Fellow Converts

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

Hey I was wondering if there were any converts to the Church here. If so I would love to hear your conversion story. Well here is mine.

I am 18, and my family is not Catholic. I started attending a Catholic youth group at age 16. and one of my friends invited me to a Mass one Sunday before youthgroup, and i was reluctant at first, but i said yes. So I went and was really confussed. But i asked tons of questions and I got tons of answers. So on Sundays instead of going to my Methodist service, I went to Mass (even though I could not receive the Eucharist.) Something about the Mass kept drawing me in. So by the age 17 i was pretty sure I wanted to convert, but i was still skeptical about the real presance of Christ in the Eucharist. Then one night when I was praying infront of the Tabernacle, I asked for a sign that Christ was trully present; and right then I started to cry. At first i didn't know why, but then i realized that that was my sign. So it was then that I started taking classes, and on Jan. 31 The Church received another member of the mystical Body of Christ. It was probably the best time of my life, and at the same time most difficult time.

Pax et Agape per Maria, Andy

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

or if you have been in the Church since birth, and have an amazing faith conversion experience, feel free to share.

Pax et Agape per Maria, Andy

[littleflower+JMJ]

wow thank you so much for sharing that with us! :group:

that was beautiful! i know there are several converts to the catholic faith here at PM.....

God bless you for coming home to Rome, for submitting to Truth and for having the couragous to learn and seek.....

converts amaze me soo very much!!!

jess had been compiling convert stories from PM to maybe have a section devoted to it, since convert stories can be soo powerful...but that was a long time ago...

i think we all need to share...because its good to build that connection that make us the one, true faith in the Catholic Church. :wub:

great thread....im bumping!!

[homeschoolmom]

I will be happy to add mine here. (I was thinking of making a thread like this, but didn't...) Anyway, I will have to type it up and add it another time. It's kinda long and complicated.... Anyway, for now I'll just say, "bump."

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

Sorry, I'm not down with the hip-hoppin' lingo, what's "bumping"?

Pax et Agape per Maria.

Also, yeah, please share your story even if you aren't a convert. Blessings

Edited March 28, 2004 by thywillbedone7

[littleflower+JMJ]

[quote name='thywillbedone7' date='Mar 28 2004, 10:52 AM'] Sorry, I'm not down with the hip-hoppin' lingo, what's "bumping"?

Pax et Agape per Maria.

Also, yeah, please share your story even if you aren't a convert. Blessings [/quote]
LOL oh bump or "bumping" just means by posting in the thread your moving it to the top of the front page where more peeps can respond to.

take for example....this


BUMP

[homeschoolmom]

bump... i mean to get to it, and don't want to forget.

[FaustinaVianney]

Alrighty, my story is kinda long because it started from the time I was 5 and I am now 23, but I will try to just give highlights...

