Converting My Husband

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I will be married 19 years this summer. I have a wonderful husband he was baptized in the Methodist Chruch. When we decided to get married he did not hesitate to marry me in the Catholic Church and to raise our children in the Catholic faith. We are even sending our children to Catholic school. We go to Mass together as a family he participates in the the Mass all except for Communion. He has helped our children with their religion homework. Sometimes I think he knows more than me.

I have asked him about converting because he already goes to Church with us and I know he believes, but he keeps saying no, I don’t need to convert. I am involved in a Catholic Bible Study and he thinks that is wonderful. How do I get him to see that he just needs to take a small step he’s almost there.

Lori
 
Pray and leave the matter up to God. He will give your husband the grace of conversion when his heart is open to it.
 
My husband is also a non-Catholic and I would be absolutely thrilled to see him convert. BUT I’m not going to push it. If you keep pushing, you may push him away from the faith. I just pray everyday that God will touch his heart and that he will see the truth. Prayer does work, even though it may take years. Be patient. I can tell that since I’ve sort of left my husband alone about converting, he has seemed to grow closer to the Church. He goes to Bible study with me and goes to Mass sometimes and he NEVER misses Mass on EWTN. He’s more traditional sometimes than I am which is why right now he’d rather stay home and watch the Friars on EWTN than come to Mass with me sometimes. But he is slowly coming around. He’s asking more questions, etc. Just keep praying, not pushing. God will do his work on your husband in His time. I’ll be praying for you!
 
I’m not going to lie to you: No means no. But, there’s a bright side: Time does take care of these. :o If you’re lucky, he’ll come around. :yup:

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood
 
Pray the rosary every day and pray for his full conversion as well as others. Do it everyday.
 
I have heard Archbishop Sheen tell of a story in which he met a Carmelite priest who told a story that goes something like this:

There was a woman who had a non-Catholic husband, he was irascible anytime religion was mentioned. She prayed, fasted, and mortified herself for his conversion. She eventually died at a young age. Later, he softened and was Baptized, Confirmed, and even ordained to the Holy Priesthood. When going through her things he found her spiritual diary. It turns out that in the diary she offered her very life for the conversion of her husband. God heard the prayer and now her husband, the priest himself, was converted and offering the Holy Mass every day.

Pray, fast, and mortify yourself for the conversion of your husband. Seek advice from a Spiritual Director to make sure you are not doing something unwise in this regard.
 
kitafraya said:
I have asked him about converting because he already goes to Church with us and I know he believes, but he keeps saying no, I don’t need to convert. I am involved in a Catholic Bible Study and he thinks that is wonderful. How do I get him to see that he just needs to take a small step he’s almost there.
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It has been my expierience that many protestant’s will gladly go to Catholic mass, because they consider the Catholic Church just another denomination. I know quite a few protestants that church “shop” and think nothing of going from being a presbyterian to a baptist to a non-denomination. It seems that the church they go to is not all that important as long as they feel comfortable. This is not a knock on protestants, it’s just been my expierience.

So I’m thinking your husband might be feeling the same thing, the Catholic Church is just another church, and he doesn’t need someone (the Bishop) to tell him he’s OK.

I say just keep praying for him, but in the meantime, be happy for having a wonderful, participating Christian family!🙂
 
kitafraya said:
I will be married 19 years this summer. I have a wonderful husband he was baptized in the Methodist Chruch. When we decided to get married he did not hesitate to marry me in the Catholic Church and to raise our children in the Catholic faith. We are even sending our children to Catholic school. We go to Mass together as a family he participates in the the Mass all except for Communion. He has helped our children with their religion homework. Sometimes I think he knows more than me.

I have asked him about converting because he already goes to Church with us and I know he believes, but he keeps saying no, I don’t need to convert. I am involved in a Catholic Bible Study and he thinks that is wonderful. How do I get him to see that he just needs to take a small step he’s almost there.

