Our Experiences of God and Atheists

"Religious experiences" are a real phenomena, as countless people throughout history have had them, myself included, as I have shared in my 2013 book Praying Made Me Catholic. In one respect, in rare instances such experiences provide usefulness in awakening one's faith. Also, they indicate one's closeness in his or her relationship with God. For example, while still living a sinful life I became morally confused and suicidal, at which time in realizing this I prayed and asked "God help me!" as deep down I really did not want to kill myself. The immediate result of the prayer was a vision of Christ on the Cross. From this experience I had the personal recognition that my sins were causing my spiritual misery (there was much more to it, as related in my book) but there was also a way out. I was so overcome with mixed emotions of sorrow and joy that I began to weep uncontrollably. In one regard, I wept tears of sorrow due to a profound sense of personal guilt for my own sins, and in a second regard, I wept tears of joy due to a sense of joy in recognition that God had done something so profoundly loving to forgive our sins: die a brutal death for them! The vision and personal recognition was dramatic enough to stop me from committing suicide that weekend and awaken me to my need for God, not merely to forgive my sins but to change my life for the better. It also inspired me to go on to earn a Masters Degree in Theology. In the following 20 years thereafter, I have also had 7 spiritual dreams, all concerning aspects of evil influences during difficult times in my life, of which after spiritual interpretation gave me true guidance through those difficult times. Lastly, I had an experience, while packing for a home move, when the Holy Spirit spoke directly to my mind that I had discovered a "cursed object" that had been hidden under my bathroom sink, of which I promptly took outside and destroyed. All of these experiences were quite startling, to say the least, as only the one having had the experience knows they were of God, including spiritual dreams beyond the normal psychological phenomena of each sleeping night.

However, as it seems appropriate, such "dramatic experiences" among those who have them are relatively rare, possibly so that their now strong faith doesn't become pridefully arrogant. Recall how Satan and those who followed him did so after having been given the revelation of the Incarnation of God as a man in Christ. From this they became pridefully arrogant in their imperishable angelic selves as "higher beings" than mortal man, and so declared "I will not serve," as the angels are the spiritual intermediaries between God and humans (e.g., guardian angels). In essence they were pridefully arrogant, elevating themselves above God by denying His love of humanity. Thus they fell into the darkness of their own prideful arrogance. And so St. James highlighted, "You believe that there is one God. Good for you. Even the demons believe that and tremble." (James 2:19). The point being, merely believing isn't enough - we must live the Faith. Yet, in the rarity of religious experiences of the more dramatic kind, there are also believers who are such without such experiences and persevere in faith throughout life, based either on a holy simplicity or a firm intellectual grounding. In that I would say they are better souls than me! For they didn't need such dramatic experiences to "wake them up" as God had to do for this thick head!

So then, for such individuals of deep conviction who understand the Faith and have had religious experiences, atheists are merely those who have neither yet had an intellectual recognition of God's love nor had personal experiences of God. Instead of "seeking, asking and knocking," as Christ encouraged and such believers have done, atheists instead continually rationalize to themselves why God "must not exist." Herein, sadly, the atheist is able to lead astray believers who are not as intellectually adept in the Faith. Yet, in doing this, at the same time, whether realizing it or not, atheists are denying other believers of their authentic experiences of God. To such believers of an intellectual faith solidified by religious experiences the atheist unwittingly embarrasses oneself. To this type of believer, the atheist is denying that Someone who the believer has had experiences of doesn't exist just because the atheists haven't themselves have had an experience of that Someone. If ever discovering a believer having had such "alleged experiences" the ardent atheist will go on to try and convince those who have had experiences of God that they had really experienced a "psychological break," often perceived as a "mental crutch" as a form of "self-comforting" within the experiencer. And yet the experiential believer knows better, as they have not psychologically suffered worse for such authentic experiences but have instead grown spiritually healthier, as in losing pridefulness due to a healthy recognition of one's own limitations and growing in loving compassion for all life.

For example, when atheists make such psychological assertions about my vision I will point out that it did not serve as any form of "crutch" to make me "feel better about myself," but rather awakened in me a healthy sense of guilt (neither lax nor scrupulous) in recognition of my own sinful tendencies: thus the tears of sorrow. Furthermore, not only was I not comforted by personal guilt, the experience instilled in me an appropriate sense of responsibility to therefore avoid sin and become a better person. The tears of joy regarded what God had done in Christ, so that was not of me but the longstanding Christian theological revelation.

(Suffice it to say here, to understand why God chose this way of revealing His love in such a brutally extreme way, non-sadistically, was precisely the extreme nature of it. As God, being self-aware of His own nature as "holy," in undergoing such brutality He could and would endure the "worse humans had to offer" and be resurrected due to it as undeserving. This is in contrast to Adam's sin of disobedience all extreme forms of evil that followed, thus deserving death so that humans would not live forever sinfully. As a result of His holy life in Christ, His death in atonement for human sin, by His resurrection He has conquered death for those of us who, in recognizing all this, chose to "follow Him" down the narrow path of lives of personal holiness. Thus Christ has undone the fall of Adam! That's the theology of Soteriology [salvation] in a nutshell, without even discussing the role and nature of sacramental grace. Now, Christology and the nature of the Holy Trinity as 3-in1 [imperfectly reflected in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony: father, mother, child] is a whole other lesson on human ontology as being in the "image and likeness of God." Then we have Ecclesiology [the nature of the Church], or all those who will be saved, as a whole other lesson on the human family as also many members but one body. This should show that theology is no simpleton's formulations but a profound and interconnected revelation of truths regarding our individual and collective relationships with God, the reality of free will aimed to choose good/love over/and the problem of evil, as well as God's love as able to conquer evil.)

Not realizing such a profound revelation of God's love in willingness to bare the worse we could do to Someone, never having had theology articulated to them in such a way, and thus still grasping to justify one's need to for disbelief so as not to bare any personal responsibility for one's own sins, the ardent atheists will compare God to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or a "spaghetti space alien." And yet, the intellectually experiential believer knows the difference between completely fictitious man-made characters and the God who is Love. Thus Christ warned, "false prophets will arise..., so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:24). In other words, false prophets or teachers will even try to lead astray the "elect" (those who will ultimately persevere in faith) if that were even possible, which it isn't! This is because they cannot un-know the revelation of God's love and they cannot un-experience their own moments of it!

Now the following statement is not a condemnation, as all people are able to have conversion experiences of God, whether intellectual, experiential or ideally a combination with growth. And many atheists have had their personal faith awakened and became great defenders of the collective Faith. Yet, the obstinate atheists of ill-will are those who, in a devilish prideful arrogance, elevate themselves above God by denying God, as though he or she is so intelligent that they know for certain that God doesn't exist. In this the agnostic - who neither affirms nor denies God's existence - is less pridefully arrogant and more intellectually honest in stating that he or she just doesn't know for certain. And yet, many an agnostic have also come to faith when finally making the decision to ask, seek and knock. However! We believers cannot judge atheists as "bad people" simply because they do yet believe in God's love because, as noted above, more than likely they've never have had Soteriology, Christology, or Ecclesiology articulated to them in a satisfactory way. So assuming most people to be of "good will," we can give them the benefit of the doubt that they have yet to grasp all of such so as to begin their own personal "walk with God."


"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:7-11)


One last note: it must be acknowledged that there certainly are psychologically delusional individuals who believe they have such "religious experiences," but when examined, will always reveal an incoherence and incompatibility with the whole of the Faith as interwoven and fully understood. 

