Convert shows how to be a disciple before, during and after becoming Catholic

Ryan Bahn only recently became a Catholic. But even before entering the Church he had the heart of a disciple.

Like other disciples, Bahn discovered Jesus while searching for truth. He searched out of curiosity, and he searched out of pain.

But once Bahn discovered the truth, he knew early on that he had to share what – or rather Whom – he had found.

Now, just two months after being received into the Church at the Easter Vigil, his quest for truth and his zeal for souls continues.

Bahn’s passion for the Catholic faith is commendable, said Deacon Pat Dempsey, who watched Bahn grow as he participated in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA, formerly known as RCIA) at St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion.

“One thing I’ll say about Ryan is when he accepts something to be true, he is all in,” Deacon Dempsey said. “And in the case of our faith, being all in means you have some responsibilites and obligations to take action. He does not shirk away from those responsibilities.”

OVERCOMING HIS PAST

Bahn – a 26-year-old software developer – was never baptized growing up. His parents’ differing versions of Protestant Christianity created a schism in their home, he said, and he was soured by what he experienced.

A high school teacher, though, helped him develop a love of reading and learning. He dove into books and eventually explored the beliefs of various religions and philosophies.

A contemporary thinker, psychologist Jordan Peterson, helped change Bahn’s mind on the Bible, through an online lecture series on the psychological significance of the stories of Genesis.

“That was the first time I had begun respecting the Bible again,” Bahn said, “not the faith, but just the book itself, seeing it as possibly an amazing piece of literature.

“And that was kind of like the first microscopic snowball at the top of a hill,” he said. “Over the next maybe six years – very slowly over a long period of time – it grew into one day genuinely thinking maybe this is something I should take seriously.”

ST. COLUMBKILLE

He and his wife, Elen, shopped around for churches, but none lined up with the truths that Bahn had learned through his studies, he said.

They decided to try the church that Elen knew as a child, St. Columbkille. There, he found, truths did line up, and he kept going to Sunday Mass at St. Columbkille for four or five months.

Then his father’s health began failing, and within a month he would die. During that time, Bahn said, he felt drawn to visit the hospital chapel to pray – and also to have a priest pray over his father.

He told the priest that it was not from a place of understanding that he sought the prayers, but from a place of pain.

After his father’s death in October 2023, he said, for four or five months he stopped going to church. But eventually, he decided, it was time to return. Soon after that, he began OCIA classes at St. Columbkille.

“I had just decided if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it with everything I have,” Bahn said. “So I’d read a lot of books. I could speak the language a little bit, I think, in terms of philosophy, theology, and I decided I would actually bring my gripes, the things that I was worried about.”

“And to my wonderful delight, they actually had some very decent answers” that stood up to academic rigor.

“That was enjoyable,” he said. “So I kept coming … and thinking about the ideas fairly often.”

A MOMENT OF GRACE

After the weekly class, in the church parking lot, he would hash out those ideas with his OCIA sponsor. Bahn also had begun a routine of morning and nighttime prayers.

“I was like, if I’m going to attempt this … then it needs to be a genuine try.”

But one thing was nagging at him. He brought it up during one of the parking lot discussions with his sponsor. Bahn was concerned about “all of the bad things that I still do, and how I know that they’re bad with a capital B, and I do them anyway. They call my name, and I answer every time.”

His sponsor responded by paraphrasing a quote from St. Pio of Pietrelcina, also known simply as Padre Pio: “Blessed is the crisis that made you grow, the fall that made you look to Heaven and the problem that made you look for God.”  

That answer hit him like a brick, Bahn said.

“I don’t know why it affected me as much as it did, but for someone who really likes to talk, I didn’t have much to say for a minute or two. And yeah, it became very clear to me that I should just stop (sinning).”

A new level of seriousness about the faith set in.

“Pretty much all at once I wanted genuinely to do good in regards to myself, in regards to my wife, in regards to my job. … These are things that I would feel and that existed beforehand, but it became the foremost matter in my mind, staving off temptation and actually severing that connection that I had to these terrible things, and to begin truthfully and as earnestly as I possibly could, garnering a connection to the proper spirit.”

Simply put, Bahn had a moment of grace. “It was a revelation that changed me in a way that I had not been changed before.”

