Although we have already confirmed, Father C has asked my little OCIA class to come to the first day of the new class and talk about our journeys to Catholicism. Although I just took OCIA this past year, I debated and considered Catholicism for years. Coming from a Protestant background, I felt deeply uncomfortable with Mary and the Saints. The policy of being open to life in your marriage didn’t light my fire either. I questioned if all the rules were right, if Tradition had any authority, and what authority, if any, the Church really had.
Ultimately, if he asks why I am Catholic the answer boils down to Catholicism is true. I went into OCIA with a simple policy. If they teach anything contrary to scripture I will know I’m in the wrong place. I understood that due to the Magisterium and capital T Tradition I would hear things that were not directly in the Bible. I had to be willing to consider that sola scriptura was wrong. But if anything contradicted a single verse of scripture I was out.
Nothing did. Father C explained everything patiently, offering up scripture to back things up and historical perspectives of church fathers to explain other things. Scripture specifically said that after the Resurrection Jesus taught way too much to fit into a book. The apostles took those lessons, taught them to the next generation of church fathers, and so on.
Praying the rosary was initially extremely uncomfortable for me. My sponsor took me by surprise one day in class and took me through it section by section. I am still not good at it and memorized prayers are still not my forte. But I did it and I’m glad he walked me through it. And over time, I’ve begun to pray for Mary’s intercession as well, though nervously. Well, nervous is maybe not the right word for it. But I’m getting more at ease with the idea and I look forward to exploring a mother/daughter relationship with her. I want to draw closer to my confirmation saint as well – Hildegard of Bingen.
I see the beauty of Confession now, of the community of saints. And the necessity of the Church having authority over the interpretation of the Bible. As I’ve watched Protestant denomination after Protestant denomination fall into sin and heresy, after arguing with Protestant polygynists (each of whom is either ignorant or evil), after studying the scripture that says that Christ’s Church would last forever – not even the gates of hell can prevail against it, I realized…how can Protestantism be right? If indeed it is correct, which of the thousands of denominations is correct? They teach opposing things, so they can’t all be right. I became a Methodist after marrying my husband, and I liked the open mindedness of the Methodist Church…until they opened their minds so much their brains fell out and they started ordaining people living in sin.
Ultimately there can be one truth. So who has it became the ultimate question. I believe it is the church that has been essentially the same since the time of Christ. I mean, how can the Protestants be right? Would Jesus establish His Church, let it go astray right off the bat, and correct it all 1500 years later by using a random guy named Martin in Germany? That doesn’t make sense. He is the God of love, of wrath, of justice, of mercy, but not of confusion.
Cherished Rainbow 