God Calling or my own Arrogance?

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Brian_C

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I am currently attending RCIA. I came to the Church from the Baptist faith after immersing myself in the history of early Christianity and Catholicism and basically just trying to decipher for myself the slander and libel from the truth about Catholic Christianity.

Well, now I am attending the largest parish in my city (because of its proximity and because I have some relatives who attend there). It is still very weird for me the emphasis that the Church palces in certain areas but neglects in others. Education outside of the Mass for one is just something hard for me to adjust to… I just want to note that though I came from a Southern Baptist congregation, no ill will toward Catholics was EVER public expressed in my church. The Episcopal Church was directly across the street, the Methodist-one block down, and each end of the street had a Catholic parish. LOL-it’s Louisiana!

Anyway…my years immersed in Sunday School bible study gave me a pretty good understanding of the bible and Christianity’s underpinnings. With that in mind, I, um, cringe a little when I have heard some of the parishoners attempt to articulate Catholic positions, biblical history, or other such topics. As an example, the Church library-it’s a bit small and doesn’t seem to have much order to it. I just look at it thinking “Man, someone needs to fix this place up! Someone needs to open peoples’ eyes to the wonderful treasury in this room.”

I spend many of my nights reading various authors and I do realize there are many wonderfully well-versed Catholics (as are on this forum) but it just doesn’t seem to be so reflected to me so far in my parish.

Now, perhaps I am being harsh, arrogant, or just have sugar-coated memories of my time conversing w/ my Baptist brethren…I don’t know. But I just feel like there is something I could do to help, to open eyes to the beauty and wonder of the Church. I know there is more to being a good Christian than being able to tell someone what Aquinas said about this and that, but I just feel called to do more. Some of you are probably thinking, “Oh boy, what a nut! This guy’s just in RCIA and he wants to be the bishop!” But I can’t help think about what I can do to give back after I take that first communion
 
Sounds like a wonderful calling to me. I know of several recent (in the last couple years) converts who have very distinguished roles in my diocese now. If you have such a love for the library, why don’t you call up the librarian and ask to volunteer your time? You don’t have to be confirmed to do that! Jump in!
 
For now you might just want to continue you studies into the Catholic Faith and let the Holy Spirit guide you. You might be interested in some Catholic Bible Study books.

Some books/website I’d suggest for Bible Study:

“Understanding the Scriptures - The Didache Series”
ewtn.com/vcatalogue/pages/itemdetail.asp?itemcode=7474&source=searchresult.asp&keyword=Hahn&g_than=1&l_than=2000&pgnu=1&category=all&eventcode=

Ignatius Study Bible series:
catholiccompany.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=5165

Online:
salvationhistory.com/

Also, I’d highly suggest the Catechism if you don’t already have one or read it online at:
scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc.htm

I highly recommend “True Devotion to Mary” to learn more about Our Blessed Mother:
ewtn.com/library/Montfort/TRUEDEVO.HTM

Also there’s “Secret of Mary” which (what I’ve read) is basically a summary of “True Devotion to Mary”:
ewtn.com/library/Montfort/SECRET.HTM

You can get a hard copy at:
montfortmissionaries.com/publications/index.phtml?orderid=62bbb01dd7e2de6f0182ffafbbb8d981

Also please watch EWTN which is a great source for learning about the Catholic Faith. The show “The Journey Home” might be of interest to you.

Welcom Home!
 
some of our best catechists are RCIA “grads” – go for it, it is great for the children to meet and be taught by people who want to be here, who struggled to be here, who confronted all the issues they question themselves, and who love the faith and want to learn more and to share it.
 
I think you need to get a spiritual director. Find a good holy priest to meet with on a regular basis.

Even before I started RCIA I was looking into the religious life. I came fully into the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2000.

I have come a long way. In January I will enter into formation for the religious life and, God willing, ordination is just a short 8 or 9 years away.
 
Thanks to all of you for your encourgement and guidence. Yes, I will continue to read and immerse myself. I put down another couple of chapters of Howard’s “On Being Catholic” tonight over a nice tall mug of coffee. What a writer! And a convert, too! I already have a copy of the Catechism-one of my first purchases along w/ Keating’s “What Catholics Really Believe.”

Learning and scholarship is how I came to realize I needed to become Catholic. As an Americanist anthropological archaeologist, it is an unspoken rule that you don’t dabble in “Biblical” archaeology and many believe it is merely a movement of people simply seeking to make the archaeological record of the Holy Land conform to Judaeo-Christian beliefs. I did start to read on the topic and well, it dawned on me just how small and insignificant my protestant faith seemed when placed against the historical backdrop of Christianity. I found myself staring at a computer screen one day thinking to myself “Is this leading me to Catholicism?” Well, it did! A few minutes later I found Catholic.com and I just went from there.

