When did you know you were meant to be Catholic?

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I am currently reading the post. “A strong desire to attend Mass” which is awsome. Here is my story about when I new I was meant to be Catholic and I was wondering if anyone else one like to share there storys.
I went to Baptist churches as a child and teenager but never felt like there was a connection. About 2 years ago I moved away from home which is Asheville, NC to Nashville, TN which is about 5 hours and I spent a year feeling lonely and lost until one Sunday I went to a Hispanic Catholic Church I don’t even know why I went but it was one of the best things I have ever done. I felt like I had found my home away from home. I left after Mass not feeling as lost and lonely. I then started attending a womans group they had and then in May they invited me to a retreat with them and I went the only thing I can say about the retreat is WOW! I had never felt such a closeness to God. I spent alot of time in prayer and reflection. I knew by the end of the weekend I had found my true home and my true heavenly family. I moved back home to NC in August due to health issues with my mom and I will admit I did not keep going to church because I guess I was afraid I would not feel the same acceptance and love that I had felt in Tennesse and I did not want to lose the feeling of love I had found there. Then a few weeks ago after much prayer I decided to send an email to the Deacon at one of my local perishes to see if I could maybe join the RCIA class that they currently have and he was super nice and encourageing and told me they would be thrilled to have me join in with the group. I had been to a Mass at this parish almost 3 years ago when my little boy was born and we (he and I both) almost did not make it through the birth and I felt the need to give special thanks to God. I remember clearly the hominey of the Father that day it felt like he was talking streight to me personally. He said it does not matter what past mistakes you have made or what kind of life you have lead God loves you and will welcome you back with open arms. I am so excited to finally be enrolled in the RCIA classes I have read all of the material they gave us and I am caught up to the rest of the class I fill very blessed to have found my home and extended or should I say heavenly family in the church. I love this site as it is very informative and I am looking to learning all I can from all of you wonderful nice people.
Peace to all of you,
Amanda

By the way could someone please tell me were I can find the prayers used in Mass in English as I only know them in Spanish but here Mass as well as class is in English.
 
When did you know you were meant to be Catholic?
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I was raised Catholic, but like many Catholics, I didn’t know diddly squat about Catholicism. I just did what I was told. Consequently, as a teenager, I fell away, and never went to Church for years.

Then, in my late 30’s, I got interested in the Bible again, and started going to protestant Bible study. After a while, things that they said didn’t seem right, although I wasnt able to put my finger on just quite why. THAT is when I discovered Catholic Answers on the radio and apologetics in general. I started gobbling it all up, amassing a library, and from then on I knew I was meant to be Catholic.
 
Welcome to the Catholic Church. It is wonderful to read your journey to the church. The Holy Spirit is always there to guide each and everyone of us who seek the will of the Father. One thing is sure that your spiritual growth will be more than a hundredfold as you seek to know more about the Catholic Faith.
As for myself who was born into the Catholic Faith, I was shaken 3 times in my life about doubting and searching for the real teachings of Jesus Christ. It was almost twenty years ago that I finally realized the spiritual richness of my faith. The more I search for the real meaning of my faith, the more questions arises. The Holy Spirit always have an answer to all my questions and doubts. At times they can be answered in a minute or so. Sometimes it takes days, weeks and months. I realized also that prayers and lots of prayers make me discern what the Lord, Jesus is telling me. It has been my experience that He has a good sense of humor too. Be patient and I believe you will do okey.
 
Thank you for your kind words I am a very patient person and love to learn and learn all I can so I am really looking forward to it.

Peace,
Amanda
 
I’ll play! I was actually given an emergency baptism by a nun in a Catholic hospital because I was a premie (3 lbs.11 oz.) and they didn’t expect me to make it. My Methodist family was NOT PLEASED and had me rebaptised ASAP. I think that first encounter with Christ’s love, though, stayed with me even though I wasn’t aware of it. I didn’t even find out until I was a teenager. My next door neighbors were Catholic and I remember a picture book their daughter left in our car and I was fascinated by the images of the family altar, the veiled women, and the Crucifix. My grandmother put an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in my bedroom without realising the full signifigance of it (she was very Protestant). I was fascinated by St. Jerome, whose feast day is my birthday; I still have a soft spot for the old crumudgeon! When I was about ten or so I saw some old black and white movie about the Spanish court and people were crossing themselves. The next time I went to church, I did the same thing, causing great embarrassment to my grandparents. Did I mention that I was highly disappointed to find that the United Methodist Church didn’t have nuns? So, in some ways I’ve always known or longed to be Cahtolic. When I finally did go through RCIA a couple of years ago my Catholic next door neighbor was my sponsor, the same neighbor whose daughter left the picture book in our family car. For me it all unfolded in a beautiful, slow way so that I could watch and be aware of what was happeing.
 