Lori
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Just be patient. He will, when he is ready. This story sounds a lot like my grandparents’ story. My granddaddy was a baptized Methodist who agreed to raise their kids (5 sons) as Catholics. He attended Mass with his family each Sunday and even after his children had grown. Finally after 50 years of marriage, he converted. He was able to receive communion with his wife at the Mass offered for their 50th wedding anniversary. 🙂
 
My husband came around eventually… all I could do was pray, ask for the intercession of Our Lady as well as St. Monica (who did the same for her husband and son), and live my life according to what the Church teaches. Prayer is so very important.

Don’t push him, that always made things worse for me. I’ll keep you both in my prayers 🙂
 
Thank you all for your encouraging words. I will continue to pray everyday and not push. I guess I needed to step back and see how lucky I am to have the wonderful husband that I have. That is will to participate in the Church and raise our children Catholic. And when he is ready I know he will convert. I will continue to pray everyday.

Thank you again everyone and God Bless You All!!
 
Hi, I have been married to a Baptist for 30 years. I have been praying about it and finally have turned the matter over to God. In my opinion, after 30 years he is Catholic by osmosis and just doesn’t know it. We raised our children Catholic and my son will make his confirmation in May. Even witnessing the change in our son, he is still not interested.
I would really like for him to receive the sacraments and wished all these years he could have gone to communion with us. I am just thankful at this point that he is a Christian, believes the importance of coming to Mass, is caring, giving and loving. See your husband where he is in his faith journey and like me try to remember that God isn’t finished with any of us yet. 🙂
 
Boy does this story sound familiar. I was a practicing United Methodist when I got married to my hardcore Catholic wife. It was easier for me to go to Church, with her than ask her to go to the Methodist Church, because she believed it was a mortal sin to skip Mass.

Like your husband I fully participated as much as I could as a non-Catholic (never took communion). We ended up singing in the choir and I actually started to cantor a little. One day someone asked me to be a Lector and I told them I wasn’t Catholic. They asked me “Why not?” and that really got me to seriously think about converting.

For me it took 13 years. Going to Mass and really listening to the words of the Mass and doing a lot of individual study finally convinced me that the Catholic Church was the one true church.

If my wife had pressured me, I very well would have gotten defensive. After I converted I found out that my mother-in-law had been praying for me to convert all those years. My wife was praying as well and jokingly tells me that she would spritz me with Holy Water occasionally when I was asleep at night.

Conversion has to come with an open heart from the individual. We have to be supportive of inquireries and should always pray that God work on the heart of the individual concerned.

Thirteen years after “Swimming the Tiber” I am a candidate for ordination to the permanent diaconate and in my third year of formation. There are five other men in our class who are converts and have similar stories to mine.

You’re lucky to have a loving Christian man who is willing to teach the Catholic faith to your children. Rejoice at that and keep praying for him.

God Bless.
 
Thank you Oldredleg!! Boy the first part of your story does sound familar (from the wife’s perspective). I am just going to silently pray everyday that he will convert.

Believe me I thank GOD everyday for the man he gave me for a husband. I do know how lucky I am. I look around and see all the people getting divorced and here I have a marriage going on 19 years!!

Thank you again EVERYONE for letting me see, I just need patience (something I don’t always have - but need to learn) and it will come. I will keep praying everyday and enjoy the man I have that is helping me raise OUR children in the Catholic Faith. What more could I ask for!!
 
Patience, oh how I pray that God gives me His patience as I wait and pray for the conversion of my husband! :gopray2:

I am in a similar situation; my husband of 6+ years goes to Mass with me every Sunday but does not typically go when his family is visiting and the only Holy Days of Obligation he respects are Christmas and Holy Week. He didn’t argue too much about having our two daughters baptised but he doesn’t agree with the practice of infant Baptism. An aside: I just found a great article by Tim Staples on Baptism from This Rock and I really want my husband read it, I hope that’s not being too pushy.

