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It can be a lonely process when you search for truth and the truth finds you.

Chris met Chad many months ago when he was asked to be his confirmation sponsor. Chad was raised a Presbyterian--religion was a part of his life growing up, but not as central to his life as it has become.

One of the reasons Chad started looking into the Catholic Church in the first place was because of his sister. His sister was going to marry a Catholic and wanted to convert to the faith for reasons of the impending marriage and because she had been attending Mass with her fiance for many years and felt she could no longer call herself a Protestant. Chad was worried about his sister entering the Catholic church. He was totally against it and decided to talk her out of it by exploring the faith himself to prove to his sister that it was the 'wrong' faith.

What began as a mission to 'save' his sister, ended tonight in his coming home to the truth of the Catholic faith by making his first profession of faith, getting confirmed in that faith, and partaking in first Holy Communion. In front of God and everybody in the church. Fr. John slathered him (and 7 others) with chrism oil in the name of the father, son, and holy ghost. Tonight he is a full blown Catholic and knows more about the Catholic faith and his relationship with God than most people I know. You see, Chad was looking for the truth...truth to save his sister from making the wrong choice...but the truth surprised him and swept him up. The more he dug, the more he realized that the Catholic church held all that was good and right. The teachings of Jesus in scripture. Tradition, that keeps us from making the same old mistakes. Reason, that helps us make sense of it all.

Chad is a smart guy. He's 28 and is in the Ph.D/M.D. program here at UNC. Many of his good friends are from the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship Group on campus....all of varying Protestant religions. These guys form a wonderful support group for Christians to gather, pray and hang-out. Most of these guys were supportive in his decision to become a Catholic, but only one actually came to STM this evening to witness his conversion. In his world, Chad stand alone as one who broke ranks and became the man God wants him to be and he will be given grace throughout his life. No doubt there will be more lonely times on the horizon. It's hard to be a Catholic today. But as a wise friend told me many years ago, "Those who honestly search for the truth, cannot help but find it in the church Christ established 2000 years ago."