Knowing Our Faith

Marcus Grodi was formerly a Presbyterian minister who converted to the Catholic faith a number of years ago. Many of you who watch EWTN have probably seen his program on Monday nights called The Journey Home. It’s quite an interesting show as you listen to the testimonies of the guests who are either non-Catholics converting to our Faith or fallen away Catholics reverting back to the Church. In his January newsletter called The Coming Home Network International (CHNI), Marcus wrote the following:

For years I have proposed that the three top reasons most Protestants are not Catholics (besides pride) are (1) ignorance: they don't have the right data about the Catholic faith, (2) prejudice: the data they have is inaccurate, and (3) "bad Catholics": either the Catholics they know are poor models of the Catholic faith, or the faithful Catholics they know don't fit their definition of what it means to be a Christian. Reinforcing these three reasons is the fact that few non-Catholics read books about the Catholic Church written by faithful Catholics.

So, knowledge and what we do with that knowledge are critical factors in bringing others to the Catholic faith. We need to know our faith in order to share it with those whom we know. We need to know it when we are challenged by those of other faiths who proselytize, such as the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons. I mention these two religions because they seem to be the most proactive in trying to increase their memberships.

Blessed John Henry Newman said that to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant. Simply put: the more we know the history of the Catholic Church, the more we want to be Catholic. If we read the writings of the early Fathers of the Church, we will see that the Church we have today is without doubt the very same Church that Jesus Christ founded.

There are many resources for us to learn all of this: good Catholic books like the official Catechism, web sites like the vatican.org, and of course EWTN on television. Our faith is truly a treasure. It’s the way for us to find true happiness and a closer union with God. It’s the way to lead others to the fullness of truth and salvation.

Father Stanley