THE 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SPLENDOR OF THE CHURCH BLOG!

The All-Powerful Lord

 

Today, we give praise to the Lord for the 4th Anniversary of THE SPLENDOR OF THE CHURCH Blog. We give praise to the Lord because this Blog has become God's instrument in defending the Catholic Church and in explaining the Catholic Faith to so many people. 

From its simple and humble beginning this Blog has grown so much like a Mustard Seed that fell on good ground and became a home for many birds. It became a parola for those who were seeking the truth or were doubting the faith and a source of inspiration for the Catholic Faithful to defend the faith on their own also in various fora. Our visitors mark is reaching half a million in few days and record shows that more than a thousand visitors read the Blog on a daily basis from all over the world. Our followers is nearly 400 people and more are coming.

We have successfully collaborated with the best of the best Catholic Apologists in the Philippines with the likes of Bro. Soc Fernandez of the Catholic Faith Defenders [CFD] and its national president Engr./Prof. Ramon Gitamondoc of San Carlos University in Cebu as well as the CFD Davao led by president Bro. John Diona through its energetic and very bright young leader Bro. Ryan Mejilano. These collaborations paved the way for my appointment as CFD National Spiritual Director last year. Then, our apologetics ministry with the Defensores Fidei Foundation then under chairman Henry Siy through which I get to know these great Apologists ATTY. MARWIL LLASOS, CARLOS ANTONIO PALAD and BRO. CENON BIBE who have all become brothers to me and close friends as well as collaborators. Some of their articles are posted here as well and on several occasions they even joined in the exchanges here. 

Most of all this ministry has been blessed so much that out of this Blog many young people have full-pledged Catholic Apologists as well. Foremost of them is Franz Luigi Lugena who became my assistant in the Splendor of the Church program here in Sorsogon and second owner of this Blog. Bro. Franz, gifted with youthful energy, vigor and sharp mathematical mind have successfully defended and argued for the faith on issues concerning Sola Scriptura, Justification, Predestination, on the Virgin Mary, Rizal and the Catholic Church, Masonry, Philippine History and the Friars and Atheism. Many of his exchanges are archived inhere and therefore recorded for posterity's sake. Also, this blog has contributed so much from the works of Bro. Jubernson Alabastro of CFD Davao, a very bright young man who is an Accountancy graduate and a student of law. Bro. Jubernson is a well of information on Apologetics, Church History and various documents so valuable for research. He is also a very sharp thinker that made him an effective apologist on his own right. Knowing the brilliance of his intellect and the virtue of his heart I gave him the honor to be the second co-moderator of this Blog together with Bro. Franz so that the two of them can post materials here on their own even without my prior approval. My trust, however, are put on good hands because the two never posted things contrary to our goals.

Besides Bro. Franz, other young readers of this Blog have become active in Facebook Fora or Groups arguing for the Faith such as Adrian Tams, Peter Pelayo Cosenillo, Ednard Kim La Rosa and recently Sev Maraño. Some of the inspiring and shall I say 'touching' messages from our readers have been posted here already. And now for this anniversary let me share the latest I have received the other day only. The guy is a Blogger also with the link provided below as well:

Sev Maraño

• 
  

  
  Dear Father Abe,
  
  I thank God for your website. You have been instrumental to my conversion to the Catholic Church. It's a good thing that my parents, before they converted to Born Again, were able to baptize me in Barasoain Church. And this weekend I'll go there to get my baptismal certificate and get ready to come again in the Church.
  
  I am so excited to be with the Church. Again, I'm very thankful to your apologetics ministry. Through it, I was able to see the light and see the errors and flaws of the churches I've been to.
  
  God bless you and your ministry Father Abe, I hope you can add me to your list of friends. Consider me as one of your avid readers/fans.
  
  Sincerely,
  Sev.

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  P.S. 

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  http://homewardboundsev.blogspot.com/
  
  
  
  i have posts po when i was still protestant.. pero not so much entries. hehe
  
  

Home At Last!

Five Years in the Wilderness




It started all in 2006, when I took a weeklong vacation leave from work.
It has been my tradition to visit my alma mater, De La Salle
University, go to the library and spend time reading the whole day. I
was in the mood for reading some religious books. I remembered my
atheist professor in Philosophy when she said in her article “if your
faith is true, you won’t mind putting it to the test.” So I browsed
through the religion section of the library, very confident of what my
beliefs are.



