Joining the Church - a couple of questions

[aemcpa]

You are definitely blessed to have a priest in tune with your spiritual needs and willing to make the effort to provide for them. Praise God that you have a road map - the Easter Vigil is April 19, 2014!

 

[TheRealJuliane]

So, I finally had my next meeting with the priest last night, and it was as brilliant as ever.

(We talked a lot about the history of the early church, the development of the notion of authority derived from the local church being in communion with Rome, the difficulties facing a young church under persecution while geographically isolated from the next closest diocese, and the role of the first ecumenical councils in countering heresy.)

Anyway, at the end I saw my chance and flat out asked him for more information on my “road map” to reception. He explained that our conversations were geared towards a better understanding of the church and her teachings and that we would be going into more and more depth and sophistication as we went on, and that the goal was for me to be fully received into the church at Easter 2014. He said I would not be going through a formal RCIA course-based process unless I wanted to - he said he had no plans to teach me from a coursebook, and that while I could be enrolled on a course if I wanted a more structured approach, he hoped I would find the one-on-one sessions more useful from both an educational and spiritual perspective (to which I readily agreed!!), and that we would just keep on with our one-to-one meetings right the way through to Easter.

I am so happy :dancing:

When I first started this thread, I might have been worried that not going through an RCIA class based process might isolate me from other local Catholics, and cause me problems finding a sponsor etc., the cathedral has now started having regular tea and conversation sessions right after Mass on a Sunday and I’ve already met some wonderful people. I genuinely feel the Lord is providing for me on this journey.

:extrahappy::clapping: :yup:

This is what I was hoping to hear. What a blessing for you to be personally led into the Church by this holy priest. Welcome home!

 

[Euphon]

Hello friends! Haven’t posted in a while, I’ve been very busy.

Gearing up for the Rite of Election It’s taken a long time but I’m getting closer each day. And my sponsor is a lawyer too

Still trying to find a copy of my baptismal certificate… after two wild goose chases, my parents believe they now remember the church I was Christened in. Third time lucky? And it turns out I was baptised in a Methodist ceremony (?!), despite nobody in my family being Methodist, and despite being told my whole life that I was baptised Church of England. TESTIFY, BROTHERS AND SISTERS! Or whatever it is Methodists say. I’ve only ever knowingly spent time with one practising Methodist and he said TESTIFY a lot, so it’s maybe not the most accurate sample size.

Anyway. Looks like I’m one of four being (hopfeully) received into the Church this Easter. I can hardly wait, but it feels as though I’m rounding the last bend and on the finishing straight now. Still going to mass whenever I can (every Sunday and whichever weekdays work permits), so by my count I’m getting close to a hundred and fifty now, and I’ve been inching forwards each time so now I sit right near the front (it’s normally more sparsely populated up front, and this has the advantage of not getting in anyone’s way when I don’t go up for Communion but stay kneeling and reading my prayers. Still, I can’t wait for the day when I can get up with them… I don’t like going up for blessings too often, it feels like an imposition on my part.)

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Good to see you back!

This is all wonderful, how your instructions has been so fruitful and you have only a couple of months to wait until being received. Time flies

 

[jmcrae]

Hello friends! Haven’t posted in a while, I’ve been very busy.

Gearing up for the Rite of Election It’s taken a long time but I’m getting closer each day. And my sponsor is a lawyer too

Still trying to find a copy of my baptismal certificate… after two wild goose chases, my parents believe they now remember the church I was Christened in. Third time lucky? And it turns out I was baptised in a Methodist ceremony (?!), despite nobody in my family being Methodist, and despite being told my whole life that I was baptised Church of England. TESTIFY, BROTHERS AND SISTERS! Or whatever it is Methodists say. I’ve only ever knowingly spent time with one practising Methodist and he said TESTIFY a lot, so it’s maybe not the most accurate sample size.

Anyway. Looks like I’m one of four being (hopfeully) received into the Church this Easter. I can hardly wait, but it feels as though I’m rounding the last bend and on the finishing straight now. Still going to mass whenever I can (every Sunday and whichever weekdays work permits), so by my count I’m getting close to a hundred and fifty now, and I’ve been inching forwards each time so now I sit right near the front (it’s normally more sparsely populated up front, and this has the advantage of not getting in anyone’s way when I don’t go up for Communion but stay kneeling and reading my prayers. Still, I can’t wait for the day when I can get up with them… I don’t like going up for blessings too often, it feels like an imposition on my part.)

Awesome!

 

[PJM]

=Euphon;10741438]I left a lot of this in the Meet & Greet thread, before I found this sub-forum which is clearly a more appropriate place! Apologies for the duplication.

