Don’t “harsh her buzz”, Jen!  :)  That feeling of excitement you get as a new convert I think motivates you to learn, even though she may find out that her goals are not sustainable.  There is SO MUCH to learn about the Catholic faith and more power to her!  My first devotion was the rosary, and I’m just now learning how to pray the Divine Office.  Best wishes to your friend.  I’m excited for her!

I have been in both her shoes and yours - and I probably would have had the same reaction as you. Partly out of guilt maybe? Guilt that I have lost some of my enthusiasm? But maybe I also would have wanted to warn her that once I experienced the reality of my fellow Catholics, I became quickly very discouraged. Not just my fellow Catholics, but parishes too—learning the ideal Catholicism from a book does not prepare you for the reality of liberal pseudo-Protestant nonsense that goes on in far too many parishes. So I hope she can gradually see the warts while holding on to her new found love.

No couple should be going into marriage with the thought of using NFP from the start because then it is merely “Catholic contraception” and is sinful as it is directed against life. If this new convert is not ready to have children when she marries, then she should not marry. That is the Church’s constant tradition. If they can’t afford children or aren’t emotionally or physically capable of having children, then they should not marry. As a priest I used to insist that my engaged couples take NFP classes during their year long marriage prep. I’d meet with them privately each month and encourage them to also attend a diocesan marriage prep program.
I stopped insisting on the NFP classes and simply insisted that they know about NFP’s existence & its scientific accuracy in case they needed to investigate it at some later point in life. What changed was that I discovered that too many couples who were financially stable and both physically and emotionally sound, were using NFP right from the starting blocks. It seems that I gave them knowledge which I had not properly imparted the wisdom to use. I tried for a time to correct the problem with new couples and explained to them how this was not to be done except for serious reasons aimed toward the good of the family. Still the new couples persisted in the same error. Finally, I stopped sending them to NFP so that they couldn’t improperly use the knowledge they had acquired.
I’m sure this young convert you mention means well, but she obviously was not properly taught the nature and ends of Christian Marriage in her RCIA nor her marriage preparation classes. It is a common problem among “conservative” Catholics who want to “live according to the Church’s teachings” but who are still influenced by the selfishness of our society.

It’s pretty simple.  She is head over heels in love and knows it.  THe vagaries of livingout the marriage to Christ and His hurch will come soon enough, but really, one ought to start out starry-eyed and totally, completely in love, don’t you think?

I was never quite so enthusiastic but I definitely went through a period where I tried to do it all.  When I realized that this was a bit unrealistic (especially my attempts to convert people) I let more and more things slip.  This also coincided with the number of kids I have (4 of them, 7 to 1).  However, I do think I got lazy along the way and am now trying to be a bit more disciplined in some things.

most respectfully to E! Padre,
Sir, NFP can be used to avoid pregnancy but it can also be used to get pregnant.
After many years of sinning and choosing to avoid to look closely at the Church’s teaching on our sexuallity, my wife and I went to reconciliation, and NFP classes.
At 39 my wife and I concieved our daughter. Had we not discarded our contreceptive mentality then we might have been swayed by the cultures idea that 40 is too old to havea child and that child might be ‘damaged’ genetically. Our daughter is now 6 and daily brings God’s love to us. Even is a couple misuses NFP, there still is a chance that they might concieve and with time they might learn more. How about promoting NFP ANd giving each couple a copy of the Theology of the Body for reading on those nights they are abstaining. John Paul II might give them perspective where others can not.
Most important, thanks for answering God’s call to your vocation!

Thank you Sam for saying what I was thinking.  Using NFP is becoming aware of your fertility or lack thereof and such knowledge can be used to avoid or achieve a pregnancy.  Why assume that the person looking forward to using NFP would necessarily be wanting to avoid a pregnancy?!  Interestingly enough we took NFP classes after the birth of our fourth child thinking maybe we had enough.  The result of the class and training to be NFP instructors led us to the place where we now have 11 children…having learned both the teachings of the church and the workings of our fertility!

I wonder if we feel uncomfortable with the zeal of a new convert because it reminds us we have become lukewarm ourselves.

