For those seeking God: A Conversion Story.

[Xavier]

For those from non-Catholic religions seeking God, I post this here because this conversion story may be helpful to other seekers. From https://maryrefugeofholylove.com/2019/02/03/is-there-a-god-for-those-seeking-god-atheists-and-lukewarm-catholics/

"A Conversion Story

"Since I began this blog, MaryRefugeOfHolyLove, in April 2015, I have built up quite a few resources and hyperlinks to help people who are searching for answers in their life journey. Primarily, for those who are seeking God and wondering if He really exists.

For a few years of my life, I used to be an atheist. I became an atheist in junior high school when I was exposed to the theory of evolution and due to lack of education in Catholicism–the faith that I was baptized into as an infant–I fell away very easily. However, being an atheist made me very depressed. Why? Because at the end of the existential road is nihilism and accepting that life is meaningless and pointless made me harbor suicidal thoughts. Really, it got quite hard to get out of the bed each morning and to desire to do anything productive, like attend college, have a career, marry, raise a family, etc.

So, one day, when I was 17 years old, I literally said to myself, either I believe there is a God, or I kill myself because there is no purpose for my existence. I had no joy in my life and always being a deep thinker my whole life, thinking that there was no purpose for my existence was that troubling for me.

So, then I told myself that I am going to start believing in God, because I have to believe that there is some purpose in my life, otherwise, I cannot exist anymore. I told myself that if there is a God, then I have to believe that He would not hide Himself from us, because I cannot accept that He would create us and then simply disappear without telling us about Himself. So, I said to myself, one of the religions in the world must be real, but if I do not find out which one, I will become Catholic by the age of 25 for lack of anything better. Because my parents are Catholic and they are happy together and I just want to be happy in life again.

And so, that began the great searching period in my life for God. I dappled in Eastern religions and New Age for awhile, but I was never quite satisfied with the logical foundations of these various religions. Then, as people who have read my conversion story know, in 2001, I broke my leg and during surgery, I encountered God in what was very similar to a near-death experience, etc.

My Conversion Story
https://myconversionstory.org/

Now, that supernatural experience should have brought me home immediately to the Catholic Church, but due to various circumstances, it was not until late December 2002, that I discovered the Catholic faith of my infant baptism. It was 3 months shy of my 25th birthday, because–surprise, surprise–God remembers promises like the one I made to myself at age 17. And yes, like so many Catholic conversion stories, it was the Blessed Mother who ultimately brought me back to the Catholic Church and I found Jesus. I am so eternally grateful ...

... Now, I will say that I wish priests at the pulpit in Holy Mass spoke more about the supernatural. Many Catholics are starving for this information, because talking about God and how He is literally speaking to us today and that miracles really happen, would wake up people in the pews and bring people back to the Catholic Church ... Reading about miracles excites people in their faith. Knowing that God continues to help people even today, is exciting to know. Seriously, if priests were to read these books and just for one year, preach about one miracle at every Sunday Mass, how many people would become animated each week. People would joyfully wonder to themselves, hmm, I wonder what miracle story dear Father is going to share with us today! Such stories stick in the minds of people and demonstrate God’s Great Love for us and the power of prayer.

Today, people feel no need to pray because they think that God does not listen to them and nothing will happen. But, if people knew that God really cares about them and He is simply waiting for them to ask Him and share their needs in prayer, this would make a noticeable change in the life of many parishes. I want to offer a challenge to my Catholic readers. Firstly, read all the miracle books on the list that I provided, then give the books to your parish priest and ask him to preach on a miracle at every Holy Mass for a year. That way, people can learn of God’s Love and care for them and the necessity of prayer to God.

For example, many people know that St. Patrick was a great saint of Ireland, but not many know why. It was because St. Patrick performed a resurrection miracle by the power of God. St. Patrick resurrected the drowned daughter and son of the pagan king, which then led to the entire pagan island converting to Catholicism. One of the books that I recommend recounts 400 resurrection miracles performed by the Saints. Priests could simply preach on the power of the Resurrection for a year and that would animate many people in the pews.

Now, let’s say that you are an atheist and you do not believe in miracles. Well, I am going to present to you in the remainder of this blog post, several miracles that are hard for an atheist to refute if he really delves into researching the history of them. Here are the miracles for you to consider.

Firstly, there are over 200 bodies of different Saints in the Catholic Church that are incorruptible. Incorruptible means that they have not decayed from natural causes ..."

[Xavier]

Many things attracted this soul to our holy religion, God's Love, the Beauty of the Catholic religion, the Logic in its Doctrine and Catechesis, Miracles in the Lives of Saints, her own experience of extreme unction and a Catholic Priest's prayers for her etc.

And as per Myconversionstory dotorg,

"The thing was… I was not even Catholic. Or, at least, I had never professed to be one in my adult life.

