Question for recent converts

[BlueinSD]

I’m starting RCIA soon (the inquiry part starts tomorrow night) and while I have a lot of questions, there are some things that the Church preaches that I don’t understand and still question on occasion. Those of you who completed RCIA and were brought up in other churches, did you go through a period of “deprogramming?” That’s a bad term and I don’t mean it in a bad way towards Protestant churches, but did you go through a period where it took some time to accept those things that the Church preached that you didn’t necessarily accept at first?

I understand that part of my feelings on these issues is due to my Protestant upbringing, but I’m curious to know if other people who went through RCIA and became Catholic went through what I am going through and felt what I feel. Thanks!

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Absolutely! I think this is normal for converts from Protestant denominations. There are still times that I simply have to rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance of the Church when I read a particular Bible verse that triggers a memory from childhood that I haven’t yet reconciled with Church teaching or custom. Eventually, though, you learn and come to understand the misconception of those things we once knew in light of the Church’s truth.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

By the way, RCIA is the best time for learning about the faith and growing into it. You’re not expected to accept or understand everything when you start - or even immediately after completing RCIA. You simply have to have an openness to the Church’s teaching as truth. And by all means, don’t limit your learning to the RCIA process alone; learning about your faith should be part of the life-long journey.

 

[mcrow]

First off, I would probably call it adapting. Most of what you already believe is transferable to Catholicism.

I think that the biggest thing for many protestants is Tradition. Many Protestants believe in the bible alone, while Catholics believe in Tradition AND the Bible.

The whole concept of the Church being able to rule on something without a direct bible quote just does not compute for many protestants.

 

[josephback]

I’m starting RCIA soon (the inquiry part starts tomorrow night) and while I have a lot of questions, there are some things that the Church preaches that I don’t understand and still question on occasion. Those of you who completed RCIA and were brought up in other churches, did you go through a period of “deprogramming?” That’s a bad term and I don’t mean it in a bad way towards Protestant churches, but did you go through a period where it took some time to accept those things that the Church preached that you didn’t necessarily accept at first?

I understand that part of my feelings on these issues is due to my Protestant upbringing, but I’m curious to know if other people who went through RCIA and became Catholic went through what I am going through and felt what I feel. Thanks!

I know what you mean by “deprogramming.” We’re conditioned to think in certain ways during childhood and can experience trauma when competing viewpoints are introduced. Plato called it “the cave.”

Religion has always been important to me and I had a psychotic break when I realized “faith alone” wasn’t true. Thankfully God was with me and protected things from going too far. After the initial trauma I had a period of deepening understanding where I ceased to think like an Evangelical and started to understand things like a Catholic - particularly in Communion. It’s a process that’s still going on. It’s perfectly normal and never really end - Protestant arguments no longer make sense to me, I can see the holes.

All in all, it is God with us that makes it possible. Glory be to Him!

 

[jmcrae]

I’m starting RCIA soon (the inquiry part starts tomorrow night) and while I have a lot of questions, there are some things that the Church preaches that I don’t understand and still question on occasion. Those of you who completed RCIA and were brought up in other churches, did you go through a period of “deprogramming?” That’s a bad term and I don’t mean it in a bad way towards Protestant churches, but did you go through a period where it took some time to accept those things that the Church preached that you didn’t necessarily accept at first?

I understand that part of my feelings on these issues is due to my Protestant upbringing, but I’m curious to know if other people who went through RCIA and became Catholic went through what I am going through and felt what I feel. Thanks!

I actually think it takes longer for a Protestant to become fully Catholic than it does someone who comes into RCIA never having heard the Gospel before, since there is nothing for them to “un-learn.”

 

[Georgia]

I am not recent anymore, but I remember the process well. In my opinion, my conversion was faster, not slower, because of my Fundamentalist Baptist background.

When I was growing up, I had to memorize chunks of the Bible through participation in Bible Memory Association. We had Sundays that were tied to church - Sunday School 9:45 to 10:45, a service from 11:00 to noon or so, Baptist Training Union 6:15 - 7:15, Sunday night service from 7:30 to 8:30 or so. There was a Wednesday night service and monthly jail services. I knew lots more of the Bible than many. I also knew places where things did not seem to fit.

