What first made you a devout Christian?

[distracted]

I was raised Catholic (cradle)… but wasn’t catechized…

Then when i was a teen, i had a conversion experience the Protestants call “born again”

I was really into Jesus for a couple yrs… but then the devil got me (to make a long story short)… and i got lost… and wasn’t catechized… .so really got messed up

Then i picked up a rosary one day and started praying it… To this day, i have no idea WHY i did this… because i didn’t believe in it, to speak of… didn’t think it would do one good thing for me… and felt i didnt’ have time for it…

but it changed my whole life… (some for the worst,but spiritually and etc… for the better)

anyway, eventually i found my way back to the RCC

i was just wondering what first made YOU a Christian?

and what helps you to stay one?

 

[4Squarebaby]

What made me more then a Christian in name only? Well besides the reading and pastors teachings began to make sense.

Then there was Kanye West. At the Grammy Awards, that year was the breakthrough of “faith based music”. After talking about Jesus in his rap he got up to accept his awards and during his interviews everything was “me, ME, ME!”.

What I learned was that there was more to it then just saying it. I had to actually live His way.

 

[distracted]

What made me more then a Christian in name only? Well besides the reading and pastors teachings began to make sense.

Then there was Kanye West. At the Grammy Awards, that year was the breakthrough of “faith based music”. After talking about Jesus in his rap he got up to accept his awards and during his interviews everything was “me, ME, ME!”.

What I learned was that there was more to it then just saying it. I had to actually live His way.

yeah, i hear ya…

i used to have this friend who used to watch all those televangelists… I won’t mention any names but it seems that a lot of them only spouted off about scriptures they wanted to focus on, not the entire Bible… and lived like Hollywood stars do…

St. Stephen was stoned to death… so much for HIS health, wealth and prosperity…

St. Peter was crucified upside down… ditto… st. Paul… etc…

not to mention what happend to the very founder of the Church…

 

[Soutane]

My Baptism.Being born again in water and the Spirit.This happened minutes after my birth as my Mother was concerned that I would not live.

Also being raised by a devout Irish Catholic Mother and being taught by Usuline nuns and Jesuit priests.

And finally,the birth of MY son-God has given me the mission of raising him to be a devout Catholic man,husband and father,or priest.That tends to help one focus.

 

[distracted]

My Baptism.Being born again in water and the Spirit.This happened minutes after my birth as my Mother was concerned that I would not live.

Also being raised by a devout Irish Catholic Mother and being taught by Usuline nuns and Jesuit priests.

And finally,the birth of MY son-God has given me the mission of raising him to be a devout Catholic man,husband and father,or priest.That tends to help one focus.

so have you been Catholic, practicing, all your life?

if so, you may be the only one I “know”… know of…

and if so, you are blessed…

 

[lumenorientale]

Hmmm…very long story. But I’ll try to boil it down. I was baptised as a baby, but not raised in the faith at all. Became an avowed atheist in high school, and remained so during the first 2 years of college. Then I became pregnant, and had an abortion. Horrible experience, I’d rather not rehash it again as I’ve already told my whole story a few different times (anyways, going into the details of it will take up too much space). Saw Mother Theresa on t.v., thought “hmm, this is the type of person I’ve been a militant atheist against all this time?” Found an antique rosary in my mother’s room. It was so old, the corpus on the cross was all but unrecognizable. Picked it up, for some strange reason, started praying the rosary (you would have wondered what was going through my head at the time, if you’d known me. I don’t even know what was going through my head).

Well, after about a month of that, I found myself going to the local Catholic parish. Then I made an appointment with the priest and discussed getting catechized and confirmed. And since then, well…here I am. Trying to be a devout follower of Christ. Mine is a story of how patient and loving the Lord is.

