In the beginning ...

In the beginning God created the world ... but that's not what I really wanted to talk about for now. Rather, the topic of my very first posting is just to share why I created this blog.

So in this beginning... the idea for this blog was just to journal my journey of life as a cradle Catholic. I hope that in the process I will really grow in my walk, which eventually would gain momentum into a race, so that I can say, like St Paul, that I had fought the good fight and finished the race well (... or something like that la (refer 2 Tim 4:7) when I meet God face to face.

However, I had recently become very interested in stories of conversion into the Catholic Church especially if they are Christians from other denominations. Why? Because I used to have the perception that it usually was a one-way traffic of Catholics converting to other denominations or other religions. This normally occured due to their shallow knowledge of their own faith.

As a cradle Catholic I am the first to admit of my shallow knowledge and understanding of the Church's teachings. Which perhaps explains my desire to learn more deeply about it.

Although, I had heard about the Apologetics Ministry sometime back in 1996-1997, when I first came to Kuala Lumpur from Ipoh, it didn't pique my curiousity and interest so much till now.

It started sometime mid last December when I saw the banner in St Joseph's Cathedral, Miri that world renowned Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid was going to be in town from April 6-8 2009. My jaw dropped. Around the time of 1997, I had read a friend's book Surprised By Truth, which compiled conversion stories of anti-Catholics who converted to become Roman Catholics, written by Patrick.

When I returned to KL, I devoured Rome Sweet Home (the famous apologetic book by former anti-Catholic Dr Scott Hahn and his wife Kimberly Hahn) again. This round, I actually underlined the important scriptural references that made my faith so important.

To cut a long story short, my husband and I, were in Miri for Patrick Madrid's seminar early March. It was fantastic. He made me proud to be Catholic and especially a cradle Catholic.

Pat is a cradle Catholic with 11 children. That in itself is a great testimony of being Catholic. When curious bystanders ask him about his huge family, he uses those time to evangelise them into the Church.

He is a full time apologist - defender of the Catholic faith - and is passionate about educating Catholics on what the Church teaches as well as bringing lapsed Catholics home. He is savvy with the Internet and is a regular speaker on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network).

God truly used Pat to inspire me. After the seminar I decided to start this blog. No more excuses. Of course, now, instead of just things I have learnt about my faith or my personal journey, it will include conversion stories of other Christians into the Catholic Church - Malaysian stories.

Sometimes it takes an immigrant to make the local see the beauty in his own land.
Indeed, I'm indebted to Dr Scott Hahn and Patrick Madrid, who made me see how awesome my Church is - the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ, my Lord, Saviour, Brother and Friend.
Amen!

Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter!