Eliott Bougis wrote a blog about the fear he had about telling his evangelical friends he was interested in Catholicism/Orthodoxy. I too feel his pain. Even when I was an Anglican (Anglo-Catholic) I used to joke that some kids would sneak out of their parents house to drink or do drugs: I sneaked out to go to confession. Given my upbringing and geography (southern Ohio), joining the Catholic Church is a revolutionary, rebellious move. Parents here somewhat expect their kids to sow their wild oats with sex, drugs, and strong drink, but joining the Catholic Church (sowing holy oats?) is often beyond the pale.

My region is culturally evangelical Protestant. We have “dry” counties and townships, our summers are filled with “revivals,” and individualism runs rampant, especially in religion. People don’t submit to anyone or anything else on religious matters. This is probably why we have tons of Methodists, Wesleyans, Nazarenes, and Christ in Christian Union churches. All trace their roots to John Wesley, but they just couldn’t quite get along. The solution to most religious quarrels is just to start another church.

I’ve been striving towards the Catholic faith for about 4.5 years and I’m going to be received into the Catholic Church in exactly a week and a day. I grew up Methodist and converted to Anglicanism in 2000. Although people around me saw the Anglican Church as too liberal (they were right) and too catholic (they were wrong), the fact that Anglicanism was Protestant probably helped alleviate their fears. Although I loved liturgy, Catholic devotions, and Church history, at least I was still a Protestant. In a week that won’t be the case. I’ve always loved and believed the Catholic faith, now I’m formally submitting to it, a radical concept in an individualistic culture.

I, like Eliott, feel the anxiety and get the increased heart rate whenever it comes time to bring up my decision to become a Catholic. I still haven’t told both of my parents and I ask for the prayers of those who read this blog. I take seriously the command to honor my father and my mother, so I want to tell them in the most direct and loving way possible. I have so much joy at finally “coming home” to the Catholic Church and I want to be able to finally share that joy with all of my evangelical friends and family. I always thought of myself along the lines of St. Justin Martyr, a seeker who finally came to the fullness of the truth. It’s hard to believe I could be thought of as a Catholic James Dean. Me, a Catholic rebel? Perhaps.