Catholic reverts and converts take testimonies to local podcast ‘ReCon’

By Eddie Trask

CCI Executive Director

Eddie Trask

On January 4, 2021, I sat down in a closet with a camera and interviewed my friend and fellow Catholic revert, Josh Dickson. But the story really began much earlier.

For months, I had felt God prompting me to do something like this: to create a place where people could simply tell the story of how He had worked in their lives and led them — or led them back — to the Catholic Church. And for months, I resisted and made excuses. Eventually, though, the prompting of the Holy Spirit became too persistent to dismiss. So, I finally picked up my phone and texted Josh.

There was no studio, no production team, and no grand plan for where any of it might lead. Just two Catholic reverts chatting about the faith. And that first conversation became Catholic ReCon.

Reversion and conversion; reconnaissance and reconciliation

The name itself describes the heart of the apostolate: “Re” for reverts and “Con” for converts. But there are two other meanings behind the name as well: reconnaissance — exposing some of the ways the enemy keeps people away from the faith — and reconciliation — showing how conversion can lead us toward greater unity in the Church.

Since that first interview, I have released roughly one long-form conversation every week. What began as a small project has now grown to more than 270 interviews watched by people throughout the United States and around the world. Over the years, I have had conversations with people whose stories have taken us to places including the Turks and Caicos Islands, Mexico, the Faroe Islands, Argentina, Spain, South Korea, Brazil, Australia, India, England, Cambodia and Vietnam.

I have interviewed former atheists, Evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Buddhists, agnostics, pastors, missionaries and people who once wanted absolutely nothing to do with Catholicism. I have also spoken with lifelong Catholics whose faith became real to them only after years of simply going through the motions.

Along the way, I have had the privilege of interviewing some well-known Catholic voices and public figures, including Dr. Ray Guarendi, Abby Johnson, NBA All-Star Gordon Hayward, Catholic musician and author John Michael Talbot and apologists Steve Ray, Tim Staples and William Albrecht. But some of the conversations closest to home have been with Catholics right here in Idaho, including Fatima Partida, Travis Wingo, Samantha Stephenson, Brook Thelander, Rory and Keslie Felton, Gideon Amare, Paul Massaad and Fr. Tim Segert of St. John’s Cathedral in Boise.

Some guests studied their way into the Church. Others suffered their way home. Some encountered Christ through Scripture, the Eucharist, the early Church Fathers, Confession, the Blessed Virgin Mary or the witness of another Catholic. For others, the road home included addiction, broken relationships, grief, prison, intellectual doubts or years of searching. No two stories are quite alike, and after all these interviews, I am still fascinated by the countless ways God reaches people.

My job is pretty simple: get out of the way and let them tell the story.

Something shifts

Conversion is often messy. There can be a tremendous interior struggle involved in becoming Catholic — or returning to the Church. People sometimes risk relationships, careers, ministries and friendships. They wrestle with questions about the Eucharist, Mary, the papacy, Confession, apostolic succession and the authority of the Church. And then, somewhere along the way, something shifts.

Maybe the tipping point is a question they cannot dismiss, a passage of Scripture they begin to see differently, an encounter with the Eucharist, a realization about the early Church or a quiet prompting from God that refuses to go away. Catholic ReCon gives people the space to fully share their stories.

Someone watching in Idaho, Texas, England or Australia may be struggling with the exact question that a guest wrestled with years earlier. A Catholic who has fallen away may recognize himself in the story of a revert. A Protestant investigating Catholicism may discover that someone else once had precisely the same objections. Sometimes a person who thinks he is the only one asking a particular question discovers that he isn’t alone. I know because I have my own story.

My experience of searching

I was raised Catholic, fell away from the Church and eventually found my way into Evangelical and non-denominational Christianity. Questions about Scripture, authority, Church history and ultimately the Eucharist eventually led my family and me back to Catholicism. Years later, I had the opportunity to share that journey on EWTN’s The Journey Home. In many ways, Catholic ReCon grew out of that same experience of searching.

I know what it is like to misunderstand Catholicism and to encounter objections that seem convincing. I also know what it is like to discover that the Catholic Church is far deeper, older and more beautiful than I had understood. Catholic ReCon has reinforced something else for me as well: God uses everything!

Testimony

The atheist’s questions can eventually become part of his testimony. The Protestant pastor’s years of studying Scripture do not disappear when he becomes Catholic. The fallen-away Catholic’s years outside the Church can give him a tremendous desire to help others rediscover the sacraments. Even deep suffering can become part of the way someone else encounters Jesus.

Most recently, I sat down with Doug Austin at Holy Family House. Doug spent 42 years in prison before walking out a free man — and a Catholic. His story includes crime, despair, a suicide attempt, conversion, decades of incarceration and ultimately a life devoted to serving others.

Apologetics, theology and explanation

There is tremendous value in apologetics, theology and explaining what Catholics believe, and Catholic ReCon certainly touches on all of those things. Guests regularly discuss Scripture, the Eucharist, the papacy, Mary, the sacraments, apostolic succession, the Protestant Reformation and the early Church. From my experience, however, sometimes the most compelling argument begins with four simple words: This is what happened.

More than five years after recording my first interview with Josh, I remain grateful every time someone trusts me enough to tell their story. Catholic ReCon has grown far beyond what I imagined in January 2021, but the mission of simply listening to stories has remained the same.

If you have a story that you have prayerfully discerned needs to be shared for the sake of the Church, please email info@catholicrecon.com.

To learn more about Catholic ReCon, visit youtube.com/@CatholicReCon. You can also find ReCon on Spotify and Apple podcasts.