Guided By God

I recently heard a story told by Peter Kreeft that he said was partly responsible for his conversion to the Catholic Church. It goes like this:

Back in the time of the middle ages, when there were really nasty popes and bishops, a Jewish businessman had decided to convert to Christianity. However, before he did so he had to go to Rome and do some business with the Vatican. The bishop who was to bring him into the Church, feared that once he saw how they acted at the Vatican, the Jew would not want to convert. Thus he proposed that the Jew be baptized before going to Rome. The Jew replied, "Nonsense. I am a practical businessman. I am going to Rome and when I return I shall be baptized."

The bishop was sure that he had lost him forever. A couple of months went by and the Jew returned to the bishop. "Okay, I'm ready to be baptized now," he said. The bishop asked, "You mean you didn't go to Rome." "No, I went," said the Jew. The bishop replied, "Oh, so you didn't do business with the Vatican?" "Yes, I did business with the Vatican," responded the Jew. The bishop shockingly asked, "And you still want to be baptized?" To which the Jew replied, "Listen, I told you that I'm a practical businessman. Now a Church as stupid and corrupt as yours wouldn't last fourteen days, yet yours has lasted fourteen hundred years. It has to be guided by God. I am ready to be baptized now."