Jessica’s Journey of Faith, Diocese of Brentwood
 

My name is Jessica and I’m a married mum of three children. I had the joy of being received into the Catholic Church in Easter 2008. Although I married in a Catholic ceremony in 1995, because my husband is a cradle Catholic, I wasn’t a churchgoer.
 
My father is Jewish and my mother is Church of England. When I was growing up they left me to make my own mind up about my faith.  My mum did try to involve me in church at intervals but I wasn’t really interested. My parents had always taught us to pray before going to bed and I still do that with my children. I had some RE at school and I’d been raised as a Christian person – to be kind, caring and considerate of others - without the churchgoing. I have always been an optimist. 

I’ve always had a connection with Jesus. I used to pray and thank God for the good things in my life. In that respect he’s always been there. Maybe before I became a Catholic I was just too embarrassed to acknowledge it?
 
The turning point came when two of my husband’s aunts died. They were both very active Catholics. One lived in America and the other in London.  I was very close to the one in London and she was very involved in her local parish. I loved her funeral because it was a celebration of life and I was so at peace during the ceremony. A calm came over me in the church and I was so moved at the response of the parishioners and felt in awe of this aunt’s church life. Her death highlighted to me profoundly the, ‘What would happen to me?' syndrome. I started to think, ‘Oh my goodness, when I die what is going to happen?’ I knew that my husband and children were baptised and so would go through the pearly gates, but I was troubled about what my fate would be. It really struck a raw nerve.
 
I decided to speak to a neighbour who went to church (as at that time we only went on high days and holy days) and she put me in touch with the leader of our parish Journey in Faith (RCIA) group. I just knew that I had to go and all I could think about was that I needed to get to heaven. The first thing that I learnt in the group was that you don’t have to go to church to go to heaven. I learnt that if I was a good person and believed in the Christian ethos I could still enter heaven, but I began to realise that I couldn’t walk the Christian way alone and that’s where the parish family came in.
 
At the beginning of RCIA I couldn’t keep up because each week they were telling me so many things that I didn’t understand. This was such a new world to me and the group leaders were so patient and kind. I was a total novice. I initially thought they’d think that I was mouthy and not suitable. I thought, ‘Who would want me?’ but they welcomed me with open arms and it made things so much easier for me. 

I had never even opened the Bible before I attended these meetings. I wasn’t baptised and I suppose one of the things that kept me going to Journey in Faith was fear of the unknown and the 'what happens after death?' question. This fear gradually went because I was so moved by the welcome that I received. It wasn’t intimidating and as someone who isn’t frightened of answering questions, I asked a lot in the group and the leaders were able to answer them for me.

I felt very uncomfortable going to Mass and the Journey in Faith leaders taught me everything. They showed me round the church and broadened my horizons and I’ve shared all this with my family. My husband is now a Confirmation catechist and I help lead the parish Guide group.

What I love about the Church is the community itself. All of the Journey in Faith parties have been great fun – laughing and giggling. I had such preconceptions of what church would be like and it’s not like that at all. The Journey in Faith people become your friends. We all know people as acquaintances but theses people mean the world to me. They have always been there for me.
 

Even though I’ve now been received into the Church I still attend the Journey of Faith when I can. To help other people I re-ask the questions that I asked. I was always helped and encouraged to ask questions and was re-assured that there were no silly questions. I always felt supported and my concerns were addressed with honesty and faith.
 
My family is close but going to church together brings another dimension to our lives. It is a community thing. It has made a difference for the better. I now know how to pray – the rosary and on reflection days – and my faith has grown. Other people that I probably wouldn’t have ever associated with, I feel connected with them. So many strangers have supported me and I feel so accepted. So many times we are afraid of rejection and I was welcomed as if I was just what people were looking for. It was wonderful. I’m proud of what I am and of being a Catholic.

Image copyright: Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

Gerry’s Journey of Faith, Diocese of Clifton

I’m here today for the Rite of Election and have been really looking forward to this day. I am a lapsed Catholic who was brought up as a Catholic in Bedford.

Unfortunately some of my behaviours were a bit wayward and I fell away from going to church. The good news is that I’m back and I’ve got twins that I’d like to be involved in the church. I now take them to church each week with me, just to get an understanding of what Christianity is all about and the teachings of the Catholic Church. I enjoy it no end.

