Converts: when did you start discussing becoming Catholic?

[bwhite06517]

Are you saying you were sitting there happily wehn he said something that was wwrong and you stood up and announced your departure and walked out? If so, that’s cool. I would love that kind of guts.

Not quite that gutsy!!!

Just getting and more upset in the pew (definitely red-under-the-collar) - but walked out fairly fast (no small talk at the door)

Several years before we had been involved with different Charismatic groups -(including some Catholic groups) knowing the people were solid, loving Christians. His message was that certain aspects of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer operated after the last disciple / apostle (John) died - and if some of those gifts were being used, they were from Satan and not from God. (No ‘ands-ifs-or-buts’). Part of this lead to the study of ‘authority’ - by whose authority did this preacher speak and interpret the scriptures? From his seminary professor? From a particular author? On his own authority? Where was the concept (that Catholics would call “Tradition”) of authority going back to the first century? It would be like a priest giving his homily and saying “Abortion and adultery are okay”.

 

[Crepusculum]

For ages I didn’t tell anyone, except my Greek Orthodox flatmate and my Catholic colleague. The latter ended up being my Godfather. I wanted to tell my parents, but since dad was lapsed anglican and mum’s father was a lapsed Catholic, I felt it would not go down well. I fixed this by hinting strongly for a month - it helped that I’m an almost obsessive book buyer, so before long my bedside table was covered in very Christian titles. They noticed, and opened the discussion. Colleagues also were told on a need to know basis and some of them still don’t know, but I won’t hide it if they ask. The two I was really dreading were my sister and my oldest friend - sister because she had “religion = war” as her byline on Facebook for a year, and oldest friend because, well it was mostly fear of being cornered by his boyfriend with his 4 philosophy degrees - the thought of some apologetical situations are just unnerving. My sister surprised me though - she found out the day before I was baptised and was hurt that I hadn’t invited her ahead of time. When I offered, she came and brought my nephews with her! I should’ve had more faith.

My wife had been a cradle Catholic, that I convinced to ‘compromise’ and joined me in Protestant Churches for 23 years. (She returned by going to Confession shortly before I was received into the Church).

Lord love you, your testimonial made me let go a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

 

[Just_wondering]

My sister surprised me though - she found out the day before I was baptised and was hurt that I hadn’t invited her ahead of time. When I offered, she came and brought my nephews with her! I should’ve had more faith.

That’s really sweet. I hope my family is as open to it.

 

[strngrnrth]

Not quite that gutsy!!!

Just getting and more upset in the pew (definitely red-under-the-collar) - but walked out fairly fast (no small talk at the door)

Several years before we had been involved with different Charismatic groups -(including some Catholic groups) knowing the people were solid, loving Christians. His message was that certain aspects of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit no longer operated after the last disciple / apostle (John) died - and if some of those gifts were being used, they were from Satan and not from God. (No ‘ands-ifs-or-buts’). Part of this lead to the study of ‘authority’ - by whose authority did this preacher speak and interpret the scriptures? From his seminary professor? From a particular author? On his own authority? Where was the concept (that Catholics would call “Tradition”) of authority going back to the first century? It would be like a priest giving his homily and saying “Abortion and adultery are okay”.

With me, a lot of the reason for my conversion was that I was trying to find out what is considered heresy. I had no idea how unsettled that issue is in the Christian scene these days. I was just surfing around looking for sites that puroprted to expose someone or other as a heretic because I wanted to be protected from such things. I was wary of the whole custom of Bible studies that don’t study the Bible but some pop book. I worried about some of the things starting up inthe church I was with, also, but didn’t know why or if I was being unreasonable.
So I saw how many different kinds of Christians there are, and that some say what the pastor you’re talking about said, and I was upset. It became more urgent than ever to find out what the truth is. But how? Who was an authority?
And I was engaging in a little hobby I have of debunking fads and I was debunking the DaVinci Code (I was feeling down and wanted an easy one at the moment). And I saw the CA site for probably the second time in my life. Understand that I was not a Baptist but had been strongly affected by some kinds of extreme Baptist suspiciousness for two or three years. I thought I should get off the site quickly after finding what I was after because it was attractive to me and according to the mentality I was starting to slip into, we can’t trust ourselves to judge what attracts us but we can certainly invent theologies . I suddenly thought, what would be wrong with investigating all the issues I have with the Catholic Church while I’m here, then I’ll get out? And the issues I had seemed to be answered very well here. That was a big part of it. After that I immediately wanted to see what the people on the forums talked about. The attraction was intense.

