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AlyoshaKaramazov
Guest
Did you check to see if there are any Eastern Rite Catholic Churches in your area too?
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tad
Guest
So true. I remember distinctly the first morning I went to daily mass when my soon-to-be pastor raised the host and said, “On the night He gave Himself up for death, a death He freely accepted…” it was like a switch went off in my heart and from then on the liturgy spoke to my very soul.
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Edmundus1581
Guest
That has prompted me to watch one of my old Catholic movies on Sunday night. I’ve got The Song of Bernadette and a Fatima movie (The Miracle of Fatima (?)). I’ve had both of them for years, and not seen them yet.
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Edmundus1581
Guest
I can’t remember it specifically, but it was from the first moment it occurred to me that maybe the Catholic Church was right, after all. I was twenty one and had re-committed to the Protestant Christianity of my youth. I was throwing myself into it, and trying a few different denominations and was puzzled by the contradictions in all these well meaning, bible-believing denominations. I also shared their dismissal of Catholicism. The harder I tried, the more confused I became, and then it occurred to me “Maybe the Catholic Church is right after all”. 
After that I was gone, and was received into the Church within a year.
If there was one thing which made the difference, it was that I had met a few Catholics and I noticed that they were more respectful of us (Protestants) than we were of them.
After that I was gone, and was received into the Church within a year.If there was one thing which made the difference, it was that I had met a few Catholics and I noticed that they were more respectful of us (Protestants) than we were of them.
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tad
Guest
No worries there, I’m not a great Catholic. 
You’ve got a point. I thought of naming the thread ‘Your aha moment’ but, my aha moment was different from my point of return. There was a definite point for me, and others in this thread, where we knew we had no other place to go. We’ve had conversion experiences, and for me, I don’t know what it would take for me to walk away from this Catholic Church. One of the beautiful things I find about being Catholic is that just as I freely joined, I’m just as free to go. Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ I’m sure all of the converts/reverts/cradle Catholics in this thread would echo the words of St. Peter, ‘To whom shall we go?’
When I got to call to become Catholic in 2002 the child sex abuse scandal was running rampant. It seemed like every morning the front page was had a new revelation on just how bad conditions were in my own diocese. Shortly after I was confirmed, my diocese was the first in the US to declare bankruptcy.
If I converted during all that, then I don’t know what would deter me from my faith. I admit, life is good, I have lots of reasons to believe, not the least to mention, my cradle Catholic wife, but my conversion experience was so strong I don’t see how I could ever say to God that all this never happened.
You’ve got a point. I thought of naming the thread ‘Your aha moment’ but, my aha moment was different from my point of return. There was a definite point for me, and others in this thread, where we knew we had no other place to go. We’ve had conversion experiences, and for me, I don’t know what it would take for me to walk away from this Catholic Church. One of the beautiful things I find about being Catholic is that just as I freely joined, I’m just as free to go. Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to leave?’ I’m sure all of the converts/reverts/cradle Catholics in this thread would echo the words of St. Peter, ‘To whom shall we go?’
When I got to call to become Catholic in 2002 the child sex abuse scandal was running rampant. It seemed like every morning the front page was had a new revelation on just how bad conditions were in my own diocese. Shortly after I was confirmed, my diocese was the first in the US to declare bankruptcy.
If I converted during all that, then I don’t know what would deter me from my faith. I admit, life is good, I have lots of reasons to believe, not the least to mention, my cradle Catholic wife, but my conversion experience was so strong I don’t see how I could ever say to God that all this never happened.
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TheOldColonel
Guest
A distant dream
My other life seemed
As I sunk through the shadows
of the death of the day.
Barely remembering,
That fateful evening of May,
When darkness swallowed all of the light.
Its force pumping through me,
As twilight consumed me,
I looked at what swooned me,
And these are the words that it said:
O Creature of night,
Take heart,
Take flight.
You’re free now to do what you will.
No morals, no life,
To live out in strife,
Your pleasure is yet to come still.
But living
I longed for the day of release,
And in each waking moment it grew.
The feeling of spite
For all not right
As my soul frosted over anew.
So now in the dark
I wait for the spark
Of hope on this path I am taking.
I long for the day
And I can’t get away
From this trance that’s not sleeping or waking.
Lonely I wonder if only
The rays of the sun might bring peace,
And so, one day’s dawning,
Despite instinct’s warning,
I’ll lie down in its gaze
to slumber and cease.
