Thursday, February 17, 2011

My Conundrum

Forgive me as I'm excruciatingly honest (and probably quite predictable).

My dear family members and many of my closest friends want, more deeply than anything, to find God, to know God, to learn about God, to become more like God.  Most have devoted their entire lives to understanding God more deeply.  My dear mother and I regularly have deep conversations about faith, and she's always so delighted by new insights that she or I have.  These devout people scour the Scriptures, pray fervently, and ponder mightily on matters of faith, because they have an insatiable hunger for the Truth.
And I love these people, my closest friends and dear family members.  I think of my precious grandmother, whose Bible has the look of an elderly Samurai's sword.  I think of my eager, beautiful young sister, who stuns me with her wisdom every time I talk to her.  I think of my dear roommates, who have rich spiritual lives I know I only barely see.

So I feel a certain declaration ripping at the seams of my soul, clambering forward, barely held back.  I want so desperately to communicate something deep and vital to them; sometimes I lack conversation topics because what I want to say overpowers everything else.
What I want to say is this:
My beloved, this is it! The Catholics are right!  We've found it!  This is what we've been searching for every day of our lives!  This is what we talked late into the night hoping to find!  This is what we searched the Scriptures to obtain!  Please, please, I beg of you, learn about this!  Consider it!  Ponder it!  Give this a chance, because finding the Catholic Church is very nearly the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me!
This is the Church, the Church of God.  Here is the Body of Christ, living, present in the Eucharist.  Here is the "Peter Foundation" we joked about, the Steward of the Church, chosen by Jesus.  The Mass is Heaven on earth, the book of Revelation replayed every Sunday. Here is found the meaning of marriage, the meaning of human life, the meaning of faith. They know what the Bible is, understand where it came from and how to apply it.  My beloved, this is the Church!
 And to the many Catholics I know and love, my dear college friends who for years lived out their faith in front of me and I never knew it:
Never forget what you have.  You were born with this treasure, with what I would give my life to give to those I love.  When I approach the Communion Rite on Sundays but cannot receive, I hope so much for those who can to know what a wealth it is. Let such rich faith live in you; so many ache for what you have without even realizing it.
It's probably a good thing I don't have a way to communicate with everyone on earth, and that my shyness keeps me from actually announcing this to everyone.  I try to be devout, not zealous.  To me, zealotry is an odor, not the aroma we should be.

God be with you all, and for your faith that is like or unlike mine, thanks be to God.

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