All It Takes Is An Epiphany

08 Oct 2010
By Michael

When I decided to “re-launch” this website to chronicle my journey into Catholicism, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to truly do with it. I am still not sure which direction the website will take as I continue down my spiritual path, so forgive me if I change tack a few times here and there, or I seem to ramble about things that otherwise do not make sense.

Each evening, as I say my nightly prayers, I have been asking for some sort of enlightenment, so I may come to realize the path this website should take. Last night, I had a sort of epiphany while talking with my wife about the Church, my experiences so far, and what I expect.

As I mentioned in my first article I experienced a very serious, and unpleasant, scene in the Catholic Church in my hometown. I won’t repeat the story here tonight, you can read about it in ‘Welcome To RoCaBap‘. Without being too long winded, I realized I need to talk about every experience, whether or not it had a positive impact on my life.

I’ve come to realize, most of the information I ‘knew’ about the Church before I started my journey into it, came from those already in the Church. From the traumatic experience that day at the funeral until recently, to the day I stepped foot back into a Catholic Church, up to our most recent RCIA class, every bit of information, every experience I knew as ‘Catholic’ came from people inside the church.

All this time I was convinced that the Catholic Church was no place for me, and why? Because I allowed myself, my soul, to listen to people rather than God.

When the priest struck the girl in the face years ago, I allowed his actions to sway my judgement of the Church and everyone in it and when co-workers (who were Catholic) would gossip or talk maliciously about someone or something in their parish, I allowed their words to resonate into my soul and obscure my view of the Church.

I realized last night that every single view I had of the Church, whether it was positive or negative, came from Catholics themselves. Thinking back on it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard any non-Catholics speak poorly of the Church. I could be mistaken. I remember a lot of things about the Catholic Church, so if it had happened you would think I would remember something like that.

Beginning with my next article, I will be writing about specific experiences in my life, as a sort of summary of my life up til now. I can’t promise I will be politically correct, and I won’t guarantee that I won’t upset some people along the way, but I will be honest.

It’s been a long road to get to this point in my life, but I am here, and I am ready to take the next steps in my spiritual journey. Just as importantly, I am now ready to write about it.

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Never Underestimate The Power Of Prayer

04 Oct 2010
By Michael

I started praying the Rosary every day, on September 1st.

Never underestimate God’s love for you, or the power of prayer. 

 

 

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Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch

02 Oct 2010
By Michael

I realized tonight that it’s been one month since I wrote about my journey to Catholicism, and a lot has happened in that month.

Since my last article, we’ve moved into a new home, my wife and I have started attending RCIA classes, our kids go to Sunday School every week, and I am enjoying participating in a Faith Formation class as well.

It took twenty-four days but we got everything moved just in time. The mortgage company will be selling our old house on the courthouse steps this coming Tuesday.  As the day of the auction approaches I thought I would be more upset than I am, but I know I have done the best I could and I have nothing to be upset about.

Yes, the bank took our home even though we didn’t miss any payments prior to being informed they were ‘calling the note’, but no matter the legalities involved, this move has been nothing but a blessing from God.

I was well on my journey back to God before this whole ordeal started, and the ordeal itself brought me even closer to Him. In the past two months I have learned (or been reminded of) a couple important facts.

  1. God is always there to guide you, help you, love you
  2. Material items, such as houses and other things, just don’t matter.

Our new home is just down the road from our church. It takes two minutes in the car, and on nice days we can walk there in ten. Our new place is much smaller than our old one, so we’ve learned to let go of some of the material objects that just don’t matter, and to tell the truth, we really don’t miss them that much.

Over the course of the past 45 days or so, I have immersed myself into reading the Gospel, praying, and never losing sight of Him.  He’s never let me down before and I was confident through all of this that He wouldn’t start now.  Of course he wouldn’t.

Although the path has been quite rocky the past month, my feet are still firmly planted on the ground, and my destination has not changed.

I plan on posting updates after my Faith Formation classes as well as our RCIA classes.

Thanks for sticking around!

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Welcome To RoCaBap

02 Sep 2010
By Michael

I registered this domain name several years ago. I decided to register it because my wife is Catholic and I am Baptist, although I had no idea exactly what I was going to do with it. I thought the name ‘RoCaBap’ sounded pretty cool and maybe one day I would be inspired to use it. It took a while, but I was right. I am now inspired to use the domain name in a way that is fitting to the name.

Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary. It was a rather different anniversary, as our lives have been in turmoil or a while now. In the past 18 months so much has happened that you would think I would have lost faith in God rather than focus solely on Him.

In January of 2009 I was laid off from the job I held for almost 10 years. Through the grace of God I was able to start my own business to keep the roof over our heads, to keep our vehicle in the driveway, to keep the lights on, and to keep food on the table. After a year and half full of stress, our mortgage company pulled a fast one on us and we found out we are losing our home. At this point you would think I would have cracked, and I will tell you one thing. If it wasn’t for my faith in God, I would have.

While I could have curled up in a ball and cried about our ordeal, instead I focused on God and prayed that He would give me the strength I needed to get through it. I figure if He has a plan for us (which He does), there is no sense in breaking down and losing my mind. The past month has been quite chaotic, yet peaceful at the same time. We began searching for a new place to live, letting Him guide us in our journey. Our work paid off, and God showed us His mercy when we found a great new home and received the keys yesterday, an anniversary present of sorts. To tell you how stressful it has been, we both forgot our anniversary until late last night.

Through the good and the bad, we have grown as a couple (and individuals) each and every day of our marriage. We’ve moved from coast to coast, we’ve brought three awesome children into the world, and most of all, we have both grown closer to God than either of us thought we ever would. I’ve definitely grown closer to Him than I ever thought I would.

It seems as though I am just beginning this journey, but I also know I’ve had a long road to travel just to get here.

Several years ago I attended a funeral for a young girl who was murdered. The funeral was held in a small Catholic Church in my hometown, and I was appalled at the behavior of the priest. During the funeral Mass he yelled at the dead girl’s younger sister when she could not stop crying. She was expressing her grief for her sister, but the priest said it was no time to cry, that we should all be celebrating her life. When the young girl could still not control her tears, he slapped her. The sound of his hand hitting her cheek stunned us all.

I was baptized in a Southern Baptist church in Las Vegas just weeks before my friend’s funeral and I was so disgusted by what I had witnessed that I vowed never to step into a Catholic Church again in my lifetime. I figured that any church that condoned this type of behavior was no place for me. Over the course of the next few years my disdain for all things Catholic grew and my heart hardened. I had bottled up that anger for so long that I couldn’t even verbalize what I was truly feeling. It wasn’t until I met my wife 14 years ago that I was able to talk about that day, and the actions of that priest.

At the time, I considered myself a spiritual man. I was willing to accept whatever God had planned for me. I didn’t realize at the time that I was already on a journey that would eventually bring me full circle right back into a Catholic Church.

Sitting here, as I write this, I realize that I have been on a spiritual journey since that day in 1984 when a priest who was a poor representative of the Catholic clergy slapped a young girl simply for expressing her grief. I realize that my path to God was much longer than it should have been, but I needed to walk that path in order to find myself, let alone the God I have so desired.

Throughout the years I have felt the Holy Spirit calling me, although ‘the world’ kept coming between us. Earlier this year I decided to become more committed to my faith. Leaving the world behind, I make sure to read the Scripture every night, so I can spend time with God.

I have a lot more to say about my journey and that’s why I have decided to write about it here, on this website. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven.

As I venture down the path of enlightenment to learn about and become a member of the Catholic Church, I realize this is my time, this is my season. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again somewhere down the path.

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