A college junior, Ted Janiszewski is a Catholic convert of three years. In many ways, he is much like any ambitious student, full of plans and interests. He is in the honors program at the Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in Information Technology and minoring in History. He is an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan and enjoys soccer and reading. He has a fondness for Latin and studies ancient Greek on weekends outside of his regular classes. However, he is also somewhat unique in that his young life has been characterized by a yearning for a deeper understanding of true faith, and a zeal for Christian unity. In describing his journey to Catholicism, he is confident and articulate. “I’ve been so richly blessed,” he reflects, “God has truly had His hand on my life.”
Ted explains, “It’s said that the ideal childhood is the progression from the womb of the mother, to the womb of the family, to the womb of the community. My childhood progressed more or less along these lines.” He grew up in a loving family in the Pittsburgh area. During childhood, he, his parents, and younger sister lived in a lower-income area. Here, the family regularly attended services a local Episcopal church. They were involved beyond simple attendance: Ted remembers serving as an acolyte and reader, as well as attending Sunday school. Despite this, Ted describes his family’s involvement with religion “superficial” at this time. While church was important, Ted remembers that religion was not fully integrated into their daily life.
The summer before sixth grade, Ted’s family moved to the more prosperous Pittsburgh suburbs. Some weekends, they would drive the half hour back to their old church. Eventually, they became involved with a small Episcopal church nearby. Though unable to pinpoint a driving factor, Ted remembers a gradual transformation that fell over his family. Specifically, he recalls that the family’s faith began to deepen, and their approach to religion became more serious. For example, over the next few years, the family began to routinely and seriously pray at each meal. Their faith became more a part of daily life. Today, Ted’s reflections about his family’s religious life are anything but superficial, “I’ve had incredible discussions with my father about what it means to be a
Christian,” he remarks. The family environment meant a lot to Ted’s spiritual development and awareness of himself as a Christian.
He also recalls another significant event that took place during his freshman year of high school. At this time, Ted attended a Christian retreat called “Happening”. Up to this point, he had always considered himself a Christian, “But after this it became more personal.” During a period of quiet reflection, he was lying on his back and looking up at the rafters. “I felt God is really there. Just do with me what You will.’” He then got up and prayed with a friend. “Since that Saturday night the Lord has had a plan and has blessed me. I really took a hold of it. God’s been leading me by the hand ever since.”
Ted grew spiritually after this time, though never felt a particular desire to become Catholic. He was, however, exposed to some of the concepts of Catholicism through a tight-knit group of high-school friends. Some of these friends were Catholic. Like many non-Catholics, he found certain concepts strange and difficult to accept, such Purgatory and devotion to the Blessed Mother. He remembers having conversations with his Catholic friends around these subjects. Usually, the other teens were unable to answer his questions.
As a young adult, Ted became more involved with the Episcopal church and developed an interest in church leadership. The pastor who led the “Happening” group approached him and his parents about an apprenticeship for Ted. Specifically, the pastor was planning a trip out of the country the summer after Ted’s freshman year of college. With training and mentoring, he was planning to leave Ted in charge of his local congregation for two weeks. It was a daunting responsibility for any nineteen-year-old, but one Ted was very excited about.
It was an exciting time for other reasons, too. When the time came to look at colleges, Ted had good prospects due to his strong academic performance. He became interested in Rochester Institute of Technology through a friend, and after learning about the school’s reputation in information technology education. He was fortunate to win a scholarship to RIT and a spot in their honors program. Though previously unfamiliar with upstate New York, Ted enjoyed his first home away from home and had a great time his freshman year. Rochester also has special significance for Ted, because it was here that his life also took a turn.
During his freshman year, he was strolling through one of the campus’s windowed hallways. Through one of the windows, he saw a friend who was leading a Christian Bible study. It was a Christian fellowship group, and the majority of the participants were Catholic. The friend beckoned to him, but Ted declined. On another day, he came across the same group. When they again invited him to join, this time he thought, “Why not?” He enjoyed the group, and began to routinely participate. Over time, he began asking questions of his Catholic counterparts. Unlike his high school experience, he obtained answers. “[Prior to this] I really had no knowledge of things like schism, Henry VIII, and the Protestant reformation”.
In reflection, Ted cites three major factors as contributing to his decision to convert to Catholicism: “the history of the split, the nature of schism, and the Catholics who were there to help me along the way”.
