The Coming Home Network International
On the Journey with Matt, Ken and Kenny, Episode 117: Three Protestants Go to Mass, Part VIII
updated
From the flaws and triumphs of Church history, to the idea of a sacramental worldview, to the heroic witness of the saints, he came to see that much of the Christian heritage he'd always valued had been preserved through the perseverance of the Catholic Church.
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He shares how he continued to wrestle with what Jesus commanded his apostles to do in remembrance of Him, and why he chose to enter the Catholic Church on the feast of Corpus Christi.
Are you a non-Catholic ordained clergy member who's considering the claims of the Catholic Church? We'd love to accompany you in fellowship and prayer!
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Jennifer shares how by reflecting more deeply on the Scriptures, and understanding Mary as the first disciple of Jesus who saw through his mission from the Annunciation to Pentecost, helped her see that there was much more to Mary than she'd ever noticed before.
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Is it possible to read and interpret the Bible objectively?
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The proper response to the inevitable reality of distractions is summed up well in Paragraph 2729:
"To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified."
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Derek shares how his faith and his marriage have helped him to see that despite all the wounds of his family experiences and mistakes of his background, he was always being called to be part of God's family in the life of the Church.
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Having left Pentecostal ministry, Kenny ended up looking at a few possible church environments that he thought he and his family might be able to call home.
But at the end of all of it, he found that God was calling them to the last place he ever expected: the Catholic Church.
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church identifies some of these: discouragement, dryness, hesitancy about what God may be calling us to do, and even the darkness within our own hearts.
However, it is by exposing these things to the light that we can seek healing and forgiveness.
The Church reminds us that it is crucial to anticipate and meet these apparent “failures” in the journey of prayer with a right mind and heart, ready to turn these obstacles into greater victories of humility and faith.
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Later on, that got him thinking: if we give a special honor to our own mothers, how much more honor should we give to the mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who he himself honored by following the commandment to honor father and mother more perfectly than any of us?
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Kenny shares the series of experiences and the process of discernment that led him to step away from ministry as a pastor in the Foursquare Church.
He discusses three watershed moments that led him to believe that whatever God had in store for him, it was somewhere besides a Pentecostal pulpit.
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When you begin to make a more conscious and intentional commitment to the journey of prayer, you will become more aware of the spiritual battle that is always raging outside of you as well as inside.
The sections of the Catechism that we cover in this episode address some of the common “objections” that will spring up from time to time as temptations to give up in the battle of prayer; but it is a battle that we cannot afford to stop fighting.
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He shares how experiencing their love and concern for his well-being has helped him to understand the role that Mary plays in the life of Christians: as a loving mother who prays that all people will come to know her son, Jesus.
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When Kenny, who had been a Pentecostal pastor, told some friends he was considering becoming Catholic, he was asked why he'd want to join a church that had gone through so many scandals.
For Kenny, this was a question that hit close to home, because every Christian group he'd ever been involved with had gone through scandal after scandal, and split after split. And given his experience of those heartbreaking realities, especially as a former Protestant pastor, it was something he had absolutely thought about when considering the Catholic Church.
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Contemplative prayer is in one sense the goal toward which we move on the journey of prayer. Through more active forms of prayer such as vocal or meditative we dispose our hearts to receive the gift of contemplative prayer and to bring this “prayer of presence” into all aspects of our lives.
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Fascinated by them, she and a friend from school began to ask lots of questions about the Catholic Faith. Sr. Julia shares how that path of prayer and discernment led her first to enter the Church, and then discern a vocation with the Daughters of St. Paul.
More about the Daughters of St. Paul: daughtersofstpaul.com
Pauline Books and Media: pauline.org
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As Kenny discovered more and more divisions among Christians, he became increasingly unsettled by them. He and his wife got into ministry together in the Pentecostal world, but their experience of everything from Christian radio to Christian bookstores and more overloaded them -- was it even possible to know which take on Christianity was the correct one? Could there ever truly be Christian unity?
