E
ErikaA
Guest
The subject line says it all. What made you swim the Tiber? I ask because I’m contemplating it heavily and want to know if my reasons are as common as I suspect they are. Thanks in advance for the responses.
- Status
S
Scottgun
Guest
- My grandma. A Sicilian who struggled through the Great Depression with little education. Her unwavering faith made all my fine-sounding academic ideas sound like hoo-haw.
- At my Lutheran Church there was a copy of the Cathecism of the Catholic Church. I read it and realized my pre-concieved notions of what the Church taught were wrong. This got me into further study. Each time I encountered a distinctively Catholic doctrine, I realized I didn’t have a problem with it.
- The Catholics I keep encountering. I don’t make fast friends, but the Catholics I encountered in daily life (even when I was agnosti-secular-hedo-watchamacallit) became the best of friends. It’s just something about them and their lives that attracted me.
- I’ve always instinctively known that ends do not justify the means, and while the whole world goes consequentialist, the Church is one of the last places left that still resists that dreadful zeitgeist.
M
Mannyfit75
Guest
Because my parents consented on my behalf since I was just a baby when I was converted. 
A
amontoya
Guest
I swam the Tiber because my misconceptions of Catholicism, couldn’t hold water!
When I began to study what the Church teaches, I knew I would need to convert. The church I converted from was a “restoration” church. They were trying to restore the New Testament church. I soon came to the conclusion that there is nothing to restore, because there was no “great apostasy.” I read some of the church fathers and decrees from church councils, and I realized that the Church of the first few centuries taught just what the Church of today teaches. It was difficult, but I had to admit that the Catholic Church is apostolic in origin. The bishops of today teach what Jesus taught.
I am comitted to following Jesus wherever He leads, and He lead me home to Rome. I swam the Tiber, because I wanted Christ in His fullness.
When I began to study what the Church teaches, I knew I would need to convert. The church I converted from was a “restoration” church. They were trying to restore the New Testament church. I soon came to the conclusion that there is nothing to restore, because there was no “great apostasy.” I read some of the church fathers and decrees from church councils, and I realized that the Church of the first few centuries taught just what the Church of today teaches. It was difficult, but I had to admit that the Catholic Church is apostolic in origin. The bishops of today teach what Jesus taught.
I am comitted to following Jesus wherever He leads, and He lead me home to Rome. I swam the Tiber, because I wanted Christ in His fullness.
L
love4mary
Guest
Short and Sweet. God brought me out of Atheism and then I asked Him where I would find Him. His Light led me to the Catholic Church, I swam the Tiber Against the current ( I can never do things the easy way)
I lost friends and most family support, but what I gained far FAR exceeded any loss.
I can never do things the easy way)I lost friends and most family support, but what I gained far FAR exceeded any loss.
H
Home_at_Last
Guest
My conversion was a miracle, here is the condensed version. I was raised by a very, very, very anti-catholic mother. My father was a non-practicing Catholic. I was raised to believe every anti-catholic story there was, and I held fast to those beliefs. I had always attended different non-denominational churches, lead bible studies, taught Sunday school etc. However, I never felt complete, or at peace. I would always wonder why, if we all believed that the bible was the word of God, were there so many different interpretations. I finally got tired of it all and quit going to any church all together. This was not giving me peace either and finally one day I prayed and said “I know there has to be truth, you said you are the truth, if there is truth please show it to me.” Soon after this prayer, Pope John Paul II was dying and I began to watch the coverage. The thing that struck me was that these Catholics seemed to truly love Jesus. Then when the Pope died I watched the funeral and though I did not know what it was at the time I was hearing, they began to pray the Litany of the Saints and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. It made me cry. The search for truth was on. I began to read everything I could find. The conflict inside of me was actually mentally and physically painful. At times I thought I had lost my mind, because as I learned the truth I began to tell people like my husband and mother (both very anti-catholic still) and they would tell me it was satan tricking me and that he was posing as God to me and I was being deluded. I often wondered if that was what was happening and if it was, why would God be playing tricks on me when I was so sincerely seeking Him. He wouldn’t! God had to completely change my heart. I had years of prejudice covering it. However, during this whole process I would constantly hear Jesus in a small voice saying TRUST ME. I learned what trusting Him truly meant and no matter what everyone around me was saying He gave me the strength to go forward. I trusted Him and went to RCIA and have been Catholic for 2+ years. I cannot explain the absolute peace and joy that I now have. It is not easy. I am the only catholic in a very anti-catholic family. The only catholics that were in my family were on my dads side, and they have all passed away. (Aside:never underestimate the power of a grandmother praying her rosary) It is very difficult at times. My husband attends a very fundamentalist church, as does my mother and they still think I am being deceived by the devil. However, I would not give up this amazing, indescribable gift that God has given me for anything. My family may think I am following “the devil” but I am home and please God never let me turn away. TRUST JESUS. I know it can be scarey to swim the Tiber, but it is worth it. I will be praying for you.
