Sitting on the fence

[stephen2814]

Hey everyone, just going thru something many Christians experience, which is hard times and many obstacles. Its always a struggle. Im sitting on the fence in terms of deciding to become Catholic, which is a huge decision that plays a factor in my spiritual growth. My whole family is strongly against Catholic, but I left that protestant religion 5 years ago. Im finding spiritual truth the more I study the Catholic faith. Just need someone to relate to I guess and some guidance. thoughts?God bless!!

 

[mari1234]

Hey everyone, just going thru something many Christians experience, which is hard times and many obstacles. Its always a struggle. Im sitting on the fence in terms of deciding to become Catholic, which is a huge decision that plays a factor in my spiritual growth. My whole family is strongly against Catholic, but I left that protestant religion 5 years ago. Im finding spiritual truth the more I study the Catholic faith. Just need someone to relate to I guess and some guidance. thoughts?God bless!!

Dear Stephen,

You are right in that we are all in need of conversion to the Lord (even if we are cradle Catholics).
If you are interested in learning more about converting to the Catholic faith you might consider finding more information about the process or learning more about the faith by contacting a church near you and asking about the RCIA program.

I am not sure how old you are or how that might impact your familial life, but there might be other posters out who are more helpful to you and your search/struggles. I will be keeping you in my prayers – that you may find peace in your search for the Lord.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Hey everyone, just going thru something many Christians experience, which is hard times and many obstacles. Its always a struggle. Im sitting on the fence in terms of deciding to become Catholic, which is a huge decision that plays a factor in my spiritual growth. My whole family is strongly against Catholic, but I left that protestant religion 5 years ago. Im finding spiritual truth the more I study the Catholic faith. Just need someone to relate to I guess and some guidance. thoughts?God bless!!

I would like to recmmend a book: Rome Sweet Home by Dr Scott and Kimberly Hahn. It is an easy and interesting read. He is a former Presbyterian minister who converted to the Catholic Church, and his wife, who holds a Master’s degree, shares her story and conversion experience in conjunction with his. They address just about everything a Protestant may question about the Catholic faith, having personally experienced it, and since he is a Scripture scholar as well as a theologian (boy does he know his Scripture!) his books are great in addressing the Biblical foundations of Catholicism, which is helpful to Protestants considering conversion. Despite their advanced degrees, the book is written in language anyone can understand, is personal, and should be a great help in giving you insight. As a cradle Catholic who entered into the Protestant world for a while, this book helped me greatly in my return to the Catholic Church, as did other books he has written, which helped me really understand the teachings of the Catholic Church.

You can order it online, it is in many libraries, and also regular bookstores. Many people on these forums have read and recommend this book and Dr Hahn’s numerous other books.

 

[joandarc2008]

This was a quote that I shared a while back with someone that was going through a situation like yours and it seemed to have been well received - it is by Archbishop Fulton Sheen:

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church that is accused of being behind the times, as our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by men. Look for the Church which amid the confusions of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its Voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly it is other worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. But only that which is Divine can be infinitely hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is Divine…the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness.

 

[styrgwillidar]

Greetings,

Some other books worth a read:

Surprised by Truth, Patrick Madrid
Catholicism and Fundamentalism, Keating
What Catholics Really Believe, Keating
Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol I

 

[lutherlic]

I have a list of over 70 bloggers who are all converts to Catholicism. Each of these has posted their “conversion stories” on their blogs. Some stories are short, some long. All are interesting. Click…

img.convertjournal.com/badge_convert_stories_125.png

Also, there is a good list of books by Catholic converts too.

 

[StevenFrancis]

Hey everyone, just going thru something many Christians experience, which is hard times and many obstacles. Its always a struggle. Im sitting on the fence in terms of deciding to become Catholic, which is a huge decision that plays a factor in my spiritual growth. My whole family is strongly against Catholic, but I left that protestant religion 5 years ago. Im finding spiritual truth the more I study the Catholic faith. Just need someone to relate to I guess and some guidance. thoughts?God bless!!

I am a convert from cultural secular Lutheranism and Buddhism. But everyone of us converts has a different story and set of circumstances. Of course it is only God who will come and take you off the fence. So for a start, I hope that you spend a good deal of time in prayer about the matter. Having said that, I will share that my journey didn’t take a Catholic turn until I (for no particular reason that I can really think of at the time), bought “The Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn on an audiobook from a truck stop while driving from Kansas to Nevada. I THOUGHT it was going to be a little insight into the book of Revelations, which is a very hard to understand bible book. Honesly, I didn’t even read the box enough to know it WAS Catholic. This sounds crazy from such a trifle, but I was pretty much ready to convert by the time I reached Nevada. Seriously. That’s how oddly the Holy Spirit can work through us. I had spent the previous 10 years or so as Christian friendly and Christian interested Buddhist, but the only person I talked to about religion at all was a Methodist friend at work. I come from a long line of what I would call “cultural” German Lutherans. Only my Grandmother attended Church on a regular basis, and as far as I know, my line has to go to before the reformation before you’d find a Catholic, so I’m a bit of a curiosity to my family, but they’re so secular by and large, that it brings on no more than confused and dazed, (and generally bored), attitude when I discuss my Catholocism, which I do anyway.

Knowing what I know NOW, (even though it wasn’t my own initial nudge), I’d recommend two things for anyone who is feeling drawn to Catholicism.

A slow, meaningful, honest, unbiased reading of the Gospel according to Saint John preceding each reading session with a prayer to the Holy Spirit for guidance (repeat as often as necessary. I do this perpetually still), coupled with an enrollment into RCIA, and I’m sure you’d end up with a beautiful Easter Vigil in your near future.

Oh…and of course go to many masses, and listen with your heart.

May the Holy Spirit guide you to the Father, through the Son, and bring you into our family. I hope you find it as life changing and beautiful as I and my wife did.

I am a new creation. I understand what Jesus was trying to explain to Nicodemus finally.

God bless you,

Steve

 

[stephen2814]

Thankyou for all the responses. It’s more then what I expected.

John 13:35: “By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

I will be definetly looking into reading some books, especially “rome sweet home”. Thanks for the references guys. It was comforting hearing the conversion experiences also, very interesting.

God bless each and every one of you,

Fellow soldier in Christ