Mr. Taylor,
I can tell that you didn’t read my post carefully as you not only missed that I am a priest, so “Sir” from a fellow Catholic is a little disrespectful of the priesthood in contemporary English, but that you also missed that I said that I stopped teaching NFP before marriage but “insisted that they know about NFP’s existence & its scientific accuracy in case they needed to investigate it at some later point in life.” Of course part of teaching NFP is in fact that it is the best way to seek pregnancy. In fact, I got the Couple to Couple Leagues home teaching kit for my sister on her third anniversary when she and her husband expressed such a desire for children and didn’t know what to do. She was pregnant within 6 months. So, my nephew Liam, now 13, is a living witness to my knowlegde of NFP and my belief in its science.
As far as newlyweds, there is generally no reason why they should know that they have fertility issues, unless there is some longstanding health issue that is discussed. Therefore, they don’t NEED to know the ins and outs of NFP until “they needed to investigate it at some later point in life.” (As I already mentioned above.)
I am very happy for the success you found with NFP and I give thanks for the life of your daughter. I likewise appreciate your zeal for proclaiming the benefits of NFP to the world as a source of life… FOR THE GOOD OF THE FAMILY as I stated above. However, as in all things, knowledge does not always bring wisdom and we must be cautious about with whom we share this information.
If I may share one more experience. In the High School where I was chaplain, the zealous theology teacher brilliantly explained the theology of NFP. But she went further and started speaking of how beneficial it was to not pollute ones body with chemicals. She was thrilled when so many junior and senior girls asked if she could teach a class on it. It turns out, that these where the sexually permiscuous girls who wanted to learn NFP so they could have sex and not worry about contraception. NFP is a GOOD thing, but like many good things, it can be misused and we must take care with how we present it and how we protect this great gift from God.

@CrlnaBnd
I think that we are very close in our experiences and we see how NFP is being misused in our day. I know many priests who tell me that they are “Just happy that people aren’t using artificial contraception.” As if the Church is simply against artificiality and not against the underlying motives for one’s behaviors. Onanism(coitus interruptus) which is one of the Scriptural foundations for the Church’s teaching against contraception is “natural” but Onan was struck dead by God in punishment for it.
The fact is that every moral act is judged by its object (the action itself), end (The reason why one does it), and circumstance (self explanatory). It is not just the OBJECT of contraception that is evil, but its END. The “No” to God’s first blessing to man in Genesis, “be fruitful and multiply.” He is so emphatic about this that he repeats it to Noah after the flood. So many of Western society’s problems stem from its rejection, from the inversion of the Social Security population pyramid which is destroying the West’s economy to the Islamitization of formerly Christian Europe and even the shortage of vocations is directly linked to this basic sin. Those are just some of the visible results while the invisible include the killing of souls and the growth of evil, but that is not because of a simple object, but the END- to make ourselves like God as the lords and givers and takers of life. Sorry for the ramble. I can go all day against the contraceptive mentality.
The only place that we would part ways is in our perception of Rhythm. When it was discovered in the 1930’s, it was in fact, the most effect means of controlling (Both avoiding and achieving pregnancy until the pill was invented in 1960- the beginning of the end of Christendom.) It’s fundamental flaw was that it presumed that all women had a regular 30 day cycle. It turns out that only about 30% in fact do. Thus, it was only 30% effective for those WHO WERE PROPERLY TRAINED. The problem is that research shows that few were actually trained and most who “used rhythm” were actually only acting on a sort of hearsay given the cultural taboos of the time. (I think I would have preferred to live with those sorts of taboos because as a result of the supersexualization of our culture, another strange side effect of the contraceptive mentality, celibates like me, must know far too much about female fertility. More, I’ve discovered, than most any married man and even the majority of women. [Sigh])

I think this is true of both new converts and reverts alike.  It is indeed falling in love with the Lord.  But one needs balance so that one doesn’t burn one’s self out.  Certainly for reverts, if you’ve been away for a long time, you feel as though you need to make up for lost time.  And one can only know what spiritual pace is right for them from experience (St. Edith Stein, for example, was a lot more impatient than some of us, and St. Augustine, as we all know, took some time).  It doesn’t happen all at once, and you can’t do it all at once.  I think some devotions do appeal to us more than others, depending on our circumstances.  Other than Lent, I do try to abstain on Fridays (a lot, if not most, of the time, it does become a full fast).  But I thought I’d just “give it a try, what the heck” and it’s something that I do indeed do out of love, I find (and I don’t beat myself up over it).  As for giving up almost all secular music, that sort of happened on its own:  I do like pop music, but I can’t listen to it while I’m working or trying to read (too much of an urge to sing along;  not good for concentration, in my case).  I do like going to Mass whenever I want, though I don’t beat myself up if I don’t go every day.  In comparison, I’m not as good at saying the rosary often.  So I at least try to make some effort rather than none at all.  I, too, can stink at praying.  But I think the thing about praying is to Just Do It, and furthermore, praying also involves learning TO pray, and to pray more intelligently.

