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Ryan wrote:

Hi, guys —

I am a young man with a rather troubled past when it comes to religion. I have bounced from religion to religion for nearly seven years now, hitting everything from the Mormons to the Wiccans and everything in between. Many of the various Christian denominations I attended were not of my own choice, but my parent's choice including the few times I was baptized in them.

Last year however, has been rather different, as a lot of life changes have occurred:

  • military enlistment
  • multiple deaths in the family
  • etc.

and I have been left with a large amount of time to myself. I decided to spend this time thinking about God and my relationship with Him. In the end, I realized that life has been a bit of a trust fall between myself and God and I know that He'll be there to catch me when I fall, so long as
I believe and have faith in Him. This led me to researching the whole ministry of Christ and several thorough readings of the Gospels.

I came to the conclusion, after much prayer and even more quiet contemplation, that I should take a look at Catholicism. That was about two months ago. Now, I believe I want to join the Church but there is one issue:

I'm about to deploy overseas, and I know that becoming a member of the Church can take a long time. I want to become a Catholic before I leave.

I'm very serious about this, and I think that this is the right thing to do for me. I just don't know what to do.

  • Do you have any ideas?

Ryan

  { What do you suggest if a military man wants to join the Church now before deploying overseas? }

Eric replied:

Hi, Ryan —

Congratulations on coming to this conclusion! Welcome to the Catholic Church.

You need to consult your local Catholic military chaplain. Make sure you consult the *Catholic* chaplain. They are accustomed to handling this kind of situation. If you can't enter soon, then you can take solace in the fact that your vow to be received into the Church, is as good as being received, should something happen to you.

If you haven't already, I suggest you read theCatechism of the Catholic Church. It will give you pretty much all the knowledge you need to know, to be received into the Church, although the priest reserves the right to catechize you further. In addition, it will highlight any show-stoppers or red flags for you. You need this information anyway if you want to be a Catholic.

I hope this helps,

Eric

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