After deliberating on how to approach my wife on the topic, it basically came down to
"We have to talk"
There is no real way for me to express in words our conversation. A few choice words were
Shocked
Surprised
Really???
Wow
The bottom line was that she was genuinely touched by my decision. Shocked and surprised that I had decided to do this on my own.
More importantly to me is that she has agreed to be my Sponsor!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Looking for Guidance
I quickly realized that surely, I could not be the only person wanting to go through this process. I am sure there have been others like me (Jews) who have converted and/or in the process.
Since I have not told ANYONE about my decision, including my wife, i needed some help
Thank goodness for the Internet. We all know the WWW is wealth of knowledge and sure enough, after a few keyword searches, I discovered a support group simply by accident.
There are hundreds of Catholic Forums out there but I wanted to find something a little more in line with my issue. I found the AHC. http://www.hebrewcatholic.org/ Now i have not navigated every page or read every article but i did immediately hit up the Support group with questions.
Simply knowing this group exists has helped and will help me along this journey.
Since I have not told ANYONE about my decision, including my wife, i needed some help
Thank goodness for the Internet. We all know the WWW is wealth of knowledge and sure enough, after a few keyword searches, I discovered a support group simply by accident.
There are hundreds of Catholic Forums out there but I wanted to find something a little more in line with my issue. I found the AHC. http://www.hebrewcatholic.org/ Now i have not navigated every page or read every article but i did immediately hit up the Support group with questions.
Simply knowing this group exists has helped and will help me along this journey.
To RCIA or Not?
After acknowledging my thoughts and knowing which direction I was leaning.... I finally decided to talk to my local church about RCIA to see if this is something I am really interested in.
While apprehensive and nervous. Although my wife teaches at the Pre-School, the kids attend the school, we attend weekly mass, and have many many friends at the Church, I realized, this would be the first time I was actually entering by myself.
It was a little disturbing but something I needed to follow through with. I met with Frank (the RCIA Coordinator) and we chatted for ~ 30 minutes. I had previously given a lot of thought to this meeting so did not have an overwhelming bunch of questions at this time. He was gracious and very informative.
At this point in time, only Frank, knows about my decision to become Catholic. I had not shared this with anyone and I was not fully aware of was the requirement of a sponsor. Although I can think of a few people who may be honored to act as my sponsor, I can NOT imagine going through this process without my wife being my sponsor.
Wonder what her reaction will be :-)
This should be an interesting evening.
While apprehensive and nervous. Although my wife teaches at the Pre-School, the kids attend the school, we attend weekly mass, and have many many friends at the Church, I realized, this would be the first time I was actually entering by myself.
It was a little disturbing but something I needed to follow through with. I met with Frank (the RCIA Coordinator) and we chatted for ~ 30 minutes. I had previously given a lot of thought to this meeting so did not have an overwhelming bunch of questions at this time. He was gracious and very informative.
At this point in time, only Frank, knows about my decision to become Catholic. I had not shared this with anyone and I was not fully aware of was the requirement of a sponsor. Although I can think of a few people who may be honored to act as my sponsor, I can NOT imagine going through this process without my wife being my sponsor.
Wonder what her reaction will be :-)
This should be an interesting evening.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
First Post - Who I AM and Why
Here are the high-level details of who I am and why I am going through this process.
I am your typical "Good Jewish Boy" I was born and raised Jewish. I grew up attending Hebrew School and was Bar Mitzvah'd etc. My family was not overly religous and being a Jew was more about our Heritage rather than our religion. Sure we attended Temple on the high-holy days etc but not much else. However when it came to ordering Chinese Food and eating Bagels, we were right on top of things!!
Along the way, I married a beautiful girl, who just happens to be Catholic. We decided from day 1 that we would raise our children as Catholic. This was no so much a discussion rather it seemed the natural course of action. She attended Church fairly regularly and me.. not so much.
The kids thing its great having a Jewish Dad and a Catholic Mom. You can only imagine what our December's are like :-)
Regarding Church, I attend Mass fairly regularly. This started out strictly to be a supportive Dad and Husband. Initially it was more out of respect for my wife and wanting to impress the importance on Faith / Values to our Children.
However over time I actually looked forward to going.....
Here is where the story gets interesting.
During my oldest child's 1st communion (May 2008). Something hit close to home at that moment. Call it "grace, love or simply Peace, whatever it was it was very touching. It was a moving experience and upon some reflection I realized, it was not necessarily the first time I had this experience.
I have had this feeling at various times in my life and clearly recall it at each of my children's baptisms. I never thought much about it beyond those particular days. I figured it was just a feeling of "being caught up in the moment".
When I finally did pay attention to the feeling, I realized I have had this desire for a few years.
It was not until the most recent moment that I actually "listened" and decided to make a change.
I am your typical "Good Jewish Boy" I was born and raised Jewish. I grew up attending Hebrew School and was Bar Mitzvah'd etc. My family was not overly religous and being a Jew was more about our Heritage rather than our religion. Sure we attended Temple on the high-holy days etc but not much else. However when it came to ordering Chinese Food and eating Bagels, we were right on top of things!!
Along the way, I married a beautiful girl, who just happens to be Catholic. We decided from day 1 that we would raise our children as Catholic. This was no so much a discussion rather it seemed the natural course of action. She attended Church fairly regularly and me.. not so much.
The kids thing its great having a Jewish Dad and a Catholic Mom. You can only imagine what our December's are like :-)
Regarding Church, I attend Mass fairly regularly. This started out strictly to be a supportive Dad and Husband. Initially it was more out of respect for my wife and wanting to impress the importance on Faith / Values to our Children.
However over time I actually looked forward to going.....
Here is where the story gets interesting.
During my oldest child's 1st communion (May 2008). Something hit close to home at that moment. Call it "grace, love or simply Peace, whatever it was it was very touching. It was a moving experience and upon some reflection I realized, it was not necessarily the first time I had this experience.
I have had this feeling at various times in my life and clearly recall it at each of my children's baptisms. I never thought much about it beyond those particular days. I figured it was just a feeling of "being caught up in the moment".
When I finally did pay attention to the feeling, I realized I have had this desire for a few years.
It was not until the most recent moment that I actually "listened" and decided to make a change.
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