Tom Rutkoski ~ The Man Responsible...

in many ways, he was.

He brought us back to our Faith.

Rewind. First, he helped bring my mother back. My mother went to see him speak. Tom is a Catholic Evangelist focusing on lukewarm Catholics. He himself was a fallen away Catholic for 27 years. He speaks about his conversion, how he now lives his faith and is the author of a number of books and tapes on that topic as well. He has a great devotion to Our Lady.

After my mother had seen him, she embraced her faith and the rosary in a new and recommitted way. She asked me to come see him with her the next time he was in town. I had been coming back to my faith and was also touched by his words. But his words really came to live inside me through another source, my husband.

The next time Tom was in town I asked my husband to come with me to see him. He already had a strong enough faith to keep me Catholic when I was shopping other religions and he was taking us to Sunday Mass. In retrospect, he talks of the hour car ride to see Tom as noteworthy. We got lost. What I didn't know is that he felt very close to turning around to go home. Interference! But God had other plans.

We arrived at the Church and I squirmed a little wondering if he was rolling his eyes or if any of it would seem too much for him. Many men might put on a bravado and shake off the emotion of it all. To my surprise he did not and when Tom asked for volunteers my shy husband went forward!!

Tom gives a blessing to each person, “I bless you with the blessing of our blessed Mother and may the power of the Holy Spirit come upon you, Amen. ” He said that some, upon receiving it, feel dizzy and he'd need "catchers." This seemed really odd but who am I to judge another or the way God works? Still, I was surprised that my husband went to help. He said he felt uncomfortable about it, but compelled. But more surprising still was what he felt the few times he needed to "catch" someone.

Something did happen. My husband described it as like an electrical current in his hands. Thinking back on that as I write, it seems reasonable considering that Tom's and Gospa's effect on my husband has been much more intense on my husband than it has been on me. I pray that I can do better...

We went home with a bunch of books and tapes and he read them all, passing them along to me and almost immediately he went to daily Mass...and has never stopped almost a decade later. He went to confession for the first time in years after seeing Tom and still goes at least monthly. About 6 or 7 years ago he contacted Tom and brought him to a circuit of engagements in our Diocese to share with others what had so inspired him. I hope there are other stories out there like my husbands...I bet there are.

My husband's devotion is incredible and challenges me. He makes regular holy hours, reads Catholic books every night, prays all the mysteries of the Rosary daily and more.... Tom Rutkoski is partly responsible!

His path, our path have taken us to the Latin Mass. In checking in on Tom's website I was a tad surprised to read his articles on the Latin Mass and his finding of it. But why wouldn't Our Lady lead him to it's reverent beauty?

http://www.gospa.org/pl/pages/evangelization/catholic_truth/latin_mass/Love_Story.html?hc=1

http://www.gospa.org/pl/pages/evangelization/catholic_truth/latin_mass.html?ra=1 -

Sounds like he was about to embark on a new focus of evangelization, on the Latin Mass! I wonder what converting he would have done here, where it not for his sickness??

Sadly, Tom is sick, dying. Yet he sees it as a gift from God, a share in The Cross. Today I received an email update on his condition.

"Tom’s cancer is a rare form called Multiple Myeloma which lies in the blood’s plasma cells. It attacks the bones, bone marrow and blood of the body. There is no human cure....The experimental drugs and bone marrow transplants, etc. are no longer part of the picture. What Tom and Mary have left is prayer…prayer and perseverance in pain."

Would you, in your mercy, pray for them, for Tom. They are asking for Masses and commitment to their causes. Tom and his wife, Mary and their organization run orphanages in Africa and India. It is a blessing to sponsor these children, perhaps you'll consider doing so too? http://www.abodeforchildren.org/

See http://www.gospa.org/ for more on this man.