Thank God that I am Catholic

Whenever I spend time with converts to Catholicism, I am inspired by their passion for our Faith. We cradle Catholics tend to take our Faith for granted, and we often forget how amazing Christ's Church really is. As I drifted off to sleep last night, and as I drank my almost daily pot of coffee (heyo, toddler mom life) this morning, I spent some time reflecting on my favorite aspects of the Catholic Church. There are far too many to list, but these are what are on my heart now this evening.

Catholics have a monopoly on Truth. We don't have to just say, "We believe that this is true", we can also say, "We know this is true." Jesus told us that He is "the Truth" (John 14:6) and that He left His Church the fullness of Truth. While we may not completely understand the teachings of the Church at all times, we have the surety that Her teachings are infallible and will always lead us to God.

The Truth we have is not something stagnant or quiet. The Truth of Christ is something that challenges us to learn, grow, evangelize, and fight. I don't understand how it could be boring to be Catholic. Any Catholic who thinks that is doing it wrong, in my humble opinion. 

In my own experience, I can say that every rational thought I have ever had has been in line with Catholic theology. The first time I really thought about this was in Ancient Greek Philosophy at university. I was really nervous about taking philosophy at a secular university; while I love to argue, I am not particularly exceptional at it, and it makes me really mad when I lose. The Ancient Greek philosophers, however, naturally progressed to not only Christianity, but directly to Catholicism. It was mind-blowing and so refreshing to see Plato, Aristotle, and their ilk reach basic Christian truths centuries before Christ. I still have no clue how our professor wasn't Catholic knowing all that, but ah well.  

As a Catholic, I get to be a princess. We don't talk about this very much as Catholics, its more of a Protestant idea, but its true for all Christians. God has chosen each one of us as His children. "To all who received Him, who believed in His name, he gave power to become children of God." (John 1:12)

I have never been particularly girly-girl, but I share in common with each girl and woman in existence the desire to be treated as a princess and queen. That isn't just selfishness, that is a deep God-given desire of all women. We are called to be daughters of the King. Every one of us has a Father King that loves us unceasingly and died for us.

One thing unique to the Catholic experience is the myriad of siblings in Christ we have to learn from. Us papists are in fantastic company. Our family is full of heroes and geniuses. St. George slayed dragons, St. Thomas Aquinas searched the deepest thoughts of the human mind. Monks were some of the first to use the scientific method. As children of God and heirs to the Kingdom, we are members of a family worth bragging about.

Lastly, we are not only allowed, but we are charged to embrace everything that is good. St. Paul tells us:

"Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phillipians 4:8)

We get to enjoy all the glories of God's creation and rejoice in them. Currently I am rejoicing to Ed Sheeran; good heavens that guy has talent! With dinner, we get to drink red wine. Jesus likes wine. So does His mom. She asked for more (John 2:2-11).

How miserable must it be to belong to a puritanical sect of Christianity. Dancing, drinking, all the arts, these are all good things to be enjoyed, not bad things to run away from. In Acts 13:6-11 we learn that the devil perverts good things. He cannot create, he can only twist God's creation, and all of God's creation is good (Genesis 1:31).

The better a thing is, the more the devil tries to corrupt it. While the Bob-Jones Baptists go a little (or a lot) overboard in banning all secular music, dancing and drinking, there is certainly a risk in overindulgence, and of course there is simply bad music and immoral styles of dance. But that's what's great about Catholics. We know that God gives us free will and we are allowed all good things in moderation. *sips wine (not really, but I wish I was)*

On the heels of NFP week, I can't forget to mention that Catholics have the best love lives. When we follow God's plan for our sexuality, we have the most satisfying sex lives, and an almost imperceptible divorce rate.

The world promises us so much. It promises limitless happiness and novelty, but that is all merely a distraction. God continues to flood our lives with every good thing. We will all have to face our share of suffering as well, but nevertheless, we have all been given so much. How lucky are we!

AMDG