Help Converting

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KnightErrant

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Hello Everyone!

I feel that God is calling me to the Catholic faith and I am going through all the joys and fears that go along with that. I’ve come here to seek advice and help to get through this and to keep on growing closer to God.

My family has always been Christian but always of various non Catholic denominations. I will be the first one in my family to convert to Catholicism in a very long time. I will at least be the first one in the family with the same last name since my forefather came off of the boat back near the beginning of the United States.

I am terrified of even breaching the subject to my family because the are, for the most part, very set in their ways. They mean well but they, like many people, hold onto a lot of old misconceptions about the Catholic Church. I have faith that they can be eventually reasoned with but I am not sure if I am the one God means to use to do that with.

I’ve alredy put some of this next part in the meet and greet thread but It might help to better explain my current situation and how I came to where I am.

About 2 years ago I was nearly finished with a bachelors degree in engineering until I suffered a traumatic brain injury on my college campus. I was riding my bicycle to class when I was struck by a hit and run driver. The driver was never caught and I was forced to withdraw from classes.

Since then I have been back and forth between hospitals and home, slowly but surely recovering from this injury. By the grace of God, the doctor’s say that I shouldn’t have any long term brain damage but I have Hemiplegic Migraines that I have to take medication for. Also the left side of my head is a little lumpy but a few dings and hats sitting a little askew is a small price to pay compared to what it could have been.:tiphat:

At the moment, I have to live with my parents until my condition is under control and I haven’t been released to drive yet by my doctors.

I haven’t been able to return to school yet or do much of anything but sit around and reflect for 2 years. The only thing that would have stopped me from getting my degree would have been an act of God and I had been known to say as much from time to time prior to the injury.

I feel that God wants me to do something different with my life now and I feel that joining His church is a big part of that.

I’ve done some research on my own but I think that I am at the point now that it might help to start reaching out to some people who might know how to help.

What I ask of you is that you pray for me and my family and that if you have any advice to please share it.

Thank you and God Bless. 🙂
 
KnightErrant said:
Hello Everyone!

I feel that God is calling me to the Catholic faith and I am going through all the joys and fears that go along with that.

I am terrified of even breaching the subject to my family

I suffered a traumatic brain injury on my college campus. …is a small price to pay compared to what it could have been.:tiphat:

At the moment, I have to live with my parents until my condition is under control and I haven’t been released to drive yet by my doctors.

I feel that God wants me to do something different with my life now and I feel that joining His church is a big part of that.

What I ask of you is that you pray for me and my family and that if you have any advice to please share it.
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Praise God for protecting you from more injuries and prayers for your continued healings.

Welcome to your Journey to God’s Holy Church.

I hope you can attend Mass on Sunday and maybe even a week day Mass. Maybe someone can drive you to Mass. Invite them to attend if they would like, or ask them to pick you up afterwards if they do not want to attend.

Don’t worry about trying to teach your family about the faith. You can naturally share information with them, just as you might share any other aspect of your day. It is the Holy Spirit that Converts Souls.

As they see you enjoying Mass and RCIA and your excitement for the Church, they will see it is important to you. Hopefully, they will rejoice with you and even attend the Mass when you join the Church.

Do not have any fear. Relax. Know that God wants Peace for you, body and soul.

I know a young man who in his early years of college decided to join the Church. I don’t think he even told his family at that time. A few years later his whole family joined!

Congratulations!

May God bless you richly. May you feel peace. May your family be at peace during your journey.
 
Welcome! And I am so happy for you continuing your journey. You have obviously been through a lot in the last few years and your attitude towards everything that has happened is inspiring.

I am also in the process of converting. Its been a long journey for me. I too was very worried about my entirely evangelical protestant family would think and say. Basically they think that 95% of Catholics are idol worshipping, live-as-you-please-go-to-confession-and-say-three-hail-Marys heathens in need of a savior. Of course, even though I was young, I was mostly out of the house and financially on my own when I started attending mass and really studying Catholicism.

If you have any questions, you can always ask here, or feel free to PM me. Sometimes the journey can be lonely when you feel like you don’t have anyone to talk to about it. I found another forum to be very helpful when I was starting out, I asked tons of questions. Since then I’ve found CAs and its even better! So don’t be afraid of sharing with everyone here.

Also, what really helped me was going to Mass. The liturgy and sacraments really drew me in. I don’t know if thats an option for you right now, as you would need a ride, and may not be ready to let your family in on what you are up to. But in my case, my family took it a lot better than I expected. And of course there is RCIA, they quality of the classes really depend a lot on the parish, but it is a good place to learn and meet others interested in Catholicism. You might be able to contact your local church to see about getting a ride to mass and RCIA.