Through participating in this group and asking questions Ted grew to better understand the universality of the Catholic Church and its invitation to all people. He also began to reflect on the words of the Nicene Creed and the concept of Christian unity. “I began to understand the Schism as a division of the Body of Christ”. Over time, he began to long for full communion with the one true Church and for the real, valid Eucharist. He stopped receiving communion at the Episcopal Church that he was attending in Rochester, though he continued to attend services. “Every time, I came to the same conclusion. I can’t take communion in this church. I know all the words,I remember the taste, but I can’t return to this.”
Unity and truth are concepts very important to Ted. “You can see the fruits of schism in the Anglican Church today – it just continues to splinter, just like every schism, every time. Because of our divisions, the world no longer believes that we have the truth.”
He consulted the Bible. “In the garden of Gethsemane, Christ prayed, ‘That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21).’ “This civil war has been tearing the Church apart for too long. I was ready to rejoin the Union for the sake of the nation.”
But the change was difficult and Ted wrestled within himself. He was torn between his increasing awareness of Catholicism and his loyalty to the Anglican faith. “I would later realize that all the most valuable things in Anglicanism are, in fact, Catholic. The center of Catholicism, and this is absolutely overwhelming, is Jesus Christ. The rest is just a picture frame.” Inquisitive and
intelligent, it took time for Ted to work through these feelings. “I’d be lying if I said that I thought this through and showed up at Mass one day. I had help every step of the way.”
A major example of this help was the support he received at the St. Irenaeus Center, and the orthodox Catholic ministry in Rochester, dedicated to advancing the gospel through prayer, fellowship, and adult education. He became involved with St Irenaeus through his Catholic friends at RIT. He found this to be a caring and grounding force: “We have a community where the people are actually awake. Not just awake; the heart is pumping, the body’s moving. It’s quite a community, but also a family….we’re united in Christ’s blood.”
As he became more and more aware of his calling to become a Catholic, he especially struggled with the conversion decision all through Lent of his freshman year. On Good Friday he told a friend, “I think I need to become a Catholic.” His friend was astonished and overjoyed, and confessed he had been quietly praying throughout all of Lent for Ted to come to this decision by Easter. In preparing to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist, Ted received Catholic instruction through St. Irenaeus. He also attended an RCIA program at St. John Fisher College. Finally, throughout the Easter season he attended daily Mass, though he continued to wait to receive his First Communion.
There was some difficulty in telling others of his decision. For one, Ted had to cancel his summer apprenticeship. He had a long and difficult talk with his mentor back in Pennsylvania, whom he greatly admired and respected. The pastor was obviously disappointed and worried that Ted was being persuaded. He implored Ted to return to the Episcopal fold. But, with time, he grew to accept Ted’s decision and the two remain good friends.
When explaining his desire to convert, his father and mother were also concerned and confused. “It was a little touch and go for awhile,” Ted reminisces, “But they saw that I hadn’t changed.” Ted continues to enjoy a close and loving relationship with his parents and younger sister. “I’m the same man that I was. Catholicism has strengthened my faith and brought me closer to God.”
On Pentecost Sunday of that year, Ted received his First Holy Communion. For him, there was no question that it was the right thing to do. That first summer after his freshman year, he returned home to Pennsylvania as a new Catholic. He attended Mass at a local Catholic church every day, and said the Rosary afterwards with a group of people. He was an unusual but welcome figure, a teenager praying with a group of elderly women! He went on to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation the following Easter.
Today, he continues to have great respect for the Episcopal Church. “I still have a soft spot for Anglicans,” he explains. “There are good and godly men and women. You could definitely see God working.” But he also has plans, “I want the Anglicans back. I want them to return to the fold, not empty, but with every grace and blessing that God has given. But it doesn’t stop there. I want every person hungry for Christ to be satisfied. ‘Feed my sheep,” that’s our duty.”
Ted looks forward to graduating from RIT next year and plans to stay involved with St. Irenaeus. He is currently combining his professional and spiritual interests at the Center, serving in an IT capacity through a work-study program. He is also a Bible study leader at St. John Fisher. In the future, he sees himself serving in lay ministry and striving to re-energize the Catholic faith where it is lacking. “I want to give my life to the service of Christians everywhere. Count on it. I’m going to give my life for the renewal of the Church.”