 

[f0rg1v3n]

My husband and I have been faithful non-Catholics for our 12+ years of marriage. However, after a big move due to job transfer, we’ve been searching for a church for about 2 years now. Something began stirring in me and I’ve been thinking of converting for a while. My husband, myself, and our two young children finally attended our first mass as a family this past Sunday. We all loved it. However, our conversion will likely be kept between the 4 of us until we can break it to our families (both devout protestant–Methodist and Baptist). If all prayers are answered, we should start RCIA in the fall and finally bring this family HOME! Pray for us and for our families to accept our decision.

 

[JudeMichael]

Well ever since attending the Catholic Church with my friends back in 2006 and having trusted friends who were Catholics that talked to me and guided me on hard roads in life, I realized just how precious the Catholic Church truly was/is.

After my friend gave me her bible and I received several materials in 2006, my mother made me get rid of it because due to her Pentecostal Holiness faith, the Catholic Church is dead wrong. She has actually contacted other Pentecostal preachers just to talk me out of that decision several times.

SO, now that I’ve received some materials from SHCC near the college I am attending, I’ve decided to fully pursue my faith as a candidate for confirmation. Does my mom and family know? No. If they find out I am trusting Mary and Jesus that they will protect me and that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide me regardless of their reactions.

Of course, they probably will figure it out when they realize that I am ordering a few more books on Catholicism… but may their minds be kept open and I will continue to follow my heart which is leading me to the Catholic Church through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. Oh well, I’m safe and protected thanks to Jesus, Mary, St. Jude, and St. Michael!

 

[Mini_gerbel]

Francis Alexy Nikifor was a very devout Jew.

      Too often you could see him at study in the Torah, but one day something was not right.  
 As he looked out his window and rubbed his grubby chin from hours of studying and not shaving, he noticed but one thing. The roads were completely clear. Putting on his cap and throwing his heavy black coat over his shoulders he decided to investigate.  
 Before he left the front door he remembered he left his sidearm inside of his jacket, and he checked the safety just one last time. 

 He walked outside, looking slowly in many directions, as the light blue sky and morning red son was dawning. The street was long and usually busy, but it looked even longer now that it was empty and deadly quiet.

Then it hit him the chest, then fell to the ground, shredded to numerous pieces of paper. It was his Rick James version bible.

Only someone so arrogant and so mad could do such a thing. He had heard a month before that the RJV ( Rick James Version ) was just a fake, but he doubted it at the time. He now looked dismally at the shredded debris, his anger slackening. Who ever it was, they were gone. He looked around one last time. To the east the sun rose, to the west, appeared to be a second sun. Falling to his knees, he fell and prostrated himself. Then Francis Alexy Nikifor was out cold, his face hard and flat against the cold dry stone.

He then awoke a hospital room. Oh! And UFC was on. How Francis loves UFC! Then there was another thing in the room. There was a king James version and a Catholic version of the bibles on the shelf next to the TV.

Francis Alexy Nikifor decided that whoever won the fight would dictate what bible he read.

The King James bible was on the left and the other bible to the right.

So if the UFC fighter on the right won, he would read the Catholic bible. And the same for the left.

It was clear who would win though, Jack the ripper on the left stank and had small arms.

Bozo the Brawny ,to the left, was just well built.

And from that day Forward, Francis Alexy Nikifor studied and grew wise under his bible. He recanted his Jewish religion for the Catholic.

Francis Alexy Nikifor

 

[IrishBrigade]

Did you tell people that you were converting? At what point in the conversion process did you start talking about it? How did you bring it up?

