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Why some choose to become Catholic
Fr. Charles Forget, Parish Bulletin, April 27th, 2008

This past Easter nine adults were baptized, confirmed and received First Eucharist while five others, having already been baptized, were received into the Church and were confirmed and received First Eucharist. Each person who went through the RCIA process this year (as in all other years) came with their own ideas of why they wanted to be one with us. It is the privilege of priests and RCIA leaders and sponsors to witness the growth and call of those seeking to discern God’s call in their lives.
One of our new members in the Church this Easter related that her call came from an experience she had in our parish while visiting for the first time. She attended a Christmas Eve Mass here a few years ago with her boyfriend who was Catholic, though not practicing regularly. At communion, I made the usual announcement that those who are not Catholic are invited to come forward and receive a blessing. She made her way up to the front and as soon as she received a blessing she said “time stopped” and she was filled with the most beautiful experience of Jesus’ love for her. It was the beginning of a journey in her life in coming to discover and unfold the mystery that is Jesus in the midst of the Church.

I think we ‘cradle Catholics’ can easily take for granted what others see and discover as pure gift. The treasures of our Faith can become like fine stones to a jeweler: we get used to them. So many are searching for a meaning and a purpose to their lives as they put the world together. Often the world’s people have become used to leave them feeling empty, isolated or unhappy and they are left in search of something or ‘Someone’ more who can satisfy the longings of their hearts. That’s why we can say that the journey of the RCIA candidate is one that is shared by us as well since we are all looking for the same thing that will answer and address our need for the beyond.

There are many people whom I have observed as regularly attending Mass at our parish with their spouse and their children and who do not partake of the Eucharist because they are not Catholic. Sometimes I have approached individuals to inquire whether they had ever thought about joining the Church. Some have said that they had considered it but that they weren’t sure how becoming a Catholic would be received by their non-Catholic families. Others have shared with me that they attend both our parish and a church of a different denomination by their own choice. And still others have said that they had never seriously considered it because no one had ever asked them before. In fact, statistically, more people become Catholics for this last reason: because someone asked them and invited them to consider membership in the Church. And there is always the other great factor in conversions found in those who are inspired by a Catholic they know whom they greatly admired for their stance on morals and principals as applied to daily living. The witness of those who live their Catholic Faith has a tremendous influence on others, particularly when others view it as authentic and real. There is a great attraction in looking at the lives of another who seems to be happy, upstanding and good living and who possess a healthy and positive attitude towards living that has been shaped by their faith.

While the Mass is often the greatest attraction to those seeking membership in the Catholic Church, more people are brought into the Church through funeral liturgies than any other liturgy of the Church. When the rubber meets the road in the jumping off part of life, it is where people are aware of their own hungers, thirsts, longing and need and where they are most open to another point of view and particularly an attitude towards a firm, celebrated belief in the life that is to come and the One we follow, Jesus Christ.

Conversion is all about a relationship sought and a lived experience desired in those who are looking for far more than what the world has to offer, and it is truly heartening to witness the new-found faith in those who have sensed God’s call in their lives in considering the Catholic Faith. My own experience with RCIA tells me that most often those who have begun the process have already committed to attending Sunday Mass and fully intend to become members of the Church either because they are already convinced this is where they belong or because an experience they have had has already summoned them to become a full and active member. Ultimately, it is all God’s wonderful work and we can do no better than marvel at what He does and is doing in our own lives and those of others.