Those missing parts fell into place when I started dating a Catholic woman who is now my wife. For example, I had always been bothered by Jesus letting people walk away when they doubted the reality of the Eucharist when my old theology claimed it was only symbolic.

Oh, yes, there were some adjustments. Some of the disciplines seemed silly to me such as abstaining from meat of Fridays during Lent. I was also bothered by something that comes up on the forums often, the casual way people often treat the Mass.

Maybe I should explain right now. In my Baptist church, everyone who was coming would be seated well before the service began. They would be in dressy clothing and would open hymn books and would sing. Participation was assumed. In my parish, it is not at all unusual for people to stroll in sometimes while the homily is underway. Most seem unaware that they are allowed to open the hymnals. Clothing can be a bit shocking. These many years later, I really don’t get those.

On the other hand, I found little that I had to unlearn. The problem as I saw it was that I had an abbreviated Christianity. I had more to gain that I had to jettison. There was lots and lots to learn, but it showed me why I was there. I continue to read and to maybe to grow with God’s help. When I made the decision to cross the Tiber, I knew the reasons I found to lead me to Rome. The areas of discomfort went away the more I studied.

 

[novusCatholic]

Throughout my RCIA experience, I prayed that God would reveal his truths to me, either way. If I was making a mistake, then I wanted to realize it sooner, rather than later. On the other hand, if the Catholic Church was where I should be, then I wanted to believe it with absolute certainty.

I absorbed as much information as I could from many different sources. I had not been exposed to the Church Fathers before, and their writings really opened my eyes. In today’s Catholic Church, I can see the beliefs, teachings, and worship practices of the earliest Christians. The more that I learned, the more I became convinced that the Catholic Church is the original, true, and authoritative church. Once I realized that, then the Church’s teachings became easier to accept.

After all, who knows better? A denomination that has been around for two or three hundred years or the Church with a rich and documented history that reaches back to the Apostles and the earliest generations of Christians?

By the way, as I approached the Body and Blood to fully participate in Holy Communion for the first time, I could not have been more sure.

I wish you the best with your journey. I’m sure that your efforts will be rewarded.

 

[nickiswank]

I’m going through ‘deprogramming’ right now!

It’s hard to change a mindset or point of view that’s been ingrained in you since you were a child, or even since you converted to Christianity. For me it’s a little different because I was raised in a non-christian faith, but I’ve been a Protestant for eight years, and surprisingly enough I’ve found that changing that mindset has been difficult, but thrilling at the same time.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you’re not alone!

 

[jhigh]

I’m about as recent a convert as you can get (baptized and confirmed on Easter Sunday), and it took me three years of study and prayer to get to the point. I have a very cerebral approach to everything, and I had to read through the Catechism twice before I felt like I knew what I need to, so yes, I would say a period of uncertainty is normal.

That being said, I couldn’t feel more like I’ve arrived home. Every truth that was revealed during my conversion was so comforting and liberating. I feel like life and my faith finally makes sense, and I have complete confidence in my decision to convert.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[EnglishTeacher]

I’m starting RCIA soon (the inquiry part starts tomorrow night) and while I have a lot of questions, there are some things that the Church preaches that I don’t understand and still question on occasion. Those of you who completed RCIA and were brought up in other churches, did you go through a period of “deprogramming?” That’s a bad term and I don’t mean it in a bad way towards Protestant churches, but did you go through a period where it took some time to accept those things that the Church preached that you didn’t necessarily accept at first?

I understand that part of my feelings on these issues is due to my Protestant upbringing, but I’m curious to know if other people who went through RCIA and became Catholic went through what I am going through and felt what I feel. Thanks!

Yes, learning to think and live with a Catholic mindset can be a bit of a culture shock at first, but now I love it. There is nothing truer or more beautiful than the Catholic faith.

There were quite a few things that I didn’t understand at first, or wasn’t sure that I agreed with, but I found that the more I strove to understand them, the more they made sense. For some reason, I also found that once I started going to Mass regularly, my last remaining doubts fell away one by one; and everything started to fall into place.

But everyone’s journey is different. This will be such an exciting year for you! Use your RCIA time to ask lots of questions and get to know your fellow converts.