After reading the last posts’ usage of terminology uberobnoxious “zeal”..perhaps this convert will decline from what could be viewed as overly zealous message of Love of God and His Holy Church. Please accept my apologies for those of us who may be cause for such insesitive remarks..such as this one..and Thank You from me for all of you more patient and charitable fellow Christian Catholics. May we all pray together as One in the Lord…and Love one another with His kind of Love. Mercy first, then Justice !

@Barbara Ann Butler O’Hagan
How can one preach charity while slamming people’s word usage (ie. “uberobnoxious”)? I don’t think it can even be called “passive agressive” as your post is just down right agressive under the guise of civility.
On a philosophical/theological point… There can be no mercy without justice first. For unless a judgement has been passed,there is nothing to remit. There can be no mercy without justice.

My sister has been attending catechism classes which will ultimately allow her to be able to teach the catechism.  From talking with her, it sounds like it is often the converts who are having to correct the catechism instructors in matters of doctrine.

Many parishes now have a follow-up program to RCIA that helps newbies integrate into Catholic practice and culture.  I didn’t have it when I was received in 1989, but in my case that was a good thing because the parish bordered on heterodox.  Anyway, I found reading sensible Catholic direction helped me “find my feet”.  A little book I always recommend is “Light and Peace”, which boils down of St. Francis de Ssles “Introduction to the Devout Life” to readable, doable sections. I learned to have a regular prayer routine and became involveed in a charitable organization, which brought balance and discipline into my life.  After 20+ years I can say I still love being a Catholic and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

New kids can be quite insufferable.  They’re almost as bad as reformed smokers (my last smoke was just after midnite 12/23/08, lol).  Yes, I’ve calmed down, and I’m down to one Mass a week from the 5 when I first fell in love with the Church.  But looking back, I think I was much happier back then.  Maybe it’s time to get extreme all over again.

Amen. I’m glad someone as good at caring so much about the spiritual and less about the flesh. I think we are able to do more than we give ourselves credit for. Even getting in the habit of saying the rosary once a month is better than never doing it. I hope she doeswell withall the awsome stuff she wants to do and brings more care about prising and praying to God to the church.

I loved BHG’s response.  I’ve been married for 32 years.  I was gaga and starry eyed at first also.  Then came the rough patches.  But I stuck with it and while the highs aren’t so high, the lows aren’t so low either.  Reminds me of Dark Night of the Soul.  There comes a point where it’s not about the emotions, not about “being in love” but about “loving”.  That’s when the Velveteen Rabbit becomes real.  I love my husband now in more deep and profound ways than I could ever have imagined on that day that I said “I do”.

It’s the same with my first Love.  When I first came back home, I was always on a “high”.  Rosaries, daily mass, every new devotion, following the apparitions…further in and higher up.  Sometimes now, I worry that if the “excitement” is gone, so is the Love.  Then I remember my marriage and I realize that I’m still saying those rosaries, still going to daily mass, still trying to convert the gas station guy…nothing has really changed except the emotional high.  It’s steadier now.  Jesus and I have been through a lot over the last 18 years.  I realize that I love my Lord in a more deep and profound way now than the first day I reentered the Church. 

I look at Brides magazines now and think, I remember that.  And I’m happy for the brides.  But I don’t envy them.  I look at new converts and I think, I remember that.  And I’m happy for them.  But I don’t envy them.  I like where I was, I like where I am and as long as my beloved is next to me, I’m sure I’ll like where I’ll be tomorrow.  Let her enjoy her wedding day and honeymoon.  The best is yet to come!

“Heck, YOU (used to be) ARE one of them”.............  I wish that you firebrand, blog-wielding, slightly annoying converts would just come on board and then, SHUT THE H____ UP!  You ALL have SO MUCH MORE to learn, yet you have the temerity to presume to illuminate and teach us one-point-something-billion cradle Catholics with your aggravating, puppy-like (and often very naive)friskiness.  Other like bloggers please note - you’re NOT the only ones who are Catholic and enjoying it…. So please, gain experience and pay your dues before you start to preach….

