Converting Question

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Slayd said:
Thank you again for the responses. Everyone has given me a lot to think about. And on a side note…I have been married before to a man, we divorced in 2000. And neither my girlfriend or I can have any children.
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In and of itself, the divorce would not be an impediment to becoming Catholic. If you were to consider marriage at some point in the future within the Catholic Church, it would be necessary for you to seek a Declaration of Nullity for the first marriage. (Since that seems extremely unlikely at the moment, it’s not something to worry about, but just something for you to be aware of, in case your circumstances change in the future.)
 
Thank you all again for your comments. I’m hopeful that my meeting with the priest goes well.
 
My answer is the same except for my assumption that you are a man and that marriage might be in the picture. Good luck and God bless:)
 
Slayd said:
I understand the church’s teachings on homosexuality, but I also feel that God brought she and I together. I prayed for many years for God to guide me to someone that I could live and could love me. And I believe she is that person.
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The problem is that what you think God has guided you to as far as relationships goes, is not compatable with His moral and natural laws. You have misinterpreted something. Your relationship and Christ’s teachings on homosexuality are opposed to one another.
 
Slayd,
I wish you a productive meeting with the priest. When I meet with my Spiritual Director, I go prepared to hear not always what I want to hear, but what I need to hear. I greatly respect him for that. While sometimes he says things that others might interpret as harsh, he has incredible insight, and his observations and advice are usually dead right, almost to the point of being a little scary sometimes. Truth is often the hardest pill to swallow.The Holy Spirit works in the people God has put in our path. I pray the priest you are meeting will be that person for you.

I have been following this thread from the beginning, and was of the understanding immediately that you were a woman in a relationship with another woman. I do believe God would indeed call you into His Church. But, your relationship with your ‘girlfriend’ will need to be addressed. I have been chaste for 14 years since a very bad marriage. Someone else referred to your divorce. If not annulled, you are, in the eyes of the church, still married, as am I. (I was received into the Church 3 years ago! Chastity is a choice I have made for my future. Chastity does not mean we have given up on love, but that the loving relationships we do have are acceptable to God.) The priest will address your divorce, too. Of most importance is that you be honest. There are no secrets from God. The priest can help you best only if he sees the whole, true picture.

Pray about your relationships. We all need to be loved. Remember, God loved you first, and loves you most perfectly. While he may have given you your ‘girlfriend’ as a companion, the nature of your relationship must not violate God’s Law. God may be speaking to both of you.

With God, all things are possible.

You, and the priest you are meeting with are in my prayers. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. When you pray, take time to listen, really listen, in silence, no distractions. ( A dollar for every time my Spiritual Director, my priest, has told me this!!!) Go to church on Good Friday. Pay attention to the Stations of the Cross, and Christ’s walk to the cross, and ask Him to walk with you. He will, you know! We all have our crosses. Every time He fell, He got back up. He helps us do the same.

Hopefully, in the future, we will be welcoming you Home!

God bless,
Linda

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
Mark 8:34
 
Thank you all again for the wonderful information. I know that God will guide me through this journey to be closer to Him. Please keep me in your prayers as I find my way home.
 
Slayd,

I want to encourage you in your journey. I was raised baptist also and the brilliant thing about the Church is that they do deal with all issues in detail. Questions are answered and not simply ignored, or misrepresented.

Be vigilant. Welcome. The journey is a long one, and so worth it.
 
Remember that Christ came to call sinners. The Gospel of John makes a good point of this with the story of the woman caught in adultery.

There is no sin that you have commited that will keep you from becoming a Catholic. Our journey away from sin toward the Body of Christ is one that everyone takes, Catholic and Protestant alike.

Do not be afraid.

Subrosa
 
Slayd said:
I have recently decided to convert to the Catholic Church. I was raised Baptist and baptized when I was around 13 but over the year I’ve put a lot of distance between me and the church and also me and God. A little over a year ago I went to Mass with a close friend. Afterward I started doing research on the Catholic Church and begun praying for God to help guide me. I’ve gone to Mass a few more times since then and really feel that this is where I’m suppose to be. Now for the interesting part…I’m in a 10 long term relationship with another woman, we also live together. I would just like to get some opinions on what other Catholics think about my situation. Thanks
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I take it you’re not married? You should take care of this situation, either Marry or cease living together in the way that you are. I was in this same situation, talked about it with my pastor and we’ve resolved the situation by living together as brother and sister until June 18th when we get married.

If this situation is not resolved, you’ll have a heck of a time getting into the Church as you need to receive the Eucharist to do so. The problem is, if you are living in a state of Mortal sin, you can not receive the Eucharist.
 
I have no plans of getting married considering that I’m a woman living with another woman.
 
Slayd said:
I have no plans of getting married considering that I’m a woman living with another woman.
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Then I guess it’s a question of your love of Christ. I’m sure you have some natural inclinations which would predispose you to a sexual attraction to members of the same sex, but this is ultimatly a (and excuse the term, I do not mean this as an afront to you or your feelings) disorder in Gods plan for us.

Have you ever heard of Theology of the Body? It is Pope John Paul II’s teachings on, among many things, Gods plan for human sexuality. I think that this series of Catechisis on the topic might be very helpful. You can access a full archive of them here:

ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2TBIND.HTM

I haven’t read it (but I’ve been meaning to), but this is a book which states it makes the teaching easy to process, it might be worth a look:
books.google.com/books?id=x1t6lf3hXHIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_slider_thumb#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I would certainly read the actual sermons as well.