The early church fathers were alien to me that time. In that section, I
saw various church fathers writings. St. Iranaeus, St. Athanasius, and I
tell to myself “who are these guys??” The only familiar church father I
know of that time was St. Augustine, due to my Calvinist background.
Together with those books are some Marian writings. I thought “bring it
on!” These books won’t bother me. So I read them the whole day.



The day ended with me shaken to my very core. I left the library with
the same faith I had, but felt a bit less sure than when I entered the
place that morning.



It was only after five years will I ever set my feet on solid ground again.



Background



I was raised in a family steep in Protestantism. I grew up in Sunday
School of a moderate evangelical church and I studied in a very
conservative Baptist-oriented school in my elementary and high school
days.



Our church, where I grew up, is composed of families that started out as
a small bible study group and eventually grew and became an evangelical
church. This is where the love of the Bible in me started. At a very
young age, we were memorizing Bible verses, we were taught the stories
of Jesus in the Gospels, stories of Protestant missionary stories, etc. .
During our early teens, I was active in youth groups, together with my
siblings. It was home to me. I will always be indebted to this church
where I grew up.



Meanwhile, during my elementary and high school years (1993-1999), in my
Baptist-oriented school, we were taught of so many anti-Catholic things
- the usual Whore of Babylon-Pope-Anti Christ-Mass sorcery-traditions
evil, crucifix of the devil, and what have you. Subliminally, we were
taught to hate and fear everything related to Catholic.



For the first seventeen years of my life, I was not exposed to anything
related to Catholicism (or so I thought), until I reached college.



I would consider my college years (1999-2004) as the most eventful years
of my spiritual life. Eventful, because I was exposed to Catholics,
started to be curious in a lot of things, trying out new things, living
out new philosophies and ideas.



Early on in my college life, one of the most traumatic and significant
thing happened. We experienced a church split where I grew up. My
parents had to change churches, and that included us in the change.



We were suddenly in a much bigger church, good teaching nevertheless,
but it didn’t feel like home to me. The pastors don’t know me
personally, and I don’t know them in the same way either. I haven’t
felt the huge impact immediately on this event since I was having the
time of my life in college. This is where I started to disengage from
church life. I became just a regular attender, not wanting to be
involved in anything, lest I wanted to feel the pain of a church split
again and again. It never dawned on me that deep inside I was really
hurt with the split we experienced.

During my sophomore years, I became an agnostic, courtesy of my atheist
professor. I continued in that fashion until 2006, the year my father
died.



Going Back But Not the Same as Before



In 2006, I felt like coming back to the way it was before. So I joined
my mother, who is now worshipping in a famous Pentecostal megachurch in
Manila, and tried to regain my lost spirituality there. I rededicated
my life back to the Lord and started to be a bit more serious in
spirituality.



The church is unlike any other churches I have attended before. They
are very strong on the Holy Spirit gifts like speaking in tongues,
baptism of fire, prosperity gospel, etc. I was a bit shocked with the
environment.



My initial problem was how to convert my current girlfriend (who's now my wife) that time from Catholicism to our faith.

Incidentally, this was also the time my faith was shaken during my vacation leave from work.

After that long vacation, I started searching the internet for some good
materials. I wanted to defend my faith, which I thought was the right
one that time.



So I read debates between Catholic and Protestants. I have read
writings of the famous Catholic apologists such as Tim Staples, Patrick
Madrid, Robert Sungenis, etc. After all this, I know I was treading on
thin ice already.



In short, I wasn’t able to convert my girlfriend for so many reasons -
the weirdness of the things they do in church services, the prosperity
gospel that they are espousing, the ridiculousness of the things I see
on TV (televangelists). In fact, I was ashamed of them. I started to
see the church I was in from outside looking in. How do people of other
faith think of us as a church?



There was even a time when there were Sundays when there was no service
at all. Instead of a service, there was a children’s musical in place
with themes of prosperity gospel in it – that was the last straw that
broke the camel’s back. I realized that this is not the place I would
like my children to grow up.



My search intensified when I came across a blogger named Michael
Spencer, or the famous InternetMonk (Lord have mercy on his soul). Like
him, I was in the evangelical wilderness. His writings question the
basic practices of Protestants like altar calls, Biblicism, praise and
worship and the likes. Although he was a Protestant, many people who
visit his site, through his writings, either settled in Anglicanism,
Orthodoxy or Catholicism. His death in early 2009 gave me the courage
to not give up hope in finding Christ’s true bride.



