I want to convert - But the nearest church is too far away

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I want to convert to catholicism, but the nearest place with anything to do with the faith is over 8 miles away and I can not drive. Can I still become catholic?
 
Of course!

Next week (in the US most parish offices are closed for Thanksgiving) call the parish office and ask about rides or a bus. Our parish runs a bus on Sunday to pick folks up for Mass.
 
I’d like to do that, but I’m under 18 and my parents are hard-core baptists, so I doubt they would let me.
 
It just seems trivial to learn about Catholicism now if it will be taught during RCIA.
 
Det said:
It just seems trivial to learn about Catholicism now if it will be taught during RCIA.
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RCIA will teach your things, but it won’t teach you all there is to know. Learn what you can. Pray. Be patient. If what you can do feels trivial to you, then that is the trial you must bear for now. Bear it with patience.

“They also serve who only stand and wait”. Not scripture but still true. Till you can come to the Church in your body, come in spirit and intent. It will not be time wasted, if you seek to use it well.
 
Det said:
It just seems trivial to learn about Catholicism now if it will be taught during RCIA.
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Not really. Because you don’t learn everything in RCIA.

Being Catholic is a life long education. 🙂

What I would recommend is using Catholic.com for information and also (if you can) get a subscription to FORMED.org, it’s like a Catholic Netflix.

If a local parish has a subscription, you can get a free subscription from them. Otherwise, it’s $9 per month - but extremely worth it.

If you are going to go to college, (assuming your parents won’t pay for a good Catholic college) I suggest attending one with a Catholic Campus Ministry (often - but not always - called Newman Centers). And if possible, attend one that also has a FOCUS Chapter

Here are a few links that you will find helpful:





You can join RCIA at college and become Catholic. But if possible, I do highly recommend the non-Catholic colleges with FOCUS chapters, because their Campus Ministries tend to be the most orthodox (not to imply that others are not, but there isn’t a real good list of best Newman Centers based on Catholic Teaching - to me the FOCUS list almost insures they are good - note there are also a few Catholic colleges with FOCUS ministries too.

And if you parents are open to a Catholic college, I would recommend a college on these two lists:



God bless
 
:confused:

Catholicism is not like learning the rules of Chess.

The Church has more than 2,000 years of teaching and history spread across the entire world. The Jewish roots of our faith go back for thousands of years before Christ.

We could each spend our lifetimes studying Catholicism and not even make a scratch on the surface. Each year, each day, I find more and more that I can never know in this beautiful truth.

Start now, you only have one life to try to learn!
 
No, transportation is one of the top three requirements for membership 😜

Seriously though, the church can probably arrange a ride share to services or your classes. Do you have a bike for your other transportation needs?
 
Det said:
It just seems trivial to learn about Catholicism now if it will be taught during RCIA.
Click to expand...
Nothing is wrong with being the star pupil in class and if you study it before, you can go to a deeper level in class. The same teaching can have many layers to uncover as your spiritual depth grows.
 
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I’m so glad to text a person that has had an experience like mine. At the age of twelve I prayed to God, and his message for me that day and now is C-H-U-R-C-H. I’m keeping my upbringing to my self for now. As I text this I’m struggling to remember any instance where I had ever heard or use CHURCH in speech. Having never gone unescorted by my brothers or someone, I hopped on a babtist school bus. I immediately was hungry for everything religious and about God. I was babtized, to boot, elders visited my mom and she received the Holy Spirit. But the church being babtist did’nt have a time each Sunday and knelt en mass while in the House of the Lord. I once just knelt where I was seated, experiencing the awkwardness of being the only one kneeling, I began to come forward every time we sang “Just As I Am”. Neither did we en masse pound over our hearts and confess “…that I have greatly sinned through my fault, through my fault through my most grevious fault …I could drive either, I dont’ recommend Waiting…Do. If your grand parents can’t help you can continue to seek. Also ask the saints to pray for full fellowship for you and the Lord’s Church(the Catholic Church). I don’t recommend even reading anything of dissenting nature. We are warned about men coming into the church to change it, not about those who left the Church or do their work outside of the Church. Thank God for His Saints. If you face adversity in living out your faith. You can ask God to exercise all His Powers and Rights to protect you and aid in your seeking. I’m thankful that as a result of me hopping on that church bus , my dear mother received the Holy Spirit. Your acts of faith can have benefits even at a young age. I also recommend praying the known prayers of saints, so that you start off praying effectively and what’s pleasant in God’s ears. My instincts influence me to say that children who listen to their mother have unmistakeable understanding that God is True early in life.
 
I often tell people in RCIA there’s no such thing as being “fully catechized” until one is experiencing the Deity in the Beatific Vision.

There is a such thing as being “adequately catechized”, but anyone who says they are “fully catechized”, thereby implying they know everything there is to know about the Way, is speaking nonsense.

I am a voracious reader, I’ve read the Bible cover to cover in multiple translations, I’ve read the Catechism cover to cover multiple times, I’ve read all the documents of Vatican II, and I’ve read hundreds of patristic readings, Fathers of the Church, Aquinas, modern books, Papal encyclicals, and so much more. I’ve probably forgotten more in the past 5 years than the average Catholic learns in a lifetime.

Yet I still learn new things about the Faith almost on a daily basis, certainly on a weekly basis.

Good luck setting out on your journey. You’ve chosen the wisemans path and laid the foundation of your house on Rock.
 
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