When Tim Glemkowski asked Debbie Herbeck to share how she went from Judaism to the Catholic faith, she traced her journey back to both a deep love for her Jewish heritage and a devastating family tragedy.
Debbie grew up in a strongly Jewish home, was bat mitzvahed at 13, and had a great love for Israel and the Jewish people. But she told Tim that she had no personal relationship with God and knew almost nothing about Jesus.
Then, when Debbie was 15, her 17-year-old brother was killed in a car accident.
The loss left her grieving and asking difficult questions. Where was her brother? What happened after death? And where was God in such terrible suffering?
Years later at the University of Michigan, Debbie met Catholics whose lives suggested there might be something more. Then came an unexpected turning point. She was invited to watch the 1970s miniseries Jesus of Nazareth.
As Tim and Debbie shared a laugh about the film’s famously intense portrayal of Jesus, Debbie explained that something much more profound struck her: Jesus was Jewish.
For the first time, she wondered why she knew so little about Him.
Then she watched Martha and Mary confront Jesus after Lazarus’ death.
“Where were You? If You had been here, our brother would not have died.”
Debbie immediately recognized her own grief in their words.
But then Jesus raised Lazarus.
She returned to her room wondering, “Who is this man? Could He be the Messiah?”
Debbie began studying the Gospels and praying daily for God to reveal the truth. Over the following nine months, including through a vivid dream in which Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?”, she became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah.
That discovery began a new life of discipleship – and a mission to help others encounter Him too.
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