Am considering joining the RCIA

[.Iona.]

Hey guys,

Wanted to see how many of you have converted to the Catholic faith? I have been thinking about it for years, and seeing as the thought doesn't go away I feel I really should look into it more.

I have a few questions for anyone who has converted?

Did you know beforehand that the faith was 'right' for you, or did it come during the process?

Was it a difficult process? I am having so much trouble in getting hold of a local priest (I have been working most Sundays recently.)

Has there ever been any regrets?

Were there doubts before you started, or even now? Anything within the faith you struggled to accept? How did you overcome that?

Thanks guys. I am going to keep trying my local churches, but it seems really hard to get hold of a Priest around here

 

[MoreCoffee]

Hey guys,

Wanted to see how many of you have converted to the Catholic faith? I have been thinking about it for years, and seeing as the thought doesn't go away I feel I really should look into it more.

I have a few questions for anyone who has converted?

Did you know beforehand that the faith was 'right' for you, or did it come during the process?

I didn't know it was right, I thought it was apostolic and ancient and biblical and wise. That was because I read a Catholic catechism over a many years and found myself increasingly satisfied with its answers.

Was it a difficult process? I am having so much trouble in getting hold of a local priest (I have been working most Sundays recently.)

Has there ever been any regrets?

It was not a difficult process but it took a while, the pace is leisurely and helpful, it allowed the catechists to get to know me and assess what I needed and it allowed me time to get to know them and understand the faith from more than a purely intellectual stance. No regrets so far, Catholic faith and life suite me very well, much more so than my former Presbyterian faith.

Were there doubts before you started, or even now? Anything within the faith you struggled to accept? How did you overcome that?

I had doubts about all sorts of things, that was why RCIA was helpful, it offered an opportunity to voice doubts and hear replies from Catholics who had lived the faith for a number of years - my catechist was a Catholic in her sixties with about thirty years RCIA experience so there was a lot of experience she could draw upon. I do not have any struggles with the faith but there are questions and areas where I am not yet convinced - for example, I feel uncomfortable with charismatic catholic claims just as I feel uncomfortable with Pentecostal (protestant) claims.

Thanks guys. I am going to keep trying my local churches, but it seems really hard to get hold of a Priest around here

Try writing a letter or an email or both if you you haven't tried that already.

 

[christseeker45]

Hey guys,

Wanted to see how many of you have converted to the Catholic faith? I have been thinking about it for years, and seeing as the thought doesn't go away I feel I really should look into it more.

I have a few questions for anyone who has converted?

I hope I may answer I was a Catholic convert for 18 years until a few weeks ago.

Did you know beforehand that the faith was 'right' for you, or did it come during the process?

Neither, I was just enamored by the history and look of the Catholic Church, I sometimes do believe I did not convert for the right reasons.

Was it a difficult process? I am having so much trouble in getting hold of a local priest (I have been working most Sundays recently.)

No, in my case the Priest and the Church was just a block away. Though it was hard to reach him by phone I went to his office. (As a funny aside I am in a scooter (electric wheelchair) and the parish office was up steps, so I knocked on the window and when the secretary looked out she didn't see no one so she rushed to get Father and told him there were ghost outside. When he came out he told me and we both had a good laugh and I did apologize to the secretary for scaring her )

Has there ever been any regrets?

A huge amount of regrets. I alienated my mom and before I was Catholic we had a good relationship afterwords the relationship was strained. She is gone now with the Lord and I still regret what I did.

Were there doubts before you started, or even now? Anything within the faith you struggled to accept? How did you overcome that?

I had no doubts when I started. I did afterwords though I wondered if I made the right choice and Catholicism was never seemingly a good fit. I did not have any trouble with acceptance of anything within the faith at the time.

Thanks guys. I am going to keep trying my local churches, but it seems really hard to get hold of a Priest around here

I am sure you will get a hold of him

 

[Michie]

Hey guys,

Wanted to see how many of you have converted to the Catholic faith? I have been thinking about it for years, and seeing as the thought doesn't go away I feel I really should look into it more.

I came in October 2004.

I have a few questions for anyone who has converted?

Did you know beforehand that the faith was 'right' for you, or did it come during the process?

I felt led by God into the Church. I was dragging my feet for 2 years before I finally went to my first Mass. I started RCIA the next day.

Was it a difficult process? I am having so much trouble in getting hold of a local priest (I have been working most Sundays recently.)

