Hi, I’m Liz,

Thank you all for visiting this “Love Being Catholic” site!

I’ll be honest – I’ve never had a blog before, so this is all new to me. I do have a Facebook page that currently has over 78,000 Facebook friends, reaching several million people in over 35 countries. (Lot of people out there love being Catholic too!) I started this page because friends on my Facebook page kept asking me if I had a website or blog so that they could share my posts with their friends and family who are not on Facebook. So here I am!

I started my Love Being Catholic Facebook page about 3.5 years ago and post on it every day, often several times/day. I’m a morning person (never was before until I had children), and love to wake up early with a hot cup of coffee and study, read and learn more about my Catholic faith.

I’m still learning this blogging thing, but it’s actually really fun and hopefully you’ll like this too. It’s my little way of spreading the joy and beauty of our Catholic faith. This blog is dedicated to Our Lady, and I pray is under her guidance and protection.

This page is for Catholics, fallen away Catholics who might be interested in re-discovering their faith, or for anyone interested in learning more about what Catholics believe and why we believe it. This page was not set up to bash other religions or Christian denominations, or to try to convert anyone to Catholicism. (That’s the Holy Spirit’s job.) This page is to spread the truth, joy and beauty of our faith and hopefully clear up some misconceptions that we all have come across from time to time.

I wasn’t always this “into” my faith, but by the grace of God, while watching Pope John Paul II’s funeral several years ago, it struck me that I really did not know or appreciate my Catholic faith. I remember watching the funeral on TV, and thinking about how many people loved him, his holiness, and his love for Christ and our Blessed Mother.

Blessed John Paul II’s death actually started me on my journey back to re-discovering my faith. I realized at the time that I could not answer basic questions that my children asked me about what Catholics believed, and why we believed it. I went through the motions and considered myself Catholic, but really didn’t know or understand, let alone agree with many of the actual teachings of the Catholic Church.

I remember asking a woman, who is now a dear friend of mine, why she was converting to Catholicism. I saw the love and joy that she had for Christ and the Catholic Church, and I wanted that same joy. This same woman prior to becoming Catholic was a member of a mega church down the street where she was very active and led several Bible studies, and yet she converted to Catholicism. I was used to hearing stories of people who had left the Church, so it was refreshing to learn why someone would want to become Catholic.

I remember asking her why she was becoming Catholic. She told me that the issue of authority and studying church history played a big part in her conversion. She started studying the early church fathers, and discovered what the church was like right after Jesus was crucified. She recommended a book to me called “Four Witnesses” by Rod Bennett. I bought the book and loved it. I had never even thought about before where the Bible came from, or what the early church was like. She also said that the movie “The Passion of the Christ” had a profound impact on her conversion to the Catholic faith. (Be sure to watch this movie if you can – it’s very hard to watch, yet very moving!)

I started reading a lot of conversion stories and two books in particular that I really enjoyed were “Surprised by Truth” by Patrick Madrid, and “Rome Sweet Home” by Scott Hahn. These books contained stories of different people from other faiths and religions who converted to Catholicism, and why they converted. They all told their stories honestly, truthfully, and with charity, without bashing their previous religion or christian denomination. Another show I started watching was Marcus Grodi’s show on EWTN called “The Journey Home” which was a show on conversion stories, also done honestly and charitably. I started attending Bible studies, reading the Bible more, and attended talks by Jeff Cavins, Peter Kreeft, Allen Hunt and Matthew Kelly. I loved listening to others who were passionate about their Catholic faith, and hearing about why they loved being Catholic.

Though I am a cradle Catholic, and have always attended Mass, I would often sit in the back and leave right after communion. I didn’t get it. I did not appreciate what I had, and definitely took it for granted. By the grace of God, my husband decided to convert and became a Catholic in 2007. I attended his RCIA classes with him and loved every minute of it. His conversion to Catholicism has helped to make me a better Catholic. My husband, a former Lutheran, is now very devoted to our Blessed Mother, and is the one who got us praying the rosary together every night. (Mary has a way of drawing her children back to the Catholic faith. Just a piece of advice -the rosary is a very powerful weapon!)

I graduated from a Catholic high school in Atlanta, GA, and the University of Georgia, and currently work planning events for a Catholic School in Cumming, GA. I have three children, ages 17, 14, and 10, and am a 15-year breast cancer survivor. (Yay!) I have ten brothers and sisters, a thousand or so nieces and nephews, and am blessed with the best parents and in-laws a girl could ask for.

Between my family, work and “life”, I do my best to post as much as I can. I try to always use sources that are in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church. If you ever see anything that is not in line with the Magisterium, please let me know, for to be a Catholic is to follow the teachings of the Magisterium, the Holy Bible and Holy Tradition. We are so lucky (blessed!) to have all three!

I am truly grateful to be given the gift of my Catholic faith, have a deep love for Christ and His Blessed Mother, and am so happy and humbled to be a member of His “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church” – though I fail miserably all the time. (Thank goodness for God’s mercy!) I am still learning and re-discovering my faith, enjoy sharing it with others, and hope you enjoy it too.

That’s all – just wanted to say hello, thank you for joining this blog! Please know I am praying for you all and would appreciate any extra prayers you can send my way.

And one more thing, if you couldn’t tell, I love being Catholic!

In Christ,

Liz