{"id":153190,"date":"2020-04-17T09:30:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T13:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-as-an-atheist-drawn-to-the-eucharist-whats-my-next-step\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:07:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:07:06","slug":"ask-a-priest-as-an-atheist-drawn-to-the-eucharist-whats-my-next-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-as-an-atheist-drawn-to-the-eucharist-whats-my-next-step\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: As an Atheist Drawn to the Eucharist, What’s My Next Step?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: So I was baptized Anglican as a kid but have never been practicing and have been an atheist for about 20 years. Long story short: I stumbled across an article about the Real Presence a few months back and ended up in my local Catholic cathedral at exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The hour I was there felt like five minutes, and I keep being drawn back, once or twice a week. I’ve been to vespers and Mass (but don’t go up for Communion) as well as praying the rosary at home. I’ve also been reading a lot — Chesterton, Dante, Barron, Aquinas — and finding out that a lot of people that are a lot smarter than me have believed without sacrificing reason. In short, I’ve realized that the Catholic tradition is so vast and deep that I hardly know anything about it. I’ve kind of thrown myself in at the deep end with this for no other reason than realizing that I was probably wrong all these years. If God is giving me grace, then the least I can do is try to respond. On the other hand, this is so far outside of my experience that I am having serious doubts. How am I supposed to know if this is just my own thoughts sending me down what is likely to be a very difficult road? What do I do next? Take a step back from going to church and maybe see if I can figure it out in my head? I’m not in contact with any practicing Catholics, have no religious friends and haven’t spoken to a priest or anyone about this. Any help or insight you can offer would be appreciated. \u2013 S.G.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0It sound as though the Holy Spirit is nudging you closer to the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

You are on a journey, and journeys take time.<\/p>\n

It also helps to see the example of others who have been on a journey. Here, the Surprised by Truth<\/em> books<\/a><\/strong> might be fruitful reading.<\/p>\n

Also, you might consider joining an RCIA program. You could contact a local Catholic parish about such a program.<\/p>\n

The RCIA would give you instruction in the beliefs and practices of the Catholic faith, in preparation for your possible entrance into the Church.<\/p>\n

The program usually runs over the course of a few years. This would give you time for lots of questions and for lots of prayer.<\/p>\n

You could read more about the RCIA<\/a><\/strong> on Internet.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, it would be a good idea not<\/em> to take a break from the Church. This is precisely the moment to keep feeding your soul!<\/p>\n

And by all means, take advantage of being in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and praying the rosary. Our Lord will guide you.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest<\/a><\/h3>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest@rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com<\/a> and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153190"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}