Thanks for the advice Lisa…I am praying about it. Although I’d really like to go through it w/ my wife and 2 grown daughters (they are still exploring the Faith, and I’m not sure they are ready…and I do not want to rush them)…I am open to it …I figure that if it is ‘right’ this year, it will be ‘right’ for me next year as well…but, I am calling the church today to speak to the RCIA coordinator about the time frame…
WONDERFUL! I hope they have an informal “meet and greet” type event where you are free to ask questions and meet your fellow travelers on the journey. One of the most treasured gifts of my RCIA experience was getting to know the others who were on the same journey although we all came from different paths. I’m still friends with several of my group Tiber Swim Class of 2005. Last year we talking about how it had been six years but seemed like just yesterday.Thanks for the advice Lisa…I am praying about it. Although I’d really like to go through it w/ my wife and 2 grown daughters (they are still exploring the Faith, and I’m not sure they are ready…and I do not want to rush them)…I am open to it …I figure that if it is ‘right’ this year, it will be ‘right’ for me next year as well…but, I am calling the church today to speak to the RCIA coordinator about the time frame…
Thanks for the support.
Blessings.
you don’t want to know the initial story.
Since I left the ECUSA 20+ years ago some of the parishes certainly have devolved into outright heresy. It’s sad to see. It wasn’t that bad when I left. The ECUSA still taught the same things it had since its founding, but it was beginning to slip away even then. There are Episcopalians who are traditionalist and have separated from the main ECUSA body, but I fear they will dwindle and die off. I believe it’s why Pope Benedict created the Anglican Ordinariate–to give those who still held to the core beliefs a place of refuge. I am happy enough in my OF parish, but if there were an Ordinariate parish near me that’s where I’d be attending. Anyway, welcome to the Church where everyone can find a spirituality that aids them in keeping their baptismal vows.I had Catholic beliefs while I was attending an Anglican church, things they would say wouldn’t make sense or contradict each other.
Like one young man was baptized and he was required to tell everyone what made him become Christian and one of the things he said is that he will be saved by ‘Faith Alone’ yet when I did Bible study with the Women’s Minister she told me plenty of people in our Church were going to hell because they didn’t read the bible enough (so that’s not Faith alone is it?)
Also the Women’s minister said to me me that they are not really an Anglican church (even though that’s what it says it is) because she said in England they have different beliefs from the Australian church and they don’t want Prince William to be head of the church one day because he had slept with Kate Middleton before they were married.
So she said we are just a bible believing church.
Everyone seemed to interpret the Bible how they wanted to. Plenty of Anglicans don’t believe Heaven and Hell are current places and that when we die we don’t exist until we are resurrected at the second coming - that is very wrong to me.
I felt uncomfortable during church services, and had to leave one day with the overwhelming feeling I didn’t belong.
Another reason I left is because they don’t acknowledge Saints who I was reading about at the time and also that pictures are forbidden. You’re not allowed to have an image of Jesus, Mary or anyone from the Bible or even a crucifix which I thought was ridiculous.
I hesitated to become Catholic because I had been told that Catholics are wrong, worship Mary… etc…
I was reading about a famous Australian Aboriginal woman who was known for her life of charity work and was a devout Catholic and she had once said “there’s nothing wrong with the Catholic faith, it’s how you practice it” and those words really helped me convert.
I’m in RCIA and will be baptized this Easter.
Wonderful! I love that you said “It was always within me”…
“Left it to last” lol. Honesty- I love it!
I got many of the same impressions you did from the Anglican church, and was never fully comfortable there, either. Thank you for sharing your story. And Welcome Home!I had Catholic beliefs while I was attending an Anglican church, things they would say wouldn’t make sense or contradict each other.
Like one young man was baptized and he was required to tell everyone what made him become Christian and one of the things he said is that he will be saved by ‘Faith Alone’ yet when I did Bible study with the Women’s Minister she told me plenty of people in our Church were going to hell because they didn’t read the bible enough (so that’s not Faith alone is it?)
Also the Women’s minister said to me me that they are not really an Anglican church (even though that’s what it says it is) because she said in England they have different beliefs from the Australian church and they don’t want Prince William to be head of the church one day because he had slept with Kate Middleton before they were married.
So she said we are just a bible believing church.
Everyone seemed to interpret the Bible how they wanted to. Plenty of Anglicans don’t believe Heaven and Hell are current places and that when we die we don’t exist until we are resurrected at the second coming - that is very wrong to me.
I felt uncomfortable during church services, and had to leave one day with the overwhelming feeling I didn’t belong.
Another reason I left is because they don’t acknowledge Saints who I was reading about at the time and also that pictures are forbidden. You’re not allowed to have an image of Jesus, Mary or anyone from the Bible or even a crucifix which I thought was ridiculous.
I hesitated to become Catholic because I had been told that Catholics are wrong, worship Mary… etc…
I was reading about a famous Australian Aboriginal woman who was known for her life of charity work and was a devout Catholic and she had once said “there’s nothing wrong with the Catholic faith, it’s how you practice it” and those words really helped me convert.