....in other words, you (the blogger) are just like the woman you so patronisingly talk about; the woman you talk about may be a first year kindergarten, but you yourself are only just a second year kindergarten ...

There will be conversion experiences throughout life—seasons of lush gardens full of flowers and fruit and the desire to walk with the Lord. Everyone should be prepared for those ads in the desert when prayer is mouthfuls of sand…and union, where the blinding radiant presence of God feels like His absence and silence.

My more recent conversions—deciding in prayer that it doesn’t matter what the cancer test results are—God is good and I will praise Him no matter what!  Then experiencing His powerful abiding presence through cancer treatment.  Then adjusting to not having that powerful presence around constantly after treatment was done—the hardest part, really.

I’m concerned about a friend who converted a few years ago, and overdid his volunteer commitments, and is at the point of burnout. His peace and joy has been eclipsed. It’s the dark downside of all that energetic zeal—the crash and burn.

May we all be as steadfast as God’s steadfast love.

Autocorrect got me—ads should be days.

@Kentuckyliz:  You are exactly right - slow, steady and steadfast is the name of the game.  Find and relate to God at your pace and don’t seek to impress others with how good you’ve become and how way ahead of some others you are…

This is one of the troubles I see that has invaded the Catholic Church today via the secular society. Do those of you who like to ridicule those of us who are “On Fire” with our faith feel guilty for some reason? Living a God first lifestyle becoming a little less fashionable these days? For some reason it seems as though you want others to take a back seat to your “Same old, Same old” approach to Catholicism. Heaven forbid those of us that are “On Fire with our faith might shine a little more brightly than you! Listen to yourselves! You are the prime example of why the pews are getting emptier and emptier week after week in the USA. Instead of trying to tone down those of us that are “On Fire” with our faith,try rekindling the fire under your own behinds and take notice of what you have lost. Also no matter how you use NFP,the couple is still open to the formation of a new life.

Matt.20
[1] “For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
[2] After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
[3] And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place;
[4] and to them he said, `You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.
[5] Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.
[6] And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, `Why do you stand here idle all day?’
[7] They said to him, `Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, `You go into the vineyard too.’
[8] And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, `Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’
[9] And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.
[10] Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.
[11] And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder,
[12] saying, `These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’
[13] But he replied to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?
[14] Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you.
[15] Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
[16] So the last will be first, and the first last.”

How about we cut each other a bit of slack and rejoice in our faith instead of blaming each other for emptying pews.  It’s the general malaise and indifferentism of our age that has emptied our churches, and not just Catholic ones.  People think they are fine without church.  But, there’s a storm coming of epic porportions that will drive the indifferent through the doors and onto their knees and when that happens they’re going to need all of us to help them.  So, let’s be kind and loving to each other as Our precious Lord has asked us to be. :)

The wedding analogy is perfect. I always thought it was unkind of couples when we were preparing for marriage or newly married to say things like “oh just you wait until you’ve been married a few years”. Totally unkind. Weddings are times for everyone to participate in that joy, the experienced will sit there knowing that difficulties and deeper love are yet to come. There are seasons of life and being newly married is a time of intense joy and optimism, even though you know things won’t be perfect. I felt that same intense joy when I became Catholic (7 years ago Saturday!). People saying “oh just you wait” is not helpful. New love and conversion is often characterized by zeal and radical actions. Just look at the gospels for zealous new converts: people left everything they had to follow Jesus, a woman washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, etc. etc. Did Jesus stop them and say “oh just you wait”? No of course not. There is a lot left to learn for new converts, myself included. But that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the joy in the moment with them and remember fondly our own seasons of joy.

Perfect verse Della!

