Being Drawn To Catholicism Again

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Back in November 2007, I was very seriously considering converting to Roman Catholicism from Protestantism while I was in India. However, I found myself turning away from the Church upon my return to the US and launched myself into more fundamentalist and evangelical Protestantism (To illustrate - my church advertised anti-Catholic books in the bulletin). However, I find myself drawn back to the RCC again. I’ve been reading, watching some EWTN (Hey, it’s something, right?) and trying to seek out the real truth about the church. I plan on attending mass this weekend at a parish here in San Jose, CA (Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph) and seeing how the Spirit moves in me.

Does anyone have any good advice on books/websites/resources I can check out to help me in my search? Also, is there an outline for the mass that I can look at so I don’t look too out of place? Also, any prayers would be much appreciated.

God bless!
 
KJS said:
[… I find myself drawn back to the RCC …
Does anyone have any good advice on books/websites/resources I can check out to help me in my search? Also, is there an outline for the mass that I can look at so I don’t look too out of place? Also, any prayers would be much appreciated.

](http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=200868)

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church of Picayune, MS - Faith - Catechism of the Catholic Church - Table of Contents

Bible

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/http://www.catholic.com/

The Mass

Understanding the Mass
http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com...holic_Church__2___Understanding_the_Mass.html

Explanation of the Mass
http://www.carr.org/~meripper/faith/massexpl.htm

article: The Sacrifice of the Mass
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0280.html

Some Websites about the Catholic faith

http://www.ewtn.com/faith/Teachings/index.htm
http://www.thecatholicfaith.com/default.htm
http://www.scborromeo.org/truth/truth.htm
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html
http://members.cox.net/sfobro/page4.html

Free CDs on the faith

http://www.catholicity.com/cds/

Never worry about appearing out of place – you’ll be in the right place! All the angels and saints will be celebrating with you.

**
Lord, continue to draw this seeker to you. May your Spirit guide him to greater wisdom and knowledge about you. May his heart be drawn to your heart, burning with the desire to love you. May he find the support he needs from those in your holy Church. Amen. **
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SedesDomi said:
What was it about India that drew you to the CC?
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It was a time of great introspection and growth in my faith. I also did some charity work with the poor/sick of Mysore, India with a coworker’s aunt who supports some of the religious orders there.
 
Thank you for all of those resources - time for me to get reading this weekend!

👍
 
Two really great books that got my mind extremely very stimulated:

“Catholicism and Fundamentalism” by Karl Keating.

shop.catholic.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/p-B0121.html?L+scstore+gpdx4808ff70e570+1278138740

“Catholicism and Fundamentalism” got me reinvigorated in my Catholic faith. I am a cradle Catholic, but had been drifting toward the cafeteria … and this book, first read by me as a serial in the weekly Catholic newspaper, “The Wanderer”, got me thinking … actually started corresponding with Karl Keating in the early days … when “This Rock” was only a couple of pages newsletter. So … get “Catholicism and Fundamentalism”. Outstanding basis to start with.

“Weeds Among the Wheat” by Fr. Thomas Green.

amazon.com/Weeds-Among-Wheat-Thomas-Green/dp/0877933189

The publisher, Ave Maria Press, says they’re out of stock, but Amazon says they have four copies left. Contact Ave Maria press to ask them to print up some more copies.

When I read “Weeds Among the Wheat”, it is so thought provoking that my mind explodes … fabulous book on discernment. Excellent.
 
Al_Masetti said:
**
“Catholicism and Fundamentalism”** by Karl Keating.
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That’s what I was gonna say!
👍
Also read about other Catholic converts like Scott Hahn, Rome Sweet Home, and Patrick Madrid’s series of books: Surprised by Truth, vol 1, 2, 3, which are compilations of several different conversion stories.

Not sure if you’re male or female. For women, there’s Catholic Mystique, a compilation of conversion stories from women.

