How to avoid “rookie mistakes” as a new Catholic convert...

WarriorAngel said:

I know as a revert I had to curb back my zeal.
Not because it was bad, but it can be off putting to anyone who cannot comprehend it.
So now I listen and wait to assist... God willing.

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So you are a revert, too! Yay! ("Nice to meet ya!" )

WarriorAngel said:

I know as a revert I had to curb back my zeal.
Not because it was bad, but it can be off putting to anyone who cannot comprehend it.

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mourningdove~ said:

You make a very good point ...

It is difficult, sometimes impossible, to fully understand what someone else is experiencing, if we have not experienced it also.

We can often intellectually understand something, but if we have not also experienced it for ourselves, the understanding is in our head only and not known in the heart.

Many reverts have gone thru alot to return to the Church. Sometimes there has been alot of waiting, also. (Same thing for converts.)
So naturally, there can be alot of 'zeal' ... joy, appreciation, happiness ... when the goal has finally been achieved!

I don't believe most reverts come back into the Church with the intention of being "off putting". I know that is never my intent.
But yes, I can see where our joy ... gratitude ... at being "back" could be unattractive to others.

Makes me think of a new convert to Christianity. Or when one experiences a "2nd conversion" experience, as some call it.
There can be such joy, such zeal for the Lord! Some folks find them "obnoxious", too ... and probably they are! lol

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Bob Crowley said:

I think new converts to the Catholic Church from Protestant backgrounds face pretty much the same problems that new Christians do.

With all due respect to the Catholic Church, I've found that Protestants tend to be more enthusiastic. They're not necessarily more sincere, but if someone floats the idea of a new ministry for example, there will most likely be other people in the church who are prepared to help.

So Protestant converts come in to the Catholic Church with a more enthusiastic attitude, and then run up against the fact that what they think the church should be like is not the status quo.

In a similar fashion brand new Christians come in full of enthusiasm and fixed ideas on how the church should work, only to find out that they need to change themselves first.

My old Protestant pastor said to me once that if there is ever a revival in Australia, he thought God would start it in the Catholic Church. In his opinion the Protestants were far too divided. But I wonder what would happen if the (Australian) Catholic Church found itself with all these newcomers desperately seeking answers with some wanting to contribute in some way, only to run into the fact the available priests were already overwhelmed.

If they became disillusioned enough they might turn around and go looking elsewhere where there was more enthusiasm.

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mourningdove~ said:

Maybe this is another reason why the Church is struggling ...
Many "Lifelongs" won't accept the Converts and Reverts.
How sad ...

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WarriorAngel said:

Zeal speaks without knowing how lost the other is.
Listening is the 1st thing.
Offering them to be there for any questions so long as they seek an answer and not an argument.

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chevyontheriver said:

I'm glad for all of you. Even if you guys show me up again and again.

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I'm glad for everybody, too.

Bob Crowley said:

I think new converts to the Catholic Church from Protestant backgrounds face pretty much the same problems that new Christians do.

With all due respect to the Catholic Church, I've found that Protestants tend to be more enthusiastic. They're not necessarily more sincere, but if someone floats the idea of a new ministry for example, there will most likely be other people in the church who are prepared to help.

So Protestant converts come in to the Catholic Church with a more enthusiastic attitude, and then run up against the fact that what they think the church should be like is not the status quo.

In a similar fashion brand new Christians come in full of enthusiasm and fixed ideas on how the church should work, only to find out that they need to change themselves first.

My old Protestant pastor said to me once that if there is ever a revival in Australia, he thought God would start it in the Catholic Church. In his opinion the Protestants were far too divided. But I wonder what would happen if the (Australian) Catholic Church found itself with all these newcomers desperately seeking answers with some wanting to contribute in some way, only to run into the fact the available priests were already overwhelmed.

If they became disillusioned enough they might turn around and go looking elsewhere where there was more enthusiasm.

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mourningdove~ said:

Well, thank you for the guidance.
I'm assuming you have been back in the Church a long time and better know the ways of those in the Church.

It is a very different way to think, that zeal can be so offensive.
In Protestantism, it is seen as a "good" thing and useful in encouraging and evangelizing others.

"Listening is the 1st thing"? Not to all who are or were Protestant.
So, you have given me much to think about ...

Thanks.

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