Also, I don’t know how much you’ve read, but I started with Catholicism for Dummies (Actually a really good book, but avoid The Complete Idiots Guide to Catholicism, which I’ve heard is not very good). Also the Luke E. Hart course on www.kofc.org/cis is really good. Now I’ve started reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Even if you don’t plan to read it all the way through, its great to have for reference, and you can gain a lot of information just by looking up whatever topic you are interested in at the moment in the index and reading related passages. And of course, a good Catholic bible is a must.

Anyway, Its hard to tell where you are in the process, hope my advice hasn’t been too simplistic.

Welcome again!
 
aprilfloyd said:
This makes no sense, if he ‘protected’ from more injuries, why not protect from original injuries.
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Because God wants to bring something very good out of the situation that otherwise would not be able to happen.
 
jmcrae said:
Because God wants to bring something very good out of the situation that otherwise would not be able to happen.
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How would it ‘not be able to happen’ - god could make anything happen
 
aprilfloyd said:
How would it ‘not be able to happen’ - god could make anything happen
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There are things that God cannot do. God cannot, for example, do anything irrational, such as make a rock so heavy that He cannot move it. Nor will He violate His own laws without a serious reason.

Praying for Him to heal someone who has experienced the natural consequence of someone else’s free will is not out of line, but expecting God to prevent our free choices from having their natural consequences would be outside of His will, since we would not be truly free, if our choices (including our bad choices) did not have the intended results (even when we intend bad results).

If we were not able to experience the evil consequences of evil choices here on earth, we would have no way to understand the evil consequences of more permanent evil choices, such as the free choice to abandon faith in God and go to Hell. But if we were continually protected from the consequences of our choices, then it wouldn’t even matter how we behaved, and our behaviour would become so bad that no one would ever wake up and realize that they want something better.
 
jmcrae said:
There are things that God cannot do. God cannot, for example, do anything irrational, such as make a rock so heavy that He cannot move it. Nor will He violate His own laws without a serious reason.

Praying for Him to heal someone who has experienced the natural consequence of someone else’s free will is not out of line, but expecting God to prevent our free choices from having their natural consequences would be outside of His will, since we would not be truly free, if our choices (including our bad choices) did not have the intended results (even when we intend bad results).

If we were not able to experience the evil consequences of evil choices here on earth, we would have no way to understand the evil consequences of more permanent evil choices, such as the free choice to abandon faith in God and go to Hell. But if we were continually protected from the consequences of our choices, then it wouldn’t even matter how we behaved, and our behaviour would become so bad that no one would ever wake up and realize that they want something better.
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If there are things God cannot do - how can he be a God?

We have laws and our own innate sense of morality to ‘govern’ our choices. We can most certainly understand the ramifications of our behaviours, without notions of God, Hell and Heaven, from one religion out of many. Your position does not make sense. You seem to have little faith in the capabilities of your fellow men.
 
aprilfloyd said:
If there are things God cannot do - how can he be a God?

We have laws and our own innate sense of morality to ‘govern’ our choices. We can most certainly understand the ramifications of our behaviours, without notions of God, Hell and Heaven, from one religion out of many. Your position does not make sense. You seem to have little faith in the capabilities of your fellow men.
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Stop taking threads off-topic.
 
You might enjoy the book Catholic Christianity by Peter Kreeft. It’s an easy to read synopsis of the CCC. I’d also recommend listening to a Catholic radio station and watching EWTN. Both are great sources of information and encouragement. I highly recommend Mother Angelica.
 
aprilfloyd said:
If there are things God cannot do - how can he be a God?

We have laws and our own innate sense of morality to ‘govern’ our choices. We can most certainly understand the ramifications of our behaviours, without notions of God, Hell and Heaven, from one religion out of many. Your position does not make sense. You seem to have little faith in the capabilities of your fellow men.
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If you are interested, start a new thread, and we’ll continue this conversation there.

Meanwhile, to the OP - your first step will be to start attending Mass at your local Catholic Church, and look into joining the Order of Catechumens to start RCIA.

The formal process of being received into the Church typically takes a year or two. You will not be expected to know everything before beginning to attend Mass. That is your first step.
 
Congratulations on your decision to find out more about the calling to the Catholic Church. i am sure you will find out that the calling is a blessing as i too was called to join this faith from seriously non-catholic family ties. i will pray that your family will accept your new faith with joy and gladness. most of my family is ok with my decision, my mother is the only one that is really somewhat reluctant with my new faith, but it is God’s will that i must follow this path. Good luck and enjoy your conversion process.
 
