Question for converts: What's your story? - Page 11

fabricdragon · #**151** Feb 12, '09, 1:34 pm

its funny, isnt it?
i see so many people who are scandalized by the pagans adapting the rosary , and Mary... to a "pagan rosary" but you know.. as awful as it would be for a Catholic to do that.. for a Pagan its often a way to gently get to know some small amount of Grace... there are people who see the Grace in the church, but have some strong opinion that the church contradicts (abortion, for example) and often if you push them on it they will leave. let the grace of the church and Christ, and Mary work on their hearts. and just try to be a good example.

there are an awful lot of people who cannot deal with one or another aspect of the faith, usually due to misconceptions about it, but sometimes from earlier abuse or problems...

and truly..if all they can deal with is apostolic succession, and cant deal with Mary ...... fine.. let them, eventually the apostles own succession and words will let them better know her...

if they can only deal with Mary, and are hostile to God , his Church, and the Son.... dont push.. encourage them to study what the orthodox teachers have said about Mary, the history, the prayers. and she will lead them to the church and her Son...
she did for me.

it is often a case of God's will leading a stubborn donkey one step at a time.. (and i say that from the perspective of the donkey...)

i dont have a gift of clever words.... but i hope i am clear...
i WAS hostile. i hated Christianity, and everything i thought it represented... because i saw nothing but hypocrisy and received nothing but hostility. lies... false statements. and "dont question, just do what i say". i mean i knew i wasnt doing anything hurtful, but i had so called Christians accuse "all pagans of animal sacrifice" and more.....
how could they be in anything good?

the Rosary, though.. something about it appealed... i made them, made pagan versions, knew the prayers.. and then God sent Lynn into my life. Lyn, may she rest in peace, was everything a Christian could possibly be.. patient, kind, accepting.. she knew i wasnt evil. wasnt trying to do anything wrong.. but she was also certain in her faith.. and i made Rosaries for her .. and she said the Rosary for me constantly. and when i remembered i said it for her...
i said a Novena to St Peregrine, and got her 3rd order relics of St Katherine Drexel, and St John Neumann......... had my first contact with the saga of St Pio of Petrelcina (then Blessed Padre Pio)

she NEVER asked me anything other than to keep her in my prayers, whatever prayers they were. and she told me she prayed for me, because i was so kind to her. and she cared for me.

its funny. the conversions i know about all came about like that....gentle words, good examples,

"the stony ground watered by the Grace of the Lord"... and the Ave Maria

narrowpath · #**152** Feb 12, '09, 8:15 pm

I am of C. S. Lewis's opinion that paganism was "good dreams" given to the gentile nations...

moen · #**153** Feb 14, '09, 3:39 am

I'm so glad to have seen this thread!
It would take hours to write my story, and it's still unfolding since I've yet to take the full plunge into the Tiber

Studied CC for about 5 1/2 yrs, been through RCIA, nagging doctrinal issues and persecution from friends/family kept me back. Ready to put the whole thing down as a result of the turmoil of should I or shouldn't I convert. I sort of put it on the back burner..........THEN I picked up a pamphlet to learn about the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I prayed a Novena and then several times the general/rosary portion. I began to see changes in my thinking and circumstances that my intellect/choices had nothing to do with! THings I didn't even pray about came out w/ positive answers! AND I offered the prayers for others, not for myself and my issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That clinched it. This whole thing had to bypass my mind, since I've been hanging on the intellectual/doctrinal part with white knuckles, thinking I had to have everything make sense to my mind. The rosary was the last thing I would have thought would be part of my life, as I always believed it was the "vain repetitions that the pagans use" as Jesus said not to do. If my friends knew I was praying a rosary they'd laugh and scream and I know I'd see veins popping out of their necks and nostrils flared

Yet the same could be said of people who speak in tongues, while the angry mob of fundamentalists have smoke coming out of their nostrils! ---You know what they say about fundamentalism: No Fun and all mental

. I love them, but I'm on this wonderful journey now away from the judgementalism and desert maze of protestantism!

Jerry Parker · #**154** Feb 14, '09, 5:50 am

Moen,

It was great for us others, too, that you discovered this thread of Catholic Answers! Just a couple of comments about two passages your contribution.

Regarding that much cited and usually abused phrase of Our Lord's, "vain repetitions that the pagans use", Fundamentalists (and other Protestants and sectaries, as well) have cited this to condemn the the Rosary, the litanies, and so forth of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican worship. However, have these blind guides ever stopped to wonder if all "repetitions" really are "vain"? I think that most of them assume that any repetition is vain, which is nonsense! So long as one is not praying inattentively, repetition is not "vain"! Furthermore, the repetitions in Catholic worship of all of these and other traditions of like liturgy and personal devotions is not "pagan". The repetitions in our liturgies and devotions are Christisn! Talk about men blind in the conceits of their own minds and perceptions! They cannot even parse fully the meaning of the phrases which they thow about so recklessly and automatically!

