A spiritual journey that led to Catholicism

Father Gregorio’s column, “Ex-Catholics and their unmet ‘spiritual needs” (June 3) interests me, as I came to the Catholic Church by way of RCIA in 1994. In other words, I “swam the Tiber” in the opposite direction. My daughters were in college at that time, and this was a decision arrived at after much agony on my part and against the wishes of my husband.

I was raised Protestant in a household where God and church were important. My father was from a Baptist family; my mother’s family was Methodist. We moved about a half dozen times during my childhood. The church we attended depended on my parents’ impression of how that pastor led the church. If the congregation was more social than spiritual, they’d keep looking. If the pastor preached from the Bible and my parents liked the worship, they were likely to join.

I married a Lutheran, and for a great many years we were happy together in the Lutheran church. We moved several times, and when we got to New Jersey we liked the Lutheran church where we then lived.

But in the early 90s, as many may recall, our society began to accept various changes in moral values. We would sit in the adult class (held between the early and late morning worship services) usually led by the pastor, where we’d all discuss what was going on in our world and reflect on it in light of the Bible’s teaching.

“Should young adults live together without marrying?”

“Did we need to loosen up a bit to be ‘relevant’ to today’s society?”

“What about gays? Should they be accepted along with their choice of lifestyle?”

Then we’d ask how each question stacked up against Scripture. Our congregation said, “The Bible opposes homosexual relations, and so do we.” But that was not the view soon to be expressed by the national body of Lutherans. Shortly after that we began to read of gay pastors. Could I remain in a congregation which seemed sound, while the national body wasn’t?

I began looking for a viable alternative. What were my criteria for making a choice? “Well, the Catholic Church isn’t it!” was my first thought. Then I defined believing in the Real Presence and having sound teaching as important.

I think I looked everywhere hoping to find a church meeting these criteria. I spent over a year- looking, reading, praying. Finally it got to the point where it seemed the only options were one of the Eastern Orthodox churches or the Catholic Church.

Orthodoxy seemed more strange to me — not wrong, but just not comfortable. Somehow I was drawn to investigate the Catholic Church even though I’d always been taught that the Catholic Church was wrong, wrong, wrong! I took a serious look at the teachings I’d been raised to find objectionable. I especially recall reading some Catholic documents about the Assumption of Mary. From my perspective then this was unfathomable. Of course, non-Christians may say the same thing about the Resurrection of Jesus. “So which was it?” I asked. “Was the Catholic Church right or was ‘I’ right?” I didn’t prove the Assumption; some things need to be taken on faith. What I did was realize how logically it fit into the stories of God’s miracles.

I could see how carefully the Catholic Church proceeded with its teaching, and I could see it had maintained sound teaching and practices over the centuries. I began to ponder whether the Catholic Church might actually have a legitimate claim to the Chair of St. Peter. Although I was accustomed to Protestants denying that Scripture said any such thing, when I read it with a little more open mind I was unable to see how the passage (Matt: 16: 18-19) made sense otherwise.

I must say when I began to accept all this, it shook me to the core. I read it again and again, and wasn’t able to see how it could be made to say anything except that Jesus was placing Peter in a new position, and one with authority.

This was not at all easy for my late husband who wasn’t the least bit interested in being Catholic, nor in having a Catholic wife. I tried to maintain respect for his position and in his final years. I was his transportation and I made sure he got to his church whenever he was able to go. I also made sure I got to Mass.

I miss some of the good discussions in the adult forum at the Lutheran Church where I used to live, but I wouldn’t trade what I have now for anything I had in the past. I’ve been Catholic for 17 years now, and I still think I’m in the right place.

Claudine Johnson is a member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Lindenwold.