I came across the same mini-dilema in my journey home. I knew that, historically-speaking, the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches could all be considered to be part of the ancient, apostolic and undivided Church. This can also be said for the Assyrian Church of the East as for the Churches in the Oriental Orthodox Communion (who separated from the historic Church for political and cultural reasons much more than for theological ones after the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, respectively). As such, all of the aforementioned ecclesiastical structures rightly claim an unbroken apostolic succession and a correct (biblically and historically) view of the Eucharist. God-willing, barriers will continue to diminish between the members and heirarchies of all of these venerable institutions and, in time, we will see a true and corporate reunification of the ancient Church, East and West. I am realistic enough to realize that this will likely not happen in my lifetime and I also realize that reapproachment is a messy process simply because it involves a bunch of humans, but the hope is based on real possibilities and, more importantly, on the prayers of Christ - so there are reasons to remain optimistic.
This being said, you find yourself in the same place I found myself years ago: trying to discern God’s will for your spiritual journey and, in some sense, trying the choose the “best” of two good options - Catholicism or Orthodoxy. For me, personally, I felt a draw eastward in large part due to the beautiful liturgies of the Orthodox Churches. Our small-town Catholic parish, though vibrant in faith, couldn't’t hold a candle (if you’ll pardon the expression), in my eyes, to the Byzantine liturgy. This was troublesome to me until I discovered hope for the modern Catholic liturgy. This hope has come in the form of the “reform of the reform,” an effort by laity and by many Church officials (including the Holy Father himself) to re-center the modern Mass in the proper context of organic development and historical continuation. In other words, there are real and growing efforts being made in the Catholic Church to rescue the modern Mass from the banality with which it is celebrated in local parishes across the country (indeed, throughout the world). With God’s grace and guidance, the proper celebration of the modern Mass will be bolstered by a greater availability of the older Mass (now called the “extraordinary form of the Roman Rite”). There is much to be optimistic about in this area, but still much work to be done.
The other “roadblock” to Orthodoxy, for me, came in a realization that I am of Western European descent. Well, I didn’t exactly just recently come to that realization, but that fact weighed heavily on my decision. I realized that in my conversion to the historic Church, I shouldn’t fall into the trap of “church shopping.” Instead I became (and remain) convinced, that as a man of Western European stock, I am a Catholic. THAT is the Western branch of the ancient and undivided Church. If I were of Greek, Russian or Eastern European ancestry, my journey would (and should) end in Orthodoxy. But I could not reject outright the notion that there is something important about the different rites of the ancient Church and about how Holy Spirit led the Faith to be interpreted in different cultures and, thus, in different rites. My connection to the historic Faith runs through France and the British Isles. My patriarch is the bishop of Rome.
This is all written off the cuff so I hope it’s not too convoluted to follow. Another important step for me was reading Steven Ray’s book Upon This Rock, which examines the Petrine Office (i.e. the pope) and gives compelling evidence for the Catholic view of the papacy. Above all, I wish you well, I remain open to your questions if you wish to ask me something personally and I urge you to pray, pray, pray!