They Think I'm Brainwashed

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeanette_L
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jeanette_L

Guest
I am just heartbroken right now. I am swinging wildly between the joy of coming home to the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil, and the complete heartbreak of every one of my family and friends thinking that I have been brainwashed and taken over by demonic forces.

I don’t know how to explain beauty. It’s almost as simple as that at times. Once you SEE, then all you see when you look at her, this Bride of Christ that I am coming into full communion with, is beauty and I just cannot find the words to convey that to anyone who can’t see it. And it breaks my heart.

Anyone else been going through this?
 
Jeanette

I haven’t been going through exactly what you are going through, my family is Catholic. However my fiance, who comes from a strong protestant upbringing, is going through exactly what you are going through now that her intentions to convert to Catholicism have become known.

It has gotten so bad that her father my not be at our wedding. We have a year to work out our differences and find a middle ground of understanding. They have had good conversations on the phone although he still feels that she has sold him out and joined the enemy. He says that he has some “things” that he wants to personally hand her when we get back from school over the summer. I am looking forward to that mess.

I will tell you what I told her, you are the best example of what catholicism is. Show them your love for Christ, make it undeniable. I pray that by example she can enlighten him to his misconception of the Catholic Church.

God Bless
 
Jeanette,
I understand completely. My mother was okay with my conversion, but my sister calls me a Mary worshipper. My fiance’s mom and aunts tried to anoint me with oil to release that Catholic demon from me. I came into the church alone and that is what hurts. No one was there to celebrate with me. My fiance’ now refuses to marry me, but I don’t worry about it because I know I have found to truth. I will suggest you find some faithful Catholic friends to go through this trouble time. I don’t even discuss religion with my family anymore. It is time for my son’s first communion and I know they probably will not come. Last week as my son and I were taking about 1st communion, he informed me that he as already had 1st communion at my sister church. She didn’t even mention it to me. I was and still am boiling. I can’t wait until I confront her.

Good Luck and May God Bless.
 
Jeannette, there are several books that may help you dispel the “whore of Babylon” misconceptions about our faith.

The best one is Catholicism and Fundamentalism, by our own Karl Keating. It’s big and long and covers everything.

Mr. Keating has also written “What Catholics Really Believe.” It addresses 52 misconceptions, like “Before modern times, laypeople were not allowed to read the Bible.” This could be a good one to loan to your family.

Another good one is “Catholic and Christian,” by Alan Schreck. It’s out of print - I got mine on ebay. Though I heard a rumour that it was being re-published. I sure hope so!

The first step is to convince them that Catholics **are **Christians.

It may also help to remember that they’re saying all this stuff because they love you and they want you to be saved. My fundie friends all know that my becoming a Catholic does not change the fact that I was “born again.”

If you’re dealing with JWs, though, it may be harder. My sister’s one, and I haven’t been brave enough yet to tell her…

I, too, will join the Church this Easter, and I know just egg-zackly what you mean about beauty!

disclaimer: the nicknames I have used above for some sects are just that, nicknames. No insult is intended.
 
Jeanette:

You are not alone in this period. Many who are coming into the Church this year are being tested in many ways…like Christ being tempted in the desert, stay the course, stick with Jesus who saw through all the temptations laid before him.

The Archbishop two Sundays ago said to the Catechumens to be watchful and vigilant at this time for the temptation and doubt will find their way to you at this time.

Of course the ones who do not understand think you’re brainwashed. Pray for them. Talk to their guardian angels when they try to dissuade you. Offer up your own ‘persecutions’ for their conversion and yours.

God bless.

in XT.
 
Jeanette L:
I am just heartbroken right now. I am swinging wildly between the joy of coming home to the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil, and the complete heartbreak of every one of my family and friends thinking that I have been brainwashed and taken over by demonic forces.

I don’t know how to explain beauty. It’s almost as simple as that at times. Once you SEE, then all you see when you look at her, this Bride of Christ that I am coming into full communion with, is beauty and I just cannot find the words to convey that to anyone who can’t see it. And it breaks my heart.

Anyone else been going through this?
Click to expand...
“The safest remedy against the thousand snares and wiles of the enemy is spiritual joy.” – St. Francis of Assisi

“I wish that my brothers would show themselves to be children of the same mother.” – St. Francis of Assisi

Welcome home and God Bless you!
 
