Some Glorious News

When Brian and I were dating, our religious and Christian preferences were clear. I was Roman Catholic. Brian was United Methodist. I knew there was a distinct probability that he would never become Catholic. I was fine with that. Even more than fine, actually. I have continually admired Brian for not becoming a member of a religion in which he did not believe (as we looked time and time again, disgusted, at the number of candidate/sponsor engaged couples). The one thing Brian insisted upon is that we were unified in where we went to church. Well, as a result of my Catholic moral obligation, being unified meant going to a Roman Catholic Church. Very gently, once or twice a year, I would ask what Brian's thoughts were on the subject of Catholicism. Sometimes I would share tidbits from the literature that I myself was reading like Surprised by Truth and Miracles of the Eucharist and The Incorruptibles (all three incredible evidence to the Truth), and of course talking after Mass and answering any questions. And over the years happiness has been the status quo, with Brian sometimes mentioning a conversion "only if and when I truly believe that Jesus Christ is present in the sacrament of the Eucharist." A big change came few weeks ago, . . . Brian simply sat me down and said, "Noelle, I think I'm ready." And I chimed back with, "Does that mean that you believe in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?!?" And I was overjoyed to hear the affirmative! My first question, of course, was about "how" and "when" this happened?!? Answer: "No one particular revelation or epiphany. . . . I've just been thinking about things over time. I've been contemplating the mysteries of this Church, saying the Rosary, and going to Mass. Roman Catholicism became important to me, and I wanted to do it." And anyone who knows Brian (my sweet, spiritually private Brian) knows that's a big deal, because becoming Catholic means a lot of contacting people and discussing his intentions. (This from the guy who would rather his wife return anything to a store, ask directions, or even call a business for an inquiry.) Other than the obvious hurdle of recognizing Jesus in the Eucharist, I'm sure it was hard for him to take this initial first step, . . . the rest I'm sure will be a breeze for him.


Suffice to say that he has been in contact this week with the director of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) and met with him for the first time today! I spent my time trying to listen, support, and not participate, . . . which was easy because I also had to take care of Leia and Annie (who were wonderful, I might add, while watching Baby Bach on the portable DVD). We were happy to learn that the process is lots more free-form that we were expecting. It's funny, because the Roman Catholic Church is definitely not free-form in nature. Brian has decided to explore all the aspects with his sponsor (whom Brian hasn't chosen yet) through a few meetings of Inquiry (general questions and discussion) and/or Catechumenate (scripture reading in coordination with the Catechism). We were even told that he could receive the Rite of Initiation during our special 7:30 AM Mass! All in all, it was a happy, happy day for the household: one joyous to enter, . . . three joyous to welcome!
And I'm happy to say that all of the Catholics in our life: Mom and Dad, Natalie and Greg, Laurie and Eric, Sarah, and especially Grandma were thrilled with the news. In fact, Grandma says, "Not only is he handsome, but he's going to be Catholic, too! Yipee!!"

Anyone for a funny tidbit? One of the ways I kept Annie occupied (other than the DVD), was by giving her my special take-it-everywhere Rosary to look at. Annie had never been allowed to hold it before. (It's the red one all made of knotted chord, . . . remember giving it to me, Sarah?) Well, she sucked on it the whole meeting and, lo and behold, when the meeting was done her outfit was red, and so were her mouth and hands! Ha! This picture doesn't do the color justice, . . . I'm still working to get this stain out. And as I don't think this counts as stigmata (ha!), I'm just glad the red stain didn't have any lead in it! : ) So, I guess Sarah Brixner (my Catholic Youth Minister friend/former-student) made her mark today, too. Quite apropos. : )