I'm Out of the Closet Now...

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pipper said:
When I converted my “church of Christ” Campbellite family said I had left “Christ and his one true church”. I was disowned and disinherited.

I didn’t know this until the reading of the will after my Dad’s death. Since that I have been completely disassocatied from. The only way I knew of other family members deaths was reading the obits in the newspaper.

stroke patient, please forgive typoes and misspellings
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What a shame, Pipper. I am truly sorry you were treated that way. I have great faith, however, that you will be blessed abundantly by God, because you have laid aside everything to follow Him in His church, and you have been persecuted in a way that few have for following Christ. I can only hope that you are at peace with carrying this cross for God.

Pax et Amor Christi tecum, my friend
 
Wow… that is really harsh. I am so sorry. My family is very anti-Catholic (you know, the Pope is the anti-Christ and all that), but not to the extent of disowning me. ouch. I can’t imagine. :(:(:(:(😦 (((HUGS)))) You showed such courage to follow what you knew to be right, and I am mightily impressed.
pipper said:
When I converted my “church of Christ” Campbellite family said I had left “Christ and his one true church”. I was disowned and disinherited.

I didn’t know this until the reading of the will after my Dad’s death. Since that I have been completely disassocatied from. The only way I knew of other family members deaths was reading the obits in the newspaper.

stroke patient, please forgive typoes and misspellings
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yellowbird said:
“WOW… that is sooooo cool! God is going to use YOU to lead Catholics to Christ!”

Ehhh… not quite. :o
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Oh, I’d say they are quite accurate… just not in the way they are thinking… but we are all called to serve the Church, and with it our fellow catholics around the world (and beyond, we serve and love mankind as a whole too). You have a very important part to play in assisting your catholic brothers in their walk with Christ… 😃
 
I’m glad I’m not the only one that got some grief for choosing to convert to Catholicism.
 
Welcome to the family! Bet you are glad you got the “coming out” part over with. I stressed way to long about that when I converted (non-practicing Jew with atheist, Jewish and a couple radical evangelical fundamentalist relatives).

I was most worried about my Jewish mother. But she said, “well, if you have to be a Christian, if you really believe in that, at least you had the good sense to be a Catholic.” You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Sometimes life turns out different than we think it will.

Don’t stress over lent - its a terrific time… like having your own spiritual retreat every year. Then when Easter comes and you relive your own coming into the church every year, its like a giant explosion in your heart. For me, I got baptized as well as First Communion and Confirmation. The trifecta of holiness!

Don’t forget to put your Easter Vigil date in your bible - you won’t believe how fast the years fly, and you will want to keep a record of that date. Trust me. It will become more and more meaningful over the years.
 
ChadS said:
I think you’re right about the meat thing. I knew that going in to Lent when I was in RCIA and I thought how hard could it really be? Afterall I’d gone other days of my own free will where I didn’t eat meat and it was no big deal, but it seemed that on those Fridays of Lent a hamburger or steak was all I could think about. But I persevered.

ChadS
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Really? I am no longer Catholic, but so wouldn’t have a problem with that… My husband volunteers to cook a lot and time and again we are sitting at the dinner table and we’re having a conversation like this: “You know what day today is?” - “Well it’s Friday… so?” - “We’re eating fish…”
When my husband it out on exercises and training I live on fruits and vegetables…
 
Sounds like you have a Great attitude about all of this. Life is full of tough choices, and the most difficult always come down to Faith.

You know, theres no shame in confronting your friends who “you” converted to Baptist. When we come to see we are wrong as individuals, its a personal obligation to yourself to admitt it to those who you feel you affected. Through this path you’ll come to terms with your own feelings much easier.

The paradox is once God forgives, we need to understand as humans how to forgive. And that includes ourselves most importantly. Man carries around much Guilt. Don’t carry any around you don’t need to my brother.

PIPER my Prayers are with You. I know that hurt, I feel your pain. I get the feeling you understood what became most important though. We come with nothing, we leave with nothing. Thats the hard, fast rule. The quicker we understand this the quicker we understand what is most important. LIfe is full of Hard Choices. The true test of one’s character is in times of conflict, my Heart is with you.

