3 Reasons: Three Role Models

So, my non-Catholic family and friends might ask, what's with giving all this attention to dead saints, anyway? After all, all God's people are saints [definition: those who have been set apart]. Well, yeah, but I personally don't find that all God's people make good role models. The people that the Catholic Church has officially declared as saints are held up as role models for the rest of us who need real-life examples of how to be disciples.

As an aside, the Catholic Church does NOT consider only those who have been named as saints to BE saints. The Church's assumption is that there are MANY people who have been extraordinarily good role models of what it means to be a disciple, but the mechanism for having official recognition is cumbersome and expensive, so not everyone who deserves that official recognition gets it…not because the Church doesn't think they're worth it, but every cause for official sainthood needs a group of people committed to the investment of time and energy into advocating for that cause.

So anyway, who are the saints that I have found most helpful as role models? Since I already did one linkup on my favorite saints here, I'll reach a bit further to saints that I'm intrigued by but haven't really bonded to yet.


SAINT FRANCES OF ROME. I'm really attracted to her because she had a long and happy marriage (40 years!) and also was able to serve the poor of that large city in a substantial way through the wars and pestilences of the 15th century, to the point where she was mourned by the whole city at her death. What struck me the most in her biography is what her husband told her on his deathbed: "I feel as if my whole life has been one beautiful dream of purest happiness. God has given me so much in your love." That is my heart's greatest desire - to be a wife like that. For a more detailed bio, click here.

SAINT SYNCLETICA. She is the best known of the Desert Mothers - women who withdrew from the corruption of the contemporary culture in order to focus on living solely for God. They, like the Desert Fathers, lived primarily the 3rd and 4th centuries and the communities that grew up around them were the first expressions of monasticism. For me she is a model of the older woman of faith who can - and does - teach the younger. Many of her wise sayings have been preserved, such as this one: "There is an ascetism that is determined by the enemy and his disciples practice it. So how are we to distinguish between the divine and royal asceticism and the demonic tyranny? Clearly through the quality of balance." For more of her wisdom, click here.

ST. JOHN KOLOBUS. One of the desert hermits who lived in the 4th century. 'Kolobus' apparently means 'dwarf', which he was. Through much experience he learned to be gentle and humble. To test him in his humility, his spiritual director ordered him to water a walking staff stuck in the sand, which he did faithfully. It blossomed and John Kolobus called it "the tree of obedience". I love that his physical stature reflected the inward state of smallness that is so important for those who want to enter the kingdom of God. There was nothing flashy or important or special about him, except that he is a great example of one who learned humility. for more info, click here.

And for more stories about great role models for us as we stumble forward toward God, click here to get to Micaela's blog, California to Korea and back again.

3 Reasons - January 2014 edition

I would have done this post when Micaela first opened the link but we had some dear friends visiting us for a week and I didn't have the bandwidth to do a blog post late at night when everyone else was asleep. However, I got my 3 Things for this month from conversations with our friends. He is a retired Presbyterian pastor whose brother converted from the Anglican church (British family) to the Catholic Church many years ago. In addition, the pastor's wife used to be a Benedictine oblate through a monastery in Illinois, but it was too far from her home in California to continue the connection, so she had to give it up.

Anyway, while they were here we had many conversations about God, since we all started our faith journeys together in a highly committed christian community of ex-hippies in Mendocino and we share a common intense focus on our faith. One of the first things our friend Michael said is that the Catholic Church allows for much more diversity than protestant churches. This is a particularly interesting observation from a man who used to head up the U.S. Center for World Mission, and who has been involved in mentoring Chinese, Indonesian, Hispanic and other church groups (all Presbyterian) over the years. That got me thinking about how the Catholic Church welcomes diversity and expects it, where many (or most) non-Catholic groups are suspicious or afraid of diversity in faith practices or cultural expressions of worship. I'm not sure where that comes from but I can definitely attest to it from my decades in various non-Catholic faith communities. For the most part there is a fond affirmation of "diversity", but what is meant is a wide range of ages, or socio-economic conditions, and occasionally of ethnic backgrounds. But don't think you'll be accepted if you insist on a different way of "doing church" than what everyone's used to!