Purchasing books such as Karl’s helped me understand why the Church believes what it does and why it’s right! Catholicism For Dummies and The Catholic Handbook were also great aids. Yes, of course, EWTN has been a blessing. It just all makes so much perfect sense to me now.

I realize it’s not all reading books as my 92 year old Sicilian grandfather seems to know and live a Christian life much more fully than a great majority of my Baptist relatives and acquaintences even though his Bible sits in a box on the top shelf of his closet!

I guess my perspective right now upon some of the wonderful folks I have met in my parish is like that of the poor kid with no toys who visits his friend’s house to find that he has an abundance of every toy created. The poor kid is amazed and excited while his wealthy friend shrugs it off saying “What, these old things?”

As for my calling, well, I am married, so a priestly vocation is out. But outside of that, I’ll pursue whatever they’ll let me! 😃

Sorry if I ramble! 😛
 
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ByzCath:
I think you need to get a spiritual director. Find a good holy priest to meet with on a regular basis.

Even before I started RCIA I was looking into the religious life. I came fully into the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2000.

I have come a long way. In January I will enter into formation for the religious life and, God willing, ordination is just a short 8 or 9 years away.
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David:

Congratulations on being accepted to the Pre-Novitiate. I didn’t hear about it until I just read it here (tells you where I’ve been tromping around). I suspect you’ll make a fine priest.

In Christ, Michael
 
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Brian_C:
Thanks to all of you for your encourgement and guidence. Yes, I will continue to read and immerse myself. I put down another couple of chapters of Howard’s “On Being Catholic” tonight over a nice tall mug of coffee. What a writer! And a convert, too! I already have a copy of the Catechism-one of my first purchases along w/ Keating’s “What Catholics Really Believe.”

Learning and scholarship is how I came to realize I needed to become Catholic. As an Americanist anthropological archaeologist, it is an unspoken rule that you don’t dabble in “Biblical” archaeology and many believe it is merely a movement of people simply seeking to make the archaeological record of the Holy Land conform to Judaeo-Christian beliefs. I did start to read on the topic and well, it dawned on me just how small and insignificant my protestant faith seemed when placed against the historical backdrop of Christianity. I found myself staring at a computer screen one day thinking to myself “Is this leading me to Catholicism?” Well, it did! A few minutes later I found Catholic.com and I just went from there.

Purchasing books such as Karl’s helped me understand why the Church believes what it does and why it’s right! Catholicism For Dummies and The Catholic Handbook were also great aids. Yes, of course, EWTN has been a blessing. It just all makes so much perfect sense to me now.

I realize it’s not all reading books as my 92 year old Sicilian grandfather seems to know and live a Christian life much more fully than a great majority of my Baptist relatives and acquaintences even though his Bible sits in a box on the top shelf of his closet!

I guess my perspective right now upon some of the wonderful folks I have met in my parish is like that of the poor kid with no toys who visits his friend’s house to find that he has an abundance of every toy created. The poor kid is amazed and excited while his wealthy friend shrugs it off saying “What, these old things?”

As for my calling, well, I am married, so a priestly vocation is out. But outside of that, I’ll pursue whatever they’ll let me! 😃

Sorry if I ramble! 😛
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Brian:

Congratulations, and don’t worry about the rambling…

Faith is one of those things we tend to ramble about when we find it and we find others who care about it.

David is right about the Spiritual director - I’ve found it a good idea to have someone who’s been around and who still really cares about the faith who can help keep you out of trouble and direct your energies into things that’ll help the Church and help you grow without unduly draining you.

A good spiritual director will help introduce you to the core or active members of the parish who are more rather than less “On Fire” for the Lord, so that you keep from feeling alone while finding useful things to do for the parish and for your own spiritual development.

I hope this happens in this case, and that you find a place in your parish where you fit and can grow,.

In Christ, Michael
 
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ByzCath:
I think you need to get a spiritual director. Find a good holy priest to meet with on a regular basis.

Even before I started RCIA I was looking into the religious life. I came fully into the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2000.

I have come a long way. In January I will enter into formation for the religious life and, God willing, ordination is just a short 8 or 9 years away.
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CONGRATULATIONS :clapping: !!
God Bless You as you journey towards the priesthood,
Catherine
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I don’t even have an RCIA sponsor yet! Our pastor is very approachable even though I have been too nervous to have a one on one conversation with him! It’s so weird because I have dealt with Catholics and Catholicism all my life because of my Sicilian roots and because of the concentration of Catholics in my hometown. But I just feel a awe that I have never felt. I used to enjoy an ocassional conversation w/ one of the local priests and even briefly worked for the Church helping with a fund drive( yeah, it was kinda funny-a Baptist helping to raise funds for the Catholic Church). But now, I just find myself so nervous and giddy!

