Were You a Cradle Catholic or a Convert?
Cradle Catholic
How Old Were You When You Left the Catholic Church?
18
How Old Were You When You Returned to Catholicism?
34
Why I Left the Catholic Church
When I first left the Church, it was more of a falling away at first. I just was not interested in any of that. After I moved out of state, I went through some hard times. A friend asked if I wanted to go with him to church, and I did. It was a Pentecostal church. I converted to that faith and went from church to church. Then I converted to Baptist and went from church to church. Then I went nondenominational and went from church to church. Then I just gave up altogether. After some time I found Wicca & druidry, and there I stayed. I found my religion and started to hate the Christian faith, in particular Catholics.
Why I Returned to Catholicism
At the time I was a happy practicing Wiccan for many years. One night I was watching a movie about St. Joan of Arc. Nothing else was on that night. I thought she was crazy, but something about her grabbed my attention. She was always wanting to confess her sins. This was foolishness to me. After the movie, I went to bed. I had a dream. I can only describe the place I visited as hell. I woke up in complete terror and panic. The dream was vivid, but the feeling of the judgment of God and final damnation by my own choice was overwhelming. I knew that I had rejected Him and that I was doomed to that terrifying fate. I fell to my knees and begged Jesus for forgiveness and salvation for hours. I could not stop from crying. When morning came, with a passion I threw out all my ritual gear and books. I went to Christian store and bought a cross to wear and a Bible. I read Psalm 1 and cried. At this moment I knew I needed to return to the Catholic Church. There was no other place or church that held the power and the truth I needed to be saved from my sin. No other church even entered my mind. I could not get the need for confession out of my head. Mind you, I hated the Catholic Faith the day before, and now I was racing to find the nearest Catholic church for confession with great urgency. I opened up my phone book and the first church that I saw was St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. Chills went up and down my spine as I remembered her from the movie that night, and now she seemed so strong to me, her faith so beautiful. I now understood her passionate desire for confession. I went to the church that hour. Years have passed since that night, and now my wife and nine children are all faithful Catholics. God saved me, and it was He who wanted me to return to the Catholic Faith. The Catholic Church now stands forever in my life and never again will I leave Her.
Advice
- If you once were Catholic and are now of a pagan faith, when He calls for you, listen and come home. The greatest love of your life is waiting for you.
Scott P. Richert, Catholicism Guide, says:
Steve, thank you for this powerful story of your return to the Catholic Church and your witness to the intercession of St. Joan of Arc and of the importance of Confession.
Catholics who convert to other Christian denominations often justify doing so because they say that their new church answers some need that they felt was left unfilled in the Catholic Church. And we who remain in the Catholic Church might even find ourselves saying, "Well, at least they're still Christians." But as Steve's story shows, once you fall away from the Catholic Church, it's hard to tell where you might ultimately land. The good news, of course, is that Christ and His Church are always ready to welcome you back home. As Steve found out, the Sacrament of Confession is nothing to be afraid of; it is, in fact, something that we should embrace.
