My story: Part 3

Read Part 1
Read Part 2

I can’t remember why but Chris didn’t make it to Mass at St. Thomas. So as per my custom I took a seat near the back. As this was a university parish most of the people there were closer to my own age. This immediately made me feel more comfortable. The music was also more upbeat and “younger”. I liked this at the time. However, I have now grown to not be so fond of it. But I remember something just felt right…I finally felt like I was some place where I could start to grow. The next week I was out of town and didn’t go to Mass. However, upon getting back from my trip I started going to Mass every Sunday at St. Thomas Aquinas. I didn’t miss a Sunday for well over a year. During this time I continued talking with Chris almost daily. He answered several of my questions and raised new ones. It was about this time that he gave me a copy of Patrick Madrid’s Surprised by Truth. I absorbed the conversion stories it contained, reading nearly cover to cover without stopping. I also started doing a lot of online research and came across the Defenders of the Catholic Faith Forum. The message board gave me a wonderful resource. Many of the poster’s are very knowledgeable and serious about their faith. I also emailed the priest at St. Thomas and asked him to recommend some reading material. Thus my collection of Catholic books began. I also discovered EWTN on my cable box. I spent hours watching Mother Angelica, Life on the Rock, the daily Masses, and just about anything else the aired.

Over the next year I became a sponge. Yet, I still had serious reservations. I wasn’t so sure about Mary and the saints, the True Presence in the Eucharist, papal infallibility, and a whole list of other things. The more I learned about Church history the more I started to feel that I would not be able to deny these things much longer. One night I was watching a show on EWTN when one of the guest priests mentioned the Road to Emmaus story in Luke 24. I pulled out my Bible and read the story of how Jesus appeared to the disciples who did not recognize them and how He was made known to them through the breaking of the bread. At that moment I knew in my heart that Christ was truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist. From there all of my objections to the teachings of the Catholic Church began to crumble.

At some point during this time I was home for a weekend visit when my mom told me that she had noticed that I had brought my Bible home with me and asked if I was going to church again. I told her yes, I was going to a Catholic church. This caught her a bit by surprise. I had a brief conversation with my parents about this. I expected much more. They asked little more than, “You still believe in Jesus right?” You have to remember that Catholics are few and far between where I grew up so few people know anything about the Catholic Faith. My mother also wanted to be assured that Catholic didn’t worship Mary.

As the Easter season approached I found myself questioning the option of converting. Even though I had come to accept the Church’s teachings and authority I wasn’t quite ready to make that commitment. On Holy Thursday I went to Mass at St. Joseph’s. While everyone was receiving communion I knelt and prayed to God that he direct me. I gave myself over, telling God that if the Catholic Church was where he wanted me then that was where I would go. Before the end of the communion procession I had my answer. I knew in my heart that I could no longer fight it and must become Catholic.

That spring, Chris talked me into taking a mission trip to Southeast Arkansas. St. Thomas usually sends missions to Honduras during spring break and Southeast Arkansas the week after spring classes ended. However, that particular year spring break coincided with Holy Week so both missions were planned for the week after classes ended. There ended up only being four of us who made the trip to Southeast Arkansas while the rest went to Honduras. We spent the week living in an old Franciscan Friary on the grounds of St. Mary’s church in McGehee, Arkansas. We spent the week helping out with several projects and spending time with Father Eric and Sister Sarah. We attended Mass each day and had Evening Prayer together each night. We also got into several conversations many of which concerned my conversion. For some reason I had still not shared my decision to join RCIA the following fall with anyone. Near the end of the trip, I did tell the others that I was planning to convert.

An interesting tangent to this story, the running joke the entire week was that I was destined to go to the seminary to become a priest. As per tradition of the mission trip we made up a song to describe all the people involved in the trip. The verse that was written for me was, “Then there's Chris / our Baptist missionary / next to become Catholic / then to the seminary.” This half-joking suggestion went on for the entire week and largely stemmed from Chris’ long insistence that he was convinced that I would convert and one day become a priest. I of course denied these charges. I will confess now that I was not entirely honest. This possibility had been on my mind for several months. I still remember vividly the first time a few months before Chris said to me, “You know what? I think you will be priest someday.” I was shaken by his comment. I had considered the possibility several times already and the fact that someone else would suggest it was unsettling. Until now this is something that I have kept mostly to myself. So, Chris if you read this I hope you are happy now! For the most part I have come to believe that this is not the path that God has laid out before me. However, I will not say that the possibility is not there. I’m still searching for that path and pray that I will have the strength and wisdom to answer God’s will whatever it turns out to be.

Okay, back to the story. I continued to go to Mass at St. Thomas during the summer and told my parents that I had decided to enroll in RCIA classes to prepare for reception into the Catholic Church. In September of 2005 I joined RCIA. I enjoyed the classes and continued to read as much about the Faith as I could get my hands on. As all humans are apt to do I had my ups and down, my moment’s of doubt, and sense of confusion. However, God had called me home to His one true holy, catholic, and apostolic church and I trusted him to lead me. I was confirmed in the Catholic Church at the 2006 Easter Vigil at St. Bernard’s in Bella Vista, Arkansas. Since then I have moved to Kansas where I have been blessed with a wonderful parish. I continue to have my ups and downs but I put my trust in God to lead me in all things.


Do you have a conversion story you would like to share on this blog? If so, please email me at catholicconverts@gmail.com and please consider adding your blog to the Catholic Converts blogroll.