@CrlnaBnd,
First lets get rid of your preconception that I am a convert. I have been a Catholic since I was Baptized at 1 week old. Next lets address the “accusatory nature of my post”. What is the title of the thread? What have many of the opinions given by other Catholics been on the topic? Demeaning! To those who have Gods Grace working in their hearts. How dare they show their enthusiasm for something that has been missing in their lives. Wow! These people are actually living our Faith and I see people condemning them for it. Catholicism in the past was a lifestyle as it should be. Not the way it is portrayed by the likes of Nancy Pelosi,Joe Biden,and Governor Andrew Cuomo. The main stream media attacks our Faith because of hypocrites like these. You say that you have been through it all. The trouble is you are placing yourself on a pedestal for being part of the faith longer than they have been. Catholics are supposed to live a God first lifestyle. Not a “I’ve been here longer than you so shut up”,type. I can’t believe that you don’t find it refreshing and inspiring to watch a new person or family come to our Faith,without attaching a disclaimer to them. I have no idea where you came up with the notion that people joining our Faith are in it for themselves and not living a God centered life. If all Catholics really, outwardly, lived our Faith daily, the pews would be bursting and our society would not be in the moral decline it is today. Lose the colorfully descriptive words defining our Faith i.e. “New”. Live our Faith. The Catholic Faith.

El Padre, can you provide a little more information? I think your original post is very thought-provoking!  I never thought that delaying children for two years was immoral.  My husband and I delayed because we wanted to build a more solid foundation as a couple.  Coming from broken homes, we wanted to have a stronger relationship prior to bringing kids into the picture.  I had also learned that marriages delaying for 2 years had a higher success rate.  (To be clear, we entered this covenant with no looking back and no option of divorce.)  Learning more about each other, allowed us to be a better team.  I see that now, as we’ve been blessed with 3.5 kids and parent them as a team.  But, based on what you’ve written, our decision to wait was wrong.  Can you help me come to a better understanding or direct me to somewhere for more info?  Thank You!  Kelly

@GR8FUL1JIM:  You’d better lie down before you hurt yourself…  My original point of departure was that many of these blogs that are run by the newly converted can be a little annoying to those of us who have been there, through thick and thin - living our lives as baptized Catholics, just as CrlnaBnd said.  In spite of being a cradle catholic you seem to identify with the new converts’ enthusiasm, assuming that us ‘old’ Catholics are a spent, apathetic force… Well, excuse me!  Speak for yourself…. 
The Catholic Converts are inspired by a good, genuine motivation, but some of us feel that they need to temper it just a little bit.  I have seen the burblings of the new converts have a negative effect, rather than the positive one they, no doubt, imagine that they are having.  A little bit of caution and discretion is all that I would like to see. Can you imagine how the woman who was ‘exposed’ and held up for all of us to gawk at by the blogger would react if she realised all the commotion and debate that this post had caused?  She might even change her mind and that would be unforgivable now, wouldn’t it.  Finally, don’t assume that it is only the converts and a few others who are on fire.  Many of us are and there are different ways of manifesting being on fire…
Ask yourself this - what did the blogger hope/want to achieve through this post?

Let me Quote Steel” Zeal for the public good is the characteristic of a man of honor and a gentleman, and must take the place of pleasures, profits, and all other private gratifications. Whoever wants this motive ia an open enemy or an inglorious neuter to mankind , in proportion to the misapplied advantages with which nature and fortune have blessed him”
Reflection for today ( Psalm 19:4) ” In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun., commentary or this psalm , is a hymn of praise, which unites two themes ( perhaps originally separate Pss) 2-7 , God’s glory in the heaven ; 8-15 , the wonder of his law. One may conveniently explain the connection in that the Law reveals God’s wiu, which his glory is spoken throughout nature ( cross reference Pss 1,8,119) The beauty of the ” heavens” is itself a hymn in praise of God. A development of how the ” heavens declare” , CCD means that the praise is continous , ” heavens declare.” The CCD means that the praise is continous , ” day”  and ” night” ,and everywhere . but others ( RSV,etc.) understand 3 to mean that no sound is audible . Then , paradoxically, the message is heard everywhere ( v4) , even though it is not voiced .
Peace to all

I have encountered many young converts over the years and one key to understanding where they’re coming from is to listen to why they are converting to the Catholic faith. More often than not, it’s their attraction to the Catholic culture, and less to growing closer to Jesus.

Listen to how much they talk about Catholic Mass and devotions then they talk about their walk with Christ. Often, they’re linking their ego-identity with the religion and faith in Jesus Christ is almost non-existent. Often, they come from backgrounds which are hostile and ignorant of Catholicism and their ego gets fed seeing the jaw-dropping reactions of their family and friends, when they tell them they’re joining the Catholic Church.

