L
Lifesong
Guest
Hello fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,
Not to repeat my intro from a month or so ago but I am a 53 year old woman married( I think validly, his mother made sure there was a priest there and we did classes at the Catholic church prior to the wedding) in my Methodist church to a cradle Catholic who was in an agnostic phase of life. He still is not a fan of being at church though he definitely has strong faith now but anyway, to make a long story short we raised our kids Methodist primarily as it was the path of least resistance and at the time I was not very “Catholic friendly” though I grew up with an Irish Catholic grandmother and my brother is now Catholic. In any event, after floundering for years my oldest daughter’s bout with the onset of a chronic illness brought me closer to Christ and to living a much closer Christian walk for the past four years. I became very involved in my Methodist Church including “dragging” my husband along somewhat reluctantly and my kids who are now 18 and 22 had enough of a difficult time dealing with Mom becoming a “Jesus Freak” when lo and behold this Methodist over the last year has come to realize that the Catholic Church is the church Jesus started and I am ready to join. Miracles of miracles my husband said he will join me and I couldn’t be happier as after 35 years we are on the same page. Things he never connected with at my Methodist church I finally understand as I see it all now from a Catholic perspective. I am starting RCIA and thrilled but my kids are confused. I really fault myself for not exposing them to the Catholic Church as well as the Methodist church. I am not asking them to join me at this point- any church attendance would be fine as they go nowhere but I just want to reassure them that A. Mom has not lost it even if I am in menopause
and B. that the Catholic Church is nothing to be afraid of in their lives as we are still the same loving Mom and Dad and would never push this on them but actually my goal is for us to be a better example of being united in faith. Anyway, if anyone else has been through this with adult children and have any words of advice let me know. My youngest has close Catholic friends and actually says she would consider becoming Catholic and I encouraged her checking it out at school as she leaves for college in the fall. My oldest is married to a non practicing Lutheran and she is the one who is mad about this whole thing, even though I assured her I would always be happy to go with her to the church I raised her in anytime, I would just have to go to Mass first. As it is I go to Mass each Sunday and a couple weekends a month I also still pop in on my current church as I have some ongoing connections there (everyone is ok about all of this thankfully at both churches and I know my involvement in my old church by necessity will become less and less). Anyway, thanks for listening and even if all you have to offer is prayer for family Christian unity, I appreciate it. Just want to be able to give the answer for the hope I have- even to my kids!
Not to repeat my intro from a month or so ago but I am a 53 year old woman married( I think validly, his mother made sure there was a priest there and we did classes at the Catholic church prior to the wedding) in my Methodist church to a cradle Catholic who was in an agnostic phase of life. He still is not a fan of being at church though he definitely has strong faith now but anyway, to make a long story short we raised our kids Methodist primarily as it was the path of least resistance and at the time I was not very “Catholic friendly” though I grew up with an Irish Catholic grandmother and my brother is now Catholic. In any event, after floundering for years my oldest daughter’s bout with the onset of a chronic illness brought me closer to Christ and to living a much closer Christian walk for the past four years. I became very involved in my Methodist Church including “dragging” my husband along somewhat reluctantly and my kids who are now 18 and 22 had enough of a difficult time dealing with Mom becoming a “Jesus Freak” when lo and behold this Methodist over the last year has come to realize that the Catholic Church is the church Jesus started and I am ready to join. Miracles of miracles my husband said he will join me and I couldn’t be happier as after 35 years we are on the same page. Things he never connected with at my Methodist church I finally understand as I see it all now from a Catholic perspective. I am starting RCIA and thrilled but my kids are confused. I really fault myself for not exposing them to the Catholic Church as well as the Methodist church. I am not asking them to join me at this point- any church attendance would be fine as they go nowhere but I just want to reassure them that A. Mom has not lost it even if I am in menopause
and B. that the Catholic Church is nothing to be afraid of in their lives as we are still the same loving Mom and Dad and would never push this on them but actually my goal is for us to be a better example of being united in faith. Anyway, if anyone else has been through this with adult children and have any words of advice let me know. My youngest has close Catholic friends and actually says she would consider becoming Catholic and I encouraged her checking it out at school as she leaves for college in the fall. My oldest is married to a non practicing Lutheran and she is the one who is mad about this whole thing, even though I assured her I would always be happy to go with her to the church I raised her in anytime, I would just have to go to Mass first. As it is I go to Mass each Sunday and a couple weekends a month I also still pop in on my current church as I have some ongoing connections there (everyone is ok about all of this thankfully at both churches and I know my involvement in my old church by necessity will become less and less). Anyway, thanks for listening and even if all you have to offer is prayer for family Christian unity, I appreciate it. Just want to be able to give the answer for the hope I have- even to my kids!