I bet if you Amazon for any of these titles, you will find other similar conversion type books:
***“People who bought Catholicism and Fundamentalism also bought…” ***
 
I plan on attending mass this weekend at a parish here in San Jose, CA (Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph) and seeing how the Spirit moves in me.
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I quoted this part of your post, KJS so that I could encourage you to observe how much the Bible is quoted in the Mass. Also, how closely it resembles the Temple worship described in both the OT and NT. It’s good to remember that Jesus never declared Temple worship redundant. And, the first believers met in the Temple daily. They only started celebrating communion (the Eucharist) in private homes when they were no longer welcome in the Temple and after it was destroyed, of course. Scott Hahn was particularly struck at how biblical the Mass is–it actually brought him to tears (Home Sweet Rome).

I pray your first Mass will be a positive experience. You should also be aware that the homily does not serve the same purpose as does a sermon in a Protestant service. The homily is based on the Sunday readings, and so may or may not touch on salvation or having a relationship with Jesus or other such topics usually preached on so often in Evangelical churches.

Also, just do what everyone else does–it’s perfectly fine for you as a non-Catholic to sit, stand, and kneel when everyone else does, if you wish. Or you may just sit throughout and observe. The only thing you cannot do is receive communion. When the others go up to receive you can remain seated and no one will think anything odd about it. Or, you can go up with your arms crossed over your chest to receive a blessing from the priest–but you are not obligated to do that, either, and not all parishes have people do this, so watch others to see if they do this, especially children (they haven’t yet received their first communion but want a blessing from the priest).

God bless you as you discern becoming a Catholic. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have. I will keep you in my prayers. 🙂
 
I went to Mass today at Holy Cross Parish and it was really wonderful.

@Della - I noticed all of the things you mentioned in the Mass - I appreciate your explanation.

Also, I appreciate the great resources everyone posted! I’ve got a lot of reading to do!
 
KJS said:
I went to Mass today at Holy Cross Parish and it was really wonderful.

@Della - I noticed all of the things you mentioned in the Mass - I appreciate your explanation.

Also, I appreciate the great resources everyone posted! I’ve got a lot of reading to do!
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That’s great. The Mass can be confusing or come across as quite dry to those not used to liturgical worship. Another great book for you is: Evangelical is Not Enough by Thomas Howard. He was an Evangelical who became a Catholic and wrote this great little book on the deeper meaning of liturgical worship as he discovered it on his way into the Catholic Church. It’s easy to read and not too long.
 
One of the things I have found is that the everyday daily Mass … in many ways … is much more moving and emotional that Sunday Mass.

Not sure why.

Perhaps because of the smaller congregation at daily Mass, there is a much greater sense of intimacy with Jesus. There are no distractions … just me and Jesus. And a very small group of friends, most of whom I know only from daily Mass. And often I don’t know their names.

But when we encounter one another at work or at the supermarket or at Home Depot, we nod and acknowledge one another.

It’s the most gratifying and satisfying community I have ever been a part of.

The homilies and sermons at daily Mass tend to be very brief. Folks have to get to work. But they are so succinct and so to the point that they are very memorable and difficult to match with a longer talk.

Once a visiting priest from Ireland was taking some courses at a local university and staying at the rectory. He said one of the daily Masses. A year later, he was back taking some more courses. And he said Mass again. As we were filing out, he was at the door shaking hands. He said, “You know, I was here a year ago.” … And someone said, “Yes, and your homily was about ‘sharing the joy’”. You should have seen the stunned expression on his face. 🙂

And I have observed people approaching the priest before Mass and having a few words … and at the beginning of Mass, Father will announce a special intention for someone who is ill or dying or who has just died.

And sometimes people approach the priest after Mass when he is more relaxed and ask him to hear their confession. One day, other people realized that Father was hearing confessions (although that was not his plan) and a long line developed … no idea how long he was there.

And one day, someone was upset because they were going to be having major surgery the next day … so Father gathered a bunch of the congregants [right word?] and formed a circle and said the most amazing prayer and gave the most amazing blessing. [The surgery worked out fine.]

So … check out the simple, ordinary, daily Mass.

For some reason, it just has so much …
 
I got a few Amazon gift certificates, so I decided to invest in some books to kick-start my Catholic library.

