I'm not sure when the beginning of my
conversion to Catholicism started. I was led by the Holy
Spirt through series of changes that made it possible for
me to accept the Roman Catholic Church with as few
reservations as possible.
I was brought up in a
Southern Baptist Church. As a Master of Divinity student
at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville,
KY, in the 1980's I used to joke with the other female
students about switching to antoher denomination more eager
for women to be ordained as ministers. Well, in my
thirties, I became a United Methodist. The churches and
denomination welcomed me, but between struggling with
finances and health problems, I never got to a Methodist
seminary to finish my ministerial training.
And in
the meantime, I visited a Pentecostal church with lifelong
friends. We were just visitors at evening services for a
long time. But after a year or so, the Methodist church
seemed lifeless. My "career" wasn't going anywhere, so we
joined an Assembly of God church. I really like the
teaching about the Holy Spirit, but after several years in
Pentecostal life, I was ready for more. The Pentecostal
movement in the United States is less than 100 years old.
There is more to the world of Christian life than you will
find in the Pentecostal movement.I wasn't sure
where to go to church when we met a Presbyterian (USA)
minister's family through the local homeschool group. I
believe in going to church somewhere, so we went to our
friends' church. I joined their church telling them that I
felt in my spirit that this was just for a little while,
though. Sure enough, it was.
As a Presbyterian, I
again looked into seminary and ordination. I was accepted
to Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. They were very
nice and cooperative, but everything went wrong that could,
and we were not able to move to Richmond, VA. That was a
very disappointing time for me.
To look for some
kind of church work using the Southern Baptist education
and experience that I already had, on a minister's advice,
I went back to the Southern Baptist denominaiton. I found
the denomination much more political than even 10 years
ago. It seems as if many of the leaders are wanting to
convert people to the Republican Party, as well as, to
Christ as Lord.
On March 14, 1997, Dr. Murray
Jardine, Associate Professor of Political Science at Auburn
University and Catholic friend, called to wish me happy
birthday. I was telling him my impressions of the
political right in the Southern Baptist Convention and the
political left of the Presbyterian (USA) denomination.
Murray said, "The Protestant world is in such disarray."
His tone and his words touched my heart, as well as, my
mind.
I had been curious about Catholicism since
November, 1996, when I found out my neighbors were going to
a Catholic healing service. I wanted to know if Catholic
healing services were like Pentecostal healing
services.
Easter 1997 fell on the last Sunday in
March. We were at a Baptist church. When the pastor gave
the invitation, he asked if you had a burning desire in
your heart to do something. And, if you did, to come and
tell him about it. I had a burning desire to go to a
Catholic Church. I waited until the next day and called
the pastor to tell him about it. I'm not sure where this
"burning desire" came from, but it was more than curiosity
about healing services or a desire to get away from
"Protestant disarray."
In June of 1997, I read the
messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Father Stefano Gobbi
of the Marion Movement of Priests. It was like Mary was
speaking to my heart, to my life, to my problems. I had
been extremely depressed about not being to finish my
seminary education and only Mary's words in the book "To
the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons" was able to heal the
wounds of disappointment. I believe that Mary wanted to
touch the broken heart of one of her children and led me to
find the Catholic Church. One of my favorite titles for
Mary is Spouse of the Holy Spirit. To me, it was Our
Blessed Mother, Mary, and the Holy Spirit who led me to the
Catholic Church.
I did not have problems with
believing in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
I had already been "converted" to that belief while
teaching the book of John to the children at the
Presbyterian church. At the beginning of the communion
service at the Presbyterian church, I used to pray for the
bread and grape juice to be the real presence of Christ for
me.
Believing in the real presence of Christ in
the Eucharist is not so gross as wanting to chew on
someone's flesh. It's more like wanting to be with someone
to be close to them, to spend time with them, to know them,
and to be known.
I, also do not have doubts about
the Church's traditional teaching on moral issues. For me
it is nice to be part of a Church that agrees with what I
have believed for a long time about relationships and
children.
Links to other sites on the
Web
Joy of
the Mass, Part 2: Holy Communion, More about how the
author came to believe in the Real Presence of Christ in
the Eucharist
Mary, Mother of the Church
Marion Movement of
Priests
The Great
Converts
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