I suspect that one reason the Catholic Church can open her arms wide to take in all manner of expressions of faith is that - on a visible, experienced level - she relies on the commonly held Creed, the affirmation of the sacraments and the common liturgical elements to provide the necessary unity. Although some (but ever fewer) non-Catholic faith communities hold up the Creed as a central expression of their theology, almost none (other than the Orthodox) even believe that the sacraments are actually instruments of God's grace rather than simply symbols of human commitment. And especially since the spread of the mega-church model, there are few christian groups who see liturgy as anything other than "dead traditions". So they are left with the only way to share a common culture being having the same culture in common in the first place.

Another thing that my friend Michael pointed out arose as we spoke of the tragedy of denominations such as the Presbyterians and the Anglicans having given way to the culture of death because their governing bodies are composed largely of non-theologian lay people who are more concerned about being accepted by their neighbors than they are about being accepted by God. Michael noted that it must give us a great sense of security to have a strong authority in matters of faith and doctrine, and of course I agreed. However, he couldn't make the connection in his own mind that we have that precisely because we trust the popes and magisterium throughout the ages to guide us according to the Word of God, because Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit would ensure that this would happen.

And for an example of cultural diversity within the unity of shared sacraments, here's a great photo of Cardinal Sean O'Malley with a group of Korean Catholics:

Thank you, Lord, for a Church that can be confident in its diversity because it has consistency of structure and teachings due to the oversight of the authority that you gave her through the Pope and the magisterium!

Don't forget to click over to California to Korea for more great posts on favorite aspects of our beloved Church!

3 Reasons - November 2013

It's time to collect my thoughts and come up with 3 of the MANY reasons that I love Catholicism, and link up with Micaela at California to Korea and Back.

In keeping with All Saints' Day, I'm going to share 3 of my favorite saints with you. The first is my patron saint, Santa Rosa de Lima. As I think I've mentioned before, I did not choose her; she chose me, and for quite awhile I wasn't interested in returning the favor. She is the patron saint of the Philippines (where I was born), the patron saint of the state of California, where I lived for 60 years, the patron saint of gardeners (of which I am one), the patron saint of needleworkers (of which I am one), and Santa Rosa, California is the diocesan seat of the diocese where Mendocino, our home town, is.

What I have had a hard time with is understanding her practice of extreme mortification. I didn't really want to have a relationship with someone so weird! But recently two things have changed my heart. One is her crown of flowers, which she always wore to hide the silver crown of thorns that she wore underneath as a penance. I came to see that I need to put on "a crown of flowers" if I am suffering in any way or in the throes of extended prayer for a serious issue. Santa Rosa's crown of flowers is a powerful image to remind me to be aware of how I'm coming across to others.

The second thing that happened to change my heart was that the other day while at adoration I was reflecting on the many instances in which pride has caused me to fall, and it seemed that Santa Rosa showed me that pride was her besetting sin as well. That's why she engaged in the mortifying practices, and I suddenly understood what would cause someone to do that, because at that moment I had been so upset at pride's influence in my life that I was wanting to strike out at it with the same force. I am thankful that I live in a time when extreme mortification is seen as inappropriate, but that wasn't the case in Santa Rosa's time.

On to Saint number 2: Anna Maria Taigi. Although she is officially only a Blessed, the fact that her body is incorrupt after over 175 years seems to me evidence enough of her holiness. She was the first saint I was led to for prayer support in some things that I was dealing with when I first came into the Catholic Church. If you want to know her story just click on the link. I found her prayer support to be very helpful, and her life to be a great example of humility (goodness knows I can use all the role models and support I can get for that!).

