When a spouse converts

It often has a profound impact on the one who is already Catholic…

Check this out, from the Catholic Sentinel:

Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until someone brings your attention back to it.

That’s what Jackie San Nicolas discovered when her longtime boyfriend Matt Covington decided to become a Catholic before their wedding Sept. 18.

Through her difficult life journeys, San Nicolas had always turned to her faith to guide her. But in the past few years, she’d lost touch with that guiding light.

“When he decided he wanted to be a Catholic, it was like him taking my hand and saying ‘let’s walk this life together. Let me bring you back to the faith I want to learn about and you already know,’” she said.

In RCIA, Covington isn’t the only one studying the Catholic way of life. San Nicolas attended with her partner and felt invigorated spiritually to revisit the core components of her faith, especially with someone who wanted also to be a part of that.

For one person new to the Catholic faith and his or her significant other who is already part of the Church, the journey can be enlightening for both…

…Michelle and Benji Orozco married in 1996. They were both in their early 20s.

She was raised Catholic in Salem and he was raised by parents who were Christians, but not Catholics.

For four or five years at the beginning of their relationship, they were members of separate churches. Wanting to be supportive of each other, they attended both services together.

“Sunday was a 5-hour church experience,” Michelle said.

In 2001, Benji decided he wanted to go through RCIA. It answered many of his questions, but at that time Michelle was the one who really fell deeper in love with her faith, she said. Benji didn’t finish the RCIA process.

“It didn’t’ feel right for me at the time,” Benji said. He wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith and the Church first. “There are a lot of misconceptions out there. I wanted to feel comfortable and know firsthand what it was all about. It was the beginning of my conversion journey.”

Meanwhile, Benji began attending Mass at Queen of Peace. He appreciated the reverence displayed in the Church, and formed relationships with the priests, first Father George Wolf, then Father Tim Mockaitis.

Also during that time, Benji was traveling often for his work so he listened to audio books in transit. On one trip he listened to the account of a former Baptist preacher who converted to Catholicism. Something about the man’s words clicked for Benji and he knew he was ready to finish the ritual of coming into the church.

Read the rest to find out what happened next.