Why Are You Catholic?

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Alex_H

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Or Lutheran? Or Muslim? Or Jewish?

I was curious as to what made you become a member of your faith or what’s keeping you there. Is there some intellectual argument that really won you over? Is there some aspect of the faith that kept you going there?

Let’s use this thread to compare and contrast reasons for being Catholic, Baha’i, Buddhist, or whatever you are!🙂
 
Alex_H said:
Or Lutheran? Or Muslim? Or Jewish?

I was curious as to what made you become a member of your faith or what’s keeping you there. Is there some intellectual argument that really won you over? Is there some aspect of the faith that kept you going there?

Let’s use this thread to compare and contrast reasons for being Catholic, Baha’i, Buddhist, or whatever you are!🙂
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Initially: A girl that eventually became anti-catholic (life is complicated). But also because I like history, and I figured if I am going to be Christian, there really is nothing else I can be.
 
Alex_H said:
Or Lutheran? Or Muslim? Or Jewish?

I was curious as to what made you become a member of your faith or what’s keeping you there. Is there some intellectual argument that really won you over? Is there some aspect of the faith that kept you going there?

Let’s use this thread to compare and contrast reasons for being Catholic, Baha’i, Buddhist, or whatever you are!🙂
Click to expand...
Dear Alex, what a wonderful question of unity of Faith 👍

I chose my path from a very unexpected connection resulting in with the desire to look for God and His Truth.

I read a couple of books that we astonishing to me and put me on a path I have tried to walk since then (Early 1980’s)

What has kept me on the path is that the message of the Oneness of God and His Prophets resonates with my spirit and the path for this to happen has been so plainly laid out for us to follow.

It is very heartwarming to know that no matter what anyone thinks of any other religion, that all true religion comes from our One and Only God, that we all Worship this same God and we can Love all mankind as they walk their path to this Love

God Bless and Regards Tony
 
adamhovey1988 said:
Initially: A girl that eventually became anti-catholic (life is complicated). But also because I like history, and I figured if I am going to be Christian, there really is nothing else I can be.
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Let me get this straight…you liked a girl who was Catholic but became Anti-catholic, correct?

And what really convinced you that Catholicism was the right “denomination”(for lack of a better word) for you?
 
TonyBS said:
Dear Alex, what a wonderful question of unity of Faith 👍

I chose my path from a very unexpected connection resulting in with the desire to look for God and His Truth.

I read a couple of books that we astonishing to me and put me on a path I have tried to walk since then (Early 1980’s)

What has kept me on the path is that the message of the Oneness of God and His Prophets resonates with my spirit and the path for this to happen has been so plainly laid out for us to follow.

It is very heartwarming to know that no matter what anyone thinks of any other religion, that all true religion comes from our One and Only God, that we all Worship this same God and we can Love all mankind as they walk their path to this Love

God Bless and Regards Tony
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Thank you for your awesome response! I see quite a few Baha’i on here so I figured I would include you in the post. 🙂

People of all faiths and walks of life can participate, also.
 
Orthodox.

Since i first stepped into the Orthodox Church, i knew that i wouldn’t want to be somewhere else but there. 😃
 
Vanez said:
Orthodox.

Since i first stepped into the Orthodox Church, i knew that i wouldn’t want to be somewhere else but there. 😃
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Interesting!! 😃

So was it just the sheer beauty of the church that drew you close to the Orthodox faith? Also, did you have to go through a catechumen type period before becoming Orthodox? I know in the Catholic church children and adults who wish to convert or be confirmed in the faith have to go through classes first. Was this your experience as well?
 
I was restless until I found the Catholic Church.

The best way to describe it is that I thought I knew God as a Protestant. My faith was like many beautiful little pieces of art. Each one made me feel closer to God. It wasn’t until I studied about the early Church, typology between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Mother of God, the examples of the saints, etc… that I realized my faith could be so much more than it was. Those beautiful pieces of art were actually fragments of the most amazing masterpiece. It wasn’t until I was in RCIA that I could finally see how it all fit together. And RCIA was only the beginning. I can never learn it all, but I feel like I’ve moved from a small pool into a great sea of knowledge and wisdom where I can develop a deeper relationship with God by exploring as much as I can.
 