 

[distracted]

Hmmm…very long story. But I’ll try to boil it down. I was baptised as a baby, but not raised in the faith at all. Became an avowed atheist in high school, and remained so during the first 2 years of college. Then I became pregnant, and had an abortion. Horrible experience, I’d rather not rehash it again as I’ve already told my whole story a few different times (anyways, going into the details of it will take up too much space). Saw Mother Theresa on t.v., thought “hmm, this is the type of person I’ve been a militant atheist against all this time?” Found an antique rosary in my mother’s room. It was so old, the corpus on the cross was all but unrecognizable. Picked it up, for some strange reason, started praying the rosary (you would have wondered what was going through my head at the time, if you’d known me. I don’t even know what was going through my head).

Well, after about a month of that, I found myself going to the local Catholic parish. Then I made an appointment with the priest and discussed getting catechized and confirmed. And since then, well…here I am. Trying to be a devout follower of Christ. Mine is a story of how patient and loving the Lord is.

wow… your story is a lot like mine… (except never had an abortion)… especially that part about praying the rosary and not knowing WHY you were doing so… i still find it very strange that i did that when i didn’t even have a desire to do it… … It may be the one time in my life God actually interfered with my free will??? No, he woudln’t do that… would he??? I thank Him profusely if he did…

i kinda “went to Hell” after praying the rosary, cirucumstantially… but spritually, it was a big turnaround… & eventually the circumstances got… ironed out…

anyway, so sorry to hear you had an abortion… I don’t know exactly where unborn children (or any children, for that matter, under the Age of Reason) go after death, but i say: it can’t be much worse than Earth… with all the sin, temptation, etc…

anyway… thanks for this uplifting story.

 

[HHMom]

Me too on the rosary.

I was a church going Catholic, but really a lukewarm one. I picked up a cord/mission one at a church I visited and prayed with it for months. After that I “heated up” so to speak…

 

[distracted]

Me too on the rosary.

I was a church going Catholic, but really a lukewarm one. I picked up a cord/mission one at a church I visited and prayed with it for months. After that I “heated up” so to speak…

you heated up… Does that mean you are now a fanatical, totally annoying, “hate-worthy” Christian like me??

cool

 

[kyria]

I don’t think I am a devout Christian. Actually I don’t think I know of anybody including any Catholics who are. To me a devout Christian is someone who doesn’t sin. As far as I am concerned the rest of us are devout in trying.

I am devout to the Father. I am devout to Christ in my heart. I am devout for my love for the Holy Spirit. I am devout in my belief of the intercession of the Virgin Mary. I am devout to the will of the Father and my love for Him. I think I might be devout to the Maginsterium, but I don’t know how to measure that.

But I am not devout with following all the commandments and teachings of Christ. I am trying. But I am a sinner.

I don’t take Communion on the tongue nor wear a veil, so to some I am probably a shameful Catholic. But their opinions have no baring on me, as I am more interested in if God is ashamed of me.

What made me devout to God was pretty much glancing more and more at the sacred heart of Jesus and getting into the groove of the Holy Spirit. They assisted me to revert in my heart and eventually my soul, so that eventually my soul decided she was very much ok with saying yes to the Father and following his will no matter what.

But am I a devout Christian, I don’t think so, because if I were, I’d be making sure I followed all the commmandments and teachings of Christ and the Magisterium to an absolute tee. There are many who are absolutely devoted and devout to Christ in their heart, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are devout in their actions as Christians towards others, nor devout in their actions of following the commandments, and teachings of Christ and the Magisterium.

What keeps me devout to Christ is Faith. But at times it might come unstuck as something might happen. But my soul knows in herself that God loves her and she loves Him so I guess what now assists me to stay devout in my heart for God is His love. What now makes me try to be devout to the Magisterium is God’s will and his teaching me about obedience, because I found if I wasn’t prepared to be obedient to the Magisterium, I could never be fully obedient to God from my inner being. What made me devout more as a Catholic was God showing me that the sacraments do work and that the Church is the true Church, and what also helps me stay a devout in the making Catholic is Hope for the Church. I know all will be well now.