I just left a message & he got back with me. I drilled him. Because as I said, I was looking for an out. A priest will get back with you. You can also stop by the office during the week to ask about RCIA & speaking with a priest.

Has there ever been any regrets?

I mourn off & on for the things I valued in the protestant Church. The Catholic faith has a lot of highs & lows. Be realistic. Expect valleys. Do not, like me, expect some sort of magical unity & obedience in the RCC. Sometime I think it's worse than protestant denoms. It really not a warm & fuzzy faith. It is high maintenance. Oh, get used to being the odd man out with some cradle catholics. Weird but true. Several reasons I suppose but I won't go into that.

Were there doubts before you started, or even now? Anything within the faith you struggled to accept? How did you overcome that?

There are always lingering doubts. Even in the protestant faith. I struggle with purgatory & contraception mostly. Obligations... I really don't like that word. And confession is still something I struggle with. I obey as promised when I entered the Church. I don't like breaking promises. I tend to take them seriously. But it can be tough.

Thanks guys. I am going to keep trying my local churches, but it seems really hard to get hold of a Priest around here

Keep trying. In the meantime you can talk with an RCIA instructor, Deacon or whomever is available till you can discuss matters with a priest.

 

[Rhamiel]

i am not a convert, i just wanted to say God bless you and keep you safe from all harm

 

[Chany]

Define "convert". Just want to help because I'm not an official convert, but my experience pretty much parallels one.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I attended RCIA in 1993. Horrible experience, but I still continued through it. Converted to the Holy Orthodox Church this past July.

 

[tadoflamb]

Hey guys,

Wanted to see how many of you have converted to the Catholic faith? I have been thinking about it for years, and seeing as the thought doesn't go away I feel I really should look into it more.

I have a few questions for anyone who has converted?

Did you know beforehand that the faith was 'right' for you, or did it come during the process?

Was it a difficult process? I am having so much trouble in getting hold of a local priest (I have been working most Sundays recently.)

Has there ever been any regrets?

Were there doubts before you started, or even now? Anything within the faith you struggled to accept? How did you overcome that?

Thanks guys. I am going to keep trying my local churches, but it seems really hard to get hold of a Priest around here

As it turns out, I made my first official inquiry into the Catholic Church almost 10 years ago to the day. At my parish they have a nun in charge of RCIA and it wasn't difficult getting in touch with her. When I converted, the child abuse scandals were rocking the diocese so not too many people were interested in becoming Catholic.

How I came to this point was a sort of metanoia experience a few months prior where I simply surrendered myself to Christ. Although I was baptized, I had no church experience so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Confused by the many voices of Christendom, my earliest prayer was to allow Jesus to let me know Him the way He wanted to be known. And thus I came to Rome.

For me, once I realized that the Catholic Church was what she claimed she is, it was all systems go. I knew I had to belong. I imagine I had doubts like anyone else, but really, my conversion experience was so strong and the finger of God in my life so unmistakable it was clear I was heading in the direction of His intention.

I must admit I was somewhat put off by the typical Catholic non-chalance about whether I came or went. No one really seemed to care. But RCIA is for adults and as adults we're responsible for both our physical and spiritual health. So, I went to mass a lot and had the good fortune of landing on an orthodox Catholic internet forum. When I look back at it, it was a time of grace and sometimes I like to revisit it.

RCIA in most parishes starts next month, so be persistant in getting in touch with a priest or who ever is in charge of the program. Perhaps just a call to the office might get you in contact with someone who can let you know just what you need to do to get enrolled. At any rate, God bless and may the Lord hold and keep you.

~Tad

 

[Franze]

I am catholic all my life, it´s a deep and rich faith, but like a tree you have to growing up with fertilisers, water and work, a lot of work. The necessity of praying, of receiving the sacraments and having patience is very necessary and mainly, trusting in Jesus.
Greetings.

 

[John the Roman]

I attended RCIA in 1993. Horrible experience, but I still continued through it. Converted to the Holy Orthodox Church this past July.

Not all RCIA's are bad.

Prayers for you, OP!

 

[WisdomTree]

Hey guys,

Wanted to see how many of you have converted to the Catholic faith? I have been thinking about it for years, and seeing as the thought doesn't go away I feel I really should look into it more.

I have a few questions for anyone who has converted?

Did you know beforehand that the faith was 'right' for you, or did it come during the process?

