Question for converts: What's your story?

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I grew up in a secular household - in that, I mean I went to Jewish sunday school because my grandparents required it, and resented it all the way. My parents are irreligious and felt it to be just as much of an imposition as we did - there was no religious practice at home. My parents had intermarried and so there had never been a consistent religious tradition in my household - if not for my grandparents’ insistence on Sunday school I do not think I would have been exposed to religion at all.

By the time I reached the age where I was meant to prepare for my bat mitzvah I could not bring myself to do it, for I had decided that I no longer believed at all as the Jewish religion never spoke to me whatsoever and I felt that to go through with it would be to parrot something I did not believe in to receive gifts from people. I remember telling my parents that I could not take people’s money/gifts as it would be like lying if I were to profess my belief in such a ceremony when I did not believe.

Fast forward several years, and my life had become quite a mess. I had psychiatric problems, and these were exacerbated by severe bullying as well as a seriously abusive boyfriend and the consequences of that. I was lost, suicidal and depressed. I self-harmed, had few friends, and whole periods of my life had been blanked out as a result of the trauma I’d experienced. To this day there are years of my life I barely remember.

I finished school, and enrolled at university. This was three years ago.

During my first week there, the Catholic group on campus were handing out Bible verses to all those who walked in the gates. Goodness knows why I felt an impulse to take one, as I had never previously felt any urge towards religion or spirituality of any kind. The verse was Sirach 17:19 - “The Lord encourages those who are losing hope!” To this day, it is still my favourite verse in the Bible.

This hit me like a lightning bolt. I knew in that instant that God was real and that Catholicism is where I would be led. I felt an inner calm and warmth that I had never before experienced - like a comforting embrace that soothed my soul.

I honestly still believe this was Divine intervention.

I do not know what path my life would have taken if this had not occurred. I continue to be haunted by what happened to me when I was younger - I have not elaborated, but suffice to say I have seen grown people in tears upon recounting it.

I am about to commence my RCIA and I am proud to say I will also be getting married in the Church to the most wonderful human being I have ever met. Despite my trials, the Lord has blessed me.
 
Memaw said:
These stories are sooo edifying, I love them, please keep telling us about your journeys. You bring new zeal into the Church. Waking up us sleepy long time Catholics. God Bless, Memaw
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I want to echo this sentiment. I’ve been watching this thread and your stories have brought me to tears. Thank you so much for sharing your stories, and for making this cradle Catholic feel uplifted and grateful for our Church and the power of the Holy Spirit to draw people closer to Him!
 
Scouter,

**You wrote: *** I was raised a Presbyterian, so I was at least a Christian. It [RCIA] went smoothly until I asked: what’s the deal with the Trinity? His reply was simply: just think of it as one is three, three is one. So my major introduction to Catholicism was on a very simple plain. *

Your conversion came with such ease and naturalness; how nice it would be if others of us came to the Catholic faith so easily as you did, without months or years of torment and doubt! What a blessing! I must admit, though, as (still presently though “barely”) a Lutheran, I wondered what a nice Norwegian boy was doing as a Presbyterian rather than as a Lutheran! No matter, of course.

I know a nice-‘n’-easy formula for thinking about the Holy Trinity. Those who complain that 1+1+1=3, to deny the impossibility of a Triune God, are in the wrong mathematical mode. After all, the other basic mathematical modes (or whatever mathemeticians call these) give a result of one when computing “1” three times: (A) 1 times 1 times 1 equals 1 (B) 1 divided by 1 divided by 1 equals 1 (C) even subtraction gives “1”, i.e. 1 divided by 1 divided by 1 equals -1.

The logic may be a bit reductionist, I suppose, but it is objective, as real math is!

Jerry Parker
 
Liberty_Belle said:
During my first week there, the Catholic group on campus were handing out Bible verses to all those who walked in the gates. Goodness knows why I felt an impulse to take one, as I had never previously felt any urge towards religion or spirituality of any kind. The verse was Sirach 17:19 - “The Lord encourages those who are losing hope!” To this day, it is still my favourite verse in the Bible.

This hit me like a lightning bolt. I knew in that instant that God was real and that Catholicism is where I would be led. I felt an inner calm and warmth that I had never before experienced - like a comforting embrace that soothed my soul.

I honestly still believe this was Divine intervention.

I do not know what path my life would have taken if this had not occurred. I continue to be haunted by what happened to me when I was younger - I have not elaborated, but suffice to say I have seen grown people in tears upon recounting it.