I’m in RCIA and will be baptized this Easter.
Yes, yes I do!you don’t want to know the initial story.
all i can say is every day is a conversion.
God bless You
Merry Christmas
happy Birthday baby Jesus:thumbsup:
Look at this thread…the long versions are wonderful and inspiring! Please tell us your sotry.
Aright since you asked i will tell the part of the tale that is knowable
anymore) said she had never known anyone to go through such a complete change from no faith to the Catholic church.Whatever you are comfortable with.
It was a very poignant and beautiful story. My heart was invested in it fully. I am sorry to hear about your painful breakup with Sarah, but I am very glad that you have come Home. Perhaps you find who God has in mind for you now. Thank you for sharing your story.It all began when I was about 14 years old. I lived literally across the street from my local Catholic church. I only admired it from the outside for the longest of time and finally I had the chance to celebrate Mass. I spent the night at my friend’s house (who was my next door neighbor.) He invited me to Mass that morning and I decided to go. What an amazing service! I marveled at what I saw and experienced. Since then I would go to Mass every other Sunday and then it became a habit to go every Sunday (or Saturday.) I felt something deep; something I never really understood every time I went to Mass. Through the permission of my very loving parents (who are both non-Catholic Christians) I was enrolled in the RCIA program and that following Easter Mass that year I became a Catholic at 15. My priest thought it best that I would not get confirmed that day and that I should do so with my peers when they are ready. My sophomore year of high school is when I changed…
I met my ex-girlfriend (whom we shall address her as Erin), who was the daughter of a LCMS (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) pastor, during a very crucial part of my young life. My faith–as I found out very quickly–was not as solid as I had hoped. She took me to church with her and it came to a point where I started to question The Church’s teachings, everything from the Holy Eucharist to the meaning of indulgences. I went through with “confirmation” classes. I then became a Lutheran and was proud to have finally found “the church for me.” Several weeks later Erin broke up with me. We have been dating for a year-and-a-half and she was my first serious relationship. I couldn’t stand being in the same building with her for obvious reasons so I went to a different LCMS church in town to worship in. I prayed and prayed for my heartache to go away and it felt like I couldn’t shake off that feeling. Even when I dated my current ex (whom we shall name Sarah) that feeling of sadness never really left.
There came a time where I was going to church one day when I heard my pastor’s sermon where the main feeling of it was “how we’re right and everyone else is wrong.” It sickened me to say the least and I never went back. By this point I was 19ish and I wandered in my faith, trying to find that unexplainable feeling I felt so long ago. Sarah was so supportive in my soul searching for my belonging religiously, that is until our 2 year relationship ended. This drove me further and further into the sadness I felt a long time ago. I was in summer of 2012 when I felt this feeling tug at my chest. It told me to go to confession to end my sadness. I had no other choice but to go. Like the prodigal son I was welcomed back into the Church’ s bosom and was nursed back to spiritual health. While I still suffer the aftermath of my relationship with Sarah, I feel strengthened through God’s grace and his love for me, a poor sinful being. And yes, I found that indescribable feeling again
Now I’m going back to finish confirmation and I know just the patron saint to choose, too!
When Sarah and I broke up, the first day of me becoming who I am now began on April 23. That day is St. George’s Day. And while the stories of him slaying the dragon are sliiiiightly fictitious, it has brought me strength to face my inner “dragons” that I’ve suffered for so long.
I know it’s a long-winded story. I know it may not be exciting. I tell you this story so that you can help those who have walked in my shoes. To perhaps strengthen your faith in God. To even learn a thing or two about me. And I feel that it is my turn now to try and help others find inner peace through God’s love and compassion
So true, Lisa. I am inspired by these stories as well. And the lack of “coincidence” is evident.Thank you for your stories. The more I read the more I am convinced of the power of the Holy Spirit to call us Home. I was “raised a heathen” no church at all and I have been a Catholic since the Easter Vigil of 2005. In fact one of my friends, a cradle Catholic (not practicing
When I read these stories and think that it’s no coincidence where someone lived or whom they met along the way. The Holy Spirit comes in many different ways but we who hear Him and follow are very blessed indeed!
Lisa
A voice: “I love you”…wow!Aright since you asked i will tell the part of the tale that is knowable
( :
i remember being baptized and raised Roman Catholic until exactly a few years ago
i stopped knowing what Catholicism Is and then was involved in something that is never
polite or even hardly ever prude to mention then for a year or so
maybe more i was an atheist in the darkness of reason without Faith
And after wandering for some time in darkness i noticed a voice ( which seemed impossible
to me at the Time ) and He said I Love you. And after this i had to reason and find faith again
Re-converting less than the other few amount of years later and i have been trying to make
every day a conversion since
And ever since then from what I remember from being a younger child has been made true
God Is Love: always.
God bless Y’all and may you find peace in hope.