 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
TerminalNewEnglander
Member
| Joined: | Mon Jan 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Rhode Island USA |
| Posts: | 23 |
| First Name: | Bill | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic; lapsed '72; fringes '82-'87; UCC '94-'03*; revert '04. ... |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 1st, 2007 11:42 am |
|
Happy New Year! I'll try to keep this brief.
Quick history:
- Raised a Catholic, pre-Vatican II
- Interest started to waver after a move during 5th grade to a small, predominantly Protestant town, which took me out of a Catholic school and back to a public school
- Interest wavered further post-Vatican II
- Attendance slipped severely after going away to college
- Budding drug and alcohol issues accelerated
- At age 25 [in 1980], hit bottom with alcohol and landed in a rebab
- At age 26, hit bottom with other substances and got active in AA, which reintroduced me to a spiritual way of life
- During my late 20s/early 30s, dabbled with a return to the Church
- At age 34, married a non-Catholic, and my dabbling went dormant
I was cleaning my garage the Saturday after Thanksgiving a couple of years ago in anticipation of my 50th birthday party, to be held in a couple of weeks. It couldn't have been a more mundane activity. Out of the blue, a great wave of emotion came over me and I broke into tears. One thought was in my head: I must return to the Catholic Church. I got on the Internet and arranged to meet with a priest from a local parish. After attending Mass there, I felt like I wouldn't fit in because of the family-orientation of the parish. I had a wife and two children myself -- in the same town -- but none of them were Catholic, so I was feeling more like a single person. I tracked down the one and only Latin Mass in the diocese -- something I had been wanting to attend for years -- and felt like I was on to something more palatable there. Went to confession after 20 years. Arranged for a Catholic Marriage Blessing on our 17th anniversary last June. Have since stepped-up my involvement with the 12 steps of AA -- using the original approach -- an effort which had also gone near-dormant over the years. Now doing some Bible study classes, and also praying the rosary on an irregular basis. Regular EWTN viewer, my favorite show being Marcus Grodi's The Journey Home.
I still don't think I'm in the right parish setting, and I find it exceedingly difficult to thoroughly practice Catholicism, but I love how it shoots high and assumes an unchanging truth. There's so much to learn!
At first, this all caused a rift in the family, but that seems to be settling down now.
|
|
|
CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5079 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 1st, 2007 12:22 pm |
|
TerminalNewEnglander wrote: One thought was in my head: I must return to the Catholic Church.
We welcome you back, and welcome to CHN. We look forward to your active participation, and will help you in any way we can. Happy 50th, and a happy and blessed 2007. We're glad to have you with us.
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
|
|
|
Andrew_Fisher_of_Men
Member
| Joined: | Thu Feb 8th, 2007 |
| Location: | Raised In Midwest USA, Vermont USA |
| Posts: | 8 |
| First Name: | Andrew | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Cradle Catholic, Lapsed, visited many Protestant churches over a 8 ... |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 9th, 2007 12:01 am |
|
I too am a revert with almost the identical story to yours. A few details vary but it is so good to meet someone here with a similar experience. I have felt so much like a fish out of water. I came home after 35 years away and AA was a 6 year process in bringing me back. Working the steps was tremendously difficult and when I hit step 11, well, I had to spend 18 months intensively on that step until I final had a glimmer of a breakthrough. Surrender was another challenge but once I got there too and learned obedience and forgoing my own stubborn will, things started to come faster and faster. I am also a new englander, lived in Southeastern Mass for a long time but now live in Vermont. The 12 steps were quite instrumental in bringing me back but in my small group work in my parish, well, its not the same as people do not understand the 12 traditions unfortunately 
____________________
"The spirit we have, not the work we do, is what makes us important to the people around us." Sr. Joan Chittister, Erie PA Benedictine
|
|
|
CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5079 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 9th, 2007 12:45 am |
|
| Welcome, Andrew, we're glad to have you here with us. Please let us know if we can help in any way.
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
|
|
|
Current time is 06:15 am | |
|
|
|
|
|
