2023 was yet another year of incredible testimonies that we were privileged to share on EWTN’s The Journey Home. Once again, they helped paint a picture of the mysterious ways that God works in individual lives, to call His children to Himself. Every story is unique, but they all lead to the same place: a home in the Church founded by Jesus.
According to site visits, social media activity and your feedback, here were the most popular Journey Home episodes from 2023:
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10. Jeremy Christiansen – Former Latter Day Saint
Jeremy Christiansen, author of From the Susquehanna to the Tiber, joined JonMarc Grodi to discuss his journey from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to the Catholic Church. He discusses the way he conceived of God from his earliest years, and how that concept formed over time and eventually helped him to develop a sacramental worldview. Watch Jeremy’s episode.
9. Sr. Julia Mary Darrenkamp, FSP – Former Evangelical Protestant
Sr. Julia was raised generally Christian, but became fascinated with the lives of the saints, especially young martyr saints like St. Maria Goretti and St. Agnes, by picking up books about them in a local library. Hungry to know more, she began to read everything she could get her hands on, and when she finally visited a Catholic Church, it clicked with her that the people she saw in the stained glass windows were the same people she’d been reading about.
That’s only the beginning of her story, which also includes how she ended up a religious sister with the Daughters of St. Paul… Watch Sr. Julia’s episode.
8. Rachel Bulman – Former Pentecostal
Rachel Bulman was born in the Philippines and adopted by Pentecostal missionaries. She had a strong Christian identity growing up, but began to have questions about divisions in Christianity, and where her place was in all of it. When she began dating a Catholic, it was the first time she’d been confronted with the reality of anti-Catholicism, and she knew she needed to learn more. The more she explored, the more she fell in love with the Catholic Church, through the sacraments, the intellectual tradition, and through devotion to the Blessed Mother. Watch Rachel’s episode.
7. Lisa Cooper – Former Word of Faith
Lisa Cooper was baptized Catholic as a baby, but her parents quickly got into the Word of Faith movement, led by such figures as Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Marilyn Hickey. As a young woman, when she didn’t always feel emotional consolations in those Prosperity Gospel worship services, she wondered if God even loved her. Seeking spiritual stability, she started visiting Catholic parishes, and began to heal from the spiritual manipulation she’d been experiencing her whole life. Watch Lisa’s episode.
6. Mother Petra – Former Wesleyan
Mother Petra was raised in a family full of Wesleyan ministers, missionaries and church planters, and went on to study at Indiana Wesleyan. She became increasingly frustrated by divisions in Christianity over everything from Bible interpretation to worship practices, and at one point even stopped going to church.
When one of her sisters became Catholic, it opened up to her the possibility that there really was an authoritative way to understand the reality of what it meant to be a Christian. She entered the Catholic Church, and eventually religious life at a Byzantine monastery. Watch Mother Petra’s episode.
5. Kailash and Lily Duraiswami – Former Hindu, Atheist and Agnostic
As a young man, Kailash Duraiswami had left behind his Hindu roots for a hedonistic lifestyle after finding success in Silicon Valley, and his future wife Lily’s struggles to understand her purpose in life led her to wonder about the existence of God. At the heart of their journeys are the two questions that drive so many of us to consider faith: what is truth and where do I fit in the world? They share how those questions led each of them to the Catholic Church, and eventually to meet one another. Watch their episode.
4. Kathryn Whitaker – Former Evangelical Protestant
Kathryn Whitaker was baptized in a Methodist church as an infant in Texas, but after her pastor left, her family skipped around churches looking for a fit, including time spent with the Nazarenes and Disciples of Christ.
Visiting Baptist churches in college, Kathryn heard her first real anti-Catholicism from the pulpit, and it shocked her and made her want to learn more about Catholicism, which she poured herself into. This led her to Catholic friendships, and eventually to marry a Catholic. She ended up being confirmed Catholic and receiving her first Holy Communion an hour before her wedding rehearsal dinner! Watch Kathryn’s episode.
3. Lauren De Witt – Former Baptist
Lauren De Witt’s dad was a Baptist pastor, and growing up, her whole world revolved around the life of her church. However, as a young adult, she went through a lot of personal challenges, including an unplanned pregnancy, and it led her to completely re-evaluate her understanding of faith. She shares how those difficulties faced by her and her family brought them to consider the possibility of Catholicism, and what that might mean for them. Watch Lauren’s episode.
2. Sr. Diana Marie Andrews, O.P – Former Latter Day Saint
Sr. Diana Marie grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but dabbled in various forms of Evangelicalism before considering herself more “spiritual but not religious.” Her academic interests led her to the study of history, and when visiting her boyfriend in Rome in 2009, she saw the Pieta in person and found herself in tears. She began exploring the Catholic faith, and after entering, discerned a vocation to the Hawthorne Dominicans. Watch Sr. Diana’s episode.
1. Fr. Sebastian Walshe, O. Praem – Former Lutheran
Fr. Sebastian Walshe had a mixed religious background, with some Catholicism on his father’s side, and Judaism and Lutheranism from his mother. He shares the call he felt on his heart to find a spiritual home in the Catholic Church, and how that call found further fulfillment in his discernment of the priesthood with the Norbertine order. He also shares several insights for family members who have walked away from faith, and what we might do to invite them back. Watch Fr. Sebastian’s episode.
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Thank you for joining us for another great year! And we can’t wait to share another one full of great Journey Home episodes in 2024…
To support our work into the new year, please consider an end-of-year gift today!
View the Top 10 episodes from previous years: 2016 – 2017 – 2018 – 2019 – 2020 – 2021 – 2022
