Conversion Stories

paul becke · Oct 5, 2018

StevenMerten said:
17 Minutes as a Protestant

I was born a cradle Catholic. I went to Mass every Sunday and loved the Church. At age 26 I decided to become a priest. I was heading out to work when I received the letter from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee rejecting me into the seminary. I loved my Kawasaki 650 SR and had always babied it; NOT TODAY! I stomped her down into gear and let the ponies roar! Gravel flew in the driveway. When she hit the pavement the throttle was wide open; four of Japan’s finest carburetors dumping raw gas into the 650cc raging inferno below. I left the throttle wide open as I smashed through the gears, the clutch had to absorb the difference as the rpms soared way into the red zone. Within seconds we were well beyond 100mph.

I was screaming in my helmet. WHAT ON EARTH ARE THEY THINKING! The Church is dying for priests and they reject me, the perfect Catholic! I will just become a Protestant minister, and then I can marry anyway! I was angry! On and on I went with my screams of pain. What usually took 35 minutes to get to work had now only taken about 17 minutes. I screeched to almost a halt and turned off onto the final straightway to work. Within seconds I was back up to 100 mph plus. All of a sudden, for no reason at all, the bike was kicked out from under me. It was a sunny summer day with no water or gravel on the road, just straight smooth blacktop. I had over 100,000 miles of experience on street bikes. As she went down I simply pulled my leg out from under the falling side and sat on the motorcycle as it slid down the road, on its side. Sparks were flying and metal was grinding. Through all of this, I was still screaming in my helmet of the great injustice the Church had inflicted on me and how I was now a Protestant. Suddenly, for no reason at all, the tires caught the pavement and the bike went vertical. You do the physics. 80 mph and you are suddenly pole-vaulted into the air. I was flying through the air like superman.

It still amazes me at just how many prayers of repentance one can say in the seven or eight, or fifteen seconds that you are flying through the air toward your impending death. It seemed like I had prayed a hundred Our Fathers and Hail Mary’s. God and I had a long talk over the beauty of remaining Catholic over leaving for Protestantism, during that seven or eight or fifteen second doomed flight. Turn’s out I was wrong and God was right, Catholicism is where God wants me, and all people, to be. I begged God to catch me on the other end of the tragic situation I was in. Please Heavenly Father, forgive me of my sin. I will serve, You, the Lord my God, with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength and with all my soul, with and through, Your Church, the Catholic Church, if you will only spare my life.

When I hit the pavement, my full face helmet transferred the blow to my shoulders rather than neck. I flipped and hit hard on my back. I was wearing my backpack, which in my backpack was my 1970 edition, St. Joseph’s, NAB bible. There I was, sliding down the road, on my back, in the Hand’s of God, praising and thanking God for granting me mercy. In the thirty three years since that time, me and God have never had to have the Protestant vs. Catholic conversation ever again.

Great story, Steve ! All the more so, for being true, of course.

StevenMerten · Oct 5, 2018

paul becke said:
Great story, Steve ! All the more so, for being true, of course.

Well thank you, Paul!

It is a true story. The most stirring event of my life. God coming down here to Personally kick me in the butt (as I see it). A person does not take such an event lightly. I thank God for His gift to me.

paul becke · Oct 6, 2018

StevenMerten said:
Well thank you, Paul!

Oh, It is a true story. The most stirring event of my life. God coming down here to Personally kick me in the butt (as I see it). A person does not take such an event lightly. I thank God for His gift to me.

paul becke · Oct 6, 2018

paul becke said:

I tried to import a smiley with 'as ever', after it, but as you can see, without success.

StevenMerten · Oct 7, 2018

paul becke said:
I tried to import a smiley with 'as ever', after it, but as you can see, without success.

Thank you Paul! I like to use humor. But I do not want to take away from the significance of this event in my life. It really did happen. I really see this story as God's Divine intervention in my life.

I had also, at the time of the crash, just started to write my www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com . I had yelled out in my helmet, 'I will just write my 'I Love You, God', as a Protestant'. I could just feel God saying to me, 'Oh, You think So? Well then, you have about nine seconds to get it done!'.

Spending the past 33 years writing, as a Catholic author, has been the best decision of my life.

rturner76 · Oct 9, 2018

paul becke said:
.... the instincts (aka the Holy Spirit) of children and animals.... the wee critturs actors hate sharing the stage with ! In the case of the animals, the Holy Spirit, of course, prompting rather than adopting/subsuming.