M
MSParrott
Guest
Both of my parents grew up Catholic, but converted to mormonism and all 6 of us kids were brought up in that setting But in the meantime, I went to Catholic school (talk about confusion). When I was about 7 or 8, one of my sisters converted to Catholicism and she showed me a picture of the Blessed Mother - that stayed with me for a long time. I thought she looked so gentle and I wanted to learn more about her
When I was a teenager we didn’t go to church, and I knew I needed Jesus in my life, so I decided to go back. But I went to a mormon church and I was an absolute nervous wreck during that time. I was panicking and dreading Sundays. Needless to say I only went once or twice.
Fast forward to when I was 20 or 21 - again I got the feeling that I needed to have God in my life and I kept remembering when my sister showed me the picture of the Blessed Mother. I knew in my heart that this is the one true Church and I needed to follow this calling. So I signed up for RCIA, but at this time of year, the class was just ending, so I had to wait for the next one, so I met with a nun who gave me a Catholic Bible and we met weekly for lessons in the meantime and we would often talk to the priest. I knew I had to at least go to Mass, although I knew I could not receive Communion. Well based on my past church experiences, I was a nervous wreck. But the second I walked through the door of my new parish, all anxiety and nervousness was GONE. I never looked back and I am thankful to have had this calling to be Catholic.
When I was a teenager we didn’t go to church, and I knew I needed Jesus in my life, so I decided to go back. But I went to a mormon church and I was an absolute nervous wreck during that time. I was panicking and dreading Sundays. Needless to say I only went once or twice.
Fast forward to when I was 20 or 21 - again I got the feeling that I needed to have God in my life and I kept remembering when my sister showed me the picture of the Blessed Mother. I knew in my heart that this is the one true Church and I needed to follow this calling. So I signed up for RCIA, but at this time of year, the class was just ending, so I had to wait for the next one, so I met with a nun who gave me a Catholic Bible and we met weekly for lessons in the meantime and we would often talk to the priest. I knew I had to at least go to Mass, although I knew I could not receive Communion. Well based on my past church experiences, I was a nervous wreck. But the second I walked through the door of my new parish, all anxiety and nervousness was GONE. I never looked back and I am thankful to have had this calling to be Catholic.
R
RHisComingHome
Guest
All of these stories are so beautiful. And mine is very much along the same line. I was a “seeker” as the Evangelicals like to call it. I was raised non-denom and became a Methodist but I just wasn’t happy. I was so confused by all the denominations and all the fighting. And I hated anti-Catholicism. I never believed that Catholics could be that bad! All I knew is that I was spiritually starving and couldn’t find the right nourishment. And then I became involved with a Catholic who wasn’t practicing but wanted to return to the Church. So I decided to look into it and 2 years later, I was baptized into the Church and have found full nourishment in the Eucharist. My mother’s family has always been very anti-Catholic but thankfully, they keep their mouths shut around us. My mom, on the other hand, is so happy about what I have become and how content I am that she knows that the Church is wonderful. I’m praying for her conversion!
The peace that fills my heart is something I cannot put into words. It’s just so great to not be searching anymore!
The peace that fills my heart is something I cannot put into words. It’s just so great to not be searching anymore!
