To My Fellow Catholics

"How can you prove that God exists?"
"Why do you worship Mary?"
"Why don't you think gays should be married?"
"Do you believe that even non-Catholics will go to Heaven?"
"How do you know that Jesus wasn't just a prophet, or a very wise man who happened to have exceptional herbal healing tactics?""Why do you confess to Priests when God already knows your sin?"

Frankly, our Catholic Faith just seems downright confusing most of the time.  If you are a Catholic person who openly practices their faith, I'm sure you've received at least one or two of these questions at some point in time.  But unfortunately, many of us Catholics don't know the answers ourselves!

Suppose I ask you, "What happens in Mass?"
"Uh," you stutter.  You've gone every Sunday for the past X-number of years of your life since you were a child, give or take a few years during college.  And yet you have no idea what even happens in that hour!  Usually you zone out, go through the motions, accidentally uttering, "And also with you," instead of "And with your spirit."  (It's okay, we've all done it.) You've also been known to loudly proclaim "It is right to give Him thanks and praise!" As the word "Praise" echoes solitarily against the stone walls...Everyone else was finished after, "It is right and just." (Giving thanks and praise was so two Advents ago!)

It's not that you are a bad Catholic, it's not that you don't love God, and it's not that you don't have the desire to know -- you simply just don't know.  And that's nothing to be ashamed of!  It means that your Faith has become a part of your routine and your daily life.  You fulfill your Sunday obligations, plop an envelope in the collection basket, and go to Confession once every year or several.  If you remember being an Altar Boy/Girl, recite the Our Father when asked to begin a group prayer, and start every Thanksgiving feast with "Bless us, O Lord," there's no denying that you are, in fact, a true Catholic.

But what happens when you go to work or school, and a lovely friend or co-worker inquires, "Are you religious?"
"Well, sure," you respond, "I'm Catholic."
"...Oh."

Oh.

Oh.

The pandora's box has been opened.

They say, "So, you know Catholics are going to hell, right?"
"I...what?"
"I mean, you call your priests 'Father,' don't you?"
"Well, yeah."
"'Do not call anyone on earth father; for One is your Father, he who is in heaven.' Matthew 23:9. Not that you would know, after all.  I've heard that they don't even let Catholics read the Bible."
"I have a Bible."
"Do you read it?"
(If you're anything like me, probably not as much as you should.)
You respond, "Sometimes."
"Don't you know that God said we should only interpret from the Bible Alone?"
"...He does?"

(Now, if you had studied your faith -- though no discredit to your good name if you have not, for there is a lot to study and it's impossible to know where to begin -- you would know that the notion of "Sola Scriptura," or "The Bible Alone," is frankly a falsehood.  At least, inasmuch as the Bible itself says "The Bible Alone." And that's because it doesn't.)

The conversation continues --

Them: Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your life?
You: I think so..
Them: You think so?
You: Well, yeah. I was Baptized.
Them: Oh, but if you were Baptized as a Catholic, it's not valid! You must be born again.
You: Why?

"Because," they retort, begin to get rather annoyed, "You're basically satanists! What kind of a ritual is the Mass? If you live in full belief that the Priest, whom you call Father, can turn bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ, that's pretty dark.  But then you consume it?  It's absurd, disgusting, and you can't rightly think that anything like that could be approved by God, now, could you?"

You pause. Really, you do not know what to say, though you know that in 2000 years of church history, there has to be an answer to these tough questions.  Rather shaken up and not wishing to find out that your entire life of faith has been a lie, you mutter something about having a report to finish, politely give a troubled half-smile, and return to work.

Driving home, you ponder your conversation.  Surely, there's a rhyme and a reason behind the Mass and "Bless us, O Lord." But where do you find them? You can't page through the Bible and find your supporting argument, you never learned how; you can't consult the Catechism, because only Catholics take it seriously; you can't merely say what you believe, because for all you know, what you have come to believe might not be the truth.

So what do you do?

You can learn!

How do you learn?

You can read this blog!

Since my Freshman year of high school, when I started with Mother of Divine Grace, I've had religion as an academic subject every year.  As you can imagine, I was pretty skeptical.  In addition to math, science, literature, and history, I had to learn Religion, too? Memorize Bible verses along with equations? No way. 
But very quickly, I learned some pretty cool stuff.

I've studied our Catholic Faith, Catholic Morality, the Sacraments, and my favorite, Apologetics.  As my good friend from the Church Band said, "Apologetics is like self-defense classes for Catholics!"  The longer you study Apologetics, the closer you are to being a blackbelt in Church defense-ate. (Take, that, heretics!)

Studying my Faith has lead me to appreciate it more, understand it more, and believe in it more.  (Trust me, when you have a question or a doubt, there's always an answer. And when you find it, there will be not only a sigh of relief, but a "wow" moment of, "It is real!")  My disclaimer, here, is that I am certainly no expert.  I'm not the next St. Thomas Aquinas, and I'm certainly no saint.  I cannot promise that every statement I make will be accurate, though I will refrain from posting on topics that I do not fully understand.  In addition, I will cite my sources (which will usually be my "nihil obstat" and "impramatur"* Religion textbooks.)


So, though you may not leave this page as a Theology professional, you might be able to find some simple answers to some complex questions that you have been asking yourself.  Perhaps you will understand Catholic perspectives on certain social issues, have your own misconceptions clarified, or perhaps just feel overall more confident in your Faith.  Who knows: next time someone questions you regarding the Mass, you might know immediately to refer them to the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 -- and maybe you'll even be able to recite some of it!


*Nihil obstat: nothing hinders, nothing stands in the way
Impramatur: let it be printed