Recent Converts' Group

Hello, everyone! I am new to this site.

My husband and I will be moving to the Midwest, right after Christmas, to live closer to his family. As soon as we get there, I plan on visiting the priest at my husband's family's church to finally convert to Catholicism, something I've wanted to do for some time now.

Could anyone tell me anything about the process? I was baptized and confirmed (United Church of Christ) back in the 1980s. I feel like I learned next to nothing back then. Will I need to be re-baptized and re-confirmed?

We want to be re-married in my husband's family's church, anyway, but I am wondering if we will HAVE to remarry? When we got married in 2003, it was by a justice of the peace. I'm just curious.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Have a good day, all! :-)

Hello everyone! I recently converted last Easter. I grew up in a Nazerene Church, but never was pounded into any religion by my parents. I grew up in a hispanic community and went to Mass with my friends a lot. I always wondered about the Catholic faith. So a couple of years ago I started asking questions from a close friend of mine about the church and everything that he said about what Catholics believed I believed in my heart. They have so many wonderful gifts from God to share with us. I am so proud of being a Catholic, I wish I did this years ago.[

Hello, all.

I am currently taking RCIA classes and I thought I would share my experiences with you. It's a long read, sorry. I like to talk.

I wanted to convert to Catholicism as a child. It's hard to explain the why, I just always felt I should. My mother is Baptist and my biological father was raised Catholic. I was not raised with my biological father and in fact haven't seen him since I was 10 months old. When I was a child, my mother told me that my father was Catholic. I thought, 'so am I'. I don't know what possessed my 6 year old mind to think that. It wasn't as if I knew my father and it wasn't as if he'd done anything great to make me think that Catholics are great. He went to prison for attempt of murder and that is why I never saw him.

I remember going to my mother's Baptist church and feeling uncomfortable and thinking that something was out of sorts. We didn't go often, but I always felt embarrassed to be there. I have no memories on what made me embarrassed, just that's how I felt.

Later, I looked into converting to Catholicism. At the time I was 20 and had the access of the internet at my fingertips, and I found the wrong articles on converting. Somewhere I read that I could not convert because I was married to a Muslim at the time. Almost 10 years later, I found out that was not the case and now I know to ask someone that knows, not the people that post sites with little facts to back up their knowledge.

I recently got married to a cradle Catholic and I decided to start doing more research on converting again. I finally took the plunge and made an appointment to talk to someone about what I needed to do.

I won't get into all the details of the conversations I had, but I did go to a church near my work. The priest there was a nice man and he suggested that I go to the church near my home. He said that the priest there was a wonderful priest and he holds him in high regards. He said I was lucky to live so near that church and it would be beneficial for me to go to a church in my area. He said it was a community and I would benefit from surrounding myself with the community of my church.

I will admit I was taken aback that he was sending me to another church. I was raised to think that all priest/ministers wanted as many members as they could so they could get more money. Now, deep down, I never believed that was really true. I always thought that was awful for people to think that of their clergy. But I was still surprised. I thought there must be something wrong with me that he didn't want me in his church.

Now I know that way of thinking was also wrong. Him sending me to the church I am attending was the best thing anyone has ever done. It is so nice to see my neighbors in church and to really get that sense of community. I get teary eyed thinking about it.

So, I signed up for RCIA at my local parish and I just love it. I have always had anxiety about faith, what if I am making the wrong choice or what if it's too late for me. Every week I would struggle with going to RCIA classes. By the time Tuesday came around, all the way there I would think that I should skip class. I would come up with a million excuses. Once I even went to turn around in the parking lot and go home because there was no parking. Just as I was almost at the exit, a parking spot right up front appeared. So, I went to class. By the end of class I always feel glad that I went and that it always helps renew my faith this is the right thing to do. This week was the first Tuesday that I didn't try to talk myself into skipping. I realize I need this and I am getting a lot out of going.

Last week was our first meeting with our sponsor. I don't know how, but they picked the best one for me. At first, when she said she was a retired nun, I didn't think we would have anything in common. They had us get to know each other and we discovered we come from similar backgrounds, both children of alcoholics (my stepdads, not my mother). We discussed anxiety issues that come from growing up in that sort of household. I was shocked to hear that she had attended classes for adults who grew up with alcoholics to help her deal with anxiety. I never thought of a nun as someone that could have anxiety. My sponsor has become a bigger role model for me than I thought she would be. Her faith gives me strength I never had before. BTW the first time I met her, was the same night that the parking space appeared in front of me as I was attempting to leave.