…the only people I didn’t immediately tell were my parents, now aged, not, obvioulsy, for fear of any reprisal at this point in our lives, but because of some latent reticence that lingered from the first time the matter of conversion came up in my life…
…it was 1960 and I was 11 years old…my best friend at the time was into a devout stage of his life (unfortunately it didn’t last), and as we walked about town he told me of the Church, and what it meant to him, and how happy he was being Catholic…naturally, I was impressed. I went home one day after being with him and announced to my mother that I was converting to Catholicism…she said nothing to me, but much to my father, for that evening he sat me down at the dining room table and began questioning me…no shouting, no threats, just calm talk…I think he knew he had the upper hand agaisnt an eleven year old…‘but they worship the Virgin Mary’ I remember him saying, with only a mild rise in his tone…the upshot, I remained Presbyterian, and joined them, and immediately abandoned them whfen I went to college…
…because of that, I felt odd in 2005, 45 years after that confrontation, to bring it up again with them, right up until the week of the Easter Vigil… my mother said she knew something was up, and she gladly attended the Vigil with me, while my father stayed home, not from any bitterness, but due to being barely ambulatory, though he sent his congratulations…a fitting conclusion, I thought, to a decision far too long delayed…

 

[graceandglory]

Just_wondering:
I have kept mine secret from my protestant friends for the most part. I was too afraid to park on the street in front of the Catholic Church for the longest time. I was very involved in my evangelical church and extended community of evangelical friends.

Most of my evangelical friends know now, as I am very on-fire with my Catholic faith. Which isn’t really much different than I was before as an on-fire evangelical. I was evangelical then, and I’m evangelical now. They don’t want to hear about it. Since our faith was always what we had in common, our friendship has suffered. We used to always talk about Scripture and moral theology and our faith in relation to politics, and suffering and our trials and our marriages and family life. Now faith is off limits. It doesn’t make sense to me. I think they’re afraid I’ll convert them.

 

[iona_scribe]

I had the advantage of just having moved across the country when I started RCIA, so when I told people there were no awkward confrontations because I had already left. There were 3 trusted friends that I told prior to that; one of which had already converted the year before.

Most of my friends and family were supportive when I did tell them. But those who had expressed negative sentiments toward Catholicism in the past, I let them find out by receiving my wedding invitation with a Catholic church address for the location In some sense, my DH and I planned our wedding as an evangelistic event because we have many friends and family members who would not otherwise have come into contact with the Catholic church. But everyone who came thought that the wedding ceremony was beautiful

 

[graceandglory]

But those who had expressed negative sentiments toward Catholicism in the past, I let them find out by receiving my wedding invitation with a Catholic church address for the location

My best friend found out I was Catholic at my dad’s Catholic funeral, when I was leading the rosary.

 

[iona_scribe]

My best friend found out I was Catholic at my dad’s Catholic funeral, when I was leading the rosary.

Oh dear!!! That must have been surprising for them and tough for you.

All of my friends know I’m Catholic now, but none of my protestant friends know I lead a rosary group for young adults at my church
I will “come out” eventually, I just need a good long time to explain and walk through the misconceptions I know they have and are too polite to voice since we haven’t seen in other in a while

 

[Eric_Olsen]

I am actually a revert back to the faith. I was baptized and went to catholic school for most of first grade. We moved before I could finish first grade and entered a public school because my mom( non religious ) did not feel like dealing with the nuns anymore when my siblings went.

Anyway - this was 1977 and my dad stopped going because of all the changes to the mass and my siblings didnt go either. I went to a bible church for a few years and then became lutheran kind of by accident a few years later because other I knew were going to sunday school at this particular church. I was confirmed at 14 and was a staunch anti-catholic because of all the negative things I have heard and the bad experiences with the nun I had in first grade. However there was always this curioustity in my mind as to what it would be like to go back. It wasn’t unitl 2002 when I found out that the ELCA ( Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ) was funding abortions for its “women ministers” that really made me feel like I needed to do some soul searching. I first considered the Episcopal church but decided not to ( thank God. It seemed the abortion thing was the ELCA’s dirty little secret that nobody wanted to talk about. Also - I noticed that the “women ministers” were radically feminist which turned me off. That really explained to me why women should not be priests!
There was also talk about the gay marriage thing as well which really turned my stomach.

