Catholicism is True

When asked to explain his Catholicism, English writer G.K. Chesterton mused, “The difficulty of explaining why I am a Catholic is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true.”

Why I Remain Catholic

Likewise, I recognize that there are endless reasons why I remain Catholic: the grace of the Sacrament of Confession, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the history of intellectual vigor among Catholic scholars, the beauty of Catholic art and architecture, the witness and miracles of Catholic martyrs and saints, the love and preference the Church shows to the poor and marginalized, and so the list goes on.

Ultimately, like Chesterton, I remain convinced and convicted that Catholicism is true. I genuinely believe that the Catholic Church is the Church founded by Jesus Christ, that it is, in fact, the Body of Christ, the sacrament of salvation for all peoples (Lumen Gentium, 9).

The Fullness of Truth

What does it mean to say that Catholicism is true? This means that in the Catholic Faith dwells the fulness of truth. Of course, the fulness of truth is none other than Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, who is Himself “the way and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). As St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote in the early second century, “wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” The Catholic Church is the very church that the Lord Jesus founded during his earthly ministry, meant to perpetuate his presence on earth (Mt 28:20).

As biblical and historical scholarship points out, Jesus established his Church upon St. Peter when he said, “You are Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). And so, early Christian writers were confident that the Church founded by Christ was to be found with St. Peter and his successors: “If he should desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?”

Divine Roots

The historical anchoring of the Catholic Church in the person of Jesus Christ reassures me of the divine roots of my Catholic Faith, it also helps me in times of confusion, scandal, and fear, for no amount of human error, can stain the divine origins of the Church nor undo the promise of God’s continued presence with his Church. In uncertain times, I reflect on a simple phrase that reminds me of my allegiance to the Catholic Church: You do not leave Peter because of Judas.

The Body of Christ

The Catholic Church is not, however, some special club or group that merely meets once a week, it is in fact the Body of Christ. The Church is both founded by Jesus and united to him.

When Saul of Tarsus, who is better known as St. Paul, was on his way to Damascus to continue his work of persecuting Christians, the Lord appeared to him and asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 26:14). In persecuting Christians, Saul was also persecuting Christ, because the Church is intimately united to Christ. I remain a Catholic because I remain united to the Lord, for without him I can do nothing (Jn 15:5).

The Eucharist

The supreme way, and the most beautiful way, that this union with the Lord takes place is in the Eucharist. Jesus said, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:55-56). Jesus Christ is just as present today as he was 2,000 years ago. The Lord truly dwells in the tabernacles of the Catholic Church. Jesus did not promise his continued presence with the Church in some ethereal, abstract way. Rather, he gives us himself really and concretely in the Eucharist, so we can be united to him and with other Christians.

In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes about the kenosis or self-emptying of God, who pours himself out in love when he takes on human flesh in Jesus Christ (Phil 2:6-7). How great the humility of God who becomes incarnate, takes on the lowliness of humanity so he might raise us to His divinity. God’s love and humility does not end there, though.

Not only does God become man, but he dies a most humiliating death on the Cross. He proves his love and humility still further, in that not only does God become man, suffer, and die, but he then
becomes bread – gives us himself to eat (Jn 6:55).

The Eucharist is the full kenosis, the total self-emptying of God. The Eucharist is the great gift of God to man, present and available on the altar and in the tabernacle every day in the Catholic Church – how could I walk away from it?

I believe this gets to the heart of why I remain a Catholic. As a fan of the intellectual, of philosophy and theology, of history and literature, I can often get caught up in looking at and preaching the Catholic Faith solely from the perspective of reason. I recognize, however, the need to emphasize how the Catholic Faith has not only shaped my mind, worldview, and philosophy but has also dramatically altered my heart.

A Catholic Identity

Being raised in a large Catholic family I was used to going to Mass on Sundays, receiving the Sacrament of Confession often, and praying the family rosary. My entire upbringing revolved around the Church, and so my Catholic identity went without question. As great a gift as this was, it had an unintended consequence. My faith had not really become my own, it was still my family’s faith. It was not until my high school years when I truly embraced the Catholic Faith for myself.

Through Confirmation preparation as well as youth ministry nights and retreats, I slowly began to recognize that I believed deep down in the Catholic Faith. I began to pray from my heart, to enter into conversation with God. I met like-minded people who shared the same doubt and fears and struggles as me, who also wanted and strived and prayed for the same things. I found that my faith truly was Catholic and extended far beyond my immediate family and parish.

After having a couple of powerful prayer experiences in Eucharistic adoration, I fully embraced the faith that I had been gifted as a child. Catholicism did not merely define my family’s religion; it defined my relationship with God. My life and my morals, my worldview and philosophy, my desires, and my prayers all were shaped and transformed by the heart of the Church.

The faith that my parents blessed me with is now the faith I fully embrace. Church is no longer a once-a-week event. It is not a laundry list of good things to do and bad things to avoid. The Catholic Faith informs my entire life, my every day. It is through my faith that I have fallen in love with God; I have recognized my great sinfulness and the Lord’s ever-greater mercy.

Reconciliation

As a Catholic, I am blessed to experience this mercy incarnationally through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When I fall short in life, which is far too often, I am grateful that, like the prodigal son, I see my Father looking for me, running toward me and embracing me. Because of my weak and fallen human nature, I can doubt God’s infinite love and mercy and so what a blessing it is to be reminded of it through the words of the priest: “I absolve you of your sins.”

I remain a Catholic because it is in the Church that we find forgiveness for our sins. It is by the grace of God that I have experienced both an intellectual and a cardiac conversion. The former convinces me of the truth of Catholic claims, the latter allows me to experience it. It is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. The Lord has blessed me with both; he has revealed himself to both my mind and my heart.

To turn away from Him and his Church would be both illogical and heartbreaking. I feel like Peter who says to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68). Ultimately, I remain Catholic because the Catholic Faith is everything to me; I do not know who I would be without it. My identity is inseparable from my relationship with the Lord.

The Truth of Catholicism

I do not know where I would go if not the Church, nor do I know what would occupy my thoughts
or my heart if not the Lord. This firm dependence on God is through no strength or skill of my own, rather, it is the gift of God that I remain convinced and convicted of the truth of Catholicism. It is by the grace of God that I have come to know and experience the goodness, truth, and beauty of Catholicism. It is by God’s grace that I call the Catholic Church home.

I remain Catholic because of the great grace of God.