I am about to commence my RCIA and I am proud to say I will also be getting married in the Church to the most wonderful human being I have ever met. Despite my trials, the Lord has blessed me.
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Congratulations, Liberty Belle, both on coming into the Catholic Church, and on getting married! I trust you will have many wonderful years ahead of you to serve the Lord as a married woman. I have been married 25 years less one week, and highly recommend it.

As to your instance of Divine intervention, I absolutely believe these things happen and God uses them to strengthen us. One of the things I found I had to do, when I began attending Catholic church, was to let God out of the box in which wrong teaching had encouraged me to put Him. In my kitchen hangs a plaque that reads, “A coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.” About 15 years ago my husband and I went on a month-long trip out of state to visit his family. One morning I was very angry with a family member, and remembering what the Bible says about being angry, I went for a long walk. I ended up in the cemetery where my mother-in-law is buried. There I saw the gravestone of a 42-year-old woman which read: “Thank you, Jesus, for your miracle of love and forgiveness.” I just about fell on my face. Later I went back and took a picture of the headstone, just wanting to make sure it was really there. I realized that love and forgiveness are a miracle that belong to God, and they are something we have to reach out for. Experiences like this have helped make me ready for the Catholic Church, which is able to comprehend so much diversity, and bring it into safety.

I’m also from a secular Jewish family. My story, at least part of it, is post #33 on this thread. I’m actually glad I didn’t have Jewish education, because the lack of it left me that much more hungry for God.

God bless you, and welcome home!

Luminous Hope
 
Liberty_Belle said:
Sirach 17:19 - “The Lord encourages those who are losing hope!” To this day, it is still my favourite verse in the Bible.

This hit me like a lightning bolt. I knew in that instant that God was real and that Catholicism is where I would be led. I felt an inner calm and warmth that I had never before experienced - like a comforting embrace that soothed my soul.

I honestly still believe this was Divine intervention.

I do not know what path my life would have taken if this had not occurred. I continue to be haunted by what happened to me when I was younger - I have not elaborated, but suffice to say I have seen grown people in tears upon recounting it.

I am about to commence my RCIA and I am proud to say I will also be getting married in the Church to the most wonderful human being I have ever met. Despite my trials, the Lord has blessed me.
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What a wonderful, wonderful story! It’s so amazing how the Lord works in our lives! I can see the Lord working in my husband’s life right now, and it’s such a blessing to witness!

Welcome to the Church!
 
If you think it’s tough telling friends and family of your conversion, just wait until people on other forums catch wind of it.

Pitchforks and torches, basically.
 
To Nic: I can relate to your pain. I, too, suffered from longstanding anxiety which I would try to mask in various ways. It was debilitating in every way imaginable. On coming into the Church at Easter 2005 I realized that I had to give it all up to the Lord, to surrender to Him completely and try not to control everything myself. Remember the words we hear at every Mass, “I leave you my peace. My peace I give to you.” Understanding and believing those words and that promise helped me overcome my irrational fears. Now there is no “fight or flight” mechanism working in my head, rather only the peace Christ promised all of us. I pray that you will find that lasting comfort and joy. To Liberty Belle: Welcome home. I hope you find your RCIA experience as edifying and enlightening as I did. It’s been four years now and the flame is still burning strongly. And, may God bless you marriage. As I approach my 42nd anniversary, the only advice I can offer is to keep God in the center. For years I failed to do that and learned my lesson well. To Jerry: Whenever a doubter asks me about the Trinity, I simply reply that if man can make a mint (Certs) which is two mints in one (a breath mint and a candy mint), then certainly the Creator of the universe can have no problem being Three in One, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
 
usemelord said:
Remember the words we hear at every Mass, “I leave you my peace. My peace I give to you.” Understanding and believing those words and that promise helped me overcome my irrational fears. Now there is no “fight or flight” mechanism working in my head, rather only the peace Christ promised all of us.
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That’s so powerful. Thank you so much!
 
Howdy…just saw this thread (I spend most of my time in the News). Sorry in advance for wordiness, but you asked for my story. 😃

I was raised in a non-religious home. My parents divorced when I was young, and we were raised primarily by my Mom. She has a non-denom Christian upbringing, but she is basically a “everyone must find their own truth” relativist. We generally didn’t discuss religion at all when I was growing up. My Dad, I later found out, was/is Catholic (confirmed while in the Navy), but he doesn’t practice or ever even discuss his beliefs. My Step-Dad is Catholic but divorced his wife and married my Mom w/o an annulment. He still believes, but doesn’t go to Mass. We had a run-in during my atheist days about my non-belief, and I said some pretty mean things to him at the time.

