Do people convert to Catholicism for "emotional" reasons?

[francesco920]

Thanks, but I would never argue the second to last point you raise.

I would only like to stress the necessity–obscured by some, for reasons not hard to understand–of the passions in our faith.

I agree that a mature thinker or believer would ask the question you helpfully raise.

However, as I look back on the causes of my lapse–I’m back now, praise God–one of them was the very unfriendly RCC I was attending: as a teen, I felt and saw no love whatever and I heard, perhaps through my own fault, no love in the homilies. As a cradle Catholic, raised strictly but lovingly, and with our closest family friends priests and nuns, I found, I now see, the experience deeply foreign alienating.

The church my family and I now attend is gorgeous, as is the liturgy, though they need to respond fast to the motu propio to get a Latin Mass going, organ, and choir. It is filled with passion, beauty, and truth, all of which can be seen in the faces of our parishoners, who come from around the world.

I would like to recommend to everybody a hard but very rewarding book by John Saward: The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty.

God bless.

Yes, I think I agree with everything you are saying (especially the part about needing to get a TLM going as soon as possible.) I guess what I was trying to say before is that divorcing reason from faith is wrong, but I would definitely agree with you that separating the passions from the faith is just as wrong.

Pax tecum.

 

[Palladio]

Yes, I think I agree with everything you are saying (especially the part about needing to get a TLM going as soon as possible.) I guess what I was trying to say before is that divorcing reason from faith is wrong, but I would definitely agree with you that separating the passions from the faith is just as wrong.

Pax tecum.

Et tecum, amice.

Vale.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Thanks for posting everyone…even those of you who support the “emotion” side of converting to Catholicism all mention the “understanding” part first. Which is my point! You had emotion because you understood.

I guess I should have said “just” emotional reasons, like many who leave the Catholic Church do…i.e. those who say, “I left because mass was boring”…“it was repetitive”…etc… I’ve heard em!

 

[melvina07]

I am beginning RCIA this month, and I decided to convert because of the doctrine- especially on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Eucharist. In all the years of going to Protestant services and being active in my church, it never really sat right with me that Mary didn’t get the proper respect she diserved. They preached that Mary was a sinner like everyone else- and although I knew nothing about Catholic doctrine at the time, I just knew in my heart that wasn’t right. So I started to do my own research and learning to find the Truth instead of relying on Protestant preachers. God led me through the process, and once I was convicted in my heart that the Catholic Church is indeed the church that Christ founded- I had a deep need- a drive really- as a follower of Christ to be a member of that church. Sure there have been times when I have doubted if I have what it takes to lead that moral of a life style- in the Protestant church I was in divorce, adultry, contraception was the norm. But I just pray and ask God for strength- and I know that I can because when it comes down to it, its not about me and what I want, its about Jesus and His church- and I will do what I have to do to please God.

 

[Holy_Roller]

Thanks for posting everyone…even those of you who support the “emotion” side of converting to Catholicism all mention the “understanding” part first. Which is my point! You had emotion because you understood.

I guess I should have said “just” emotional reasons, like many who leave the Catholic Church do…i.e. those who say, “I left because mass was boring”…“it was repetitive”…etc… I’ve heard em!

It’s me again. When I woke up this morning I read the posts that followed mine to see if there were any challenges or opportunities to remind people of the healing that only Jesus can give them. I noticed that no one mentioned that, so here it goes:

Many people in our modern (dog eat dog) market driven society are hurting emotionally, and they are afraid to show any weakness for fear of being taken advantage of. I include those people with the other grief stricken people who need the healing, that only Jesus can give them.

The lack of fellowship before and after mass, in my opinion, is not meeting the needs of these poor souls. Consequently, they end up in a Charismatic Church where people minister the Holy Spirit to them. During the service when the Spirit is moving there is healing, and the lively music with clapping of hands makes them forget the hurt for a while. Then there is the alter call when people who are on the verge of cracking can come forward and be ministered to.