Illustrations: Scripture, Church, & Sacred Tradition

At a meeting I had last night an issue came up, and so today I was reflecting upon the matter of regarding the central importance of the Word of God within the Catholic Church and how Christ has given the Church the task of interpreting and transmitting it within the proper historical context of its Sacred Tradition(*). So I cam up with these illustration (click on them to see them larger): 

As countless intellectual converts from Protestantism to the Catholic Church(**) will tell you, the study of Church history is one of the greatest draws out of the confusion of Protestant denominationalism back to the Church when we discover that the Catholic Church(***) is the original Church.

*For example, it was the Sacred Tradition from which the bishops at the end of the 4th century drew from to know which books were generally used in the Early Church to choose the Old Testament Septuagint (46 books, not 39) and the New Testament.

**You didn't realize that there are a lot of Protestant and intellectuals and ministers becoming Catholic? That's because it's something that strongly anti-Catholic Protestant pastors don't like to address! Visit: www.chnetwork.org.

***The term "catholic" pertaining to a Church led by united bishops administering a common Eucharist literally thought to be the glorified flesh of Christ was already being taught by the disciples of the Apostles (see Ignatius of Antioch) clarifying the Apostolic teachings.

Illogical Connections: Babies are Atheists?

Today I am working on a presentation on atheism and came across this image, which of course I HAD to respond to!

The Text Messages of Modern False Prophets

This afternoon I got another one of those text message forwards nicely wrapped in cutesy religious words, with a picture of Mary Magdalene at the feet of Jesus no less! The problem: it was another message coming from what the Bible refers to a “the false prophets.”


Recall that the false prophets are those who pretend to be religious, but when the content of their message or beliefs are examined, they are not. I’ve gotten several of these texts in the past and responded to them with refutations of their false messages. Whether or not the people forwarding them to me have the intellect to UNDERSTAND my refutations and the integrity to STOP forwarding them is entirely another matter.

For those who may be confused as to what kind of false prophet messages I am speaking of, the following was the last message I received this afternoon.

“God has seen you struggling with something. God says it is over. A blessing is coming your way. If you believe in God, send this message on, please don’t ignore it, you are being tested. God is going to fix two things (BIG) tonight in your favor. And if you believe in God, drop everything and pass it on. Tomorrow will be the best day of your life. Don’t break this chain. If you break you will suffer. Send this to 14 friends in 10 minutes! Family first.”

The following is my refutation to this seemingly religious text for those who “believe in God.”

“Saint Paul said we are “heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” This just goes to show how AWFUL such forwards are that try to scare people with suffering when TRUE Christians are called to unite their sufferings with Christ. Those who create such messages are what the Bible refers to as ‘false prophets’ because they are making predictions that will ‘come true’ while actually leading people away from Christ through a fear of suffering! The Bible says their judgment will be harsh! Send this to those who send you the messages of false prophets so that maybe they will stop being their PUPPETS. Though they are packages as cutesy, these messages are not good! Do not fear your sufferings but unite them to Christ!”

Now, I could have emphasized the aspect of false prophecy whereby their predictions that God is going to fix, do something amazing, or bring love (you’ve gotten them and know what I’m talking about) never come true, thus exposing them as truly false prophets. It is a great evil to prophesy in the name of God when it won’t come true, thus discouraging the weak of mind. However, I wanted to emphasize the other evil of leading people away from their perception of God and Christ through fostering or strengthening their fears of suffering.

In fact, I would have loved to go on further, but such a long preaching text is sadly often ignored in preference for a message with an empty promise. My quote of Saint Paul on suffering is probably the best one-liner, but the First Letter of Peter is more thorough. He said,

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. …if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:12-19).

As you can see, the REAL “testing” is not to see if you will keep a chain text going, but for those who suffer! In other words, are you willing to suffer with Christ, as Paul also said we must, or will you flee it, such as fleeing the suffering of being ridiculed for standing up against the text messages of false prophets? I would prefer to suffer ridicule than to allow such nonsense texts influence more people.

I also reprimanded the family member of mine who forwarded the message from her friend on to me, as she should have known better since I’ve talked to her before about the wrong of perpetuating them. So I ask that you all help me stop such truly evil text messages by standing up against them.



777 words! Hmmm!

Revelation After Love

Last week in my Trinity and Incarnation theology class, it was noted that not until after His atoning suffering and death – His perfect expression of love – was Jesus fully revealed as the Christ. Numerous witnesses to His resurrection verified it. In other words, revelation came after a expression of love.

A question came to mind: “Is it consistent to say divine revelation always follows an expression of love?” I’ve concluded yes. Yet, further revelations of love followed gifts of divine revelation in pointing toward Christ. Major examples of love preceding revelation were God making covenants with the patriarchs of the Old Testament.

First, God created all things for love of humanity. Here, an expression or “initiative of love” preceded the revelation of creation. Creation was first of all revelation as it “revealed” the mind and will of God. After the fall to Original Sin came the revelation of the protoevangelium (“first gospel”), where God promised a coming Christ to crush Satan’s power of death.

God’s covenant with Noah initiated a “preservation of love” preceding eight persons being saved from a flood that revealed divine wrath over sin. Christ revealed that the flood prefigured sanctification in baptism.

God’s covenant with Abraham initiated an “expansion of love” preceding circumcision, revealing their union with God. As Abraham’s descendants increased the knowledge of God expanded. Christ revealed the Holy Spirit to “circumcize hearts.”

God’s covenant with Moses initiated an “exposé of love” by an “exposé of sin” preceding the law to Israel, revealing that “all have sinned” as “through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Christ fulfilled the law by perfectly keeping it, revealing Him as the spotless “Lamb of God.”

God’s covenant with David initiated a “reign of love” preceding the throne of a religious kingdom. Yet, not until Christ would David’s “reign of love” be fully realized and inaugurated as a “kingdom of love.” Now the grace of God is poored out to fulfill the “law of love.”

Theology discerns two types of revelation: private and public. Private cannot contradict public, as public is universal and accessible to all in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. Private revelations either guide one toward public or “reveal” deeper truths of public revelation (e.g., answered prayer; mystical experience).

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That having been qualified, since 2000 I have enjoyed a progressive series of private revelations in my deepening conversion. In the spring of 2000, after a prayer for relief from overwhelming stress, I had an initiatial conversion experience of grace. I realized three core realities: human sin; salvation in Christ; vocational sanctification in Christ. Yet, raised Protestant, I wasn’t sure which church to attend to learn more or be baptized.

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By the fall of 2000, fully aware of this uncertainty, at work I said a prayer for guidance. Later that day a friend of mine, led by the Holy Spirit, invited me to the Catholic RCIA program for catechesis and baptism! I began studying the differences and histories of Catholics and Protestants, wherein I had the revelation of the ancient Catholic Church as the biblical and historical “Body of Christ.”

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After baptism in the spring of 2001 I was able to better discern my vocation. Due to the nature of my initial experience I wans’t sure if I was called to priesthood or married life. Having a sense of both, in the summer of 2004 I took two years off dating and made Saint Augustine patron of my vocation. After acceptance to seminary by the Diocese of La Crosse, WI, I was introduced to a diocesan spiritual director who helped me discern my deisre for spousal family and possible calling to the diaconate.

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I started dating again the summer of 2006 and set to enter the University of Wisconsin. In the the spring of 2007 I met Melissa. We dated a couple months and really enjoyed each other’s company. One afternoon, setting beside the pond, Melissa shared with me how much she suffered in a short period of time: parental tragety; grandmother died; discovered she had a mild case of Multiple Sclerosis.