jazzbaby1 said:
I was actually given an emergency baptism by a nun in a Catholic hospital because I was a premie (3 lbs.11 oz.) and they didn’t expect me to make it. My Methodist family was NOT PLEASED and had me rebaptised ASAP.
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I’m guessing that someone must have withheld some information along the way, because traditional Methodists do not practice rebaptism. 😛
 
Wow great storys. I am glad I have come to this forum and found that others feel the pull for the Church as I do. Hugs and peace to you all.

Amanda
 
October 20, 2004. I know, weird, right? No explanation, just a sudden feeling that it was right.

Eamon
 
I love the subject of this thread! :bounce:

At some level, I’ve always wanted to be Catholic. It probably has a lot to do with my having had very happy experiences as a small child (age 3 weeks thru age 5) with my boisterous Italian Catholic nanny, her husband and children.

Thing is, being Jewish and an atheist, there was a slight barrier to entry! 😉

And then, 4 years ago I converted to “generic” Christianity thanks to a road to Damascus-like conversion experience.

Long story as to why I didn’t go to the CC at that time, but I wound up attending Protestant churches for a while. And unfortunately, for a while I was just plain uncomfortable with the idea of being Catholic. Then 2 years ago I tried RCIA, but didn’t feel ready to join the Church as there were too many things I didn’t understand and felt weird about. And then there was the detour into checking out the Mormons…

But the pull to be Catholic is still there for me. I found the Protestant world to be too abstract for me, and too, unsettling, too harsh. It’s totally irrational, but in the Protestant world I often felt like I was somehow in the Bible belt and “the Christians were out to get me, a Jew.” Whereas there are a lot of cultural and liturgical similarities between Catholicism and Judaism. Because of that and because of the positive experiences that I had at an impressionable age, I just feel pulled more and more towards the CC.
 
aspirant said:
I’m guessing that someone must have withheld some information along the way, because traditional Methodists do not practice rebaptism. 😛
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Considering the level of secrecy in my family that would not surprise me in the least. It was also the late 1960’s so I’m not certain what the practice was at the time. I just found out that all the emergency baptisms at the hospital where I was born were recorded in the same parish so I’m going to find out the name of the nun so I can pray for her soul. One good turn deserves another, don’t you think?
 
jazzbaby1 said:
Considering the level of secrecy in my family that would not surprise me in the least.
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I guess another possibility is that the Methodist church did some version of a conditional baptism. My friend H was baptized as a Baptist, but having no access to a formal record of it (if one even existed), he was conditionally baptized when he became Catholic. 🙂
jazzbaby1 said:
I just found out that all the emergency baptisms at the hospital where I was born were recorded in the same parish so I’m going to find out the name of the nun so I can pray for her soul. One good turn deserves another, don’t you think?
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Very cool. 👍 God bless her!
 
You know, it’s funny, as soon as I started looking into Catholicism, I knew;
it seemed like I was born to be Catholic, that I was Catholic already in my heart, but didn’t know it. Then, of course, I had to spend time learning and having my intellect catch up.

I started off Protestant and didn’t know much about Catholicism. I just took for true the things I heard infrequently about Catholics not being really Christian. Never knew any Catholics. Never went to a Mass.
Afterwards, I came to feel that as a Protestant I had been kept waiting in the vestibule of Christianity, and Catholicism opened a door into a wonderful, huge world, complete with secret gardens. 🙂
 
These are wonderful posts and I look forward to reading more.

For me, I was at adoration before work one morning in March 2008. I was thinking about all the Masses I’d attended over the years and all the hours at adoration and how much it all meant to me. In fact, it meant more than anything else or anyone else. That was quite a breakthrough, and I immediately mentally back-pedaled and said “Uh, nothing is more important to me than my husband.” Then it ocurred to me that my husband was awake and brewing coffee at home, all nice and cozy, and where was I? Talk about an incredible shock to my system. I started crying and didn’t stop until I got to work 90 minutes later.

As I tearfully left the chapel that morning, I said to myself: “I think I just became Catholic!”. And six weeks later, I officially did. 😃
 
After hearing a Christopher West talk on the Theology of the Body. I was a cradle Catholic and I still had to work out a lot of questions but I KNEW Catholicism was right.
 