I have been active (on and off) in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal here in the Oakland Diocese. Not because I want to undermine the Catholic faith, but because at one time I was a practicing Catholic and lost my first wife when she was only 30 years old. The priest and a couple of nuns came to the house after the funeral and that was the end of it. And yes, there was something in the church bulletin about grief meetings during a week day evening. But, with small children to raise I would have needed a baby sitter during that time. Usually, it’s not men like myself who are hurting, it’s divorced women who are in that situation.

I’m not knocking the Catholic faith, I’m just saying that I can’t imagine a person who is really hurting, I mean really hurting, to find Jesus during a Mass obligation with a wafer and then walk directly out to their car, and go home. Like millions of others, I ended up in a Charismatic Church.

Richard

 

[Palladio]

It’s me again. When I woke up this morning I read the posts that followed mine to see if there were any challenges or opportunities to remind people of the healing that only Jesus can give them. I noticed that no one mentioned that, so here it goes:

Many people in our modern (dog eat dog) market driven society are hurting emotionally, and they are afraid to show any weakness for fear of being taken advantage of. I include those people with the other grief stricken people who need the healing, that only Jesus can give them.

The lack of fellowship before and after mass, in my opinion, is not meeting the needs of these poor souls. Consequently, they end up in a Charismatic Church where people minister the Holy Spirit to them. During the service when the Spirit is moving there is healing, and the lively music with clapping of hands makes them forget the hurt for a while. Then there is the alter call when people who are on the verge of cracking can come forward and be ministered to.

I have been active (on and off) in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal here in the Oakland Diocese. Not because I want to undermine the Catholic faith, but because at one time I was a practicing Catholic and lost my first wife when she was only 30 years old. The priest and a couple of nuns came to the house after the funeral and that was the end of it. And yes, there was something in the church bulletin about grief meetings during a week day evening. But, with small children to raise I would have needed a baby sitter during that time. Usually, it’s not men like myself who are hurting, it’s divorced women who are in that situation.

I’m not knocking the Catholic faith, I’m just saying that I can’t imagine a person who is really hurting, I mean really hurting, to find Jesus during a Mass obligation with a wafer and then walk directly out to their car, and go home. Like millions of others, I ended up in a Charismatic Church.

Richard

What a sad story. I am terribly sorry for your loss and for your burdens.

I have been really hurting, as has my family, and the RCC was there for us in every way.

On the Christian side of things, however, I fail to see how your claim about “Jesus alone” differs from what the RCC would say, unless you are rejecting the Trinity.

God bless.

 

[Palladio]

I am beginning RCIA this month, and I decided to convert because of the doctrine- especially on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Eucharist. In all the years of going to Protestant services and being active in my church, it never really sat right with me that Mary didn’t get the proper respect she diserved. They preached that Mary was a sinner like everyone else- and although I knew nothing about Catholic doctrine at the time, I just knew in my heart that wasn’t right. So I started to do my own research and learning to find the Truth instead of relying on Protestant preachers. God led me through the process, and once I was convicted in my heart that the Catholic Church is indeed the church that Christ founded- I had a deep need- a drive really- as a follower of Christ to be a member of that church. Sure there have been times when I have doubted if I have what it takes to lead that moral of a life style- in the Protestant church I was in divorce, adultry, contraception was the norm. But I just pray and ask God for strength- and I know that I can because when it comes down to it, its not about me and what I want, its about Jesus and His church- and I will do what I have to do to please God.

When I came back to the RCC, the monsignor said something I hope to keep in mind until I die: God has a way of constantly working on us.

To me, He planted the idea of Mary’s perfection in your heart.

For my children, whom we raised neither one way nor the other, He he planted belief in Him.

When it became clear my wife should join me in my return, we were both surprised to find to little faithful believers, who accepted Him before we ever spoke to them about anything of the sort.

What a blessing to us, and to them, to be able to start from reality and move onward and upward!

God bless.

