Please help with my mother's conversion

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My mother is a non-Catholic Christian who recently told me that she feels a desire to deepen her relationship with Christ. She told me that she would never be a Catholic but I don’t think even she knows why. She did say that she would read whatever I send her with an open mind.

My question than is: What should I begin with? There is so much I could tell her but I want to start small. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm her with all the Truths of the Catholic Faith at once. She is a simple woman and I do not want to seem over-bearing and over-eager. I fear she will draw back if she feels I am coming on too strong. The problem is that I have prayed for this for so long that I want to write her a book.

I thank you for any advise.

Please ask the Holy Spirit to guide both of us.
 
I’m a convert myself and I found CS Lewis writings very helpful at the beginning. I appreciate he’s not Catholic, but his writing is sound. I found “Mere Christianity” particularly good. Lewis’ writing style is very engaging, he’s easy to follow, but he speaks the truth - and maybe your mother will appreciate something that is not written by a Catholic (but unbeknownst to her) is in fact Catholic doctrine!

It worked for me anyway…
 
I would say Dr Scott Hahn would be a good first choice and maybe a few other convert stories (Tim Stables, Alex Jones, Jeff Cavin, etc.) as they look at it from a view from the outside as they first start telling their journey to the Church. I also found some easy book on the ECfs to be good as they tell about the early Church and it being called Catholic and they also tell about the Real Presence which only the CC has. But take it slow because if you prayed for this for years a few more years in the journey may make it easier.
 
mhans5 said:
My mother is a non-Catholic Christian who recently told me that she feels a desire to deepen her relationship with Christ. She told me that she would never be a Catholic but I don’t think even she knows why. She did say that she would read whatever I send her with an open mind.

My question than is: What should I begin with? There is so much I could tell her but I want to start small. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm her with all the Truths of the Catholic Faith at once. She is a simple woman and I do not want to seem over-bearing and over-eager. I fear she will draw back if she feels I am coming on too strong. The problem is that I have prayed for this for so long that I want to write her a book.

I thank you for any advise.

Please ask the Holy Spirit to guide both of us.
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the most helpful and useful for her may be a daily devotional based on the lectionary readings of the day. Word Among Us wau.org has a version without the order of the Mass (which might seem overt), so does One Bread One Body (presentation ministries) if the latter is still in business. Another is Living Word.
 
There is a series of books by Patrick Madrid called “Surprised by Truth” (Surprised by Truth II, III, etc.) They contain conversion stories that are short but very interesting.

Or you could recommend watching “The Journey Home” program on Monday night on EWTN. Marcus Grodi hosts folks who have converted.

Scott Hahn has a series called “Catholic for a Reason” that has chapters on Catholic topics written by converts (Catholic for a Reason II, III, etc.). The best discussion of Mary I’ve ever found is in the first “Catholic for a Reason”. This might be a good second book (after the conversion stories get her interested).
 
I second these suggestions.

The book, Rome Sweet Home started my conversion, and I also thought I’d NEVER want to be Catholic - but I could read it with an open mind and find SOMETHING right about it!

I never would have thought!!

You could send his conversion tape, particularly if your Mom is more of a listener than a reader. But she did say she’d read what you sent her, and Rome Sweet Home is a real page-turner!

If she reads that, she’d fascinated with any of Patrick Madrid’s Surprised By Truth books - to think that so many people from so many walks of life are surprised by the truth of the Catholic Church!

Another option is to start with sending her one of those Madrid books, after you review it and find a conversion story that you think would appeal to her. Since you can start anywhere in that book, as it is a collection of unrelated stories, you can direct her toward reading the one you think she will like, first. That will work well if you are a fast reader/reviewer.

Or, you could send her the Hahns’ book straight-off, and while she is reading it you can pre-read one of Madrid’s, so you can make her a recommend for follow-up reading. In case she concludes the Hahns’ book, as I did with, “Well, it SOUNDS true. But it can’t be!” Then you send her more evidence.

Don’t pressure her to make a decision. Just let her digest the shocking idea that the Catholic Church might actually be what She claims to be.
 
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