I have stated this in my testimony, that breakpoint for me with Catholicism once and for all came upon the reading of the Gospel of Mark. Specifically when we got to the passage of Mark 3:31-35.

Mark 3:31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

Before this point, with my eyes just opened by God, I was quite excited to actually understand Scripture. The words were jumping off the page. I stopped going to RCC Mass after the first chapter,not because I declared an official break from the RCC but because I was engulfed in wonderment of Scripture. However, I felt NO guilt by not attending for the first time in my life.

I kept asking myself, “why in the world didn’t I know this before”. So when we got to Chapter 3, conviction set in. I could NOT believe what I just read. I had to read the entire Chapter several times, and the passage above several more times. I was shown that I had been deceived by the RCC, and I was truly aghast! I studied every word carefully, giving it one last chance, and there was no way around it!

As a Catholic, I confess I was quite devoted to Mary since my youth. I prayed to her, I had statues, I even prayed in Latin to her. She was an integral part of my faith. I viewed her as with me as much as I would say God was. But she was little more special since I was led to believe she was to be elevated. Despite what a Catholic might hide from you online, there is much more than their words about Mary in their life. Make no mistake, to a Catholic, she is basically like a god who intimately knows you, helps you, interacts with Jesus for you, powerful enough to convince Him to do your bidding.

They will angrily say “NO, she is not a god to us! We honor her as Christ’s mother”, this is simply to hide the faith they are practicing. Just view the contrast how they speak about Mary and how they do Jesus Christ. They can go on for hours about Mary, but will be silent about Jesus in their life. They are MUCH MORE passionate about Mary than God Himself!

So as the passage goes, before this in V21, Mary being a part of Jesus’ family claimed “He was out of His mind”. I had to ask based on what I thought of Mary, could she really be a part of this? The answer was yes as Mark 3:31-35 clearly demonstrated. Maybe she had doubt, and I don’t question her as a Christian, but she was NOT the Mary I was led to believe by the RCC.

Mary was a sinner just like I was. She struggled in her faith just as a human being would. But those are side issues to the real issue which was that Jesus clearly said that she was not to be elevated as I was led to believe. That ANYONE who does the will of the Father would be His brother, sister, and mother.

I was completely convicted, having 4 decades of idolatry under my belt. I wanted to hide under a rock know how terrible that sin was to God. And it was at this specific point I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I could NEVER EVER return to the RCC again. The statues, rosaries, and prayer books were all thrown out, I could not have those idols, they disgusted me as I was disgusted with myself.

From there God showed me MORE serious problems with Catholicism about each day as I read through the word. It was a false gospel I was following for 4 decades. I felt like one being scammed, I gave everything I had to that church, and they in turn wasted 4 decades of my life on lies and deception. There has been NO regret whatsoever, no thought of maybe I was hastily condemning the RCC. There has been absolutely nothing through Scripture which would allow me to rethink things, nothing of which would tell me that Catholicism was teaching the Christian gospel.

I praise God for opening my eyes to this! I thank Him for forgiving these sins and all my sins in my Lord Jesus Christ. I was as wretched as they come, worse than many knew, yet God redeemed me in no part of myself.

Catholics, I implore you to remove your preconceived notions and allow God to teach you these things. Don’t take my word for it, please please please take His word! Don’t allow yourself to be deceived, and trust that God would NEVER deceive you! The RCC has, this is obvious to the discerning eye, so again test things out for yourself before it is too late to do so!