Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us, Skyler. It is one of the great privileges of this work to have heard many similar stories. You are certainly not alone! What is so moving is how you responded to and said "yes" to God's grace calling you to more!

RCIA starts in a few weeks! It's a once-a-week meeting where the priests and nuns go over Catholic Church doctrine one topic at a time and you can ask as many questions as you want. Then at the end if you choose you are able to become a Catholic at the Easter Vigil.

@rodney, it's not just priests and nuns who teach about the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. I am a laywoman with a Masters and I do most of the teaching of this process, it's as much about discerning God's call and being formed as a Catholic Christian as it is learning the doctrine. It is a wonderful process that allows one to explore the thresholds Fr. Barron was discussing. @Scott Long, curious is good, if God is calling you to a deeper faith the RCIA process can help discern where you're being led. Blessings on your journey.

Roscoe Kane I agree, friend. But this includes the willingness to have secularist and materialist ideologies challenged! It's interesting to me that people seem to think materialism is somehow a default position and that a religious view is the one that has to be defended or argued for. The view that matter is all that exists is, in fact, a philosophical position susceptible to serious criticism. Also, as Chesterton said, an open mind is like an open mouth: it's finally meant to close down on something nourishing.

Fr. Robert Barron If we use methodological naturalism to investigate the world, as science does which is working out great so far, we just haven't discovered any non-material parts of nature. This doesn't mean it doesn't exist of course, but if it does I don't know anything about it. Materialism does go a step to far in claiming that material is all that exists, really it's just all we know about. Also, it sounded like you said that you shouldn't have an open mind... Really? Why not? How will you know if you make a mistake? How are we going to make progress?

There's a difference between taking an open mind to the material and the ideal. If you take an open mind to the material, that's a logical fallacy, because it is inherently changeable or obscure, but the ideal is, to use a physics term, quantised, it has a fixed value that can be absolutely learned. Materialism to me seems illogical. I came to this revelation an odd way, though, through a philosophical exercise. I quite like football (soccer), and I established that tactically the game has evolved over time such that there is a superior way to play the game. Did the players imbue the game with that superior way? No, because it transcends generations of players, from Pelé to Messi. Hence, the category for the way the game is played must has already existed. It is the same in all aspects of life, especially physics. The laws of physics are fixed - names like Bosons and Fermions and Hawking Radiation are so given because a particular scientist discovered the phenomena, but if they hadn't, others would have recognised the laws and named them differently, because the laws of physics are fixed and transcend and predate humans by billions of years. Every material thing we come to understand is a recognition of a law that was fixed before we existed - so the category for what that thing is must be independent of us. The source of this must be God.

"Every material thing we come to understand is a recognition of a law that was fixed before we existed - so the category for what that thing is must be independent of us." I agree "The source of this must be God." I definitely do not agree! It could be a natural necessity, of something not yet fully understood.

I currently have a "side." I am a non-believer, an atheist, I doubt the existence of God.

Yes, thanks very much. A most helpful link and distinction.

there are plenty of Latin masses they could attend.

If they reject V2 and every pope since pope Pius XII that is what we call Sedevacantism. It’s been denounced as being heretical by JP2 I believe. I could be wrong on that but Sedevacantism is dangerous none the less.

Aun - This is Sherry Weddell. You are asking an excellent question. Yes, we can pass through these stages again at turning points in our walk with God - new obediences or as in my case, entering the Catholic Church from a fundamentalist background. I was startled to find that the thresholds exactly described my own turning points although I didn't learn about them until years afterwards.

Sherry Weddell Thank you, Sherry.

Yet I am not dismissing the gun violence aspect.

Michael O'Neil Now I have not seen them, but I have seen the trailers, and while they do seem to have some merit by showing people that there is more to right and wrong than just "what makes the majority of people happy", in the end they looked mainly like slasher films.

Yes, God calls each and every one of us to nothing less than sainthood. (point of fact, that's one of the most commonly quoted sayings of St. Francis, but there's apparently no record that he ever actually said it.)

