What led you to become a Catholic, or what inspired you to deepen your Catholic faith?
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Someone on Quora asked “Are you Protestant or Catholic? Why?” This was my answer:
I have been on both sides of Protestantism and Catholicism. My Parents were Presbyterian in my teen years. After graduating High School, I attended a non-Denominational Church and met some awesome people there. In College, a beautiful Brethren girl caught my eye and I began attending Youth Group with her (they were really big into Pre-Trib Rapture theology, which was popularized in the early 1830’s by John Darby). Shanon’s youth group was a close group of friends and a lot of fun to hang out with.
I had a reversion to the faith of my youth (I was raised Catholic in my pre-teen years). On 9/11, it was the second day at my new job, on that sunny morning when the planes were flown into the towers. My Christian boss invited anyone who wanted to, to join a Prayer circle out in the parking lot. It was neat to see people I worked with, whom I otherwise might not have ever known were Christians. After the Prayer, I made the sign of the Cross (as I was taught as a child). Some Protestant co-workers (who also happened to be of the Brethren faith) began bombarding me with questions when we got back inside: Why do you worship Mary? Why do you worship statues? I tried to tell them that I was not Catholic, but they interrupted me. Why do you Pray to the dead?! When they finally exhausted themselves, I explained how I used to be Catholic, but that I do not believe that assumptions were what Catholic Christians believed. I went out to my car on my lunch and turned on the radio (I wanted to learn more about what was happening to our Country). I hit scan and what I heard were answers to these questions that my co-workers had disingenuously (or out of ignorance) asked me. I do not believe it was by accident that I found “Catholic Answers Live” at that moment in my faith journey.
As I learned about what Catholic Christians really believe, I knew where God was leading me, but I did not look forward to telling my very cute girlfriend out of fear of how she might respond. That night did not go well. When I told her about all of this, she threw herself into a pillow and cried out, I don’t know you anymore! And then she followed up with some of the same questions that my misinformed co-workers had posed a few months prior (only this time I was able to correct these misconceptions that many Protestants have about the Catholic Christian faith).
I’ve always had a relationship with Jesus, but when I became Catholic (again), my relationship with Him grew more intimate. Why am I Catholic Christian? Because I believe that Christ began a church in the apostles and the further you stray from this apostolic faith of the early Christians, the less one believes in the things that the early Christians believed. Both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Christians believe in what we refer to as the Eucharist. Lutherans and Anglicans believe that Jesus is present in Holy Communion, but go much further than these and this gift from our Lord Himself becomes merely symbolic. It is interesting that after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it was in the breaking of the bread that they truly recognized Jesus.
I have respect for my Protestant friends. We have a common love for Jesus, but we lack unity. Some Protestants have tried to heal this disunity by defining the essentials and non-essentials. We tend to agree on the essentials in a vague sense, however we often disagree on the passages of Sacred Scripture where Jesus says, Amen, amen, I say to you (or in some translations, Truly, truly…) The Early Church Fathers talked not only about the mystical unity in the body of Christ, but also about a physical unity. Physical unity is important in matters of teaching and morality. Jesus said that if we have quarrels and can not figure it out to go to the church. And if the church is not unified on matters of teaching and morality, then what? And what happens if the individual does not listen even to the church? Physical disunity. I do not pretend that the church can be fully united, any more than there can be world peace on this side of Heaven. For where there is sin, there will always be disunity.
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When I was a young child, my mother took me to see a church in downtown San Diego. It was a Catholic Church. I was 10 and so very much moved by its beauty. I remember lighting candles and praying with her. Later in life after I tried various Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church is what called me.
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Oddly enough, I was a lukewarm Catholic and also had a very atheist friend. We were discussing our beliefs one day and he’s said “If you’re in for a penny, you should be in for a pound.” I agreed and got deeper and deeper into Catholicism, which I have loved.
I was raised secular Jewish. Was first exposed to Christianity as a teenager when I took off hitch hikng and wound up in a christian commune. Had never even seen a bible. In my 40s, a combination of studying history and a bout of depression led me to the Catholic Church.
I was born raised for 8 years in Catholic faith. parents divorced, then I was lost for many years. In 2012 a conversion began in my soul. I remembered I was Catholic, and one morning I woke , was prompted by the Holy Spirit to call a priest. I did, went and saw him, made a very long Confession, and returned to the Church. Praise be to Jesus Christ!