I will definately try to find someone to help me out locally.
 
Learning and scholarship is how I came to realize I needed to become Catholic.
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There are many different paths towards God and it appears God used your studies to call you closer to Him. I’m not sure where you are in your studies but I suggest that it might be worthwile (and an act of humility) to start over and take a fresh approach to your studies. That way, you can begin you studies in light of the Catholic Tradition and build up a foundation of your faith. There might be some things you learned as a baptist that you don’t realize are in error with the teachings of the Catholic faith and it would probably be better to humble yourself and find out now rather than being humbled in another way.

I’d suggest books by Dr. Scott Hahn and the Marian books I linked above. Also, for eschatology I’d suggest:
ewtn.com/vcatalogue/pages/itemdetail.asp?itemcode=2732&source=searchresult.asp&keyword=Trial&g_than=1&l_than=2000&pgnu=1&category=all&eventcode=
 
Brian_C, I say go for it! Learn all you can, and, if there is a desire to share it, then do it!

At our parish, for the most part, its the RCIA’ers who know their faith more than the Cradlers. I wish we could implement RCIA classes for everyone every 5 or 8 years. The only problem is, the ones that go, are the ones that don’t need to go.

I enjoy and encourage the new life that converts bring into our church.

NotWorthy
 
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Madia:
There are many different paths towards God and it appears God used your studies to call you closer to Him. I’m not sure where you are in your studies but I suggest that it might be worthwile (and an act of humility) to start over and take a fresh approach to your studies. That way, you can begin you studies in light of the Catholic Tradition and build up a foundation of your faith. There might be some things you learned as a baptist that you don’t realize are in error with the teachings of the Catholic faith and it would probably be better to humble yourself and find out now rather than being humbled in another way.

I’d suggest books by Dr. Scott Hahn and the Marian books…
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Whoa! Perhaps I overstated the arrogance part. It’s like I said two posts back, I think many cradle Catholics just don’t realize the luck they have in being brought up in the Catholic faith and perhaps take it for granted. I don’t mean to imply that A.) they are stupid or B.) that I believe I am smarter than them.

I DID try to start at the beginning. Karl’s “What Catholics Believe” is a good book but I wouldn’t exactly call it too heavy for the beginner. I bought the Catechism just as a reference. And, as I mentioned, Catholicism for Dummies is a constant companion and not exactly advanced theology. I do have more specific works but I assure you I can see the forest and not just the trees.

I pretty much DID start from the beginning because I wanted to really see Catholicism anew and not rely on past inferences and hearsay. Granted, I did not go back to rereading the gospels because I think I have a handle on that at least for the moment. I aware of where the protestant denominations disagree w/ Catholicism and don’t want to force any, dare I say, heritical beliefs on my new parish. I am not asking if I should try to use my zeal and knowledge to come into the Church and insult and mock the faithful. I don’t intend to get into any shouting matches. I only am wondering if I can use my gifts and zeal to assist in the education and perhaps help rekindle the fire.

I sincerely apologize if I came across any other way.
 
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Brian_C:
But I just feel like there is something I could do to help, to open eyes to the beauty and wonder of the Church. I know there is more to being a good Christian than being able to tell someone what Aquinas said about this and that, but I just feel called to do more. Some of you are probably thinking, “Oh boy, what a nut! This guy’s just in RCIA and he wants to be the bishop!” But I can’t help think about what I can do to give back after I take that first communion
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You’re experiencing what I believe is what JPII meant by the “New Evangelization”. IMHO most Catholics have grown complacent and secular in their views and are reaping those just rewards. I’m sure you can see now why those Catholics that have been converted to Evangelical Protestantism can say they’ve never “known Christ” in the Church, even though we consume Jesus body, soul, blood and divinity every day through the Eucharist! (Just to mention one of the spectacular treasures found in the Catholic Church)
The reasons are many but the bottom line is that through you and other Protestant converts we are all slowly rediscovering the wonderful gift God has granted through His Church. Keep persevering and God Bless your journey.
 
I sincerely apologize if I came across any other way. I don’t mean to imply that A.) they are stupid or B.) that I believe I am smarter than them.
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I didn’t mean to convey that you implied those things, I was just trying to give you some suggestions on what might be helpful. Sorry about the misunderstanding. The Mary books are suggested reading if you haven’t read them already though.
 
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Madia:
I didn’t mean to convey that you implied those things, I was just trying to give you some suggestions on what might be helpful. Sorry about the misunderstanding. The Mary books are suggested reading if you haven’t read them already though.
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Madia:

Our Lord said that the Angels in heaven celebrate when someone who is lost turns to Him. I think you’ll agree that most of us tried to agree that most of us tries to mirror that, because our brother has found his way home.