The last saint that I am grateful for today is another person who is in the process to be declared a saint: Solanus Casey. I only recently read his story in the AMAZING book, "Nothing Short of a Miracle", an absolutely REQUIRED read. What a wonderful man! I want his humility! Oh to be a doorkeeper in the house of God...he's someone I know that I have a lot to learn from, and if you know his story, you'll know that he is someone who not only had his prayers answered while he was here on earth, but now that he's in heaven, his prayers are continuing to produce miracles.

What a blessing to have these elder brothers and sisters to learn from and receive support from! Thank you, Father, for adopting us into Your FAMILY!

PS - don't forget to hop on over to Micaela's blog to read more wonderful things about the Catholic Church!

3 Reasons - The Light of Faith

I'm joining up with Micaela and whoever else is sharing the many ways that the Catholic Church nourishes her children. And I encourage you to join in, because reflecting on what is important to you about your faith is a valuable activity, and one which will strengthen your faith.

This past week our parish has been focusing on Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), which as our priest pointed out is the only encyclical written by two popes. For the non-Catholics who might be reading this post (family? are you there?) an encyclical is a letter written to everyone, not to a specific group. So, for instance, in the Bible Paul's letters to specific churches are not encyclicals, whereas Peter's, John's and James' are. Throughout the ages Popes have written encyclicals to clarify or emphasize various aspects of the faith, just as the New Testament apostolic letters do.

Since I am a new Catholic (2010) I had never read an encyclical before Lumen Fidei and I was completely blown away when I read it. The wisdom! the encouragement! the challenge! Every bit as nourishing as the letters in the Bible. Although encyclicals are not considered equal to the letters in the Bible because they weren't written by the original apostles, they are written by Popes and therefore have the gravitas of authority and the accumulated wisdom stored in the Church. They also refer to biblical passages (as does the Catechism) to put the teaching into context and confirm its truth.

Here are three things from Lumen Fidei that spoke deeply to me. Since each paragraph in an encyclical is numbered to make it easier to refer to, I will cite the numbers where these quotes are found.

[1] Paragraph 29: "Hearing emphasizes personal vocation and obedience, and the fact that truth is revealed in time. Sight provides a vision of the entire journey and allows it to be situated within God's overall plan; without this vision, we would be left only with unconnected parts of an unknown whole." Paragraph 30: Faith appears as a process of gazing, in which our eyes grow accustomed to peering into the depths."

This is a summary from a whole section on hearing and seeing and how faith is built up differently through the two. I loved this because it confirms something that God has been impressing on me about my own experience of faith. I'm so much a person of vision: that is the primary way that God communicates with me (through images, not words) and it's the strength that I've relied on in my service to others [the vision of the entire journey]. Yet listening is different, more personal: listening for God's voice guiding me, admonishing me, encouraging me. I eagerly seek out quietude (one reason I love adoration so much) where I can simply gaze at God and listen to what He has to say to me.


[2] Paragraph 31: "Saint Augustine, commenting on the account of the woman suffering from hemorrhages...says, 'To touch him with our hearts: that is what it means to believe'. The crowd presses in on Jesus, but they do not reach him with the personal touch of faith, which apprehends the mystery that He is the Son who reveals the Father."

Yes! To touch Him with our hearts - what a perfect description of faith. It's not believing with the mind that saves us; it's believing with the heart. We must ask God for the ability to discern the difference lest we end up like the goats who did many acts of service in God's name but never knew Him.


[3] Paragraph 34: "Truth leads to humility, since believers know that, rather than ourselves possessing the truth, it is truth which embraces and possesses us. Far from making us inflexible, the security of faith sets us on a journey; it enables witness and dialog with all."

