Running to Catch up

It is now almost 11 years since I became a Christian and from the beginning I have always felt that I was running to catch up!

Because I had no church background when I did start going to church it took a long time to get used to the services.

I also had a bit of a false idea of what other Christians got up to. I thought that everyone had read the bible all the way through several times and spent lots of time in prayer every day.

I am glad that I did have this false impression as it encouraged me to dive into the bible and prayer in a big way because I thought it was “normal”.

I am not claiming that I have always been perfect in spending time in the word and in prayer but it gave me a high standard to strive for.

Over time I gradually realised that what I was trying to achieve was not necessarily “normal”, but it was still what I wanted to aim for.

However, here I am back at the beginning again, on the path to being received into the Catholic church.

Many things are different, services, prayer practices, the way people have fellowship and generally the way things are done, as well as the additional things such as devotion to Mary.

It’s a good job that I have a good coach in Jesus….

Maybe At Heart I've Always Been Catholic

In one of my bibles there is a Divine Mercy Prayer Card. I have had it for over 10 years. I bought it on a little market stall not long after I became a Christian.

It has been everywhere with me as I kept that little bible in my hand bag right up until I bought a new “hand bag bible” quite recently, along with 2 new Divine Mercy Prayer Cards to go in it!

I knew as soon as I saw it that this was “My Jesus”! I had no idea what the story behind the Divine Mercy picture was, or what to do with it, but I knew I was looking at Jesus and My Jesus was looking back at me.

Soon after that I also bought a rosary. I had no idea what to do with it and no one to ask, but I would just hold it sometimes while thinking about God, or while I prayed. I loved to hold the crucifix and feel the beads run through my fingers.

I would put them away for a spell and then every now and then I would get them out again.

When I started to investigate the Catholic faith one of the first things I did was to do an internet search on what to do with the beads I had held so often in prayer.

Not only did I find out how to pray the rosary, but all about the Divine Mercy chaplet as well.

Having now learned that Catholics often have "Special Devotion" to certain things I find it funny now to realise that even from my baby Christian days I have always had a Special Devotion to the Rosary, the Divine Mercy and a craving for the Real Presence in the Eucharist. So maybe I've always been a Catholic at heart!

Nesting Here....

Above is St Herberts the wonderful church where I will be making my nest.......
It is light airy and very beautiful, as well as being full of friendly people.
Here is St Peters it is warm cosy and very traditional. I will be visiting here too as it is actually closer to my home and has different mass times. There is also a sense of awe and reverance here which is tangable.

Where Oh Where Does My Heart Lie?

Well I carried on reading the Catechism until I finished it, along the way I marked a couple of points of disagreement that I needed to come back to, but by the time I came to the end and went back to them they were no longer a problem for me.

In the mean time I attended a Latin Mass, at the church of the Holy name.

The building was very beautiful, but the service was not what I expected. It was suposed to be a sung service and audibly very beautiful, but it wasn't.

In fact it was very hard to follow, drafty, there was plenty of changing position - up, down, kneel, sit, but when I walked out something had changed.

I went in a wonderer and came out a Catholic.

Unfortunately, although I now had the heart of a Catholic, I still did not know how to find my way home!