Question for cradle Catholics and converts to Catholicism

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Tommy999

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Hello all,
In my time on CAF, I’ve run across lots of cradle Catholics and Catholic converts, many from protestant faith traditions. I enjoy interacting with each. I tend to relate a little more to converts because I am a protestant and many of the converts can relate to my background and where I am at in my faith journey.

I have a couple of questions of curiosity:

Questions:
Question for Cradle Catholics:
In general, what traits and characteristics do Catholic converts have that helps strengthen you, your parish and the Catholic Church in general?

Question for Catholic Converts:
In general, what traits and characteristics do cradle Catholics have that helps strengthen you, your parish and the Catholic Church in general?

Thanks for your time. Much obliged. :tiphat:
 
As a cradle Catholic, the main thing I see is the enthusiasm that the converts have. Since they have chosen this path, they learn with an adult understanding which cradle Catholics don’t always have since the cradle Catholics learned much of their faith in childhood and went no further with it.
 
Sunbreak said:
As a cradle Catholic, the main thing I see is the enthusiasm that the converts have. Since they have chosen this path, they learn with an adult understanding which cradle Catholics don’t always have since the cradle Catholics learned much of their faith in childhood and went no further with it.
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Good insight, Sunbreak. Thanks for responding.

On the other hand, I see cradle Catholics having the advantage or not having to sort out and unlearn (if that is a word) certain beliefs that are not in line with Catholicism, such as sola scriptura.

However, I understand what you mean about enthusiasm that comes from converts. People like Tim Staples, Al Kresta, and others who used to be Protestants who have influential high profile positions within US Catholicism come to mind.
 
From a cradle Catholic:

I believe converts bring a fresh, honest perspective of how the world outside the Catholic church views the Catholic church. Being on the “inside”, I feel we Catholics take a lot of things for granted and have the church doctrine so ingrained we can’t see any other way to look at what we do. “If it’s not Catholic, it must be wrong” can be easily taken up by those who haven’t looked in on us from the outside. Of course, that is terribly wrong and all Catholics should be open to the possibility that there are more than one way to skin the proverbial cat (so to speak.)

Bringing a new perspective should force us Catholics to understand truly what we believe and to strip away the fallacies we may have picked up. Cradle Catholics can sometimes be so introverted, we don’t realize we’ve built up layers of beliefs that are not true church teachings almost like “personal” traditions instead of Church Tradition (from the early church founders.) Some Catholics might even say the Catholic church is “changing” when the errors of our ways is pointed out; it hasn’t changed in 2,000 years but how we perceive it may cause us to believe it has changed.

I also love the zeal and energy converts bring to the Catholic church. They are usually ON FIRE with the Holy Spirit which can make cradle Catholics uncomfortable if they settled into a “stand, sit, kneel” mentality. People can worship God in many ways and converts bring that freshness with them.

God bless you and have a Blessed Holy Week.:signofcross:
 
As a Cradle Catholic I’d have to say the willingness to LEARN.
Few Cradle Catholics I’ve encountered believe that their religious education can or should continue. They feel like they’ve been doing this for years, and they’re “caught up” on all the Sacraments, and so…they’re good. They’re not exactly enthusiastic about Bible study, or new groups. They’re GREAT at signing up for ministries to the poor, action initiatives, and letter writing to prisons, to lawmakers, and general corporal works of mercy. But personal spirituality? Not so much. Beyond devotions, we have a really hard time getting people to sign up or come to classes. And in the summer? Forget about it.
People take off.
But the converts are right there, ready for anything that sounds interesting. Missions, retreats, you name it. They’re pretty thirsty for more knowledge.