S
SacredHeartFan
Guest
When I lived in sin, I got in ALOT of trouble one time and I knew there had to be something more in life. I was grown up in a Catholic home, but soem of my friends were protestant. So I went through the whole accepting Jesus as my personal Lord and savior. Over the summer after school ended I started to watch EWTN, and as I found out more about my faith, the more I loved it. I went to confession and swam the Tiber, as a revert.
J
jmcrae
Guest
One. Holy. Catholic. Apostolic.
That, and the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharist.
C
Cat
Guest
From 1998-2004, our daughters belonged to an elite synchronized skating team in the nearby Big City that held practices on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 5:30 A.M. until 1:00 PM, a schedule that made it impossible for us to attend Protestant church services. (Now there are many Protestant churches in our city that hold Saturday evening services.)
We knew that in the book of Hebrews, we are commanded to not forsake assembling with other believers. So out of obedience to the Lord, we began attending the Saturday vigil Mass at our neighborhood Catholic church. We were fortunate that our Protestant churches had never been virulently anti-Catholic, and because of our involvement with pro-life work and Bread for the World, we believed that Catholics were Christians who had “added a few things.” So we came to Mass without the prejudices that many people have against Catholicism.
A few weeks after that first Mass, we made an appointment with one of the priests and asked him to explain what was happening in Mass and what Protestants like us were allowed and not allowed to do. He was very kind and thorough, and encouraged us to join the church’s Apologetics Class, taught by a college professor who had converted from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism. So we joined the class.
In January 2002, we were kicked out of our Evangelical Free church after a female pastor made a lot of heinous and FALSE accusations. (A year later, she was fired from that church after a deacon caught her in a lie.)
It was a horrific situation that is impacting our family to this day. I had graphic nightmares about betrayal and execution, and to this day, I have a difficult time trusting people. For many months, I cried for hours each day; if you are of an evangelical background, you know that your entire life is wrapped up in church activities and socials. This was all ripped away from us. I went from having 5-6 evenings of church ministries to nothing. I actually turned on the TV for the first time in many years!
At that time, I stopped reading the Bible because I stopped believing in sola Scriptura. The pastors in that EFree church had used the Bible to justify their cruel and capricious treatment of our family, and I was afraid that I, too, would fall into false beliefs and act like a monster if I read the Bible. So I closed it up for the first time in my life.
We continued to attend Mass for no other reason than simple blind trust and obedience in Jesus Christ. He had said to assemble with other believers, and we were just obeying His commands.
We prayed asking the Lord to lead us to a group of Christians who were serious about their faith. I told my husband that I would not attend any church unless I was “wooed.”
For the next two years, we continued to attend Mass and the apologetics class, and we studied. We read many books and writings of the Early Church Fathers, and histories, and we spent time online on Protestant forums, and we learned so much.
In 2003, both my husband and I came to conclusion that the Catholic Church lined up with the Bible in every way. In fact, we remembered the prayer that we had prayed, and realized that God had answered it by leading us–wooing us–to the Catholic Church! At first we were afraid that we were just falling for a lie because of our vulnerable state after being kicked out of the EFree church. But we had grown up trusting the Lord, and we knew His Voice, and we both recognized Him, Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament. We knew that the Catholic Church was truly the Church that He had established in Matthew 16.
We made the decision to join RCIA and were received into the Catholic Church in 2004.
This year, our older daughter is in RCIA in her city, and will be received into the Church in 2008.
We are praying hard for our younger daughter and her fiance. Both of them are interested in Catholicism, but the hurt that she experienced in our EFree church is still with her. We talked over Christmas about her fears of hell, and I told her that the Blessed Mother is praying for her and asking Her Son to have mercy because of the cruel way she was treated by the men and women of that EFree church. She said that this was a comfort to her.
We knew that in the book of Hebrews, we are commanded to not forsake assembling with other believers. So out of obedience to the Lord, we began attending the Saturday vigil Mass at our neighborhood Catholic church. We were fortunate that our Protestant churches had never been virulently anti-Catholic, and because of our involvement with pro-life work and Bread for the World, we believed that Catholics were Christians who had “added a few things.” So we came to Mass without the prejudices that many people have against Catholicism.