God Bless You!

You at the Base at Andrews?
 
Hi MedicMark,

Congratulations, and I hope that you always draw nearer to Christ. May the peace of God be with you.

Hi Pipper,

Your story breaks my heart, and I’m so sorry that you have had to experience such rejection from your earthly family. Sincerely, you have brothers and sisters in Christ that care for you deeply. You are in my prayers.
 
pipper said:
When I converted my “church of Christ” Campbellite family said I had left “Christ and his one true church”. I was disowned and disinherited.

I didn’t know this until the reading of the will after my Dad’s death. Since that I have been completely disassocatied from. The only way I knew of other family members deaths was reading the obits in the newspaper.

stroke patient, please forgive typoes and misspellings
Click to expand...
I’m sorry to hear that, Pipper. I understand a bit about the Campbellite Church of Christ viewpoint because that was the Church I grew up going to as well. My parents were not religious, and I think my mom only went because her parents were very into the church and she would probably have been disowned if she had gone anywhere else.

My aunt actually at one point did try to break away and go to RCIA because she was interested in the Catholic Church and my grandfather threatened to disown her. I’m pretty sure he meant it, and I think she was also because I don’t think she completed the class. From what I remember, the Church of Christ is very anti-Catholic so your situation doesn’t surprise me a bit but it is very sad.

I eventually stopped going as a teenager and although I converted when my Grandfather was alive I doubt very much if my mother told him that I had converted to Catholicism. I’ve recently returned to the Church after a few years of coming and going and being confused/uneducated about my faith and I am finally at home for good here in the Catholic Church. It is such a blessing to be home-even as a convert your soul will long for the traditions and heritage of the Church and most of all(of course) the Eucharist when you are away from it, even if the separation is by choice.

I know it must be very hard to be disinherited and even worse disowned, but remember that our Lord was treated horribly during his time here as well and that Jesus is with you. You were called to the Church and it is such a blessing even through hardships such as these. I applaud you for standing up for your faith even when you are thought of badly and treated as though you are a pagan by the ones who are supposed to love you. Hang in there and above all cling to the Sacraments, prayer, and the Eucharist. They will see you through anything.:grouphug:
 
Medic_Mark said:
Now all my friends know that I am becoming Catholic.

Considering they are mostly conservative Baptist ministers, it has been met with mixed reviews. My best friend is somebody I rescued from the Catholic Church when I first became a Christian years ago. It seems I’m also responsible for rescuing his brother too, after several years of trying. So it was weird.

I got an awkward… “I see…” from one.

“Well… it’s better than nothing” from another.

“Man… if I come over and see statues of Mary and rosaries and things…” from another.

“So… you just want them to tell you what to believe?” from my Roommate Matt who knows of no Catholic who is actually Catholic.

My friend’s wife was actually excited. “Oh cool man, I’m half Catholic. Let’s go to Mass.”
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Congratulations Medic Mark!!! Welcome home!
 
I will be dealing with this as none of my friends (or even my girlfriend) know that I’m planning to do this. But I’m thinking it’s going to be quite amusing.

I can almost guarantee one of my best friends will say “I KNEW you weren’t a real Jew!” Long story.
 
God has brought you to HIM and much, much closer to HIM you are meant to be!

Please receive EUCHARIST & SACRAMENTS as much as possible & let that be your PRIMARY FOCUS!

But as a MOM I must issue my particular word of CAUTION! :

Newbies are targets; I know, I helped a friend come in 2 years ago & he moved to another state & became “ultra” Catholic & got in with a far right Catholic cult. very sad as he is out of the Church and very confused. Keep your balance and stay close to Jesus - Daily Mass & Rosary is the best way. Keep your eyes on the Holy Father too. He’s an incredible gift to the Church. Go to trusted sources such as Catholic Answers & links: St Joseph Radio, St. Paul Center (Scott Hahn) EWTN etc there are so many

KEEP THE FAITH GOD HAS SO RICHLY BLESSED YOU WITH!

