Catholic News

What began as a conversation between two Catholic reverts in a closet has grown into Catholic ReCon, a podcast featuring more than 270 interviews with converts, returning Catholics and others whose lives have been transformed by faith. Through personal testimonies from Idaho and around the world, the podcast explores the many paths that lead people to the Catholic Church — and the power of sharing those journeys.

After years of ministry as a Protestant pastor, Sam Fowler began searching for answers about Holy Communion. His study of Scripture and early Christian writers led him to the Catholic Church, where he and his wife, Amanda, were received into the Church and their twin sons were baptized at a parish in Idaho Falls.

Salt & Light Radio helped them learn about the faith James and Jena Murrell (ICR Photo/Emily Woodham) By Emily Woodham For the ICR James Murrell believed that miracles happen. However, he never expected to receive one at a Catholic Mass. He went to Mass for the first time at the beginning of 2024 simply out of curiosity. “I told a cousin of mine about all the things that I had learned in my studies about different Christian denominations, especially my findings about the Cath

“I knew I needed community and accountability, but I didn’t know where I could place my trust. I told God that He really needed to help me out. I asked Him to give me three signs so that I would know what to do. I received way more than three, and fast.”

Despite his Protestant convictions, two of his closest friends at the school were Catholic. “One kept telling me about this guy, Father Nathan Dail, and the wise things he’d say. She also told me about this thing called ‘Adoration.’ She would just go and sit with the Lord in adoration in peace and quiet, and she would cry with the Lord. I never heard of anything like that in my life.”

“I think the best way I can describe how I feel right now is being wonderfully terrified,” he said. “It’s not really fear in the sense of being afraid, but being in right worship. A wise deacon once told me that God is not calling you to walk on water; he is calling you to walk in the mud with those who are deeply in need of your service.”

Though unfamiliar with Catholic practice, Jaime said she was drawn to the liturgy itself. “I found it beautiful,” she said. “The sense that happened when everyone was saying their responses and singing and moving throughout the Mass in this wonderful, like, dance—I just found it beautiful.”

Answering the call is more than receiving the Sacraments. “It is about becoming saints,” he said. “The journey ahead — especially these coming weeks of Lent will not simply be about learning more prayers or memorizing teachings. It will be about conversion, about allowing Christ to examine your heart. It is about trust and surrender.”

“Everything in our lives is God working to bring us all home."

Sarah Shapori shares her journey to the Catholic faith.

The following story appeared in the January 12, 2018 Idaho Catholic Register. Nick and Erika Pettinger and their children, from left Jonah, Andrea and Markus. (Photo courtesy of Erika Pettinger) For this week’s “Coming Home” feature, we interview Erika Pettinger of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Hailey. Tell us about your faith background. I was raised in the Nazarene church, a Protestant church that focuses on holiness living. My household was a more strict environment, whic