Get better educated in the faith, or become better acquainted with good resources. Have a couple of go-to books to recommend.

On a more immediate level, it's fine be honest that you don't know the answer but promise to find out and then follow up. Weddell writes in the book that people appreciate that honesty and respect such efforts. The follow up can be the stickler; I'm always "meaning to" but getting distracted. Definitely put Intentional Discipleship on your list, too! It sounds like you're doing good missionary work if people come to you with questions.

Norm - as Fr. Barron noted in his video, the third threshold of openness is the hardest to cross so those of us who are seeking to help someone make that journey can find it tricky. At bottom, this threshold is about "openness" to the possibility of personal and spiritual change, not struggles with specific doctrines. It is acknowledging to God, to yourself, and possibly to another person that you are open to the *possibility* of change triggered by an encounter with Jesus in the midst of his Church. No commitments, no signing on the dotted line but open to a whole new horizon. Many people cross this threshold long before they resolve all their questions or issues with Church teaching. Intercessory prayer is hugely important at this threshold as many obstacles - interior fears, relational pressures, and even the enemy can crop up at this point to derail movement. As their evangelizer-companions, our faithful friendship and prayerful patience with their struggles is critical - even if we can't answer all their questions.

***** I am certainly not speaking for Fr. Barron or trying to steal his thunder, but moving from agnosticism/atheism to fundamentalist Protestantism, to evangelical Protestantism to the catholic Church, the mystical Body of Christ, there have been a few books that were influential for me, that I consider appropriate to recommend as "go-to" books to honest seekers: "The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path" by Fr. Robert Barron. I wish I had read this book in 1991. Considering it was published in 2002, it simply wasn't available. This book is both literary and logical engaging both the mind and the heart. Winsome without being cloying, and reasonable without being tedious. It presents before you a banquet (Taste and see that the Lord is good, cf. John 1: 39 or John 7:17), that is both delicious and nutritious and leaves you wanting more (The Spirit and the Bride say Come, Rev. 22:17). This isn't a shameless plug - everyone from Dostoyevsky to Bob Dylan, from Dante to Flannery O'Connor, from Matthias Grunewald to Chartres cathedral, from infinity and beyond...an excellent introduction that masters can appreciate (no less a plug than Br. Patrick Hart OCSO who writes and edits for the Cisterican Pub series') and in which beginners may wonder. The Call / Gospel & Apologetics & the Spiritual Life & Theology - hard to define. "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis (I was at a place in my atheism / agnosticism where I considered Christianity "unreasonable", "incoherent", "superstitious", "irrational". This book went a looooong way in little more than a hundred to two hundred pages to dispel those myths. Lewis is cogent, precise and clear without being pedantic, tedious, and boring. His conception of Christianity is balanced (both faith and reason), learned, and enchanting - a top shelf apologetics book, accessible for the high school graduate and engaging for the baccalaureate and graduate level persons). Apologetics. "Life and Holiness" by Thomas Merton (Fr. Louis), OCSO. Merton was on his way to becoming a N. Y. literary figure. Disillusioned by the "War to End All Wars" (he was born after it, but lived in the poverty of its aftermath in Europe) and its reprise, WWII, he was enraptured by God and began a spiritual journey during his time at Columbia University that led to entrance into the Church and becoming a Cistercian monk. This is a fantastic book on the spiritual life (one's personal relationship with God). Spiritual Life. "Essence of Prayer" by Ruth Burrows OCD. Sr. Ruth has lived as a cloistered Carmelite nun and is a master of prayer (from a below average layperson's point of view). All of the problems I struggle with in prayer (believing it is my work of currying favor with God, or treating God like a vending machine with my requests, etc.; a subjective self centered, dysfunctional, narcissistic focus on myself instead of a loving gaze of gratitude and dependence on the Incarnation, and Paschal Mystery of Christ from a loving Father that we participate in through the Spirit in sacramental grace and the life of prayer, etc. I could gush about this book and the gold it contains for hours. Prayer. "YouCat" (Youth, average adult), "Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church" (Youth, average adult, above average adult), "Catechism of the Catholic Church" (Educated youth, educated average adult, average above average adult). Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has hit the nail on the head with this one - anyone who wants to encounter the living Word, Jesus Christ, need only prayerfully read (lectio divina) any one of these catechisms - creed, cult, code, prayer (to borrow Peter Kreeft's categories) are meditatively presented with glossaries, cross references, with quotes and references to the major and significant minor patristic Fathers, theological doctors, and masters of the spiritual life. If doctrine or systematic theology, or a misconception that the Faith is not cogent, comprehensive or rational is your thing, these are the places to go. Dogma / Doctrine. I wouldn't hesitate to read and recommend these to any and every one. You could spend a good ten years here and feel you had both made progress and hadn't made a dent in the journey of a lifetime. I forgot to mention "Magnificat" magazine. A magazine/devotional/prayer book for Catholics. When I began to realize as a neophyte Catholic that prayer wasn't solely extemporaneous (a foible I picked up from my fundamentalist, evangelical Protestant days) and was primarily liturgical (extemporaneous is still OK, but no longer the only arrow in the quiver), "Magnificat" has and continues to go a long way to profoundly transforming me and my prayer life. If you are a lukewarm cradle Catholic with a busy schedule and don't know how to jumpstart your spiritual / prayer life, you simply cannot do better than this. Learned articles that are generally 3-5 pages long (3" x 5" 3-5 pages) on the spiritual life, one page quotes form the Fathers, saints, mystics, theologians, ecclesiastics actual writings, and formatted daily "Morning" and "Evening" prayer that takes less than 15 minutes to pray, as well as the Daily readings for Mass, hymns, "Night" prayer, illustrated with sacred works of art / icons that are explained, providing both verbal and visual media for meditation / prayer. Comes out monthly. Awesome, awesome resource for anyone, but particularly useful as an evangelistic tool for lukewarm, lapsed Catholics with little time on their hands who don't want watered down pablum. There is both milk for babes, and meat for adults here. Thank you to Monsieur Dumont and the Dominicans (particularly but not exclusively to Frs. Cameron and Cessario) as well as the past and regular lay contributors (Caryll Houselander, Madeleine Delbrel, Dr. Anthony Esolen, Heather King, James Monti, Dorothy Day, Richard Veras, Lisa Lickona, John Janaro, Jem Sullivan, et al). n. b. Sherry Weddell and Fr. Barron: I am looking forward to reading "Intentional Discipleship", thank you for the recommendation / presentation.