I REJOICE FOR YOU!

PEPBAND MOM
 
ThirdGen said:
Good job! =) I haven’t really come out to my friends yet…I told them I’m all “going to Church” and they thought that was very strange. Most of them are agnostic/atheist (as I was until 4-5 months ago). But once they know I’m Catholic…oh my will that be interesting!
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Sharpen your sword. 🙂
 
Medic_Mark said:
Now all my friends know that I am becoming Catholic.

Considering they are mostly conservative Baptist ministers, it has been met with mixed reviews. My best friend is somebody I rescued from the Catholic Church when I first became a Christian years ago. It seems I’m also responsible for rescuing his brother too, after several years of trying. So it was weird.
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I very much appreciate where that is coming from. I have often wondered what would happen if I ran into a Catholic I knew who had converted to Mormonism, or some of my friends who did, only to find out that I am now Catholic.

When I first converted to Catholicism I felt a great weight of responsibility for all the things I had said about Catholicism pver the years, thinking I knew what I was talking about. I felt so ashamed and retrocatively embarrased when I remembered how many Catholic friends i had spoken that wqay to, and they just kept their mouths shut and took what I now consider ifnorant verbal abuse.
 
As I watch the passing scene, it is interesting to observe conversions. I come from a mixed Catholic/Protestant heritage amd always have been especially interested in reconciliation. The anti-Protestant attitude that pervades so many of the postings on CAF is troubling.
Code: 
 Here in this area it seems that certain churches are full of former Catholics. A member of a liberal United Church of Christ in town estimates that as much as 75% of that congregation is ex-Catholic. I am well acquainted with members of a large evangelical church a few blocks away, and they joke about how many of their formerly Catholic friends they now see at their new church. 

 The difference seems to be that Catholics - as on EWTN and here on CAF - make quite a bit out of conversions to Catholicism. Protestants seem to make much less of it.

 I read somewhere that there are 30,000,000 ex-Catholics in the USA, and that if it weren't for the Latino immigration into the country Catholicism would be facing serious attrition. Is that true?

 As for me, this seeming competition seems unseemly and even petty! I'm quite sure that heaven is going to be crowded with Catholics and Protestants as well as Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and people of every color, creed, culture, class and country.

It's shameful that so many people still insist upon making religion a barrier when it should be a bridge. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said in words I don't recall that while God has no favorites, religions do. I agree,
 
Roy5 said:
As I watch the passing scene, it is interesting to observe conversions. I come from a mixed Catholic/Protestant heritage amd always have been especially interested in reconciliation. The anti-Protestant attitude that pervades so many of the postings on CAF is troubling.
Code: 
 Here in this area it seems that certain churches are full of former Catholics. A member of a liberal United Church of Christ in town estimates that as much as 75% of that congregation is ex-Catholic. I am well acquainted with members of a large evangelical church a few blocks away, and they joke about how many of their formerly Catholic friends they now see at their new church. 

 The difference seems to be that Catholics - as on EWTN and here on CAF - make quite a bit out of conversions to Catholicism. Protestants seem to make much less of it.

 I read somewhere that there are 30,000,000 ex-Catholics in the USA, and that if it weren't for the Latino immigration into the country Catholicism would be facing serious attrition. Is that true?

 As for me, this seeming competition seems unseemly and even petty! I'm quite sure that heaven is going to be crowded with Catholics and Protestants as well as Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and people of every color, creed, culture, class and country.

It's shameful that so many people still insist upon making religion a barrier when it should be a bridge. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said in words I don't recall that while God has no favorites, religions do. I agree,
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That’s funny, from where I stand I see it the other way around so I guess there’s plenty of blame to go around, rather than saying Catholics do it more. You’re not helping the situation that you say irritates you by posting stats and how many ex-Catholics there are and such. Kind of goes back to removing the plank from your eye rather than remarking about the splinters in our eyes.

Peace.
 
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