Eventually, this all wears out and they either become bored with the Church, or sometimes over-react because the Catholic Church isn’t culturally Catholic enough to make a good impression among their peers.

They then become aggressive towards not only anti-Catholics, but other Catholics as well, who don’t agree with their mission to create the Church into the image they created in their mind which was based on stereotypes presented in movies and books. In all, it’s their ego reacting and eventually, they leave the Church and unfortunately, become enemies as their ego has shifted toward another area to be fed on.

It’s important for Catholics to impress upon new converts, faith in Jesus Christ is the primary purpose of the Church. We do this mostly by being more Christ centered ourselves.

Wow, so many unkind things have been said on this thread now about new Catholics and it makes me really sad. Is it that hard to be welcoming and push down feelings of annoyance? It makes me think ‘great, none of my protestant friends wanted to discuss my journey. Guess many Catholics didn’t either”.

Jim your comments are especially hurtful, you paint with a broad stroke. Many converts join because of the Eucharist and desire for deeper communion with God, so I don’t quite understand this picture you are painting, unless you are talking about a couple individuals and using them to represent all new adult Catholics.  Dealing with family and friends reactions to their new Catholic identify is tough. No need to make it tougher. Not saying people don’t have shallow reasons as well, but lets not play judge or create such stereotypes.

Newer Catholics have a lot to learn from cradle Catholics and I would say vice versa as well. This is no ’ one is better than the other” kind of thing. We are all playing for the same team here..

Claire, well said!  I thought the same thing. 

There is such a lack of acceptance among Christians.  If we would be more united, we could fight this battle so much more.  Seeing the comments here just make me realize the battle will be tougher.

I am a convert and some comments made here are ridiculously unfounded.  You really think a convert does it because of the Church and not Christ?  There is a reason we converted, and I know for one the Holy Spirit guided me to this point.  I’m so grateful as there is a deeper love I have found from becoming Catholic.  The Sacraments have deepened my faith in our Loving Father.  I pray for peace among us all and for a lot less judgment.

Jen,

I’m going to skip past all of the nasty comments on this site and just say I loved your article.  It reminded me of my first year as a convert when I was so “on fire”, starry eyed and full of wild joy.  There are few moments in life that allow you such euphoria and unalloyed happiness, I will always remember it fondly.  I’m glad I didn’t have any “older and wiser” Catholics trying to “harsh my mellow” and bring me back to reality.  It wasn’t necessary. As with every experience of infatuation, it passes on its own.  One doesn’t remain in the clouds for ever, yet having been there is a valuable experience, a foretaste of Paradise.  Why some feel it necessary to urinate on the bright fire that someone else is gazing longingly into I’ll never know.

Clair,
    sorry you took my post as being painted with a “broad stroke,” as
you put it. Unfortunately, you didn’t comprehend what I wrote. I said, this was MY encounter with many new and young converts. If what I posted is hurtful to you, I apologise. However, as I wrote, it’s been my experience and my experience doesn’t necessarily translate that its the norm in all cases of people who convert.

So often when people become defensive against what other people say about religion, it’s not the religion they’re defending, but their own ego which has linked it’s identity with the religion.

This is not faith, but is akin to joining a club or other organization which the ego identifies with.

True faith is always Christ centered and doesn’t react defensively to words or insults. A person who is centered in Christ, will respond as Christ did.

I’ve been privileged to help non-Catholics interested in entering the Church over the last several years.  None of them did it for their egos.  They went through long, hard spritual, emotional, and mental struggles to come to the point where they could not just believe, but trust the Church enough to risk their salvation by leaving their Protestant denomination and enter what they once feared, and in some cases, loathed.  Their love for Christ has been sincere and deep—far deeper than many a Catholic who has just sat in Mass and never given their faith a thought beyond what they were last taught in CCD.  I went through spiritual hell to come into the Church.  Anyone who would belittle a new convert’s faith, judging their hearts from mere appearances, should be ashamed of himself.  Let’s leave judging who is the “real” Catholic to God and help our new members who become bewildered or lost instead of pouncing on them and finding fault.

