Why Catholicism? And Why NOT Protestantism?

I have been perusing www.OnceCatholic.org and looking for answers to some of my objections to the teaching of the Catholic Church. Funny that just yesterday I was musing on the fact that I now believe without a doubt that the Catholic Church is the One True Church , yet I'm still wrestling with my "inner Protestant" over some issues but as I read Scripture and pray, those issues/objections are paling in comparison to the Truths I do now believe.

In answer to the question "Why should I be Catholic? Isn't it enough to be a spiritual and moral person?" Once Catholic has this to say:

...you may want to know why Catholicism instead of any of the other expressions of faith. This is a fair question, and one you ought to devote a great deal of thought and reflection to. Consider this: One of the oldest analogies for the Church is Peter's fishing boat, and it’s a comparison that’s packed with good insights into the Church. We're on a journey with a map, lots of stormy weather, people slipping overboard, survivors being pulled in, mutinies among the crew, getting off course, being attacked by pirates. And a boat needs a captain when everybody's losing their heads. He may not be the ideal captain, but if everybody grabs for the tiller we're all in trouble. Then again, for quite some time Peter wasn't ideal either, yet what his crew managed has lasted 2,000 years. (The full article can be found at AmericanCatholic.org )

Protestantism is, essentially, everyone grabbing for the tiller trying to steer the boat themselves. I never thought much about the problem of Sola Scriptura as a legalistic Baptist because I thought that what those Baptist preachers told me my KJV said was absolutely right. I didn't even know it had a name, I just knew that the Bible was my sole rule of faith. What I didn't know was that I was VERY MUCH following the traditions of men in the way passages were interpreted. Learning that dispensationalism is a heresy was very much like God yanked the rug right from under my feet.

I've been reading through the Gospels, mainly to find what Jesus had to say about the End of the Age. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, (I'm still reading through John) I have not found a single verse where Jesus says that He will "rapture" believers before He returns in Glory. If a Pre-Tribulation rapture is indeed part of God's plan for the end times, why didn't Jesus mention it?

Running Ahead on the Way to God Knows Where

"Steady me when the road of faith gets rocky
Oh ready me, for fears I cannot see
Lord, won't You let me be a witness to Your promise
Won't You steady me?

We run on up ahead, we lag behind You;
It's hard to wait when Heaven's on our minds.
Teach our restless feet to walk beside You
'Cause in our hearts we're already gone
Will You walk with us
Steady on..." ~Point of Grace

I was so sure God said Go To Rome. So, wanting to be obedient to His command (for a change), on Sunday I went to Mass. I got there about 15 minutes early - I thought it would give me time to read through the service in the bulletin so I would sort of look like I knew what I was doing when things got started. Well, guess what? This parish does not include the service of the Mass in their bulletins! It's more of a weekly newsletter. The Lutheran church I'd been attending handed you a bulletin with every last bit of the liturgy spelled out for you. I thought for sure every liturgical church did that. Oops.

The Liturgy of the Word: We were told where in the hymnal/prayer book to find the readings, and I managed to locate the Nicene Creed just in time. I had read the Catholic version a few times before (I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters....) and vaguely recalled parts of it so I stuttered through it. My Lutheran church only uses the Nicene Creed during Advent; and our confessional prayer changes periodically.

The Homily: He preached on humility. I learned (yes! I learned something!) that the root for humility is the same as the word for dirt/earth. By genuflecting, and letting one knee touch the "dirt" we not only are bowing before the Presence of the Lord, but we acknowledge from whence we came.

I knew I could not rightly participate in the Eucharist, AND I had to get home to help dh get kids ready to go to The Bridge; so I left at the start of that portion of the service. What a bit of relief to notice a few other people doing the same. My Catholic friends had told me that not every Catholic will go forward to receive Holy Communion, for whatever reason; but the idea of someone choosing to not participate in the sacrament was so foreign to me I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.

In my heart, I am s-l-o-w-l-y becoming Catholic. I played around with a couple of "denominational selector" type quizzes, and was totally honest in my answers. I had done the same type of quiz a few years back and was usually a mix of Baptist, Assemblies of God, and Methodist. My latest results? Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican/Episcopal were consistently in my top 5. Yeah, I'd say God is working on me.

God Whispers

I have been praying for wisdom and direction. In my life God has placed several Christians who converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism. These are not people who were disgruntled or hurt by their protestant church in any way, but were seeking God earnestly and he led them to Rome. (The testimony of a couple of them indicates that it was very much against THEIR will, and they dug in their heels the whole way.) These were not people with a vague understanding of the Bible easily tossed about by every wind of doctrine. These were intelligent, Biblically literate people who gave up life as they knew it to follow where God led them, the Roman Catholic Church.

