Why do I remain a Catholic?
That’s the question posed by Elizabeth Scalia at Patheos.com — a challenge to Catholic writers everywhere to respond. Here is an excerpt from her piece, which you should read in its entirety, including links, here.
How about if Catholic writers from all over the internet — bloggers, reporters, poets, aggregators, newshounds, journal editors, politicians, new-media-storming priests and nuns, Catholics in secular positions — what if they all were to take a few minutes to jot down “Why I Remain A Catholic” and post it where they can, on websites or social media?
How great would that be — a cloud of witnesses in the ether, another kind of Communion of Saints?
So why do I remain Catholic?
Because I didn’t.
Because in my 20s and early 30s I walked away from the faith in which I was raised.
I turned my back on 2000 years of tradition.
I ignored the tenets, practices, commandments, exhortations, teachings, parables, lessons, and scripture that taught me how to live.
I rejected the Truth.
I pooh-poohed the notion of sin — sin that eats away at us — in favor of modern, secular, relativism. After all, I wasn’t hurting anyone.
I considered the sacrament of reconciliation passé and irrelevant.
I found attendance at Mass to be inconvenient at best, boring and archaic at worst. And with that came the goodbye to the Eucharist. Because I had enough sense to know that I was not in a state of grace.
Because by that very grace of God I knew the truth of what I was doing and was ashamed.
Because I missed Jesus.
I had once believed in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, rejected it, and then longed to return to full communion. Let’s say, I knew first hand what I was missing.
I found my way back home, thanks to that grace.
I’m still a sinner. Still need grace. Still a work in progress when it comes to spiritual maturity, but I’m home.
And I’m not leaving.