A few weeks after that first Mass, we made an appointment with one of the priests and asked him to explain what was happening in Mass and what Protestants like us were allowed and not allowed to do. He was very kind and thorough, and encouraged us to join the church’s Apologetics Class, taught by a college professor who had converted from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism. So we joined the class.
In January 2002, we were kicked out of our Evangelical Free church after a female pastor made a lot of heinous and FALSE accusations. (A year later, she was fired from that church after a deacon caught her in a lie.)
It was a horrific situation that is impacting our family to this day. I had graphic nightmares about betrayal and execution, and to this day, I have a difficult time trusting people. For many months, I cried for hours each day; if you are of an evangelical background, you know that your entire life is wrapped up in church activities and socials. This was all ripped away from us. I went from having 5-6 evenings of church ministries to nothing. I actually turned on the TV for the first time in many years!
At that time, I stopped reading the Bible because I stopped believing in sola Scriptura. The pastors in that EFree church had used the Bible to justify their cruel and capricious treatment of our family, and I was afraid that I, too, would fall into false beliefs and act like a monster if I read the Bible. So I closed it up for the first time in my life.
We continued to attend Mass for no other reason than simple blind trust and obedience in Jesus Christ. He had said to assemble with other believers, and we were just obeying His commands.
We prayed asking the Lord to lead us to a group of Christians who were serious about their faith. I told my husband that I would not attend any church unless I was “wooed.”
For the next two years, we continued to attend Mass and the apologetics class, and we studied. We read many books and writings of the Early Church Fathers, and histories, and we spent time online on Protestant forums, and we learned so much.
In 2003, both my husband and I came to conclusion that the Catholic Church lined up with the Bible in every way. In fact, we remembered the prayer that we had prayed, and realized that God had answered it by leading us–wooing us–to the Catholic Church! At first we were afraid that we were just falling for a lie because of our vulnerable state after being kicked out of the EFree church. But we had grown up trusting the Lord, and we knew His Voice, and we both recognized Him, Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament. We knew that the Catholic Church was truly the Church that He had established in Matthew 16.
We made the decision to join RCIA and were received into the Catholic Church in 2004.
This year, our older daughter is in RCIA in her city, and will be received into the Church in 2008.
We are praying hard for our younger daughter and her fiance. Both of them are interested in Catholicism, but the hurt that she experienced in our EFree church is still with her. We talked over Christmas about her fears of hell, and I told her that the Blessed Mother is praying for her and asking Her Son to have mercy because of the cruel way she was treated by the men and women of that EFree church. She said that this was a comfort to her.
C
chris_molter
Guest
The problems in the Episcopal Church led me to study and read a lot more Church history. I came to the conclusion that all the problems with my church (and all protestant denominations, really) is the issue of authority. We all say the Bible has authority, but who gets to say what the Bible actually says when there are two mutually exclusive interpretations? Majority vote? Scholarly consensus? The approaches taken by protestantism to that ultimate question were insufficient, IMO, and only the Catholics and Orthodox had any real answer to it.
That left those two choices. That was simple. I just couldn’t get around the Pope. Every time I looked into the reasons why the authority of the Papacy was rejected, the historical and Biblical arguments made by Catholicism were much stronger.
Having Cardinal Ratzinger elected Pope was the “nail in the coffin” for my life in Anglicanism and I came into full communion not long after.
That left those two choices. That was simple. I just couldn’t get around the Pope. Every time I looked into the reasons why the authority of the Papacy was rejected, the historical and Biblical arguments made by Catholicism were much stronger.
Having Cardinal Ratzinger elected Pope was the “nail in the coffin” for my life in Anglicanism and I came into full communion not long after.
E
ErikaA
Guest
Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories. My struggles are very much like your’s. I too have an anti-Catholic mother, actually an anti-religion agnostic mother. And I also find the Protestant doctrines (or lack thereof) illogical and misinformed.
I’m still struggling with Mary and will continue to pray about this. The Catholic devotion to Mary is something I have difficulty understanding although I am convinced it is a cornerstone.