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Seeing how Melissa dealt with her suffering with suble grace, what came out of my mouth still startled me: “I lo…” I caught myself about to profess my love for her. Not long after this I made the ultimate connection: her last name is Augustine! Did I not realize this right away because her family pronounced it the Anglicized way rather than the Latin way I was used to hearing in reference to my patron Saint? Or was it a divine case of forgetfulness for the sake of revelation after an expression of love? Maybe both, but I’d suggest the latter as more fitting. Otherwise I might have inappropriately made more of it at the outset before coming to recognize love first.

Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman

As many know, John Henry Cardinal Newman, patron of the university that I study theology at, was beatified last Sunday, September 19, by Pope Benedict XVI in Cofton Park in Birmingham, England. Newman is now to be called “Blessed John Henry Newman” or “Blessed Cardinal Newman,” as he is considered one of the blessed in heaven. Several of the university faculty and staff traveled to England for the beatification Mass. My family and I watched the EWTN broadcast of the Mass here on campus Sunday night.

National Catholic Register correspondent Edward Pentin called attention to the fact that “A rainbow appeared over Cofton Park as Pope Benedict arrived this morning for the beatification Mass of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th century English theologian who has had a significant influence on the Holy Father’s own life.”

Commenting on the appropriateness of Cofton Park, Archbishop of Birmingham, Most Rev. Bernard Longley, said, “The finest recognition Cardinal Newman received was from the ordinary people of Birmingham whose lives were changed because of their contact with him. And more than 15,000 people spontaneously lined his funeral route from the Oratory to Rednal as a final tribute to this holy, caring parish priest.” Cofton Park is near both the Oratory where Newman lived and Rednal, his resting place.

What made the beatification possible was the first miracle assigned to Newman through the prayers and healing of Jack Sullivan from a serious back disorder in 2001. After his healing he was then capable to become a deacon of the Church. Being a deacon he was able to do the Gospel reading during the beatification Mass.

When asked by a reporter for the Boston Pilot, “Now that you have been cured, are you still devoted to Cardinal Newman?” Deacon Sullivan said, “I have so much, through my prayers to him. He has changed my life dramatically from one of total confinement. I probably would have never walked normally again or I could have been paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. But with the healing I was able to realize my greatest strength, and that was to return to classes and be ordained. I was able to resume my work and provide for my family. Every morning, I say a prayer to him in thanksgiving. Since my healing, I have never missed a morning where I do not thank him with all my heart for his love and his concern.”

I am convinced that the intercession of the saints can have a powerful impact on the lives of Christians. Some are subtle. Others are not so subtle. As mention in my previous article, Saint Augustine’s influence in the lives of my wife Melissa “Augustine” and me was obvious. In contrast, Saint Bernard’s influence in our lives was more subtle. He was the patron saint of the parish of which I was received into the church in Madison, Wisconsin. He was also the patron saint of Melissa’s home church in which we got married in Abbotsford, Wisconsin, three hours away from the other. These being the only two “Saint Bernard parishes” I knew of, it was clear to my spiritual awareness that his intercession was guiding us as well – our secondary sign or “confirmation” saint for our vocations. Furthermore, my prayers in 2008 for which school to study theology at have also proved Blessed Cardinal Newman significant in my life: a convert to the Church beckoning another convert to his university.

Blessed Cardinal Newman’s influence in Deacon Sullivan’s life was also not so subtle, having received a miraculous cure. Though I would not classify my experiences of saintly intercession as miracles, regardless, it takes a personal measure of the theological virtue of faith to be able to recognize the intercession of the saints in one’s life.

Facing Family & Convert Books

To become a Catholic Christian is to regain one's Christian unity.

There is something truly joyous in discovering the real Catholic Church after one has the personal revelation that Christians are sinfully divided. The New Testament condemns church division/factions as one of the most grievous scandals (see 1 Corinthians 1:10, 12:25; Galatians 5:20) as it introduces strife and enmity between those called to loving unity in God.

Many of us who were raised Protestant either just ignore the fact if we are lax Christians, while those of us who were more zealous attempted to resolve the problem through proselytizing others into our denomination (I was of the latter category as a youth). Of course, such small scale efforts really don't work when hundreds of other denominations are undoing their work through the same efforts.

Yet, it is also truly frustrating after becoming Catholic when Protestant family members criticize you without being willing to engage in intellectual dialogue. It is one thing for one's family not understand or appreciate why people become Catholic, but it is another for them not to respect you enough to ask questions and learn why you made such an involved change in life.

Hence, many of us have written books on the matter of conversion to the Catholic Church. In fact, since the 1990s there has risen a whole genre of Catholic convert books now. There are about 20 of them that have become extremely influential in exposing Protestant misconceptions about the Catholic Church, helping people realize that The Church is not a big evil machine.

Several of such books have specific focuses and recount personal narratives of how the Holy Spirit moved them to discover what they needed to discover the real Catholic Church. Since the Protestant Revolt it became "necessary" for Protestant to demonize the Catholic Church in order to justify their divisions. If they called the Church evil, who could blame them for separating from it?

Thus the great division of the Protestant Revolt became another fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah's bewailing, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20) Protestants began calling The Church "evil" and their division "good." And the bitter relations between Catholics and anti-Catholic Protestants began.

I have written one of the latest of these books. I was raised as a nominal Christian, yet with many Seventh-day Adventist ideas (my Father's upbringing). Seventh-day Adventism is one of those denominations that are not only "anti-Catholic", they are hyper-anti-Catholic as an actual part of their theology.

After the Holy Spirit led me into The Church via answered prayers, I was easily re-influenced by Seventh-day Adventism and became a practicing one for about six months again. This lasted until I became conflicted with where God was leading me through answered prayer and where others were leading me through their interpretational arguments. Ultimately, I came to recognize the difference between allowing humans to lead me astray and allowing God to lead me by prayer.

The projected release date of the book is this fall through CHResources. It is entitled:

Praying Made Me Catholic

With the Biblical & Historical Reasons I Must Remain Catholic

Catholics Called to Care for Converts

Time certainly does fly after high school! It’s hard to believe it has been 12 years for me! Like many, I waited to enter college after working a few years. Then again, as I’ve come to appreciate in hind sight, in a way I had to wait to go to college as I did because it wasn’t until after my conversion to Christ that I discovered my calling.

This week I read a statement put out by the U.S. bishop’s conference calling Catholics to seek new ways at welcoming and supporting the thousands of new Catholics that will be entering the Church this Easter Vigil through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA).

Father Richard Hilgartner, assistant director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship for the bishop’s conference, offered several suggestions. On his list were for Catholics to offer special “prayer” for these individuals, for them to “listen” to the example of these who seek to “follow the Lord more closely,” as well as to “cultivate a welcoming spirit, to be a witness to the new Catholics, and to invite them to grow deeper in the life of the Church.”

Again, time flies, as it is hard to believe that it has been 9 years since I had gone through the RCIA program. On April 14th, 2001, I had received Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion.

Yet, to be quite honest with you, I still wasn’t quite there yet intellectually in my greater grasp of Christianity at the moment of Baptism, due to many of the things I was taught. However, sometimes that is to be expected for those who God is calling to follow Him by trusting His guidance.

I knew I had been called to Baptism in the Catholic Church as it came through a clearly answered prayer. After I had begun taking my Christian faith seriously at the age of 20 I had hesitations about where to begin going to Church. For my mother had been raised Lutheran and my father had been raised Seventh-day Adventist.

When I was little Mom had taken my brother and I to the Lutheran church she had gone to as a child. However, when we were older we had begun attending the Seventh-day Adventist church from time to time. Here, being older, I got more theology, whereby I picked up a few anti-Catholic statements.

