Z
Zeldarocks
Guest
I received a PM recently that just completely demotivated me… I’m not going to reveal the sender out of courtesy and decency, but this is what was said:
There is a reason why your parents are right to be concerned about how quickly you make the decision to swim the Tiber, and it has to do with the average American Protestant who converts to Catholicism. Please allow me to tell you something about this average person- and by all means, run it past your RCIA director or priest or whoever. It’s true.
The average American Protestant who converts to Catholicism is a devout Christian who takes his/her faith very seriously, has impeccable character, and researches Catholicism diligently for at least a year or two before deciding to be baptized Catholic. During that time, this person (probably you) will wrestle with whatever misgivings and disagreements they have without taking shortcuts. You might even have to deal with some personal cost within your own family, or social stigma with unpredictable friends. You are already well-rooted in Bible study and prayer, and you have a personal relationship with God. But now you’ve discovered and fallen in love with the things that Catholicism offers and Protestantism doesn’t really have- men like Augustine, Aquinas, Newman, JP2, B16. The beauty of European architecture, the sculptures, paintings, and basilicas. The solemnity of the Mass, the feeling of reverence you get from Gregorian chant and things that are said in Latin. Maybe some of those things seemed weird to you before, but now you love them and you feel incomplete without them. And- perhaps more than anything else- you’ve come to believe in the authority of the Catholic clergy and their ability to dispense grace through the sacraments. They can assuage guilt, connect you to the Body of Christ like nothing else, and make you feel full and complete. (Or so you’re thinking right now). Basically, for you, it’s not about doing it before you change your mind. It’s about doing it because you know you’ve found what you need and you can’t imagine being anywhere else.
There’s a lot of people who have been where you are. (Three times as many Americans are moving in the opposite direction at any time, but that’s not the point). Most of them get baptized on Easter, which as you know is quite the event in a Catholic parish. Again, all of these people are as devout as you, most of them have spent more time on it than you, and nearly all of them have more reason than you to think a Catholic baptism will lead to them being Catholic for the rest of their lives.
But here’s the thing. For half of those Tiber swimmers, the Easter of their baptism will be the only Easter that they spend in a Catholic parish. Half! Will leave Catholicism (nearly all returning to some form of Protestantism). Within the first year! That number goes up to 60 after two years, 65 after three, and rises to over two-thirds somewhere between year 4 and 5. So in your class of Tiber swimmers- all of them being converts to Catholicism, mind you- 1 in 2 will be Protestant within a year and it will be a 2:1 ratio of Protestants to Catholics within 5 years. Also, you might be wondering if college-age kids are more likely to revert (in the unconventional sense of the word). The answer is yeah. Yes, you are. Also, there’s several different ways for an American to become a Catholic, which allows you to group them as Cradle Catholics or converts or reverts and so forth. You want to know what you have to do in order to have the very best odds of converting from Catholicism to Protestantism? This is it- just start as a Protestant, convert to Catholicism, then wait for it to happen.
Now we get to the part where we try to figure out why. This is where I’m going to come up with very different answers than what you’ll get from any Catholic you talk to. Here’s the deal- I’ll keep it short and sweet. There are two main reasons why Protestants usually don’t stick with Catholicism. One- the sacraments don’t do the things you’ve heard about. They just don’t. You’ll see. Keep an eye out for it. Catholic priests rely on their efficacy almost exclusively, and they usually don’t offer much else. Problem is, the sacraments don’t do what they say they do. The results are predictable- see the above paragraph. Two- with your experience as a Protestant, you do, in fact, know what you’re missing. You might not feel this way now, and you might not see it until after you convert, but Protestantism does it better. The whole thing with helping you be close to God, live out your faith in a way that’s complete and genuine, and have a meaningful connection to fellow Christians. You’ll find out. You in the right Protestant church is a better Christian than you in any Catholic parish could ever be. Odds are pretty good that you find that out rather quickly, too.
Of course, there’s a slim chance that the way you feel now is exactly how it will really be in the long term. But probably not. Least you can do is take the time to better your odds from their currently abysmal state. Or you can look before you leap- and decide not to leap.