Early in 2010, I was churchless again, this time, I’m all alone to
search for a new church. I longed for something established, more
ancient, a place where my spirit can be at rest from the noisy, ever-
changing Pentecostal landscape.



In June 2010, I was able to find a church that fitted my needs that
time. It was an Anglican Church. The bishop, who is the current rector
there is very warm, welcoming, and loving. He is a New Testament
scholar. I could not ask for more ideal spiritual father.



But this did not stop me from searching. In October 2010, I started
searching again. This is where I encountered Father Abe’s “The Splendor
of the Church” blog. I was amazed with how he defends the beliefs of
the Catholics against the misconceptions of non-Catholics. This was
where I learned a lot about the Catholic faith. His blog was pointing
me to different directions – search, research, compare. This also led
me to gain Catholic friends over the past few months.



I should have settled already, but I just can’t. As I dig deeper into
Anglicanism, I learned of the early church fathers, the first
Christians, the councils, the more I uncover Catholicism. Last April
2011 was the birth of my firstborn child. It was also my first
experience of Lent. I started to read books written by Pope Benedict
XVI, which lead me to read conversion stories like Rome Sweet Home,
Surprised by Truth, etc. in the succeeding months.



Last August 14, 2011, during the Gospel reading (Matthew 16:13-20), it felt like it was as if the reading was directed to me.



18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it.

19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.



I was surprised and happy at the same time. My prayer has been
answered. This was bound to happen, I knew it months ago, but I was
asking the Lord – I do not want to be rushed. I don’t want to convert
just for the heck of it. I want it to be in Your time, just the way You
want it. I was planning to convert in 2012, but somehow God wants it
ASAP.



This is it! I want to be confirmed already! That night, I expressed
this desire to my wife. She was very happy and excited because now, we
can really be one family worshipping in one church that God has given to
us.



I was drawn to the Catholic Church for several reasons:

1. Because it is universal – it’s the only church that was able to reach all the ends of the earth.

2. Because it is apostolic – I am convinced and firmly believe that
Jesus Christ established a visible church, which is the Catholic Church,
and through history we are able to trace everything back to Matthew 16.

3. The splendor and beauty of its history and teachings.

4. Using history, simple logic and common sense, you can infer that the Catholic Church is the true bride of Christ.



I have so many other points to raise, but I think it will end up written
like a short novel, but anyway, I would like to personally thank
Father Abe for being a relentless defender of faith. Now you can see
the one of the fruits of your labor.



Right now, I am preparing to get my baptismal certificate in Barasoain
Church. I am glad to know that my parents were able to baptize me in
the Church. This coming September is my adult confirmation. This time
it feels like I’m returning to my home.



I am coming home! †

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!

Three More Anglicans Complete Ordination into Catholic Church

Pope Benedict XVI during the Beatification of Blessed John Cardinal Newman

 

Three more former Anglican priests have been ordained into the Roman Catholic Church at the weekend.

The latest priests to turn their backs on the Anglican Communion and
join the specially established Catholic Ordinariate are Father David
Elliott, of Reading, Berks, Father Jonathan Redvers Harris, of the Isle
of Wight and Father Graham Smith, of Christchurch, Dorset.

Earlier
this month The Christian Post reported how seven former Church of
England clergy were ordained into the Ordinariate, as part of a series
of ordinations taking place over Pentecost.

The latest group of
former Anglican priests to complete their defection to the Catholic
Ordinariate did so at a ceremony at Portsmouth Cathedral in south
England, which saw about 250 congregants gather to celebrate the
ordinations.

A number of those joining the new Ordinariate have
said they were forced to take action following the Church of England’s
increasing acceptance of same-sex blessings and gay clergy. Others have
also cited the Church’s movement towards accepting women bishops as a
reason to defect to the Catholic Church.

According to the BBC, one
of the three, Father Elliott, resigned from his post as the Anglican
vicar of Holy Trinity in Reading in April. He moved to the Catholic
Church, taking 15 of his congregants with him.

Elliot has said he felt urged to take the action following Pope Benedict extending a “hand of friendship”.