I also felt that God was really present there everytime I did go to a Catholic mass wether it be a wedding or whatever, because of Jesus being present in the tabernacle. So I noticed that Jesus was finally calling me to come home. My wife wasn’t too thrilled by it becasue she is also Lutheran but accepted it.

I entered RCIA in the fall of 2003 and was confirmed in MAy 2004 and have been happy ever since I came back.

Sorry for the long disertation but I felt the need to explain in detail what I was experiencing.

 

[ghaybyers1]

Like so many others who have posted, I haven’t quite been 100% open with my family and friends about my conversion (RCIA starts so soon! I’m so excited). Mainly this is because:

a) My family is non-religious. Not atheist, just non-religious. My mother and sister especially, given that my sister’s father was in a cult that pretended to be Baptist (and as far as I can discern, really wasn’t Baptist at all)
b) I’m a journalist with the Canadian University Press, and I manage a staff of roughly 25 editors, freelance journalists and photographers. It would not be the best course of action to publicize my conversion (I can’t help it, I chuckled at my useage of publicize in this connotation).

However, my close family unit now knows! (My mum calls me her closet Catholic… I’m not sure how I feel about that.) And if anyone blatantly asks me, I tell them that I’m a soon to be Catholic. I’ve made the choice to live my life the Catholic way, so when friends ask me to engage in blatantly non-Catholic activities (“Let’s go out drinking!” or “Let’s go check out that body world’s exhibit!”), I obviously say “No, but if you want to do something that fits in with my lifestyle choices, then I’d be happy to visit on saturday/tuesday/whateverday”. I’ve found it’s been a great opportunity to let some of my non-Catholic friends know what the Church believes in terms of sin, respecting the human body, and just generally the Catholic way! I see the wheels turning, please Lord, please!!!

On a side note, after months and months of talking about my conversion, my mum actually told one of her friends (who is Catholic) and has been a lot more receptive of it since… I’m not sure what her friend said to her, but thank you to her for it!

 

[Rachel_J]

I haven’t really told anyone yet. I mentioned to a couple of close friends that I was considering the catholic church. Their reaction wasn’t positive (They’ll skin you to death IIRC) but they accepted it for what it was. I’ve always been the more ‘religious’ one out of the group and they kind of see it as just one of those oddities we all have.

My family are staunch pentecostals. The catholic church is the whore of babylon type. My brother and his wife I think have some inkling that I’m looking. We were discussing it the other day and I kept referring to the chruch as the chruch, rather than the catholic church. My brother kept correcting me. His wife said nothing, but she gets these ‘looks’ when she’s trying to figure something out.

I’ll be starting RCIA in the next month or so, and I’m not sure what I will do then. I don’t want to wait til after I’m officially accepted into the chruch, but nor do I want to get into debates about it. Which will happen.

 

[Light_Seeker]

Wow. I thought I was alone. Seems like I’m in the majority.

My DW of 20 years, cradle Catholic, had no idea that I was ‘self - studying’, doing a lot of introspection, & had signed up for RCIA … until the very first meeting night when she asked where I was going.

Her mouth literally hit the floor. And was still like that when I returned from the first RCIA meeting 3 hours later.

I didn’t want her to think I was doing it for her or our children. I wasn’t.

Been 2 years since I’ve converted, she’s still in shock

 

[Just_wondering]

Wow. I thought I was alone. Seems like I’m in the majority.

My DW of 20 years, cradle Catholic, had no idea that I was ‘self - studying’, doing a lot of introspection, & had signed up for RCIA … until the very first meeting night when she asked where I was going.

Her mouth literally hit the floor. And was still like that when I returned from the first RCIA meeting 3 hours later.

I didn’t want her to think I was doing it for her or our children. I wasn’t.

Been 2 years since I’ve converted, she’s still in shock

That’s really sweet, Light Seeker. I had hoped to do it that way - surprise my boyfriend by having investigated the faith and joined it on my own - but I ended up telling him when he was feeling blue and dejected. I told him that I prayed a rosary for him everyday. It sure did cheer him up - and shock him!