The first step was a certain yearning for something I wasn’t getting at my old evangelical church. The preaching was very good but there was something missing. Coupled with this, I noticed that the local Catholic church offered daily Mass. Great! I wanted to go to extra services in the week, and God is God no matter what church right? So I went along. And I went back several times. And I fell in love with the Mass. But I realised that there were other things the Catholic church had that other churches didn’t. Jesus in the Eucharist. I could feel His presence radiating from the tabernacle. Mary and the full Communion of Saints that my old church barely paid lip service to.

That was not the end of the story. I got hung up on intellectual arguments and fell away from going to church altogether. Then I was drawn to go back. At first to my old evangelical church. But there was too much ground between what I believed and what people there believed. I briefly dabbled with Anglican high church. It seemed so Catholic that it was the best of both world right? But at the same time, I had been drawn to start going to Catholic Masses again. I told myself at first I would not allow myself to go to Mass because I knew there was such a draw there for me. But I couldn’t stay away. Then I found the local Ordinariate Group and a very good priest who was willing to give me instruction. After a lot of wrestling with my soul and my intellect, I reflected on the fact that I went to Mass two to three times a week and got much more out of it that going to a protestant service, prayed to Mary and said the Rosary, read Catholic books, prayed to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I was Catholic whether I liked it or not! So I figured I may as well make it official. My last obstacle was confession. I was scared of the thought of laying out a lifetime of sin to anyone. Fortunately my priest is very friendly and easygoing and we had a real bond by that time and he made it as easy as possible for me. Two weeks later, I was confirmed.
 
I was born and raised Catholic. I stay there because of the Holy Eucharist being the Real Presence of Jesus. I love Confession and all the Saints, too. The Catholic Church has the fullness of Truth.
 
Alex_H said:
Or Lutheran? Or Muslim? Or Jewish?

I was curious as to what made you become a member of your faith or what’s keeping you there. Is there some intellectual argument that really won you over? Is there some aspect of the faith that kept you going there?

Let’s use this thread to compare and contrast reasons for being Catholic, Baha’i, Buddhist, or whatever you are!🙂
Click to expand...
For many reasons I became a Lutheran many years after converting to Catholicism from being nominally Christian. When I joined the RC I threw myself into headlong and did all those things that my spiritual director told me to do. I went to daily mass and prayed the rosary, confession weekly etc. But I would stay awake night worried that I would still go to hell. I worried about wether or not my contrition was true or not, or whether or not I forgot some sin in confession. All of my religious works were offering me no comfort at all, in fact the opposite was true. The more I did them the less comfort and peace I had. I began to loathe the obligations of the church. Combine this with some very negative experiences at my local parish church. I decided to return to my Protestant roots. My buddy and I checked out a local LCMS parish and the pastor told me the gospel and it was like coming up for air.
 
SalusaSecondus said:
For many reasons I became a Lutheran many years after converting to Catholicism from being nominally Christian. When I joined the RC I threw myself into headlong and did all those things that my spiritual director told me to do. I went to daily mass and prayed the rosary, confession weekly etc. But I would stay awake night worried that I would still go to hell. I worried about wether or not my contrition was true or not, or whether or not I forgot some sin in confession. All of my religious works were offering me no comfort at all, in fact the opposite was true. The more I did them the less comfort and peace I had. I began to loathe the obligations of the church. Combine this with some very negative experiences at my local parish church. I decided to return to my Protestant roots. My buddy and I checked out a local LCMS parish and the pastor told me the gospel and it was like coming up for air.
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So you never learned the Gospel as a Catholic?
 
Initially, a pair of visions. I had a vision of Saint Michael the Archangel, and he told me to go to a specific Catholic parish for Advent. I was pagan/new age at the time, but I still loved Yeshua, Mary and the angels. My best friend talked me out of taking catechism classes. A year later the Blessed Mother called me in a vision and sent me to the same parish for Advent. This time when I told the same best friend that I wanted to take catechism classes, he said, “me too.” So, we took the classes, watched a lot of EWTN, listened to Immaculate Heart radio, and did a lot of study on our own.