I was discussing Catholicism with the gentleman who became my sponsor when I just knew I was supposed to be Catholic. Now as I look back, I am able to see many times when the Holy Spirit was leading me home. The day of my rebirth was September 3, 1988 as that is the day I entered the Church. What a glorious day. I continue to learn as much as possible about the Church.
In Christ,
Stan
 
I was raised Catholic by very devout and loving parents, but I never really ‘got it’ until I was just entering my teens. As a little girl, if you had asked, I would have said I was Catholic, but I certainly didn’t act like it. That changed when we moved and started going to a church full of “old people”. 😛 Being around them, listening to them sharing their wisdom and just watching them pray and talk about God, it just really made me want to be a better Christian. Then I read the Left Behind - the kids and even though it’s not accurate about the end times (at the time I didn’t know it), the characters’ devotion to their faith really impressed me. I decided to pray the “sinner’s prayer”, asking Christ into my life. In the books, whenever someone said the prayer, he/she felt peace wash over them, so when I didn’t, I got kind of scared. I prayed the prayer over and over again, afraid that God hadn’t heard me, or thought that I was unworthy. Eventually, I stopped and came to realize that becoming a Christian isn’t always a bolt-of-lightning type of thing. Sometimes it’s gradual. Now, I know that God heard my prayer and answered, though perhaps, only in a whisper. He’s the center of my life. I don’t know what I’d do without Him. :signofcross::love:
 
GraceSofia said:
You know, it’s funny, as soon as I started looking into Catholicism, I knew;
it seemed like I was born to be Catholic, that I was Catholic already in my heart, but didn’t know it. Then, of course, I had to spend time learning and having my intellect catch up.

I started off Protestant and didn’t know much about Catholicism. I just took for true the things I heard infrequently about Catholics not being really Christian. Never knew any Catholics. Never went to a Mass.
Afterwards, I came to feel that as a Protestant I had been kept waiting in the vestibule of Christianity, and Catholicism opened a door into a wonderful, huge world, complete with secret gardens. 🙂
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I can echo this, GraceSofia! I have often said I was born to be Catholic but it took 30+ years to get there! I was always incredibly drawn to all things Catholic, even when I was being taught the Church was the “whore of Babylon” and all that rot. I though to myself that the Catholic Church was awfully good at fooling people because it just seemed so beautiful and unearthly—heavenly. Then at 28 years old I met a real, authentic, faithful Catholic who loved the Faith and the Church with no apology. (Let me say that most of my relatives are Catholic but the ones I spoke with about it only complained about the Pope or this teaching, or that practice, etc.) My world was rocked and I thought, “I want that!” It took several years of study with my husband and children but God finally got me where He wanted me to be. I was confirmed this past Sunday and I am so thankful to God for leading me. C.S. Lewis said Christianity is like a big house where the beliefs in common compose a hallway (i.e., Jesus is God’s Son, the Bible is inspired, etc.) but at some point you have to leave the hallway and choose a room. We went from room to room to room until we finally went through the door marked “Catholic,” and as GraceSofia posted, an entire world opened up for us. My husband says the Church is like the little puddles in The Magician’s Nephew (also by Lewis). You have no idea what’s there until you step in.
 
I had no intention of becoming Catholic myself, not withstanding being married to a Catholic for 30+ years, having a lot of Catholic friends, etc. I was content enough with my Protestant church… but they kept changing.

Finally, after many lesser changes they fully embraced political correctness over truth. This has happened, or is happening, in many denominations. I couldn’t believe it and despite having been in the same denomination my entire life - knew at that moment I no longer could be.

A long story short, I “found” the Catholic Church (which was right in front of me all along). I am so happy to be here! Officially a Catholic now for 3 days + 1 hour.
 
lutherlic said:
I had no intention of becoming Catholic myself, not withstanding being married to a Catholic for 30+ years, having a lot of Catholic friends, etc. I was content enough with my Protestant church… but they kept changing.

Finally, after many lesser changes they fully embraced political correctness over truth. This has happened, or is happening, in many denominations. I couldn’t believe it and despite having been in the same denomination my entire life - knew at that moment I no longer could be.

A long story short, I “found” the Catholic Church (which was right in front of me all along). I am so happy to be here! Officially a Catholic now for 3 days + 1 hour.
Click to expand...
Wow! Congratulations and welcome! It only gets better and better… 👍
 
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