 

[melvina07]

I am beginning RCIA this month, and I decided to convert because of the doctrine- especially on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Eucharist. In all the years of going to Protestant services and being active in my church, it never really sat right with me that Mary didn’t get the proper respect she diserved. They preached that Mary was a sinner like everyone else- and although I knew nothing about Catholic doctrine at the time, I just knew in my heart that wasn’t right. So I started to do my own research and learning to find the Truth instead of relying on Protestant preachers. God led me through the process, and once I was convicted in my heart that the Catholic Church is indeed the church that Christ founded- I had a deep need- a drive really- as a follower of Christ to be a member of that church. Sure there have been times when I have doubted if I have what it takes to lead that moral of a life style- in the Protestant church I was in divorce, adultry, contraception was the norm. But I just pray and ask God for strength- and I know that I can because when it comes down to it, its not about me and what I want, its about Jesus and His church- and I will do what I have to do to please God.

 

[francesco920]

I’m not knocking the Catholic faith, I’m just saying that I can’t imagine a person who is really hurting, I mean really hurting, to find Jesus during a Mass obligation with a wafer and then walk directly out to their car, and go home. Like millions of others, I ended up in a Charismatic Church.

Richard

The “wafer” IS Jesus Christ, so I don’t understand your claim. Also please do not ever refer to the Eucharist as a “wafer.” That’s offensive. If you don’t want to say “Eucharist” say “host.”

 

[Madaglan]

In my personal experience, the answer is no, although I know at least one who may have converted for emotional reasons. As other posters have mentioned, I think the reverse is more true. It seems that many converts to Catholicism from Protestantism come for different reasons: greater liturgical reverence, the ancient traditions, doctrinal unity, strong moral views, a central Magisterium, a logical, systematic theology, an emphasis on reason, etc.

Converts from Catholicism to Protestantism usually do so for more subjective (but not necessarily less potent) reasons: stronger community, support, worship from the heart, personal relationship between Christ and individual, emphasis of Christ’s love (for God so loved the world), assurance of salvation, pastoral (no over-arching network of canon law imposing on the individual without reference to context), etc.

A Catholic devoutly attends Mass for years, praying constantly, but is yet tormented and at great unease, burdened with sins and impersonal prayers of penance, feeling unloved, even by God who seems the Just God when one sins, especially by easy-to-commit mortal sin; unappreciated by the community, unaffirmed, and treated as just another parishoner, just another money-giver, in the 500+ family parish that leaves church while the exit processional hymn is still being sung; what is such a Catholic to do?

 

[Palladio]

In my personal experience, the answer is no, although I know at least one who may have converted for emotional reasons. As other posters have mentioned, I think the reverse is more true. It seems that many converts to Catholicism from Protestantism come for different reasons: greater liturgical reverence, the ancient traditions, doctrinal unity, strong moral views, a central Magisterium, a logical, systematic theology, an emphasis on reason, etc.

Converts from Catholicism to Protestantism usually do so for more subjective (but not necessarily less potent) reasons: stronger community, support, worship from the heart, personal relationship between Christ and individual, emphasis of Christ’s love (for God so loved the world), assurance of salvation, pastoral (no over-arching network of canon law imposing on the individual without reference to context), etc.

A Catholic devoutly attends Mass for years, praying constantly, but is yet tormented and at great unease, burdened with sins and impersonal prayers of penance, feeling unloved, even by God who seems the Just God when one sins, especially by easy-to-commit mortal sin; unappreciated by the community, unaffirmed, and treated as just another parishoner, just another money-giver, in the 500+ family parish that leaves church while the exit processional hymn is still being sung; what is such a Catholic to do?

Five hundred is a small parish, so I’ve

never known such a Catholic in such a parish who suffered for being a Catholic: are you sure you are not creating a strawman here?

Do you suppose he would turn to the megachurches being constructed by Protestants?

 

[Biblioassistant]

I’m not knocking the Catholic faith, I’m just saying that I can’t imagine a person who is really hurting, I mean really hurting, to find Jesus during a Mass obligation with a wafer and then walk directly out to their car, and go home. Like millions of others, I ended up in a Charismatic Church.

After my divorce I was hurting and hurting bad. I found Jesus at Mass in the Eucharist and gradually I felt better. The Mass was a source of great comfort and the Eucharist a source of healing.

 

[Madaglan]

Originally Posted by Palladio:

Five hundred is a small parish, so I’ve

never known such a Catholic in such a parish who suffered for being a Catholic: are you sure you are not creating a strawman here?