My position is that I love to see the enthusiasm of everyone in our Faith. Young and old,cradle Catholics or converts. I will not sit back and idly condone people taking exception of those who may outwardly show their love of Jesus and our Faith. Sorry folks everyone’s journey is different. How they choose to proceed on the path to a God first lifestyle is up to them. You guy’s are talking like the old members of a country club not wanting anyone else to infringe on your turf. I am glad our Parish is full of Catholics who enjoy listening to each other and love to see and practice our Faith in a way that is open and engaging. Our Parish is vibrant and alive and very traditional. I will pray that all people coming to our Faith will have the full support of their Parish and find a WELCOME home in the Catholic Faith. Keep those fires in your hearts burning and never be afraid to show your love for Jesus. God Bless G1j

I am not trying to be hostile or unfriendly to new converts - In fact I welcome them into our large family.  However, as anybody who really tries to live as a Catholic will tell you, ours is not exactly the easiest of faiths to put into practice.  This is not surprising, since our is THE true faith, started by Christ Himself.  Hence the slight annoyance with those who, while still at the beginning of their journey, start to preach and announce.  I don’t want to mention any names that are not involved here, but there is one particularly well-known female who made a big fuss of joining our faith, only to dump it a short while later… .  I say take a few years to walk through the testing grounds of life; gain experience and pass your experience through the filter of you new-found faith.  Then and only then make us a present of the distillate - that is what will be truly precious and worth sharing, because it will enlighten everyone who reads it and experiences it vicariously.

Likewise, I am glad you did not dampen her enthusiasm. The spacecraft analogy is an accurate one when addressing human development and sustainable habits. May her example inspire the apathetic to again renew their desire and efforts to grow in discipleship to our beloved Lord who paid the ultimate price for our salvation.

Our dear Pope Benedict 16 is a Scripture Pope. He promotes the daily reading of Scripture as well as prayers and faithful discipleship. This has drawn the attention of many protestant evangelicals with some converting to the Catholic faith. May many more join your friend in coming home to the Catholic Church.

Likewise, I am glad you did not dampen her enthusiasm. The spacecraft analogy is an accurate one when addressing human development and sustainable habits. May her example inspire the apathetic to again renew their desire and efforts to grow in discipleship to our beloved Lord who paid the ultimate price for our salvation. Our dear Pope Benedict 16 is a Scripture Pope. He promotes the daily reading of Scripture as well as prayers and faithful discipleship. This has drawn the attention of many protestant evangelicals with some converting to the Catholic faith. May many more join your friend in coming home to the Catholic Church.

As a convert - Tiber swim team 1980 - I can say I was starry-eyed then, and starry-eyed now. Marriage to a cradleCatholic and 5 kids has of course tossed my little craft about on the waves, but whenever I look up, the stars are still there. Wasn’t it St Augustine who begged God to bring him back to his first love? That’s where we all should be, converts and cradles alike.

We must also be understanding of others’ differences. Enthusiasm for the Lord can be exterior and loud, or interior and quiet. And remember, in God’s eyes, we are all still children in the faith, no matter how long we’ve been here. Any time spent with Scripture and the Fathers of the Church should remind us of that. Pray unceasingly? Love with our whole heart, mind soul and strength? Who can say they have succeeded at these most basic features of the Faith? Yet, are we not still beloved of God?

I don’t know, I’ve been doing what she intends to do - the part outside Lent - for the last few years and couldn’t recommend it more to other Catholics.

I am a new convert too. One year ago. Your article reminds me of a story I once heard told by an old Methodist preacher. People were complaining to him about the great zeal , of the early converts. That they wouldn’t shut up but were always droning on about the Lord. He said,” That may be so, but I don’t think the Lord is much troubled by that kind of person.”

“Because I think that she, like many other enthusiastic new converts, might be exactly where God wants her.”

Maybe so - but it doesn’t follow that she has tell anyone else about how enthusiastic she is. In the UK, we don’t talk about God all the time, unless we’re Evangelicals, who seem unable to talk about anything without mentioning religion - this is rather off-putting to those who are less demonstrative. And it’s not much good going on about God, if there is a rather obvious hiatus between the noise one makes about Him, and how one lives.

Fundamentalism makes a distinction - which it absolutises - between “true” Christians, and those who are not. It has no moral theology, & no appreciation of the fact that a single personality may combine great good, and great evil. What is worse is that it imports this distinction into the Church, where it has no place. A great deal of Fundamentalism is Calvinist in inspiration & assumptions - but the Church is not Calvinist. So Fundamentalism divides Christians - but the US Church is grievously divided already. 

