Robert Brode is 71-years-old, but he just made one of the best decisions of his life, he said. The Santa Clarita resident just became a member of the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on April 15.
“It took me 70 years to get there,” he laughed, but “I came to the conclusion that this is what I needed to do.” He added, “I was searching for something that would get me to the right place with the right people.”
He’s had 10 heart attacks, suffered the loss of his first wife and the loss of their daughter, but said he still believes “God is good to me.”
“I believe in God and I believe he doesn’t give you more than you can handle,” he said. “He has your best interest in mind. You just have to trust him.”
About his initial RCIA meeting, Brode said, “I can’t explain how much at home I felt. It was like God was nodding his head saying, ‘Yes, you belong here.’ And that’s what I felt. I was coming home.”
Brode was first introduced to the Faith when a former girlfriend took him to Mass back before Vatican II. The Mass was in Latin and Brode was impressed. “It was kind of awesome,” he recalled.
Still, he never committed to any religion even though his first wife was Catholic. He had researched and studied different belief systems, but said that nothing seemed to satisfy him.
Eventually, however, Brode began to find the argument for Catholicism more and more convincing. He said the historical documents that trace the Church’s heritage back more than 2,000 years to Jesus Christ, the unchanging doctrine and the impact of Christ’s teachings are the reasons that coalesced and convinced him to be baptized.
Brode admitted that he did stumble a little over the doctrine of transubstantiation, but found the other matters of faith easier to accept.
For his confirmation saint he decided on St. Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of those in the military, since Brode was in the military for 10 years before joining the police force for 28 years. At the moment, he is practicing law and teaching at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.
Brode said he’s noticed a difference in himself since his reception into the Church. “I’m so much more willing to accept people for who they are. I’m less judgmental.” He added, “Religion gives you a moral compass. It seemed to put everything into perspective.”
Full story at Angelus.
Welcome home, your story is much like my own. You have chosen wisely.
Great story. There is no better way to revitilize a person’s faith, and to inspire a faith community, than to accompany a catechumen on the path towards Baptism or Full Reception. RCIA is the best thing that has happenned to the Church in the post-Vatican II world.
By the way, RCIA is one of the ways in which Vatican II asked us to reclaim ancient rites and rituals that can invigorate the Church.
Dear Catholic Crusader,
Five hundred years ago in 1517, Martin Luther made public his 95 complaints against the Roman Catholic church (hereafter, RCC). Today, we shall do likewise, with another 95 reasons. However, in this critique, we will exclusively fixate on the nucleus of all Catholic doctrine called, Transubstantiation. This teaching is built on the premise that when the priest utters “This is my body” over bread and wine that the “combustible” syllables of these four words ignite with such power and energy that, unbeknownst to our cognizant senses, the substance of bread and wine miraculously change (“by the force of the words” says the Council of Trent; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1375). They are then abruptly…
Micah,
What are your views? Do you believe in consubstantiation or some other view? How do you propose that the body and blood of Jesus becomes present under the guise of bread and wine?
I suspect that Micah K’s posting was a “hit and run.”
The Holy Roman Catholic Church is the only church instituted by Jesus Christ through the Apostle Peter. Each new Pope is the new Peter. Not even the gates of hell will prevail against the Holy Roman Catholic Church. Our Lady of Fatima pray for the Holy Roman Catholic Church in this the one hundred anniversary of the Fatima apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pray the Rosary for the conversion of sinners and of Russia. Pray America Pray.