 

[Springkeeper]

I’m starting RCIA soon (the inquiry part starts tomorrow night) and while I have a lot of questions, there are some things that the Church preaches that I don’t understand and still question on occasion. Those of you who completed RCIA and were brought up in other churches, did you go through a period of “deprogramming?” That’s a bad term and I don’t mean it in a bad way towards Protestant churches, but did you go through a period where it took some time to accept those things that the Church preached that you didn’t necessarily accept at first?

I understand that part of my feelings on these issues is due to my Protestant upbringing, but I’m curious to know if other people who went through RCIA and became Catholic went through what I am going through and felt what I feel. Thanks!

Oh my goodmess, yes! It took me two years to really wrap my head around Catholicism and there is still so much to learn. The first time I went to mass I was so confused and felt so out of place I would have left but I was raised not to be that rude. I didn’t go back for a while but I kept studying on my own and finally was convinced the Catholic church is The Church and so I started RCIA and found some books and internet info on how to behave in Mass and what it all means and started going to Mass regularly (at first early morning Mass so I could still attend my Baptist church).

 

[Brywan]

Yes. About 12 years from start to finish–about 3 years of that concerted study.

Excruciatingly painful at times…

And when I came into the Church, I had no warmth of “feeling” toward certain dogmas of the faith. For instance, I was pretty dead emotionally toward Mary or anything Marian. I had studied the teachings of the church regarding Mary, and could see how everything fit together logically, rationally–but I wasn’t particularly excited about it.

But when I finally came into the church I did so because I recognized the *authority *of the church to teach–authoritatively–on all matters concerning faith and morals. If the Church taught something about Mary, then I could trust that the teaching was true…regardless of how I personally felt about it…

On the other side of conversion now (12 years on May 2) all those issues which seemed so earth-shattering have become non-issues. I was afraid that the work of Christ was minimized in Catholicism. Now I have experienced, first hand, that Christ is glorified, magnified, exalted in every way, always in His Church. “Riches” beyond all telling---- There is no conflict of interest.

Catholicism is an ocean, and I had been walking along the beach for most of my life…if you want to swim, you have to jump in…

 

[excubitor]

I’m starting RCIA soon (the inquiry part starts tomorrow night) and while I have a lot of questions, there are some things that the Church preaches that I don’t understand and still question on occasion. Those of you who completed RCIA and were brought up in other churches, did you go through a period of “deprogramming?” That’s a bad term and I don’t mean it in a bad way towards Protestant churches, but did you go through a period where it took some time to accept those things that the Church preached that you didn’t necessarily accept at first?

I understand that part of my feelings on these issues is due to my Protestant upbringing, but I’m curious to know if other people who went through RCIA and became Catholic went through what I am going through and felt what I feel. Thanks!

deprogramming is a good word in my opinion. Much of what I was taught about the Catholic church was biased propoganda, of the kind that is regularly used in brainwashing techniques. Demonising your opponent being one of them.

I was raised to believe that the catholic church was the W of Babylon, an apostate church, with spiritually dead followers. It took me 5 years to examine the facts and work through all the issues before I even approached the Catholic church. By the time I started RCIA I already knew all the issues backwards.

Of course its better for you to be joining RCIA in the earlier stages of your conversion. You will have the support and direction of other faithful catholics. For me though, because of my former prejudices and the negative prejudice of my family and friends, I felt that I could not even approach the Catholic church until I was absolutely certain that I was prepared to burn all my bridges behind me. So I had to struggle pretty much on my own using this and other forums to examine questions and also research on the Internet.

 

[JPayne]

I came from a southern baptist background, and so much of Catholic teaching was new and very diffrent to me, but not very hard to accept. The reason being I had already found the authority of the Church to be true and guided by the Holy Spirit.
For anything organized to be around two thousand years and still be standing is of divine guidance. Christ said that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against his church. So if the Catholic church ever fell into error then Hell would triumph. And the Christ told Peter that “… on this rock I will build my Church.” He did not say churches. Which is the case in the protestant divisions. All these thousands of protestant divisions came up over doctrinal diffrences. So, to believe that Christ’s church followed into Protestantism you would have to conclude doctrine does not matter. We as Catholics believe that truth of doctrine does matter and that to have correct doctrine you would need the guildance of the Holy Spirit, and a Authority on Earth here to proclaim that truth. That authority is the Pope and the magisterium of the Church.
This is how I came to acceptance of all the Church’s teachings.

God bless,

Jesse