 

[lumenorientale]

wow… your story is a lot like mine… (except never had an abortion)… especially that part about praying the rosary and not knowing WHY you were doing so… i still find it very strange that i did that when i didn’t even have a desire to do it… … It may be the one time in my life God actually interfered with my free will??? No, he woudln’t do that… would he??? I thank Him profusely if he did…

**I don’t know how it all works. What I do know is that picking up that rosary and praying it must be one of the most supernatural things to happen in my life. Did God influence my free will? Maybe. **

anyway, so sorry to hear you had an abortion… I don’t know exactly where unborn children (or any children, for that matter, under the Age of Reason) go after death, but i say: it can’t be much worse than Earth… with all the sin, temptation, etc…

I believe that child is my little saint, praying always to God for me.

anyway… thanks for this uplifting story.

 

[distracted]

IBut I am not devout with following all the commandments and teachings of Christ.

well, objectively speaking, if you are not devout in doing that, it doesn’t matter what else you are “devout” in… (novenas, etc) We must, as Mary said at the Cana wedding, “do everything he tells you”…
Am i saying that is easy and that i do it absolutely perfectly? No… but i also don’t make the fact of my being human an “excuse”… (and NO, i am not saying you DO… )…

I don’t take Communion on the tongue nor wear a veil, so to some I am probably a shameful Catholic. But their opinions have no baring on me, as I am more interested in if God is ashamed of me.

we don’t always know what God thinks… so Maybe… for all you know, He DOes hold that against you… never know… i doubt it 'cause if God wanted that done, the Church would be doing it… but you just never know… do you?

But am I a devout Christian, I don’t think so, because if I were, I’d be making sure I followed all the commmandments and teachings of Christ and the Magisterium to an absolute tee.

Why not?

There are many who are absolutely devoted and devout to Christ in their heart, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are devout in their actions as Christians towards others, nor devout in their actions of following the commandments, and teachings of Christ and the Magisterium.

this makes no sense. If one is devout and committed to Christ, one does not disobey or disregard his commands… one does not pick and choose but accepts them all… and one of his most important, if not THE most important command was to love one another as we love ourselves… NOT easy… but at least some Christians try… and if one does NOT try, all the novenas and Masses in the world aren’t going to do us much good… (except that they DO help us to get to the point where we maybe can - sorta kinda - think about maybe doing that… & may actually lead to us actually sorta kinda half-way DOING it…even if it takes about 75 yrs or so & a lot of kicking and screaming and etc… etc… … )

 

[distracted]

lumenorientale:
your child in Heaven your saint praying for you?

that is a beautiful thought…

It is kind of interesting to contemplate what happens to children’s souls who leave us before their time…

i sometimes think the longer one lives, the worse off one is, because the more sins he can commit and the more stuck in his ways he gets (or she)…

(not to mention the more angry one can get at God… I mean think about it… One word:

Aging…

nuff said…

but then again… if one is working with God, staying around on Earth also can be a longer time to do Purgatory… which is - from what I’ve heard - far better than doing it in the next life…

anyway… i’m kinda wondering waht the Church officially teaches on where the very young go after death… my understanding is that the Church used to teach Limbo… but now She doesn’t . or that the Church just says its unsure… but that we need only to trust God… which i try to do…but i tend to be curious…

anyway… i am so thankful you repented and came (back) to the Lord…

it’s good you don’t beat yourself up so much that you stay away…

 

[Publisher]

I was raised in an evangelical community…heard all the “must be born again” sermons usually given…heard all the “testimonies” of faith…but until I attended a Meeting for Worship among Friends and experienced the Living Presence and yielded to the Light Within, did I come to find a clarity of what faith meant.

This became a way of life…a disipline of study, worship, prayer and service…in service and seeking to “speak to that of God” in my fellow man…did I even begin to grasp what being a Christian meant…now each First Day as I sit in the Gathered Meeting and share in the Living Silence with the People of God, it all becomes new to me again…each First Day is a new beginning…a new opportunity…the First Day of the New Creation…there is so much to learn…so much to experience…so much work to do…I found a faith worth living out in my daily life.

