Those that converted and reverts: what helped you connect with the church?

[joyfulandactive]

Thank you for everyone’s responses. Once you began to be open to Catholicism what were your actual actions to be involved in the faith? Did you attend Mass, join a group of some kind or any other action?

 

[DeSales111]

After many years (30 or more) of being a fallen away Catholic, caught up in secularism, a demonic attack in our home got my attention to how real heaven and hell are. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom leads to knowing God more, knowing God more led to truly falling in love with the Holy Trinity and my Catholic faith. And at the same time it seemed so many challenged my Catholic faith, so I learned my faith with zeal, and the more I learned the more I fell in love with the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith.

It feels good not have one foot on a banana peel while being one step away from hell. Who would have ever thought I would be sitting in the front pew every Sunday now, my my how God can change us in an instant!

God bless to all, always love to hear about those who come to the Catholic faith, our simply come back home!

 

[goout]

Thank you for everyone’s responses. Once you began to be open to Catholicism what were your actual actions to be involved in the faith? Did you attend Mass, join a group of some kind or any other action?

Began to attend scripture studies and other catechetical groups.

Began to visit nursing homes with the Eucharist. For several years I did this on Sunday mornings, going first to the hospital followed by the connected nursing home.
This is probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. The people you visit are sometimes helpless but they heal you in reciprocal fashion. I had one resident in the nursing home who had severe dementia, but, she could sing the Our Father from start to finish. There were continual examples of steadfast faith in the face of life and death struggle.

One thing that sticks out in my mind with the nursing home visits is:
I did not want to do this. After I had this conversion experience I began to act like a Christian, praying more, attending these small groups etc…The Lord put this hospital Eucharistic ministry on my heart. I did not want to do it. I drive by the home every single day. And it’s like he was standing there in the window waving me to come in.
It was way way out of my comfort zone. I thought I would stay “in Church” so to speak.

So in the middle of this resistance I also knew at this point I couldn’t turn my back on Christ, so I continued to be open. During the time I resisted my faith life came to a screeching halt and some desolation set in, and this call to visit became a constant and unpleasant imperative. A “nag”.
Until I actually went out and did it. If the Lord is calling someone to do something he will persist. He will provide the words, the means, the time, the courage. All of it.

If you hear that call and think you have nothing to give, give what you have and he will generously provide the rest.

 

[radiaz]

I reverted after I graduated from college. I grew up Catholic but as our family slowly stopped attending mass throughout the years, I fell away after my first communion. I majored in architecture and after a study abroad trip to Mexico City and visiting the architect Luis Barragan’s studio house I was intrigued by how he implemented his Catholicism in modern architecture. Barragan’s architecture was so timeless and almost incomprehensible to me, it almost felt as if it had a life of its own. I read up on him and found his transcribed Pritzker Prize (like the Nobel prize for architecture) acceptance speech, and a quote was engraved in my memory: “Without the desire for God, our planet would be a sorry wasteland of ugliness.”. After reading the transcription, I decided to go out and search for this “desire for God”. I returned to attending masses every Sunday, joined a Young Adults group at the parish, and was confirmed (long overdue). This also sparked my interest in metaphysics and philosophy with regards to beauty and aesthetics, and how it reveals the presence of God. It wasn’t definitely a “eureka” moment, but this created a snowballing effect in my spiritual life. If anyone is interested is reading his speech, you can find it here: https://www.pritzkerprize.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/1980_Acceptance_Speech.pdf

 

[chessnerd321]

In chronological order:

1. Arguing with a friend who was thinking of converting.
2. Seeing a flyer for a special mass on campus and having a nominally Catholic friend who could go with me and guide me through it.
3. Catholic answers and Bishop Barron. Plenty of other resources online including Protestant counterpoint which I found unconvincing.
4. Meeting the pastor of the parish where I was eventually received.
5. Joining RCIA. Being in RCIA help me feel obligated to go when I hit a rough patch and started feeling less enthusiastic.

 

[Rudolph]

The priority placed on family values. The set teachings of the church. In protestant churches of you have a question most of the time it is left unanswered or you get different answers but in Catholicism there is millennia worth of questions and answers. And the beauty, the art, the churches, everything.