Sherry

I was raised a Southern Baptist from age five on, baptized in that church at the age of 14, with a great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather who were ministers in the Church of Christ, I married in the Methodist church, then did not attend church for the next 11 years. When I did, it was after going through a "born again" experience, and I stuck to the Protestant evangelical movement for the next 20 years. During that time, I went through three marriages, all ending in divorce, and one of those husbands was another evangelical Christian. With four children grown and out of the house and now no husband around, I began to seriously question the entire Protestant faith as a whole, mainly because of the divisions and re-divisions I had witnessed in every denomination and non-denomination calling itself of Protestant roots. Many things happened in my life to cause me to question that faith. I never wavered in my faith in Christ, but I did begin to seriously doubt the authenticity of the Protestant faith. I came to believe that Jesus would simply not have been so disorganized and so chaotic as to leave his church on earth with no particular person or persons in authority over the teachings of His church. That is when I came to the realization that the only church that has been here on this Earth since day one was the Catholic church. For the first time in my life, I began a serious study of the Catholic faith. The more I studied, the more I became convinced this was the true church of our Lord. After talking with a local priest, I began attending mass regularly, not even understanding at first exactly what it was I was witnessing, but after reading a book on the subject, I understood the mass. Now, wild horses could not tear me away from this church. I also understand now the role of Mary, the mother of God, in the church and how she connects us all to Jesus. I have felt remorse for having neglected her all these years. I do believe that any evangelical, Bible studying Christian who seriously looks at the Catholic church, cannot help but see that it is indeed the true church, the original church, undaunted by the "gates of hell" that have come against it, unable to be destroyed because it is truly of God. I would urge anyone who reads this and relates to it, to open your heart to the truths that you will face if you will only study the Catholic faith, and you will see for yourself....you cannot help but see......the beauty, the peace, and the love of God that exists within it's walls, seen and unseen.