Of course, these are generalizations, so those people who are already steamin’…just chill. :cool:
LOL
 
I am a cradle Catholic and like many I was poorly catechized and only really learned about my faith after I came back to the church as an adult. Many converts study the Catholic faith prior to making the decision to become one and they are often more knowledgeable than many of us born into Catholicism… They also appreciate the uniqueness of our faith, which sometimes we cradle Catholics overlook. It is very extraordinary to be a part of such a rich and ancient religion. 🙂
 
To me cradle Catholics are like people born in the USA that have never traveled abroad to a poor country, (no offense to any one) and Catholic converts are like VERY, VERY grateful immigrant that gets citizenship in the USA.
 
As a convert married to a cradle Catholic, I respect and admire the persistence and longevity in his Faith. The saying “Once a Catholic always a Catholic” sure is true in my house. I was partially drawn to my conversion by this continuity of belief. I find it a safe harbor in an ever changing world.
 
tamedlion said:
To me cradle Catholics are like people born in the USA that have never traveled abroad to a poor country, (no offense to any one) and Catholic converts are like VERY, VERY grateful immigrant that gets citizenship in the USA.
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As a convert, I can’t think of a better way to say it. I wish more cradle Catholics realized what they have.
 
tamedlion said:
To me cradle Catholics are like people born in the USA that have never traveled abroad to a poor country, (no offense to any one) and Catholic converts are like VERY, VERY grateful immigrant that gets citizenship in the USA.
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Very good analogy! May I used it?
 
As a cradle Catholic, I really admire the passion and the courage of converts, for they went to great lengths and at great cost to come to the Church. I think that the Church is blessed with each child of God that becomes a child of the Church, but especially those who do so going through the gauntlet of wrenching questions and estranged relationships. Converts are those who “hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even their own life” in order to be His disciple more fully (cf. Lk 14:26).

Pax Christi
 
As a convert I admire the liquid mystical memory of cradle Catholics and the Church in general. Sometimes it seems as if there is a depth of unconscious knowledge flowing the blood of some cradle Catholics. When I point this out to them and thank them for it, they often react surprised and startled at my admiration. I have a few that I look up to as a big brother or sister and learn often from their example. Prayers and responses in particular that have been handed down through families fascinate me. I write them down and memorize them. One example happened when a visiting priest started a generally unknown Gregorian chant in Latin for a special feast day one daily mass. At first among those present there was an inquisitive silence. Then one by one the oldest members joined in. The younger ones, me included, listened and learned so that by the end of this lengthy chant everyone ended it together. This is what I mean by the mystical memory that is self renewed and retained within the Church and passed on organically from one generation to another.
Hope that this helps. 🙂
 
I like your questions, Tomyris.

What I see with new converts…is how on fire they are regarding their Catholic faith and how demused they are when they encounter lukewarm Catholics. I like sharing with them. And they in turn strengthen me when I start to get lukewarm.

As having been born in a Catholic family where my parents chose to live a most humble and non-materialistic lifestyle…I think they are the ones who really had it right…we had a quiet home with good books and I never got much material things…it was a pain…but looking back I am so grateful…even though I have fallen into materialism in and out…

I think we have this sense of faith and practice…and this connection with Christ’s humanity. I mean…it was good to come home from college and see this little picture of the Sacred Heart with a candle lit…my mother’s way of praying for me…our little statues in the house…the rosaries…the beer and wine…the tv shows…and my dad talking with our renters down the road…who were actually communists!..came from Pennsylvania and my parents cared for their baby.

So it was like our treasure was our Catholic faith and practice…our faith in the sacred of little babies to the old…and the liturgical feasts at our local Italian immigrant parish…we about the only Irish there…and the Italian pastor talking about the latest going on’s in public about the Donato family two doors down…or how he got mad when some Italians moved across town to a affluent neighborhood…he bringing it up at the homily…‘Aren’t we good enough for them?’…or the richest lady in the parish who won the big raffle…‘Wouldn’t you know’…the humanity.

Praying for you…
 
As a cradle Catholic converts (and re-verts) have a zeal for Christ and the New Evangelization. Individual cradle Catholics often have trouble with Evangelization because historically the Church evangelized two ways:

(1) To the nations: mission priests go to the non-Christian nations and preach the Gospel
(2) Pastoral Evangelization to the Faithful: one on one teaching (or classroom) to the Baptized and Church attending Catholics.

But now that we have un-churched yet Baptized people in the world, we need a “New Evangelization” as St. Pope John Paul II called it. We now need to Evangelize the non-practicing Catholics and dissent Catholics, which is a relatively new situation.

Catholics like Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Jimmy Akin, Dr. Scott Hahn, & Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God (Rosalind Moss) are wonderful examples of converts who inspire me.

But there area also many great Catholic re-verts out there too.
 
phil19034 said:
As a cradle Catholic converts (and re-verts) have a zeal for Christ and the New Evangelization. Individual cradle Catholics often have trouble with Evangelization because historically the Church evangelized two ways:

(1) To the nations: mission priests go to the non-Christian nations and preach the Gospel
(2) Pastoral Evangelization to the Faithful: one on one teaching (or classroom) to the Baptized and Church attending Catholics.

But now that we have un-churched yet Baptized people in the world, we need a “New Evangelization” as St. Pope John Paul II called it. We now need to Evangelize the non-practicing Catholics and dissent Catholics, which is a relatively new situation.

Catholics like Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Jimmy Akin, Dr. Scott Hahn, & Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God (Rosalind Moss) are wonderful examples of converts who inspire me.

But there area also many great Catholic re-verts out there too.
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True.

Also, technically, all the apostles were converts to the Catholic faith.😃
 
I’m from the cradle. Converts from Protestantism often seem to be more “in the spirit”, better at quoting chapter and verse of scripture, and are not afraid of evangelism. Cradles SEEM to have a better crack at discerning moral values with equanimity, understanding traditions, able to explain the Sacraments and Sacramentals…and enjoy singing less verses of hymns:D
 
I’m a convert, and I love the way that the parish is so much more than just the church, if you know what I mean. I never experienced that in the CofE, although the people were good folk. At my church now, everything flows from the Parish House, people pop in and out all the time, charitable giving happens from there, there are prayer and study groups and so on. Our priest seems to know everyone by name, too! There are is army of people volunteering behind the scenes to make everything happen, and these are by and large cradle Catholics.

I’m also struck by how the cradle Catholics I talk to seem to have ties that bind. Catholicism isn’t just for Sundays and it doesn’t just mean attending our church. Numerous people go to weekday Mass and events at the other Catholic churches in our town, they know all the priests and have friends in other local parishes.
Hmgbrd said:
As a convert I admire the liquid mystical memory of cradle Catholics and the Church in general. Sometimes it seems as if there is a depth of unconscious knowledge flowing the blood of some cradle Catholics. When I point this out to them and thank them for it, they often react surprised and startled at my admiration. I have a few that I look up to as a big brother or sister and learn often from their example. Prayers and responses in particular that have been handed down through families fascinate me. I write them down and memorize them. One example happened when a visiting priest started a generally unknown Gregorian chant in Latin for a special feast day one daily mass. At first among those present there was an inquisitive silence. Then one by one the oldest members joined in. The younger ones, me included, listened and learned so that by the end of this lengthy chant everyone ended it together. This is what I mean by the mystical memory that is self renewed and retained within the Church and passed on organically from one generation to another.
Hope that this helps. 🙂
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I also agree completely with the post above.
 
I’m a cradle Catholic revert after 20 years in various Protestant churches. I appreciate the passion for Jesus that Protestants bring with them to the Faith. It’s a real “shot in the arm” that we need.

I’m generalizing now, but also their singing! From the heart and emotional. They like to meet people, they bring their whole families, too. They get involved. I love converts!
 
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I have often wondered about the interactions between cradle Catholics and converts, and your answers have been very helpful. I am especially encouraged in knowing that converts are accepted and welcomed into the RCC and are not considered second-class citizens, so to speak.
 
Thanks, Tommy…I made a mistake and called you a different name…sorry…good question that provides one heart felt answers instead of more questions…
 
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