The Catholic Ordinariate is a special body established by the pope as a place of refuge for Anglicans dissatisfied with their Church’s changing stance on certain issues.

In
excess of 900 laity have already moved to the Catholic Church and have
been waiting for their clergy to complete training for Catholic
priesthood at a seminary in West London.

As the former Anglican
clergy become ordained as Catholic priests, they will lead groups of
former Anglican laity to branch off from the core Catholic congregations
to worship as a separate Ordinariate group. The Vatican will soon publish a separate liturgy for these Ordinariate groups to follow.

According
to The Times in London, Keith Newton, who heads up the Ordinariate, has
explained that dozens more Church of England clergy are currently also
considering their positions within the Anglican Church.

Newton
told The Times, “Every week somebody writes or e-mails asking how they
can join the Ordinariate. They are often people I have never heard of
before.”

Explaining the risk facing those defecting to the
Catholic Church, Newton commented: “For clergy it is a practical risk,
meaning they abandon tied housing and a guaranteed stipend for a smaller
income and uncertainty.”

Newton, himself defected and became a
Roman Catholic priest in January this year. He and Andrew Burnham and
John Broadhurst – all former Anglican bishops – were welcomed into the
Roman Catholic Church during a ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in
London.

The three made the move because they were "distressed" by
the developments in the global Anglican Communion which they found to be
"incompatible" with Christian tradition.

The Vatican announced in
2009 that it would introduce a new church structure that would allow
former Anglicans to enter into "full communion" with the Catholic Church
while preserving their Anglican traditions.

Pope Benedict made
the provision in response to the numerous requests he received from
Anglicans who were unhappy with the ordination of women and noncelibate
gay bishops.

 

SOURCE:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/more-anglicans-ordained-into-catholic-ordinariate-51603/

Anglican bishop 'goes home' to Catholicism

Bishop Ross Davies

 

 

A FORMER bishop who resigned from the Anglican church under a cloud has become a Catholic. 

 

 

Ross Davies resigned as bishop of the Murray last September, just
before a church tribunal found he had failed to deal appropriately with
sexual misconduct allegations against an archdeacon.

The tribunal
also found he displayed a lack of commitment to the Anglican church and
used threatening and aggressive language towards parishioners.

He
had faced nine charges brought by Adelaide Archbishop Jeffrey Driver and
Bishop of Willochra Garry Weatherill relating to behaviour dating back
to 2003. One of the matters raised at the tribunal was that he had
expressed a desire to become a Catholic.

Mr Davies, 56, who had
denied the allegations against him, was confirmed into the Catholic
church three days after he resigned last September by Adelaide
Archbishop Philip Wilson, president of the Australian Episcopal
Conference, at St Patrick's church.

Mr Davies's four children and son-in-law had converted to Catholicism before him.

"I think I am the only Anglican bishop in Australia to join the Catholic church so far," Mr Davies said yesterday.

"I
had increasingly come to the conclusion that a classic Catholic
understanding of Christianity was becoming impossible in the Anglican
church in Australia."

He said sitting in the pews was "very
relaxing" after working as a priest for 30 years and the unity and
teaching authority of the Catholic church had appealed to him. "It's
like finding my home," he said.

Mr Davies has no desire to become a
Catholic priest and being a Catholic means he will not be joining the
new Anglican Ordinariate to be established by the Pope next year.

SOURCE:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/anglican-bishop-goes-home-to-catholicism/story-e6frg6nf-1226075938041

FROM BAPTIST TO CATHOLIC - CONVERSION STORY OF BRO. FERDINAND, one of the readers and regular commenters in this blog

The Gesu - Ateneo de Manila Unvierstiy Chapel

 

Ferdinand
said... 

 

Thank you Father Abe for even considering my reversion story...  [Sorry Bro. Ferdinand for posting even the part that you were requesting not to display in public. My apology. Now it is deleted as you have requested.]


Some people say that they are
Catholics because their faith was challenged. I on the other hand am a
Catholic because I didn’t know my faith!

