Conversion, reversion, deepersion

[anon50218184]

Even if you’re a cradle Catholic you probably have some story of an event or period in your life that deepened your conviction of truth or your relationship with Christ and His Church.

I’m interested to learn about some of your stories.

I’ll share mine (briefly) to get the ball rolling.

I’m a cradle Catholic and I’m grateful for it because if I was born something else I would be too hard headed to convert to Catholicism! But I have had several experiences that have challenged me and deepened my faith and understanding. I think the most significant event so far was about three years ago when I was asked to give a short witness on Hope.
Even though I had been given two weeks to prepare, when the time came for the talk I had no idea what I was going to say. So I asked the leader of the retreat to pray with me and then I went out and basically talked about what where I had been, where I was, and where I wanted to be. Towards the end of the talk (which must have been about 7 minutes long at most) I came to the conclusion that our hope in God ought to come from a profound realization that we are God’s beloved children. I was pretty happy with that conclusion.

Well a week or two later I was driving in the car listening to Saxum, a book about Alvaro del Portillo the late Prelate of the Opus Dei, and it described the main message of the Opus Dei: Divine Filiation. Now I have been raised around Opus Dei all my life but for some reason this message had never been clear to me before, but all of a sudden I started remembering all these events in my life that spoke to my divine filiation. It was like a little epiphany.

Also my middle name, Jedidiah, means Beloved of God and although I had known that since I was a kid, I never made the connection… It was almost as if God had been trying to tell me my whole life that He loves and that His love for me is my very identity - I mean it’s my name. I decided to go by Jedidiah from then on.

The only problem was that most of my friends couldn’t say the name properly. They would either say Jebediah, or Obediah, or Jeremiah, or Jerediah, or even Jededie! So I decided to make it simpler for them and go by Diah (pronounced die-ah) which was my childhood nickname.

At any rate, that’s the story of my little epiphany that enlightened me to true identity as a Beloved Son of the God the Father.

What are your stories?

 

[anon50218184]

Okay, so it seems people aren’t too keen on sharing their stories, but still I’m genuinely interested to hear them.
I’ll share part of my father’s story, maybe that’ll get the ball rolling.

My dad was a non-practicing protestant and my mother was and is a practicing Catholic and a numerary of the Opus Dei. Back in the early 90s my mother and my siblings were living in Maryland while my dad commuted back and forth from São Paulo, Brasil where he owned a business. They weren’t separated or divorced, its just the circumstances didn’t really permit for everyone to be under the same house. We would see dad a few times a month.
Mom had given up on trying to convert dad by means of dialogue, so she resorted to slipping little pamphlets on religious topics in my dad’s pockets before he boarded his return flights to Brasil.
From what I know, on one occasion dad was particularly distressed about the situation, about us not being able to live as a family. He boarded the plane and read the pamphlet my mother had sneaked into his pocket. It was either a pamphlet about Our Lady of Guadalupe or a St. Josemaría prayer card.
When dad finished reading the pamphlet he made a promise to go on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city if she found a way to bring the family back together.
When the plane landed dad went to see a numerary friend.
In the following months a job opportunity became available in Buenos Aires, Argentina - my mother’s homeland. The job paid enough to move the whole family to Buenos Aires and we were all back together under one roof.
Dad ended up converting. It was almost 22 years, however, before he kept his promise to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe. Dad and I went there last year for Her feast day!

 

[anon50218184]

That’s awesome (name removed by moderator)! What an inspiration! Ad majorem Dei gloriam!

 

[drac16]

I’m a convert from Islam. I was a muslim for six years. My journey started when I realized that Islam is a false religion. The Qur’an says that there is no compulsion in religion, but Muhammad taught that anyone who leaves Islam must be killed. There should be freedom to come and go as you please, but the command to kill apostates puts fear in those who want to leave. It’s a contradiction. It was hard for me to come to terms with this because I loved many aspects of Islam, but I believe that I must follow truth even if truth takes me to a place I don’t want to go.

I basically fell in love with the Christian message. In Islam, God is so distant. You never get to see Him or feel His presence. In Christianity, we feel the Holy Spirit sanctify us. We need God to help us believe. God entering His creation is such a beautiful thing. God didn’t have to do that, but He cares so much about His creation that He took upon Himself the penalty that we all deserve. He’s given us more than we could ever give back.

Moreover, coming to Christianity was an easy decision because it is similar to Islam. Both religions believe in one God, the Messiah, the jewish prophets, helping the poor, being honest, being loyal, etc. In the end, I don’t regret becoming a christian. God saved me from a false religion and Hell.

 

[misstherese]

I suggest you read about St. Bridget’s revelations; they are very eye opening and honest as to what Jesus suffered for us on the cross. It has made me realize how beautiful of a thing it was that God took the form of a man and how sad it was as He feared naturally for his death and began to sweat blood. The Blessed Virgin revealed many things pertaining to Jesus’s life and passion to St. Bridget from her point of view. It’s heartbreaking.

 

[crenfro]

Hello.

I’ve not been a good Catholic for a long time, but about 13 or 14 years ago I was listening to the radio and a priest made me laugh.

I started listening to him every chance I got, then I started listening to Catholic radio every night. Then I started going to confession more often. When I 1st started going to Confession, I’d cry uncontrollably, then I’d cry later in the day, then at Mass. I cried a lot and it was odd to me because I wasn’t feeling particularly bad.

I started reading more about the Catholic faith. I changed parishes 3 times - not something I recommend.

I now go to a parish where it’s okay to say out loud that abortion is murder, that it’s not okay to vote for someone who’s pro-abortion when there are other candidates who are pro-life, where there are no liturgical abuses, though it’s not perfect.

I wish more of us would really embrace our faith.

Right now I feel like I’m being tested → my dad just died, my husband recently lost his job, I have depression that never seems to end… and am as full of flaws as ever… however, we’ll be celebrating our 26th wedding anniversary this Oct. 31st which is something from a person who never thought she’d find any one.