Come Meet My Priest

I don't think I've heard Catholics use this phrase, but Protestants certainly will refer to "my home church," meaning the first church into which they converted or were raised. I still refer to St. Stephen's the First Martyr parish as "my parish" and Fr. John M. Berg, FSSP, as "my priest."

I am an adult convert to Catholicism and I tell just a little bit of my story here in hopes that even more people will register to attend Fr. Berg's reflection here in Charlotte on Thursday, May 2 (register here for the free event).

Fr. John M. Berg, FSSP

I converted to Protestant Christianity around 25 years old (and there is a lengthy story encapsulated in those nine words). Later my beloved Aunt Erica was in the midst of converting from Protestantism to Catholicism and I was very worried for her soul. I began researching the Roman Catholic Church in order to rescue her, to stop her from converting. I started with "Catholicism for Dummies" to get the most broad information: honestly, this was not a bad book! It remains on my shelf and I recently looked through it again, sure that with my now excellent catechesis, I'd find it fraught with errors, but it is straightforward but neither superficial nor misleading. 

From that bright yellow book, I proceeded to read the Early Church Fathers. I told myself that I would not judge the Catholic Church on its people, many of whom are stumbling sinners (including myself), but only on its official teaching. Over the months, I read most of the entries in this free online collection of writings by the Church Fathers.

We're getting closer to meeting Fr. Berg . . . 

I was extremely distressed that everything I read by these pillars of the earliest Christian community looked like they were describing the Catholic Church of today, not any of the Protestant denominations I could see. I sought high and low for someone to convince me why not to convert. I fought my conversion to Catholicism far more than I fought my conversion from nothing-New Age-paganism-worldliness to Protestantism. I went to many Protestant experts, pastors, leaders to try to show me why Catholicism was wrong and none of them could.

My aunt was coming to town to visit and I knew that, as a Catholic, she now had this rule that she had to attend an actual Mass, not my worship service. I inquired of my boss (a Catholic, and the man who later introduced me to my husband) where we could attend a Mass that was fairly orthodox and traditional. After joking, "Well, then, not my parish!" he asked around and sent us to St. Stephens because "they say the Mass in Latin." I didn't know any phrases like old Mass, Latin Mass, Traditional Latin Mass, or the new label Extraordinary Form of the Mass . . . but my aunt and I thought Latin would be a fascinating blast to the past, so we went.

When we walked out of the Mass, my aunt had a thought she kept quiet: "Katherine is going to become a Catholic and this is going to be her parish." This was a shocking thought if you looked at me (law school student at the time) and then looked at our surroundings where all the women wore long skirts and chapel veils and were gilded with a dozen children whom they home-schooled!

I wandered into the bookstore because how could I not, right? There I got to talking with T---, the owner, and when she heard that I was exploring Catholicism in order to rescue my aunt from it, she said, "Wait right here!" She dashed off and came back with the pastor: Fr. Berg. Only later did I realize that what he did was extraordinary: he left that long line of parishioners who stand outside after Mass waiting to shake hands and say hello to the priest in order to meet me . . . to find that lost sheep wandering in the dale.

Fr. Berg stood chatting with me in the bookstore for a good ten minutes and then offered that if I wanted any catechesis, I could meet with him in his office for one-on-one talks, even once per week.

Now, I know my fellow Catholics have their jaws hanging open because you know how short-staffed we are with priests. Most priests don't even teach their parish RCIA courses, and those are to large groups. To receive individual catechesis in this day and age is nearly unheard of.

At the beginning of my meetings with Fr. Berg (when I was fighting Catholicism and had not yet met Chris), Father told me one day, "I shouldn't say this but within two years, you will be Catholic, be married, and have a child." 

He was right.

The infamous binder

We began meeting for one hour weekly. I'd spend all week researching a topic and writing it up in my binder, "Comparison of Catholicism and Protestantism." Each week, I'd march into Father's office and announce that this week I had him, I'd prove him wrong, and he'd probably have to stop being a priest. Each week he smiled kindly and refuted perfectly what I presented him.

Index of topics

Finally after months and months of this, Fr. Berg said with a twinge of exasperation, "Katherine! When are you going to stop trying to convince me and let me catechize you?" From then on, I let him give me a proper catechesis, in an orderly fashion.

I wrote in a detailed outline with many source citations (Scripture, Catholic Church documents, saints' writings, Canon Law) and analysis of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Scripture.

Fr. Berg playing one of his famous games of kickball with his Altar Guild at St. Stephens

Meanwhile, I was introduced to Chris who lived 3,000 miles away. That is a long story in and of itself, but I will simply share Fr. Berg's part in it: When Chris flew to meet me for the first time, I wanted a Catholic man to "vet" him for me. Still ignorant of just how busy priests are, I approached Father and asked him, "Would you please join me on my first date with this gentleman and ask him some questions to determine if he is a worthy man, a good Catholic worth courting?" Fr. Berg said 'yes' immediately.

You can imagine the scene as Chris and I, having just met in person, sat waiting in the bar of a very posh hotel, surrounding by business people, and in walked a traditional priest in his flowing cassock to join us. We had a wonderful meeting and Fr. Berg said Chris was a good guy.

Later Chris had a private meeting with Father Berg to ask, "Just how long is this catechism going to take? I want to propose to this girl!" You see, I love academics and I'd have continued those hour-long weekly meetings for as long as I was allowed, year in and year out! Fr. Berg got the hint and put an end-point to my catechesis and set a date for my Conditional Baptism, First Confession, Confirmation, and First Communion.

However, Fr. Berg did not get to administer my sacraments as he was transferred to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter's North American seminary to teach for a year, on his way to being elected as the General Superior. I cannot tell you the tears I cried when I found out I was losing "my" priest.

We timed our visit back to California when Fr. Berg got to visit his old parish a couple of years later where he met three-month-old John. The prophecy that I'd be Catholic, married, and a mother within two years was fulfilled almost to the day. 

Can anyone guess who John's namesake is?

Fr. Berg is an amazing priest and I wrote all of this ONLY to make him seem a little more human than simply "the General Superior of the FSSP," in hopes that my local readers will join us for Father's reflection (sign up here). He is coming all the way from Switzerland to our little town of Charlotte, where we don't even have an FSSP apostolate for him to visit, in order to visit with our diocesan priests, give the people a reflection, socialize with us at a reception afterward, and the next day say Mass and hear Confessions. Please join us!