 

[Pug]

I don’t think I am devout, not as I know I ought to be. I was always Christian, though. I believed what I was told as a child about Jesus as the Son of God. On and off through my life I have heard “calling”, if you will. Come after me! It has slowly led me to be more Christian/Catholic. I think, now, he wants my heart, and I am stupidly keeping it to myself.

I know, that is not much help, but “calling” is how it functions in my life. I guess every time I wholeheartedly answer, I get more devout, at least in the sense you likely mean. It is like I am on hold or something during those times I am failing to answer. There are also times when I hear nothing, but lately I’ve been hearing something again.

I’d say the thing that first appealed to me were the words of Jesus in the New Testament. Maybe not any particular words, just that he seemed more real than anyone else I had met, and not twisted in any way. It was much later that I started to remove all sorts of sin from my life, after finally answering a call to accept that the Church was telling the unvarnished truth about what was a sin and what was not a sin.

 

[allischalmers]

God did it all, in an instant, in a blick of a eye, Jesus did it all.

 

[distracted]

I was raised in an evangelical community…heard all the “must be born again” sermons usually given…heard all the “testimonies” of faith…but until I attended a Meeting for Worship among Friends and experienced the Living Presence and yielded to the Light Within, did I come to find a clarity of what faith meant.

This became a way of life…a disipline of study, worship, prayer and service…in service and seeking to “speak to that of God” in my fellow man…did I even begin to grasp what being a Christian meant…now each First Day as I sit in the Gathered Meeting and share in the Living Silence with the People of God, it all becomes new to me again…each First Day is a new beginning…a new opportunity…the First Day of the New Creation…there is so much to learn…so much to experience…so much work to do…I found a faith worth living out in my daily life.

is this the Quakers?

What do you think about the Roman Catholic Church?

ever been to a Mass?

am interested to hear anything you care to share about your spiritual background… thanks…

 

[distracted]

I slowly led me to be more Christian/Catholic. I think, now, he wants my heart, and I am stupidly keeping it to myself.

I’ve been following Jesus… well, in a half-way kind of way all my life, but especially committed to Him for several yrs now… and i am still “stupidly keeping [my heart] to myself.” … It’s called being human… but it really is to our benefit to be as close to Him as possible… I know … DUH!! But sometimes we worldlings don’t get this … in our hearts… We know in our heads we should be closer to him… but that stubborn heart… The Word says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked… Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17?)

I’d say the thing that first appealed to me were the words of Jesus in the New Testament. Maybe not any particular words, just that he seemed more real than anyone else I had met, and not twisted in any way.

wow… kinda strange you say this because i was thinking about this last night in a very focused way… I had just gotten through reading this book about a movie star… just happened to see it at the library, picked it up not really intent on reading the whole thing but now can’t put it down… but anyway… the guy was kinda “slutty” at one time in his life… so i got disturbed reading that part… and told myself i could NOT neglect to pray the rosary - as i often do when tired (2 am)… … after reading that bk…

While praying the ros… i realized… well, what you have said… that Jesus is not corrupt and selfish like Hollywood people and all people… and so… I know that i was 1000% better off saying the ros after reading that bk than if i hadn’t…

It was much later that I started to remove all sorts of sin from my life, after finally answering a call to accept that the Church was telling the unvarnished truth about what was a sin and what was not a sin.

so, were you raised Catholic?

 

[elvisman]

God did it all, in an instant, in a blick of a eye, Jesus did it all.

So - you didn’t “accept” him? He just forced his way onto you?
Interesting . . .

 

[elvisman]

I don’t think I am a devout Christian. Actually I don’t think I know of anybody including any Catholics who are. To me a devout Christian is someone who doesn’t sin. As far as I am concerned the rest of us are devout in trying.

A devout Christian doesn’t sin? Since when?
**Even St. Paul considered himself completely unworthy and sinful - yet he was as devout as they come. **

Actually, a devout Christian knows that he/she is a sinner and unworthy of the promises of Christ. They struggle because sin and temptation are constant, daily struggles. It is only by the grace of God that we overcome these things because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The devout Christian recognizes when he/she/ sins and repents of it.