My first Christian experiences were during my elementary school years. I went to a Pentecostal Church a couple times in the 5th grade - too weird, didn’t stay. A friend took me to his “Bible” Church, and I was “born again” vis-a-vis accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior. When that friend died suddenly of an illness, I turned away from God in anger and started reading some philosophy (esp. Hume) between the ages of 10-12.

In junior high school, a friend took me to a Presbyterian Church, where I was Baptized (Mom thought I was but had no records) and Confirmed. A couple of years later I flipped back into full Agnostic and/or Atheist mode which lasted through my high school years - more philosophy (esp. Sartre) and a little Buddhism (Tibetan…very existentialist in a way). I met my wife who is a cradle Catholic whose parents are both from the Philippines. We were married by a Presbyterian minister - she was not particularly strong in her faith.

Believe it or not, we were reintroduced to faithfulness through Amway (a multi-level marketing business, which we no longer participate in). We did a little bit of church hopping…including another visit to a Pentecostal Church - still too weird. 😛 However, though we didn’t have kids yet, we knew that it was best to raise our kids in the same church. My wife was averse to becoming Protestant, so I agreed to check out the Catholic Church (she agreed to try Protestant, if it didn’t work out). I went through RCIA to check out the faith. There are small things in life sometimes that have big impact. To me, I didn’t have major problems with the Eucharist. I did have minor problems with “worship” of Mary and the Saints. Anyway, the small thing that led to my conversion, was the outlook of the Church on non-Catholic salvation. I had my fill of Christians who would tell people they are going to hell (I used to quote Matt 7:3 to them 🙂 ), so when the priest explained that we leave it in God’s merciful hands, I was shocked (“Is that Pope-Catholic or California-Catholic?”) and pleased.

Sadly, the rest of my catechesis in RCIA was not the best - they taught “primacy of conscience” heresy at that parish. Since my conversion, I became more-and-more orthodox through study and prayer, until I came to understand and accept Church teaching. I still struggle with some issues (e.g. capital punishment) but believe and follow the Magisterium of the Church as best I can.
 
rlg94086 said:
Anyway, the small thing that led to my conversion, was the outlook of the Church on non-Catholic salvation. I had my fill of Christians who would tell people they are going to hell (I used to quote Matt 7:3 to them 🙂 ), so when the priest explained that we leave it in God’s merciful hands, I was shocked …
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Hurray! Somebody said it! Thank you! To me this is not such a small thing, after 27 years in evangelical churches with people constantly running around making judgments about the eternal destiny of others. I decided I didn’t want to belong to this group of deciders and I would leave the matter in God’s hands where it belonged. I didn’t even know how much this bothered me, how it didn’t ring true, until I came into the Catholic Church and found that THEY leave it in God’s hands where it belongs.

This was such a blessing to me around Ash Wednesday. The next day, I attended a Jewish funeral for the husband of a friend. This man was a devout Jew who did singular work and helped many people in his lifetime, always leading an exemplary life. One day I had ashes put on my forehead and heard, “dust to dust”; the next day there I was at this funeral, which was standing room only with literally a whole city grieving. It was overwhelming. Later, with trepidation, I approached a senior lady in the church who explained to me that Catholics believe that anyone has the hope of heaven. What a wonderful moment. She then told me it would be perfectly appropriate to request a Mass to be offered for him, which I did, and it was offered yesterday. It is such a peaceful feeling to know that I did what I could and I won’t have to contend with people looking down their noses at me and haranguing me about how this person is sure to be in hell.

Thank you, Jesus, for Your mature, loving, authoritative Catholic Church!

May God bless you and your wife, RLG, with a deep and meaningful walk with Him in His holy Church.

L.H.
 
Whew-I just typed a bunch, hit the wrong something, and Poof–gone!

Anyway,** Debbie**, I also have an autistic son (age 5) and can relate big time! (how old yours?) It’s funny, but I am planning on baptizing him Aug 15 --Feast of the Assumption–this year. The two older boys were baptized that day, unbeknownst to me that it was a CC feast. I have multiple “coincidence” circumstances all through my life that point to me moving toward the CC. I was thrilled and deeply moved by your testimony. I too will be confirmed this April 26th! I love the confirmation class…very in-depth, wonderful book, teacher, etc. I was raised Lutheran Church MO Synod, confirmed, etc…“born again” in Baptist church, wandered throughout A/G, Foursquare. For over 15 years I

Jerry: you spoke about your brother’s defensiveness towards “liturgy”----when, really, the other churches have liturgy also…it’s just based on what “they feel like doing”----right? IE, they try to be “free,” but they do somewhat the same things each Sunday too, right? It’s just not based on history, tradition…just what their tradition has sort of clung to.