As for that photograph - it sums up all the shallowness & lack of theology that is too usual in Protestant Fundamentalism. The Catholic Church does not need those qualities. Protestant Fundamentalism (often) has features, such as zeal, that can be good in certain circumstances; but the CC does not need the anti-theological, over-simple, shallow, approach to the Bible that is typical of Fundamentalism. We believe in God as revealed in Jesus Christ - not in some wretched book that can be twisted like a nose of wax. The opponents of Jesus were thoroughly familiar withe Bible as it was in their time - and it blinded them to Him. The Bible is as liable to become a false god as any statue or doctrine or practice - it needs Christ to keep it in place.

It takes all types to make a Church, granted - it does not follow that all qualities in people and their former religions are desirable in the Church, or good for it. For the record, I too was received into the CC.

I’ve read over some of the various postings on this thread and some of you seem very open and others seem very, almost hostile, towards the concept of teaching the ministry as a new convert. I myself have been a catholic, baptism, confirmation and communion, for something like 7 months coming up, and I will say that even though I haven’t been a “Catholic” for very long, I have been following after Christ since I was 15. Was I saved, no, I knew I wasn’t “saved”, I understood that salvation was something that is given by Christ blood most truly but one gains salvation by living according to the gospels and Christs teaching. I have been classified as Overeager, overzealous at many a point, but one thing that I know is that God has given me an extra-ordinary gift of understanding the Catholic faith and teaching it to those around me in a way that they should know God, and the Father in heaven, by the way I live.

Someone mentioned that it is hard to live out the faith that we have. I would disagree, you make it hard by not conforming yourself to the precepts of God and making yourself into the precepts of the world. People won’t budge if it affects them, but if it doesn’t they are willing to go for it. If I were to ask someone to give up everything that they have and follow, with me, Christ by living in extreme forms of poverty and loving only God by it what would someone say? Probably something like “are you crazy?”. Well actually I am, I’m crazy for the Lord and understand that sacrifice is what we were made for. We were made to Glorify God but we can’t glorify him when we’re comfortable in our houses and beds. If you saw someone being treated unfairly at work, would you step in? You know its unfair, but yet most people will turn away and say nothing cause they don’t want to lose their job. St. John Vianney, my patron saint, would call this the Tragedy of the Lukewarm soul. When man will see his faith, listen to the faith, but won’t practice the faith.

Some have said that they are tired of the overzealousness of the newest of Converts, do you not see Christ in their actions? They love God, some will work for the parish, some will help the poor, or look to working with the sick. I’m not saying that all converts are like this, but all can learn from new converts and from what I’ve seen from the typical “cradle catholic” is that we should never fall into that sad state of soul, but fight the good fight as St. Paul tells us. I look around sometimes at mass and I see the anxiousness of people wanting to leave, I see people wishing to get out of mass to go do other things. “Oh the football game is on!” or “Oh I’ve gotta go do something in town”. Yet very few people do I see looking unto the cross lovingly for what God has in-store for us. Because when we meditate on the cross we ourselves are transformed into acknowledgers. People who see that they truly are sinners, unworthy of the Host of Christ. Meditate on the Liturgy and what you are saying, look at what God has done for you and meditate on your life. Pray to our most Blessed Mother to help you in receiving the fullness of Christ in your heart through conversion.

I entered into the Catholic Church for one reason only, cause I love God, I couldn’t find a home and the Catholic Church fit me perfectly, but not only this, but I was called since 2008 to enter into the great mystery of God, and to bring God to the People and the People to God. The Catholic Church calls that a Priest, and since last September, even before I knew what the Priesthood was, I have wanted to be a Priest. Now I am 7 months closer to ending my 2 year wait for seminary. I plan on working with my diocese next summer and next year, and I plan on applying to Seminary the first chance I get, because I know that in Christ there is love, and in love there is Christ. What greater love than to bring Jesus to people through the Blessed Sacrament of Christ body and blood? I have figured out one thing though based on this thread and I thank all of you for showing me. That as a Priest I will have a lot of work ahead of me in teaching humility to my Parishioners and love to the fold of God. For I have seen so many hateful remarks that it saddens me to see that this is the state of our Church, the bride of our Lord Christ.

May God Bless you and grant you his peace.
By His Most Sacred Heart.