Are you a Catholic convert?

[adamhovey1988]

From Buddhism.

 

[Catholic_farmer]

I’m not sure I can call myself a convert.

I was actually given an emergency baptism by my Catholic father when I was a baby. He knew my atheist mom forbid it and also knew she would be divorcing him soon. She raised us as atheists but told all her friends that she was letting us choose our own religion when we grew up (which is how to raise atheist children while sounding so liberal and accepting). She never actually went to church or even discussed God with us, but told us to put down “Presbyterian” on forms when they asked for your religion.

I grew up knowing my dad was Catholic, even though he never went to church or discussed his beliefs with me. He had gone to Catholic school all the way through high school. He married my mom in the Church after she took the necessary classes), my two older brothers were baptized Catholic, but by the time I came along, they were falling apart and she refused to have anything to do with his church. She moved away from him with her new boyfriend and tried her best to keep us from seeing him, even on the court ordered days. She told us horror stories about Catholicism. She would cry and carry on about how horrible my dad was, too. The stories got worse and worse over the years. We were kids, so we believed her.

Now, when I became Catholic, I took to it like a convert in that I have overflowing enthusiasm. It will be three years this coming Easter. But was I already Catholic? Either way, RCIA was necessary for me. Now, I teach catechism classes and substitute teach at our son’s Catholic school. My dad started going to church again and is working on his annulment. My husband and my mother-in-law are now Catholic (RCIA class of 2016). Our son went through First Communion with his second grade class this past spring as well (right on time).

 

[Lenten_ashes]

I’m not sure I can call myself a convert.

I was actually given an emergency baptism by my Catholic father when I was a baby. He knew my atheist mom forbid it and also knew she would be divorcing him soon. She raised us as atheists but told all her friends that she was letting us choose our own religion when we grew up (which is how to raise atheist children while sounding so liberal and accepting). She never actually went to church or even discussed God with us, but told us to put down “Presbyterian” on forms when they asked for your religion.

I grew up knowing my dad was Catholic, even though he never went to church or discussed his beliefs with me. He had gone to Catholic school all the way through high school. He married my mom in the Church after she took the necessary classes), my two older brothers were baptized Catholic, but by the time I came along, they were falling apart and she refused to have anything to do with his church. She moved away from him with her new boyfriend and tried her best to keep us from seeing him, even on the court ordered days. She told us horror stories about Catholicism. She would cry and carry on about how horrible my dad was, too. The stories got worse and worse over the years. We were kids, so we believed her.

Now, when I became Catholic, I took to it like a convert in that I have overflowing enthusiasm. It will be three years this coming Easter. But was I already Catholic? Either way, RCIA was necessary for me. Now, I teach catechism classes and substitute teach at our son’s Catholic school. My dad started going to church again and is working on his annulment. My husband and my mother-in-law are now Catholic (RCIA class of 2016). Our son went through First Communion with his second grade class this past spring as well (right on time).

Your story is very encouraging. Not sure if you are a convert but that is a extraordinary situation.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[FrancescaMaria]

I am really not sure what to answer here. I grew up in an atheist country and my parents were already second generation raised without religion. We occasionally went to Catholic churches for Christmas and sometimes just to visit. I did not understand anything about the Church, I did not know who Jesus was and what the Bible was, but one thing I always knew for sure was that whatever was happening on the altar was real. Also, I always liked the pictures and statues of Mary, and in a way I loved her when I was a child, even though I did not know who she was. But it was particularly that strong belief in the Eucharist (without knowing what it was) since early childhood that led me to eventually learn about Jesus and wanting to receive the Communion. But when I inquired about it, I found out I was baptized in a Protestant church as a baby (no idea why), so I had to go through a very lengthy process as if I were a Protestant. So my church paperwork says that I converted from a Protestant faith, but I know in my heart that I was always Catholic.

 

[FabiusMaximus]

There seem to be quite a few Catholic converts here. Very few in my parish that i know of, and I attend a larger size church. So if I never watched the “Journey Home” or posted in this forum, I would be under the impression that very few people actually convert to the faith.

So this piqued my overall interest.

Are you a convert? If so, from what faith, if any?

Thanks

I’m a convert (or rather I am in the process of converting).

I was raised in the Assemblies of God in Italy (le Assemblee di Dio in Italia) and attended Evangelical churches throughout most of my youth. My parents converted to Pentecostalism from Catholicism, and my father became a pastor in the AG. I’ve never disliked Catholicism, though my parents have always been hostile towards it.

I began to consider leaving Evangelicalism one Christmas several years ago when the church we were attending at the time had cancelled the Christmas Eve service. I was angry about it, but a friend of mine had invited me to attend her Lutheran Christmas Eve service. I had assumed that Lutheranism and Evangelicalism were essentially the same, so I decided to attend. Seeing how distinctly liturgical it was made me begin to research Church history, and I came to the conclusion that Evangelicalism was unhistorical and came to the conclusion that either Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, or Catholicism was correct. St Irenaeus and St Thomas Aquinas were two massive influences on me. I quickly eliminated Lutheranism and became drawn towards Orthodoxy, and I’ll always be grateful to the parish I attended for how warmly they’ve attended me.

But I eventually became convinced of the Papacy, Purgatory, and the Filioque and became convinced of Catholicism. I’ve attended Mass on and off for about six or seven years, and with the help of some holy Catholics in my life, and after a series of personal issues that impeded my conversion, I’m finally going through the formal process of conversion. I’ve been having weekly meetings with a priest and formally entered an RCIA, and I expect to be Confirmed (God willing) by Easter.

 

[Horton]

I grew up in the Reformed church but fell away from practicing the faith as an adult. Over the years I would try different churches to see if I fit as there wasn’t a Reformed church anywhere near where I lived. As I tried various denominations I would stay a few months and then fall away again. There was always something missing. I kept asking myself, “is this all there is?” I never stopped believing in God, most often calling myself spiritual but not religious.

But then I went to Mass. I knew what I had found what I had been missing, even though I didn’t understand it. I knew God was there, I knew it was the true faith. This was long before I knew or understood the concept of the real presence. This was before I knew of or understood the Eucharist or any of the other Sacraments. But I knew the Holy Spirit had placed me in that spot at that time for a reason.

It took a little longer to convince my overthinking brain that converting was the right thing but I finally started RCIA and was brought into the Catholic Church the following Easter.

I’ve been a happy Catholic since.

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

Can you remember a moment you first believed?

The matter of believing was never a question in my family growing up, thanks to parental disciplines and Church Holy days of obligations.

Although, I do remember my personal faith in Jesus Christ when I first received Holy Communion with my brother. I shared in a whisper, my enlightening and excitement experience with my brother , while in the pew after Communion, then he gave me that famous “Charlie horse” in the arm, which caused the priest to pause giving communion and looked at us with a sincere look, I smiled with tears in my eyes. I drew the Charlie horse from my older brother, for breaking silence of prayer in front of the priest.

Suffice it to say, I am a convert to Catholicism daily.