For example, as a youth I was told, “Lutherans are nothing more than watered-down Catholics,” and, “The real day of worship is Saturday, not Sunday. The Catholic Church changed the Sabbath.” There were other statements, like, “Some day the Catholic Church will come to an end,” and ridiculing Catholics for “having beer tents at church functions.”

The most memorable moment, however, came when I was talking to a Seventh-day Adventist member about the different beliefs of various denominations, when he ended by saying, “Whatever you do, don’t become Catholic. Catholics worship Mary.”
Still, I wasn’t quite ready for Baptism, as that was left up to me when I was “ready,” as Dad recommended. It wasn’t until 2000 that I was ready, yet becoming aware of the countless “denominations” out there I really didn’t know where to go. So it was, one particular day at work I prayed, “Lord, I don’t know where to go from here. Please lead me.”

That SAME afternoon I was talking to a close friend of mine who knew I had begun taking my Christian faith seriously. On her own volition that day she had called the Director of Religious Education (DRE) of her parish to inquire about the possibility of Baptism for me. So when I called her that same day of my prayer, and she said to me, “I spoke with the DRE of my parish and we thought you might be interested in the RCIA program for Baptism,” I was shocked.

I immediately recognized that the Holy Spirit had just answered my prayer through her, a member of the Body of Christ! It was the call to Baptism, and so it was obvious! But in the Catholic Church?

Of course, it wasn’t until I joined the RCIA classes that I learned that Catholics do not worship Mary. However, I still lacked theological understanding about the Sabbath and the role of the pope, yet I persevered on to the call to Baptism.
Now, it wasn’t until after my Baptism that I discovered the truth of the Catholic teaching concerning the presence of God’s grace at Baptism. Hereafter I discovered those theological resources I was looking for, one of which came from Catholics who cared about a new Catholic like me.



Mr. and Mrs. Mangehra borrowed me Dr. Scott Hahn’s lecture set, “Answering Common Objections to the Catholic Faith,” in which he addressed the role of the pope, the role of Mary, the Communion of Saints, the Eucharist, and purgatory. Dr. Hahn also shared his own conversion story as a Protestant minister coming to discover the nature of the new covenant with the Church and the later rise of “denominations” since the 16th century.

Herein I discovered my love of Christ’s “original Church,” as I like to call it, my love of theology, and my desire to teach the ancient Christian faith. Thus, as noted before, it wasn’t until after my conversion that I found my calling and could finally enter college for a theology degree.

In the statement mentioned earlier put out by Father Richard Hilgartner, he acknowledged that new Church members remind all Catholics that this period after baptism is “ongoing and essentially what all members of the Church do throughout our lives.” He pointed out that it is their time also to perpetually “grow deeper in faith and relationship with Christ, constantly discerning his will.”

This RCI year of 2009-2010, as in years past since my own conversion, I have had a care and love for those who have also taken that step to enter into full communion with the Church. My wife and I are both sponsors to other adults who will be receiving Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion.

At the same time, as the Church and Father Hilgartner has called us to this Lent, I also seek to go deeper in my union with Jesus Christ. More learning about The Faith is essential for continued intellectual conversion. And more time spent in prayer, more frequenting the Sacrament of Confession, and more receiving the precious gift of Christ in the Holy Eucharist are essential for spiritual conversion.

A Biblical Theology of a Firstborn Son

Firstborn sons have been significant people in most cultures throughout the ages. During our winter break last month my wife Melissa and I were overjoyed to have our firstborn son, Isaiah, born to us January 5th. Our first child before him, our daughter Melika, had just turned 18 months.

If one were to ask if there was a major theme or thread throughout Scripture, bringing it all together, many theologians would say it is the theme of covenant. The Old Testament is essentially a chronicling of the covenants that God made with all humanity (through Adam and Noah), then with Israel (through Abraham, Moses, and David), and perfected in the New Covenant (through Christ).

In the Old Testament God describes a firstborn son, even those “unloved,” as having true pride of place for a father as “the beginning of his strength” (Deut 21:17).

All sons were expected to “teach their children” (Deut 4:10) the stories of the religious experiences and covenants of their forefathers to the succeeding generations. However, as every man could have a firstborn son of his own, whether or not he was a firstborn, it was to the firstborns who were expected to be strong leaders for the family – their father’s “strength.”

Although my grandfather was not a firstborn son, my father was his firstborn son (of two), and I am my father’s firstborn son (of two), as is Isaiah my firstborn son.

According to the created order, Adam was the firstborn of “the sons of God” (Gen 6:2,4) who received and perpetuated the creation covenant. Yet, as Genesis 6 illustrates, even the sons of God could be tempted by “the daughters of men” – those who were not covenant keepers. To this point even the sons of God became corrupt, thus instigating the Flood story and initiating Noah’s Gentile covenant.

Due to the human tendency toward sin, as Scripture came to reveal, eventually Abraham and later Moses were called to establish the beginnings of a nationalistic covenant, whereby Israel would become God’s “firstborn” (Ex 4:22), redeemed according to the national order.

In this, Israel was called to be a “light to the nations” (Is 49:6), as God’s firstborn son, while at the same time being prophetic of the coming Christ to be revealed as the “only begotten Son” of God (Jn 3:16) to redeem all humanity.

Why were daughters not their father’s “strength”? Here is where the “theology of the body” comes in, as Pope John Paul II called it, recognizing the biological differences between men and women and how that plays into marriage and procreation.

Speaking of the revealed truths within the creation story, Saint Paul gives us a basis for Christians understanding today. “I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. …[man] is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.”

“For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake. Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head [while in prayer]” (1 Cor 11:3,7-10).

This is not sexism! This is part of the theology of creation (not to be confused with Creationism). For Paul goes on to point out that, “However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God.” (vv.11-12).

Woman “becomes one with” her man and shares glory with him as she is only “fruitful” with him. Now think about what we know now about genetics today. It is dependant upon the man’s chromosomes to make a male child. Certainly the ancients did not know that, but they did recognize that man’s “seed” gave him a creative share in “the image and glory of God” from whom “all things originate.”

Sons thus perpetuate humanity by holding the glory of God within their DNA! Female fertility does not hold the essence of both sexes. Man is necessary to give male life as God gave man his life. And so Genesis says, “When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.” (Gen 5:3).

Much later the prophet Zechariah prophesied of Christ, “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn” (Zec 12:10). In the Old Testament firstborn sons, whether Adam or others after him, were imperfect prophetic types of Christ, the perfect Son of God who would offer His own life as a ransom for all.

Now, with Christ restoring humanity to its great dignity, Paul said, “For those whom [God] foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29). Thus, for men to follow Christ is to bring salvation to the world, as they not only bring their wives and daughters with them, but also their sons, and their grandchildren vicariously through them.

This says nothing to consecrated virgins, such as priests or the sisters and brothers within religious orders, whose gift of their fertility is offered to God (cf. Matt 19:12; 1 Cor 7:6-9). That is a different matter of “spiritual fatherhood” and “spiritual motherhood.”

In all humility, women share glory in participation with a male counterpart’s glory, whether a loving daughter to her loving father, a loving wife with her loving husband, or a loving Mother Superior with her loving bishop. Yet, as Paul pointed out, women are very integral to the whole design of humanity “for the man’s sake,” since without them, men cannot do their part to transmit life, whether natural or spiritual.

