For Catholic Converts! (New or seasoned ;) )

[GwenL]

But I’m curious for my fellow converts. How do YOU answer the question: WHY join the Catholic Church???

And do/did you ever get tired of being asked (even if it is, potentially, a moment for evangelization)?

Not in order of importance or priority, but in the order that I came to understand:

1. Grace, grace, and more grace. I was led here and given the grace to be docile enough to accept the yoke. In my pre-Christian life, I wavered between atheism and agnosticism, so I’ve come a long, long way.
2. I came to understand, based on history and consistency over the centuries, that the Catholic Church is a truth-telling and truth-teaching entity. Once you understand that the Church has proclaimed the same truth about, for example, the Eucharist (ref Acts, the Didache, the early Fathers, and VII) for 2,000 years, it’s clear that the Church is telling the truth about everything else.
3. I came to understand that this is the Church that Jesus Christ founded. He founded the Church and said He would be with it until the end of the age. He also said that the Church would prevail against the gates of Hell. Who am I to argue with Jesus?
4. The Eucharist.

And, no, I never get tired of people asking me. They often tire of hearing my explanation, though!

 

[NFPgirl]

The short answer is, “I fell in love with the Church.” Here’s the story:

My friend LA invited me to a Theology on Tap to meet a guy. Theology on Tap is a speaker series where the speaker speaks on various topics regarding Catholic theology. Usually there’s a Q&A at the end and some time to mix and mingle over a beer, glass of wine, or cup of coffee (hence the “on tap” part of the title). Well, I went w/her and met the guy. There were no sparks but a good rapport which developed into a friendship which continues to this day. The bigger thing that happened that night was that the speaker was a rather abrupt and unapologetic apologist who was speaking about how to defend the Catholic faith against Protestant attacks. I was both annoyed and intrigued. That night, my new friend gave me a copy of the Catechism (just happened to have a paperback copy in his backpack) and told me I could look up anything about the Catholic faith in it. He also invited me and LA to a young adult’s worship and bible study group at a local parish the following evening. We went and that’s when I met Fr. B. He’s a former Baptist minister who converted and then became a priest. I grew up Baptist, so his story REALLY intrigued me. Turns out he was the spiritual director for this young adult group and I came to really like him that night. I also really connected with several of the young adults in the group and enjoyed the worship and study time.

The following week I returned to Theology on Tap with my friend LA for the final speaker. It was a panel discussion on abortion, euthanasia, and contraception. That night, LA gave me a gift completely out of the blue. It was her confirmation rosary. I was bowled over. I tried to refuse it but she insisted. As if that wasn’t enough, a lady I’d met the week before at ToT, gave me a present too! It was also a rosary but this one had been blessed by Pope John Paul II when she and her husband had been on their honeymoon in Rome! I was speechless. Later that evening as the panel commenced discussion, it was like a switch inside my soul got flipped from off to on. They were discussing why the Church is against contraception in any form and it just made SO much sense to me. I began wondering why my Baptist church was okay with contraception. I began wondering too if the Catholic Church was right about other things as well.

The next night I returned to the young adult’s group on my own. My mere intrigue from the week before had turned to a much deeper curiosity and desire to understand things. This group met weekly and I started going each week. The passion these young adults felt for their faith was contagious and Fr. B was very patient w/all my questions regarding the faith. I became fast friends with several of the group including a quiet young man who would eventually become my husband

After going to that group for a few weeks, I began to dig into the Catholic faith on my own. I began to read up on the various devotions and practices. I bought some books and scoured the internet. I flipped through the Catechism and compared it to the Bible. The more I read, the more I became convinced that the Catholic Church was right about a lot of things. The more convinced I became, the more I realised I could never be Protestant again. There was something that was holding me back though. The Real Presence. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the belief that the Real Presence of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was in that consecrated host. It looked like bread! I didn’t know if I could ever truly believe in my heart in the miracle of transubstantiation. I talked to Fr. B about it and he suggested I visit a local Perpetual Adoration chapel at another parish to just spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to me, to help me believe. I took his advice, went a couple of times but was no closer to believing it in my heart or my head. Then came Christmas.

(CONTINUED IN NEXT POST)

 

[NFPgirl]

LA invited me to attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve with her at her parish and I readily agreed. I’d already been attending Mass at the parish where the weekly group met for some time but was eager to go to a more solemn Mass. My mom and I met her at the church. I was kneeling in the pew during the Liturgy of the Eucharist and praying silently. My prayer went something like, “Jesus, if that really is you, please show me…” Nothing happened. No bells or thunder claps from heaven. After the Agnus Dei, the members of the congregation started filing foward to receive and LA turned to me to explain that I could stay or just go up with my arms over my chest for a blessing. I stayed, knelt, and used the time to pray. A few moments later, LA got up from her seat and filed into the aisle w/the rest of our row. As soon as she set foot into the aisle, I was overcome with an urgency to follow her. It was a hunger that I had never known. I wanted to follow her to the altar and receive Christ. My heart leaped in my chest and I could hardly breathe so awestruck as I was! My Lord and My Jesus, it IS You!! was the thought that went through my head over and over again. I was overcome with joy and it took literally everything I had to keep from running into the aisle and up to the altar to receive. When I think of it now, I still get excited! It was in that moment that I knew in my heart that I could never be anything but Catholic. It was then that I fell head, heart, soul, and body in love with the Catholic Church and in love with Jesus in a way I’d never been before. That was Christmas Eve 2003.

It was too late for me to join RCIA and the Easter Vigil Class of 2004, so I had to wait until fall of 2004 to join RCIA. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait that long for the Eucharist!! After Christmas, I told Fr B that I wanted to become Catholic and the story of what had happened at Christmas. He spoke with the pastor of the parish and the RCIA director and they agreed I could receive my First Holy Communion on Pentecost Sunday that year. Later that year, I started dating the quiet young man from the young adult’s group and then 3 days after my Confirmation at Easter Vigil of 2005, he proposed to me in the chapel of our parish in front of Jesus and all our friends at the young adult’s group

By the way, I am more deeply in love with the Catholic Church today than I was at the moment of my heart’s conversion at Christmas that year. The more I receive the Eucharist, the more I hunger for it. The more I worship Our Lord in the Mass, the more I want to worship Him. The more I study about the Church, the more I want to learn and the more I want to tell others about how Christ Himself (with some help from Our Blessed Mother) wooed me into full communion and a passionate love affair that I cannot wait to continue for all eternity!

To answer your other question, I absolutely never tire of telling people my story.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

Oh, what an exquisite story, NFPgirl! Thank-you so much for sharing your joy with me!

 

[Bonnie]

I guess I’m one of the seasoned converts - well seasoned!

I didn’t get much flack at the time, but I’m occasionally asked. But many people assume I converted because of my husband. But I met him years after I joined the Church.

What I tell people is the truth - this is where God wanted me, & he hasn’t changed His mind.