Recently, my mother-in-law gave my husband the book “The Shack” by William P. Young to read. He read it and then asked me to read it saying that the book details how he views faith (personal relationship with Jesus Christ with no visible Church or man-made religion to make you feel guilty about missing Mass or breaking any other Church rule). I read it and now I fear that this book has widened the gap that exists for my husband to come home to the Church. I want to read “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic” by David Currie but I am not sure if it’s the appropriate book to counteract “The Shack”. Any other recommendations would be great, I’m interested in conversion stories from evangelical, non-denom, fundamentalist backgrounds.

How do I plant little mustard seeds in my husband’s heart without pushing, arguing, or attacking his beliefs? Prayer is important but I also think that I need to dooooo something more. I also have to understand my Faith better and know what the Church teaches, but I’m no theologian and of course time is always an issue. But then again, maybe I just need to accept that I love my husband very much and I shouldn’t stress about the things that divide us, rather I should celebrate the ideals that unite us! Sometimes I wish I wasn’t on this website so much because it might be hardening my heart towards Protestants and ultimately, my husband!

My husband often revels in the fact that God brought us together for a reason that is beyond his comprehesion. My hope is that God wants him to become Catholic. I’ve started to pray to St. Monica but I still agonize daily for his conversion. (Here I go again … please God grant me your patience while You strengthen my husband’s faith in you and bring him into the fullness of Your Truth! :crossrc:)
 
kitafraya said:
I will be married 19 years this summer. I have a wonderful husband he was baptized in the Methodist Chruch. When we decided to get married he did not hesitate to marry me in the Catholic Church and to raise our children in the Catholic faith. We are even sending our children to Catholic school. We go to Mass together as a family he participates in the the Mass all except for Communion. He has helped our children with their religion homework. Sometimes I think he knows more than me.

I have asked him about converting because he already goes to Church with us and I know he believes, but he keeps saying no, I don’t need to convert. I am involved in a Catholic Bible Study and he thinks that is wonderful. How do I get him to see that he just needs to take a small step he’s almost there.

Lori
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I was a Methodist when I married my Catholic wife. I attended Mass every Sunday with her but of course did not receive Communion. I agreed and encouraged our daughter to be brought up as a Catholic.
My wife prayed daily for 10 years for my conversion and then God opened my eyes. I thank God and my wife for her prayers that I became a Catholic.
Don’t give up. Continue praying. Also share your faith with him every day.
 
Thank you Thistle!! I do pray everyday. I try to share my faith. You give me hope. So does everyone else that has reponded to this post. I will continue to be patient.
 
To me, whenever my wife wants me to do something I can usually tell how important it is to her by the way she asks. So, what I would do is on occasion drop subtle hints that the most important thing that your husband could do for you, like for this years birthday the only thing you could ask for, or for Christmas or your anniversary would be to convert. Nothing else, no jewlery, no presents other than his conversion. I think that would do it for me if I wasnt already wanting to become Catholic.
 
I have found by my own personal experience that prayer and fasting works wonders when it comes to converting people. It shows God that we mean business and He will honor that. And also just keep on living the good example of a godly Catholic life. Trust me, this will have an effect on your husband. Keep plugging along, my prayers are with you!
 
Volodymyr_988 said:
I have heard Archbishop Sheen tell of a story in which he met a Carmelite priest who told a story that goes something like this:

There was a woman who had a non-Catholic husband, he was irascible anytime religion was mentioned. She prayed, fasted, and mortified herself for his conversion. She eventually died at a young age. Later, he softened and was Baptized, Confirmed, and even ordained to the Holy Priesthood. When going through her things he found her spiritual diary. It turns out that in the diary she offered her very life for the conversion of her husband. God heard the prayer and now her husband, the priest himself, was converted and offering the Holy Mass every day.

Pray, fast, and mortify yourself for the conversion of your husband. Seek advice from a Spiritual Director to make sure you are not doing something unwise in this regard.
Click to expand...
Her name was Elisabeth Leseur and yes, her Atheist husband became a Priest after her death.

amazon.com/Secret-Diary-Elisabeth-Leseur-Goodness/dp/1928832482/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238195333&sr=8-1
 
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