My adventure started
during my collage years and ended 25 years later. It is a story of
gradual conversion in faith and finally in spiritual life. I went to my
fundamentalist friends’ church. The fellowship was great I felt alive
and renewed; my new friends started telling me their conversion stories,
how they were led by the Holy Spirit to this church, how they were
deceived by the “whore of Babylon,” by the “anti-Christ.” How wrong for
the Catholic Church to worship Mary, and that Mary had other children,
the unbiblical practice of praying the rosary and saints, purgatory, the
mass, and the other Church invented doctrines to make money and put the
people in slavery. I read these bible verses and started to feel
liberated; it felt like I was the first one who really understood the
bible (looking back, I thought I was being too arrogant). When my
cousins from the US found out that I was attending a fundamentalist
church, they sent me Jack Chick materials that propelled my hatred of
the Catholic Church. Then another group of friends asked me to join
their Bible Baptist church. So I was being indoctrinated by these two
churches. I went with them for 5 years.

My sister started to
question the church I’ve been attending and warned me that they are very
literalist in their interpretation of the bible. I debated her and my
uncle and aunts who had the same religious experience but were lead back
to the church, about the unbiblical doctrines of the Church; four
against one. I told them that the Catholic Church is actually the one
who is being very literal in the interpretation of the bible; I cited
the carrying of the cross of some people during lent to follow what
Christ said that one should carry their own cross. I saw them unable to
answer me about the whore of Babylon. It felt so good to be able to win
an argument against my sister a cum laude in PUP and against my uncle
and aunts who were both bank managers.

Then my fundamentalist
and evangelical friends group of friends started debating my other group
of friends who happened to be members of INC. I thought that the INC
won the debate so I started hanging out with them also. I was confused
because all sides were pressing me about their churches and all sides
make sense to me. When I was alone with my evangelical and
fundamentalist friends, their argument made sense, then when I was alone
with my INC friends their arguments made sense.so I prayed to God to
show me the truth. Late 1985 we went to Ateneo to play basketball. I
sat down with a man who was reading a book about Mary. I started a
conversation with him and challenged him about his catholic belief. The
man allowed me to talk for almost 10-15 minutes without contradicting or
stopping me. Then finally he gave me an advice, "Son it is good that
you are searching God at your young age. Keep looking and ask God to
open your heart and not to harden it. Pray for this every time you read
your bible.“ Then he introduced himself as a priest. He said goodbye and
left me. 

St. Justin Martyr

I read and read the NT over and over again probably about 2 dozen times.
What really stuck to me are the following bible verses:



MT 16: 18-20,18:17-18, 28: 18-20,



Jn 8:32, 14:6, 16, 26, 16:13 18:37, 10:16, 20:21,



Lk 10:16



1 Jn 4:1-6



1 Tim 3:15, 4:14. 5:22, 2 Tim 2:2.



These
are very powerful bible verses that talks about the ONE AUTORITATIVE
CHURCH, THE PROTECTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF THIS CHURCH, AND THE TRUTH.



I asked myself these following questions

1. Who are these “WE” and “US” in 1 John 4:6?



2. Who and where is the Church in MT 16:18 and 18:17-18?



3. Who have the keys now in Mt 16:19?



4. If the church is protected by the Holy Spirit why all these confusion and different denominations?



5. If Jesus is the truth, why did he leave his Church divided and competing with one another?



6. Where are these people now in Luke 10:16?



No
matter how hard I tried to pray to the Holy Spirit to open the meaning
of these bible verses, I can’t properly explain them. I asked about
these bible verses to the INC minister and my INC friends, my pastors,
my evangelical Baptist and fundamentalist friends, and I wasn’t really
surprised that I got different answers, all say that I should believe
them since they have the Holy Spirit (my INC friends never claimed that
they have the Holy Spirit). So I told myself that I cannot find the
truth if I keep on listening to my friends. I have to empty myself and
study on my own with the help of the Holy Spirit. I have to find the
truth and I believe that I can find the answer in the bible since I
believe (at that time) that it is the final authority. I said that I
have to stay either a fundamentalist, an evangelical or convert to INC,
the Catholic Church wasn’t an option back then since I was totally
convinced that it was the “Whore of Babylon.” I spent almost Php 5000
buying Christian history books.



To my surprise I can’t find my
fundamentalist/ evangelical belief in the early history of Christianity!
My pastors cannot even answer who these Early Church Fathers were! The
INC minister I think just dismissed them as pagan corruption (I can’t
remember his exact words) and that I should not worry about it since
Christ Church was restored in Iglesia Ni Cristo. I read some quotes
from Sts. Justin Martyr, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Clement, from
Origen, Tertullian, Melito of Sardis, Clement of Alexandria, and so on,
and that is just the first 300 years of Christianity. I did not read
anything about bible alone, faith alone, once saved always saved, total
apostasy, but all about Catholic beliefs that I already rejected!