And to second what some of you said, the power of a devout grandmother praying the Rosary is great. It sticks with you forever. My father was an altar boy but hasn’t been to Church since he married my mom. When I had my Evangelical “conversion”, he was displeased with my religiosity, but now that I’m studying Catholicism, he’s interested in my journey of faith. I think he misses the Church.
I’m still struggling with Mary and will continue to pray about this. The Catholic devotion to Mary is something I have difficulty understanding although I am convinced it is a cornerstone.
And to second what some of you said, the power of a devout grandmother praying the Rosary is great. It sticks with you forever. My father was an altar boy but hasn’t been to Church since he married my mom. When I had my Evangelical “conversion”, he was displeased with my religiosity, but now that I’m studying Catholicism, he’s interested in my journey of faith. I think he misses the Church.
E
EDKidd
Guest
Do potential 2008 swimmers count? If so then here’s my reasons.
My 2 reasons are non-spiritual & spiritual
Reason 1 non-spiritual - My Christianity began as a Fundementalist and certain things they taught there never really felt right to me. Moreover, my questions regarding those issues were hardly aknowledged and certainly never addressed. When I moved to a CofE church, I felt that they were missing ‘something’ and started to explore Catholicism largely in an historical way (Henry VIII and all that). This soon brought about the realisation that were it not for a few twists and turns of history, England could well have remained a Catholic country. Logically I could only look towards Rome from then on.
Reason 2 spiritual - I felt a deep yearning and compulsion to become Catholic that I have tried to explain to people but to no avail. Oddly enough only my Priest understands it - though I’m not sure I do fully. It’s as though my life depends on it - which it does I suppose. It’s causing problems with my wife, which have been discussed on other threads here but as I keep on saying to her, ‘if God is telling me to become Catholic, I’m going to do as He says. Wouldn’t you?’
My 2 reasons are non-spiritual & spiritual
Reason 1 non-spiritual - My Christianity began as a Fundementalist and certain things they taught there never really felt right to me. Moreover, my questions regarding those issues were hardly aknowledged and certainly never addressed. When I moved to a CofE church, I felt that they were missing ‘something’ and started to explore Catholicism largely in an historical way (Henry VIII and all that). This soon brought about the realisation that were it not for a few twists and turns of history, England could well have remained a Catholic country. Logically I could only look towards Rome from then on.
Reason 2 spiritual - I felt a deep yearning and compulsion to become Catholic that I have tried to explain to people but to no avail. Oddly enough only my Priest understands it - though I’m not sure I do fully. It’s as though my life depends on it - which it does I suppose. It’s causing problems with my wife, which have been discussed on other threads here but as I keep on saying to her, ‘if God is telling me to become Catholic, I’m going to do as He says. Wouldn’t you?’
I
IrishAm
Guest
Because of the loving witness of the family across the street while I was growing up.