RoseMary131: Thank you for all your help and especially for bringing up the Holy Spirit. I forget about that aspect of God all too easily and it is really important. We all need that for understanding and this is a big part in my life that I and those around me need understanding and peace in.

Honour: Your post wasn’t too simplistic at all. You suggested to start looking in a lot of places I hadn’t even considered yet. It is good to hear from people who are going through similar things. Thanks.

LittleScoty: Peter Kreeft keeps coming up a lot as I’m doing my research. I’ll have to give him a look. Also EWTN is a great idea.

Actually going to mass unanimously seemed to be a good idea for a possible convert. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this but it makes a lot of sense. It may be a few months yet before I am able to actually start attending mass as the doctors haven’t cleared me to drive yet. In the meantime, my plan is to continue reading up on the faith, reflect and pray, and (although it is definitely not a substitute for attending mass in person) maybe try to watch mass on TV.

I had mentioned the possibility of my conversion to my sister. It was received with a bit of shock at first but she went on to make the remark “I’ve always been under the impression you never felt at home at any of the churches we attended growing up.” She said that she might not agree with my decision but that she would respect it and stand by me if I decided to convert. So there is some answered prayer! 👍 Thought I would share that with everyone.

Again, thanks everyone for the prayers, advice, and support. It means a lot and has really helped. I am really thankful that there are people like you out there and that there is a site like this to help people like me. 🙂
 
=KnightErrant;10871021]Hello Everyone!
Click to expand...
I feel that God is calling me to the Catholic faith and I am going through all the joys and fears that go along with that. I’ve come here to seek advice and help to get through this and to keep on growing closer to God.
Click to expand...
My family has always been Christian but always of various non Catholic denominations. I will be the first one in my family to convert to Catholicism in a very long time. I will at least be the first one in the family with the same last name since my forefather came off of the boat back near the beginning of the United States.
Click to expand...
I am terrified of even breaching the subject to my family because the are, for the most part, very set in their ways. They mean well but they, like many people, hold onto a lot of old misconceptions about the Catholic Church. I have faith that they can be eventually reasoned with but I am not sure if I am the one God means to use to do that with.

I’ve alredy put some of this next part in the meet and greet thread but It might help to better explain my current situation and how I came to where I am.
Click to expand...
About 2 years ago I was nearly finished with a bachelors degree in engineering until I suffered a traumatic brain injury on my college campus. I was riding my bicycle to class when I was struck by a hit and run driver. The driver was never caught and I was forced to withdraw from classes.
Click to expand...
Since then I have been back and forth between hospitals and home, slowly but surely recovering from this injury. By the grace of God, the doctor’s say that I shouldn’t have any long term brain damage but I have Hemiplegic Migraines that I have to take medication for. Also the left side of my head is a little lumpy but a few dings and hats sitting a little askew is a small price to pay compared to what it could have been.:tiphat:
Click to expand...
At the moment, I have to live with my parents until my condition is under control and I haven’t been released to drive yet by my doctors.
Click to expand...
I haven’t been able to return to school yet or do much of anything but sit around and reflect for 2 years. The only thing that would have stopped me from getting my degree would have been an act of God and I had been known to say as much from time to time prior to the injury.
Click to expand...
I feel that God wants me to do something different with my life now and I feel that joining His church is a big part of that.
Click to expand...
I’ve done some research on my own but I think that I am at the point now that it might help to start reaching out to some people who might know how to help.
Click to expand...
What I ask of you is that you pray for me and my family and that if you have any advice to please share it.
Click to expand...
Thank you and God Bless. 🙂
Click to expand...
CONTINUE to listen to GOD!

PRAY MUCH

Learn what we Catholics believe and WHY.

That will be what you’ll need to co-exist with your family.

Bishop Sheen is quoted as saying: “Not one person hates the CC; but countless numbers “hate” what they think they know about us Catholics.”

As one who has taught, shared, defended and LIVED our cathlic Faith for MANY years; I know how very true this is. Jesus Himsel said: ASK and you WILL receive.👍

Let’s get specific. What is it that you’d like to discusss?

God Bless you,
Patrick [PJM] Here on CAF
 
Wow. Good advice and straight to the point PJM.

One big thing I wanted to get out of this thread was a good way to breach the subject to my family about me converting. As I’ve already stated, I’ve mentioned it to my sister and my mother but I’m hesitant to say anything to my dad or the rest of the family. They are all very important to me and my family is very close knit. Despite being of all different denominations, they are all very anti-Catholic. It doesn’t feel right to do all of this in secret but at the same time I don’t want to create unnecessary strife in my family.

I can’t put into words how helpful everyone on this site has been so far and I am very thankful for that. At the same time, if anyone knows of a good way to address the above situation I would greatly appreciate it.
 
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