Why I Am Catholic, Again

In response to a Patheos prompt inviting bloggers to explain, in 200 words or less, why they follow their particular religious traditions, here is my apologia. The “again” in the title of this post is meant in two senses: As a revert, I am a Catholic again after many years away from my cradle faith; and I offered my responses last year in a much longer (of course!) post, from which I’ve selected and edited the following key reasons, in ascending order of importance to me.

(The word count kicks in below . . .)

_____

The good (eternal) company. Talk about diversity. The Communion of Saints transcends time, space, every preconceived notion of holiness. Ain’t no party like a Catholic party.

The interesting (present) company. Since reverting, I marvel at the strange pewfellows whose company I keep, and whose company keeps me honest.

God is not an abstraction. The Catholic incarnational tradition forces people like me, who live in their heads too much, to encounter the Divine through the physical senses, up close and personal.

I’m a rebel. I grew up in the 60s. And now that I’m in my 60s, I still like tweaking the status quo. And right now, what’s more countercultural than being Catholic?

Room for mystery. I love knowing that for all my learning, there are things that can’t be ‘splained, and don’t have to be.

Life is sacramental. The rhythms of the hours, the hallowing of life’s stages through the sacraments, the order of the liturgical seasons, the continuity of the Mass—that’s my heartbeat.

The Eucharist. Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, being in real communion with his Church, is the most important reason of all. No words for this: it’s a Catholic thang, you gotta be there.

_____

(Word count off!) For other responses, which make very moving Triduum reading, see The Anchoress‘s personal reply and roundup of links. And feel free to share your own replies, as succinctly as you can (I feel your pain!), in comments here.