Convertion to Catholicism

[Teresa9]

Dear friends, as someone who was born into a Catholic family and always been catholic, I would like to know what is it that the Holy Spirit worked in you to lead you to convert to the Catholic faith? Don’t worry if the story is long, all of it is relevant and I would love to hear of your journey so far in Christ Jesus.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you all xx

 

[raphaela]

It was a combination of my nanny’s (only) catholic influence as a child…I was always fascinated with what the medals and cards were for and all the crazy language (latin, but as a child it is crazy when you arent used to hearing it).

Also my fiance. He’s not catholic but he encourages me to find God and Jesus everyday. Really, it was when I had a serious drug problem and was self-mutilating all the time. My fiance got so scared that I was eventually gonna kill myself. He came to me crying one day and told me I had to stop because i’ve denied Christ and if I die he won’t see me in Heaven. He told me that he would rather go to a thousand hells than watch myself slowly take myself there. That really got me thinking that his “God” really meant a lot to him. Eventually “his” God became my God and all the self-destructive behavior has gone away…except once in a blue moon i slip…addiction does that but it’s a long road to full recovery!!

Hope that helps answer some of your question.

 

[jeffreedy789]

there are many reason for my conversion to catholicism. the overarching reason is that God led me to. i felt the draw of His Spirit, and He did it through three primary theological means, and two personal influences.

the three ways He led me theologically were the Eucharist, confession, and the authority of the church. i believed in the Eucharist for years, and in confession. i would drag my poor friends aside and confess my sins to them, and they would pray for me. i believed in true presence in the Eucharist, and was frustrated that my tradition did not. i longed for an authority, as the baptist background i come from did not have one. it was confusing and seemed to be ‘make it up as you go’, ‘reinventing the wheel’ every time i turned around. i longed for someone to say ‘this is what it means, this is Truth’.

the teachings i find in the catholic church ring true, as my mind has learned to recognize truth through prayer and Bible study over the years. it follows most closely the meanings that Jesus taught, and that the rest of the Bible teaches. it goes beyond my understanding, and rings true then, too.

the two personal influences were cs lewis and rich mullins. neither were catholic, but both pointed me toward the church.

i’ll share a poetic writing i put together that shows how i feel about my romeward journey:

it’s in the next post.

 

[jeffreedy789]

My life began on a high and desert plain, but where the streets do have names. The place was no utopia, but in retrospect, I wish that it were, etymologically speaking. It was hot and dry; it was a waste. Why I had been born here was, of course, providential; but was, as such, a mystery the depths of which I’m only beginning to plumb.

I was taught the value of water, particularly by my parents, but also from the Spirit of Water Himself, which rained down on the just and on myself alike. I learned to seek the water. I tasted its goodness and richness and sensed its effects on my body and on my ability to grow healthy and live strong. I followed the water.

The water led me, drew me along as it flowed. I found it in lives I watched and sometimes emulated, in moments when I felt the water flow between myself and another. But mostly I found it in books.

I learned early that one book, purportedly written by the Lord of Waters Himself, quenched like no other. It smacked of water itself. It was cool and pure, calming and healing, even at times maddening and inspirational. It was ice, steam, stream, and fountain. It taught me to recognize purity when I tasted it.

From the book, however, I launched out into a deep of liquid horizons. Some of the water was bitter and undrinkable, useful only in mixing in solution for effect. Some was very, very sweet – but deceptively so. Sugar sweet, honey sweet, but not pure, not healthy. Oft I would become confused by the sweet or the bitter, and wonder which were the true and the pure. Then I would remember the book where I started, and I would know which waters to trust.

I continued following the waters for years. They lead me to bigger creeks, on to streams, to rivers, and occasionally, a lake. At these lakes I would find other people, also interested in pure water, or not, gathered around and drinking. In these lakes I found pure water, bitter water, sweet, salty, and even dead. It became ever more necessary to filter. I could sense which waters were pure, compared to the main source, and which were too … one thing or other.

My life became a journey, a pilgrimage pursuing the course of the waters. My prayers were to follow faithfully, to avoid entanglement in the briars which prevented my journey. The Lord of Waters answered me, and continually, spoke to my heart ‘Come. Follow. Drink.’

The rivers widened.

The flow increased, and frightened me.

I sensed the purity of the water which I (cont in next post)

 

[jeffreedy789]

followed, and heard the voice of the Lord of Waters reassure me to sail on. As time flowed on, I found my only question, the constant answer, was to follow the direction of the pure water.

And then the day came. I wasn’t expecting it. All sources pointed in the direction in which I was traveling. The purity called to me, the flavor was almost overwhelmingly, poignantly pure, refreshing. But so fast.

I flowed, with the river in which I was traveling, out into the Sea.

Everywhere I swam, in every instance I tasted, the waters were pure and sweet and healthy. Every taste resounded with the book I read, continue to read to compare and filter. But my filter became largely unnecessary. All the water here was pure, was good. I tasted varieties I hadn’t found before. I splashed and swam and plunged and drank deeply, deeply.

And then I looked around. What was I to do now?

Up to this point, my whole life had been made up of following the water, discovering larger bodies, more and more purity. Now, I had more than I could ever fathom. Purer than I thought earthly possible. My life had been following. Now I had found. I could go in any direction I wanted, drink what I found anywhere. Where did I want to go? What did I want to drink?

I knew not. And it frightened me. The God of Waters was here, so I knew it was good, I was where He wanted me. But what now? He wasn’t leading me to the source anymore, and I didn’t know what to do with myself.

I’m still plumbing the depths.