I’ve been really looking forward to it. I was brought up in foster care in Bedford. At six months I was fostered out and went through the process of going to church but not with any real understanding of the processes involved, so here I am today looking at it with different eyes. So for me it is very important and I am very eager to listen. I am always listening to what Fr Tom has to say, so it is very important.

The work I do makes my faith even stronger. The dark days for me were filled with despair, with Class A drugs. Now in Bristol I run houses for people recovering from alcohol and drugs and am well know in the community. We also run houses for the homeless so we work with vulnerable people and that’s my joy, that’s the reason that I get out of bed in the morning. With the strong faith foundation that the Catholic Church gives, it makes me whole and that is why I am here today, to take a step.

In my work we find people who seem to be out there, living very turbulent lifestyles without any firm foundations, without any spirituality. My faith cements my own life and I know that when I fell away from the faith my life was in disarray, it was a spiritual bankruptcy and I could feel my life force, towards the back end of it, disappearing. So for me, it is really important to house people and give substance to their lives. We do try through recovery processes to introduce them to a level of spirituality. We can’t force anything on them - people in the main are homeless, they’ve got drug problems, alcohol problems, mental health problems. Once we’ve looked at their initial issues and eradicated that part of their misfortune, then it’s about scaffolding something out. It’s then that we can introduce other things.

I fell into drugs and alcohol, more drugs, and when I came to Bristol in 1997 I went through a recovery process myself and learnt a great deal. The twelve steps helped, especially having a higher power and that connected me back to the Christian faith. One of the other parishioners at my now parish, a good friend of mine, told me that she’d started to go to St Teresa’s. She asked me to come along to church with her, and I’d seen the change in her and I thought, “You know what, I need to do this.”

Although my life wasn’t empty or bankrupt, there were definitely some deficiencies there. Coming along to St Teresa’s and meeting people there, it has elevated who I am. I now have twins and I want them to have substance to their lives. It is a very turbulent planet and we need these foundation stones, we need some substance to our lives and a moral compass and I know that I can get this from the Catholic Church.

These are some of the reason why I turn up to church, do the things that I do and it helps me to give back to others who are in unfortunate situations.

Vatican Radio features Gerry's story

COMING HOME
'Two people who were formally received into the Church at the Easter Vigil this year talk about why they were drawn to Catholicism and how it has changed their life.....'

http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/indicehq.asp?RedaSel=43&CategSel=20

Image copyright: Catch the Moment

Malcolm’s Journey of Faith, Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle

As an academic, I reside in the North of England with my wife, married for 29 years, and two grown up children. Hopefully, they might decide to leave home soon?! :)

My journey has taken me some considerable way. Educated briefly in a Catholic boarding school, followed by numerous Anglican boarding schools, I did receive an initial grounding in the Faith.

As an Anglo-Catholic, I encountered a number of problematical theological issues. I was at one time, training to be an Anglican priest, but did not go on to ordination. Even at that stage I was attracted to Catholicism, but sadly, direct support was lacking, plus little 'real life' experience. The Army, a 30 year career in public service, and a need to support my family, tended to distract me from a theological path. Although I attempted to avoid contact with God for so long, it was never possible to ignore Him in times of difficulty.

 During my journey in life I have experienced many painful and tragic encounters, as well as having lost a number of dear friends along the way. All of these things caused me to search again for my faith. Although I have many Anglican and Catholic friends, I increasingly found comfort in Catholic liturgy and felt God calling me.

In April 2008, I had the great fortune to be introduced by my Sponsor, Father Stephen. His counselling and assistance has been fantastic! I started to regularly attend Mass and understand the concept of 'community' (which was deepened through a visit to the Vatican in Italy) and love every minute of it. To my surprise, many friends of mine were very encouraging in their support of my decision to convert, many of whom turned out to be Catholic!

I have never looked back. The support that I have had on my RCIA programme has been wonderful. Prayer has now become an important part of my life; my own family have also proved to be wonderfully supportive.

It really has been a fabulous experience. I am really looking forward to Easter Sunday when I will finally be able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ as a member of the Catholic Church.

I would thoroughly recommend the Catholic Faith to anyone who wants to fully embrace Jesus, Our Lord.

Image copyright: Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales