I have a secret

MJ and I are having a Catholic wedding (that's not the secret!) but I'm not Catholic (that's the secret).



MJ's family is traditional Irish Catholic (no really, MJ is only a 2nd generation immigrant from Ireland, his grandfather moved here and sent money back to Ireland to support his family. His mom even works for a Catholic newspaper, and MJ is the youngest of 5 kids. They really are traditional Irish Catholic.) Me on the other hand, I was raised entirely without any religious background. My mother was raised as a Baptist and hated the religion and everything behind it. Therefore, she decided that when she had kids she would let them decide on their own what religion they would follow. That leads me to the present; I don't really have a religious background - save for some Christian youth groups that I went to with friends when I was in high school.

However, MJ and I agreed a long time ago that we want our wedding ceremony to be at the Mission, which means it's going to be a Catholic ceremony. And all things being equal, I have decided to convert (is it really converting if I'm not claiming another religion as my own???) to Catholicism. I begin my classes in October and will be accepted by the Church on Easter. Just in time for the wedding!! I don't want people to think that I'm converting just because we're getting married or that I'm converting just for MJ. I'm choosing to become Catholic because I want our children to be raised with religion and I want them to go to Catholic schools, and I also really enjoy the community that comes with belonging to a church and I want our family to have that. And because MJ is already Catholic, that seemed the natural way to go. AND now I'll be able to fully participate in our wedding mass rites and accept the Eucharist with MJ. :) I think that's pretty cool.



Surprisingly, people's reactions have been pretty varied at the news of my converting. Have you converted to the religion of your future spouse? Have you thought about it?