A stranger handed me a small booklet that explained the Gospel. I took it but refused to talk to her. On the back, I found handwritten the title of a book by C. S. Lewis. I knew this British author and checked out his book from the library. I read Mere Christianity in a weekend and learned that the torturous death of Christ reconciled me to God. I learned that, by faith and baptism, I shall share in Christ’s glorious resurrection. I thought, “If this is the truth, and I think it is, then I want to believe it.”

I got involved with other Christians and church. I split my time between the Catholic Church and an evangelical Protestant church. I attended both for a couple of years, including weekly fellowship and Bible study at the evangelical Protestant church.

I met nice people at both churches. Some at the evangelical Protestant church tried to convince me that the Catholic Church was not a Christian church. I did not understand that. I heard Christ proclaimed in the Catholic Church, even by the priest in my childhood parish.

Eventually, I stopped going to the evangelical Protestant church. I outgrew it, I think, somehow. I became more active in the Catholic Church, teaching catechism as a certified catechist, attending daily Mass and serving as Eucharistic minister, attending small group faith sharing and Bible studies. Along the way, I earned a master’s degree in theology and started a family.

I am interested in why people change religious affiliation and I am interested in helping people towards membership in the Catholic Church in a parish RCIA program.