I still have some "insurmountables" that haven't been adequately addressed in a way that I feel is substantial; but as I was humming through a Kutless song, "Promise of a Lifetime"

"I am holding on to the hope I have inside,
With You I will stay through every day
Putting my understanding aside,
I am comforted
To know You're always there
To hear my every prayer
Inside I'm clinging to
The promise of a lifetime..."

and then my thoughts naturally (or supernaturally perhaps) gravitated to the verses in Proverbs. Yup, you know ... Chapter 3:

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days and years of life
And peace they will add to you.
3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 So you will find favor and good repute
In the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your body
And refreshment to your bones. (NASB)

**SIGH** This is a lesson in TRUST and putting away MY understanding of the way things are. I get it now. I love to read and study Scripture and (gulp) pride myself in the academic knowledge I have. No better than a scribe, I suppose. I need to get back to the "faith as a little child" and climb up in Daddy's lap and let Him hold me.

I told a friend today that I thought I heard God whisper to me yesterday. She said that if you're hearing something you want to hear, it's probably not the Lord. If it's something you do NOT want to hear, it probably IS. So the whisper I hear says to me, "Go to Rome."

I don't wanna hear it.

Finding My Faith Part 3

A big part of the reason that we left the Baptist church is due to my discovery of the origin of dispensationalism and Rapture theology. This, too, shook my foundation. Up until that time, I called myself a Pre-millenial Charismatic Orthodox Christian, if one wishes for a label. I also had developed a better understanding of Roman Catholicism, and was tired of hearing the bashing based on misconceptions about RC doctrine and practice. Snide comments about "wearing their shirt backwards" or "wearing dresses" just didn't sit well with me.

Right now I am dipping a toe in the Tiber, really looking deeply into the Roman Catholic Church. I don't see myself converting unless I get a better response to my "insurmountables," those teachings which I cannot accept based on Scripture. I have come a long way in changing my own beliefs about the Sacraments, (yes, there are seven!) liturgical worship, and the role of Mary and the Saints in our lives today.

I'm reading The Prayer of Mary, an in-depth look at the Fiat and the Magnificat. In it he says that "God is waiting for us to believe that He can do the impossible."

Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.

Finding My Faith Part 2

Right around the same time that the Left Behind books were gaining popularity, we got Internet access. I started frequenting the Christian chat rooms and was shocked to find that there were Christians who didn't believe dispensational theology, didn't believe in the security of the believer, believed that baptism was necessary for salvation, and lo and behold THEY TOO could point to Bible verses to back up their statements.

I really thought that the Baptist view of Scripture was the only truly biblical view. (Lord, forgive me!) Imagine my surprise I was also shocked to discover that Baptists did not have the corner marketed on salvation. See, in my experience, Baptists would *say* that you could be saved in other denominations (except for Roman Catholicism) but they didn't act like they really believed it. They teach that baptism is the first step in obedience for a new believer, the "answer of a good conscience toward God." There was nothing salvific about the water in the baptistry, they made that pointedly clear.
B U T if you happened to have been raised in a church that practiced infant baptism or did not immerse, you HAD to be re-baptized, "scripturally."

I learned through discussions with those believers on AOL that there WERE other genuine Christians out there that had never darkened the doorstep of a Independent, Fundamental, Pre-millenial, KJV-only Baptist church, in fact, they rejected a lot of the doctrine that I held dear. And they challenged me to search the Scriptures, like the Bereans did. Not that they directly challenged me, but as they'd back up their opposing views with Scripture I realized that there was a possibility that I could be wrong. Only one way to find out!

It was at this time that I was called to homeschool my kids, and found the Sonlight Forums. They had a forum called Edu-Anon, that has since been renamed Lifelong Learners. LL (or LLL) became the hub of theological discussion, and one of my favorite places to chat. Once again, my faith was challenged through lively discussions with Christians from other backgrounds. One in particular is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal church, and a woman to boot. I fought the urge to tell her how dreadfully unbiblical it is for her to be a deacon in the church - Baptist deacons are MEN. Then I read about Phoebe and did a little Greek study and one more piece of my foundation crumbled.

I was obsessed for quite some time, researching different denominations and finding out what their essentials and distinctives are. If I was going to be conversing with these people regularly, I wanted to know EXACTLY where they were coming from, so I could "lovingly" show them the errors of their belief system. (I was still mostly right at this point)

I was searching for devotional materials when I ran across the Book of Common Prayer at CBD. I asked my deaconess friend about it - she said "Sure, it can be used as a devotional!" (I think she knew exactly what she was doing to me!!) So I ordered one. Something happened to me when I started reading through those ancient prayers and reading through the services. I just knew that liturgical worship, far from being dry, stale ritual, was alive and filled with the Word of God! The fact is, more Scripture is read in a liturgical church than I'd ever heard in Sunday morning AND evening services as a Baptist.