This is why Christ said we should have faith like children (or something to that effect). What I loved so much whe I worked with young children, especially like ages 4-8 or so is that They want to hold your hand, be near you, listen to you, talk to you, smile, and laugh with you. They just want to love you and do a good job. Whatever they are doing, when they hear that they have done a good job at the finish (especially if it was a challenge), it makes them just glow.

In later childhood is when they don't want you around so much, they just want "stuff" from you without doing anything for it, they want their friends, more physical pleasures, weather it's sugar and McDonald's when they are on the younger side of "older" then it's wanting to hurry up and experience all the things that they think make them "grown" that risk their very lives when they can't comprehend how literally fragile a human life is. Like literally how fast a person dies when they can't breathe can be a joke or a game.

Didn't mean to get on a tirade but it reminds me of many of our conversions and what we a followers of Christ must be vigilant about after our conversion. I can't count how many times since my conversion where I have been inspired by a Mass and increased my attendance, started studying and praying like the young child or the new convert. It's the same as wanting to do a good job and wanting to be near God and talk to God. As the months go by and other things take my attention away like Netflix and online shopping or social media I become like the older child and bothered by my commitments I have made to spending time with God and doing his work. I start to desire pleasurable things instead like laying around and filling my belly with junk or worse things than that. That's the same thing as taking risks with mortality now that I am older and the consequences are more dire for not taking care of my body

Sorry, didn't mean to go on and on. I guess I got some things on my mind and some issues I need to figure out today.

paul becke · Oct 15, 2018

StevenMerten said:
Thank you Paul! I like to use humor. But I do not want to take away from the significance of this event in my life. It really did happen. I really see this story as God's Divine intervention in my life.

I had also, at the time of the crash, just started to write my www.ILOVEYOUGOD.com . I had yelled out in my helmet, 'I will just write my 'I Love You, God', as a Protestant'. I could just feel God saying to me, 'Oh, You think So? Well then, you have about nine seconds to get it done!'.

Spending the past 33 years writing, as a Catholic author, has been the best decision of my life.

All your posts are uplifting to read, Steven.

paul becke · Oct 15, 2018

rturner76 said:
This is why Christ said we should have faith like children (or something to that effect). What I loved so much whe I worked with young children, especially like ages 4-8 or so is that They want to hold your hand, be near you, listen to you, talk to you, smile, and laugh with you. They just want to love you and do a good job. Whatever they are doing, when they hear that they have done a good job at the finish (especially if it was a challenge), it makes them just glow.

In later childhood is when they don't want you around so much, they just want "stuff" from you without doing anything for it, they want their friends, more physical pleasures, weather it's sugar and McDonald's when they are on the younger side of "older" then it's wanting to hurry up and experience all the things that they think make them "grown" that risk their very lives when they can't comprehend how literally fragile a human life is. Like literally how fast a person dies when they can't breathe can be a joke or a game.

Didn't mean to get on a tirade but it reminds me of many of our conversions and what we a followers of Christ must be vigilant about after our conversion. I can't count how many times since my conversion where I have been inspired by a Mass and increased my attendance, started studying and praying like the young child or the new convert. It's the same as wanting to do a good job and wanting to be near God and talk to God. As the months go by and other things take my attention away like Netflix and online shopping or social media I become like the older child and bothered by my commitments I have made to spending time with God and doing his work. I start to desire pleasurable things instead like laying around and filling my belly with junk or worse things than that. That's the same thing as taking risks with mortality now that I am older and the consequences are more dire for not taking care of my body

Sorry, didn't mean to go on and on. I guess I got some things on my mind and some issues I need to figure out today.

Another lovely post to read, rt. You sound as if you have a similar temperament to St Peter's. Personally, I find it difficult to drag myself away from the pooter to pray the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary at anything like the right times ; other prayers too, if it comes to that.

rturner76 · Oct 16, 2018

paul becke said:
Another lovely post to read, rt. You sound as if you have a similar temperament to St Peter's. Personally, I find it difficult to drag myself away from the pooter to pray the Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary at anything like the right times ; other prayers too, if it comes to that.

