Christ often spoke of death bringing new life. This might be especially true for Tyler Brown, a funeral director at Summers Funeral Home in Washington Court House.

He is preparing to enter into the Catholic Church at Easter.

Brown was raised as a Protestant, but his work in the funeral business led him to spend time in various churches, one being a Catholic church.

“Because of my profession as a funeral director, I am blessed with the opportunity to have such great relationships with all the churches where I live,” he said. “However, the one I was least familiar with was the Catholic church.”

Brown’s time spent in Washington Court House St. Colman of Cloyne Church for funeral Masses raised questions for him about the Catholic faith.

“I wondered why they prayed the rosary, and why to Mary, and why they did this at funerals,” he said. “I wanted to know why things were done in a certain, ceremonious way each time. So, to say the least, my curiosity led me to reach out to some Catholic friends and eventually to the parish to meet with Father.”

As his curiosity about Catholic traditions grew, Brown began exploring Catholic prayers and turning to Catholic media outlets for information.

“I got to participate in the Divine Office with Bishop Reed on CatholicTV,” he said. “I had to watch it first thing in the morning, evening, and every night before I went to bed. It was just something I needed, wanted and couldn’t wait to do.”

An unexpected family situation happening then led Tyler to increasingly turn to God in prayer.

“My family was going through a situation where I kind of felt lost,” he said. “I started to pray more, and at the same time there was my curiosity, and they started to come together at the right time.”

The consolation that Brown experienced through watching and praying the Divine Office led him to begin watching the televised daily Mass.

“It brought me joy, comfort and most of all strength to get by another day,” he said. “It wasn’t long until I started watching the daily Mass on CatholicTV.”

Brown began attending Mass at St. Colman outside of being present for Requiem Masses.

“I had been in Mass during funerals, but I was working,” he said. “I wanted to know what it was like to be at an actual Mass and sit there in the pew, so I started going.”

Brown said that a spiritual fire ignited inside him, and he experienced a closeness to God that he did not know before.

“I had never had an ignition under me the way that the Church made me feel,” he said. “It lit a spark under me. I wanted to go to Mass; I wanted to pray my liturgy; I wanted to pray my rosary. I couldn’t get enough, and that spark is still there with me today. I had never had that before.”

Having regularly worked with St. Colman professionally, Brown felt comfortable approaching the church staff.

“I really liked Father (Cyrus) Haddad when he came here at the funeral home,” Brown said. “I felt that he was somebody I could talk to. I had known the church secretary for a long time. There was no reason for me to be nervous about asking dumb questions. It feels like home now.”

Brown said that he came to recognize Catholicism as the true faith once he began attending Mass regularly and taking RCIA instructions at St. Colman.

“In RCIA, I learned that the Church was created by the Apostles 2,000 years ago, and this is our Church that is here today,” he said.

Brown said that he is fascinated by the unbroken line of succession dating back to the time Jesus appointed St. Peter as the first pope.

“The pope, the priests and the bishops – that they can all be traced back to the Apostles – that really sticks out to me,” he said. “It truly is the Church that Jesus built, and for some reason that has stuck out in my heart.”

As he prepares to become a member of the Church at Easter, Brown said that deciding to convert has been transformative for him.

“It has been the best decision I have ever made,” he said. “I cannot imagine if I had not done this. From where I was to where I am today, it is just amazing.”