Was it a difficult process? I am having so much trouble in getting hold of a local priest (I have been working most Sundays recently.)

Has there ever been any regrets?

Were there doubts before you started, or even now? Anything within the faith you struggled to accept? How did you overcome that?

Thanks guys. I am going to keep trying my local churches, but it seems really hard to get hold of a Priest around here

Hi there! I would just like to welcome you to the first step of entering into the Catholic Church. Like you, I also am in the entering into full communion with the Church.

For me, choosing Catholicism was not an easy short journey for me. I was raised a Reformed as my father is a Presbyterian Cleric, baptized a Baptist, and mostly attended Pentecostal services. So overall, very Protestant (even post-protestant almost).

I was initially very influenced by Restoration theology in terms of going back to the roots as well the varying interpretations of the scripture and other religions. I was a pretty strong "denominationalist" at this point as well as apostasyzing on some key theological issues.

Then I came across something that I cannot remember, but would change my life forever. Whatever it was, it led me to the concept of "Sacred Tradition" in the form of the Eastern Orthodox Church (later on I would learn about the "Oriental Orthodox Church" which is different). I was greatly interested in Orthodoxy, as I had never known anything about them (I live in an Anglo-sphere mostly where Eastern Christianity is rather marginal) and it was so mysterious that I thought it was really cool, but the most mysterious thing was that despite having over 300 million followers, it was essentially one in both practice and doctrines (unlike Protestantism which has double that followers, but the differences in practice and doctinres are in the thousands). This and the importance of the Ecumenical Councils led me to whatever "Restorationist" idea I had as well as the basic Protestant doctrines.

As a result of this, I became a "Traditionalist", embracing "ecumenism" over "denominationlism" so that we could all be one without compromising the truth. However, I could see that the Eastern Orthodox Church did not have the influence nor the foundation to achieve this, especially not on their own (they have the policy of letting "heretics" be what they wish to be: "the Church Orthodoxy, nothing more nothing less"). This as a result led me to my old antagonist, the Catholic Church. At this point, I was very well versed in history, scripture, tradition, and philosophy. I also remembered a high school Geography teacher telling me that there was not many fundamental differences between a Protestant Church and a Catholic Church in terms of Sunday Worship (despite my youth pastor telling me the Catholic Church was a political institution with no means of salvation). As I understood the Catholic Church to what it actually was than what I perceived it to be, I knew that it was only through her true Christian unity could be achieved. This is also etymologically acceptable as "Catholic" means "universal or whole", so by joining the Catholic Church, Christendom can be one again as it was always intended to be.

I am theological still very Eastern (Antiochene/Byzantine over Roman, with a strong Alexandrian influence), but recognize the legitimacy of the Western way of thinking (I am more scholastic than mystic). So I decided upon myself to enter the Catholic Church about one month ago.

Making this kind of decision is hard, and as such one could say they need to take a "leap of faith" as debating yourself (or others) can only get you so far. So prayer is a must.

Unlike you, I could not be initiated through RCIA as it did not fit my timeframe and as such I was able to get a special one on one with a priest at the archdiocese (he is a very selfless man). I got in contact with him through email and because the job of the priest isn't limited to Sundays, he is still doing his job dealing with me during the weekdays (so don't just try and find a priest during Sundays). My process is relatively smooth, except for the small but ridiculously important detail of the "Baptism Certificate" which is a necessity for a baptized Christian to enter the Catholic Church (I don't have one). Apart from this, everything is quite fantastic as the priest is more than happy to have discussions and debates with me (he doesn't like blind passions fueled by emotion which you'll regret later).

The only doubt I had about this whole process was whether I was doing this for a good reason or because of a sudden passion and zeal with no regard to the future. Once I thought about it, I realized that my doubt itself meant that I was not in a pure emotional state and as such had some rational thought in this.

So far no regrets and I hope you have none either.

 

[WisdomTree]

Sorry for the ridiculously long rant everyone!

 

[Anhelyna]

Wisdom Tree - just a wee thought re that missing baptism certificate - were there any witnesses who would be able to testify to your Baptism ?

 

[WisdomTree]

Wisdom Tree - just a wee thought re that missing baptism certificate - were there any witnesses who would be able to testify to your Baptism ?

Yeah, but they are half-way across the world! The priest was kind enough to allow me this process just so that I could be Catholic before I leave Canada.