2.4 KiB
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When did you become part of the Catholic Church? I was baptized/confirmed as a child but never really took religion seriously until I graduated college - I guess you'd call me a "revert".
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If you weren't born into the faith, what led you to become Catholic? I never really doubted the existence of God, but would probably call myself more of a deist. I started running into more Protestant folks, and would sometimes go to their services, and even though I didn't really understand the Mass, I could see that there was something fundamentally different going on, even if I couldn't articulate it. In college, I encountered the Church's papal encyclicals on economics and was very impressed - clearly, while the rest of the world is insane, the Church was cogent and in touch with reality on this matter. I also found myself listening to speakers like Jonathan Pageau and Jordan Peterson who helped me understand symbolism. I read a very moving book, Laurus, by Eugene Vodolazkin, a (fictional) account of a holy fool, which impressed me greatly.
It wasn't really until I moved out to New Hampshire that these seeds really started to germinate, though. I needed to find community - of people who at least weren't insane. If there were so many denominations, and they all contradict each other, which is true? I started looking into Church history and the spirit of the early church to see what reflected it today. Well, you do that, and you narrow the options down pretty quickly to the Catholic Church (Eastern Orthodoxy being a close second).
I went back to confession (most important), I discovered traditional liturgy (and in particular, the Melkites' Divine Liturgy), and found good friends who were committed to the path of holiness. What I have seen, I cannot unsee; what I know, I cannot un-know.
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What does it mean to YOU to be Catholic? To be united to Christ.
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Why do you choose to remain dedicated to being Catholic? On the negative side, sin and meaningless suffering suck. It's really awful going around the world looking at everything wrong. Most of our problems come from taking a wrong view of things.
On the positive side, uniting my suffering to Christ and basking in the goodness of His creation are great consolation and joy. Seeing the world properly, seeing myself properly, seeing others properly, gives so much peace.
As Peter said: "Where else shall we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life."