Your characterisation (which I have encountered elsewhere, of course) of Fundamentalism as "No Fun and all mental", is apt. I have others of my own (at least, I think so). Fundamentalists of the American sectarian kind are "fundamentally wrong"! As for clinging to the true fundamentals of the Holy Catholic and credal faith, it is better, I think, to be a Catholic "fundamentalist" in the sense of one rooted in the foundational truths of the Holy Catholic Fatih, than to be an "Incidentalist" strung out on the latest panoply of sectarian trends that so sweep American sectarian and even Protestant enthusiasms.

Yeah, it can be hard, at times, especially when the "Fundies" link their misshapen faith to fascistic political agenda, as they do when they confect the latest version of American Civic Relgion, to love them, but one does have to try to do so!

Jerry Parker

Memaw · #**155** Feb 14, '09, 6:10 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by moen

I'm so glad to have seen this thread!
It would take hours to write my story, and it's still unfolding since I've yet to take the full plunge into the Tiber

Studied CC for about 5 1/2 yrs, been through RCIA, nagging doctrinal issues and persecution from friends/family kept me back. Ready to put the whole thing down as a result of the turmoil of should I or shouldn't I convert. I sort of put it on the back burner..........THEN I picked up a pamphlet to learn about the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I prayed a Novena and then several times the general/rosary portion. I began to see changes in my thinking and circumstances that my intellect/choices had nothing to do with! THings I didn't even pray about came out w/ positive answers! AND I offered the prayers for others, not for myself and my issues!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That clinched it. This whole thing had to bypass my mind, since I've been hanging on the intellectual/doctrinal part with white knuckles, thinking I had to have everything make sense to my mind. The rosary was the last thing I would have thought would be part of my life, as I always believed it was the "vain repetitions that the pagans use" as Jesus said not to do. If my friends knew I was praying a rosary they'd laugh and scream and I know I'd see veins popping out of their necks and nostrils flared

Yet the same could be said of people who speak in tongues, while the angry mob of fundamentalists have smoke coming out of their nostrils! ---You know what they say about fundamentalism: No Fun and all mental

. I love them, but I'm on this wonderful journey now away from the judgementalism and desert maze of protestantism!

Monsignor Chiodo, a former Pastor always said, " The longest journey you'll ever make is the 12 inches between your head and your heart!" He is sooo right.
Don't worry about your friends, what goes between you and God is the most important. HE will help you thru whatever comes. Continue on and soon you'll be able to receive Our Lord, himself, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Holy Eucharist. Prayers and God Bless. Memaw

luminoushope · #**156** Feb 14, '09, 8:55 am

God bless you very much, Moen, your post encouraged my heart. I also have had a long walk towards conversion and it may be longer still (annulments required).

Pardon my repeating what I said in a previous post, but my arrival at the Catholic Church was by the goad of the Holy Spirit, not the Holy Intellect. In my opinion, I am sorry to say that there is so much missing from Protestant Christianity, that has been willfully thrown away, that they have to worship the intellect, the song service, the song leader, certain spiritual gifts, and other things that are not the heart of the matter.

I believe with all my heart that if people like us will continue on the right path, what we seek will be given to us!

In Christian love,

Luminous Hope

Jerry Parker · #**157** Feb 14, '09, 10:05 am

Luminous Hope and Moen,

You have the essence of what it means to be right, Luminous Hope. Moving from sectarian group to another is just a matter of making theological adjustments (if even that much!), and the same is only slightly less true, due to their retention of sacramentalism, of Lutheranism and Anglicanism, but in the cases of Eastern Orthodoxy and of Roman and Eastern Catholicism, it the shift requires accepting an whole different view of the Church and authority in it, the spiritual life that it cultivates so amply.

The "Church of the living God is the piller and ground of the Truth" (1 Tim. 3:15), also the Eucharist is our lifeline in the new life, both of these truths making demands for allegiance that the sects and even the Lutheran and Anglican sectors of Protestantim will not accept in the fulness that God demands. While a man or woman may be saved apart from them, s/he puts the soul in grave danger without them and cannot nourish the true life of Christ's Body without them. Without the Church and its sacramental life, without feeding on Christ through the Eucharist, the soul languishes. The Church itself and the Holy Sacraments are not nice-to-have incidentals, but are of the very essence of Christianity.

Jerry Parker

pedro22031 · #**158** Feb 15, '09, 6:11 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by damooster

I was in the Army from 1996-2002.

In 1998-1999, I was deployed to Bosnia. I was a military policeman, and I was the Provost Marshal's driver. He was the most devout Catholic I had ever met. He would pray on long road trips and would tell me a little bit about his faith if I asked. He was a Lieutenant Colonel, and the Catholic Chaplain was a Major (he outranked the Major), but he addressed the Chaplain as if he were his military superior. I remember studying about Catholicism because of him but that fell off once I was switched to a different job and when I left the Army. Sad thing is, I don't think my boss knew about my interest in Catholicism; because he was a senior commissioned officer, I didn't think it was appropriate to talk about something personal like that. I look back and wish I had talked to him about it...maybe I'd already be a Catholic by now.

