"Why I joined the Catholic Church"

Growing up Lutheran I never thought I would become a member of the Catholic Church.  I was blessed with a loving Christian family and our faith life was very strong.  I was baptized as a Lutheran, confirmed as a Lutheran, and WAS Lutheran for the first 34 years of my life.
 
I didn’t have very many close Catholic friends growing up in a small and predominantly protestant town near Wichita, Kansas and it wasn’t until I went away to college that I met and became friends with many Catholics.  During my college years it was easy for me to make generalized assumptions and negative statements about the Catholic faith to my friends. I would frequently question their beliefs in things such as purgatory as well as practices such as the veneration of Mary. ... Read More...

I became Catholic because I truly believe that Jesus Christ established and created the Catholic Church.  Jesus, through the authority of apostolic succession, gives us a direct link back to Him.   Jesus laid his hands on his apostles, giving them authority, and they in turn have continued that successively throughout all these years, beginning with Saint Peter.  It is beyond any human authority, it is a true spiritual authority. I know that whenever a priest has laid his hand on my head for a blessing or a sacrament, there is a true connection to Christ and it has been there from the beginning. It is like I am able to physically feel Jesus touch me.  Read More...