D
Donald45
Guest
**I was raised as a Methodist, spent my late teens and half of my twenties as a Pentecostal/Charismatic, and was a convinced, committed Presbyterian during all of my thirties. And, although I experienced great spiritual benefits in each of these faith traditions, there always seemed to be some portion of each group’s belief-system that I just couldn’t fully embrace. They each possessed various parts of the picture, but no single denomination or group appeared to have the portrait of the Christian faith in its fullness. **
**One Sunday morning in 1997, my Presbyterian pastor approached me following my adult Bible class (I was then on staff as an instructor of Scripture and doctrine) to see if I’d be interested in writing a booklet for our congregation that would refute the teachings of the Catholic Church. I eagerly accepted the project, and immediately went to work. Right away, however, I realized that the only books on Catholicism that I owned were written by Protestant critics. This may be a place to start my research, I thought, but, in order to be as fair and objective as possible in my analysis, I knew I needed to study first-hand works that were actually written by Catholic authors. I wanted to encounter and evaluate Catholic claims “from the horse’s mouth,” so to speak. My local Protestant bookstore had a small section of Catholic books, but there wasn’t much there, so I visited a Catholic bookstore to pick up a few texts on Catholic doctrine, history, and ethics. I bought about half-a-dozen books on various subjects, and headed home to begin researching the booklet I was going to write. **
**Well, that booklet has yet to be written. The more I read about the Catholic faith, the stronger became my realization that many things that I, as a life-long Protestant, had believed concerning Catholic thought were simply not true. Most of my assumptions about Catholic belief and behavior turned out to consist of misconceptions, misrepresentations, and even outright falsehoods that I had been taught as gospel truth all of my life. One by one, as I studied, prayed, and poured over my Bible and this new Catholic material (along with a thorough re-reading of my Protestant critiques), these false assumptions fell away until I could no longer justify remaining a Protestant. To shorten a long story, after more than three years of intense study, prayer, and discussion with both Protestant and Catholic believers, I entered the Catholic Church at Easter of 2001. **
One of the strongest lines of evidence in favor of the Catholic faith was, for me, the fact that the early Church seemed so very “Catholic” in its doctrine and worship. As part of my study, I read the writings of the early Church Fathers, those Christian writers and scholars who lived from the first through the fifth centuries. Several of them were actually disciples (students) of the apostles themselves, and some were taught by those who had known the apostles. As I read their descriptions of early Church life and faith, I couldn’t help noticing how “Catholic” the early Church seemed, and how unlike Protestantism it appeared. The writings of these early Christians are filled with “Catholic” ideas and practices, which had been taught to them by the apostles. This, I saw, is the Ancient Faith. This is the faith that many of these early Christians were martyred for. This is the Church established and sustained by Christ himself, over which the gates of hell will never prevail (Matt.16:18). I’m glad and grateful to be a part of Christ’s Church, where the Christian faith resides in its fullness.
Blessings,
Don
+T+
**One Sunday morning in 1997, my Presbyterian pastor approached me following my adult Bible class (I was then on staff as an instructor of Scripture and doctrine) to see if I’d be interested in writing a booklet for our congregation that would refute the teachings of the Catholic Church. I eagerly accepted the project, and immediately went to work. Right away, however, I realized that the only books on Catholicism that I owned were written by Protestant critics. This may be a place to start my research, I thought, but, in order to be as fair and objective as possible in my analysis, I knew I needed to study first-hand works that were actually written by Catholic authors. I wanted to encounter and evaluate Catholic claims “from the horse’s mouth,” so to speak. My local Protestant bookstore had a small section of Catholic books, but there wasn’t much there, so I visited a Catholic bookstore to pick up a few texts on Catholic doctrine, history, and ethics. I bought about half-a-dozen books on various subjects, and headed home to begin researching the booklet I was going to write. **
**Well, that booklet has yet to be written. The more I read about the Catholic faith, the stronger became my realization that many things that I, as a life-long Protestant, had believed concerning Catholic thought were simply not true. Most of my assumptions about Catholic belief and behavior turned out to consist of misconceptions, misrepresentations, and even outright falsehoods that I had been taught as gospel truth all of my life. One by one, as I studied, prayed, and poured over my Bible and this new Catholic material (along with a thorough re-reading of my Protestant critiques), these false assumptions fell away until I could no longer justify remaining a Protestant. To shorten a long story, after more than three years of intense study, prayer, and discussion with both Protestant and Catholic believers, I entered the Catholic Church at Easter of 2001. **
One of the strongest lines of evidence in favor of the Catholic faith was, for me, the fact that the early Church seemed so very “Catholic” in its doctrine and worship. As part of my study, I read the writings of the early Church Fathers, those Christian writers and scholars who lived from the first through the fifth centuries. Several of them were actually disciples (students) of the apostles themselves, and some were taught by those who had known the apostles. As I read their descriptions of early Church life and faith, I couldn’t help noticing how “Catholic” the early Church seemed, and how unlike Protestantism it appeared. The writings of these early Christians are filled with “Catholic” ideas and practices, which had been taught to them by the apostles. This, I saw, is the Ancient Faith. This is the faith that many of these early Christians were martyred for. This is the Church established and sustained by Christ himself, over which the gates of hell will never prevail (Matt.16:18). I’m glad and grateful to be a part of Christ’s Church, where the Christian faith resides in its fullness.
