From Methodist Minister to Aspiring Catholic Priest

After months of questioning his calling to be a Methodist minister, Mark Kurowski left the United Methodist Church he'd served for 12 years as a pastor and converted to Roman Catholicism in the summer of 2002.

So opens the lead of this story in the Chicago Sun-Times (suntimes.com).

I salute his courage. He literally had given up everything in order to follow Christ. He left behind his ministry and led his family through the desert of second-guessing and doubt to the shores of the Tiber. Then, he swam across. Witness his testimony:

However, he knew he'd "hit a brick wall with Methodism" on Easter 2002 when he was giving communion at Marquette Park United Methodist Church in Gary.

Having studied the church fathers who recorded early Christian worship practices, Kurowski became convinced that the bread and wine of communion contained the living presence of Christ's body. But as a Methodist, he'd been taught to view them symbolically.

"If it was just a memorial or a remembrance, that wasn't good enough for me," he said. "I hungered and thirsted for more."

He researched several Protestant denominations, hoping to find one that matched his own beliefs, before realizing he was "really just looking for the Catholic Church that wasn't Catholic."

The Real Presence calls another Christian home. The sheep know the voice of their Sheperd. In spite of scandals, Reasonable opposition, and the imperfection of some of her members, the Catholic Church still grows. May God bless Mark Kurowski and his entire family as they continue their journey to Christ in his fullness.