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What does the Church mean by referring to meditation in this way? What are we called to discover in this process? And how should it spur us to live differently as Christians in our day to day walk with the Lord?
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When she left AME ministry to enter the Catholic Church, she wondered what might happen to that gift.
Sharon discusses how she has found a new passion for proclaiming the Scriptures during the Liturgy of the Word at Mass as a lector at her parish.
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As Kenny tried to find his way in his new life as a Christian, the question of where he fit among fellow believers became front and center. He started to realize that there were lots of different interpretations of Scripture, and lots of different potential voices to follow.
He began to wonder: with all the options out there, what kind of Christian was he?
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JonMarc reflects on how we can cultivate a life of prayer that goes beyond mere words into a fuller disposition toward the God to whom we pray.
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However, as he continued to study what the earliest Christians actually believed and how they worshipped, Lawain began to notice several things present in history that were absent from his own belief and worship.
He decided to seek out a spiritual home where all those elements of early Christian doctrine and practice were still living realities; and that search eventually led him to the Catholic Church.
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At the end of the last episode, Kenny was a brand new, "born-again" Christian. He shares how in that first year that followed, his zeal overflowed in ways that ended up damaging relationships.
He was passionate about his newfound faith, but without mentors to help show him how to live it, Kenny found himself in constant debates and conflicts over matters of religion.
Kenny shares a window into what that first year as a new Christian was like, and the lessons he's learned from reflecting on it over time.
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JonMarc Grodi discusses how to better understand prayer as a journey of going deeper in our relationship with the Lord, and how becoming disciplined in prayer can help to grow that relationship over time.
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Kenny starts at the very beginning: from being given up for adoption by Catholic parents, to being adopted by parents who didn't practice religion at all, to growing up around Mormons in Utah and eventually having a "born again" experience in the 1980's that changed everything for him.
It's a great story, and we look forward to sharing more chapters from it over the next few weeks!
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The Coming Home Network was established by lay and clergy converts to Catholicism as a means of fellowship, encouragement and support for those exploring the Catholic Faith, as well as those who have become Catholic and are learning how to be at home in the Church.
If that's you, please reach out to us! We have tons of free resources for you, including over 1000 conversion stories, tons of articles and videos, and a free Online Community where you can connect with others like yourself who are finding a home in the Catholic Church.
We look forward to hearing from you!
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Mother Petra shares how her Byzantine monastery reflects on Christ's descent to the dead after his crucifixion, and how that observance has deepened her experience of Easter as a Catholic convert from the Wesleyan tradition.
Mother Petra's monastery: christthebridegroom.org
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We asked six converts to share what they remember about their own experience of the Easter Vigil, and what encouragement they would give to those who are preparing to enter the Church right now.
Hear their full stories:
Tyler Pakka chnetwork.org/signposts/a-slow-and-steady-path-to-catholicism-tyler-pakka
Dustin Quick chnetwork.org/journey-home/dustin-quick-former-muslim-and-calvinist
Deb Scaravilli chnetwork.org/insights/an-evangelical-discovers-the-sacraments-deb-scaravilli
Courtney Comstock chnetwork.org/journey-home/courtney-comstock-former-pentecostal
Erik Baldwin chnetwork.org/journey-home/erik-baldwin-former-calvary-chapel-and-reformed
Matt Gerald chnetwork.org/journey-home/matt-gerald-former-methodist-protestant
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JonMarc Grodi reflects on the nature of temptation and sin, and shares some thoughts from the wisdom of the Church on how to resist temptations when they arise.
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Ken Hensley shares what that looked like in his own life when he was serving as a Baptist pastor, and how he works today with dozens of men and women in similar situations through The Coming Home Network.
Are you a pastor looking for fellowship and encouragement as you explore the Catholic Faith? Our apostolate was founded specifically to assist people like you.
