"For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith." Romans 1:16

S C H E D U L E 

*In-person sessions are held at St. Mary of the Assumption. To learn more and begin attending, please contact Chris Stier at 937-557-1711 x102 or [email protected].

2023-2024

F A Q

Thank you for your interest in becoming Catholic! We praise God that he called you here! We look forward to helping you get to know him more deeply. Let’s begin by answering four common questions.*

Why be Catholic?

The only reason why anyone should ever become Catholic...is because it’s true.

Don’t become Catholic...because you’re getting married to a Catholic man.

Don’t become Catholic...because you love her.

Only decide to become Catholic after coming to the conviction that it’s true.

People who begin to perceive Christianity might be true...sooner or later they come to the understanding that it’s going to mean serious changes for their life.

If Jesus is Lord, what do lords do? They rule. If Jesus is my Lord, then he rules me.

Why so long?

Because of something which happened a long time ago, every one of us is hardwired to rebel against God.

I don’t want anyone to rule me. I want to be god. I want to be in charge. I want to be on the throne in my life. 

Appropriately, the Church has a tremendous respect for the intellect. Over a period of months we’ll talk about the reasons for believing, and also discuss areas which are a matter of critical thinking - like morality.

When it comes to moral principles (e.g., abortion, contraception, homosexuality), what the Church proposes may be very different from how we tend to think about things. Out of respect for you, this process takes time.

To be clear, you’re not taking a course to become Catholic. Christian initiation is a journey, sometimes a long one. The journey is not to a destination but to a person, the person of Jesus Christ.

This is a process of conversion, communion and discipleship.

What does it mean to be Catholic?

To be Catholic is to be a disciple. To be a disciple is to be an apprentice: we watch the Master do something and then we imitate him.

Jesus says we are to become like him. The goal of being Catholic is to be transformed and become like Jesus.

To reiterate, you don’t take a course to become Catholic. This is not about mere information. Yes, we will explore much of Jesus’ teaching over a period of months. The goal however is not to amass knowledge, but to experience transformation.

How do you become one?

You have to choose to become a disciple of Jesus.

You cannot be Catholic by birth. You cannot be Catholic because your mom and dad were Catholic. You can’t even be Catholic only by baptism.

The only way to become a Catholic is the only way to become a disciple, which is to make a choice. And the choice is to go through what the Church calls conversion.

Conversion is one of the ways of translating the Greek word metanoia, which literally means to change the way you think. This is why the Church provides a long period for you to discern if you want to become Catholic. To become Catholic is not to see some things differently, but to see everything differently.

Jesus prayed that all would know the Father. He doesn’t mean simply knowing about God, but rather that our lives would be so overturned by having an encounter with the living God that he becomes the love of our life.

* © Fr. John Riccardo

G E T T I N G   T O   K N O W   Y O U

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P A R I S H   F A M I L Y   P H O T O   A L B U M

May 28, 2023 - Amanda Harkins with Fr. Fox following the celebration of Pentecost.

Apr 8, 2023 - At the candlelit Easter Vigil, most noble among all solemnities, we welcomed 16 new members into the St. Mary faith community! Pictured left to right by row . . .

Front row: Wade Elliott, Shelbie Glaser, Felicity Ambrosius, Mariah Garcia, and Rommie Armstrong

Middle row: Josh Ambrosius, Gabrielle Ambrosius, Julianna Ambrosius, Callum Ambrosius, Knighton Ambrosius and Dylan Flaute

Back row: Jessika Jamison, Claire Jamison, Rebekah Jamison, Sandy Brown and Ed Sparkman

Apr 16, 2022 - At the candlelit Easter Vigil, most noble among all solemnities, we welcomed nine new members into the St. Mary faith community! Pictured left to right are: Alexin Shaffer, Kirstin Cross, Gretchen Sparkman with daughters Aine and Heidi, Chaz Granger, Jesse Kesterson, David Glunt and Jerome Schulte.

April 3, 2021 - Hui Pham (center) with Fr. Jim and sponsor Matt Merkel following the Easter Vigil celebration.

Jun 13, 2020 - At the vigil Mass on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we welcomed five new members into the St. Mary faith community! Pictured left to right are: Penni Gust, Rylee Gust, Rhiannon Flowers, Alex Kinnaird, and Nathan Thompson.

Apr 20, 2019 - At the candlelit Easter Vigil, most noble among all solemnities, we welcomed eight new members into the St. Mary faith community! Pictured left to right are: Sierra Fox, Jennifer and Jeff Pelgen, Shirley Minella, Kate Berry, Russ Urzi, Michael Gallagher, and Geoff Lewis.