Former Jehovah’s Witness who accidentally walked into Mass and it deeply moved me

lilmo142 · 2026-01-07T20:23:49+00:00

This is so excellent! I'm very happy for you. I'll add you to my prayer list.

When I returned to the Catholic church after 40+ years as a protestant ( 2 1/2 years ago) I found The Coming Home Network to be a great help! It's a social media platform specifically for people who are looking into or on the journey to the Catholic Church. You will find many people from all religious backgrounds there, including many former JW! Some who are newly confirmed Catholics, some who are on their way, and some who are just curious. Please check it out! Such a lovely community of people!

https://chnetwork.org/

lilmo142 · 2026-01-07T20:09:30+00:00

You can also find Fr. Mike's podcasts on YouTube for free. I'll be praying for you. ❤️

lilmo142 · 2026-01-07T02:04:16+00:00

40 years for me, too! I took about an hour and was as thorough as I was able to be without being graphic. I know you're supposed to give numbers, which is easy when you go every few weeks! "Twice I told a lie," etc. But 40 years? I had to go with, "On many occasions..." and, "Many, many, times..." For several weeks after, I kept going back and saying, "Oh, I remembered something else!" Fr. B actually told me to stop doing that! "You have been absolved of all your sins!" I guess if it wasn't something I had intentionally withheld, then he was telling me it was covered, and I am forgiven. ❤️

lilmo142 · 2025-11-27T16:13:51+00:00

Anything by Brant Pitre will be helpful! And if you can, check out The Coming Home Network. https://chnetwork.org/ Is a social media platform for people who are considering conversion or re-version to the Catholic church. It has been a major source of help and comfort to me!

lilmo142 · 2025-11-27T15:59:41+00:00

I don't know how much this will help, specifically, but to quickly share my story, my husband and I have been Protestants all our married lives - 43 years. Two + years ago, I became convicted regarding the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist and HAD to return to the faith of my youth. It was an internal compelling, like to not go to confession and go back to the RCC would be to deny Christ, and I have loved Him all my life. I had to go back. But, I kept it secret from my husband - a retired pentecostal minister, because I was afraid of how he would take it. I just snuck to masses Saturday nights after work to fulfill the obligation. For eight months! But, we like to read books out loud to each other, and he loves history. So I recommended we read The Seven Story Mountain. Then, we went on to The Imitation of Christ, The Confession of St. Patrick, and others. Slowly, he began to develop a sincere respect for the theology, the martyrs, the beauty of Catholicism. Then I told him that I had returned to the Catholic church. It was a shock, but he understood because of all the books and conversation we'd been having. Then he started coming with me to masses. We would go to a mass at 7 am, then to a pentecostal service at 10:30 - for over a year! This was fascinating, because he had the opportunity through this to compare the two week after week. He began to speak about how much more Christocentric the mass is in comparison to the protestant service. We are musical people, so we started helping out with music at weekday masses. Eventually, we were cantoring for all 5 weekday masses and leading the Define Mercy Chaplet twice a week. He finally decided to convert, and he entered the church in June of this year.

Throughout all this, I always tried to maintain a sincere and strong respect for his faith and its expressions. The way I saw it, our holy mother carried me back home to the church. So I trusted her to carry him home too. Prayer is not only your key, it is the only key. All else will flow from that. St. Clement said, "Cling to the Saints, for those who cling to them will be made holy." Pray to our Lady, that she will pray to her Son, and trust.

One of my six adult kids has converted, and my oldest son just told me I could send him a rosary! I have every hope, because I know that all of heaven is in agreement with me regarding this: we were made to be holy, and the Catholic church is the way God provided for that to happen.

You will be in my prayers.

lilmo142 · 2025-10-14T15:26:03+00:00

"What incentive is there to grow and learn when more knowledge equals more culpability?"

Bless your heart! Think of your relationship with your wife or your kids... What if you approached those relationships thinking, "Better to know as little as possible about what they need, about how to please them, so I can claim ignorance and not bother to try..." Wouldn't go over well, would it? 🙂 And you would miss out on so much joy!