My faith was completely shot on reading that post, I feel almost depressed…
There is a reason why your parents are right to be concerned about how quickly you make the decision to swim the Tiber, and it has to do with the average American Protestant who converts to Catholicism. Please allow me to tell you something about this average person- and by all means, run it past your RCIA director or priest or whoever. It’s true.
The average American Protestant who converts to Catholicism is a devout Christian who takes his/her faith very seriously, has impeccable character, and researches Catholicism diligently for at least a year or two before deciding to be baptized Catholic. During that time, this person (probably you) will wrestle with whatever misgivings and disagreements they have without taking shortcuts. You might even have to deal with some personal cost within your own family, or social stigma with unpredictable friends. You are already well-rooted in Bible study and prayer, and you have a personal relationship with God. But now you’ve discovered and fallen in love with the things that Catholicism offers and Protestantism doesn’t really have- men like Augustine, Aquinas, Newman, JP2, B16. The beauty of European architecture, the sculptures, paintings, and basilicas. The solemnity of the Mass, the feeling of reverence you get from Gregorian chant and things that are said in Latin. Maybe some of those things seemed weird to you before, but now you love them and you feel incomplete without them. And- perhaps more than anything else- you’ve come to believe in the authority of the Catholic clergy and their ability to dispense grace through the sacraments. They can assuage guilt, connect you to the Body of Christ like nothing else, and make you feel full and complete. (Or so you’re thinking right now). Basically, for you, it’s not about doing it before you change your mind. It’s about doing it because you know you’ve found what you need and you can’t imagine being anywhere else.
There’s a lot of people who have been where you are. (Three times as many Americans are moving in the opposite direction at any time, but that’s not the point). Most of them get baptized on Easter, which as you know is quite the event in a Catholic parish. Again, all of these people are as devout as you, most of them have spent more time on it than you, and nearly all of them have more reason than you to think a Catholic baptism will lead to them being Catholic for the rest of their lives.
But here’s the thing. For half of those Tiber swimmers, the Easter of their baptism will be the only Easter that they spend in a Catholic parish. Half! Will leave Catholicism (nearly all returning to some form of Protestantism). Within the first year! That number goes up to 60 after two years, 65 after three, and rises to over two-thirds somewhere between year 4 and 5. So in your class of Tiber swimmers- all of them being converts to Catholicism, mind you- 1 in 2 will be Protestant within a year and it will be a 2:1 ratio of Protestants to Catholics within 5 years. Also, you might be wondering if college-age kids are more likely to revert (in the unconventional sense of the word). The answer is yeah. Yes, you are. Also, there’s several different ways for an American to become a Catholic, which allows you to group them as Cradle Catholics or converts or reverts and so forth. You want to know what you have to do in order to have the very best odds of converting from Catholicism to Protestantism? This is it- just start as a Protestant, convert to Catholicism, then wait for it to happen.
Now we get to the part where we try to figure out why. This is where I’m going to come up with very different answers than what you’ll get from any Catholic you talk to. Here’s the deal- I’ll keep it short and sweet. There are two main reasons why Protestants usually don’t stick with Catholicism. One- the sacraments don’t do the things you’ve heard about. They just don’t. You’ll see. Keep an eye out for it. Catholic priests rely on their efficacy almost exclusively, and they usually don’t offer much else. Problem is, the sacraments don’t do what they say they do. The results are predictable- see the above paragraph. Two- with your experience as a Protestant, you do, in fact, know what you’re missing. You might not feel this way now, and you might not see it until after you convert, but Protestantism does it better. The whole thing with helping you be close to God, live out your faith in a way that’s complete and genuine, and have a meaningful connection to fellow Christians. You’ll find out. You in the right Protestant church is a better Christian than you in any Catholic parish could ever be. Odds are pretty good that you find that out rather quickly, too.
Of course, there’s a slim chance that the way you feel now is exactly how it will really be in the long term. But probably not. Least you can do is take the time to better your odds from their currently abysmal state. Or you can look before you leap- and decide not to leap.
My faith was completely shot on reading that post, I feel almost depressed…
and it all got deleted… anyways the PM reminded me of Matthew 19:16-30