My Journey Home

Some have asked me, what brought you back to the Catholic Church. After taking some time to think about it, I wanted to share my story with everyone.

First, let me begin with some backstory. I was baptized in the Catholic Church when I was three years old, but was raised Protestant until the summer of 2001. An issue had occurred that made me start to question faith that I professed at the time. That is when I started to look more into the Catholic Church. After attending Mass for a few weeks, I decided that it was time to “take the plunge”. I started Sacramental Prep and, for the first time, I was able to receive Christ; body, blood, soul and divinity.

After I got married and joined the Army in 2005, my wife and I both fell away from the faith and started going to a Protestant church. It wasn’t until January of 2015 that I felt that something was missing in my spiritual walk. This was even with being a Deacon in the Southern Baptist Church and studying to earn my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Apologetics and Worldview, I still knew that something was missing. So I went to Mass on a Saturday when I returned to Guantanamo Bay and that is when I realized what was missing. When the Priest elevated the host after the words of consecration, it hit me that what was missing was the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The following week, I went into the confessional where I met the Priest that helped to lead me and my family home to the one true Church, Fr. Daniel Mode. I did not have the intention of going to Confession, I just wanted to talk to him about making the process of coming back home. After talking to him, he convinced me to do something that I hadn’t done in 13 years, go to Confession. I didn’t understand the gift that the Sacrament of Reconciliation was until that night. A few weeks later, I started the RCIA program. Even though I received my First Communion back in high school, I had still not been confirmed, so RCIA seemed to be a great place to start. After I completed RCIA, I was confirmed on May 24, 2015 and was finally in full reception in the Church. That July, when I returned home, my wife and I had our marriage consolidated in the Church, and had our youngest son Isaiah baptized.

I will not say that the journey has been smooth. There have been plenty of bumps, and my family and I are constantly trying to learn and continually in formation. I can say that for the first time in a long time, we feel at home. I am currently discerning a call to the Permanent Diaconate after I leave the Army, and I am currently serving my parish as a 4th Degree Knight of Columbus. I am still traveling, but now I have the company of all of the Saints with me. This journey is far from done, and I am excited.