A Prodigal Son Returneth

  • Thread starter Thread starter Metis1
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Metis1

Guest
Yesterday at mass, I received the Eucharist for the first time in over 20 years. I had converted to Judaism 20+ years ago but felt a strong and highly unusual calling to return to the Church with the blessing from our priest, and this process took three very eventful years I very much surprised my very devout Catholic wife of 51 years as she only knew that I was drifting in this direction.

When I got up to go to receive the Eucharist, she looked at me and said “What are you doing?”. I just smiled. Then she figured it out before the mass was over.

Anyhow, it truly feels great to be back home.
 
Last edited:
The Sacrament of Reconcilliation is a grace from Heaven too 😉
 
Thank you so much.

As in my last post, we agreed I’m going to have to do this fairly shortly, maybe in a week or two, because we’r taking care of my sister who has stage four cancer and my wife who has problems with her rheumatoid arthritis that hospitalized her last week and she is getting a m.r.i. today.

BTW, going to confession never bothered me, so I’m not using the above as an excuse, especially since I promised our priest that I would. It’s just that right now I have a very full plate.
 
Thanks so much to each of you for your more than kind words and prayers.

BTW, our priest wanted me to jump right into teaching our RCIA program, which I had taught for 14 years (I also taught the Lunch & Learn program at my synagogue for around 10 years-- no one seems to be able to shut me up! 😉 ), but it’s gonna have to wait for a while because of my situation. I’d been quite active in the church over the last year until these latest problems with the health of my sister and wife.
 
Thank God you’re back to the Church!
I’m curious, why have you left the Catholic Church for Judaism in the past?
 
Thank God you’re back to the Church!
I’m curious, why have you left the Catholic Church for Judaism in the past?
First of all, thank you so much to you and to others who have responded as it’s sure nice for me to be back where I strongly believe I belong.

To answer your question, about 25 or so years ago, I began to look at Jesus in a different way than what was conventional within Christianity. seeing him as a very moral man and teacher but not as a literal “only Son of God”. And, as a scientist, I have always questioned the concept of “miracles”, but that’s not to say or imply they cannot happen. Those of us in science live or die on objectively-derived evidence, so it’s totally natural for us to question things and look for such evidence. However, in this area, that’s pretty hard to find. So, my questioning not only affected my leaving Catholicism, it also led to me increasing questioning much of the basis of Judaism.

But three years ago some things began to happen to me that defied objective evidence and yet I know they occurred and were having a gradually increasing effect on me. This experience was so bizarre that I literally began to question whether I was “losing it” or just falling victim to some sort of desire that I wasn’t even aware of. Needless to say, it was the craziest experience of my entire life, and it shook me up right down to my core. It’s a rather long story, plus I don’t know if anyone has any interest in it, so I’ll not get into it at least for now.

Anyhow, I talked to our priest two weeks ago, explained my background, mentioning that even though it’s my nature is to question, and even though I will always have some doubts I can and am willing to commit to the Church. The basic teachings of Jesus I can and do fully accept, but I will always have some questions in regards to his relationship with God, which the early Church also did btw. He agreed that I was ready and accepted my willingness to commit to the Church, and he didn’t feel that my questioning would prevent me from taking this big and wonderful step.

This is the brief account of what happened. If you or anyone else wants more, please just ask.
 
I too went to confession and communion for the first time in a long time today. 🙂

Nothing like 20 years, but still, too long.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top