Regarding the Tabernacle someone brought up: that has bothered me somewhat. I couldn’t seem to wrap my brain around Jesus “being in there.” Anyway, I had seen a documentary of Jews venerating their Torah scrolls and it hit me between the eyes. Maybe I’m stretching things, but it looks so similar, the Tabernacle and the Torah. The Jews were kissing it and it was being walked through the congregation…anyway, maybe some of our Jewish converts could comment on that.? The Torah being the Word of God, and Jesus being “the Word made flesh”…any comments?

Love to you all.
 
Moen:

Regarding the Torah and the Tabernacle… what an awesome analgoy!
Thank you for your contribution to this group. I have gained so much from you and the others too.

Isn’t it wonderful to be home???

Peace,

Pam
 
Moen,

You wrote: Jerry, you spoke about your brother’s defensiveness towards “liturgy” --when, really, [many of] the other churches have liturgy also. It * is just based on what “they feel like doing” – right? i.e., they try to be “free,” but they do somewhat the same things each Sunday too, right? It’s just not based on history, tradition, just what their tradition * has sort of clung to.*

Yes, pathetic, isn’t it, this insistence on spontaneity, originality or threadbare novelty, in worship, and, all the worse, in prayer? There is no breach of confidentiality, nobody knowing who my half-brother “Debded” (David) is, since he has another surname than I do, and I am quoting my words, not his, so here is my brief reply to him in my e-mail that responded to his accusation that liturgical prayer is not “sincere”:

It is a mistake to think that liturgical worship (whether Anglican, Lutheran, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, etc.) is lacking in sincerity or commitment. Of course, there are all too many priests and ministers who are sloppy with the liturgy, but that is to to their own discredit! The problem with services that are so nearly exclusively devoted to didactic preaching and the kind of sponatenous prayer that, essentially, is indirectly preaching to God rather than to the congregation, is that there is no real room for worship. Music and preaching do not amount to full-orbed worship. There has to be prayer, a LOT of it, as in the historic Christian liturgies.

And, of course, there is far more BIBLE in liturgical worship than in these free-form non-liturgical sectarian and Protestant ways of worship; in fact, the liturgy is very largely confected of Scripture, quoting it here, working it in other ways there, into the verbal fabric of liturgical prayer and proclamation! This is not just a matter of a few verses quoted here and there in a sermon (which a good Catholic Christian priest preaching can do, too, thank you, and at best quite nicely) and of usually one lone prime reading (and of those set readings, according to the liturgical year, liturgies Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant, all have two or three fairly sizable primary readings from the Old and New Testaments, as well, of course, as Psalms).

The dreary sameness of extemporay prayer, from the minister(s) or others, is so shabby and drab. Its lack of 100% rather than the real 90% word-by-word predicability of formulation is no compensation, eh? What dross, compared to the beauties and the great variety of the liturgical prayer accumulated across the ages in the historic liturgies, Roman Catholic and others! Few “good” preachers among the sectaries really know how to pray consistently (or ever) upliftingly, and, since their prayers are not steeped in the liturgical treasure-chest of the public liturgy, they tend to be paltry, bland affairs lacking in the chaste eloquence that so characterises the set prayers of the past!

Anyway, however inadequately (or “sloppily” as I put it to Bro’ Debded) a priest may be in saying the Holy Liturgy, the reality of the Mass remains! A sectarian or Protestant preacher in a non-liturgical service who does not “deliver the goods” leaves the worshippers bereft and unfulfilled.

Jerry Parker*
 
Wow… Jerry, you won’t believe this! I just wrote a private msg to a person sharing the same thing about how much more Bible there is in the Catholic Church than I ever heard in any protestant church.

That was a major reason for my “coming home”… the love of Scripture and seeing it fulfilled far with far more richness and depth than ever before. The Church is such a treasure and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

I never mentioned before when discussing my conversion that for years, I longed for liturgical worship. I probably wouldnt have worded it that way but in retrospect, that is precisely what it was. I went on a Cursillo years before becoming Catholic and was extremely and profoundly moved. But there was that part of me that felt like a little child, standing outside a candy store with my nose pressed to the window, looking in with great longing.