Then
I bought more books about doctrines, theology, Christology. I spent a
fortune buying books, most of them were lost since I can’t remember who
borrowed them. I was so eager to share the books that opened my mind
that I forgot who had what. I slowly started to digest these Christian
history books and how they relate to the bible. My world was shaken; I
can’t believe why I was rejecting the Church that the bible and the
history books support? Why did I believe these pastors and my friends
without examining their words? I answered all those questions above by
catechizing myself. I did not get any formal catechism at all.



One
time I attended a Catholic charismatic seminar in San Carlos Seminary.
It was conducted by an Indian priest named Father De Souza. He gave us
pamphlets about apologetics written by Peter Kreeft. Then my friend and
co- worker explored the possibility of becoming a priest. After a few
months I opted not to go because I know that it is not for me. My friend
opted out too. 5 years later he explored it again, but opted out
again. 

St. Peter the Apostle carrying the Key of Heaven entrusted to him by the Lord

Back in 1988 or 1989, my friend and I read about bishop Lefevre. We both
said that this guy was making a fool of himself and leading his flock
to hell. Then in 1999, I read about him a gain and I got interested with
his ideas, about the sedevacantist. I thought that this group made
good arguments, but then again, the issue of authority reminded me that
only the Catholic Church can be trusted since the Vicar of Christ is
the only one who have possession of the keys of the Kingdom ( aside from
the king himself of course). And no bishop can practice or exercise the
power of the keys without in union with the Vicar of Christ.

My
faith was shaken again around 2001 when I continued reading the
Christian History up to 1200. I felt that the Orthodox Church was short
changed by the Catholics in history. But reading the history again this
time with the help of the Old Testament, and the theological and
historical significance of the Keys of the Kingdom, the significance of
the INFALLIBILITY DOCTRINE and how it relates to the divine authority of
the Church and the protection of the Holy Spirit, everything just
suddenly made sense to me, that the Church is REALLY PROTECTED BY THE
HOLY SPIRIT, THAT OUR LORD JESUS KEPT HIS PROMISE TO BE WITH HIS CHURCH
UNTIL THE END OF TIME, AND THAT THE FATHER IS MAKING THE CHURCH GROW, A
TRIPLE PROTECTION FROM THE HOLY TRINITY.

Now I am exploring the
possibility of becoming a deacon... a new adventure, maybe when my kids
are on their own and I finally am retired. 

June 10, 2011 9:49 AM

THE SPLENDOR OF THE CHURCH BLOG HELPED ONE OF ITS READERS TO ABANDON THE BORN AGAIN DOCTRINES

St. Paul the Apostle

 

juan carlo saliba
said...

Father nag altar call din po ako and I accepted Jesus as my Personal
Lord and Savior pero mayroon din po akong duda kung saved na ba po ako.
Until such time na sinearch ko po itong blog na ito at ito ang sumagot
sa katanungan ko po tungkol sa salvation, kung OSAS, kung Bible alone at
iba pa. Father saved po ako pero takot din po ako at baka mawala ko po
ito kasi sabi po ni St. Paul na "work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). Salamat po at purihin si Jesus dahil
binasbasan nya po itong blog na ito!!!! 

June 9, 2011 8:26 PM

New Catholics overcame challenges on journey into the Church

Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska, May 7 (CNA) .- This Easter the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska welcomed 83 converts into the Catholic Church.

Some of these men and women hail from backgrounds that were hostile to the teachings of Catholicism.

The challenge

As they tell it, Nicholas Myhre, Jason Yonk and Vanessa never pursued Catholicism. Rather, they were stunned at how their quests for spiritual truth led them to the very church about which they'd been warned.

Myhre's mother, an agnostic Lakota Sioux, rejected organized religion and taught him that the Catholic Church forcibly indoctrinated the Natives in early America.

Yonk was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which teaches that the true message of Christ was lost by the Catholic Church but restored in a vision to Joseph Smith in the early 1800s and recorded in the Book of Mormon.

Vanessa, who asked that her last name not be used, due to tensions caused by her conversion, grew up in a family of devout Jehovah's Witnesses, where she was taught that the harlot described in the Book of Revelations represents the Catholic Church.

