Why I Became Catholic is a regular series where our readers who joined the fold later in life share the story of the journey that brought them to it. Want to tell us your story? See the details below!
I was brought up as a non-Catholic Christian mostly attending churches of the Anglican denomination. I had very limited exposure to the Catholic church until I met my husband, Sam, while we were both studying at University.
My first experiences of the Catholic church were through visiting Sam’s parish at the time (the Holy Family church in Maroubra).
It was here that I got to experience the beauty of their annual Christmas Carols service and enjoyed attending various events for young adults including a couple of Catholic Society Balls.
When we got married, I made the decision to regularly attend the Catholic Mass with Sam (at the Our Lady Help of Christians church in Epping) rather than continue to attend an Anglican church service.
I felt it was important that we attend the same Church, so that we could more fully live our faith together and so that, if we one day had children, we would be able to bring them up in the faith together.
As we are both musical, this enabled Sam and I to regularly play music together at Mass (something which still brings us great joy and which we believe is an important way we can serve our church community).
About a year after we married, I decided to attend the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults course being run by our Church to learn more about the Catholic faith.
It was a fantastic course and deepened my Christian faith as well as helping me to understand how the Catholic beliefs differed from my Anglican upbringing. The following Easter I was confirmed.
Although my primary reason for becoming a Catholic was so that we could share in the same faith, I can now see that it was God’s way of calling me to where I belonged.
On my journey to becoming a Catholic (and since) I have come to love the beauty in the Mass, the sacraments and many of the Church’s traditions and devotions.
I have delighted in the wonderfully rich array of Catholic writings that are available and which have expanded my understanding of many things including God, human nature and the purpose and meaning in our lives.
I have found joy in listening to (and playing) beautiful Church music around the world (both in our own parishes and in Churches we have visited in our travels).
I have found friendship and experienced true hospitality from each parish community of which we have been a part. And I have found my Catholic faith (and community) to be a great source of solace through life’s hardships.
I also love the universality of the Church and that, no matter where you are in the world, you can go to Mass and follow what is going on (even to some extent when it is not in English) and receive the Eucharist.
I have now been part of the Catholic church for eight years and have not looked back. With each passing year I feel even more at home in the Catholic church.
Sam and I currently attend the Frenchs Forest Catholic Parish and still enjoy playing music together at Mass.
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