The Journey Home, with Marcus Grodi - The Coming Home Network

Fr. Ken Geraci, CPM – Catholic Revert, Former Agnostic

mattswaim — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 14:34:21 +0000

Fr. Ken Geraci grew up Catholic, but left the faith as a young man. He chased after fortune in the business world, eventually founding a highly successful software company. Unable to find happiness in all the ways he though would bring fulfillment, he revisited the idea of faith, coming back first to belief in God, then in Christianity, and eventually back to the Catholic Church. As part of that journey back, he recognized a call to the priesthood with the Fathers of Mercy.

The post Fr. Ken Geraci, CPM – Catholic Revert, Former Agnostic appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Lee and Valiree Sondeno – Former Pentecostal Music Ministers

mattswaim — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 15:49:18 +0000

Lee and Valiree Sondeno were raised in strong Pentecostal families, and worked to lead music for multiple congregations. Along the way, they also became interested in GK Chesterton.

When COVID hit, and their regular congregations weren’t able to meet, their interest in Chesterton led them to start watching Mass online. They fell in love with the beauty and simplicity of the liturgy compared to the worship they’d been leading for so many years, and they began discerning their way home to the Catholic Church.

Read a written version of Lee’s testimony.

The post Lee and Valiree Sondeno – Former Pentecostal Music Ministers appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Monica Anyango – Catholic Revert

mattswaim — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 21:18:18 +0000

Monica Anyango grew up Catholic in Uganda, but drifted from her faith. When she found herself a single mom in the United States, her desire to create some kind of structure in her life led her to revisit the disciplines and teachings of the Catholic Church she’d walked away from. The role of Mary was especially important in helping Monica establish a new spiritual compass and a new perspective on motherhood.

Monica has gone on to develop resources to help Catholics organize their schedules to prioritize prayer and devotion in the midst of their busy schedules.

Find out more about Monica at simplicityandproductivity.com.

The post Monica Anyango – Catholic Revert appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Matt and Rachel Sheils – Former Salvation Army Officers

mattswaim — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:05:36 +0000

Matt and Rachel Sheils were Salvation Army officers who began to ask questions about the foundations of authority, morality, and the nature of what it meant to be part of a worshipping community. They took some time off to reflect on these questions and dive more deeply into Scripture, and in doing so, found themselves surprisingly drawn to the truth and beauty of the Catholic Church.

We first met Matt and Rachel through one of our CHNetwork retreats — please consider attending one!

The post Matt and Rachel Sheils – Former Salvation Army Officers appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Alan Webb – Former Mainline Protestant

mattswaim — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 11:23:18 +0000

Alan grew up in a mainline Protestant context, but felt like he was getting conflicting messages about what Christianity was. This struggle over objective vs subjective approaches to the truth haunted him, and started him on a path of exploration that led him to eventually look into what Catholicism had to say about these things, and he found himself falling in love with the Church.

For many years, Alan was the U.S. record holder for the fastest mile time at 3 minutes and 46 seconds! He now serves as a coach in the athletic department at Ave Maria University.

The post Alan Webb – Former Mainline Protestant appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Jack Williams – Former Evangelical Christian

mattswaim — Tue, 21 May 2024 17:27:51 +0000

Jack Williams, who serves as General Manager of EWTN Radio, shares his complicated path to the Catholic Church, from an on-fire “born again” conversion as a young man, through family struggles and eventually to the Catholic Church, through the persistent prayers of loved ones who never gave up on him.

Some of you may also be familiar with the work of Jack’s wife, Johnette Williams, host of EWTN’s Women of Grace.

The post Jack Williams – Former Evangelical Christian appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

John Bacon – Former Anglican Priest

mattswaim — Tue, 14 May 2024 11:05:10 +0000

John Bacon was raised Southern Baptist, and went to Beeson Divinity School. That seminary formation introduced him to the Church Fathers, and rather than going all the way to Catholicism, he discerned a call to priesthood as an Anglican.

Several circumstances, including the onset of COVID-19, caused him to reconsider the meaning of his vocation, and where he was truly called to be. For John and his wife, the intercession of Mary and the saints — especially St. Boniface — were the final thing that really convinced them they needed to become Catholic.

Read a written version of John’s testimony

The post John Bacon – Former Anglican Priest appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Dan Venezia – Catholic Revert

mattswaim — Mon, 06 May 2024 21:14:12 +0000

Dan Venezia grew up Catholic, but didn’t pay much attention to matters of faith; he was busier chasing a dream to play pro baseball.

He ended up in the minor leagues with the Twins organization, and made some solid Christian friends along the way, but it was when that dream fell apart — and especially when his world was turned upside down by COVID — that Dan had a major conversion that would make him finally start taking his faith seriously.

Find more about Dan at danvenezia.com.

The post Dan Venezia – Catholic Revert appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Fr. Jeffrey Kirby – Former Nominal Catholic

mattswaim — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:39:18 +0000

Fr. Kirby was raised nominally Catholic, with strong sense of right and wrong but no real understanding of what Catholicism was about. At a scouting retreat in his teens, some Evangelical friends started mocking Catholicism and it stunned him, because he had no idea if what they were saying about Catholicism was true, and if it was, how to defend it.

That started for him a quest as a young man to learn not just the facts about Catholicism, but about the person of Jesus Christ. His faith caught fire, and the fruit of that search for a closer relationship with Jesus bore fruit in his discernment of a call to the priesthood.

More information: frkirby.com

The post Fr. Jeffrey Kirby – Former Nominal Catholic appeared first on The Coming Home Network.

Phillip Campbell – Revert from Pentecostalism

mattswaim — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 19:49:34 +0000

Phillip Campbell was baptized in the Catholic Church as an infant, but his family didn’t really practice the faith. When he hit a low point as a young man, it was the witness and friendship of an Protestant Christian friend that helped lead him back to Christ.

This became a source of friction in his family, and his mother began to ask him why he was exploring other Christian traditions when he came from a Catholic family. Phillip’s desire to figure out the answer to that question eventually led him to return to the Catholic Church.

Phillip is the author of a number of books, including the Story of Civilization series.

The post Phillip Campbell – Revert from Pentecostalism appeared first on The Coming Home Network.