Bahn chose St. Pio as his Confirmation saint, “which is funny,” he said, “because he’s not at all, I would say, an individual who matches my character or personality. … I wanted it to be Thomas Aquinas.”

Archbishop George J. Lucas blesses an item for Bahn after the Rite of Election, a step in the process of becoming Catholic. The Rite of Election is held annually at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha.

REACHING OTHERS

Bahn had begun recruiting for the Catholic Church even before OCIA, trying to bring in – or bring back – family members and friends to the faith.

His evangelizing hasn’t required a lot of work, he said. Often people “have some sort of curiosity about it (the faith) naturally, and I just fill it in for them,” he said.

From his own experience, he knew how to speak to them if they weren’t quite ready to accept God.

“Luckily, I’ve had these years and years of building these ideas in a secular fashion, to where I can play the game a little bit,” Bahn said. “You don’t say ‘God.’ You say ‘the highest good you can conceive of,’ and that one gets people in.”

“Then maybe after 15 minutes of chatting,” he’s able to talk about how “the very home of these ideas is in the Church” and everyone can partake in them.

After an initial conversation, often people want more: an ongoing investigation into the Church and a relationship with God.

In response, he has said: “Hey, there’s this thing called Alpha, maybe you should try it out.”

When at least one person seemed reluctant, Bahn offered to attend the faith-building program with him. Bahn wound up inviting several other people as well.

He’s also has invited people to Mass. And through it, people gradually change.

“I don’t know how or why,” Bahn said, “but I’m grateful.”

Father Tom Greisen, pastor of St. Columbkille Parish in Papillion, baptizes Bahn at the Easter Vigil. Deacon Pat Dempsey, pictured at left, is among those looking on.

‘ALL THINGS’

Like St. Paul, he has learned to “become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

He has studied the Bible with his New Age, Protestant mother, watching her lock into ideas from Church doctors and scholars. “You could hear a pin drop,” the son said.

But at other times, she’s asked “Are you trying to make me Catholic right now?”

“So we’re working on that one,” Bahn said. “We’ll see if we can make any headway there, but that’ll be a long journey.”

A brother and a cousin are open to becoming Catholic, he said, and he would love to be their OCIA sponsor as soon as next fall.

While still in OCIA formation, Bahn gave a 50-minute talk at work as part of program that offers employees a chance at public speaking. In his talk, Bahn related one of Dante’s writings to his own life and his path into the Church.

After the talk, a co-worker expressed interest in Catholicism. Bahn helped answer his questions.

Deacon Dempsey, who later listened to a recording of the talk, was impressed with Bahn’s courage to “say things that were so profoundly Catholic” at a secular workplace. “He just went out there and laid it all out in front of his peers.”

“The courage he exhibited was awesome, but his actual presentation was fantastic.”

Sharing his faith with those around him seems natural, Bahn said. He sees those opportunities as “a lot of little strings” hanging in front of him, and he’s waiting for the right time to pull them.

His method involves “being who I am,” a person large in stature, who’s openly Catholic and tends to be loud – but also a person who will quickly change tone, becoming more quiet and attentive when someone brings up matters of faith.

He tries to be as patient and prudent as possible, not wanting to push too hard.

LEARNING AND GROWING

Bahn also has looked for ways to strengthen his own faith and stay connected with his  Church community now that OCIA and Alpha have wrapped up.

One way has been Beyond the Journey, a small-group program developed by St. Columbkille Parish, for those who have completed Alpha and want to continue learning and growing.

Bahn said his Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year studies will continue, as will the cold showers of Exodus 90 (a Catholic men’s challenge), at least on Fridays.

“I think that’s a sacrifice I’d be willing to make for the rest of my life,” Bahn said.

He also plans to keep learning through reading and through online classes and seminars.

 “I don’t think I could stop, to be honest with you,” he said.

New plans include possibly helping with St. Columbkille youth programs and being formed through the archdiocese’s Mentorship Program, which begins in August.

After two months as a Catholic, Bahn wants to stay busy.

Deacon Dempsey said he hopes that Bahn’s zeal as a new convert never fades. After Bahn completes two years in the Mentorship Program, the deacon expects to “see some amazing things start to happen.”

“I am excited to see what Ryan Bahn does for the Church in Omaha.”

Some members of Bahn’s family surround him after he was welcomed into the Church at the Easter Vigil. His wife, Elen, is pictured at right.

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