I was given a prayer book of my uncle's when I completed RCIA but I think I gave it to my mom when she completed the "Catholics Coming Home" program. I can't say that I have any traditional prayers memorized. I think it's the residual Protestant mentality that makes me freestyle just about all of my prayers. I think upon conversion, learning at least some of the more important or widely used prayers should be emphasized. I think it is a somewhat under appreciated aspect of the Church experience these days. I did a full Rosary only once literally by the book. I have a book that came with a box of Rosary beads I was given. It was actually a touching experience. As I got into a certain rhythm, the words seemed to sort of fall away and I felt a sense of emotional connection that went beyond words nd requests for blessings and guidance etc. In a kind of meditative state just sort of absorbing what felt like my personal connection with God. Very intimate and actually almost frightening by the time I finished like I began to doubt if I was ready or worthy enough to feel God's presence. I actually haven't gone through it again but I would like to with some guidance maybe.

paul becke · Oct 28, 2018

rturner76 said:
I was given a prayer book of my uncle's when I completed RCIA but I think I gave it to my mom when she completed the "Catholics Coming Home" program. I can't say that I have any traditional prayers memorized. I think it's the residual Protestant mentality that makes me freestyle just about all of my prayers. I think upon conversion, learning at least some of the more important or widely used prayers should be emphasized. I think it is a somewhat under appreciated aspect of the Church experience these days. I did a full Rosary only once literally by the book. I have a book that came with a box of Rosary beads I was given. It was actually a touching experience. As I got into a certain rhythm, the words seemed to sort of fall away and I felt a sense of emotional connection that went beyond words nd requests for blessings and guidance etc. In a kind of meditative state just sort of absorbing what felt like my personal connection with God. Very intimate and actually almost frightening by the time I finished like I began to doubt if I was ready or worthy enough to feel God's presence. I actually haven't gone through it again but I would like to with some guidance maybe.

'Very intimate and actually almost frightening by the time I finished like I began to doubt if I was ready or worthy enough to feel God's presence.'

I feel like that in the presence of excited toddlers ; it's so obvious that, as Wordsworth put it, they are 'trailing clouds of glory' - so recently introduced here from heaven. I'd hate to be a parent, as I'd feel my love for them would be almost unbearable - and that sense of unworthiness in the presence of such divine innocence. NDEers have experienced a similar sense of almost horror in God's presence. One example is the Kiwi lad, Ian McCormack, whose experience they made a film about.

But that sense of intimacy you speak of is great, isn't it ? It's true, when we stop verbalising, we still don't stop praying until a few minutes after. The heart after all is the seat of our prayers, so it shouldn't surprise us too much that it has 'a mind of its own'.

ChristopherinLA · Dec 11, 2018

I was raised Catholic then went astray. I came back to Christianity via Protestantism and that is where I am now. But over the past three years I've begun to learn more about the faith of my childhood and young adulthoodhood, and have finally began to understand Catholic teachings as I can see firsthand how it contrasts with Protestantism. Anyway, I have finally found myself in agreement with the Catholic faith although I do not go to mass anymore. The only connection I have to the faith is my rosary, my prayers, my relatives, my godfather, and the hymns I sing to my son. The reason I have not completely gone back is because I am so deeply involved in my Protestant church, community, and wish to keep marital and familial harmony.

Michie · Dec 11, 2018

Have you read Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn? I think that might be an enjoyable read for you @ChristopherinLA

JazzHands · Dec 11, 2018

ChristopherinLA said:
I was raised Catholic then went astray. I came back to Christianity via Protestantism and that is where I am now. But over the past three years I've begun to learn more about the faith of my childhood and young adulthoodhood, and have finally began to understand Catholic teachings as I can see firsthand how it contrasts with Protestantism. Anyway, I have finally found myself in agreement with the Catholic faith although I do not go to mass anymore. The only connection I have to the faith is my rosary, my prayers, my relatives, my godfather, and the hymns I sing to my son. The reason I have not completely gone back is because I am so deeply involved in my Protestant church, community, and wish to keep marital and familial harmony.

That's interesting, I find myself confronted with the opposite dilemma. I was confirmed at 14 and for a long time I was proud of my faith but I keep finding myself, or should I say, my philosophy, at odds with Pontiff's. My mum is an Anglican and when I've accompanied her to church on occasion, I've felt much more at home there.

ChristopherinLA · Dec 11, 2018

JazzHands said:
That's interesting, I find myself confronted with the opposite dilemma. I was confirmed at 14 and for a long time I was proud of my faith but I keep finding myself, or should I say, my philosophy, at odds with Pontiff's. My mum is an Anglican and when I've accompanied her to church on occasion, I've felt much more at home there.

