical wellness, says the doctor. During an annual wellness visit, they often cover topics like diet, exercise, healthy daily habits, and keeping track of one’s progress through a diary or app. These help patients pinpoint weakness, encourage strengths and look at their health from a “zoomed out” point of view.

“It is just as critical during a regular complete health checkup to discuss similar parameters, but in a spiritual sense. What does your spiritual input/output look like daily? Does this leave you feeling drained or energized? What is a spiritual muscle you need exercise with? Am I around the people who nourish these goals? These questions can often open a discussion further about religion and spiritual direction and can aid us in helping patients find the correct resources for complete healing,” he says.

“There is a temptation to view these as independent categories of wellness, but we must remember we are both body and soul, and need considerations as such. We must also continue to be mindful that our physical bodies are both made in the image of God and built for the Holy Spirit to dwell,” says the doctor. “By honoring God’s creation in maintenance of our physical bodies we glorify him with body and spirit!”