Reverts: was your return to the church a shock to your family and friends?

[ProdigalSon1211]

We get many threads where converts ask for advice on how to deal with friends and family who are against their decision to become Catholic.

But what about reverts? Were there obstacles for you? How did people react and how did you deal with negative attitudes?

Did you then find out who was praying for you while you were lapsed?

I am a revert to the Catholic Church. I would say my friend is happy for me who happens to be a Baptist. My biggest obstacle was going to confession! I hadn’t gone to confession in 7 years. I was able to go to confession and receive Holy Communion for the very first time in 7 years this past Divine Mercy Sunday. I would say my friends were probably the most shocked. Most of my friends are not practicing Catholics. I only have about maybe 2 friends who are. Glad there is a Newman Center at my University =)

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I
I was able to go to confession and receive Holy Communion for the very first time in 7 years this past Divine Mercy Sunday. I would say my friends were probably the most shocked. Most of my friends are not practicing Catholics. I only have about maybe 2 friends who are. Glad there is a Newman Center at my University =)

Good for you!

Conversion/reversion is the time when we look for new friends who share our beliefs and values and help us to grow in faith. Having Catholic friends has helped me so much in the last few years, I don’t think I could have done it without them.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Other than to make him miserable?

I hope God doesn’t trust me with THAT job…I’m not doing very well at helping him come back to the Church so far…

But I won’t give up! I pray for him every day. Holy Spirit, please open my husband’s heart to Jesus!

How is that green scapular working out? I’m doing the same thing btw. Divine Mercy is a great devotion as well for very obstinate cases.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I’ve found the hardest part for me in reverting has been everything I did in between.

I don’t even know another Catholic. I changed within but the situation I made for myself hasn’t and it’s made it hard for me and my husband. My heart was drawn back to the Church…the rest of me feels pretty isolated.

I’m sorry things are like this. I sometimes wonder how my life would have turned out had my reversion happened sooner.

I hope this forum provides you with a sense of community and companionship. :hug1:

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

I knew from the minute I knew I was pregnant, that neither I nor my husband, nor both of us working together, for the rest of our natural lives, could EVER have created this little being by ourselves. It HAD to be God. There just was no other explanation. And since God not only existed, but loved me enough to entrust me with His precious creation, I was going to do my darndest to live up to His trust. Over time, I realized that God had never once left my side, not the entire time I was away. God NEVER turns His back on us! Like the father in the prodigal son parable, He waits anxiously, waiting to celebrate our return.

This is so beautifully said.

When I got pregnant I had a sense of wonder and amazement about the new life within my body. I understood that God was letting me participate in His creation in this way. That was the most amazing experince of my life.

 

[Angels_Eyes]

When I told my parents I had returned to the church, my Dad told me to ‘not get in too deep’ and to be careful. He was not all that happy. I didn’t understand that, I thought he called himself a catholic. They have not attended church for many, many years though.

My younger sister did not mind either way, but my older sister, who is now an atheist was horrified. It started an all out war and she wrote down some terrible, heartbreaking things to me via e-mail about how we have ‘chosen’ to bring up our children. She said she did not understand why I was on this endless search for enlightenment. (I called myself a Pagan for many years, then a spiritualist and studied Buddhism and Taoism too) She thinks it’s just another ‘phase’ for me.

The ironic part is that it was our disagreements and the hurt she put me through that brought me even closer to God. Especially Our Blessed Mother. I felt her embrace and love in the grotto after asking for strength (to get me through the situation). I was blessed with her grace, how could I ever go back to being anything other than Catholic after an experience like that.

As for prayers from anyone else. I think my Opa (Grandfather) in Heaven may have been praying for me to return to God. He always said to me when I was young that he thought I would become a nun. Well I didn’t of course, but I feel if I didn’t get married and have children, I may have.

 

[qui_est_ce]

Other than to make him miserable?