Thanks. Did you come from a household with different denominations, Catholic/Anglican, and Catholic was more emphasized then the other? I'm just curious because I've heard it said that when parents have different views of Christianity, it could cause the child to be confused because they are receiving conflicting messages. I find this to be true mostly, for me and my siblings at least.

ChristopherinLA · Dec 11, 2018

Michie said:
Have you read Rome Sweet Home by Scott Hahn? I think that might be an enjoyable read for you @ChristopherinLA

I have heard about Scott Hahn but have not read his book. I have read several books by Patrick Madrid, however. I'll put this one on my list. Thanks!

JazzHands · Dec 11, 2018

ChristopherinLA said:
Thanks. Did you come from a household with different denominations, Catholic/Anglican, and Catholic was more emphasized then the other? I'm just curious because I've heard it said that when parents have different views of Christianity, it could cause the child to be confused because they are receiving conflicting messages. I find this to be true mostly, for me and my siblings at least.

Yes, my father is RC and Mum is Anglican. I was sent to RC boarding schools all my life so I was always familiar with the tradition and, like 'home', it always felt like a safe place to retreat but increasingly, especially of late, I've become disillusioned with the management team, so to speak. Anglicanism always struck me as very local and very personal and it seems to have a warm, inviting character - very traditional but very supportive.

anna ~ grace · Dec 11, 2018

I'm very slowly coming Home. I was baptized Catholic as an infant, but my Mom chose to raise us Lutheran. About ten years ago, I had a sudden conversion experience in which I trusted in Christ in a personal way, and started to follow Him. For years, we attended conservative Baptist churches. I liked the conservative Bible preaching and close community, but the osas theology and Sola Fide didn't sit right with me somehow. I loved sacred artwork. I missed tradition. Gradually, I figured out the Sola Fide had never been correct. Once I figured that out, began to wonder what else the Reformers had unwisely thrown out or gotten wrong.

I learned a *lot* from the Eastern Orthodox posters on CF. They were and are knowledgeable, kind, and helpful. Helped me understand Marian veneration, the Saints, and liturgy. Eastern Orthodoxy has beautiful traditions, artwork, liturgy, and prayers. But my husband let me know that we would not be going back to the Greek Orthodox church near our home.

So, I figured, I'll just go back to being "just a Christian". And wondering what in the world to do with everything I'd learned, I thought back on my childhood, watching John Paul II on TV. I just began praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, praying the Rosary, and just getting back to following Christ. I found that being just a Christian and being a Catholic Christian fit together in my heart.

The Papacy just makes sense. Peter, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, just makes sense. The Pope is not always perfect, but neither was Peter, either. "Feed my sheep...And on this Rock...." And as I just put these things together, a lot of the angst, anger, frustration, and struggle melted away. I stopped rebelling against my husband (which I had begin doing the more into Eastern Orthodoxy I was getting). Things have not yet lined up completely in our home, but I have peace. I'm ok now. God has been and is very, very good to me.

I know the Church is in a crisis. I know Francis is problematic. I know that things are very, very bad. But I also know that the Church is the Church. Truth does not change, and we should listen to Christ. And hold on and follow Him, no matter what. God bless you guys.

JazzHands · Dec 11, 2018

Gracia, if your soul is pushing you that way, do it.

PeterDona · May 15, 2019

I was assumed into the RCC this sunday.

I am now 50 years old. I was baptized and confirmed in the lutheran church. At my confirmation I felt like I did believe that God was there "somewhere", but intangible and I felt a desire to know, to find.

The confirmation class continued into a film club for a year in the church, which I enjoyed to follow. After that, I came into high school, had a religion teacher who was shamanist, and who managed to completely disarm my feeling for the christian faith. At the exam time, it was my worst fear to draw a question on christianity, because I felt I really did not have anything to say on that faith. I did not understand it at all. Luckily for me I drew a question in eastern religion and scored a top grade.

"Losing my religion" in the late teens also made me lose hope, and I actually went into a depression that lasted for years. At my lowest point being 21 years old I decided one night to ask God for help. What a strange action to ask from help from a God whom I had long cast away any belief in.