40.png
sunnygirl807:
Jeanette,
I understand completely. My mother was okay with my conversion, but my sister calls me a Mary worshipper. My fiance’s mom and aunts tried to anoint me with oil to release that Catholic demon from me. I came into the church alone and that is what hurts. No one was there to celebrate with me. My fiance’ now refuses to marry me, but I don’t worry about it because I know I have found to truth. I will suggest you find some faithful Catholic friends to go through this trouble time. I don’t even discuss religion with my family anymore. It is time for my son’s first communion and I know they probably will not come. Last week as my son and I were taking about 1st communion, he informed me that he as already had 1st communion at my sister church. She didn’t even mention it to me. I was and still am boiling. I can’t wait until I confront her.

Good Luck and May God Bless.
Click to expand...
It would be a good occasion to have a talk with your son about the differences in Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, and the symbolism in others. Because he is old enough to make his First Communion, he is old enough to understand this.

May the Lord ease your “boiling”, and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
 
Jeannette, I am more brokenhearted than thou.

My family led me, my spouse, daughter, and son to believe they considered us Christians until I pressed the issue the past Christmas Eve where the admitted they never believed we were christians in the first place. I confirmed in 97 and had been practicing since 83(long story). Since 92, we have been getting together every Thanksgiving and Christmas. They sat there at every occasion and thought privately
:“These heathens who worship Satan, when will they ever see the light”
Click to expand...
As a result, my immediate family held a vote based on the information provided and decided to detach ourselves from my family with love not get together again. We can no longer feel comfortable sitting in the prescense of so-called christians who believe we are not Christians. I am not suggesting you do the same, but…
Dark times lie ahead. There comes a time when we all must make the decision… .between what is right… and what is easy.
Click to expand...
 
Jeanette, I tried to find a prayer that I once heard but couldn’t. It was a prayer that had two components:

First, it thanked God for the suffering being experienced because of following Jesus Christ.

Second, it asked God to accept this suffering as a sacrifice for the sins of those doing the persecution in the hope and request that the sacrifice be an offering for the conversion of the the persecutors’ hearts and minds.
 
Jeanette,

I am going to pray for you. That is all I can offer right now. But I do want to tell you that your description of the Bride of Christ as beauty was something that really touched me today. Thank you for your words of wisdom.

Good luck and God bless
 
40.png
Mercurius:
Share with them some books by the FATHERS of the CHURCH.

Here they will SEE that it is THEY who are wrong and that the Catholic Faith IS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH. The Faith of the Apostles. The Faith of the Fathers.

I especially recommend:

1) The Apostolic Fathers (who were disciples of the Apostles)
2) The Faith of the Early Fathers Vol.1 (all 3 are great)
3) Eusebius “History of the Church” - what happened AFTER the book of ACTS.
Click to expand...
You would think that anyone interested in knowing any kind of truth about Christianity, would not object to reading Christian history. I have most of the above books and have offered them, including some of the books that Ruthie has mentioned in an above post. But because all these books were so influential in my conversion to Catholicism, they will not go near them. It’s almost superstition like behavior, but that’s where it is. I do appreciate the suggestions.

Fear is a powerful tool, it’s one that has gripped their hearts and minds. And it’s their love for God that has them afraid of being deceived, and I’m sure that there are spirits whispering many things to encourage and buildup that fear. I do understand that. And I also know that what really gripped my heart when I started to see the Church for herself, was this horror in having to acknowledgd that what I had sincerely believed to be the absolute truth about Christian faith, was very truncated, was short sighted and not complete. No one wants to come to that realization, especially if you have tried to be a faithful Christian, even with your ups and downs in life. It’s almost unbearable.

So I do understand all these barriers, and I try to keep them in mind when dealing with family and friends, and it really does come down to prayer at this point. And hoping that whatever the Lord did to bring me to this place where I could receive his grace, he will do the same for them. It is a mystery I don’t understand but will have to accept in faith.
 
You would think that anyone interested in knowing any kind of truth about Christianity, would not object to reading Christian history. I have most of the above books and have offered them, including some of the books that Ruthie has mentioned in an above post. But because all these books were so influential in my conversion to Catholicism, they will not go near them. It’s almost superstition like behavior, but that’s where it is. I do appreciate the suggestions.
Click to expand...
I tried the exact same thing. They took the package I gave them and set it outside…like it was evil or something close to it.
 