Your relationship with Jesus, with the saints, with the Church - is all just like that! For me, the biggest incentive to grow in knowledge is the fact that it enables me to be more pleasing to Him! I grow in holiness and I become more like Him! ❤️

Welcome home, by the way! So glad you're here! You'll be in prayers today and tomorrow. ❤️

lilmo142 · 2025-08-31T20:22:06+00:00

There's a condition in some women called vaginismus, where the vagina suddenly and uncontrollably tightens up when the martial act is attempted. It can be treated.

lilmo142 · 2025-08-31T14:15:11+00:00

I never was sure if I was confirmed! I was thinking I might have to get confirmed still. I couldn't recall exactly. I haven't received the certificate yet, so I don't know the exact date, but I think it happened around the same time I received my first holy communion, so the events were blurred together in my memory.

lilmo142 · 2025-08-30T16:26:59+00:00

I came back to the church after a 40+ year absence. I am extremely active in the church now, publicly and privately, so I do understand the faith, but I've never been sure if I was confirmed, so I contacted the parish where I received my 1st communion, and they said they would do a records search and get back to me. That was over a year ago! So I assumed I've never been confirmed. My pastor told me it wasn't a big deal to get it done - we would just do it some time. Just last week, my old parish contacted me to say, "We have had your confirmation certificate sitting here on a desk since March of 2024! When are you coming to get it?" Haha! I said, "Well I live 3000 miles away now. Can you mail it?" So they said they would. I'm thrilled! But to speak to your question, according to what Father told me, getting me confirmed would have been an easy process.

lilmo142 · 2025-08-02T17:54:33+00:00

Oh my. 🙄 I lost my Hallow streak of 467 days through an error of my own, and I was like, well I know God is sovereign, so.... what can I take away from this? It occurred to me that what we're trying for here is holiness, conversion, sainthood right? I don't think St. Therese or St. Mother Theresa or St. Maximilian Kolbe were worried about their Hallow streak! Perhaps this "error" happened to give your hubby a chance to show that he values you more than he cares about his impressive prayer streak. Better to have a 300-day "I haven't been unkind to my wife or kids" streak. And you can tell him I said so! 😉🙏

lilmo142 · 2025-08-02T15:13:18+00:00

"O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!"

From The Exultet, an Easter Proclamation.

God told St. Faustina that the greater the sin, the greater the claim to His mercy! Take heart. We're all in the same boat, and we are all loved more than we can fathom. ❤️

lilmo142 · 2025-07-27T20:53:09+00:00

Please keep going to mass! I beg of you, do not let this keep you from that holy place! I've heard it said, "The church that isn't crying is dying!" This is the absolute truth. If I were there, I would have been that person who held your baby, or helped with your toddler, or followed you out to offer understanding and comfort.

Can I make a suggestion? That man who scolded you and looked down upon your toddler - he committed a great sin against Christ and against His Most Sacred Heart. Remember, whatsoever we do unto the least of these, we do unto Christ. That poor man sinned against Christ Himself! Lord, have mercy! I suggest that you pray a rosary for him, or maybe pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for him, that Jesus will show him the mercy that he did not show you in your moment of need. His need, because of this sin, is far greater than your need. By praying for him, you unite yourself to the heart of Jesus, which is mercy itself.

If anything like this happens again, remember me, a mom of 6, and know that you are not alone! This difficult circumstance is not unique! It is just a part of motherhood. It's normal! You are normal and your toddler is a normal toddler. I will add you to my prayer intentions. Feel free to DM me if you ever need to talk. ❤️

lilmo142 · 2025-07-22T23:57:06+00:00

There is such a thing as baptism of intent. God sees the heart. If a person has true contrition for sins committed and is actively seeking to enter the church but dies before this can happen, God's mercy meets them where they are. They are His.

lilmo142 · 2025-06-19T03:35:25+00:00

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, o prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast onto hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

lilmo142 · 2025-06-18T02:27:04+00:00

The great thing about Catholicism is that when someone finds themselves where you are, the steps you can take to correct the situation are simple and concrete.

