Why This Catholic Athlete Became a Missionary After Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist

One FOCUS missionary’s move to mission.

(Photo provided)

By Ryan Chacon

I grew up in a practicing Catholic family and attended Holy Family High School. This background taught me a lot about the history and teachings of the Catholic Church, and I always admired its truth and beauty. Because I understood that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, I felt convicted to obey its authority. However, I wasn’t always convicted of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I attended a small Protestant Christian college in Oklahoma to play collegiate baseball and study engineering. While many of the students had strong relationships with Jesus, I often thought of myself as superior because I belonged to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, while they did not.

I didn’t recognize the hypocrisy in my viewpoint until I attended a Bible study in my senior year led by a FOCUS missionary (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). Through my involvement with FOCUS Bible studies and discipleship, as well as my attendance at their annual SEEK conference, I came to understand that being a good Christian is not just about following Catholic teachings and avoiding sin; it’s about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

When I attended that first Bible study, God was part of my life, but he was not at the center of it. My prayer life was minimal and inconsistent. I was seeking fulfillment in worldly things rather than in God, and I was not living out my baptismal call to evangelize others.

To grow in my personal relationship with Jesus, I began adopting some practices I observed in my Protestant friends, as encouraged by the FOCUS missionary I was working with. I started reading the Bible daily and prayerfully meditating on Scripture. I also temporarily set aside devotions like the Rosary and novenas in favor of more intentional, conversational prayer with God. Lastly, I began listening to more praise and worship music. These changes helped deepen my intimacy with Jesus, and I found myself wishing that these practices had been more strongly encouraged in my Catholic education.

But I also experienced something that my Protestant friends could not: the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. These new habits of prayer helped me grow closer to him, but doing them under his loving gaze in the Adoration Chapel drew me into a depth of relationship that I can’t even describe with words.

And this is why I am, and always will be, Catholic.

Nothing on earth compares to the presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the most important part of our faith, and we all should try to experience this sacrament as much as possible.

My encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist has helped me grow in holiness and reorder my life so that he reigns at the center of it. As a result of this deeper conversion, I’ve developed a desire to evangelize others and help them discover this same relationship. I want non-Christians to hear the Gospel, Protestants to encounter Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist, and Catholics to fall more deeply in love with Jesus.

To help me live out this mission, God has called me to serve as a FOCUS missionary, where I will accompany student athletes at the University of Dallas as they grow in their relationships with Jesus Christ and his Church.

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Raised in Northglenn, Ryan Chacon is a FOCUS missionary at the University of Dallas.