Yay! I got a response to the email I sent to the Catholic Priest. I asked him for a personal testimony: both why he is Christian and why Catholic...
"Thanks for your email. I'm glad that you came to visit our parish. We gather on Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection from the dead, to worship God and give thanks to God.
I became a Christian through baptism as a baby. As Catholic Christians we emphasize that it is God who first chooses us. St. John says that it is not we who first love God but God who first loves us. St. Peter tells us "baptism saves you now." (1 Pet 3:20) Through the waters of baptism our sin is washed away and we are born again into God's family. Jesus tells us you must be born again by water and Holy Spirit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3)
God then wants our response to the gift of salvation given to us in baptism. Through prayer, the sacramental life, and works of charity we cooperate with God's grace and allow it to bear fruit in our lives.
Faith is a gift - it is like a muscle. The more we practice and exercise it the stronger it will grow. I take time each day to pray - to enter into conversation with God. I offer each day up to God and ask for his guidance and blessings on my day.
Why Catholicism? We can trace our roots back to Christ himself. The bishops of the Catholic Church can trace apostolic succession (the laying on of hands) back to the apostles of Jesus. Another big reason I'm Catholic is the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Jesus says, "My flesh is real food and my blood is true drink." (John 6) As Catholics we can accept Christ into our lives every day of the year through Holy Communion at Mass. We have a living encounter with our Savior.
I forwarded your e-mail also to Fr. Shawn who is the other priest at our parish. Either one of us will be happy to meet with you. We also offer classes on Wednesday night from 7 - 8:30 pm on the Catholic Faith. They begin Sept. 8th. You are welcome to come simply as an inquirer to learn more about what we believe as Catholics.
Thank you for being open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I will pray for you and please don't hesitate to e-mail of call if you have questions or ever want to meet. May God bless you,
Fr. Brian"
He sounded very nice and I'm glad he took the time to reply. I'm really grateful that there are people like Fr. Brian who will respond to my questions and give me insight as to why people believe, and not just believe, but actually believe strongly enough to make a profession out of their faith.
Why he became a Christian- because his parents baptized him... so not a conscious choice. God chose Him... I know that Catholics believe much more strongly in the power of baptism than many protestants. In my upbringing, baptizing has been thought of as a way that a believer can profess her belief to others. The idea that parents choosing to sprinkle their babies with water can keep those babies from going to hell, basically doing all of the work for the babies (and since I used that word 'work,' the idea that we can do something to earn our way to heaven- something other than just believing) - well, it doesn't add up.
Why he's Catholic- because it's most like Jesus? Uh? Next point, because of the Eucharist of Communion. Okay, I can see that. If you really thought that that was communion with Jesus- his true blood and body- yeah, I could see why you'd want that more often and would go with Catholicism.
Getting back to his reasons for belief in both the religion and the denomination, is being born into a religious family really enough to make one believe in something so strongly that he would give up the chance of getting married (and it's guys we're talking about- the chance to have sex!) because of it? That's one of my biggest hang-ups about Catholicism. The fact that priests can't get their sexual needs met, which causes a disproportionately high number of them to abuse children.
Anyway, some answers from the priest. Excellent. I thought it was nice of him to invite me to learn more... but I won't be. I must move on in my sojourn.
He sounded very nice and I'm glad he took the time to reply. I'm really grateful that there are people like Fr. Brian who will respond to my questions and give me insight as to why people believe, and not just believe, but actually believe strongly enough to make a profession out of their faith.
Why he became a Christian- because his parents baptized him... so not a conscious choice. God chose Him... I know that Catholics believe much more strongly in the power of baptism than many protestants. In my upbringing, baptizing has been thought of as a way that a believer can profess her belief to others. The idea that parents choosing to sprinkle their babies with water can keep those babies from going to hell, basically doing all of the work for the babies (and since I used that word 'work,' the idea that we can do something to earn our way to heaven- something other than just believing) - well, it doesn't add up.
Why he's Catholic- because it's most like Jesus? Uh? Next point, because of the Eucharist of Communion. Okay, I can see that. If you really thought that that was communion with Jesus- his true blood and body- yeah, I could see why you'd want that more often and would go with Catholicism.
Getting back to his reasons for belief in both the religion and the denomination, is being born into a religious family really enough to make one believe in something so strongly that he would give up the chance of getting married (and it's guys we're talking about- the chance to have sex!) because of it? That's one of my biggest hang-ups about Catholicism. The fact that priests can't get their sexual needs met, which causes a disproportionately high number of them to abuse children.
Anyway, some answers from the priest. Excellent. I thought it was nice of him to invite me to learn more... but I won't be. I must move on in my sojourn.
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