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A cradle Catholic, after a lengthy sinful life and various serious illnesses ( some continuing) the Good Lord has shown me a better way. Still working at it, but in Good Hands now.
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I was raised pretty non-religious, my mother did try to take us to a couple protestant churches growing up. The first one was a “Unity church” and the Sunday school there was the first and only place I was ever bullied, which left a very bad taste in my mouth for a long time when it came to Christianity. Then we went to a Joel Osteen style megachurch that had a food court and an indoor skate park, but it all seemed so dumb to me and I never even heard much about Jesus there. After that we went to a Presbyterian church where all I did was watch movies and play air hockey. The only kind of “educating” that I remember is where the Celtic cross came from. I believe it may have been there where I was told the old testament didn’t matter and I could just throw it out (
)… That was my mother’s last attempt at taking us to Church. A couple times I went to a non-denominational “church” that was in a stripmall with a friend who went there often. All we did was eat pizza, listen to a sweaty guy talk about how modern music is bad because you can hear demons if you play it backwards, and then watched a guy play the drums.
It was a long time after that I began to try and seek God on my own, because I knew he was there, I just didn’t know where he truly was. I tried going to an episcopalian church on my own but after a couple weeks it all just felt like an empty song and dance. Most of the service I was staring out the window looking at the garden. A good friend of the family went to a Greek Orthodox church and invited us to go for a Greek festival they were holding. Most of it was outside but I asked to look inside the church itself and when they did let me in I felt very different in the elaborately decorated church than I ever did any other protestant churches. I knew something was there. The place was to far for me to get to on my own since I was disabled at the time so I never went back.
Now one big thing is that a few times now and then I did actually go to a Catholic mass, but I was always scared when I went. It was different than the other places. People were actually standing, kneeling, moving around, taking part in the service, the priest was speaking Latin and using all these different objects. It was so alien to me and all I really felt was fear.
When the pandemic hit I decided to move out of state to live with my grandmother so I could help her through COVID. My health had improved and I could finally be independent and even help her. She was a non-practicing Catholic but still had all the usual things you’d see in a casual Catholic’s house. One day I was so bored during lockdown that I took her giant St Joseph Edition NAB bible, with large type and cut outs in the side to mark each book. I blindly stuck my finger in one of the cutouts and opened it. It opened to The Book of Job and I decided to read it. I believe I sat there and read it in one sitting. It enthralled my mind. I decided I wanted to know more and went to the nearest parish. When I walked into it I felt that feeling I felt in my chest at the Greek Orthodox church but amplified by 1000. I knew Christ was there. I bought books from the small shop that was part of the reception area and started reading and reading. Everything from the history to the theology just made sense. It all clicked. There was always answers. People were welcoming and would help with any question. I signed up for RCIA and started to go to mass daily. Even though I couldn’t receive communion, I felt so purified just getting a blessing from the priest. I knew I found home. Fast forward only 3 years and now I’m married to a Catholic wife and we have our first child. Now that we have a child, I know that I have to deepen my faith further so I can equip myself to lead this child to sainthood. I can definitely say that this is what mortal life is meant to be.
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I was a cultural Catholic, my family came from Sicily and I was baptized as an infant but due to family circumstances I was never confirmed or brought up in the Catholic Faith or any other faith. I wasn’t until I was 36 that I had my conversion experience that I discovered my Catholic Faith through the Holy Spirit guidance and watching EWTN. I immediately became a devout daily communicant. Two years after a good friend and spiritual advisor asked if I had ever been confirmed and I asked what was that. Well he made sure I was and I received that wonderful Sacrament along with the children…lol
Three out of five siblings are Catholic and recently my sister, after much prayer, told me she wanted to become Catholic after being with the Church of God and recently going the the Southern Baptist Church with my Oldest Brother and his wife. My sister and I are both divorced and live together near our oldest brother and during COVID shutdown as I usually watch the Mass on EWTN, she eventually saw and heard the Homily was all about Jesus and the Holy Spirit moved her to the Catholic Church. I was shocked but delighted as I never imagined that she would ever leave the Baptist Church. Well now she is very devout Catholic and our Deacon catechized and arranged our annulments, she is now confirmed. I was blamed by my brother and his wife was so mad at me for taking her away from their Baptist Church but it wasn’t me, we all know it can only be through the Holy Spirit, our prayers do help and answered in God’s timing. Amen and I praise God always for my conversion and my sister’s.
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