40.png
sunnygirl807:
Jeanette,
I understand completely. My mother was okay with my conversion, but my sister calls me a Mary worshipper. My fiance’s mom and aunts tried to anoint me with oil to release that Catholic demon from me. I came into the church alone and that is what hurts. No one was there to celebrate with me. My fiance’ now refuses to marry me, but I don’t worry about it because I know I have found to truth. I will suggest you find some faithful Catholic friends to go through this trouble time. I don’t even discuss religion with my family anymore. It is time for my son’s first communion and I know they probably will not come. Last week as my son and I were taking about 1st communion, he informed me that he as already had 1st communion at my sister church. She didn’t even mention it to me. I was and still am boiling. I can’t wait until I confront her.

Good Luck and May God Bless.
Click to expand...
I am blessed in that no one has called me names, they just believe all that stuff though. And it is painful when you can’t discuss the Lord at all with people you have always shared a real faith with. It always ends in the wrong place.

Your sister was wrong in dishonoring you in that way. I know she probably thinks she is doing what is best for your son, but it was not proper. I don’t think I would allow her to have that kind of access to him, unfortunately, because she has shown that her motives are to influence him behind you back. Like I said, her motives are not impure, in that she believes she is doing right, but you do have to protect him from that kind of confusion.

God Bless and I will pray for you also.
Jeanette
 
40.png
Pjs2ejs:
Jeanette,

I am going to pray for you. That is all I can offer right now. But I do want to tell you that your description of the Bride of Christ as beauty was something that really touched me today. Thank you for your words of wisdom.

Good luck and God bless
Click to expand...
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. And I do appreciate your prayer. I have just have to get through to Easter Vigil. I am going to go say the Rosary with Father Groeschel on his CD, I find it very beautiful and comforting. It’s my alone time in the car and with the Lord, it’s what gets me through sometimes. 🙂

Thanks again,
Jeanette
 
40.png
Orionthehunter:
Jeanette, I tried to find a prayer that I once heard but couldn’t. It was a prayer that had two components:

First, it thanked God for the suffering being experienced because of following Jesus Christ.

Second, it asked God to accept this suffering as a sacrifice for the sins of those doing the persecution in the hope and request that the sacrifice be an offering for the conversion of the the persecutors’ hearts and minds.
Click to expand...
That is very beautiful. When you are new to Catholicism, it really does take awhile to let the truths of the theology of suffering sink into your mindset. It is very foreign to the Christian belief system I am used to. We always rebuked suffering of any kind, did not see any redemption in it. So I welcome the reminder to offer this all to the Lord as part and parcel of my Christian experience.

Thank you!
Jeanette
 
Jeanette L:
Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. And I do appreciate your prayer. I have just have to get through to Easter Vigil. I am going to go say the Rosary with Father Groeschel on his CD, I find it very beautiful and comforting. It’s my alone time in the car and with the Lord, it’s what gets me through sometimes. 🙂 Thanks again,
Jeanette
Click to expand...
An important note. On Easter Vigil, I will be sponsoring a Protestant convert. He is experiencing the same problem you are. He asked me on Ash Wednesday to sponsor him, because of my own story of Conversion and denial from my family. I was so honored by that request I started crying and embarrassed myself in front of the whole RCIA class. Just remember, you are not alone in your suffering. There are some of us that are suffering right along with you and for you.

God Bless.
 
And some of us are experiencing that suffering again when they read of your suffering and the suffering of others.
 
40.png
AquinasXVI:
Jeanette:

You are not alone in this period. Many who are coming into the Church this year are being tested in many ways…like Christ being tempted in the desert, stay the course, stick with Jesus who saw through all the temptations laid before him.

The Archbishop two Sundays ago said to the Catechumens to be watchful and vigilant at this time for the temptation and doubt will find their way to you at this time.

Of course the ones who do not understand think you’re brainwashed. Pray for them. Talk to their guardian angels when they try to dissuade you. Offer up your own ‘persecutions’ for their conversion and yours.

God bless.

in XT.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are right. We received the same warning from our Bishop last week. And also I do have to keep my spirit in check when I am provoked in this way. I feel this anxiety mixed with anger rise up in me, and I know these reactions are not pure. So as I am reflecting on all of the responses I have gotten on this thread, I am more aware that this testing is on many different levels, and I have to let the Lord purify my spirit before I can be effective in showing them that He is the one leading me.

Thanks so much,
Jeanette
 
I’m a convert. My family was less then thrilled. Over time they got used to it. Now they are fine. Don’t push it with them. Once they see you are not possessed or nuts things will start to swing your way.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top