The reason I’m not telling everyone is that I don’t want to be blasted for embracing my boyfriend’s faith. I don’t want people to think I did it for him. I don’t want him to think that I did it just to please him. That’s one of the reasons we don’t even go to the same Mass (that, and that my Mass is at 9am in English, and his is at 1:30pm in Tagalog, and he works until 8am Sunday morning). I want to explore the faith on my own, and be certain that it’s for me without letting my feelings for my boyfriend enter into it.

So far I’ve attended Mass four times on my own, and this weekend I’m going to talk to the priest after Mass. I can hardly wait for Sunday - I’m so excited! One of the nice ladies at Mass was very helpful in giving me advice about talking to the priest and getting a spiritual director. I didn’t even know the priest’s name before I spoke to her. He only leads one Mass per week at this Cathedral. I don’t know where he is the other days of the week. According to the bulletin, preparation for baptism is only given in Korean, not English, but since I’m already baptised surely they can help me. Anyway, I’ve blathered on long enough. Welcome home, Light Seeker. Hopefully you’ll be there to welcome me home by next spring.

 

[Light_Seeker]

Welcome home, Light Seeker. Hopefully you’ll be there to welcome me home by next spring.

I’ll be here & rooting for you all the way!

Since I’ve swam the Tiber, been involved on the staff of RCIA last year, & sponsored my first. Also am volunteering this year in the parish’s ‘Landings’ program - a group that meets for 10 weeks aimed at Catholics who have been away from the Church & want to return.

I want to be the first at the door welcoming anybody who has an interest in coming home!

Good Luck!!!

 

[Malachi4U]

I’m just curious to know when other converts started telling people about their journey toward Catholicism. So far I haven’t told anybody in real life - I haven’t even told my boyfriend the extent to which I’m thinking about it. I’m finding it really difficult to talk about…

When the Holy Spirit took the scales off my eyes and the Blessed Mother led me home to her Son’s Church I told no one. It was hard for me to accept that what I believed as a protestant was wrong! I just started following Jesus for a change instead of my own beliefs or my preachers beliefs. My wife one day came out onto the patio while I was listening to a tape that dealt with abortion and birth control issues by Mrs. Hahn and she basically said, “If you’re go to become Catholic don’t expect the kids and I to be here when you get home!” Our Baptist preacher and all our friends told her to divorace me too! Lets just say that for a few months we had little to say or talk about. I actually remember one week were we never spoke a single word to each other at all and we lived and ate in the same house!

I didn’t have to tell anyone I was becoming Catholic you see, my actions spoke more loudly then my words. I stopped believing in abortion. I stopped believing in birth control pills that murder unborn children. I stopped believing in homosexual marriage. I believed in ALL the Scripture Jesus used not the abridged and edited 39 books of the politicians bible - oops I mean King James Bible . I stopped believing in the death penalty in large countries. I stopped believing preachers should make huge pay checks. etc…

When you start living according to Jesus’ Word they will notice and you won’t have to say one thing.

 

[Kristopher]

I’m just curious to know when other converts started telling people about their journey toward Catholicism. … I still don’t know when or how I’ll tell them.

Did you tell people that you were converting? …

I converted to Catholicism a number of times: at age eleven, I was confirmed Catholic after three yrs. of learning about the faith. Then we left The Church. I returned to The Church in 2000 / 2001. Then I left again in 2007. I returned not long ago, a little over a month ago. My mother was upset about me wanting to be confirmed at eleven: she followed a guru, with her mother, at the time, and he was about all she could see in her life; though, she was attending for whatever reason, probably because she liked the priest. The second time, there wasn’t too much discussion about it, but the third time: I talked with cousins, that I met through the death of my father, this last Feb. When spirituality came-up as a point of discussion, on the drive from MT to WA, I kept referencing the CCC. I was told, that I am Catholic. One of my cousins was in the same position as myself. My mother and I went back after the trip. Next time I get the feeling, that I need a break from the faith–I’m going on retreat.

So far as telling your friends / family, etc., I would keep it to yourself, and let the changes in your life do the talking for you; you don’t have to be terribly knowledgable about the faith, to defend it. Just stand by the Eucharist. IMHO.