There are two treasures in here that I see. One is that (as other parts of the letter go into in more detail) faith is a gift of God and that our works won't save us. ALL is from God, ALL we possess we receive from Him. The other treasure is that the stronger our faith grows, the less we fear dialog and acknowledging that truth is often embedded in strange places. That is one of the main reasons why the pharisees wouldn't accept Jesus - because the Truth came in a "strange" package, one that didn't fit into their concepts. And it is a requirement of true evangelism: being able to listen, and to acknowledge the dignity and value of the other person, no matter how far from the truth he may be. We are all God's creation, and God loves us all.

A final note: somehow I had expected encyclicals to be VERY long and boring. Instead, I find that they are like my favorite books of the Bible - pertinent to my life and strengthening for my faith. I'm looking forward to reading more of them!

3 Reasons, September edition

I was so dismayed to find out that I had completely spaced out on the date, that I wasn't ready with a post for my FAVORITE linkup, 3 Reasons I Love Catholicism. I have been so discombobulated this past week - things have not been connecting properly in my head. Maybe it's due to having had 4 Tropical Storms come through here in a week and a half.

Anyway, here are my favorite three for this month:

SHARING PRAYERS.

I've done a post on how my understanding of prayer has changed since becoming a Catholic, but one aspect of this has been a real comfort to me today, and that is that Catholics know that often it's hard to find the words when praying, so they are generous in composing and sharing prayers for specific occasions. Today was the day of fasting for Syria, and I was spinning my wheels, spiritually speaking, in finding a means of praying that I knew was of the depth and breadth that the situation deserved. "Oh God, help the Syrians" wasn't enough. Happily the US Conference of Catholic Bishops put a prayer on their website for us tongue-tied people to use, and I was SO thankful, because it covered aspects of this situation that need our prayers that I, of course, had completely ignored in my own attempts to pray. I have come to love the prayers that others who are more spiritual and articulate than I have made available for the rest of us to use.

SHARING SUFFERINGS.

Since this is the world-wide day of fasting and prayer, it's a good time to be thankful that the Catholic Church identifies with people who are suffering, whether or not they are part of the Catholic family. Of course, christians in general are like Christ in this, but the message becomes so much stronger when it is focused and acted out under the banner of the largest group of christians in the world. The Church keeps her family aware of the sufferings that various members are undergoing (as well as the sufferings of those who are not part of the same family), and calls us to pray regularly for them. We, as a body, pray for those who are suffering at every mass, but as the Pope did in calling for a specific day of prayer, we are often called to special prayer for those who are suffering. And of course, the cloistered monks and nuns throughout the world have prayer for the suffering as their daily work, 24/7/365.

SHARING GLORY.

The Catholic Church understands the amazing gift that God has in store for us - sharing in His glory - because it sees in Mary what that means, what it looks like. All the things about Mary that protestants get the willies over are for ALL of us: her purity (we will be clothed in white), her importance in the redemption of mankind (God made us to be co-workers with Him), her queenship (we will reign with Him). If we can't look at these things made visible in Mary, we are missing the joy that comes from truly laying hold of the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. She is what we will be, and that's not something to be sneered at, but received with awe.

For more wonderful things about the Catholic Church, click yourself over to Micaela's blog.

3 Reasons, vol. 5

Glory hallelujah! It's time for a new segment of "3 Reasons Why I Love Catholicism"!

[1] THE SIMPLICITY OF THE FAITH
This is something that is available to all christians, of course, but so many non-Catholics believe that the Catholic Church makes things hard for people, when the opposite is the case. The Church doesn't have many rules, and they're all pretty basic: be baptized to wash away your sins; be confirmed to receive the full graces of the Holy Spirit; don't forsake the gathering of the faithful - attend mass every Sunday; recognize your calling as the solemn and glorious thing that it is, whether it is to serve God through marriage or celibacy. All of those are things that anyone who "loves the Lord their God with all their heart, mind and strength" would have no quarrel with.

[2] THE MANY WAYS OF BINDING OURSELVES MORE CLOSELY TO JESUS
The Catholic Church is so ancient and so big that she has developed innumerable ways of helping her children to grow in faith. Are you visual? All the centuries of art/images created to help people to reflect on biblical stories and the truths of the faith are there for you. Do you have an inquiring mind? The many books written by brilliant philosophers and apologists and theologians can help you to understand the "why's" of the faith (the links take you to some who are speaking to our current culture, and there are many more that I could point you to). Do you want help in studying the bible? (BTW all of the New Testament was written by people whose concept of "church" was the same as the Catholic Church today - check out the writings of the Church Fathers) There are innumerable Catholic Bible studies / commentaries / Bible meditations to choose from - here's a place to start. Do you want to pray better? The riches of prayer in the Church are endless! (contact me if you want some guidance on where to start looking). Do you just want help in learning how to be a saint? One great resource among too many to mention is the Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction website. Or read This book with stories of many saints who are our role models. No matter what kind of circumstances you find yourself in, there are saints who've been there and whose lives show how to be overcomers. I could keep this list going, but it would be hundreds of pages long. Suffice it to say, there are many types of help available to strengthen your relationship with God. All you need is the desire!

[3] A CLEAR IMAGE OF THE PROMISE OF OUR CALLING
Probably what has amazed me the most in coming into the Catholic Church is that now I know what is the glory of the inheritance that God has for us: it looks like Mary. What He has in store for us, He has already given to Mary. To learn what the Church has taught from the most ancient times, and is still held in the Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic churches is to be struck dumb in wonder at the love God has for us and the incomprehensible truth of what it means that He wants to share His glory with us.

And here's something fascinating I found about muslims honoring Mary. Amazing!

For more reasons to love the Catholic Church (whether or not you need any), head on over to Micaela's at California to Korea and Back (a great blog by the way - you should definitely subscribe!).

3 Reasons, vol. 4

Welcome back to the States, Micaela! And now that you're all settled in (yuk yuk) let's focus on that glorious Church that we love so much! Here are three aspects of the Catholic Church that I am deeply grateful for:

The Church stimulates her children to create glorious works. People want to beautify and adorn the things that they love. The argument has been made that the Church should sell all its valuable assets and give the money to the poor. Setting aside how that same argument was by Judas Iscariot, the thing to remember is that it is THE POOR who were (and still are) most enthusiastic about having a beautiful place to worship, with rich decorations and vestments. The church is their meeting place, the center of their social activities, the storehouse of all that matters to them. Poor people want to have lovely surroundings just as rich people do, but since they can't afford to do it in their individual homes they pool their resources and create church buildings that are as beautiful as they can make them. The Catholic Church recognizes the significance of beauty and its connection to love, and encourages her children to reach for beauty in their acts and in their works.

It make look busy to you, but to us in this humble town it's our beautiful church home.

The Church knows how to celebrate! Important events and people are not just remembered mentally, they are an excuse for a festival. In her book Walking on Water Madeleine L'Engle writes about a group of Congregational ministers who wanted to observe the Feast of the Transfiguration. They checked out all the Episcopal churches in their area and none of them were having a celebration that day. Too bad it would never have occurred to them to go to the nearest Catholic church. Here are some photos of the "peregrinacion" (march) held on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the nearby parish of that name, which our parish participated in (hey, when it's your birthday or name day and you have a party, you invite the whole family!) We brought the traveling statue of our Lady of the Pillar (our parish is named after her) to join in the march.


The Church is comfortable with sinners and the needy in her midst. Of course every Christian community says that they love sinners and the needy, but in my experience much of the time those who clearly do not "have it together" are not particularly welcome within the community. The needy are the outsiders to whom we minister, not part of the family who sits at the table with us. The Catholic Church reaches out and provides welcome and safety as part of the community to the homeless, the confused, the ignorant. She is patient with her children, loving them toward health rather than judging them for their lacks. The spirit of humility is thick within the walls of the church.

This photo is from a mass that our church had for a group of migrant farm workers who had never had the opportunity to partake in the Church's sacraments. During the mass there were 15 marriages, a lot of baptisms and confirmations (everyone you see here is being confirmed). If you want to read more about this wonderful event, read this post.

For more awesome aspects of the Catholic Church, go see Micaela at California to Korea and Back.

3 Reasons, vol. 3

I'm linking up with Micaela at California to Korea (and home again, home again, jiggety jog) to tell the world about the amazing blessings of being Catholic. I love the Pope Francis edition that Micaela has this month, and that picture of the Pope in the rain! He is beyond amazing!

Here are only three things that I love about the church:


IT IS FULLY INCARNATIONAL. Of course protestants (of which I was one for over 40 years) believe in the incarnation of Jesus, but in the actual "working out of one's salvation" - the living of one's faith - the emphasis is on getting the right concepts. The Catholic Church is not ashamed to acknowledge the value of physical things in aiding the growth of faith. The difference between being in a typical protestant church building, which often could be mistaken for a conference center, and being in a typical Catholic church, with the many reminders of the glories and mysteries of God's love for us, is striking. To be able to contemplate Jesus' sacrifice for us by looking at a statue of him hanging on the cross is to have an incarnated experience of this verse: "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God".


IT HAS A SOLID AND ENDURING LITURGICAL AND HEIRARCHICAL STRUCTURE. This is sooo important! If the structure of a thing changes it becomes something else (stay with me here; don't go looking for exceptions!). The structure of the Catholic Church hasn't changed for 2000 years and isn't going to start changing now. This is what is needed to have true freedom - if you can't be sure that your church's structure will be the same in the future, some part of you isn't settled and free of concern in that regard. We were in denominational churches for years which had a certain liturgical structure to them, but that structure was changeable based on the desires of the pastor or the congregation (depending on the denomination). We were also in nondenominational churches for years, and the greatest threat there is that virtually all of them are based on the charisma of their leaders. Once the founding leaders are gone, often changes are made which take the group away from their unique charisma. The structure of the Catholic Church - both liturgical and hierarchical - was the same in the first century that it is today (just read the Didache, written in 90AD, to see that).


IT HAS EUCHARISTIC ADORATION. This may seem weird to non-Catholics (heck, I KNOW it seems weird to them!) but I've also heard many stories of people who don't believe that the host is Christ who nevertheless find themselves at Eucharistic Adoration and feeling the deep peace of His presence. That ought to be a fairly strong sign that the Catholic Church may be on to something here.

3 Reasons, vol.2

I've been eagerly waiting the May link-up for Three Reasons I Love Catholicism on Micaela's blog, and it's finally here!


MARTYRS...stay with me now.... I have recently read several stories of martyrs which emphasized their exultant spirits in the face of their martyrdom. These people were not victims - for the joy that was set before them, they endured the physical pain and counted it as nothing. They stepped into their martyrdom with dignity, and why not? They were about to receive the crown of eternal life! What got me thinking about this is the recent memorial day for saints Felicity and Perpetua. Felicity actually prayed for her baby to be born early so she could be included in the group that was to be martyred, since it was against the law to kill a pregnant woman! A more recent example is Miguel Pro. He refused to be blindfolded at his execution (see picture above).

Thinking about martyrs is sort of like reading the book of Job - it's usually the LAST thing on the "to-do" list. But these saints have something very profound to teach us, and we're ignoring something that God sees as beyond price if we shrink from reflecting on the glory and the power in their witness.


PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH. These are the prayers that the church universal prays...so much different from our individual and spontaneous prayers. I have more to say about this in a post that I did a few days ago. If anyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours reads this, I would love it if you would contact me about your experience and what you have learned.


RELIGIOUS ORDERS. I'm thinking especially of those who devote their lives to praying for the church and for the world. The longer I've walked the path of prayer the more convinced I am that God chooses to not to act without the prayers of His people. I am convinced that every work of God we see in human beings - physical miracles, conversions, transformations, visions, all of it - happens only because someone prayed for it. It almost makes my head explode to consider this, and at the same time it increases my gratitude for those living a life consecrated to prayer. What better daily prayer than to pray for all the people in religious orders who pray for all of us?

3 Reasons, vol. 1

Thanks so much, Michaela, for creating this link-up and encouraging us all to express some of the things that are deep in our hearts. Here are my first 3 reasons for loving Catholicism (and I speak as a recent convert after having been a protestant for 40 years as an adult).

(1) THE WRITTEN HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BEGINNING. A long time ago, a wonderful protestant teacher, Bob Mumford, wrote a book called "Take Another Look at Guidance". He said that in seeking to know God's will christians should look for 3 things to line up: the testimony of the scriptures, the confirmation of circumstances, and the counsel of others. There's one thing missing in that list though, which has made all the difference to me in deepening my relationship with God: what can we learn from the people of God throughout history? Protestants tend to focus on the Bible and perhaps add some contemporary authors (within the last hundred years or so, the more recent the better) to help them understand how to put biblical precepts into practice. There is a general ignorance of the millenia of christian writers who have reflected on how to BE christians. This ignorance is, I think, tied to the dismissal of anything that smacks of pure Catholicism (don't want to get those Catholic cooties!). Once I got over my fear of Catholic cooties, I found a depth of treasure from those who have struggled with the same things I struggle with and have found the answers that I seek, and whose lives then have shown the fruit of their practices. I am finally able to overcome issues I have been struggling with for 40 years as a christian! Glory to God!

(2) CATHOLICISM IS INCARNATIONAL. Protestants need to come up with a rational for why the Body of Christ is NOT one, so they say that Jesus the church is "invisible". But everything that Jesus did, and the Jews' worship of God that He identified with, was incarnational. From the very beginning everything that God mandated was in the context of the physical world, not simply conceptual. This is why God came to earth as a human being - when the life of God is manifested, it is manifested physically. As a Catholic, to see the church in Mary (she is our model, she is the "mother of the church") is to see what God wants us to become. This is one reason why the church councils took so seriously the issue of Mary's immaculate conception - because every aspect of her life is a "real-life" incarnation of what the church as seen by God. We aren't stuck with a mere concept of God, nor with a mere concept of who we are - we have actual humans to show us what that looks like: Jesus IS God, perfectly expressed in our physical world. Mary IS the physical expression of the perfection that God has for each of us human beings.

(3) CATHOLICISM IS HUMBLE. The first characteristic that struck me when I started to go to mass was the atmosphere of humility. These people, as a group, actually put their hearts out there before God in a way that I had never felt before (and by this point I'd been a christian for decades and had been involved in many different christian groups). The first time I experienced a Catholic mass was in a charismatic conference in New Orleans where charismatics from all different denominations (and non-denominations) gathered - about 50,000 of us totally filled the SuperDome. When we broke into our individual groups for a session, I held back in the main part of the Superdome where the 30,000 Catholics were having mass. After an incredibly joyful procession, the archbishop got up to speak and he spoke about how many of the non-Catholic conference attendees were trying to convert the Catholics (I had actually seen this happen in the elevator at our hotel). He gently encouraged his flock to pray for the non-Catholics and to answer them with joy and humility. I was moved to tears - the whole mass was as close to an expression of "Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven" that I have ever (to this day) experienced. But at every mass I've been to since then, it is the humility which stands out to me.

None of these points are meant to disparage the great and true aspects on the protestant side of christianity. My entire family (other than my husband) and all our dearest friends are protestants who love God deeply and serve Him truly. These are simply aspects of Catholicism that I didn't know about until I overcame my fear of contamination and came close enough to see these things for myself. You can certainly be a christian beloved of God without experiencing these things, but with them the life of faith is so much richer!


Just so you have something to look at besides words, here's a photo of the renewal of our vows when we entered the Catholic Church.

For more great reason to love Catholicism, go to Michaela's blog. Bendiciones a todos!