Not sure how my husband was going to feel about my change, I proceeded with caution and just shared little tidbits here and there about where I was being led (and I'm still unsure where I'll end up in this life!) He knew I was unhappy in our current church for more reasons than just the theological differences, and told me that he didn't 100% agree with Baptist doctrine. I was not yet ready to venture into a real church, so I got my liturgy "fix" by doing the Daily Office online and occasionally watching the Mass at the Notre Dame Cathedral that broadcast on a public access channel. I did visit an Episcopal church in Ohio while my oldest dd and I were there for a dance competition. She felt drawn into the liturgy as well, but didn't care for the wine. (o;

Some of you may be aware of the issues surrounding the Episcopal Church USA recently. While I really felt like the Episcopal church was everything I was looking for in a church, basically Catholicism sans the Pope, I couldn't in good conscience attend the church in my city after I contacted the rector and found out he was totally supportive of the homosexual bishop in NH. What to do? I was ready to experience liturgy for real and didn't know where to go. I wasn't about to become Catholic and my options around here are very limited.

My deacon friend again came through for me and recommended an ELCA Lutheran church, as the ELCA and the ECUSA are in communion with one another. There just happens to be an ELCA church less than 5 minutes from my house, so I've been going to their 8:00 service then joining my husband for church first at the Baptist church and currently at a very contemporary church that brings out my critical spirit, which, as you might guess, is not very conducive to pure worship. We are praying about being involved in the music ministry once the sister church starts this Sunday. I don't know if I can even minister in that setting, but God will make a way if it's where He wants me.

Part 3 coming soon!

Finding My Faith

I was raised loosely Methodist. We went to church when we lived in Michigan and I attended nursery school at this church. In 1st grade we moved to Puerto Rico and didn't go to church at all; and then before I started 3rd grade we moved to Indiana. My dad was a contract engineer for the phone company so he got transferred a lot. I had no idea what it meant to be Methodist, or how their beliefs differed from anyone else, I just knew I was Methodist like some people know they're Catholic or Jewish.

Once we were back in the States, I think my parents had just fallen out of the habit of going to church, because the only time I went to church was if I went with a friend. I always enjoyed going but it never occured to me to ask why WE didn't go. Come to think of it, a lot of questions never occured to me at that time.

I was visiting a Baptist church with a friend when I was 16 years old, (we'd go hide outside and smoke while her aunt was in choir rehearsal) and I saw someone get baptized. I thought perhaps I should be baptized if I hadn't been - not sure why I wanted to other than it seemed like the thing to do. I had seen my on-again, off-again boyfriend get baptized at that same church a year before. My friend told me that I had to be saved first. I said, "OK, I'll get saved!" not having the first clue what that meant.

She took me to the pastor, who took me into the church library and showed me the 'Romans Road.' I nodded and agreed with everything he said, and when he asked me if I wanted to pray, I informed him that I was not sure what to say. So I repeated a prayer after him and got dunked the following Sunday. It was right after that that my friend started working on Sundays and quit going to church. I sure wasn't going if SHE wasn't going!

After I graduated from high school, I moved in with my then boyfriend, now husband. The ONLY pastor available to marry us over Labor Day weekend was the same pastor that had baptized us and believed we were Christians. We had our first baby 9 months, 5 days later. When she was about 6 months old, he was looking in the classifieds for a better job and ran across an ad that read: "666 is COMING! Call 1-800-###-####" and out of morbid curiosity he called the number, expecting to hear some demonic message but instead it was an end times, repent and be saved, turn or burn message.

We found ourselves at the same Baptist church and this time, we heard the Spirit call us. I know that I have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! I sang all those Christmas carols for all those years and all of a sudden I knew what they were talking about when they sang, "Veiled in flesh the God-head see, hail th'incarnate Deity!" Hallelujah!!!

So, I was born-again and raised Independent, Fundamental, Pre-millenial, KJV-only Baptist. And I thought that I had the Truth. I believed everything they taught me because they could point to Bible verses and say, "That means this...." and I never doubted. When the Left Behind series came out, I thought maybe Mr. LaHaye had a bit of his eschatology mixed up, but the premise of the series gave me NO pause.

Stay tuned....

Why St. Cecilia?

She's the patron saint of singers, that's why! My mother always encouraged me to sing, because that way I never misplaced my instrument. So, I was in choir from 4th-12th grade, then church choirs, then I got a dream come true opportunity in 1995 to sing in the nuns' chorus and play Sister Margaretta for our Civic Theatre's production of The Sound of Music. Not exactly my dream part, but I sang along with Maria from the wings.

We "nuns" had so much fun singing together that we formed an ensemble, In Dulci Jubilo (With Sweet Rejoicing) and I kept my voice in shape doing that for a few years. So, I can sing in English, Latin, French, and some German; I might not understand what I am singing, but I can figure out how to pronounce it! Several of the selections we used were sacred. I love the old old old hymns! I had NO IDEA that Ave Maria had so many different tunes! I sang it in (public) high school choir and then with the ensemble but I had to relearn it because it was a completely different arrangement.

I currently just sing at church with the congregation, and at home, much to my kids' chagrin. (I like to sing silly songs to them, badly.) A forever have a song in my heart praising the Lord for all He has done!