Catholics believe the bible and tradition. Do I know where every tradition comes from, no. Do I need to, no. I believe that the Catholic church was founded by Jesus Christ and that it has been safeguarded by the Holy Spirit. That is all I need to know. I don’t need proof of every single thing.
I was not always Catholic, I became one in 1993. I was brought up in a environment that God was love. That was pretty much it. God loves me and everyone else. My husband and I, after we had our first child, decided that we wanted to raise a faithful family with morals and virtue. Our spiritual paths came from different backgrounds and we needed to find something we could both agree on. The only stipulation from my husband was that it could not be the Catholic church. Ok, so we went searching, going to different churches each Sunday looking for the one that was right. We both felt God would give us a sign it we hit upon the one He wanted us to attend.
Well, during this time of searching, my mother lived with us and would watch EWTN, a Catholic tv network. At first I would turn my nose, why in the world would she be watching that. But, gradually through shows like Bob and Penny Lord’s lives of the saints, Eucharistic miracles, misc. other programs, and a single nun who was so unapologetic of her faith in Jesus and her church, my heart was slowly opened to the beauty of the Catholic faith.
My mother and I had many conversations about the faith and wanted to go to a Catholic church and check it out for ourselves. But where we live, there are 5 different parishes, which one would we go to? We didn’t know and so that kept us from trying any of them. Then one day we were out and seen a sign for a bake sale. Well, the Lord knows how much I love me a homemade cookie, and we stopped to see what they had. It just so happen to be a Catholic church and we showed up just about 10 minutes before the Saturday mass was to begin. So we thought we might as well stay and check it out. After the mass, we knew we were exactly where God has called us to be. But, what was I to do about my husband who had forbidden the Catholic church?
Well, this all took place about 4 weeks before lent was to begin. I told him we had gone to a Catholic mass, and that it wasn’t my fault, it was the cookies. He was furious. He told me we were to find a church together, but I said I would only go until we found something different and that I didn’t expect him to go.
So for the next 4 Sundays my mother and I got up and went to mass, I never asked him to go or even discussed anything about it to him. He heard us talking about the coming Wednesday being Ash Wednesday and that her and I would go. On that Wednesday, right before we left, he asked if he could come, and of course we said yes. As he describes it, the moment he entered the church, he felt an overwhelming peace and felt the true presence of God, that he knew this was where God wanted him.
We continued to go to the mass every Sunday, we didn’t receive communion, only sat and listened. We went to the stations of the cross on Fridays, boy did we work off those cookies. lol. Anyway, when it came to Holy Week, we went each night of the Triduum and at the end of the Easter vigil watching all the new members coming into the church we both were balling and wanted this for ourselves. I called the following Monday morning and was told us we would have to enter classes in the fall. I wanted it now and was disappointed that we had to wait, but the following Easter vigil, we became full fledged Catholics.
I was not baptized until that Easter vigil, I wanted it so bad I could taste it. This is what we mean when Catholics talk about “Baptism of Desire.” I know God would have looked upon my soul as a daughter of His if I would have died before I was finally baptized and entered in full communion with the Church.
So you see, I didn’t need to understand all the nitty gritty of everything. I never questioned the Eucharist, I had seen Eucharistic miracles, I understood the importance of the sacraments from reading about saints and my own study, I loved the devotionals and sacramentals, as a way for me to feel closer to Jesus. Not as some lucky rabbit’s foot, but as a reminder of who I want to be, a follower of Christ. I loved Mary for who she was and what she does. I believed in the apparitions of Fatima and Lourdes because of the miracles. All the miracles I read about and saw on programs, proved to me that the Catholic church was the one true church that I needed to follow.
I know some will say those miracles were from the devil, well there are things he can do and can’t. The miracles I believe in can only come from God Himself.
So you can believe what you wish, you can know all you want, you can think you are right, but in the end I know the truth.
Well this is my story and I am sticking to it.
And you accept them anyway?
Well..... You're entitled. It's a free country.
I wouldn't put my trust in something I didn't know the source of because I believe that that leaves one open to deception and then the demonic.
But I guess that's just me.
Yours was a great story. Thanks for sharing.
Today’s Gospel was about the mustard seed. I just watched it grow in your story, God is with us every moment. I am glad that you recognized Him.
God’s peace be with your family.
Like WHAT?
Like our FR Mormons...