You don’t need to answer me as to why you felt Brian needed a lesson in humility, but has the enthusiasm of converts begun to bother you or was there someother reason you felt you couldn’t join in the angelically sanctioned celebration?

I’m sorry to bring this up, but the whole tone of those posts were sour, and I don’t think Brian needed that.

FYI, most people in RCIA, if they’re in orthodox parishes which try to teach and live the faith, are given a pretty good bit of reading that’s faithful to the Magisterium of the Church and includes books such as the Catechism of the Church.

The thread started because Brian noticed some things that need to be done and was asking if he was jumping the gun to ask about them or to volunteer to help out.

He was asking the group if, as “the new guy on the block”, he should speak up or just stay quiet. Hardly sounds like someone in need of a reading list or lessons in humility to me.

In Christ, Michael
 
The internet is a wonderful tool for misunderstanding peoples’ tone and intent. 😦 Sorry Madia!

Yes, I have begun to read Hahn’s work and was delighted to find a series of his DVDs available for check out in the parish library.

Jennifer, I understand your statement. Part of the reason I didn’t actively seek out Catholicism earlier was because of the bad taste left in my mouth by some of my Catholic friends growing up. Forgive me for saying so, but they just seemed completely ignorant to someone who had been in Bible study classes since the age of 5. I realize though that you get out what you put in. Believe it or not, Catholicism doesn’t have the market cornered on half-hearted parishoners/church members. We had plenty of “back row Baptists” in my church.

I can’t explain the giddiness I feel about my conversion. Tonight’s RCIA was a tour of the church in order to explain the various items and symbols. I could hardly contain myself and my grin. Gazing at the tabernacle and then passing through the adoration chapel-I just felt a closeness to the Lord that I have never felt before.
 
Let me just add, I don’t mean to imply anything about my RCIA program is bad or lacking. At most, I’d say there’s been perhaps a session or two that I wish I could have gotten more out of. Rather, I guess it’s just some of the parishoners in general. And, I guess I can’t really be sure they are long-standing parishoners of my church since we have an influx of Catholics from South Louisiana thanks to Katrina and Rita!

I do know that my parish runs a highly respected K-8 school. One thing that strikes me though (and I guess this is just really distracting for a new convert) is the amount of individuality/leeway tolerated with regard to customs and practices during the mass. This week when I attended, I was convinced that most around me were very orthodox while the time before that (when I sat in a different location) I was convinced that many around me were not.

It was just plain odd though to walk into mass a tad late (I had been attending a make-up RCIA session) and see everyone lined up around the back of the building. I thought “Oh no, I can’t get a seat!” Then I looked at the pews and realized there were plenty of vacant spaces closer to the alter! What are you scared of?
 
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Brian_C:
Let me just add, I don’t mean to imply anything about my RCIA program is bad or lacking. At most, I’d say there’s been perhaps a session or two that I wish I could have gotten more out of. Rather, I guess it’s just some of the parishoners in general. And, I guess I can’t really be sure they are long-standing parishoners of my church since we have an influx of Catholics from South Louisiana thanks to Katrina and Rita!

I do know that my parish runs a highly respected K-8 school. One thing that strikes me though (and I guess this is just really distracting for a new convert) is the amount of individuality/leeway tolerated with regard to customs and practices during the mass. This week when I attended, I was convinced that most around me were very orthodox while the time before that (when I sat in a different location) I was convinced that many around me were not.

It was just plain odd though to walk into mass a tad late (I had been attending a make-up RCIA session) and see everyone lined up around the back of the building. I thought “Oh no, I can’t get a seat!” Then I looked at the pews and realized there were plenty of vacant spaces closer to the alter! What are you scared of?
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Brian:

I didn’t hear any criticism of the RCIA program in your posts - you mentioned a problem and asked if it was OK that you noticed it.

Every parish has some problem or other - It has to be OK to notice or we’re not human…

Get in touch with Brotherhrolf (that’s his screen name - he might be a member of your parish or one near it). He’s Orthodox and loves the Lord, and could probably use taking someone under his wing (Please, don’t tell him I said that - OK?)

I find it’s almost always better to find a few people who are orthodox and to go to Mass with them - I hate it when I’m in the middle of a bunch of people who only seem to be there because they have to be. I still remember the 76 year old woman who was a life-long Catholic who claimed she had never heard in her parish that Jesus had said that he was God. I had to show her the Scriptures (This was just a couple of months after i had come back to the Lord).

I’ve never been to a parish where people lined up outside during Mass when there were plenty of seats inside during Mass, so I don’t know how to answer that last one, except to say that I think you did the right thing to look inside the church and see whether there were seats available or not.

I hope this helps.

In Christ, Michael
 
Thanks for the info, I’ll give him a yell. Oh, by outside, I meant standing in the very back of the nave
 
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