Try to be as well-educated about Christ and Scripture and the Church as you can, but at the same time don't feel like you have to have all the answers or that the intellect alone will be enough to convince them. I like to remember St. Bernadette of Lourdes; one of the Church's most revered saints, and she was dead last in her Sunday school Catechism class.

Or maybe we humans have not been doing what He has told us to do.

Church Doctrine on those matters is clear, and Doctrine cannot ever be changed. Church law can be changed, but not Church Doctrine. People of LGBT have been blessed with the honor of bearing an unusually heavy cross, and should be welcomed, respected and loved with all dignity as they carry out their calling in celibacy.

@Matt. There is a document put out by the United States Bishops called Always Our Children. You can find it at www.usccb.org. It tells that we love our children no matter what, however sex outside of marriage is a sin. Any kind of sex, homosexual or heterosexual. Then we get into the issues of why can't we have gay marriages in the Church? A very good question however one that deals with nature of persons, and undefined issues. Which no matter how eloquently I tried to make the point would be impossible given the restrictions of a post. :) suffice it to say, I empathize with the pain those who are gay experience. There are no easy answers for this, and yes there are Catholics who don't even understand fundamentally what is actually taught, but one of the things I tell my people is that the Catholic Church is run by God but facilitated by people. So we will hurt others, have to grow in understanding and more than a few time get hit with the Divine 2x4 to get to where God actually wants us. So I encourage you to look for where God is in your life, (we do actually have an encounter with the divine many times a day) pray, and forgive others for their ignorance if they speak with less than loving words. God loves each of his children even when we hurt each other.