I had been baptized as an infant into the Catholic faith. I had attended Sunday mass infrequently as a child, but never went to Sunday school, nor did I have any type of Catholic education.

I had never received my First Holy Communion, nor was I ever Confirmed. And certainly, I had no experience in going to the Sacrament of Confession.

But, all I knew was that if one feared dying, a priest was to be called. And so, despite being agnostic—a person who was trying to find God in all the wrong places, I asked my mom to call a Catholic priest.

And so, this Catholic priest stood before me as I was lying on the bed, awaiting to be wheeled into the surgery room. And, bless his heart, I had no idea that I was to confess anything to him.

But, this holy priest was a good man. After briefly talking to me and sensing my ignorance, he said that he would anoint me. And so, he prayed softly to himself for my safe recovery as he anointed my hands and my feet with holy oil.

Once the priest was done, I immediately felt better. I had no concept of a sin or being a sinner, but I simply thought that if there was a god, I would be “alright” now if something happened ... Then, it happened. The most glorious experience of my life.

Suddenly, I found myself—my soul—skipping along in an open grassy meadow.

I knew that it was my soul because I did not have a physical body. And yet, I had a spiritual one—complete with fingers and toes. I marveled at my hands and my feet as I skipped along, no longer bound by a broken leg or limitations of a heavy physical body.

I was wearing a yellow dress covered in print with many miniature red flowers ... Yet, I was not afraid.

Because I was so happy. The most joyful that I had ever been in my entire life.

In fact, I never felt so more alive than those moments skipping across the meadow. Or, the happiest in my soul ever.

And as my soul yearned to just reach that gray mist, as I knew, intuitively, that I would be truly safe if I just made it to the gray cloud… I began to notice something even greater in the place I was in…

The most brilliant white light permeated everything I saw. It filled the sky and gave life to everything in the field. And as I looked upwards, slightly behind me, towards my left-hand side, I noticed it then…

I noticed the Presence of God.

Truly, I realized then, that I was in a place that was neither heaven nor hell. Yet, I understood that heaven was above me and that heaven was where God lived. And I understood that The Light which I saw all-around me was emanating from God in heaven.

And when my soul was awakened to the Presence of God around me, I was then immediately asked a question—

God asked me a question. He said:

“Do you love Me?”

And, with all my heart, all my mind, all my strength, and all my soul, I said “yes” with every fiber of my being. I said, “yes” completely, entirely, and wholly.

I said “yes” to God ...

In the weeks that followed, I wish that my personal encounter with God would have made me a Catholic. However, I never made a mental connection between the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick that I had received from the Catholic priest and the spiritual experience I had while in surgery as being related—

I did not know that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick purifies one’s soul from all sin so as to prepare the soul to be received by God in heaven.

All I knew was that God and heaven existed. And I wanted to go there.

So, for two years more, I wandered… Until, by the grace of God tendered through His Blessed Mother, I finally picked up a Catholic catechism book and began to read it—

I read myself into the Catholic faith.

Starting with a simple catechism book to further books on apologetics and Christian theology, I was simply dumb-struck by the logic and beauty of the Catholic faith that I had been baptized in as an infant. I was learning the faith that I never learned as a child. Then, I read a book—

A book written by St. Anne Catherine Emmerich over 500 years ago on her visions of purgatory—

And as I read this book, I became speechless—overcome with complete joy—as St. Anne Catherine described exactly, in detail, where I had been over two years ago.

I read about the grassy fields, the gray misty clouds, etc., and I realized why I had been so eager to reach the gray mist in my skipping. Because I would have been able to stay with God, if I had entered the cloud of purgatory ...

Now, there was only one small problem:

I had to change the direction of my life.

I knew now what sin was and realized what a bigger sinner I was. I also knew that I would have to make “hard choices,” because my life was not Christian by any standard. One of the most difficult choices that I had to make was to break off the relationship with a man whom I had intended to one day marry. A man who had been raised in the Catholic faith but did not follow the Christian ideals that I knew to be The Truth. I had to walk away ...

While God can ask the question in a more obvious way, like He did to me and St. Peter, truly, God asks us this question far more often in the humblest and smallest of ways… Through the gentle breeze of the wind on one’s face to the uncontrollable laughter of a small child, in so many ways Our Lord communicates to us His Love and desire for our best welfare through these simple joys—

He reaches out to us every present moment as an act of His loving grace to whisper us back to Himself, always asking, Do you love Me? –asking each of us to show Him our love through our thoughts, words and deeds towards God and each other.

I hope and pray that you will open your heart to His Love and say “yes” to Him now and always in your life. I pray that you will follow Him in all matters, especially of the heart.

God bless you in your journey of faith.

I love you—a soul" https://myconversionstory.org/