Wherever I go, I encounter people who are like me and who are completely different from me. I think that is the basis for being human, but whatevs. I had a conversation a few days ago with my cousin about religion, and then tonight with my dear friend. Both, dedicated followers of Christ, lovers of scripture, and truly good people. And where we differ is where we spend our time on Sunday morning (or in my case Saturday night.)
As most of those who know me, I am Catholic. Shocker!!! Just kidding. But seriously, I am. I wasn’t raised Catholic, but now am fully 100% RC (Roman Catholic.) I was raised, in a loving home, as what I call charismatic evangelical. I suppose you could say non-denominational, but that can be semantics. Anyway, both of these people remain non-denominational as I made the decision, almost 8 years ago, to convert (or revert) to Catholicism.
And in both instances...the question of “why” came up. That, my friend, is a very loaded question. Why? Why did I choose to make the decision to forego my raising and follow this ancient religion? Because. Yeah, yeah, I get it. Not the answer you wanted. And to be honest, it would take a very lengthy conversation for me to go into why, but I can say this. Not even a year after I made this decision, I was visiting a friend’s church, and as I was standing in worship, I heard God softly speak to me and say, “You didn’t have to leave this to find me, but I am glad that you did.” You see, I had held so much anger for my brother the moment he told me he was going to become a Catholic priest, but...God softened my heart and brought me home to His Church.
While changing my faith journey, I found it hard to explain to some friends that this was the one thing that I was consciously deciding to do with my life. To this day, it has been the best decision I have made thus far. It drives me. It inspires me. It has brought me a goal and focus in life. I remember talking with my brother about the faith and the Catholic Church, and he while speaking to me and my friends that we all have “a flavor” of faith. Some are Catholics, some are Baptist, some are Episcopalian, and some are non-denominational. We all believe the basic tenets of the faith, and yet, we choose to worship differently. This explained things perfectly. This gave me a way to explain to people how and why we differ in our faith walk.
So, why the Catholic flavor? I wish that I could make everyone read the book, “No Price Too High: A Pentecostal Preacher becomes Catholic” by Deacon Alex Jones. This man’s walk is my walk. (Well, it was more Andrew’s walk, but I can relate so closely.) It essentially spoke of the responsibility one has when given knowledge of anything. In this case, Alex Jones, a Pentecostal preacher, found what the Catholic church teaches and believes and then felt he was responsible for that information. He said at one point, in the book, that he is now a fulfilled Pentecostal. He became full in his faith.
How beautiful! I love this! I think my mother is a good example of this. My mother, a charismatic person in faith and nature, became a completed Charismatic Catholic. Her flavor? Catholic Charismatic. Mine...just Catholic. I believe I am Catholic through and through. But what I loved, going back to these two conversations this week, is that in dialoguing with these people, we were able to talk about our faith and love of Christ and what He did for us on the cross. We were able to give of ourselves in speaking about what drives us in our faith.
So, do you know your flavor? Is it something that you are comfortable talking about with others? Because isn’t that what we are supposed to do? St. Francis of Assisi said it best, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” But...if you must use words, do you know what you believe? Do you know your flavor and why? If not...you need to hop on that. And if you don’t have a flavor of faith...do you know why? If not...you need to hop on that.
But when you do hop...hop in love and not jump down someone’s throat. Hopping is nicer. Jumping just scares people. =)
Comments
Post a Comment