Being confirmed and in full communion was the greatest moment of my life… because for the first time, I was totally united with Jesus and His body. Praise the Lord!

God bless

Pam
 
My conversion came from reading the New Testament. There were things that Jesus spoke of that only Catholics did. The protestant Christians shund Jesus’ teachings for man-made teachings. This became obvious. So I left the man-made Baptist faith & became a true Christian that is … one that KNOWS the Bible.
 
Dirk_Skene said:
My conversion came from reading the New Testament. There were things that Jesus spoke of that only Catholics did. The protestant Christians shund Jesus’ teachings for man-made teachings. This became obvious. So I left the man-made Baptist faith & became a true Christian that is … one that KNOWS the Bible.
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Hi Dirk

I would like to know more specifically the teachings you are talking about–been having a discussion with someone just about this!!

Thanks!!

Pam
 
luminoushope said:
Hurray! Somebody said it! Thank you! To me this is not such a small thing, after 27 years in evangelical churches with people constantly running around making judgments about the eternal destiny of others. I decided I didn’t want to belong to this group of deciders and I would leave the matter in God’s hands where it belonged. I didn’t even know how much this bothered me, how it didn’t ring true, until I came into the Catholic Church and found that THEY leave it in God’s hands where it belongs.

This was such a blessing to me around Ash Wednesday. The next day, I attended a Jewish funeral for the husband of a friend. This man was a devout Jew who did singular work and helped many people in his lifetime, always leading an exemplary life. One day I had ashes put on my forehead and heard, “dust to dust”; the next day there I was at this funeral, which was standing room only with literally a whole city grieving. It was overwhelming. Later, with trepidation, I approached a senior lady in the church who explained to me that Catholics believe that anyone has the hope of heaven. What a wonderful moment. She then told me it would be perfectly appropriate to request a Mass to be offered for him, which I did, and it was offered yesterday. It is such a peaceful feeling to know that I did what I could and I won’t have to contend with people looking down their noses at me and haranguing me about how this person is sure to be in hell.

Thank you, Jesus, for Your mature, loving, authoritative Catholic Church!

May God bless you and your wife, RLG, with a deep and meaningful walk with Him in His holy Church.

L.H.
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Thanks L.H.

For me, it was very refreshing, but I guess it just seems minor compared to the dramatic conversion stories I hear about people who were converted after in-depth studies of the Bible, Church Fathers, and/or intense contemplative prayer. :o

May God bless you and yours, as well.
 
selah603 said:
Hi Dirk

I would like to know more specifically the teachings you are talking about–been having a discussion with someone just about this!!

Thanks!!

Pam
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Without having a Bible at my disposal the ones that comes to mind 1st are confession “who’s sins you forgive are forgiven” & the Eucherest “Do this in memory of me.”
 
Debbie-convert999 you wrote:
“The church refused to baptize my son because he couldn’t stand up and give his “testimony” about how he had accepted Jesus, etc. This led me to an intensive scripture study about baptism, and I discovered that the evangelical view of baptism is not Biblical.”

Since I’ve been around the block several times, so to speak, I thought I’d heard it all in terms of base thinking within Christianity--------but this is truly a new low. Having a special needs child already puts one in a position of having to almost “apologize” to people for the challenges —and then this. :rolleyes: I have to confess that I snapped at a museum (armor) curator a few weeks ago. My son was running here and there, and finally someone said NO RUNNING (there was nothing really that he could have damaged where he was), and I loudly exclaimed, “He can’t help it! He’s Autistic.” So there. There’s my sinful response…understandable, but I know how mad I was:o

When you were confirmed did you pick a confirmation name? Did you have communion with the same group at the same time, or did you go twice, on different Sundays?

Debbie: my thoughts and prayers are with you. Keep on keepin’ on, girl:thumbsup:
 
Debbie and Convert 999,

Your exchange asked: *When you were confirmed did you pick a confirmation name? *

Taking the name of a saint at confirmation (assuming a “confirmation name”), which the bishop pronounces with his hands on one’s head in confirmation, is a practice of Roman Catholics and at least of some Anglicans in the British Isles, and, more sporadically, in the U.S. We don’t have that practice here in Québec and Canada. I do not know if this still is true, but in the early 1960s in the U. S. of A., a confirmation name still was a legally recognised part of an individual’s full name. It is unfortunate that the practice of taking a confirmation name seems to be lapsing into disuse; a guy or gal has the chance to get (or used to have the opportunitey to get) to choose a name that s/he really likes, instead of being stuck for life only with the names that his parents gave him.

Jerry Parker
 
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