Need advice ASAP discerning conversiion

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ppcbill

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Hi everyone,
I have been praying for for several days about this with no answer yet and time is running out tommorrow. A little background so you will understand my situation.I have been thinking about converting to Catholicism for quite awhile now and reading on this forum for even longer.
One of the local Catholic churchs has a marquee with the message " Do you want learn about the Catholic faith". Well I called the number and met with a Sister the next day. We talked and she asked me if I was ready to convert.I said yes and she questioned me for a few hours about numerous articles of the Faith.( God, Eucharist, Mary Saints, Mass etc, all the subjects of the inquiery period) Well I must have had the correct answers as she then said I was ready to begin the Rites for acceptannce into the Church at the Easter Vigal.The rites start tommorrow.WOW that was quick!!!
Now there is nothing more I want to do than answer Gods call and serve Him. Here is my problem. I and my wife are very involved with our Presbytarian church. I am a Deacon, serve on several committies,head up a ministry and am about to lead a prison ministry in April.that I have been a member for several years. Let me state there is no pride in this, it is only humbly answering Gods calling. My wife has similar responsibilities and probably would not want to leave the Presbytarian faith.
Further complicating this is the schedule for the prison ministry is exactly the same evenings as the Rites and I am the leader. I have witnessed very powerful conversions of the prisoners to Christanity that can only be attribued to God( short story-- one was a gang leader serving multple life sentances that broke down crying in front of his subordinates for an hour,not the smartest thing to do in a maximun security prison, unknown to him both his sons accepted Christianity at the same time and his sentance was reduced) I believe I am serving God in this ministry and putting others ahead of myself,
So do I look after my own salvation in the Catholic Faith first or do I wait a year and serve God in the Presbytarian faith until next Easter. Then there is the question of my wife.
Thanks ahead of time and may any responses be thoughtout and tell me if I am missing anything.

God Bless you all, Bill
 
I’d suggest you convert now. 🙂 Your work is important, but we know not the hour He will come 😉
 
‘He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.’

Matthew 10:39
 
FWIF…

The sooner you come home the better. You do not know what you are missing.

If you can properly enter, enter, and quickly. Hurry!

And never stop learning and studying and better preparing yourself, before and after.

Try some of the sermons below to help catechize yourself. The traditional catechesis is the sound catechesis.
 
The Love of our Lord is too deep to allow for those your work would affect go untouched by their Savior. Do not worry for them for Jesus has already paid the price needed for them. He will convert their hearts to Him when it is their time.

Reflect on this passage and how it applies to your life :):
[BIBLEDRB]Mark 14:3-9[/BIBLEDRB]
 
Hi everyone,
I have been discerning conversion to the Catholic faith for several years now and took the step last week/ I have been praying about it for along time, A local Catholic church has a marquee with the message " Do you want to know about the Catholic faith".
Well I called and met with a Sister the next day.We talked for several hours and she asked me all of the questions of the inquiry period ( God, Eucharist, Mary, Mass, Saints, etc.) Well I must have had the correct answers as she said I was ready for the rites to be accepted into the Catholic church on the Easter Vigal in April, WOW that was fast!!!
Now my problem is the rites start tommorrow.I and my wife are very involved in our Presbytarian church, I am a Deacon, serve on several committies, ministries,etc, am the leader of a prisoner ministry that has training and a weekend in prison that occurs at the same time as the rites. I can delegate my ministry obligations if I have to but that just doesnt seem appropriate.
My wife has similar responsibilies and does not want to leave the Presbytarian faith.
All I want to do is serve Gods calling and I believe he is calling me to the Catholic faith now. My problem is should I convert now which I believe is what God wants ( this calling is very strong, I am not being fulfilled with my Presbytarian faith and I noticed that marquee as I was praying ) or wait a year for the next Easter vigal and fulfill my current obligations. Then there is my wife.
All this seems so fast right now. I truly want to obey Gods calling, I dont want to seem like I am asking for advice from strangers but I would like to hear opinions at the last minute to see if I am missing anything before I ? ( God ). decides tommorrow. I have been praying about this for a year now.
Thank you and God Bess You !!!
 
You know…having spent 20+ years in the protestant faith…I walked by our parish’s marquee for “Catholics can come home”…for many years…until this year. I sure wish I had come home sooner. I have become so on fire for God! I was never confirmed…and my husband is converting so we are in RCIA now. Even if you go through…you do not HAVE to join the Church if you do not think it’s for you by Easter.

What will your wife do? That is up to her and God. Will she convert…maybe not. Or maybe once you learn the things I have learned and she sees your example…she might change her mind.

We need to be prepared TODAY for we never know when He may come.

I am so blessed…I had my first communion before I left the Church so I can receive communion now…my husband can not. Do you want to wait another year before you can?

If God is calling you…he will take care of your work that you are doing now.

I say do it now…for now is the acceptable hour. And it is where you will find the fullness of Christ.
 
Rearrange your meeting, go through the Rite, and then work with your Presbyterian pastor on a graceful transition of the responsibilities you have taken on, to someone else. Or, the possibility of continuing in these responsibilities as a Catholic.

I don’t know how well that would go over with your pastor, but I’ve seen it happen. The Presbyterian church is across the street from our parish, and we have a few who go back and forth, working in each others ministries, singing in each others choirs, that sort of thing. One woman I know walked her mother into the Presbyterian church every Sunday, and then came to Mass.

As they say, it’s all good.
 
