How I became a Roman Catholic
There are several good books out about Protestants converting to Roman Catholicism. I have read both Scott Hahn's book and Alex Jones' book. Although there are some similarities, their books are much better and offer insights that I can only now think about in retrospect.
My family was not the church going kind. My parents were good people and believed in God and Jesus Christ but they were not practicing Christians. So when I was twelve years old and in the seventh grade I decided I needed to go to church on my own and see what religion was all about. We lived in the kind of neighborhood that could not make up its mind if it was country or suburbia. There were small clusters of houses off of the two lane county road, although we were only a couple miles from the small town of Grand Blanc, a kind of suburb of Flint. Well the only church in walking distance was a Baptist church about a quarter mile down the road. So Sundays I would walk to church. I met some very good people there and made some good friends. One of the people there gave me my first Bible. I still have it today. But there were other people. People that did not think I attended the right times at church. I will freely admit that I had more interest in youth programs than sermons. But eventually I was invited to not come back. So I didn't. After a couple of years, while I was in high school, I was dating a young lady who regularly went to church, a Lutheran church. Well let me tell you, there is a vast difference in what is taught in a Baptist church and what is taught in a Lutheran church. And again I will admit I liked arguing with the teacher, not to be difficult, but to exchange ideas and to try and see why they were different. Of course, what seems a logical argument and course of action for a teenager might seem obstinate to an adult but in the end the result was the same, I was invited not to come back.
As I got older I went to different churchs but with college and then the army I was never in one place long enough to put down roots. Along the way I married a nice Catholic girl. She was very devout and never missed weekend mass unless the sky was falling or some other mega-disaster. But she also did not try to convert me. We had many discussions and prayed together often but I was just not ready to join a church. (My record to this point having been a might disappointing.) But I did go to services off and on in the Army. I was even Baptized.
When we got out of the Army, (my wife did not wear a uniform but any married couple will tell you uniform or not "we" are in the army.) we moved back home. My wife found a local Roman Catholic Church and started attending. Well when the children got older we decided it was important that we go to church as a family. I was still not interested in becoming Catholic but I thought that I should provide a good example for my children and as I was not going to a church at the time I could go with my wife and kids. Well something odd happened. No one complained when I asked hard pointed questions or asked why Catholics did this or that. No, they actually explained things to me. And even more amazing, if I missed a week (I was working really weird hours for the alarm company) the next time I showed up they asked how I was and told me they had missed me. This was a new thing to me. No one asked me not to come back. No one looked down their nose at me if I missed church and had to work. For the first time in my life, I was going to a church where I felt people cared if I showed up or not.
Well the more I learned about Roman Catholicism, the more I realized God was calling me to the Church, calling me home. So I took instruction and one Sunday morning with my father-in-law standing behind me with a supporting hand on my shoulder, I took my first Communion and was Confirmed into the Roman Catholic Church. And I have not looked back or regretted a moment since.
God Bless you and yours.
My family was not the church going kind. My parents were good people and believed in God and Jesus Christ but they were not practicing Christians. So when I was twelve years old and in the seventh grade I decided I needed to go to church on my own and see what religion was all about. We lived in the kind of neighborhood that could not make up its mind if it was country or suburbia. There were small clusters of houses off of the two lane county road, although we were only a couple miles from the small town of Grand Blanc, a kind of suburb of Flint. Well the only church in walking distance was a Baptist church about a quarter mile down the road. So Sundays I would walk to church. I met some very good people there and made some good friends. One of the people there gave me my first Bible. I still have it today. But there were other people. People that did not think I attended the right times at church. I will freely admit that I had more interest in youth programs than sermons. But eventually I was invited to not come back. So I didn't. After a couple of years, while I was in high school, I was dating a young lady who regularly went to church, a Lutheran church. Well let me tell you, there is a vast difference in what is taught in a Baptist church and what is taught in a Lutheran church. And again I will admit I liked arguing with the teacher, not to be difficult, but to exchange ideas and to try and see why they were different. Of course, what seems a logical argument and course of action for a teenager might seem obstinate to an adult but in the end the result was the same, I was invited not to come back.
As I got older I went to different churchs but with college and then the army I was never in one place long enough to put down roots. Along the way I married a nice Catholic girl. She was very devout and never missed weekend mass unless the sky was falling or some other mega-disaster. But she also did not try to convert me. We had many discussions and prayed together often but I was just not ready to join a church. (My record to this point having been a might disappointing.) But I did go to services off and on in the Army. I was even Baptized.
When we got out of the Army, (my wife did not wear a uniform but any married couple will tell you uniform or not "we" are in the army.) we moved back home. My wife found a local Roman Catholic Church and started attending. Well when the children got older we decided it was important that we go to church as a family. I was still not interested in becoming Catholic but I thought that I should provide a good example for my children and as I was not going to a church at the time I could go with my wife and kids. Well something odd happened. No one complained when I asked hard pointed questions or asked why Catholics did this or that. No, they actually explained things to me. And even more amazing, if I missed a week (I was working really weird hours for the alarm company) the next time I showed up they asked how I was and told me they had missed me. This was a new thing to me. No one asked me not to come back. No one looked down their nose at me if I missed church and had to work. For the first time in my life, I was going to a church where I felt people cared if I showed up or not.
Well the more I learned about Roman Catholicism, the more I realized God was calling me to the Church, calling me home. So I took instruction and one Sunday morning with my father-in-law standing behind me with a supporting hand on my shoulder, I took my first Communion and was Confirmed into the Roman Catholic Church. And I have not looked back or regretted a moment since.
God Bless you and yours.
Comments
Followed the link from NewtonTalkList ;-) Expected to read about Newtons ,) But found this; and I'm not disappointed.
Strange, that the other churces have been so exclusive, instead of inclusive, but nice to hear, that you've found a nice community. For me, that's the way every church should be, nice, warm and careing.
/Sebastian
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