I ordered the following:

“The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition”

“Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church”

“A Biblical Defense of Catholicism”

“The Essential Catholic Prayer Book: A Collection of Private and Community Prayers (Redemptorist Pastoral Publication)”

I’m going to try to pick up a few other recommended books in this thread from the library.
 
The first piece of advice I would give you is that if you wish to find out about the Catholic Church, inquire within the Catholic Church itself. Not with those who are totally ignorant about it. Yes, many protestant denominations attack the Catholic Church. Just remember one saying that is true. The wolf (Satan) does not attack the false sheep (the protestant churches).

A really goods book which will give you the teaching of the Catholic Church is “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” Another is "Catholicism for Dummies. Kind of like the computer book. Another book which would be a good read is one by Scott Hahn, called “The Lamb’s Supper”. He is a convert to Catholicism. He started out as a protestant minister, doing research to prove the Catholic Church wrong. He converted himself through his research and even his wife and several of his seminary professors. You will not see the Catholic Church attacking other denominations, only other denominations attacking the Catholic Church.

To inquire about the Church, contact a priest at any parish and inquire about their RCIA program. That stands for Rite of Christian Initiation. It gives a good overview about the Church and no commitment has to be given. It is an inquiry program, which will hopefully lead to the person becoming Catholic.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
 
Deacon_Ed_B said:
The first piece of advice I would give you is that if you wish to find out about the Catholic Church, inquire within the Catholic Church itself. Not with those who are totally ignorant about it. Yes, many protestant denominations attack the Catholic Church. Just remember one saying that is true. The wolf (Satan) does not attack the false sheep (the protestant churches).

A really goods book which will give you the teaching of the Catholic Church is “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” Another is "Catholicism for Dummies. Kind of like the computer book. Another book which would be a good read is one by Scott Hahn, called “The Lamb’s Supper”. He is a convert to Catholicism. He started out as a protestant minister, doing research to prove the Catholic Church wrong. He converted himself through his research and even his wife and several of his seminary professors. You will not see the Catholic Church attacking other denominations, only other denominations attacking the Catholic Church.

To inquire about the Church, contact a priest at any parish and inquire about their RCIA program. That stands for Rite of Christian Initiation. It gives a good overview about the Church and no commitment has to be given. It is an inquiry program, which will hopefully lead to the person becoming Catholic.
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
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Thank you very much Deacon Ed. I will add those books to my reading list. Also, re: RCIA - I have inquired about it with the Diocese and found a class starting up in September at a parish downtown - the smaller parish I’ve been attending appears to only offer CCD.

To answer your point about attacks on the Catholic Church - I have had a lot of previous mistruths that I had harbored inside blown to smithereens since Christ opened my heart towards His Church. It has been quite an awakening. the main Catholic.com page has provided me with many resources.
 
Figured I’d update CAF on my progress. I have been faithfully attending Mass at Holy Cross Parish in San Jose, CA and trying to learn as much as I can about Catholicism. I read through “Catholicism For Dummies” and am currently reading “Weeds Among The Wheat” by Fr. Thomas Green.

I went to Holy Hour at my parish this evening for the first time. As I prayed, I truly felt the Real Presence of our Lord. I definitely plan on making it a regular part of my spiritual life.

:gopray:

I’d like to thank everyone again for all the help people have given me - it has helped me so much.
 
KJS said:
Figured I’d update CAF on my progress. I have been faithfully attending Mass at Holy Cross Parish in San Jose, CA and trying to learn as much as I can about Catholicism. I read through “Catholicism For Dummies” and am currently reading “Weeds Among The Wheat” by Fr. Thomas Green.

I went to Holy Hour at my parish this evening for the first time. As I prayed, I truly felt the Real Presence of our Lord. I definitely plan on making it a regular part of my spiritual life.

:gopray:

I’d like to thank everyone again for all the help people have given me - it has helped me so much.
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Wow, I’m truly impressed with what you’ve been doing. I will keep you in my prayers, and please, if there is anything any of us can help you with, please come back and talk!🙂
 
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