I consider myself beyond blessed. I have an amazing wife, four beautiful children and my health. But the greatest gift in my life, a gift that makes all the others possible, is my faith. I had some very extraordinary parents. Not a day goes by where I don’t thank God for them. They raised me and my siblings with this faith, knowing that at some point, it would be up to us to either embrace it or deny it. Thankfully, we all embraced it.
God knows that there are people in this world, and even some of my closest friends, who are not only opposed to the things I believe but do their darndest to convince me that I am wrong for holding these convictions and that there is freedom in abandoning them. And although that seems true on the surface, it couldn’t be further from reality. I have found that it is because of my faith that I truly am free.
The challenges to my Catholic faith came fast and often as I scrapped my way through high school and college. It seemed so many times that I was alone in the things I believed and that I had no choice but to question them myself. And in reality, that’s how true faith is formed. It certainly solidified mine. Faith needs to be challenged and to know what is true. To just accept a belief system because it was handed down to you is a system lacking in pure conviction.
My faith journey is by no means over, and I am continually seeking conversion of heart, while at the same time, continuing to learn how to defend what I believe. But what I do know is that I have found myself on the right path in the Catholic faith. If you believe in Christ, and you do your due diligence in discovering what Jesus was actually doing in Matthew 16: 18-19, then you will come to know that there is one true faith. Christ did not intend for there to be thousands of Christian denominations. Why would he want there to be confusion among his people? He wouldn’t. It’s as simple as that. No other denominations existed when the Good Book was written. This brings me to another point. Many argue that if it is not written in the Bible, then it is not to be followed. But tell me where in the Bible it says that.
Many also forget that the Bible was written by mortal men, merely inspired by the Holy Spirit. Understand this point and you will understand the authority given to Peter and all who followed. It doesn’t mean we worship them. It doesn’t mean that they supersede Christ in any way. It simply means that, by His divine wisdom, God has provided us with the means to interpret scripture and the Faith correctly. Without this, Christians have no chance for unification. Put another way, if your pastor interprets a scripture verse one way, and a pastor at another church interprets it another, how are we to know who is right? That is why Jesus himself established the one true Church in the aforementioned verse from the Gospel of Matthew.
Okay, now that you know where I’m coming from, and even if you disagree, I can at least hope that we are in alignment about how to handle the current state of the world and how it is affecting our lives and the lives of those around us. It’s a scary world right now. In addition to what we saw yesterday at the Capitol, there’s a pandemic, trust in our institutions is fleeting, it seems like everybody is angry at someone or something, and we aren’t allowed to rely on friends and family. Zoom calls are no replacement. So to the non-believers, I respectfully ask... where do you turn? I know I can give it all to God, but what do others do? I am by no means judging them for finding themselves at a different crossroads originating from a different path, but my heart sincerely breaks for them when I think about their options in this current state of affairs.
I will continue to pray for them so that they, too, can find God and give this entire mess to him. He’s willing to take the anxiety from us. We just have to ask. And to any fellow believers, no matter what denomination, it’s time to reach out to those lacking faith and invite them into the comforting arms of our Lord. And then... go to church and pray.
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