Story of a Catholic Conversion

I thought I'd use my first article for Catholic365.com to explain my conversion to the Catholic faith.

I was born in Wagga Wagga, Australia on 9 August 1990 to an atheist father and a "Salvation Army" mother.

As a toddler, my brother, sister and I used to attend the Sunday "Salvos" service with our mother until she had a fall out with the local ministers. Although I was not a practicing Salvo, I used to identify as a Salvo, when I was asked about my religious "belief" until I was 16, when I decided that there was no God.

When I was 4 years old, my brother, sister and I were declared Wards of the State of New South Wales and placed into foster care. Throughout the next 14 years, I'd live in as many foster "homes", although there are only two foster families I would consider "families".

I moved between schools regularly, and because of that and other things, I was quite often bullied - at some times I was scared to go to school.

When I was 17, I met a young lady who was about a year and a half older than me, which had quite an impact on my life. This is because this person was the first of any of my peers who actually seemed interested in me and didn't treat me like garbage - as all my other peers had done.

This same lady had invited me to attend a stall that was promoting the Sydney World Youth Day in 2008. After attending the information stall, she invited me to attend Mass that weekend. Partly because I had nothing else to do, and partly because I didn't want to disappoint the first young person that treated me as a human, I agreed to give it a try that weekend.

After meeting a number of other Catholics after Mass, I started going along every week, and started attending the Parish Youth Group which had just been formed.

After a few months, this girl suggested that I should attend World Youth Day, and seeing as I was starting to get interested the Catholic faith, I decided I would attend.

On the morning of Monday, 14 July 2008, we joined a bus heading to Sydney for the event, and arrived that afternoon. Throughout that week of faith filled events, I decided that I definintely wanted to become a Catholic.

In late 2009, after a year of attending retreats and conferences and other events that inspired my faith, I started the preparation for the Rite of Christian Intitiation for Adults (RCIA) and I was Baptised, Confirmed and received my first Confirmation from Parish Priest Fr. Andrew Grace at the Easter 2010 Vigil Mass. 

Since then I have remained active in the Church, becoming the leader of a Youth Group in 2013, and learning more and more about my faith.

So what was the catalyst to my decision?

Well, in 2008 I had attended both the World Youth Day and also a men's retreat in my Diocese called a "Cursillo". After a series of inspring talks and also a night of reflection on the "Footprints in the Sand" poem and the Gospel passage of St Matthew 11:28, I felt called to become a Catholic, to have something in my life that had meaning, to have something that would inspire me to become the best person I could be.

"Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls! Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light."

Thank you for reading my story. I hope this has been interesting to you. I would appreciate it if you share the article and I look forward to writing more in the near future.

I have a blog that I use to comment on issues facing society including my take on political and religious issues. It can be obtained at www.bobbiefreddie.wordpress.com and I can be found on Twitter @BrewerRobert. I will use my space on this site to write about issues of faith and refrain from politics.