Why I Became Catholic: 3 Reasons

With the Pope’s passing, I’ve been reflecting a bit. Why am I Catholic? How did I get here?

Here’s my honest take:

1. Who do you say that I am?

Bishop Barron’s Catholicism video series was the first spark. In it, Jesus doesn’t just offer theology or rules. He presses you to ask a question Jesus asks: Who am I?

That question broke through for me.

The Gospels don’t read like instruction manuals. Jesus doesn’t hand out a checklist. Instead, he forces a personal response: Who is this man?

I had to answer. And I had to be honest: He’s more than just a man.

And if that’s true—if Jesus is who he says he is—then everything changes.

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2. I believe. Help my unbelief.

Even when I warmed up to Christianity, I kept asking: how much faith is enough?

Because I didn’t have much.

Then I found this line in Mark 9:24, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

That verse gave me a way in. That was a faith I could muster.

Minimal. Unsteady. Doubt still hanging around. But real.

I could say, “I believe... kinda... help the rest.” And that was enough. That was the bridge.

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3. Where else would I go?

The last roadblock? The host.

That small white cracker, as people joke. Catholics say it is Jesus. Not a symbol. Not a metaphor. The real presence.

That’s a hard one. No visible change. No difference in taste or smell. But the Church teaches: the essence changes. The bread becomes Him.

I needed something to get me over that. John 6 was the lever.

In that passage, Jesus explains this mystery—plainly. Not metaphorically. And people walked away. Too much for them to accept. He turns to the Twelve and says, “Are you leaving too?”

And Peter responds, basically: “Where else would we go?”

That line stuck. I don’t get it all. But if Jesus is who I say he is... then when he says something hard, I still have to follow.

That logic—I’ve got nowhere else to go—led me to trust. Not blind faith. Just trust rooted in a person I’ve come to believe is God.

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These are the three reasons—the three levers—that brought me into the Church.

That’s how I got here.