However, the one defining moment for me is; one day I was praying the Hail Mary in the chapel and all of the doubts and excuses I had for not being Catholic raced through my head. As each doubt or excuse came up, the Mother had an answer for each one. She brought me home to the church.

Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
 
SalusaSecondus said:
For many reasons I became a Lutheran many years after converting to Catholicism from being nominally Christian. When I joined the RC I threw myself into headlong and did all those things that my spiritual director told me to do. I went to daily mass and prayed the rosary, confession weekly etc. But I would stay awake night worried that I would still go to hell. I worried about wether or not my contrition was true or not, or whether or not I forgot some sin in confession. All of my religious works were offering me no comfort at all, in fact the opposite was true. The more I did them the less comfort and peace I had. I began to loathe the obligations of the church. Combine this with some very negative experiences at my local parish church. I decided to return to my Protestant roots. My buddy and I checked out a local LCMS parish and the pastor told me the gospel and it was like coming up for air.
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Someone has been listening to you Salusa, at CAF as well as elsewhere. Notice I have changed my “Religion” designation from “Considering Catholicism” to “Lutheran”. Thank you brother.
 
I was born into a “Catholic” family, that really leans more towards non-demoninational, I wasn’t raised in Church, I was baptized as a baby and that’s it. As a kid, religion really scared me, I always felt the only reason someone have anything to do with religion is because they didn’t want to go to Hell when they die, and I realize where I got that now, because the only time God was brought up was when someone died. As a young teen, I guess I really wanted to be edgy, I was a lesbian, I was an anarchist, I worshiped rock bands, I mean I believed in God, but faith definitely wasn’t something that was apart of my life. I pretty much know for certain, if this next thought hadn’t got in my head, I’d probably be an atheist today. Something in me wanted to buy a rosary, I don’t know why, I just thought they were pretty and wanted one. Well, a week or two later my family went into a Christian store, and I searched everywhere for a rosary, it took me a while, but I found them and bought one. I began to learn how to pray it, and studying Catholicism, and eventually…all of my views shifted…completely. I started making my mom take me to mass, taking RCIC and confirmation classes, and I got confirmed, and I was only a year older than the confirmation students so it wasn’t too awkward. I’m Catholic because the Church transformed my life, because if I hadn’t found the Church I’d probably be an atheist, I’m Catholic because it’s the truth.
 
Born & raised Catholic & will forever remain because the Catholic Church offers me the Body & Blood, Soul & Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
 
I was baptized, confirmed (I’d argue too young) and raised nominally Catholic in a cafeteria Catholic household. I drifted away from the RCC over my teens and twenties due to social, moral, personal and theological differences that were not reconcilable and I just did not feel Christ’s presence any longer. It particularly bothered me that the faith taught one thing, but what I was seeing and hearing from the clergy (and laity) nearest me was often the complete opposite. They seemed to have rationalized being hypocritical, but I never could.

I ended up churchless for an extended time, but missed the structure to faith that an organized church provides. I had a familiarity with the Episcopal church from before I’d left the Catholic Church having visited a Low Anglican Church a few times, and the neighboring parish to my old Catholic Parish having been Episcopal (both churches did a lot of joint ministry and community work). I also knew the ECUSA was often described as Catholic Lite with similar liturgy to the RCC, apostolic and sacramental emphasis particularly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, etc… I looked around at several Christian faith traditions (Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodists, even the recently popular non-Denomination), but kept coming back to Anglicanism. When I felt I was ready, I found a Rite 2 Episcopal Parish I’d describe as mostly high church that was incredibly welcoming and socially, morally and theologically aligned to what I believe and what I felt Christ taught. And most importantly I felt Christ was there with us. Being high church as well, by the time I came back I found the Episcopal Rite 2 to be almost as familiar as the Catholic mass due to the changes made to the Roman Rite in 2011. I’ve been happy spiritually in my current church for some time now 🙂
 
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