Questioning the faith

Myhre became acquainted with Catholicism when his father, a recent convert himself, was undergoing cancer treatments and asked Myhre to bring him to church. The first Mass felt awkward, he said.

"I didn't have hostile feelings toward the church; I just didn't like being there," Myhre recalled.

The second visit, though, he was overcome by an epiphany as he watched his father participating in the Mass.

"I just felt that I was in the right place at that moment for a reason, and I needed to know more about what my dad was doing," he said.

His job working construction around Alaska allowed him some time to read books on apologetics and early Church history.

"I was always looking for God: thinking and searching and reading and praying," he said.

Myhre pushed himself to scrutinize and fully grasp any teachings that challenged him, including purgatory and the veneration of Mary. Other beliefs, though, seemed obvious.

"The presence of Christ in the Eucharist is really what drew me to the faith," he said. "To make that leap, for me what really cemented it was tradition … That really helped me understand the Catholic Church and where it gets its authority."

Myhre entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), the means by which one enters the Catholic Church. He began attending Mass with his children and his wife, an inactive Baptist, and enrolled his 5-year-old daughter in Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School. At Easter, he joined his wife and youngest daughter in entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Quest for salvation

Fellow catechumen Jason Yonk launched his search for spiritual truth after reading an alarming book, "23 Minutes in Hell," which is the author's account of his near-death experience that went south.

"It honestly scared me," Yonk said. "I've always believed in hell."

At his mom's suggestion, he started his quest for salvation by studying the Book of Mormon but wasn't satisfied with its answers.

"I still felt very confused and lost," he said.

During long Coast Guard deployments, he studied the Bible and traced Christianity back to its roots in the Catholic Church.

He startled himself when he announced to his wife, a cradle Catholic from a devout family, that he wanted to become Catholic.

"She was as dumbfounded as I was," he said. "Before this I had a problem with saying I was one religion or another, but it was sudden. It just felt right."

He and his wife, who was never confirmed, took RCIA together at St. Mary Church in Kodiak. With no other RCIA candidates for most of the year, he enjoyed grilling his teacher, Father Eric Wiseman, with questions during classes.

Yonk is now considering the diaconate after retirement.

Coming home

A catechumen at St. Patrick Church in Anchorage, Vanessa experienced scathing criticism of the Catholic Church as part of her religious instruction growing up a Jehovah's Witness. Yet she always felt intrigued by Catholicism, even dreaming as a young girl of becoming a nun.

"I've been a Catholic at heart for years," she said. Observing adult Jehovah's Witnesses going door-to-door, "I remember Catholics being the people who would say 'No, thank you; we're Catholic.' They were all set."

Vanessa eventually left the Jehovah's Witnesses in her 20s and devoted a decade to soul-searching. She read many books, attended friends' churches and prayed. She also lost and rebuilt a delicate relationship with her parents, who by Jehovah's Witness creed were supposed to cut themselves off from her for leaving their church.

"I went through a period of knowing that what I was taught (about the Catholic Church) was wrong, yet not being able to free myself from the way I felt," she said. For instance, "reading the Bible and knowing, just knowing clearly that God is three persons in one — I don't know how you could dispute that — but still hoping that I would find something to prove otherwise because that's what I'd always been told to believe."

Her conversion journey and zeal for Catholicism renewed the faith of her Catholic husband. Her daughter, age 3, was baptized last year, and Vanessa eagerly followed suit this Easter.

"It feels like coming home," she said. "It feels like correcting a mistake."

'Faith is a gift'

Myhre is similarly excited.

"Cradle Catholics tell me that what I've learned and what I'm experiencing is a gift," he said. "They took everything for granted because they never had to question it or figure it out for themselves."

He added, "Like we learned in RCIA, 'Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit,' only some must strive harder to accept it."

Printed with permission from CatholicAnchor.org, newspaper for the Archdiocese of Anchorage.

