But as the days went on after our conversation, I began to feel a nagging curiosity. I went to apologists’ websites, specifically geared towards the typical arguments that Protestants have with the Catholic faith. I expected to laugh at their answers, but instead, I found that everything I thought I knew about the Church was based on what other people had said about it, and the way certain Catholics I knew were living their lives. When I took the chance and opened my mind and my heart to truly learn what the Church had to say about itself, I found answers. I not only found answers to all of my objections, but I found that in my heart, I believed those answers. This was a scary proposition for me, though. Nobody in my family was very religious, let alone Catholic. My boyfriend was Lutheran and I was scared to tell him what I had discovered and about my change of heart. He was more than supportive and encouraging when I told him. We ultimately decided that we both deserve a future spouse that shares in our faith fully. We amicably split up, but still remain good friends to this day. I know that God used our friendship and relationship to lead me closer to the Catholic Church and ultimately, to Jesus.
This brings me up to last fall, when I took another very uncomfortable step and joined the RCIA program at a local church. One of my sorority sisters went there growing up and recommended it to me, but other than that, I knew nobody yet again. I had already spent hundreds of hours reading and learning about the Catholic faith, but my time in RCIA was so spiritually enriching. Our priest made certain concepts come to life in ways that nobody else could. I began attending weekly Mass and made friends with some of the people in my class on Monday nights. I remember praying my first rosary on the floor of my bedroom. I remember each of the Rites throughout the past year that brought me a step closer to becoming a full-fledged Catholic.
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
John 6:35
By the time Lent had come around this year, I was getting impatient. Each Mass was bittersweet for me because I now knew and recognized Jesus Christ fully present in the Eucharist, and I wanted to be in communion with Him so badly. But I waited as best as I could for Easter to come around. It’s funny looking back now, because of all the times I went to Mass when I was younger, I never took communion. I knew plenty of non-Catholics who took communion at Mass, and while I didn’t believe in their premise of the Real Presence, I respected it and refrained from partaking. I think that it was the Holy Spirit protecting me from eating at the Lord’s Table unworthily. I cannot describe the abundance of emotions that I went through during Holy Week and leading up to the Easter Vigil on Saturday night. I received three sacraments that week – my First Confession, Confirmation and First Holy Communion. I felt so blessed.
And he said, ‘What is impossible for human beings is possible for God.’
Luke 18:27