My other life seemed
As I sunk through the shadows
of the death of the day.
Barely remembering,
That fateful evening of May,
When darkness swallowed all of the light.
Its force pumping through me,
As twilight consumed me,
I looked at what swooned me,
And these are the words that it said:
O Creature of night,
Take heart,
Take flight.
You’re free now to do what you will.
No morals, no life,
To live out in strife,
Your pleasure is yet to come still.
But living
I longed for the day of release,
And in each waking moment it grew.
The feeling of spite
For all not right
As my soul frosted over anew.
So now in the dark
I wait for the spark
Of hope on this path I am taking.
I long for the day
And I can’t get away
From this trance that’s not sleeping or waking.
Lonely I wonder if only
The rays of the sun might bring peace,
And so, one day’s dawning,
Despite instinct’s warning,
I’ll lie down in its gaze
to slumber and cease.
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Alexander
Guest
You never cease to surprise.
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MrsAngelala
Guest
At one point I learned I had to have my marriage convalidated. It was Lent, so the parish priest was busy, and he didn’t know what to do about my particular situation (though it’s not an unusual one nowadays). He made some extremely severe pronouncements, by email, without explanations. He basically told me - twice - that there was no act of will whereby I could get from where I was to where God is. At that point I had been attending daily Mass and Adoring daily for about a year, and having a lot of trouble with it, so this wasn’t a helpful approach.
My Protestant husband went to talk to him, and came back just as confused as I was. I spent hours every night on the internet and couldn’t find any reliable answers. After several weeks of sinking under the weight of the irresolvable confusion about the single most important relationship of my life, I finally wound up on the floor of my harp room, desperately trying not to make a… very bad… decision. Four saints stepped in to save me. The strongest presence was my Angel, the second was Jesus (though I would have expected that in reverse), and I still don’t know who the other two were.
But it wasn’t that - perhaps doubtful - experience that made it a point of no return. Several weeks later, and over a week after the convalidation was completed, God again intervened directly to clean up the remaining mess; this time I was fully aware, and my husband also noted the change when I got home, so I have no reason to suspect my experience. But that still wasn’t it.
It was simply this: after that, I’m all-in. If I’m going to keep coming back through and despite that ordeal, when am I ever going to walk away?
My questions never were answered, though God’s second intervention laid them down for me. And my experience at church has continued to deteriorate. But I won’t, won’t, won’t, won’t, won’t walk away from my Lord.
My Protestant husband went to talk to him, and came back just as confused as I was. I spent hours every night on the internet and couldn’t find any reliable answers. After several weeks of sinking under the weight of the irresolvable confusion about the single most important relationship of my life, I finally wound up on the floor of my harp room, desperately trying not to make a… very bad… decision. Four saints stepped in to save me. The strongest presence was my Angel, the second was Jesus (though I would have expected that in reverse), and I still don’t know who the other two were.
But it wasn’t that - perhaps doubtful - experience that made it a point of no return. Several weeks later, and over a week after the convalidation was completed, God again intervened directly to clean up the remaining mess; this time I was fully aware, and my husband also noted the change when I got home, so I have no reason to suspect my experience. But that still wasn’t it.
It was simply this: after that, I’m all-in. If I’m going to keep coming back through and despite that ordeal, when am I ever going to walk away?
My questions never were answered, though God’s second intervention laid them down for me. And my experience at church has continued to deteriorate. But I won’t, won’t, won’t, won’t, won’t walk away from my Lord.
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Lioness1
Guest
Yes, there are none
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OsculeturMeOsculo
Guest
I think it would be reading the Diary of Saint Faustina. It was very appealing and all the poetic imagery, the intimate expressions of love… It had everything to satisfy a romantic’s heart. 
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Lara
Guest
Very nice poem.
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Crocus
Guest
It’s wonderful to hear about your guardian angel, often their role is not acknowledged. They are powerful protectors and guides for our spiritual lives. You are blessed to feel this closeness. Be strong, courageous, and yes stubborn, in holding on to Jesus. He is worth it, and anyway, “to whom (else) shall we go?”
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Casilda
Guest
Now this I can relate to. Mess. Ordeal. Conditions deteriorating. Yet I will never walk away from the Lord.
Thank you all for sharing, this was very helpful.
Thank you all for sharing, this was very helpful.
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