Bill, you might want to consider a visit to or contact with Marcus Grodi’s Coming Home Network. It is specifically designed for Christians in your exact situation. Another site to visit is Catholics Come Home, which is designed not only for returning Catholics, but potential converts. Conversion is a time of certain anxiety, especially since you are such a firm believer and so deeply committed to doing God’s work. However, the richness and depth of the Catholic faith will leave you breathless, once you begin to probe it. The only reason for converting is the Holy Eucharist, which is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. It takes tremendous faith to believe that what appears as bread and wine has become, after consecration, our Lord physically present to us, but I tell you that once you come to believe, you can neither go anywhere else, nor will you want to. If you desire to fall in love with our Lord as deeply as is humanly possible, this is where and how to accomplish that. Not to mention that the opportunities for ministry are not only local or regional, but also international. I don’t know where you are, but just pull up your Archdiocese website and search out the ministry options.

The Holy Spirit has puled your heart to the Catholic faith for very good reasons: Truth and unity. The Holy Spirit always leads to unity, but our hearts remain fickle. If you intended to serve in the Presbyterian Church, you most certainly can serve in the Catholic Church. I know of no convert who has ever regretted the decision to convert. From these forums, you have probably seen that converts are some of the strongest believers and defenders of the faith. To put it another way, the Catholic Church will remain incomplete without you.

You are in my prayers.
 
‘Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.’
‘Catechumens who, moved by the Holy Spirit, seek with explicit intention to be incorporated into the Church are by that very intention joined with her. With love and solicitude Mother Church already embraces them as her own.’
Lumen Gentium (14)

Why would you want to wait? 🙂
 
If you feel this strong calling from God then don’t wait. Go for it! 🙂 What’s the worse that can happen?
 
I think that the Catholic church always asks us to fulfil reasonable obligations as well as we can: for instance, a widow or widower cannot enter religious life until their children are of age, and a candidate for seminary has to dispense their financial debts before beginning studies.

You have to make a judgment call as to whether your responsibilities to the Presbyterian church can be completed/ended before admission to the Catholic church, or whether a longer period is needed, or even if they can be continued following your admission for any necessary period of transition. Balancing out your duties to others against the privileges of Catholicism may not be easy, but the law of the church (that is to say, the 1983 Code of Canon Law) always requires this kind of discernment of rights versus obligations.

As a catechumen in the process of instruction, you will already be a member of the Catholic church. You have to decide whether there is greater charity in delaying admission than in proceeding quickly. Then again, it’s 5 months to Easter. That isn’t really all that quick; and if it becomes obvious that a delay is necessary before the end of this period, you won’t be anathematised simply because you ask for a deferment.🙂 Check with the RCIA instructor about that if you need peace of mind; but you may also need to check this with the other members of your current church in terms of how they expect you to wind down your responsibilites to them, assuming that’s what they do in fact want.
 
First of all, if I may, what “rites” are you talking about starting tomorrow (today)? If it is the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) then don’t worry too much. These are classes leading up to the actual initiation rites at Easter.

As to your obligations at your pervious community. I think the only honest thing to do is to tell the appropriate person/people of the decision of the Holy Spirit (not your decision) in your life.
Discuss with them openly how this might effect your ministries. Not that you would try to convert your fellow churchgoers to catholicism but neither can you deny that your conversion would have some effects.
Depending on your particular community, they may either welcome you to continue in ministry util a replacement can be found or they may “give you the boot” 😃
Just kidding…unless tehy are vehemently anti-catholic, they will most likely ask you to stay, at least in some capacity, while other arrangements are made.

If you haven’t already, please check out the Coming Home Network website. It is for people just like you. Clergy, deacons etc who are on the journey. There is a forum for questions, support groups, etc and you can likely get the very best answers right there.

Oh and by the way - WELCOME HOME :extrahappy::clapping:

Peace
James
 
There are two pillars, and the truth in between

Matt 8:22 But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.

The other based on
[43] And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none. [44] Then he saith: I will return into my house from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. [45] Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation.

and basically means that always leave a small gate backward.

For every individual the answer is different. In your place I would talk it over with wife first, than with the same nun or the parish priests again.
 
You’ve got some very sound advice here.
Think of it in terms of having an obligation towards your current community and towards God. What is more important?

There are many people facing the same issues at the moment - many Anglicans are leaving their security and positions in order to become Catholic priests. Lay Anglicans are also making great sacrifices. You’re definitely not alone in this situation and perhaps you can read up about this, to get a bit of encouragement from their example.

At this point you are not responsible for your wife. Don’t let that keep you away from the Catholic church. You can pray for her and evangelise by example.

Don’t be afraid of being received so soon. You can always postpone it a bit if you have a good reason for that. In my experience, the church is very flexible when it comes to these matters and seeks to help converts in any way it can.

Good luck and God bless!
 
laszlo said:
There are two pillars, and the truth in between

Matt 8:22 But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.

**The other based on
[43] And when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest, and findeth none. [44] Then he saith: I will return into my house from whence I came out. And coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. [45] Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation.

and basically means that always leave a small gate backward.**

For every individual the answer is different. In your place I would talk it over with wife first, than with the same nun or the parish priests again.
Click to expand...
Not to highjack the thread, but I totally disagree with the highlighted section above.
The parable used is not about “leaving a small gate backward”. It is about the necessity of replacing evil with virtue. Replacing the demon with Christ so that when the demon comes back he dose not find the space empty, but filled with God.
It has no bearing on the OP’s needs at present.

Peace
James
 
Hello ppcbill and welcome to CAF! 🙂

Since God is calling you into the Church, he wants you to know him better within the fold and to serve him there, as well. Have you heard of Dismas Ministry? I’m sure they’d be happy to help you transition from the ministry you have now to one in which you can share your new found Catholic faith with the inmates.

God bless you and yours as you make your journey into the Church. You have my prayers. :gopray2:
 
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