12 FORMER ANGLICAN PRIESTS ORDAINED AS CATHOLIC DEACONS, ABOUT 50 OTHERS PREPARING TO BE CATHOLIC PRIESTS ALSO

Our Lady of Walsingham

AYLESFORD, England, MAY 9, 2011 (Zenit.org).- A dozen Anglican priests were ordained Catholic deacons last weekend, as a group of some 50 clergy continue their journey toward ministry as priests in the Catholic Church. Following the time schedule outlined shortly after the establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, ordinations to the diaconate will be taking place through the Easter season. The men will be ordained Catholic priests around Pentecost. The rapid ordination process is enabling the clergy to continue ministering to those former Anglicans of their communities who have chosen to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. The formation of these deacons and soon-to-be priests will continue after their ordination.

THOUSANDS OF ADULT CONVERTS BAPTIZED INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON EASTER 2011

The Risen Lord in Glory

US Catholic Church finds astonishing variety of people joining this Easter

Washington D.C., April 19 (CNA) .- A Muslim, a family of seven, a marine, a former abortion clinic administrator – these are just a few of the many faces of people from around the country who are slated to join the Catholic Church at Easter.

The U.S. bishops' conference recently profiled a handful of unique stories from individuals in different states, each of whom will be either baptized or confirmed during the Church's universal celebration of the Easter Vigil on April 24.

Although the numbers are still trickling in for this year, the conference reported that in 2010, there were over 43,000 adult baptisms in the U.S. and more than 75,000 people received into full communion with the Church.

Soon-to-be baptized New Orleans resident Ahdija Cheumbike Baker was raised a Muslim. The daughter of a Detroit man and a Tanzanian woman, Baker is one of the 282 catechumens and candidates that the Catholic Church in New Orleans will be welcoming at Easter.

Baker said that she struggled with some of her Muslim beliefs throughout her life and that ultimately, the "love of the Lord" as well as a love interest drove her to start attending a local Catholic church, St. Peter Claver.

She said that especially after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, "I felt compelled to look for a church to call home so that I could give my thanks to God."

"If I had gone to a church that gets you in and out in 45 minutes, I probably wouldn't have changed my religion; but at St. Peter Claver I feel a deep connection. The way that the priest speaks in his homilies moved me. I felt at home and accepted, and they have become my family."

Eighteen year-old Kalene Laforest is a Marine and feels compelled to join the Catholic Church before going on assignment in June. A catechumen at St. Peter's Church in LaGrange, Georgia, LaForest said that she wanted a faith with depth, history, deep spirituality, tradition, and "no all-over-the-place craziness." She is among 1,912 who will join the Catholic Church in the Atlanta archdiocese this year.

Across the U.S. in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, a family of seven will be welcomed into the Church. James and Michelle House, who are parishioners at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, will come into full communion at the Easter Vigil. In the following week, infant David, 2 months old, will be baptized, while his siblings Kristina, James, Alexandra and Joseph will be received into the Church.

Michelle House said the family, who are former Episcopalians, found a welcoming community at St. Catherine's when they moved to northern California.

In Austin, Texas, Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director and author of the bestselling book "Unplanned," is getting ready to enter the Catholic Church.

Due to a personnel shortage at the abortion clinic she used to work in, she was called in to assist in an ultrasound-guided abortion for the first time in September 2009.

The next few minutes changed Johnson's life irrevocably, as she watched the 13 week-old baby –whom she had believed to be incapable of feeling anything– squirming and twisting to avoid the tube into which it would be vacuumed.

Shocked by what she had seen, Johnson still initially continued her work running the clinic and promoting its work. Just a few weeks later, however, she was in the nearby office of the Coalition For Life, telling its director Shawn Carney –with whom she was well-acquainted, from his years of opposition to Planned Parenthood– that she could no longer continue helping women have abortions.

Johnson and her husband have grown in their faith during the past year, and are now preparing to enter the Catholic Church. In a Jan. 13 interview with CNA she said that one of the final obstacles, in the course of her Catholic conversion, was the Church's teaching on the immorality of all artificial methods of birth control.

Planned Parenthood's mentality toward contraception, as she explained, stuck with her for a period of time even after she rejected abortion. Even as she became interested in the Catholic Church, she clung to the notion that artificial birth control was an advance for women and society. But she kept an open mind, studying Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" and other sources of Church teaching.

An experience in a Catholic parish finally made her understand the fullness of the Church's teaching on sexuality.

This time, the vision of a child was not shocking, but profoundly life-affirming.

"One day, we were sitting in Mass … I was sitting behind this woman, who I don't know, and this little infant." Gazing at that child, Johnson said she finally understood the Church's insistence on marriages remaining open to new life.