FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:
Why are you Catholic? It’s a question that every single person hearing or reading these words needs a ready answer. Sooner or later this question will be thrust upon you. You will be challenged by someone in another faith to leave the Catholic Church; you will be scandalized by the bad behavior of someone in the Church (maybe even by a priest or bishop); you will despise something that was said (or not said in a Sunday homily); or maybe you will simply slowly fall away from the Church by our suffocating materialistic mad, hedonistic heavy, secular culture which tells us that questions of faith are mere silly sophistry and unimportant, like collecting Pokemon cards. Whatever the challenge, it returns back to the basic question, “Why am I Catholic?” When we have a confident answer, we can withstand any storm.
Back at my old parish, one of my devout parishioners, Sean, met a lovely young Protestant woman named Zoey at the famous Reno rodeo. They hit it off immediately. The only glaring problem was that he was Catholic. While Protestantism and Catholicism do share many similarities, there are also huge insurmountable differences. One such belief is our ancient 2,000 year teaching that what Jesus said in today’s Gospel passage in John 6 is literally true: “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is flesh for the life of the world.” What we now call the Eucharist is truly Jesus Christ; it’s not merely symbolic. Most Protestant maintain the latter. Who is right? Sean and Zoey passionately discussed these differences between them, each trying to convince the other. Neither would budge. Out of respect for the other, they would, however, visit each other’s churches on Sunday. That’s where I first met Zoey as she sat stone faced in the church pew at Mass. I could tell she was not a fan of Catholic liturgical worship. In fact, when we’d talk, I could sense a coldness from her during our interactions. She simply did not want anything to do with the Catholic Church. After a few months of this, I received surprising news. Zoey had announced her decision to become Catholic! Shocked, I immediately asked her what changed her mind? The following is our text conversation:
“I was really just in this place of feeling like there had to be more to my faith. And the Eucharist was really that answer. You can have a real and true physical union with Christ in the Eucharist? One Sunday you gave a homily at Mass that got me. You used the metaphor of a husband and wife uniting themselves in marriage and the Eucharist. I realized that as Christ gives you his FULL SELF in the Eucharist just as he did on the cross. And thinking about how much love I have for Sean and how much more love Jesus has for us (infinite!) overwhelmed me. This was the big ‘aha! Moment.’ And then just the hunger to have that union really made me evaluate my faith.
At that Mass I sobbed the whole time. It was the first time my heart felt what my mind knew. I had done all the reading and research and “believed” practically but that was the first time I felt it in my soul. The true presence of Christ, right in front of me. Available to me. It was the “more” feeling I had been searching for for so long. The hole that I felt in my Protestant faith was finally filled. Once I realized Jesus was truly there, I cried tears of joy!!”
If I asked Zoey, why is she Catholic? She would say, “Because I want to eat the living bread from Heaven.”
A Slave of Jesus Christ,
Fr. Brian J. Soliven