I moved to my current residence about 2 years ago and every day, I pass by one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. It just happens to be a Catholic Church, so that got me studying Catholicism again. I started RCIA a few months ago and will be baptized on Easter. I can't wait!

Great topic. Thanks for letting me share my story!

pedro22031 · #**159** Feb 15, '09, 6:15 pm

I was in Bosnia with 1AD from 97 - 99. I might know you...anyway I have recenlty been attending RCIA. This is the real thing. My story is different that most. I was Presbyterial...went Baptist, then Methodist, but none of if was making a difference. I realize that this is the one true faith and can not wait for my confirmation.

Cinette · #**160** Feb 15, '09, 6:20 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by NonCatholic

God speaks to me every single day; every time you read His word He is speaking. Everyday i listen to a sermon, God is speaking to me. If I go a day without reading, studying or hearing the word of God; it is not peasant. If you God to speak with you more, like everyday, then read the Bible.

I would recommend reading the longest prayer from Jesus we have recordein Holy Scripture. John 17.
http://www.searchgodsword.org/desk/?...h&ng=17&ncc=17

These passages are so rich and so meaningful of you are part of God's elect.

May God grant you His peace and joy!

Your recommendation is very good but just think, Snerticus attends Daily Mass where he is not only fed the Word of God but Jesus himself in the Eucharist.

You can't beat that!

Jerry Parker · #**161** Feb 15, '09, 6:30 pm

Damooster,

Your experience with chaplains was more positive than mine was in the U.S. Navy many long decades ago (early 1960s). Most chaplains are more officer than priest or minister. I did meet one very fervently faithful Methodist chaplain on the U.S. Naval Base in Anacostia (Washington, D.C.), but he was the exception. The Roman Catholic chaplains all seemed bored and rushed.

When I was posted to my ship, we had a quirky chaplain, again Methodist. There was no R.C. chaplain; ships as small as destroyers get one chaplain, be he Catholic, Protestant, or even Mormon! That Methodist was not detached or aloof, but he was rather nutty and skitterish. I played double bass for the gospel quartet formed of singing members of the crew and I played the very portable organ which he brought along each time he underwent the ship-to-ship transfer by "hi-line" (a grim way to convey a guy from one ship to another in heavy weather when the ships are of disparate sizes!). The Roman Catholics on my ship used to get together, without chaplain, to pray the Rosary together, and I would join them. Their simple Christian sincerity and love of our Lady and of Our Lord, unprompted by any supervising mili-clerical eye, always impressed me.

Well, chaplains do not have an easy go of it nowadays, with all the oecumenical "P.C." restrictions with which they have to bear! In my military days they were free to make a strong witness for what they truly believed, whether Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, or whatever, but few chaplains then took advantage of such liberty to proclaim Christ clearly according to their respective traditions.

Jerry Parker

LegoGE1947 · #**162** Feb 15, '09, 8:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Memaw

Maybe you and your wife could talk to a Catholic Priest and find out why she lost interest in the Catholic Church. Have you asked her to attend 6:30 Mass with you? Do you still watch EWTN ? The "Journey Home" program that comes on at 7 pm on Monday nights CST, has wonderful, interesting stories of converts journey into the Catholic Faith. Prayers for you both and God Bless, Memaw

The cable system removed EWTN or moved it to where we can't watch it anymore. my wife doesn't get up early enough to go to 6:30 mass We know about the Journey Home We used to watch it all the time. My wife won't go near a Catholic Church let alone talk to a priest.

Memaw · #**163** Feb 16, '09, 6:30 am

Damooster,
Thank you for sharing it, Prayers for you on your journey into the Catholic Faith. You have found the TRUE Pearl of Great Price!!
God Bless, Memaw

moen · #**164** Feb 16, '09, 6:37 am

To be honest I'm at the point where to continue to not follow what I know is right for me is bordering on disobedience. I'm concerned this will split my family (husband and 3 kids, not Catholic). Someone on another thread (a convert!) counseled me to give up my right and my desires and do what my husband wanted me to do, IE not convert until whenever........and that's what carrying your cross means, sacrificing what you want.
I wrote back a little miffed, understandably, and confused

Memaw · #**165** Feb 16, '09, 6:47 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by moen

To be honest I'm at the point where to continue to not follow what I know is right for me is bordering on disobedience. I'm concerned this will split my family (husband and 3 kids, not Catholic). Someone on another thread (a convert!) counseled me to give up my right and my desires and do what my husband wanted me to do, IE not convert until whenever........and that's what carrying your cross means, sacrificing what you want.
I wrote back a little miffed, understandably, and confused

I was faced with a similar problem with my second husband, he argued against, ridiculed and even refused to allow his sons to say the rosary with us, BUT I persevered and kept the kids in Catholic schools, we prayed always, and eventually he came around and even later became a Catholic. His Mom told me that he told her, he knew the Catholic Faith was so much more than the protestant faith but he couldn't get over his own Dad's opinion of it. He died at age 47, a very peaceful death with all the sacraments. God does work in Mysterious Ways but if we give up, we cut off that channel of Grace. Prayers and God Bless, Memaw.