I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian church, taught that Catholics were idolators and going to Hell. As a child, I used to see priests and nuns and think to myself, "How tragic, that these people think they have devoted themselves to God, only to be destined for Hell."

When I was in my early twenties, my mind had been broadened a bit; and I was willing to consider that at least come Catholics might know God. A friend of mine was thinking of converting to Catholicism; and, since I had never been to a Catholic mass, I decided to accompany him. Eventually, he stopped going, but I continued going without him. Something about it appealed to me.

One day, I was at mass when I began to feel extremely uncomfortable about the statues in the church. I had been taught that these were idols; and the more I reflected on this, the more uncomfortable I became. I finally decided that this was not pleasing to God and that I needed to leave and never return.

However, I reached this conclusion just as the liturgy of the Eucharist was beginning; and I knew enough by now to know that getting up and leaving, at this point, would be very rude. So, I decided I would wait until this portion of the mass was over and then leave and not return.

The priest began his invocations ... and I felt the Spirit of God descend on the church. I was flabbergasted. There was no mistaking what had happened. Obviously, I had been wrong.

But just as remarkable was what happened a week or two later. I was attending a small house church, with deep anti-Catholic sentiments; and one of the people there was an ex-Catholic, who never seemed to have a good word to say about Catholicism. One Sunday, while people were standing around after church services, socializing, this man was standing nearby, talking to a few others; and I heard him tell a story. He was talking about visiting the same local Catholic church, looking around at and lamenting all the people lost in deception; and then the liturgy of the Eucharist began, and he felt the Spirit of God descend on the church.

The juxtaposition of these two events was as much a miracle as anything I have ever experienced in my life. To me, it showed, at least, that God can be found through Catholic worship. It was one of the most sacred experiences of my life.