Thus, the Christian revelation of the “image and likeness of God,” as being a Trinity, has greater meaning on the human family since the New Covenant and the revelation of the Son of God. The Son reflects or speaks (logos) the loving glory of the Father, and the Holy Spirit communicates that bond of love, three in one. A wife reflects the loving glory of her husband, and a child(ren) is the fruit of their bond of love. Yet, this is an imperfect reflection or analogy, as humans are not gods, but reflections of His glory.

It is my prayer for Isaiah, my firstborn son, is that I am a good father for him, so that he can know how to seek God’s will in order to fulfill his personal calling, whether it is to be a natural father, passing on the glory of God within himself, or as spiritual father, teaching others to recognize the glory of God within humanity.

I also pray the same for my daughter Melika, my firstborn child, that I am a good father for her, that she can likewise know how to seek God’s will in order to fulfill her calling. All in God’s glory, Amen.

Conversion to Christ and His Church

Many times Catholic apologists are asked for that apologetic “silver bullet” to help someone else they know with understanding or appreciating the fullness of the Christian faith as it has been upheld within the Catholic Church. I was recently asked if there was such a tool for the best way to help someone to become open to Catholicism, or the process to join the faith, especially if they are distrustful of religion.

The unfortunate answer: there isn’t one single issue or idea. For most converts to discover the ancientness and originality of the Catholic Church as that which was founded by Jesus Christ upon the leadership offices of the Apostles it often takes each individual several personal steps. However, in my own studies, as I relate in my upcoming book, there are several common themes or “lessons learned” among intellectual converts to Catholicism, especially the countless Protestant ministers that have been coming in over the last few decades. Thus conversion is a complex process of a spiritual conversion, an intellectual conversion, and a conversion of will to do what God desires.

Number One: be open to the Holy Spirit’s ability to guide through answered prayer and be prepared to accept the signs of answers. The spiritual life of a prayerful relationship is the beginning of learning about God, experiencing the revelation of Jesus Christ, and embracing the wondrous Church He gave as an extension of His “body” as Saint Paul called it, which Christians are incorporated into. The “Body of Christ” on earth is not perfect, of course, but in the process of being cleansed for those who desire purification.

Those who are distrustful of religion often are so because they are distrustful of people who present it. Again, as previously discussed in past articles, the word “religion” comes from the word meaning “to bind” as in a “relationship.” Thus religion is a relationship with God. Authentic religion is divine revelation: religion that God revealed because humanity, due to our falleness, tend toward false religion. Therefore such skeptics need to learn about the nature of divine revelation, as it is quite inspiring!

Number Two: discovering and resolving personal and denominational misconceptions about the Catholic Church. Speaking from experience, having been raised a Protestant I held several “common Protestant” misconceptions about the Catholic Church, some theological and some historical. For example, I had to discover that though I was taught that “Catholics worship Mary” it was false, and based in large part upon misconceptions of the nature of prayer. Furthermore, I had to discover that the Catholic Church didn’t “start in the time of Constantine” but was, by nature and historical lineage, clearly connected to the perpetuated leadership role of the Apostles of Christ, and that the word “catholic” (universal) is simple one of the four “marks” that point out the original Church.

Number Three: learning more Church history and historical theology. I didn’t realize that, as a youth, some of my beliefs were in part based upon modern (non-historical or non-ancient) interpretations of the Christian faith. In other words, as I discovered the root issue, due to the new idea of believing in “the Bible alone,” people thus tended toward private interpretations, whereby apart from the historical context they were written (i.e., Sacred Tradition), it is truly impossible to “get it right” on one’s own on all doctrine.

This also is due in part to the nature of the Bible, especially the New Testament, as it was never intended to be a sort of catechism of the Christian faith. It is most often here, by delving into Church history and discovering the richness of such treasures as the writings of the Apostolic and Early Church Fathers, those men who were ordained by the Apostles or who followed their disciples, that a great number of academics, very often Protestant ministers, Christian college professors, and other lay intellectuals, discover what Cardinal Newman did: “To go deep into history is to cease being a Protestant.”

After initial conversion to Christ and to His Church it is easy to fall into sin again, as the temptations of the world are powerful. Thus a conversion of will is perpetually necessary. For this reason many spiritual masters and writers will tell you that conversion is not a “one time” deal, but a continual process, a life-long journey toward God, whereby one continually and daily “takes up their cross” to follow Christ.

Evangelization & Prosteletization

(12//09 - My Catholic column for Newman University newspaper The Vantage)

If anyone wants me to give them a brief lecture on the difference between a religion and denominations of a religion, just make the false distinction between Catholics and Protestants as belonging to “different religions.” Catholics and Protestants are not of “different religions,” of course, because they acknowledge the same God (as the Holy Trinity) and believe that we are ultimately saved through the same atoning sacrifice Jesus Christ. Now, how we envision the application of atoning grace may be different.

For Catholics, salvation comes by grace is freely given through the 7 Signs of the New Covenant (sacraments), which are gifts from Christ, not “Catholic works” as many mistakenly believe. For many Protestants, salvation comes by grace freely given to those who request it from God. On the other hand, many other Protestant groups are closer to the ancient teaching of the Church, recognizing the requirement of Baptism and the Eucharist. Still, for most Baptism is recognized as the rite (sacrament) that initiates one into the New Covenant.

Ultimately, because we believe in the same God and the same Christ who freely saves those who call upon Him, and because we share a common Trinitarian Baptism, Catholics and Protestants are of the same religion: Christian. Distinctions within that religion are historical anomalies and come from division.

As I’ve pointed out in the past, the Catholic Church (including those of the Eastern Orthodox schismatic rites) comprises the “whole church,” as their leaders have received legitimate teaching and governing authority from the Apostles. Protestant groups began dissociated themselves with the Church’s teaching and governing authority in the sixteenth century and thus began forming “denominations” within the Christian religion as distinct from the Catholic Church. In turn, losing that stability of an authoritative teaching and governance, the Protestant groups began to further divide over doctrinal disputes.

A Newman student recently asked me to address the difference between evangelization and proselytization and why Catholics don’t proselytize. As you can tell, I first felt the need to establish that Catholics and Protestants are of the “same religion.” I’m sure there are many reasons why many Catholics are not proselytizers, and the recognition that we are of the same religion may be one of those reasons.

However, many Protestants, especially Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, do not see it the same way, and have been theologically led to believe that the Catholic Church is off-base, and thus feel the need to proselytize Catholics out of the Church.

Yet, I’ve heard that false distinction between Catholics and Protestants mostly from older Catholics as a remnant of that historical anti-Protestant rhetoric of the Catholic Counter Reformation. The Counter Reformation sought to highlight for Protestants that their leaders had separated from historical Christianity. However, I would argue that Protestants did not lose the essence of the religion.

It appears that one of the major reasons why Catholics do not proselytize Protestants is based on a historical critique against Catholics; they’ve typically lacked a good biblical education, whereas Protestants pride themselves on this. Ironically, Catholics belong to the biblical Church, which might be why many have grown complacent over the centuries in their religious education.
Now the real question is, “should Catholics proselytize?” Again, some educated Catholics who recognize them being of the same religion may say “No” and choose to go on doing some other work for the Church. Other educated Catholics, on the other hand, would say “Yes, Catholics should proselytize. It is the essence of regaining Christian unity.” This second view is most appreciated by Catholic converts like me, who are glad to have discovered the “original Church” in the midst of the plethora of “Protestant denominations.”

