Colleen Spiro reads Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story
‘Behold, I make all things new.’” (Revelation 21:5)
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.
When I met my husband, Rich, he was a divorced, non-practicing Catholic. We didn’t attend church but had many discussions about faith and God. Rich cleared up a lot of my misunderstandings about Catholicism. After we got married, my father-in-law kept praying that I would convert, but I had no interest at that time.
After our second son was born, Rich decided to get an annulment of his first marriage. When the annulment was granted, we remarried in the Catholic Church and started attending Mass. At first, I wasn’t very comfortable. I went to church because I wanted my husband to be happy, and I thought it was a good thing to do for our boys.
Gradually, I became more comfortable going to Mass, though I felt left out because I couldn’t receive the Sacraments. Soon I had a nagging feeling that God was asking me to make more of a commitment. One day, in the middle of Mass, I knew what that meant. I knew, without any doubt, that I wanted to be Catholic.
My yearning for God and his Church seemed to come out of the blue, but it was real. I felt his love drawing me to him. I will never forget the surprised look on Rich’s face when I told him I wanted to take the classes to become Catholic. And I remember the moment when I knew I’d made the right decision. It was at the class on the Eucharist. As the priest explained the Real Presence of Jesus, tears ran down my cheeks. This is what I had been unconsciously searching for since childhood. The symbol of Jesus had not been enough for me. I had yearned for the real Jesus and I found him in the Catholic Church. I found him in the Eucharist. And I believed.
More than twenty-eight years ago, I became a Catholic at the Easter Vigil Mass. When I received the Body and Blood of Jesus for the first time, I knew I was home.
I have experienced many changes since then. My husband is now a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church. I am a spiritual director, a Benedictine oblate, and a parish secretary. I write about faith and the spiritual life. I can hardly recognize myself when I look back at my life and see how much it has changed.
As I look back at my conversion, I realize that over time the Holy Spirit had been changing my heart, slowly but surely, day by day. And then, when I began to attend Mass and I heard God’s Word over and over, my heart softened and opened up.
And all things became new.
Colleen Spiro, a convert, mother, and grandmother, is married to a permanent deacon. A Benedictine oblate and certified spiritual director, Colleen loves to share her faith and encourage others through her retreats and writings. She blogs at Catholic Prayer Life and presents podcasts at Finding God in the Everyday.
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