Do you suppose he would turn to the megachurches being constructed by Protestants?

There are no megachurches near where I’m at, so I can’t comment on that. The larger Protestant churches in my area (the warehouse churches) often break up into different groups (youth group, college group, twenty-some singles group, adult group, Bible study groups for respective ages, etc.), so there is more of a personal, community feel, even though the parish is very large.

My parish has 500+ families. I attended a Bible study for a few weeks. Of the eight people, nobody there was my age. Everyone there was much older and married. At least at my parish, only a very small percentage (mostly older adults) is involved with non-Mass activities.

 

[rlg94086]

I met a married priest who converted from the Presbyterian Church. I asked if Scott Hahn had an effect on his conversion, but the priest said his conversion came from prayer and not from scholarly research. I guess this would be considered “emotional” reasons. I think the Holy Spirit guides us to the Church in many different ways.

For me, it was initially just because my wife and I decided we wanted to have the whole family worship together. It wasn’t until I went through RCIA that basic doctrinal agreement came. Even then, it took years of formation for me to really understand and accept all of the Church’s teaching.

Pax,
Robert

 

[Madaglan]

Here’s something to ponder: it is often believed that certain individuals convert for “emotional” reasons, to be opposed with “reasonable” reasons. Emotion and reason are oftentime opposed to each other. The person who converts for reasonable reasons is the one who converts because of a comparison of doctrines, study of the early Church Fathers, etc.; whereas a person who converts for emotional reasons is the one who converts because he or she is having a rough time and finds love and acceptance in the Protestant Church.

Ok, but here’s a twist: may it be that horrendous life-experiences change how people exercise reason. May it be that a person who experiences a series of trials is affected in thinking in such a way that the person’s whole way of thinking changes? Not less logical, less reasonable, but looks at things from a different perspective now, with different presuppositions confirmed from experience, and comes to different conclusions.

 

[tradconvert]

In my case my attraction to the Catholic faith was initially emotional.

Brought up in the 1950s as a child in a strict Presbyterian family, with austere services and churches, Catholicism was the arch enemy. But seridipitously, the public school I attended was right next to the local Catholic Church and the parochial school attached to it. So, notwithstanding all the bigotry of the times warning us protestant children about the evils of “the Catholics”, I, as a curious child, could but not observe and take in the many Catholic “goings-on” next door. The Angelus bell ringing at the same times every day, the Catholic school children filing into the church often with ribbons and medals around their necks and holding rosaries. Even more impressive to my young eyes was the occasional procession with priests in beautiful vestments walking under a strange canopy and holding aloft a round piece of white something in a beautiful gold frame and then the altar boys swinging incense and holding candles aloft leading the procession - how I wished I could be like them.

Anyway you can get the drift. It was the beauty and dignity of Catholic liturgy and practices which first aroused my interest, so much so that, waiting for an occasion when I felt sure I could not possibly be seen by anyone who knew me, I furtively snuck into the Catholic church. I was bowled over by the beauty of the church (compared with my familiar sterile Presbyterian church) with its magnificent altar, the votive candles, statues and paintings (the stations of the cross). So when out of town one day, still only a very young boy of no more than ten years old I went to a church and experienced my first mass, which I of course couldn’t understand at all, but again the beauty and devotional attitude of everyone there impressed me.

So to cut this rambling short, it was the appeal to the senses of Catholic liturgy - especially the traditional latin mass and all the devotions of the traditional church - that first of all undoubtedly spurred my first curiosity about Catholicism. But even now (or should I say especially now, indeed always) the beauty, the dignity and the devotional solitude of all the traditional ceremonies enrich and stir my faith as what I am - an inevitable, ultimate convert to the Catholic Church. In fact I only became Catholic many years after my childhood experiences, having got turned away by the experiences of university and vicissitudes of life and my work.