What is also ironic is that the new movement of Protestant clergy converts I mentioned in the last two articles is due, in large part, to the great amount of historical, biblical, and theological resources now available in our modern “Age of Information.” And this spreading of information on the part of Catholics, such as through Catholic radio (1360 locally), cable television (EWTN), and extensive internet sites (vatican.va; catholic.com; ewtn.com) are products of the late Pope John Paul II’s call for a “new evangelization.” In this respect, one might prefer to say that Catholics are “more fully evangelizing” Protestants – teaching them about Christ’s historical Church – while Protestants are the ones who proselytize Catholics when they lead them out of Christ’s Church.

This leads me to another question, of whether proselytization is good or bad. If one comes to appreciate that the Catholic Church is the original Church founded by Jesus Christ upon the authoritative teaching and governing role of the Apostles, and that those who lack the fullness of the faith that Christ gave them, like all 7 sacraments, it is good to lead others to Christ’s Church. Herein, it would be done for the sake of the greater blessings the new converts would receive from Christ. In reverse, then, it would be clearly bad to lead less educated Catholics out of the Church.

This clearer distinction of Catholics “evangelizing Protestants” and Protestants “proselytizing Catholics” follows from the appreciation of the original historical religious integrity of the Catholic Church, the in-continuity of the Protestant divisions, and the continued commonalities between the two.

This distinction may also give insight as to why it is appropriate for Catholics to “proselytize,” or rather, “more fully evangelized” our non-Catholic family and friends. For such reasons Saint Francis de Sales is so well know among Catholics for having assisted the Holy Spirit in the conversion of thousands of Calvinist Protestants of Geneva, Switzerland, back to the Church. The brotherly love that Christian unity reveals strengthens the persuasiveness of the Gospel. From personal experience, having been raised a Protestant, I am glad I was proselytized, or rather, “more fully evangelized,” by such outlets as Catholic radio.

Anglicanism's Breakdown Assists in Conversion

Introduction

Was it ironic or was it providential that two weekends ago when I attended the Coming Home Network Conference for Catholic converts the Vatican had just released a statement concerning a Provision for groups of Anglicans desiring to enter the Catholic Church?

There have been many prophetic commentators who have detailed the breakdown of the Anglican Church (called Episcopalian in the U.S.) over the last century, especially in the last decades with allowing the ordination of women, openly gay bishops, and now gay marriage. The liberal mind may see nothing wrong with such issues, but Divine Revelation in the areas of human morality and ecclesiology demand otherwise, which are other detailed dialogues not at present issue.

What is at issue, then, is that due to this breakdown many Anglicans and Episcopalians have realized the problem that, when having broken with the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, they lost the stability provided by the Magisterium of the Christian Church.

Here’s a little Church History to put the matter into perspective for those not familiar with the history of the Christian Church and the Christian denominations that later arose.

Historical Context

The Catholic Church started with the Apostles as the original Magisterium, the Apostle Peter being the first “pope,” so to speak (this title was later added to his special office that Christ gave him). Acts, chapter 15, describes the first “Church Council” (Jerusalem) whereby this Magisterium exerted its authority over all the local Christian communities that the Apostles had founded. The Apostles chose men to be bishops over the local communities to take over their authoritative roles. Saint Ignatius, one of these disciples of the Apostles who they had made bishop of Antioch, has the oldest written usage of calling the whole church the “Catholic Church” (c. 107 AD).

The Catholic Church then underwent severe persecution for the next 300 years until Constantine converts to Christianity (to whatever extent) and frees the Church from persecution with the Edict of Milan in 313. Hereafter the authorities of the Church are able to enter into collegial dialogue and again address issues of concern for the sake of the whole Church by entering into Church Council, the first of which was First Nicaea in 325 and addressed the Arian heresy.

Over the next 1200 years the Catholic Church addressed heresy after heresy, consciously seeking to preserve the teachings of the Apostles while also better articulating them and addressing their implications. This last matter concerning the implications of apostolic doctrines has caused confusion for some, thinking that the Catholic Church has “invented new doctrines” over time. Not so. These “new doctrines” were nothing more that appropriately developed understandings of core doctrines.

Such was what partially added to the confusion for the Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century who thought to prune down the developed doctrinal thought of Christian teachings. One of these apostolic teachings rejected by the Protestants was the role of the popes – the role of Peter – as the sign of Christian unity. It was the responsibility of Peter at the Council of Jerusalem to bring the brethren together and make the final verdict. It had thus been the responsibility of the popes who succeed Peter's recognized role at every Church Council thereafter to do the same.

There were three major splits as a result of the Protestant Reformation: the Lutheran; the Anglican (or Church of England); and the Calvinist. These are the first major “denominations” (the Catholic Church is not a “denomination” as it is the original whole). From these three splits, having abandoned the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, over the next 400 plus years what has resulted was constant disagreement over doctrine and practice and thus further and constant denominational splits. Now, statistics suggest that there are well over 30,000 Protestant and Evangelical denominations.

Some groups within the Anglican Church have remained theologically closest to the Catholic Church as the denomination’s split was not instigated by theological debate (at least those unaffected by Calvinism). As many know, it was due to King Henry VIII’s desire for a divorce. Herein, many Anglicans have always referred to themselves as “Anglo-Catholics,” recognizing that the ancient term “catholic” (or “universal”) is not really the “name” of the Christian Church, but rather a defining characteristic of it. In other words, the Church that Jesus Christ founded is “universal” in that it encompasses “all nations” with the one teaching that the Apostles spread abroad.

Present Situation

Now, many Anglicans and Episcopalians are coming to recognize and appreciate the role that the papacy – the Petrine Ministry/Ministry of Peter – had played in maintaining Christian unity over the first fifteen hundred years before the Protestant Reformation. Thus, many have petitioned the Vatican to allow them to re-enter the Church while retaining aspects of their Anglican liturgy, since it is not much different from the Mass. Hence, the Vatican made the recent Provision.

Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, responding to the Vatican’s Provision, released this statement,

“Today the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has received word of the new Provision in the form of an apostolic constitution issued by the Holy See for the reception into full communion with the Catholic Church of groups from the Anglican tradition. The USCCB stands ready to collaborate in the implementation of that Provision in our country.

“This step by the Holy See is in response to a number of requests received in Rome from groups of Anglicans seeking corporate reunion. The application of the new Provision recognizes the desire of some Anglicans (Episcopalians) to live the Catholic faith in full, visible communion with the See of Peter, while at the same time retaining some elements of their traditions of liturgy, spirituality and ecclesial life which are consistent with the Catholic faith.

“This Provision, at the service of the unity of the Church, calls us as well to join our voices to the Priestly Prayer of Jesus that ‘all may be one’ (Jn 17:21) as we seek a greater communion with all our brothers and sisters with whom we share Baptism. For forty-five years, our Episcopal Conference has engaged in ecumenical dialogue with The Episcopal Church, which is the historic Province of the Anglican communion in North America. The Catholic Bishops of the United States remain committed to seeking deeper unity with the members of The Episcopal Church by means of theological dialogue and collaboration in activities that advance the mission of Christ and the welfare of society.”

My Final Thought

There have always been individual Christian converting to the Catholic Church, but this Provision is a glorious instrument for fostering Christian unity and will hopefully be a great sign for other Christians to come back to the Church in groups. Christian division is a great scandal to the world as it causes conflict and confusion. May Jesus’ prayer to the Father be fulfilled concerning the Church, “that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them” (Jn 17:23).

The Coming Home Network (CHN) 2009 Conference

"The Pillar and Bulwark of the Truth"

In the last three decades there has been a great increase in Protestant and Evangelical ministers giving up their pastorates to become Catholic laymen. Many people, especially non-Catholic Christians, may read that first statement and say, “WHAT?! Why the heck would they do that?” Let me tell you, because in Protestant and Evangelical circles this is one of those taboo topics that are usually not presented to Protestant and Evangelical laity. And if the subject is addressed, it is often misrepresented as some being "led astray." In the historical reality, it's all about getting back to historical Christianity!