As for the classes, I have loved the different people that have lectured each time. I really love to hear our priest give these lessons. It is nice to hear how down to earth he is in person. It's not at all what I had in my head that the experience would be, it is so much more than I expected. I was telling my husband the other day that I was expecting scripture memorization and very strict people. Which, in retrospect, it is funny that I always wanted to convert when that is what I expected all these years.

So, in short if you are thinking of converting, I would suggest going to Mass, talking to the right people, and attending these classes. I know that I will no longer be struggling with going to class anymore. There have been so many misconceptions about the church that I have had for years and I am learning that a lot of what I thought I knew was wrong. For example, I have a friend who was raised Catholic and he is no longer part of the Church. He said he stopped going because he thought it was stupid to follow a faith that believed that if the Pope said the sky is green, that we all had to say that the sky was green, and all shades of blue are now shades of green. I must admit that I thought that was silly, but fortunately I decided to find out for myself first hand. I am relieved to know that he was wrong about the sky being green part. Where do people get these ideas?

Wow, this thread has really helped me A LOT!
Needless to say I have experienced similar feelings of 'selfishness' in regards to my faith and love of Our Lord - but reading what you all had to say has really eased my mind.
One thing that does comfort me is the thought that God can and does see inside our hearts, meaning our true intentions.
So , if our love of Him and our devotion and praise to Him is selfish, the intent is not of selfish means - if that makes sense??
We long to glorify Him, I'm assuming, not so much for ourselves, even though we do derive happiness from it, but we do it for Him.
I don't know if that came out right, but I hope what I'm trying to say is understood! LOL!

Thank you very much!

Hello everyone! I'm new to this group and to CAF! I was so excited when i found this group! Since I'm a newly converted catholic. I was the daughter of pastors of an Assembly of God church. But with a lot of prayer, and attending an awesome bible study group i decided to convert! So now I'm in the process of taking RICA classes and me & my husband are taking classes to have a nuptial mass! Once again I am so thankful for this group!

mari0313

To Doll Collector:
I have trouble keeping focused when I pray the rosary...so sometimes I say it out loud and that helps. I also try to picture myself in the mysteries....like if I am on the Joyous mysteries I picture Mary and Elizabeth and their clothes, their hands or if it's the sorrowful mystery I picture Christ's feet on the cross or even Mary praying next to me.

I tend to be kind of hard on myself when I can't focus or my mind wanders, but instead I will think that Satan is trying to discourage me from praying and then I get mad and say OH NO, Satan, I won't let you win! That gives me energy to focus!

I received my First Communion and Confirmation this year at the Easter vigil. I was a burnt-out Protestant Evangelical who had stopped attending church. I love the RCC!!!!!

My husband and I are having our wedding convalidated by the Church in four weeks.

Nice to be here.

Julie

rather they are a group of converts from the late 19th early 20th century that Joseph Pearce put together in his book "Literary Converts."

Starting with Oscar Wilde (of all people) and ending more or less with the rather sad deaths of Evelyn Waugh, Hugh Ross Williamson, and Alec Guiness, Joseph Pearce has created an enjoyable, readable, and enormously fun history of English converts and near-converts to Catholicism.

It’s hard to even recall how many names wander about this book. There are so many of them – Chesterton & Belloc, of course, but also Waugh, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Ronald Knox, Roy Campbell, Graham Greene, Dorothy Parker and many others wander in and out of the narrative.

Some reviews and a series of reading selections. What made me sad was that so many of these books and authors are out of print or circulation in the local library.

Enjoy here:

http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2...joseph-pearse/

regards

dj

Firstly, hello all.
Here goes. I married a Catholic in a C of E ceremony which at the time was the only concession I would make to religion. I was baptized C of E, my wife was Catholic but I was not interested in the slightest in religion.
I went to RC baptisms, weddings, funerals, confirmations and first communions and felt so left out and completely alone, the ceremonies meant nothing to me. The worst time was when I went to the funeral of a good friend and didn’t understand anything, it felt as though his name was never mentioned and his life was not celebrated, then just after that I went to my nephew’s communion and walked out near the end.
A little later something unexpected happened that I don’t have time to go into here, it would take all of your time, but I went to Mass with my wife and met a fantastic old Irish Priest called Father Connor who talked to me about what it meant to become a Catholic and what I would need to do. He guided me personally over a period of around 8 months, which was not without difficulties I can tell you. I was confirmed in private because I didn’t want anyone to see it and then my wonderful wife and I were re-married in the Catholic Church by the brilliant Father Connor.
I am now much happier and see life in a different way. I am also now studying to teach RE and have an incredible enthusiasm for a subject that used to fill me with disgust.
Thank you Father Connor and I hope you are keeping well