So. I’m new. Here’s the background I put in the other thread…

*I’m British. Was baptised C of E, but that’s as far as anything went - up until last month I’d never set foot inside a church except for other people’s weddings and funerals. Had a fairly unconventional relationship with God, featuring an unstructured and haphazard approach to prayer and reading the Bible (a Gideons one I was given at school).

Now in my thirties, I’ve been called very strongly to the Church (I’ll go into more detail on this another time!), and I approached the dean of my local cathedral (I’m lucky in that I live in a city centre and it’s my nearest Catholic church - and it’s literally two minutes’ walk from work) to talk about reception and becoming a full member of the Church.

Because I had the (mis?)fortune to enquire in the run-up to Holy Week, I’ve got a year to wait before I can be fully received, but I’m already counting the days.

I’ve started going to Mass regularly - first on Sundays and now daily (talk about nought to sixty! I bought myself a Weekday Missal to at least be able to do the readings in absentia and thus feel closer to God, but since my work is so close and weekday mass happens to coincide with my lunch hour, I realised I could go in person).

I’ve been meeting regularly (weekly) with the priest, and we’ve talked a lot about scripture and the relationship between science, reason and faith. It’s been wonderful.*

And now, the questions!

What’s not really been discussed, and I’ve been too afraid to broach it, is where this is actually heading. Or rather, not where it’s heading as such - we’ve mentioned a few times that God willing I’m going to be joining the Church next Easter if they’ll have me - but rather how this relates to us getting there; I’m assuming this is part of the preparation for RCIA, but it hasn’t been clearly set out and so I’m just going with the flow at the moment!

I’m also a little worried about the requirements of RCIA in terms of “proving” my baptism. i was definitely validly baptised, the Protestant church I was Christened in (in a rural part of Northern England) is still there, and even if there were no records, my parents are still alive and could probably provide an affidavit if needed. However, for complex reasons I don’t want to get into here, I changed my name by deed poll when I was in my twenties; I haven’t discussed this with anyone, but I’m not sure if (a) that’s a big no-no, and (b) if not, what to do about it.

Anyway, that’s me. Hope that wasn’t too much information!

First welcome to CAF!

Second being new you may not yet know that post are limited in space, so my response must be brief. [May have to edit yours?]

The Baptism is not really that BIG of an issue.

If you can provide a witness to the event, that is usually sufficient. It’s very possible that a “Conditional Baptism” can be done if determined necessary [vaild ONLY if you were not Baptized, from a sacramental viewpoint.

As for the name issue; just have good records of the change and that ought to be sufficient.

Both these task would be best taken care of in the “lull” period before RCIA.

We are delighted that you choose to join us.

I’m going to send you a private message with more info.

God Bless you!
Patrick [PJM] here on CAF

 

[Deltadeliquent]

Just call the church you were baptised in. They can provide you with a copy of the certificate.
I just did that not only for myself, but for my husband. He was born in 1957, and his mother wasnt even sure of which church it was.
Easy peezy

 

[Betheone]

Hello friends! Haven’t posted in a while, I’ve been very busy.

Gearing up for the Rite of Election It’s taken a long time but I’m getting closer each day. And my sponsor is a lawyer too

Awesome!!! I’m sponsoring a lifelong friend who will also complete RCIA this April and join our church. I will pray for both of you. I can barely contain my excitement

 

[Euphon]

Rite of Election was yesterday afternoon - it’s all getting close now…!

Wonderful experience, even if my sponsor didn’t show up - one of my fellow candidates’ sponsors, completely unbidden, put his hands on both our shoulders during the relevant part of the “ceremony”, which was a lovely moment.

Didn’t really know anyone at the diocese reception afterwards, there were a lot of catechumens/elect there as well as candidates (which can only bode well, right - I’m guessing maybe sixty or seventy new Catholics, all told!), so I went to help out in the kitchen by doing the dishes. Yeah, I’m the life of the party, me.

Still meeting with the priest every week (or almost every week, time permitting). I can’t quite believe it’s been a year - how much I’ve learned and how much I still have to explore.

Anyway, just checking in - hope I’ll talk to you all some more in the coming weeks/months/years

 

[PJM]

=Euphon;11784849]Rite of Election was yesterday afternoon - it’s all getting close now…!

Wonderful experience, even if my sponsor didn’t show up - one of my fellow candidates’ sponsors, completely unbidden, put his hands on both our shoulders during the relevant part of the “ceremony”, which was a lovely moment.