Last Thursday my family and I drove 16 hours to Columbus, Ohio for this year’s Coming Home Network (CHN) conference. The conferences are titled “Deep in History, Deep in Scripture, Deep in Christ” in order to emphasize the original, biblical, and Christ-centered nature of the Catholic faith, matters often unrecognized by non-Catholic Christians.

CHN was founded in 1993 by Marcus Grodi, a former Presbyterian minister who, with the support of many other Protestant and Evangelical clergy converts, saw a needed resource for the many others who were still on the “Journey Home” back into the Catholic Church. CHN’s ministry is not about proselytizing people out of other church communities, but rather to be a resource of “stand beside” those who are considering the Catholic Church. In other words, CHN is merely there to assist those who, through their own academic and scholarly research, are coming to recognize that the Catholic Church is the “original church” founded by Christ and that what has separated Christians over the last five hundred years has been based upon the theological errors of individual men.

Catholics who are familiar with EWTN, the Catholic cable network, may know Mr. Grodi from his weekly program The Journey Home, where he interviews both clergy and laymen and laywomen who have come into the Church from various Protestant and Evangelical denominational backgrounds. He also interviews “prodigals,” those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church and have “come home.” Furthermore, Mr. Grodi interviews those who have become Christian from various religious backgrounds, like Judaism and Islam, and non-religious backgrounds, like atheism and agnosticism.

During the conference last weekend Mr. Grodi told the audience that since its founding in 1993 CHN has assisted over 1700 clergy from over 100 different Protestant and Evangelical denomination, whereby over 900 clergymen and clergywomen have become Catholic and the other half are still on the journey.

As a Catholic convert myself, I have a great appreciation from the beautiful testimony this brings to bear on Jesus Christ’s call to Christian unity (John 17:18-26) and Saint Paul’s condemnation of Christian division and faction as a serious sin (1 Cor 1:10, 12:25; Gal 5:20) as it causes great scandal to believers. These clergy, being academics and scholars, have a significant influence on the rest of the Protestant and Evangelical world. For to witness them entering the Catholic Church has continued to cause many to ask why.

The great division among Christians since the Protestant Reformation has caused much confusion among Christians asking themselves, “Whose interpretation is right?” Thus many Christians now “church hop,” looking for a denomination that sounds and feels the best for them as individuals. In contrast, as many academic and scholarly Protestant and Evangelical ministers have been coming to discover, ancient Christianity was not based on personal preference or individualism, but rather on object Truths revealed by God and an objective Church formed by Christ. In other words, Christianity is not a matter of “interpretation” but a matter of uncovering the objective Truths that Christ gave to the Church to “teach all nations” and ever protect.

In essence, what is the glory of the ancient Catholic Church that is now of great appeal to Protestant and Evangelical clergy and laity? In one word: stability. Even though there are many Catholics within the Church who act in defiance against the Church, those who are less rebellious of heart and more intellectual of mind see that the heart and mind of Christianity, the heart and mind of the Church, is that of religious truths whereby humanity can come together in loving unity. The stability of the Church, in its essence, is this holding of divine truth and the ability to unify souls under God. Thus, the Church is essentially the collective of humanity who Christ has drawn together in divine truth to purify souls and lead them to union with God for eternal life.

The great divisions that have come about due to the Protestant Reformation, where groups of people began breaking away from the Catholic Church, has caused strife within Christianity and broken down that brotherly love. Thus we often hear some within our church communities uncharitably mocking and criticizing those of other communities.

In contrast to the Protestant “Reformation,” there was also a “Counter-Reformation” made by the Catholic Church, whereby the Church sought to reform itself in appropriate ways. Herein, the Church recognized the Protestants’ legitimate concern for the need of reform within the Church, while at the same time preserving the doctrinal truths and unity of the Christian faith. At the time of the Reformation people began throwing out various truths of The Faith (like all 7 sacraments) and promoting their scandalous disunion with the Church.

Newman University, where I currently study theology, has the namesake of John Henry Cardinal Newman, one of those Protestant clergy converts who came into the original Church back in the mid-nineteenth century. One of his most famous quotes is, “To be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant.” In other words, when Christians become historically minded and historically educated they begin to see the continuity between Judaism and Catholicism; they begin to see the continuity between “one nation under God” - Israel - and the fulfillment of “all nations under God” - the Church.

The CHN conferences have always addressed specific topics of Christian concern. The first six conferences focused progressively on different eras in Church history, from "The Early Church" to the “Battle for the Faith: North America.” Now that the span of Church history has been covered this year’s seventh annual conference began the first of issue-based areas of Christian concern with the official role and authority of Christ’s Church.

This year's conference was titled, "The Pillar and Bulwark of Truth," a quote from Saint Paul in 1 Timothy 3:15 where he refers to the Church as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth." Many Protestants and Evangelicals who have stopped to consider those words are often startled. Paul refers to the Church as the upholder and foundation of truth, not the Scriptures. Why? Because the Scriptures need a guide to provide an appropriate understanding, such as was the witness of the deacon Philip (not the Apostle; see Acts 6:5) to the Ethiopian eunuch as described in Acts 8. The Church is the guide to the Scriptures, such as represented by a deacon, who explains the meaning of the Old Testament in light of Christ, and the meaning of the New Testament in light of what Christ has established through the teaching ministry of His Church.

Next year’s conference is titled "How Firm a Foundation: Authority through the Word of God" and will focus on the official role and authority of Scripture. Next year's conference will be October 22nd through 24th at the Hilton Easton in Columbus, Ohio.

For more information on the Coming Home Network or the conferences visit http://www.chnetwork.com/.

Love Thy Neighbor

(10/15/09 - My Catholic column for Newman University newspaper The Vantage)

On Monday last week I was working the campus phone in the Telecommunications office when right before I had to go to class at 11 a.m. the phone began ringing off the hook by the family members of Sharon Neimann (Program Director of Newman University Nurse Anesthesia Program), whose granddaughter Aubrey was involved in an accident and was in critical condition in Lubbock, Texas. You may have read the Prayer Request e-mail from Ann Edwards later that afternoon.

One of the family members who called in told me that Aubrey “might not make it through the day.” Immediately my heart was pierced with sorrow for not only our faculty member whose family this little girl was, but especially for the parents of the small girl. I became horrified and tears welled up in my eyes by what I was told had happened to her.

As a parent of a 14 month little girl who can now scamper around the house and find potential danger, it frightened me to image that my wife and I could possibly experience such a tragedy. I had to try to get the mental images out of my head for my 11 a.m. bioethics class. Yet, as soon as class had finished at 11:50 I resolved to pray for the child, for the professor (who I don’t even know), and for the family. So I immediately went to the chapel for noon Mass, told Father Tatro to ask the congregation to pray for the people, and personally offered up my Mass and day’s works in honor of the child.

Seemingly providentially, the readings captured my spirit that day in context with what I was experiencing and praying about. The Old Testament reading (Jonah 1:1-2:2, 11) was the story of the prophet Jonah called to preach against the city of Nineveh. The man did not know the people, as they were Gentile “foreigners,” but for that very reason he had no concern for them and thus chose not to follow his calling and was caught aboard a ship “fleeing from the Lord.”