Blessings,
Don
+T+
R
RWMorris
Guest
Tiber Swim Team Class of 2006
I was raised basically Mennonite. While my people had a deep and fervent love for God, I kept finding Scripture that we never practiced and also Scripture that did not back up what we did practice.
I left my church when I was 18 and joined the Air Force, feeling lost. It was after I had been married and had my first baby that I knew something was missing. I went to an Anglican service and it was so beautiful that I knew I must attend church in a liturgical setting.
After 18 years, the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop. I knew right then that it was Rome or nothing. It took a while to bring my husband around, about three years, but we finally attended RCIA and all our questions were answered. We were confirmed in the Catholic Church in April 2006 and our marriage was convalidated December 2006 (my husband had to wait for an annulment).
My faith has been hard-won…I am the only Catholic in my family and our children have not converted with us. My husband isn’t the only Catholic in his family, but the only one who practices. We never got any flak for converting but no one is interested either.
I wouldn’t give up my faith for anything; it took too long to get here and I’ll never leave the Church.
I was raised basically Mennonite. While my people had a deep and fervent love for God, I kept finding Scripture that we never practiced and also Scripture that did not back up what we did practice.
I left my church when I was 18 and joined the Air Force, feeling lost. It was after I had been married and had my first baby that I knew something was missing. I went to an Anglican service and it was so beautiful that I knew I must attend church in a liturgical setting.
After 18 years, the Episcopal Church consecrated an openly gay bishop. I knew right then that it was Rome or nothing. It took a while to bring my husband around, about three years, but we finally attended RCIA and all our questions were answered. We were confirmed in the Catholic Church in April 2006 and our marriage was convalidated December 2006 (my husband had to wait for an annulment).
My faith has been hard-won…I am the only Catholic in my family and our children have not converted with us. My husband isn’t the only Catholic in his family, but the only one who practices. We never got any flak for converting but no one is interested either.
I wouldn’t give up my faith for anything; it took too long to get here and I’ll never leave the Church.
W
water
Guest
I think he misses the Church. I pray that your journey will help him too!
P
Pixie_Dust
Guest
Quick answer: God. Made. Me.
History: “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.” ~Cardinal John Henry Newman
I got a little book called “Early Christian Writings” translated by Maxwell Staniforth that had a HUGE impact on me. Those early Christians sounded so … CATHOLIC!
Authority: Jesus left a Church on earth with the Authority to teach the Truth, to forgive sins, and to make a pure offering in perpetuity.
Scriptures: The Catholic Church did not add 7 books to the Bible as I was taught, but they were removed by 16th Century Protestants. The more I read the Gospels in light of the Catholic interpretation, the more sense it made - more so than any other interpretation I’d heard before.
I have a longer version of my conversion story posted here and concluded here.
R
rpp
Guest
I became an atheist around the age of 19 and was an atheist until I was about 42.
On one evening in October of 2003, I experienced a series of miraculous events which resulted in my sudden conversion to the Catholic Church. It would be correct to say that my conversion from atheism to the Catholic Church took less than one breath, while simultaneously taking two weeks; these time periods taking place not consecutively, but concurrently over the course of a single evening. (I know that sounds a little nonsensical, but that what happened. That is why I call it a miracle as there is no natural explanation to what happened to me and the result brought me to the Truth of God and His Church.)
I attended Mass for the very first time the next day and began the 16-month RCIA journey 10 days later. I was confirmed in 2005.
On one evening in October of 2003, I experienced a series of miraculous events which resulted in my sudden conversion to the Catholic Church. It would be correct to say that my conversion from atheism to the Catholic Church took less than one breath, while simultaneously taking two weeks; these time periods taking place not consecutively, but concurrently over the course of a single evening. (I know that sounds a little nonsensical, but that what happened. That is why I call it a miracle as there is no natural explanation to what happened to me and the result brought me to the Truth of God and His Church.)
I attended Mass for the very first time the next day and began the 16-month RCIA journey 10 days later. I was confirmed in 2005.
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