First of all, my mother died when I was 3 and she was only 21 and my fahter was 20. Because of this I became an incredibly independent person. After my mother died I usually spent the weekends with one of my grandmothers. Well when I was five my Gramma Helen (my maternal grandmother) took me to her nondenonminational church one Sunday. I fell in love with Jesus that day. I always wanted to go back. Well, in most Protestant churches they have an 'adult' service and a 'children's' service. Well, one Sunday I refused to go to the children's service for some unknown reason deep inside, but after attending the adult service I figured out why. I seen someone being baptized. I asked what it was and believed it to be something very important and wanted it done to me. However, I was told I was too young to understnad what it was. At this same moment I felt a call to Rel Life. I had no idea what that was! I did not even know a single Catholic and was taught to hate Catholics. Well, after that my father got remarried and I moved to the neighboring town at which time my stepmother forbade me to visit with my maternal family. I ended up finding a Baptist church, which I completely loved. My parents were not the church going type, so I would ride the church bus each and every sunday morning, which meant I had to be my own alarm clock and get ready all on my own. Well, a few years later I had had enough and had to be baptized. My pastor came to talk to my parents about this leap of faith I was wishing to take and my stepmother said no. If I was to be baptized it would be in a Weselyn church like she was. I tired her church, but it was ALL wrong, so I got angry with God and walked away from praying and from Him. When I was in high school all my friend were in youth groups at there churches and I was so jealous of them, but I thought God rejected me. I also wanted to learn about Catholicism, but I still did not know a Catholic and I felt a call to Rel Life. (Yeah, Rel Life and I was not Catholic, but I said NO I am having sex and a family). I went to Indiana Universtiy where I wrote a letter to my maternal grandmother telling her I was at school and would love to see her and the rest of the fam. My aunt ended up calling me and we have became great friends. I had some partying those first two years. IU is not one of the party schools for nothing! The second semester of my sophomore year my aunt called me up and talke me she was entering the CAtholic Church. My first thought was 'WOW! Finally I am gonna meet my first Catholic and go to a Mass. Wait a second wher did that come from!?' Well, it was a few months before I was able to go to Mass, but I had decided to take a semester off of school because I wanted to transfer out of the IU 'hell' I was at, but did not know where. I went to Mass in September and fell in love, but that same day my father who was 37 had a heart attack. So I thought well maybe the Catholic Church is not for me.. But, the moment my father told me he was on his way to the hospital because of a heart attack I literraly dropped to my knees and prayed. to our astonishment he no other damage and was gonna be fine after giving up smoking all that greasy food. I started to go to Mass on Sundays when I was not working and asking my aunt and her sponser all these questions and they started to become pretty deep theology and they could not answer them, so they started to talk to Fr Tony. They told me he wanted to chat with me about the Church, but there was no way on God's green earth that I was about to do that! (Of course now, I email him everyday! He is like an adopted father to me because my own father rejects me and I used to be quite close to him) Somehow, I am still not sure how, but I ended up at the Christmas midnight Mass. After that Mass I had to meet with Father. Well, I met with him and the next day I arrived on the campus of XU and inquired about the RCIA program. The RCIA progarm sucked and I did not learn anything aobut how to be a Catholic, but that summer I read a book or two a week on apologetics because I knew I had to defend my faith to the people in my hometown who knew nothing about Catholicism. (ya know they think Catholics worship Maryand bread, that your works save you, etc. There are no CAtholic Churches in my hometown to tell them what is right, so who can blame them?) Well, the end of the summer (after I had already gone back to XU) I emailed asking Father if I had to wait until the Easter Vigil to enter and he said no, but we would talk about in October when I would be home for fall break. September I struggled because the RCIA driector on campus told me I could enter the Church outside the Vigil since Iwas an adult and she got the Pastor of her Church and a few others to go against me. I trully did not know what to do I did not want to go against the Church in any way. All this grief made me say 'I do not know if I ever want to enter.' I went home for fall break and told Father I had no desire to chat with him. He said, 'I will always be here for you whether you enter the Church or not.' Those were powerful words and the first time in my life that I felt that I was going to be loved no matter what my decision was. I spent a good five hours or so in front of Jesus exposed on the altar that weekend and found that He fought so hard for my little soul and He wanted me in HIS CHURCH, so I told Father and we set a date. So, November 29, 2002 I entered the Church upon receiving all three initiation Sacraments. It was the happiest day of my life! My parents who refuse to see me as a Catholic were there even though my maternal fam was there as well. My parents reject me in more ways than one, but the Catholic issue is very sensitive because they see it as me rejecting the very basis of who they are, but I always pray for them, so I know God is working on them.
I had mentioned earlier that I felt a call to Rel Life since I was five, but was still denying it in every way. The summer before entering I had a friend ask me if I was studying to become a nun because of all the Catholic books I was reading. I screamed No to him, but that question kept repeating itself to me. In August I decided to defeat this idea and write to communities and say look at their life it is not for me. But, the more I learned about them the more I fell in love. Jesus was slowly sweeping me off my feet and I did not even know it! I told Fr Tony and he was not surprised in the least! I was shocked! Actually, no one I know was shocked, but more like 'well it is about time you realized it.' So, in Jan after entering the church I started visiting communities and found my 'home' in April. Now, there are rules that you must be Catholic for 2 years after entering the Church before entering Rel Life, which are good rules, but at the same time totally smell of elderberries! I am over the half way mark, but I was hoping to enter right after graduating college, which is in May, but I must wait until the fall before I can even apply. God willing I will become a Dominican Sister of St Cecilia Congregation (Nashville Dominicans) in Aug 2005.

