Becoming Catholic Again – The Beginning

I am a post-Vatican II, cradle Catholic. Twelve years of Catholic school and all the Sacraments I could receive. I was taught to pray and attended Church every Sunday. As soon as I left home, I left the Church. Why? Because the Church I grew up in did not teach me the Catechism, the Bible or the big picture of Salvation. Receiving Communion was just something that you did when you went to Mass, provided you had not eaten an hour beforehand. The Homily was usually blah, blah, blah. I felt nothing. I received nothing from these weekly visits to Church.

During the last thirty-two years, I have had three husbands and consequently three divorces. I have broken all the Commandments except for #5. I have never been financially secure. My relationship with my family, except for the last few years, has been strained at best. I have never achieved anything. I have made mistake after mistake after mistake.

With my fiftieth birthday looming on the horizon, having re-married my first husband and having fallen into difficult times, I was encouraged to connect with my Higher Power (for me that is God). I had seen the Catholics Coming Home signs around town so I got on the web, looked up my local parish and sent an email to the person in charge. I was so disappointed to learn the class did not start until after Easter but he suggested I come to RCIA instead. He explained that since I had been away from the Church for so a long, a refresher was in order. I thought “Why not?” If I did not like it, I could always quit and wait until after Easter or find a different religion.

I will never forget walking into the Old Hall that first Wednesday night. I was greeted warmly, given a Bible, a Catechism and a binder for all the RCIA handouts. I was given information on obtaining an annulment (in my case two) and encouraged to begin that process immediately. Most importantly – I was filled with the happiness and joy of the Holy Spirit. I was home.

I am in love. I love God, the Church, the Mass, everything. I am like a child on Christmas Eve except the gift I am waiting to receive is the Body and Blood of Christ. I am learning things about my faith I never knew. This is what I want to share with the world, as I become Catholic again.