St Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

When I hear people around me speak of being saved by their belief in and personal relationship with God, it seems so simple. When I compare that to my own faith, I think of one thing I love more than anything: chocolate. To me, the faiths around me are M&Ms and the Catholic Church is a big, rich truffle. Complex, deep, satisfying and just right for my needs. I mean, sure, sometime M&Ms are fine. But when it comes to chocolate (and faith) I like to know that what I'm taking in is presented with intensity and truth.

I know that winning souls for Christ is part of my life here on earth. I'm so deeply flawed, afraid of offending people and losing friends. I'm sure that if Jesus were on earth today, His Facebook count probably wouldn't be at the forefront of his concerns. God must be just shaking His head at me as I sit here worried about whether people like me or not. I'm working on it, I really am...

In my mind, people attend church for several reasons. 1) It's what decent people do. These people know that you should go to church on Sunday. It really doesn't matter where, so long as you can drop it in conversation around the water cooler. Your kids may also mention it to their friends, making you uber-decent! 2) They're lost. They don't know what's going to solve their problems, but hey, it may be God! 3) They're truly searching for a relationship with Christ.

# 1's will probably need to hit bottom before they care about the "why" of the whole church thing. #2's will probably beg God over and over for a miracle. It will either happen or it won't. Whether is does or it doesn't happen will put into motion whether that person abandons God or pursues a deeper relationship.

#3's? Now we're talking. These are the people who are either hate the Catholic Church, or love the Catholic Church. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said it so correctly:

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church....As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do."

Catholicism. Now there's a tricky bunch of idol-worshippers! I have a hard time explaining my faith to people, because there are just SO. MANY. REASONS. that I love being Catholic. You'd have to start asking me about all the tiny little things to get any specific answers, I think. But my main reason for loving my faith is that it's one, holy and apostolic. I love that wherever I may roam the earth, I can walk into any Catholic Church and find the same words I've been hearing since birth. The same words that have been spoken for centuries. That kind of soul-satisfying peace comes from one place, y'all.

Here's a little video for you. He says it better than I do, anyway.




Whatever you're thinking tonight, and whatever you're questioning, you're in my prayers.

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