A Few Words from my Wife on her Journey into the Catholic Faith:

I am reposting what my wife posted on a forum:

Why is it essential for me to be a Catholic?

I have gotten to this point in my faith through a series of transitions and revelations. I attended church for the first 18 years of my life with my parents. It was a Disciples of Christ Church (even though dad was orthodox and mom was catholic). I had no choice at that time and I attended out of obedience to my parents. It was a good experience, but I always thought something was missing. I grew up in Catholic Western PA, and, I felt like an outsider and was always very curious about the Catholic faith.When I met husband, he had already had "the call" to the ministry. I wanted to continue in my faith and I wanted to marry Jim, so....I become Baptist. But, from the beginning, I had real problems with it. I will detail a few just for the need for context. I had difficulty with the meanness towards all those who were not Baptist. WE HAVE TO SEPARATE from anyone, including friends and family who did not believe like us. WOMEN HAD TO KNOW THEIR PLACE and, I know mine as a successful business woman and wife/mother....totally out of line for them. I also had a mind and could think.....I could read, analyze, look at original text and language, read ancient history and Jewish text, and I could not make their theology work....premilllienal, memorial meal, baptism as a ritual that really didn't mean anything, a de-emphasis on doing good because it is all about faith (someday I'll talk about what that means) .....AND, THE HATRED FOR CATHOLICS. At the heart of everything was the hatred of Catholics. They were all that was wrong and evil in the world. The whore of Babylon, the anti-Christ, etc. Our job was to convert people from the Catholic church because all of them were going to hell.
If you knew me personally, you would know I have a real oppositional streak. If something was that forbidden, there must be something to it. SO I read and studied. And I found a lot about faith in general and it continued to push me away from Baptist and protestant theology. The lack of liturgy and reverence in the protestant churches began to drive me away. The lack of focus on scripture and the focus on preachers' opinions drove me away. The personality cult mentality that surrounds preachers drove me away.Here are some specific things that I can list:
1) The half hour of explanation prior to a communion service that was meant to tell us that it was just a memorial meal and it really had no other meaning. Yet, in communion, they read the verses that stated this is my body and this is my blood, but, that is not what it really means.
They could not explain the verses and the original language that clearly indicated that it is fact, more than a memorial meal.
2) The focus on fighting and the lack of unity, not just with other churches but within the movement and the local church. My job on a daily basis is to make dysfunctional families functional, yet, I was forcing myself to be dysfunctional to be a member of a dysfunctional family and pretend that I liked it.
3)The avoidance of anything that had to deal with the mystical. The Lord's Supper has no mystical significance. Baptism has no mystical significance. Healing.....well forget that. Their explanation of healing in the book of James is so convoluted...
4) The de-emphasis on those who have gone before us...when in fact, they are the great cloud of witnesses cheering us on.
5) The inability to connect with and keep young people in the church.
6) The focus on things that really don't matter: evolution v. creationism, fighting the IRS, etc. and a lack of focus on the right to life movement.
Now, that is why I left.
Why Catholic?
1. The need for connection to history and to something that has been consistent from the beginning.
2. The emphasis on scripture in the Mass and in devotions and prayer.
3. The emphasis on the Ten Commandments, the White Throne Judgment, the Sermon on the Mount, The Fruit of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit, or daily Christian living, how we live out this life we have in Christ.
4. The emphasis on the church family, not just those who are Catholic.
5. The emphasis on charity and the poor and social justice.
6. The emphasis on love.
And, all the stuff that I had heard about Catholics was propaganda and not true. Here are some examples:
1. They don't read the Bible.
2. They worship Mary.
3. They worship saints and statues.
4. They de-emphasize Jesus
5. It is a works salvation.
I found none of this to be true. I found through my research, study and prayer that the Catholic Church is the full expression of the church that Christ founded. That is why it is essential for me to be Catholic.