This past Easter, my family and I
officially entered the Catholic Church. It has been a long journey
getting here. I would like to take a few moments now to look back at
the process. Hopefully, what I share will be of some benefit to those
of you who might be considering such a step yourself.
For the sake of simplicity, let us say
there are three significant groups who really do not care for the
Catholic Church. The first kind are the secularists and a fair number
of mainline Protestants, who see the Catholic Church as an
oppressive, patriarchal organization that is the primary obstacle in
the way of the great society. The Church refuses to change its
doctrines to match the mainstream's growing wisdom, and they keep
trying to save all the babies.
The second kind are the serious
Protestants, usually of an Evangelical, Charismatic, or Reformed
persuasion. They see the Catholic Church as the Whore of Babylon, a
false teacher leading people to Hell with its doctrines. Some of
these Protestants are kind enough to think well of individual
Catholics, so long as they don't take some of the weirder stuff
seriously. They will also partner with Catholics in the pro-life
movement, though they may think Catholics are strange and
irresponsible for having so many babies.
The third kind are a fairly large
subset of Catholics themselves. They like calling themselves
Catholic, but they, like the secularists, wish the Church would get
with the times. They disagree with a number of doctrines of the
Church, but rather than leave for a Protestant denomination, they
stay and try to turn the Catholic Church into one. They really wish
the Church would stop caring so much about the babies.
I list those groups to make clear that
deciding to join the Catholic Church is a decision that may be met
with opposition. The secularists will think you are joining the enemy
of progress, the serious Protestants will think you are risking your
soul, and the dissenting Catholics will be concerned that you might
actually take the whole Catholic thing seriously.
Now, many
of these people will be acting in good faith, so it is best not to
take their objections personally. Just understand that you might not
have a large cheering squad lining your road to Rome. However, the
Catholic teaching on the communion of the saints means you will have
a large cheering squad interceding on your behalf in Heaven. As the
writer of Hebrews said,
“Wherefore
seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us,
and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
I
used the King James for the quote above, even though it's a
Protestant version, because it's awesome. See, you can keep all the
good Protestant stuff, even if you make the jump.
So, what about the Catholic Church is
an area of difficulty for you? At the very beginning, long ago during
the Bush Jr. presidency, I had some of the usual Protestant
objections. I thought the devotion to Mary and the other saints was
idolatry, I thought there was too much emphasis on works, I thought
the Church had complicated the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ with the
addition of numerous man-made rules and regulations.
However, all it really took was letting
the Catholic Church explain itself. I am not going to rehash every
argument here, but I encourage you to do some research. The book
Surprised by Truth, edited by
Patrick Madrid, was one of the first things I read, and I highly
recommend it. It is a collection of conversion stories, just a few
pages each, all written by converts far more articulate and
knowledgeable than myself. The Catholic Answers website, at
www.catholic.com, also has a
wealth of information.
Getting past those
early difficulties proved fairly easy. I did encounter a second set
of problems, however, that took a great deal more time and prayer to
resolve. When I was growing up, I had this image of the Catholic
Church as this glorious medieval institution, filled with ceremony,
Latin, incense, stained glass, and towering churches of stone.
Interestingly enough, if this image was still authentic, I would
probably have entered the Church much earlier.
However, some
changes had occurred in the Catholic Church that had rendered the
image in my head obsolete. The Second Vatican Council had closed
about fifteen years before I was born, but since the finer points of
Catholic councils are not a widely discussed topic in the Free
Methodist Church, I had never learned of the changes. The Council
itself is still widely debated, with some saying it was a great step
forward, others saying it was a catastrophe, and yet others saying it
has simply been misunderstood.
I am not an expert
theologian, but here is what I understand to have happened. In the
aftermath of the Council, the Mass was changed, churches were
remodeled (or “wreckovated,” some would call it) to have a more
open modern look, and the Church began to have a more ecumenical
attitude toward non-Catholics. Latin fell into disuse, the old high
altars were torn down or ignored, sentimental modern hymns came into
fashion, and priests stopped talking so much about Hell and
damnation. Millions of Catholics managed to reach adulthood without
knowing even the basics of the Catholic faith.
Now, it would be a
mistake to say all was moonlight and roses before Vatican II, and it
would be another mistake to say everything since has been a disaster.
However, as a prospective convert, I looked at this chaos and I was
deeply concerned. I began to consider Eastern Orthodoxy, another
ancient Church, though one without a Vatican II. There is so much
beauty there, and they profess so much of the same faith that the
Catholic Church does.
And yet, I became
Catholic rather than Orthodox in the end. I became convinced that the
ministry of the pope, the successor of Peter, was vitally important,
and the Catholic Church seemed to be doing a better job of holding
the line on some key moral issues. The failure of so many in the
Catholic Church to live up to its doctrines did not take away from
the truth of the doctrines themselves.
It is important to
consider the whole history of the Church. Progressives and
traditionalists will both often point to Vatican II as a rupture with
the past. The progressives may say the Church before was repressive
and strict, but now a new day has dawned and soon we will be just
like the Episcopalians. The traditionalists may say everything before
was marvelous, but now the “conciliar Church” has lost its way,
and true Catholics must set out on their own. However, I urge you to
keep the big picture in mind. This is not the first crisis the Church
has seen. The Church in AD 2013 is the same Church it was in AD 1962,
AD 962, and AD 33.
Hope is considered
one of the three theological virtues by the Catholic Church, the
other two virtues being faith and charity. When I consider the state
of the Catholic Church today, I hold onto hope. There is something
wild and glorious about hope, even in the midst of trouble. Hope
should be the natural state of the Christian, for Christ is the
victor, and we are under His care.
So, do not rush off
to join the sedevacantists. Instead, work to restore the Church. Be
passionate about the faith, and share it with others. Read the
writings of the saints. Learn about what was and what may be again.
You may find
yourself in an RCIA program, if you actively pursue entrance into the
Church. The quality of these will vary immensely, with some being
completely orthodox and some not so much. If your instructors start
telling you that grave moral evils are simply a matter of conscience,
or that two thousand years of theology will be changed any day now,
do not be led astray. Getting to the day of judgment and saying, “My
RCIA instructor lied to me” is like a soldier saying, “My
recruiter lied to me,” when it turns out Fire Support Specialist is
not a fireman. Do the research.
Feel free to visit
multiple parishes in your area. In a perfect world, every parish
would be orthodox, and the same faith would be preached everywhere.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Even choosing based on
aesthetics is not wrong, though beauty and truth tend to exist
together.
Pray without
ceasing. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and
strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Radiate the joy of Christ.
