JOY Alive in Our Hearts

The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith

Category: Eucharist

Conversion / Eucharist / Evangelization / Joy / Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story

Testimony: Finding Jesus in the Eucharist

As a lifelong Catholic, I spent many years going through the motions of Mass, catechism class, sacramental preparation, and prayer, without allowing myself to appreciate the beauty of our faith. For a time as an adult, I even drifted away from going to church altogether. Often, even when I was present, I had zero realization of, or respect for, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

I allowed myself to be disconnected. I didn’t desire to encounter him and accept his unconditional love found in his sacrifice and resurrection in the Eucharist. I didn’t appreciate the gift before me in the person of our Savior. Little did I know that his Body and Blood would become my point of conversion back to the faith I was baptized into. A fall morning Mass in Ordinary Time changed everything for me—not what I believed, but what I experienced.

Conversion / Eucharist / Evangelization / Joy / Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story

Testimony: I make all things new

When I was a child, I loved going to the Protestant church in our small New England town. I especially loved going on the first Sunday of the month when we received Communion. Our church taught that Communion was only a symbol of Jesus’ Body and Blood. I never understood what it all meant, but I somehow knew it was special. Over the years, my family drifted away from church, and I attended only sporadically. But when I did go, I still loved to receive Communion. I didn’t know why. I just followed my heart.

Conversion / Eucharist / Joy / Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story

Testimony: From Atheist to Happy Catholic

My parents are atheists, so there was no religion in our home. They never tried to prejudice us against religion; they just never talked about it. It was kind of like talking about sex—it was the unspoken rule that you just didn’t mention religion.

As issues came up, we were taught to be good people in the morality of popular culture: work hard and do your best, be honest, don’t steal, cheat, or lie. We learned that a lot of other issues were all relative. As long as you didn’t hurt other people or break the law, what you did was your own business.

Of course, even though they never talked about religion, we all knew that those boring churchgoers were weak because they needed a crutch like religion to get by.

Conversion / Eucharist / Joy / Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story

Mormons make good Catholics

Growing up Mormon allowed me to experience my teenage years in a safe and secure environment. While our family had periods of being considered “inactive” (infrequent attendance at Sunday church services), for the most part, we went to church every week. I was baptized on my eighth birthday, which I remember being a very special honor. My parents were “sealed” to each other and to my younger brother and me during my junior year of high school in the Dallas, TX, Temple. I participated in many of the milestones of Mormon youth and adolescence, such as Scripture-chasing during my early-morning seminary classes and singing in roadshows (although I was never lucky enough to perform in “My Turn on Earth” or “Saturday’s Warrior”).

Conversion / Eucharist / Holy Spirit / Jesus / Prayer / Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story

Testimony: Journeys of Peace

By age twenty-eight, I was knocking on death’s door with my worldly lifestyle of alcohol and recreational drugs. Being a flower child wasn’t about roses. In fact, it led to a dramatic suicide attempt. grew up in a Philadelphia suburb.

My first true realization of God’s grace was at that time. Deep inside, I desired life—not death. I knew where to turn because of how my parents raised me. I ran back to church, back to Jesus. God’s grace renewed me through a charismatic ministry my parents were a part of, called Jesus Focus. I have since made—or at least desire to make—a regular conscious effort to allow God to work through me and to change me, be it ever so slowly, into the image of his Son.

Catholic family / Coronavirus / Eucharist / Fr. Bob Hilz / Jesus / Scriptures / Spiritual Warfare

Friar’s Corner: Safe haven in Jesus’ love

It seems to some of us that the coming election is critical for the survival of our country. It is almost as if we are headed into a civil war. There has been an ongoing battle between good and evil, God’s love and light and satan’s evils. Catholic Canon Law speaks about the option between two forces, choosing the lesser of two evils. We may not like many things on either side. Which one would provide the best way forward?

Catholic / Coronavirus / Eucharist / Fr. Bob Hilz / Prayer / Spiritual Warfare

Friar’s Corner: Fighting the evil spirits around us

We could call events these days at least as a double-layered early storm. We have the physical story of the Covid virus and the political movement toward our November elections. I won’t sidestep today’s gospel of  a Canaanite mother whose daughter is “tormented by a demon.” There are levels of demonic activity. Oppression deals with a person experiencing normal attacks by evil spirits. Obsession deals with evil spirits to create severe disturbances and blockage in a particular area of a person. God will not let evil spirits completely take over every area of a person’s life. They may hamper certain areas. We think of temptations, harassment, obsession or possession of certain areas of a person’s life.