Didn’t really know anyone at the diocese reception afterwards, there were a lot of catechumens/elect there as well as candidates (which can only bode well, right - I’m guessing maybe sixty or seventy new Catholics, all told!), so I went to help out in the kitchen by doing the dishes. Yeah, I’m the life of the party, me.

Still meeting with the priest every week (or almost every week, time permitting). I can’t quite believe it’s been a year - how much I’ve learned and how much I still have to explore.

Anyway, just checking in - hope I’ll talk to you all some more in the coming weeks/months/years

My friend, we are DELIGHTED that God called you home! WELCOME!

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

How wonderful! Thank you for the update.

You must be so excited now, only a few weeks to go.

 

[Euphon]

Well, I’m officially “in” now, there’s no getting rid of me…

I thought I’d best wrap up this story in readiness for the next chapter, since you were all so kind and supportive and helped me through those first confusing weeks!

In the final two months of discernment I met four other candidates, and spoke with some recent converts who’d joined the church in previous years. I was repeatedly told that my first confession would be an awesome and humbling moment and that I’d be shocked and unprepared for my reaction.

I wasn’t. It was indeed humbling and beautiful but the feeling initially was of joy, of finally being able to offer contrition in a formal setting for the things I’d spent years apologising for in private prayer, and when it was over I didn’t really feel anything at all. Which was shocking in its own way, only because I’d been conditioned by stories of people spontaneously breaking doen weeping or feeling reborn etc. (Which in turn may have coloured my actual response.)

But the Easter vigil was just one of the best and most incredible experiences of my life. We sat up on the raised platform near the altar the whole time, clutching candles in the darkness, singing loudly in the light, and honestly when I received holy communion for the first time from the archbishop I felt my knees physically buckle, had to grab hold of the kneeler to stop myself falling over. Literally bowled over by the magnitude of what was happening and the majesty and awe of my being part of this sacrifice. It was amazing, and I’m not easily amazed.

I know this is the start of a journey, not an end. My children aren’t baptised yet, my wife is getting more tentatively curious but not sure about attending herself, and who knows what challenges tomorrow may bring? Please pray for me to have the strength to meet them, to be of service to God and the Church, to be a good Catholic and a good father and husband. And thank you all for helping me on this path in the first place.

 

[PJM]

=Euphon;11953091]Well, I’m officially “in” now, there’s no getting rid of me…

I thought I’d best wrap up this story in readiness for the next chapter, since you were all so kind and supportive and helped me through those first confusing weeks!

In the final two months of discernment I met four other candidates, and spoke with some recent converts who’d joined the church in previous years. I was repeatedly told that my first confession would be an awesome and humbling moment and that I’d be shocked and unprepared for my reaction.

I wasn’t. It was indeed humbling and beautiful but the feeling initially was of joy, of finally being able to offer contrition in a formal setting for the things I’d spent years apologising for in private prayer, and when it was over I didn’t really feel anything at all. Which was shocking in its own way, only because I’d been conditioned by stories of people spontaneously breaking doen weeping or feeling reborn etc. (Which in turn may have coloured my actual response.)

But the Easter vigil was just one of the best and most incredible experiences of my life. We sat up on the raised platform near the altar the whole time, clutching candles in the darkness, singing loudly in the light, and honestly when I received holy communion for the first time from the archbishop I felt my knees physically buckle, had to grab hold of the kneeler to stop myself falling over. Literally bowled over by the magnitude of what was happening and the majesty and awe of my being part of this sacrifice. It was amazing, and I’m not easily amazed.

I know this is the start of a journey, not an end. My children aren’t baptised yet, my wife is getting more tentatively curious but not sure about attending herself, and who knows what challenges tomorrow may bring? Please pray for me to have the strength to meet them, to be of service to God and the Church, to be a good Catholic and a good father and husband. And thank you all for helping me on this path in the first place.

WELCOME HOME!

And I certainly will pray for you and your family!

 

[CathConvert2013]

Euphon, congrats!! I came into the Church last year. It was wonderful and the Easter vigil was amazing. This year I attended again with my husband and children (they could not come last year) and it was nice but not the same at all. I wanted to let you know about how my year has gone. I was asked to teach kindergarten Sunday school and did (almost done), I chaperoned a summer camp, I learned how to be a sacristan for weddings, attended CRHP, my children were baptized last summer, and just received their first holy communions this past Saturday! It has been a wild ride, and my husband is still not a believer, but he does not stand in our way and occasionally comes to Sunday mass. I was extremely surprised with the turnout for our children’s first holy communions. Many people in our family came even though only one (my sister who converted at the same time as me) is a practicing Catholic. My mom is lapsed. It was a beautiful day! I am amazed that I (not alone of course) got all of that done in a year. You can too if you start asking now about getting your kids baptized. How old are they?

 

[Euphon]

Euphon, congrats!! I came into the Church last year. It was wonderful and the Easter vigil was amazing. This year I attended again with my husband and children (they could not come last year) and it was nice but not the same at all.

Thank you, and congratulations to you too! Because I started the reception process just after Easter 2013*, everything was new - I was an avid Bible reader before but never a churchgoer, and completely new and unexpected things like Advent and (especially) the Paschal Triduum were just mind-blowing to go through the first time and with no real idea what to expect, like a rollercoaster ride.

The end of the service of the Lord’s Supper, the complete starkness and desolation of the Host being locked away and the celebrants just turning off the lights and trooping out in total silence - had me sat motionless in the pew for what felt like hours. And then the “stage management” of the Easter vigil, lighting a giant fire in the cloister, seeing the cathedral filled with candle-fire and the structure of the whole service, the readings, the end-of-the-world bell-ringing and noise, the general feeling of :extrahappy: when the cathedral was suddenly flooded with light again, meant everything was incredibly special even before it got to “my” bit.

I can’t help but feel a twinge of sorrow that I can never experience it all for the very first time again, but I imagine doing it next year (and indeed every year!) with greater familiarity, and hopefully each time with new observations and thoughts to shine new light, will be wonderful too. Different, but still wonderful. I hope. I mean, I’ve seen the Christmas tree decorated plenty of times now but it still makes me feel warm inside. And I’m looking forward to sharing it with my children.

I wanted to let you know about how my year has gone. I was asked to teach kindergarten Sunday school and did (almost done), I chaperoned a summer camp, I learned how to be a sacristan for weddings, attended CRHP, my children were baptized last summer, and just received their first holy communions this past Saturday!

Super congratulations! How wonderful. And what a great year you have had! I would love to do some things like that - without wanting to give away where I am, the Church is building a new outreach facility in the city and the priest has mentioned that I will have (unspecified) “opportunities” to become more involved and render service to the Church. I can’t wait to find out what’s next.

It has been a wild ride, and my husband is still not a believer, but he does not stand in our way and occasionally comes to Sunday mass. I was extremely surprised with the turnout for our children’s first holy communions. Many people in our family came even though only one (my sister who converted at the same time as me) is a practicing Catholic. My mom is lapsed. It was a beautiful day! I am amazed that I (not alone of course) got all of that done in a year. You can too if you start asking now about getting your kids baptized. How old are they?

Again, how wonderful. Your experience is similar to mine - my wife has been becoming more and more curious, asking me questions, even coming along to a low-key midweek Mass during Lent, and she’s absolutely willing for the children to be baptised, raised and (provided they so choose) confirmed in the Catholic faith.

The reaction of my family and friends surprised me, too; a lot of them are either agnostics, atheists or just indifferent to religion and so I was expecting apathy and some antipathy, if not outright hostility, but instead everyone has been overwhelmingly positive. My parents, who (for those who can’t be bothered reading four pages of backstory) were so committed to church that they took 3 tries to successfully remember what denomination I was actually Christened in, sent me a beautiful first communion card; my outspoken sister-in-law wants to be a godparent and keeps asking hilarious questions about whether something or other she’s said or done will offend me as a Catholic.

I’m rambling again, aren’t I? See, as I said earlier, it’s getting me to shut up that’s the trick.

My children are 3 and 1; the archbishop has sent “my” priest away to recover from the exertions of Holy Week but when he’s returned and had a chance to get his feet back under the table, we’re going to meet up to talk about baptism. Happy, happy times. Long may it continue.

** (During the past year, people often commented that my timing was such that I was unfortunate to have to wait a whole year; I always responded that I was glad to wait as long as God wanted me to wait, for He surely had a purpose in mind, and anyway if this was meant to be a misfortune, when compared to what people elsewhere in space and time had and have to go through to join the Church, I could consider myself to have got off rather lightly).*

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Welcome!

I am so happy for you.

The wonderful thing about our faith is that we keep growing and there will be many firsts. As you discover more and grow more you will always find new things to be excited and joyful about.

Don’t worry about the confession and how disappointing it felt. I’m sure you will experience some pretty powerful confessions and truly feel the grace that this sacrament brings. Perhaps this could be a lesson that we all ought to learn at some point: to not rely on fireworks and strong emotions. In case your enthusiasm fades a bit in the future that is nothing to worry about. Most (all?) people have spiritual ups and downs, and periods of boredom and dryness.

It is wonderful that people have reacted in a positive way.