Sorry it is so long, but there are many more things to say about how I was called to the Church it is hard to highlight just a couple, but ultimately I made it home...

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

WOW!...That's amazing... I have a few questions. 1) My family also didn't fully agree with my decision to join the Church, but I feel as if I may be called to the priesthood...can you give me some advice on how I can get the strength to tell my parents... Thanks.

Pax et Agape per Maria. Andy

[homeschoolmom]

Wow!

[stargirl3:16]

I have an awesome story as well, but it may have to wait for now.

[FaustinaVianney]

I think I used the word well enough..hehe

hmm strength to tell your parents... I am looking for that as well. I do not live with my parents, so I have not told them about me entering Rel Life. I no longer even live in the same town as they do even when I am on break. I am the 'homeless' girl that hangs around Church all the time. Now, I am homeless because I never know where I will be staying from night to night, but I have friends in the Legion of Mary that are old enough to be my mother that make sure that I no longer sleep in my car. I am going to tell my parents sometime fairly soon though whether it be when I go 'home' for Easter break or this summer I do not know. The first thing you must do is pray about it. The second thing I am gonna say is that sometimes people get the many graces of entering the Church confused with the call to Rel Life or the priesthood. Now, I am not saying this is you. I have met plenty of Rel that were new converts upon entering, but this something you def should discern.
The third thing is that you should learn more about the priesthood if you feel that God is calling you to such a life. I mean you can ask your parish priest questions and other things without having to go through the grief of telling your parents when you are unsure of your vocation as well. You seem to be at the beginning stages of discernment, so if you think your parents will not be supportive of you entering the priesthood or even thinking about it I would wait to tell them until you learn more about the priesthood. Discerning can be difficult at times and the devil plays many tricks, so always be on your toes! Your parents may be more open than you think. I mean they did allow you to enter, which is much more than my parents. I was not even allowed to attend another church when I was under 18. My prayers are with you!!

[Fiat_Voluntas_Tua]

Thanks...and my prayers are with you and your family.

Pax et Agape per Maria, Andy

[Catholic_4_Life]

OMG!!! Faustina, you must be close to me!! :wave:

Fr. Tony is da BOMB! :thumb: I love him! I haven't seen him since he left St. Joe's here in Jasper, but we used to be close. Fr. Burns and I aren't as close, but we still are good friends. I'm hoping to see Tony on a Cruise next January. Fr. Burns was going to go this past year but was unable to make it at the last minute. (The Cruise is the "Deliver us from E'ville" vacation - Evanville of course). Most of those who go are in Evansville, but quite a few go from here too.

Anyway, PM me if you want! I would love to talk to you. And if you talk to Fr. Tony, tell him that Steven Dunn says hey, and don't be such a stranger!

[FaustinaVianney]

Yep, I am a member of St Joseph's! Fr Burns concelebrated at my initiation Mass and Mr Dabrowski was the altar server! It was great. I email Fr Tony all the time. He helps me out a lot. He is gonna help me find a good spir dir after I graduate. (I would ask him, but he is sooo busy helping others and I figure one of the monks at St Meinrad will be good.) I am glad he is planning on going on that cruise. (I have heard about it.) He gets so stressed out during the winter months! Too busy helping others! I am good friends with Ali, so you can ask her about me...