But when I did again start to think again about where my life was heading, it was those first childhood experiences which undoubtedly had laid the foundation. So when I began to enquire into and study the Catholic faith as an adult the first seeds planted 30 years before grew quickly the more I read and realised how foolish I’d been not to follow my childhood curiosity earlier. Once properly taught as a was by a very pious and saintly traditional priest, and studied everything I could gets my hands on, the sheer rationality and logic of the Catholic faith was so compelling. Perhaps it was my early experience, but I did learn the faith through the Baltimore catechism plus many many other books and was received under the full old ritual of the conditional baptism and “profession of faith for converts”, which when I recited it brought me to tears of joy at the same time as providing for my new faith a strong rod of logic and consistency.

So for me my senses and logic and rationality of the Catholic faith go hand in hand.

 

[Palladio]

In my case my attraction to the Catholic faith was initially emotional.

Brought up in the 1950s as a child in a strict Presbyterian family, with austere services and churches, Catholicism was the arch enemy. But seridipitously, the public school I attended was right next to the local Catholic Church and the parochial school attached to it. So, notwithstanding all the bigotry of the times warning us protestant children about the evils of “the Catholics”, I, as a curious child, could but not observe and take in the many Catholic “goings-on” next door. The Angelus bell ringing at the same times every day, the Catholic school children filing into the church often with ribbons and medals around their necks and holding rosaries. Even more impressive to my young eyes was the occasional procession with priests in beautiful vestments walking under a strange canopy and holding aloft a round piece of white something in a beautiful gold frame and then the altar boys swinging incense and holding candles aloft leading the procession - how I wished I could be like them.

Anyway you can get the drift. It was the beauty and dignity of Catholic liturgy and practices which first aroused my interest, so much so that, waiting for an occasion when I felt sure I could not possibly be seen by anyone who knew me, I furtively snuck into the Catholic church. I was bowled over by the beauty of the church (compared with my familiar sterile Presbyterian church) with its magnificent altar, the votive candles, statues and paintings (the stations of the cross). So when out of town one day, still only a very young boy of no more than ten years old I went to a church and experienced my first mass, which I of course couldn’t understand at all, but again the beauty and devotional attitude of everyone there impressed me.

So to cut this rambling short, it was the appeal to the senses of Catholic liturgy - especially the traditional latin mass and all the devotions of the traditional church - that first of all undoubtedly spurred my first curiosity about Catholicism. But even now (or should I say especially now, indeed always) the beauty, the dignity and the devotional solitude of all the traditional ceremonies enrich and stir my faith as what I am - an inevitable, ultimate convert to the Catholic Church. In fact I only became Catholic many years after my childhood experiences, having got turned away by the experiences of university and vicissitudes of life and my work.

But when I did again start to think again about where my life was heading, it was those first childhood experiences which undoubtedly had laid the foundation. So when I began to enquire into and study the Catholic faith as an adult the first seeds planted 30 years before grew quickly the more I read and realised how foolish I’d been not to follow my childhood curiosity earlier. Once properly taught as a was by a very pious and saintly traditional priest, and studied everything I could gets my hands on, the sheer rationality and logic of the Catholic faith was so compelling. Perhaps it was my early experience, but I did learn the faith through the Baltimore catechism plus many many other books and was received under the full old ritual of the conditional baptism and “profession of faith for converts”, which when I recited it brought me to tears of joy at the same time as providing for my new faith a strong rod of logic and consistency.

So for me my senses and logic and rationality of the Catholic faith go hand in hand.

The whole person, Neman wrote, is moved to conversion.

This does not surprise me: the RCC appeals to us body and soul.

What a beautiful witness, tradconvert.

God bless.

 

[ba_bustanti]

Marco Polo is correct in the lack of fellowship in the Catholic Church. Some Catholics are turning to other churches because they (churches) have taken a personal interest in helping their children become drug free. These people do follow ups with the drug addict and work with them to straighten out their lives. I tried to find out if the Catholic Church had faith based rehab centers but I never had a reply. I just feel there should be more than just on the surface.

As for me, their is nothing so moving to me like the Mass. I still find it so awesome that Christ died for us and awesome that I can receive him in my life everyday if I wish. Priests, Nuns are so blessed they were called and realized it and accepted.