The Gospel reading (Lk 10:25-37) was the story of the scholar of the Mosaic Law who questioned Jesus about gaining eternal life, wherein they both narrow in on the heart of the Law: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” The scholar then poses the question, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus goes on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan, a half-Jew/half-Gentile, those despised by the Jews for their mutt-like religiosity, so to speak. Yet, Jesus makes the Samaritan the good guy, who came upon and cared for a Jew who was beaten by robbers and left for dead. The Samaritan, unlike those Jesus clearly contrasted in the story, was willing to have concern for another, not because of who he was, but merely because he “was moved with compassion.”

The messages of the both stories were clear to me: care enough for others, even those you do not know. Jonah should have cared enough for the Ninevites – to love his neighbors – to desire to preach against their sins with the hope for their conversion and salvation. The Samaritan fulfilled this calling. The point is famous and clear: we are all neighbors. We are to care for one another due to our mutual inherent dignity and value.

Yet, there are various ways we are called to care for one another, both physically and spiritually. Last Monday I felt as though the Gospel spoke to me as I “was moved with compassion” for the family of our faculty member and thought to lift the child and family up in prayer. Yet, there are still moments when I find myself being critical or less than compassionate toward some, even though I may intellectually appreciate the problem and effects of sin in the world. And thus I recognize my continued need to foster concern for all my neighbors and call everyone else to also foster their concern for other.

In the end, if we all fostered such concern in our minds and hearts, even to the point of being able to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44), a HIGH calling, the world would be in a much better state. To love our neighbors fosters healthy communities and on a grand scale healthy nations. To love enemies dissolves war, even if it’s unto martyrdom. Yet, even the early Christian martyrs converted Rome, as Tertullian prophesies, “The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.” Let us care not just for family and friends, but reach out all the more to our neighbors, even those we do not know.

To Teach the Christian Faith

(10/8/09 - My Catholic column for Newman University newspaper The Vantage)

As a convert led into the Catholic Church via answered prayers, I love it that I am now blessed to be able to write a faith-based column for the campus newspaper. Yet, there’s been a little controversy among some who read my article “On Martyrdom” a few weeks ago. In one sense, it’s expected when discussing moral issues. We have various appreciations of moral truths and are at different levels of union with God, some deeply, some not yet established.

Personally, I fell in love with Jesus Christ at my initial conversion experience when I came to the personal appreciation that my personal sins were, in part, the reason He offered Himself up as the loving sacrifice for the Father’s just punishment for sin. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

As my prayer life deepened I had clearly answered prayers that led me directly into the Catholic Church via the RCIA classes. I began going intellectually deeper via the depth of Catholic talk radio (locally 1360AM) which introduced me to apologetics, scholarly accounts of Church history, and the Early Church Fathers. My answered prayers and the intellectual power of Catholic apologetics are the bases for my book coming out in a few weeks, Praying Made Me Catholic: With the Biblical and Historical Reasons I Must Remain Catholic. Having come to an appreciation that the Catholic Church is the original Christian Church founded by Christ, I fell in love with Her also: “the Bride of Christ.” From there I knew I wanted to pursuit a theology degree to teach The Faith.

I started college at the University of Wisconsin, Marshfield. Eventually, I knew I’d transfer to a Catholic university for theology classes. Meanwhile, as a Catholic interested in social justice, the best thing I did was take philosophy and sociology classes (my double minor) and join the campus club Students Opposing Acts of Prejudice (S.O.A.P).

Being a secular university I became friends with a variety of personalities from many backgrounds. I established several good friendships with people from every section of the LGBT community. As my friends, they knew my theological convictions clashed with their lifestyles, yet as we interacted they came to know I still loved them due to their inherent dignity and infinite value as precious souls created by God. My conviction is that I am not to exclude anyone from myself, but love them even in their sins, as out Lord did, but not to love their sin, thereby seeking their good and to be willing to assist them in their freedom if they desire such.

At the UW we had a well known Christian club on campus, but the members came across as condescending, and thus none of my LGBT friends would be members very long. So I took it upon myself to found a Catholic club, the first in over 30 years. Despite the moral calling of Divine Revelation, my LGBT friends felt more welcome as I would express the Church’s teaching that, “They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives…” (CCC 2358).

Eventually I moved my family from Wisconsin here to Newman last fall because the school was initiating the Masters in Theology. At the same time, I had just finished the manuscript of Praying Made Me Catholic.

Clearly, I’ve not stopped writing since, as I am now writing for the Vantage as another outlet to express the ancient Christian faith. Yet, knowing that not everyone at Newman is a Catholic Christian, I tend to use apologetics when discussing matters (e.g., Scripture, Church history), as they are basic and easier to understand. As well, knowing that not everyone is Christian, when discussing moral issues I tend to address them according to the Natural Law. Natural Law is more approachable by basic human reason, as most of us share the same physiology and moral sensitivities.

This brings me back to the matter of controversy about my article a few weeks ago. I’ll admit, when addressing moral issues, I tend to be staunchly dogmatic. I’m sure this has much to do with my conversion experience, when my awareness of personal sin became heightened. When one makes union with the holiness of God one becomes very aware of the problem of sin. Yet, as I said last week, as Christians, when communicating with others, we are called to discuss issues like sin. Yet, we’re to do so in a non-condemnatory and compassionate way, sympathetic by the fact that none of us are perfect and we all have to battle temptations.

What has saddened me now, however, is how in the process of discussing matters of sin, some people have taken it personally and read my piece selectively. Again, when discussing moral issues controversy will be expected. Yet, I intentionally and clearly discouraged hate and discrimination. Of the LGBT community I said, “It is right that they should not be denied employment and housing…” (my anti-discrimination) “…as should be the case of anyone, as everyone needs to support themselves no matter where they are in their spiritual lives” (my rationale).

What’s unfortunate is how some people attempt to undermine the universal moral principles the majority of humans defend, whether Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., by vainly slandering them with inaccurate catchphrases like “judgmental,” “hypocritical” and “hate speech.” Those who slander me specifically do so to their own embarrassment when they discover that I have several close friends in the LGBT community!

In calling attention to “universal moral principles” is to say that they are not solely my morals, as I am not their author. They’re not even the morals solely of the Church, as She is not their author. God is the author of the moral principles of the Natural Law; thus they are easily accepted by most humans. Yet, it is up to the Church (clerics and laypeople) to articulate and uphold these moral principles, promote the holiness of virtue, and expose the destructive nature of sin in people’s spiritual and social lives. To go against the moral principles of Natural Law is to go against God, not me or the Church. Thus I don’t take such slander personally.

In contrast, there are various speculations of such organizations as the American Psychological Association and the American Sociological Association. Yet, they do not speak for God, and so their findings and theories are analyzed for what they are truly worth, some analytically good, some empty speculation. Yet, some organizations are deceptive when alleging that their findings are more than speculative. They may be compelling, but many compelling speculations over the centuries were dismissed when greater discovery and understanding came.

In the end, there will always be some who never choose God’s holy moral calling. Some even claim to have God in their lives while living contradictory ways. Thus Jesus made the analogy of people to good and bad trees, whereby we “will know them by their fruits” (see Matthew 7:15-23). Still, if Christians are speaking or writing lovingly, yet honestly (like pointing out certain actions as inherently sinful), they cannot be afraid to teach the truths of Natural Law, be intimidated by slander, or worse persecution.

Elementary philosophy tells us authentic truths are not a subjective. If two so-called “truths” contradict one another, either one or both is false. Yet, the moral truths of Natural Law have never been denied by most humans as merely speculative. Only recently does moral relativist philosophy do so. Still, the majority of people see through it, and thus we continue to protect people against such potential chaos with laws against breaking universal moral truths. As Christians we must love everyone enough to tell them the truth.