I hope God doesn’t trust me with THAT job…I’m not doing very well at helping him come back to the Church so far…

But I won’t give up! I pray for him every day. Holy Spirit, please open my husband’s heart to Jesus!

 

[TheRealJuliane]

This is so beautifully said.

When I got pregnant I had a sense of wonder and amazement about the new life within my body. I understood that God was letting me participate in His creation in this way. That was the most amazing experience of my life.

:yup::yup::yup:

It was easier to be in amazement once I got through being nauseous, though.

 

[snarflemike]

Pleasant surprise to some, just a surprise to others. Being the oldest sibling, my coming back to the Church seemed to tell the younger ones it was OK to be an adult and still have faith.

 

[dolphinlove]

Ive had my fair share of ups and downs with been faithful to the Catholic church, im currently going through a ‘struggle’. I know its the truth, the way and light, but i still can not make myself to be ‘fully’ faithful, i do go to church ‘most’ Sunday’s, but of late have missed a few, and when i do miss them, i feel i hurt God and myself and the guilt kicks in badly for the rest of the week, when i do go, i feel amazing, even though i cant receive the eucharist. Please pray I come back to my old ways and be strong as i was

 

[teresa_lamb]

We get many threads where converts ask for advice on how to deal with friends and family who are against their decision to become Catholic.

But what about reverts? Were there obstacles for you? How did people react and how did you deal with negative attitudes?

Did you then find out who was praying for you while you were lapsed?

When my husband and I came into the Church, I was the revert and he was unbaptised. My side of the family are all catholics, though none practising. My husbands family seems to know who God and Christ are, but have never had any kind of relationship with them.

When we entered the Church we wern’t speaking to either side of our families, so no one said anything to us. However, after a year of scripture reading my husband and I decided it was time to find a Church. Our two older daughters had been raised in the Catholic Church with my mom when the were young girls [my mom was attending then. This was during the early 90s] so we grabbed up the kids, we have four, and headed to the local Catholic Church and never left.

The only one in my family who would have been praying for me to have a relationship with the Lord would have been my born again christian cousin. We spoke quite often during my [conversion, or is it reconversion lol] how ever she was NOT supportive of the choice I made and would frequently share her displeasures about it with me! I got a lot of anti-catholic information from her, but by then I was in RCIA and took her lies to our instructors who countered her claims. I of course would share what I had learned from my instructors with her and we only ended up arguing. She would do the tossing out of scripures at me and make me feel stupid. Once I told her, and this was after a year of attending mass, and just starting RCIA, that I was uncomfortable with all the rosary praying I was seeing going on, she told me to “run, get out of there now” I told her “no, I m going to continue for a while longer”. Eventually my cousin quit speaking to me, she just wouldn’t return my phone calls and always had an excuse.

It also appears I lost my best friend of 30 years because I became a catholic. She is a morman and when, after 5 years of me practicing my faith, she must have realized it wasn’t a phase I was going through…she has basically cut me off…she is on my fb though…but I haven’t seen her in almost 10 years…

My cousin and I are talking again. She is AOG and says they realize catholics are christian… She doesn’t try to use the scripture quote stuff on me to often anymore…I have learned to say “Lets look at it”…

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Ive had my fair share of ups and downs with been faithful to the Catholic church, im currently going through a ‘struggle’. I know its the truth, the way and light, but i still can not make myself to be ‘fully’ faithful, i do go to church ‘most’ Sunday’s, but of late have missed a few, and when i do miss them, i feel i hurt God and myself and the guilt kicks in badly for the rest of the week, when i do go, i feel amazing, even though i cant receive the eucharist. Please pray I come back to my old ways and be strong as i was

I’ll pray for you during adoration and mass today.

I was like that for a number of years and what made me really live my faith was a decision to just do it. I realised i couldn’t have it both ways: be religious and not be religious. That in-between state was making me miserable. So I asked God to help me out and I put my trust in Him. Things started rolling from there. Being faithful has really not been difficult since. Miracles do happen

Hang in there and keep praying.