Adoration is another gift I am so fortunate to be part of. God is Beautiful! However, I too, was bored with the mass at one time. Life was not worth living sometimes. EWTN opened my eyes and my heart and taught me how to pray, taught me to read the Bible and how to be one with Jesus. Regardless of what life has put in my path I believe God knows what he is doing and sooner or later he will take care of business. In his time not mine. So yes its emotional but it comes from knowing your faith and practicing it. Mary is my mother and and each day of my life I think of her as I do Jesus. Its morning to night constantly on my lips. Its just the norm now. My love for the Pope grew like never before. Pray, Pray, Pray! By the way I attended Catholic School fofr 13 years. The basics were there, I just got lost along the way but I found my way back. Thank you Jesus! Emotional yes, God giving us his son to die for us to save our souls truly is moving and receiving him in the Eucharist, Oh My!!!

 

[Palladio]

Marco Polo is correct in the lack of fellowship in the Catholic Church. Some Catholics are turning to other churches because they (churches) have taken a personal interest in helping their children become drug free. These people do follow ups with the drug addict and work with them to straighten out their lives. I tried to find out if the Catholic Church had faith based rehab centers but I never had a reply. I just feel there should be more than just on the surface.

As for me, their is nothing so moving to me like the Mass. I still find it so awesome that Christ died for us and awesome that I can receive him in my life everyday if I wish. Priests, Nuns are so blessed they were called and realized it and accepted.

Adoration is another gift I am so fortunate to be part of. God is Beautiful! However, I too, was bored with the mass at one time. Life was not worth living sometimes. EWTN opened my eyes and my heart and taught me how to pray, taught me to read the Bible and how to be one with Jesus. Regardless of what life has put in my path I believe God knows what he is doing and sooner or later he will take care of business. In his time not mine. So yes its emotional but it comes from knowing your faith and practicing it. Mary is my mother and and each day of my life I think of her as I do Jesus. Its morning to night constantly on my lips. Its just the norm now. My love for the Pope grew like never before. Pray, Pray, Pray! By the way I attended Catholic School fofr 13 years. The basics were there, I just got lost along the way but I found my way back. Thank you Jesus! Emotional yes, God giving us his son to die for us to save our souls truly is moving and receiving him in the Eucharist, Oh My!!!

The lack of fellowship must exist, but everywhere in every religion.

What I would want to know is the full purpose of the Mass.

The church outside of the Mass is still a church, and charity is the rule, not the exception.

There may be sects outside of the RCC which use social services first and foremost to catch souls, but clearly the RCC is involved in saving life in every sense the world round.

 

[rwoehmke]

It’s me again. When I woke up this morning I read the posts that followed mine to see if there were any challenges or opportunities to remind people of the healing that only Jesus can give them. I noticed that no one mentioned that, so here it goes:

Many people in our modern (dog eat dog) market driven society are hurting emotionally, and they are afraid to show any weakness for fear of being taken advantage of. I include those people with the other grief stricken people who need the healing, that only Jesus can give them.

The lack of fellowship before and after mass, in my opinion, is not meeting the needs of these poor souls. Consequently, they end up in a Charismatic Church where people minister the Holy Spirit to them. During the service when the Spirit is moving there is healing, and the lively music with clapping of hands makes them forget the hurt for a while. Then there is the alter call when people who are on the verge of cracking can come forward and be ministered to.

I have been active (on and off) in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal here in the Oakland Diocese. Not because I want to undermine the Catholic faith, but because at one time I was a practicing Catholic and lost my first wife when she was only 30 years old. The priest and a couple of nuns came to the house after the funeral and that was the end of it. And yes, there was something in the church bulletin about grief meetings during a week day evening. But, with small children to raise I would have needed a baby sitter during that time. Usually, it’s not men like myself who are hurting, it’s divorced women who are in that situation.

Richard

Amen, brother! Having been involved with a number of Catholics who have left for various reasons I have found just as much emotion displayed in leaving as for joining. Coming home is not just a feeling by converts to Catholicism, our brethren going the other way often feel the same way. I am still very solidly Catholic but the dismal lack of a balance of emotion and reason always leaves me very puzzled as to why it has to be that way.

Richard too. Maybe Richards have a problem.