A chance encounter to attend Mass not only got Michel Bertram curious about the Catholic faith, it also opened up a deeper yearning to find the truth and to learn more about this God that kept bringing him back, every time he tried to walk away. Photo: Supplied.
By Natashya Fernandez
A chance encounter to attend Mass not only got Michel Bertram curious about the Catholic faith, it also opened up a deeper yearning to find the truth and to learn more about this God that kept bringing him back, every time he tried to walk away.
Three years after converting to Catholicism, Michel discusses in a candid interview with The Record Magazine about his first time attending Mass, the insatiable questions he had after his second visit to Church and why his Catholic faith is more than important to him.
Having been put off of going to Church twice before, Michel said he wasn’t very hopeful about attending another Mass again but being given a book about Padre Pio, titled ‘Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry’, led him to question a few things about his life.
“I believe my conversion started while reading the book. It’s difficult to explain it, but it felt like all my life, I lived in this little box and all of a sudden someone opened the lid and tipped it over and I fell out of it. I recognised things like my sins, which I didn’t think about before,” he said.
The book opened up a lot of things which led Michel to want to learn more about the Catholic faith and its traditions, as well as Jesus and His teachings.
“I wanted to change my life. I always thought I lived a sinless life. Oh boy, was I wrong,” he said.
“My fluffy life was a thing of the past and I wanted to do something about growing in my faith.
“The only way to achieve it is to know the truth, live the truth and be the truth.”
Coming from a family of non-believers who moved from Germany to Australia in 2005, Michel explained religion was something that was never discussed or spoken about.
Even though he had a great relationship with his parents, it came as a surprise to them when he expressed his desire to convert to Catholicism.
“Before I decided to convert, I researched a lot of other religions. I wanted to be sure I was chasing the truth, so I read a lot of books, but always came back to the Catholic Church.
“It always felt like they had an answer for everything. I could connect the dots more clearly. It was like I found the truth and nothing else could match up to it.
“When I decided to get baptised in 2014, my parents were quite surprised. They weren’t sure if it was just a ‘thing’ I was into, or if I really took it seriously. They learned quickly that I was serious.
“I’m forever grateful that they were there to support and share the moment with me as I received my first Holy Communion,” he said.
Michel Bertram made his commitment to move forward in his faith journey in 2014 at Lockridge Parish. Photo: Supplied.
While Michel said that he was a very negative person and always saw the worst in people, something changed as he grew deeper in his faith.
“It made me happier and gave me a positive outlook.
“I saw the world with different eyes. I fell in love with the world and its people – God’s people,” he said.
He attributes all of this to three main reasons – prayer, Mother Mary and the faithful people around him.
While prayer gave him strength and hope when he stumbled into Church with barely any faith, he says that he can still see the power it has in his life three years on.
“The more I pray, the more I’m in tune; it helps me stay focused, spiritually and mentally. Like as Padre Pio said about the Rosary, ‘with this weapon you will win’.
“The first prayer I learnt was the Rosary. I never prayed to Jesus in the beginning of my faith journey. I didn’t know how to pray and felt like I wasn’t worthy enough or that I was too small to be heard by Jesus Christ.
“Praying to Mother Mary got me a lot closer to Jesus. It’s beautiful to see how she led me right to her Son, our Lord,” he added.
Michel added that seeing and watching people in the Church and the work they did was an inspiration to him.
“When I first started going to Mass, I would admire each person and their faith. I always said to myself, ‘I wish I had their faith’. It was a long road to build my own faith and deepen my relationship with Jesus.
Michel Bertram together with members of his RCIA group at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Lockridge in 2014. Photo: Supplied.
“I learned a lot through the RCIA program at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, Lockridge. Even nowadays I see other people’s faith and it motivates and pushes me to deepen my own.
“With many challenges thrown his way, Michel said his only way to overcome these challenges was to actively live his faith.
“I never stop praying. Even when days are hard and things don’t go as planned, I continue to pray. If I can use the tools the Church gave me, why not pass it on to others?
“It’s now my time to give back what was passed on to me; by evangelising and sharing the Good News with the world,” he concluded.
From pages 22 and 23 of Issue 11: ‘Adult Faith: Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Book of Numbers’ of The Record Magazine