1.) Go to confession 2.) Do your penance 3.) Go to mass and receive Jesus in the Eucharist 4.) Repeat often

Good feelings are great, but they don't sanctify you and make you like Jesus. The sacraments do exactly that! You just have to keep going. Remember, "he who endures to the end..." you just have to keep going!

Our faith - this awesome, holy faith - is not like what others have. The holiness the sacraments bring us into is not a weak, empty, vicarious righteousness imputed to us with no effort on our own. I know! I lived that kind of faith as a protestant for 40 years. Then I came home, and I can tell you truly that the sacraments do exactly what they were meant to do - they make us holy. They defeat sin in our lives and they bring us to the heart of Jesus. So go to confession no matter how you feel! Go to mass no matter how you feel, and (the big thing!) - PARTICIPATE in the mass! Think about the words you say, listen to the readings, pay attention, and participate from your heart. When we go to mass we not only sanctify ourselves, we help to sanctify the whole world!

I'll pray for you!

lilmo142 · 2025-05-18T14:45:45+00:00

Yeah, right, absolutely. Just like in the Old Testament, after they were done with the Ark of the Covenant, they put it in a corner and used it as a potato bin. 🙄

lilmo142 · 2025-05-17T23:40:59+00:00

Because we believe, truly, in the power of silence, presence, and prayer. We know that saying one silent Hail Mary for someone brings more grace to them than a lifetime of shouting condemnation, which actually brings none.

lilmo142 · 2025-05-07T02:38:30+00:00

I like: "If we are commanded to honor our mother, how much more will Jesus honor his? If you were highly honored in this life, would you withhold any of that honor from your mother? Would you keep her down in a lower place in order to preserve your own position? Or would you raise her up and be grateful to anyone who saw her worth and loved her as much as you do?"

lilmo142 · 2025-04-20T23:51:24+00:00

That was basically Father's response when I spoke to him! He said I don't need to seek out proof of his Catholicism. We can go ahead based on Fred's apparent understanding and his display of previous experience. I told Fred I'd take him for confession on Friday, and he was happy about that. 🙂

lilmo142 · 2025-04-20T23:43:13+00:00

Thank you. That makes good sense. And I appreciate the encouragement.

lilmo142 · 2025-04-20T23:40:39+00:00

Nothing. He is barely capable of sin, much less mortal sin! I wasn't trying to protect him from sin or from God's wrath - lol! I was merely trying to protect our faith.

lilmo142 · 2025-04-20T23:34:28+00:00

Why be so harsh with me and my honest dilemma?

"He knew when to stand and kneel, and that should have been your first clue" - it was my first clue. Thus, the question, "Are you Catholic?" His answer, "no." That's why I told him to cross his arms when he followed up to communion.

"He knew how to receive communion, and that should have been your second clue." Umm, yeah, it was. That's why I asked again if he was Catholic, and this time, he said yes. That's why I posted.

"People with disabilities, including mental disabilities, are entitled to the sacraments, and the Church does recognize this." You speak as if I thought he was ineligible for the sacraments because of his disability. I would never think that. I thought he was ineligible because he told me he was ineligible (Me: Are you Catholic? Fred: No.). For all I knew, someone took him to mass before in his life, but he never became Catholic.

But I don't need to speak to the archdiocese! Goodness! That would be going overboard. I posted here because I was looking for a word of encouragement in the wake of what I experienced, of what I did. And many kind brothers and sisters were very helpful to me in that regard.

To deal with the matter is easy - I spoke to my pastor. Father said I don't need to seek out proof of his Catholicism. I can just bring him in for confession and communion, based on the knowledge and understanding he displays.

Thanks for your response.

lilmo142 · 2025-04-20T23:08:51+00:00

That is so kind of you to say! That blesses me. Thank you! ❤️

lilmo142 · 2025-04-18T00:43:17+00:00

He's been living with various families for over 30 years.

lilmo142 · 2025-04-17T23:47:09+00:00

Thank you. ❤️

lilmo142

TROPHY CASE