Anyway, I would maintain what I said before, living this kind of life style you can not receive the Eucharist with out detramental spiritual harm. This will greatly complicate the process of becoming a Catholic.

If you find you can not maintain normal relations with a man, I would suggest you explore celebacy as an option. You’ll find once you get rolling, that this is a path full of great spiritual rewards, greater in fact than those found in the calling to Marraige. On this note, I would suggest you search these forums for threads titled I believe “is this possible” or searching for homosexuality + celebacy in the contents. There are many good faithful catholics on this forum who have an SSA inclination, and are living a very rewarding celebate life. I would suggest contacting these posters via PM and getting their thoughts, or maybe starting an open thread to discuss this.

God bless,
 
Hi SlayD

I just wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts and prayers and that I wish you the best on your journey. Remember that true love cares first and foremost about a person’s eternal destiny. God loves us in this way. He cares about us enough to discipline us in order to make us grow and become more Christ-like, so that we can endure to the end and finish the race. We must mimick this love to one another as well, because nothing is more important than our eternal destiny.

The Lord works in us through the Church, through the Sacraments, through the Holy Scriptures, through Sacred Tradition. He brings salvation to us this way. There is nothing greater worth pursuing or striving twoards than this end, and nothing that is more important in this life than our Lord Jesus. If you believe and come to accept this truth, everything else will fall into place. God bless you, and keep us updated on how your meeting with Father goes.

~Josh
 
To the OP:

You are welcome to participate in the Mass, to explore Catholicism through RCIA and other means, and to become involved in the life of a parish, to some extent, prior to joining the Church.

There are four distinct “periods” of the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) process – the first being the “inquiry” stage. You will work on recognizing how God is at work in your life. For you to proceed formally to the next period, the period of formal catechesis, you would need to discern if you are truly ready to work on converting in mind, heart and will in your relationship with Jesus and His Church. You would need to discern your desire to turn away from sin and to develop a desire for virtue. You would need to yearn for a solid understanding of the Gospel as revealed by Christ and as passed down from the apostolic age through the Church He founded. You would accept that you want to live a Catholic lifestyle – which means more than an intellectual understanding of the teachings and more than attending Mass every Sunday – it means changing your lifestyle. It means trusting that God with His grace will help you in your journey of understanding, accepting and living the faith.

Catechesis continues during the third period of the RCIA, the period of Purification and Enlightenment, but there is more intense spiritual conversion work going on.

The fourth RCIA period, Mystagogy, is the one-year period beginning upon the reception into the Church when the sacraments of initiation are received.

When becoming Catholic, you will profess that you believe all that the Catholic Church “believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.” Acknowledging that any sexual activity outside of marriage (between a man and a woman) is a mortal sin would be part of your particular lifestyle change. To avoid the near occasion of sin, you would need to move away from the woman you currently have a lesbian relationship with. If you truly love God, you would care about her soul too, not just yours. That would be a greater act of friendship, of love, from you to her than any sexual activity you and she share. If you believe you cannot commit to refraining from any sexual activity outside of marriage, then you would not yet be ready to be received into the Church.

I will remember you in my prayers.

**from the U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Marriage (November 2009):

…The differences between male and female are complementary. Male and female are distinct bodily ways of being human, of being open to God and to one another—two distinct yet harmonizing ways of responding to the vocation to love…

…The Church upholds the human dignity of homosexual persons, who are to “be accepted
with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.” She also encourages all persons to have chaste friendships. “Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one’s neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all.”

At the same time, the Church teaches that homosexual acts “are contrary to the natural
law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”**

usccb.org/meetings/2009Fall/docs/Marriage_Love_Life_pastoral_letter.pdf
 
Thank you all for your responses. I have spoke with Father about my situation and things are looking promising. My girlfriend and I are talking about changing to a chaste life. We will still live together but in separate rooms. (Neither of us can afford to live alone). Thank you all for your prayers as I begin this journey.
 
Slayd said:
Thank you all for your responses. I have spoke with Father about my situation and things are looking promising. My girlfriend and I are talking about changing to a chaste life. We will still live together but in separate rooms. (Neither of us can afford to live alone). Thank you all for your prayers as I begin this journey.
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Slayd, I can’t tell you how happy I am to read this! God bless you on your journey, and welcome home!
 
Slayd said:
Thank you all for your responses. I have spoke with Father about my situation and things are looking promising. My girlfriend and I are talking about changing to a chaste life. We will still live together but in separate rooms. (Neither of us can afford to live alone). Thank you all for your prayers as I begin this journey.
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This is wonderful news! :extrahappy: :extrahappy: :extrahappy:
 
Slayd said:
Thank you all for your responses. I have spoke with Father about my situation and things are looking promising. My girlfriend and I are talking about changing to a chaste life. We will still live together but in separate rooms. (Neither of us can afford to live alone). Thank you all for your prayers as I begin this journey.
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Sounds like you are on the right road! I’m happy for you - both of you!! I hope the priest will continue to meet with you. RCIA will begin again in the fall. I am sure you would be welcomed with open arms! I will continue to keep you all in my prayers.

Happy Easter!!

God bless,
Linda
 
Slayd said:
Thank you all for your responses. I have spoke with Father about my situation and things are looking promising. My girlfriend and I are talking about changing to a chaste life. We will still live together but in separate rooms. (Neither of us can afford to live alone). Thank you all for your prayers as I begin this journey.
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Bless you Slayd!

Sub
 
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