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JonMarc Grodi reflects on what it means to invoke God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and how we can be more intentional about the way we participate in this simple but powerful prayer.
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But on the baseball field, he knew that he had to apply discipline and perseverance in order to succeed.
Dan shares how he came to understand that discipline and perseverance are also necessary when it comes to bearing fruit in the spiritual life as well; and how the fact that Lent takes place at the same time as Spring Training helps to drive some of those lessons home.
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What are we doing when we pray? Are we trying to control an outcome, or manipulate supernatural realities? Or is there something deeper that God is calling us to when He invites us to a life of prayer?
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Sam Guzman, who grew up Baptist and became a Catholic, shares some thoughts on why Christian traditions that have a liturgical form of worship have a distinct approach to architecture, and what that says about what they believe about the nature of worship itself.
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In light of that, Kenny Burchard, a Foursquare Church pastor who became Catholic, looks at what the Catholic Church means when She refers to Herself as "apostolic."
Watch the full episode of On the Journey: youtube.com/watch?v=2ISLVG8LNSY
JonMarc Grodi reflects on how the real power in the stories of the saints comes from their love of Christ, and their desire to grow in virtue and in service of Him, which every Christian is called to imitate, even if we can't all be miracle workers or martyrs.
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In this episode of Deep in Christ, JonMarc Grodi explores the relationship between data and truth, and digs into the question of what it means to be a human being in a culture saturated with information.
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But we cannot do what we do without the parishes, pastors, and religious educators on the ground who help to bring these people into the Church on the local level!
THANK YOU to all those who work heroically at the parish level to accompany those yearning to join us at the Eucharistic table.
We have many free resources to support you in your work, and to encourage the people with whom you are working... please let us know how we can assist you in walking with those who are coming home to the Catholic Faith!
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Santonio shares how he still loves the game of football; but now it occupies a much different place in his life, behind God, his growing family, and his life-changing work at a women's shelter.
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What did they think about the word “apostolic?”
Matt Swaim, Ken Hensley, and Kenny Burchard discuss what kinds of things came to mind in regard to the word “apostolic,” and what they thought, and currently think, about carrying on the apostolic mission of Jesus.
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Was it His Soveriegnty, as a Calvinist friend argued? Or perhaps Holiness, as some of his Wesleyan friends suggested?
After the conversation, he decided to look up what the Catholic Church taught about God's greatest attribute, and he was surprised at what he found.
More of Dr. Lewis' story: chnetwork.org/journey-home/dr-benjamin-lewis-former-united-methodist
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Watch the full episode: youtu.be/YGKdEi63pNw?si=O82M3WyKw1s0Q6X1
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Find out more about Santonio's work: giftofmary.org
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The Catholic Church has four marks: it is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
As they dig even deeper into the meaning of the word “catholic,” Matt, Ken, and Kenny look at how the Church is meant to be a home for all people, and expands Christ's mission to the ends of the earth, as the instrument of God's work in the world.
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A friendship with a Christian began to soften her towards faith, and when she began to spend time reading the Gospel of Matthew, everything began to click for her, and it started her on an intentional path toward coming home to the Catholic Church.
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When he started to revisit the idea of faith, he went to a few different Christian congregations, but felt the Holy Spirit calling him back to the sacrament of Confession in the Catholic Church he'd been raised in.
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He didn't want to be the kind of teacher Paul warns about in Ephesians 4, whose cunning and craftiness cause their followers to be tossed about by the winds and waves of bad doctrine.
And yet that's exactly what he saw "sola Scriptura" doing: creating endless divisions and splits among Christians. Ken shares how he began to realize that perhaps there was a better way to understand how the Bible should function authoritatively in the life of believers.
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Joseph Pearce, JonMarc Grodi, and Matt Swaim look at why many people seem more open to having a change of heart this time of year...
Watch the full episode: youtu.be/ZwKD6Irzsdg?si=eE_U86X4Ol9DDtFa
Thank you to everyone who makes our work possible! We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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