At the age of 22, some 8 months later, I met for the first time missionaires on the street. Those were Church of Christ, and I felt that there was something in their home. A presence, a feeling of being home. I was lonely enough, that such a feeling motivated me to do what they talked about, to start reading the Bible.

At the age of 26 I met a youth pastor who insisted that I should "receive Jesus into my heart, to be my Lord and Savior". I prayed with him and the youth group one evening, and a great change happened. I immediately could feel that the brokenness inside that I had had for years, was not there anymore. Also it was like love opened up in a new way. I also felt like a life beginning inside. And in the coming days when I read the Bible, it was no longer just words on a page, it was like living.

Fast forward to about 1½ years ago, I came into contact with a catholic priest in my area. Because of a broken marriage (to a divorced woman), I consulted him. He stated that likely "there had never been a marriage". This corresponded to what I had studied out in the Bible. This motivated me to consider maybe to use this priest as my "pastor". He did speak what I believed was in accord with the Bible. At that time I had lost trust in most of protestant christianity, realizing that mostly they hold to a wrong view on marriage.

Finding that the RCC held dear to a strong view on "the Lords supper", even that Jesus is really the bread and the wine, corresponded to a passage I had found when I first read the Bible, namely John 6:53-54. At the first reading in 1994, I just noted to myself that I needed to find out before I died what this passage meant. Now so many years later I found a church that could completely explain the passage and put it in context. Not only that, but it was a central focus of that Church. I was convinced.

So given these overwhelming indications of a Church solidly founded and rooted and built up on scripture, I would be a hypocrite if I did not give myself to that Church.
http://oi65.tinypic.com/2464740.jpg
Me in the lilla shirt. To my left my "father" (?), to my right a baptismal candidate and her "father".

God bless you all

anna ~ grace · May 15, 2019

PeterDona said:
I was assumed into the RCC this sunday.

I am now 50 years old. I was baptized and confirmed in the lutheran church. At my confirmation I felt like I did believe that God was there "somewhere", but intangible and I felt a desire to know, to find.

The confirmation class continued into a film club for a year in the church, which I enjoyed to follow. After that, I came into high school, had a religion teacher who was shamanist, and who managed to completely disarm my feeling for the christian faith. At the exam time, it was my worst fear to draw a question on christianity, because I felt I really did not have anything to say on that faith. I did not understand it at all. Luckily for me I drew a question in eastern religion and scored a top grade.

"Losing my religion" in the late teens also made me lose hope, and I actually went into a depression that lasted for years. At my lowest point being 21 years old I decided one night to ask God for help. What a strange action to ask from help from a God whom I had long cast away any belief in.

At the age of 22, some 8 months later, I met for the first time missionaires on the street. Those were Church of Christ, and I felt that there was something in their home. A presence, a feeling of being home. I was lonely enough, that such a feeling motivated me to do what they talked about, to start reading the Bible.

At the age of 26 I met a youth pastor who insisted that I should "receive Jesus into my heart, to be my Lord and Savior". I prayed with him and the youth group one evening, and a great change happened. I immediately could feel that the brokenness inside that I had had for years, was not there anymore. Also it was like love opened up in a new way. I also felt like a life beginning inside. And in the coming days when I read the Bible, it was no longer just words on a page, it was like living.

Fast forward to about 1½ years ago, I came into contact with a catholic priest in my area. Because of a broken marriage (to a divorced woman), I consulted him. He stated that likely "there had never been a marriage". This corresponded to what I had studied out in the Bible. This motivated me to consider maybe to use this priest as my "pastor". He did speak what I believed was in accord with the Bible. At that time I had lost trust in most of protestant christianity, realizing that mostly they hold to a wrong view on marriage.

Finding that the RCC held dear to a strong view on "the Lords supper", even that Jesus is really the bread and the wine, corresponded to a passage I had found when I first read the Bible, namely John 6:53-54. At the first reading in 1994, I just noted to myself that I needed to find out before I died what this passage meant. Now so many years later I found a church that could completely explain the passage and put it in context. Not only that, but it was a central focus of that Church. I was convinced.

So given these overwhelming indications of a Church solidly founded and rooted and built up on scripture, I would be a hypocrite if I did not give myself to that Church.
http://i65.tinypic.com/2464740.jpg
Me in the lilla shirt. To my left my "father" (?), to my right a baptismal candidate and her "father".

God bless you all

How beautiful and awesome, Peter! That echoes much of my story, too. Welcome Home!

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