![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/148\/2012\/12\/Willow-Creek.jpg\" "\\"Willow")
<\/a>Chris Haw\u2019s journey<\/strong>\u2014from lukewarm Catholicism, into earnest Evangelicalism, and finally to a renewed and vigorous Catholic faith\u2014is a familiar one.<\/p>\nLike Chris, I too was raised in a Catholic home<\/strong> but was drawn away from the Catholic faith in early adulthood.\u00a0 Peer pressure, lack of understanding, personal pride, and the tumultuous \u201860s came together in a perfect storm of \u00a0dissent\u2014and for a number of years, I scarcely looked back at the 2,000-year-old tradition I\u2019d left behind.<\/p>\nWhen I did experience a resurgence of spiritual hunger,<\/strong> I\u2014like Chris Haw\u2014was attracted by the energetic faith of the evangelical community, where worship was devoid of what I then regarded as \u201cmusty old rituals.\u201d\u00a0 It was only after several years in an evangelical community that I reexamined my basic suppositions and returned to my Catholic roots.<\/p>\nFrom Willow Creek to Sacred Heart<\/em><\/strong> is Chris\u2019s personal travelogue through the denominational morass toward union with the Catholic Church.\u00a0 With the perspective acquired during years in the nation\u2019s largest evangelical community, Haw has much to offer:\u00a0 Wide-eyed, he gapes at profound mysteries of the faith, and his awe is contagious.\u00a0 I, a Catholic for many years, have come to take for granted the mournful silence of the Good Friday liturgy, the provocative image of Christ crucified. \u00a0Haw teaches me to be still and to reflect on familiar treasures.<\/p>\nBut while Haw, as a Protestant, had once been offended<\/strong> by some of the common expressions of Catholic piety, now at Sacred Heart in Camden he inhaled the fragrant spirituality in Catholic art and traditions.<\/p>\nTeetering on the wall between his newfound Catholic faith and his recent experience at Willow Creek, Chris Haw experiences the point\/counterpoint of Protestant asceticism and Catholic aesthetics, and finds peace amid the Church\u2019s great beauty and seeming wealth.\u00a0 He considers what had been a flashpoint during his Willow Creek years\u2014the ordained priesthood, versus the priesthood of all believers\u2014and he finds the grace to embrace and defend the Catholic understanding.<\/p>\n
I was puzzled, though, that as the book neared its end, Haw outlined those many things in contemporary Catholicism which he still dislikes:<\/strong>\u00a0 an unsatisfying homily, an occasional boredom at Mass, the difficulty in stepping outside his comfort zone to fit into an unfamiliar rhythm.\u00a0 He writes of a distrust which \u201chas still not entirely left him.\u201d\u00a0 Why, I wondered\u2014why, when he had traveled this far along the road toward a full appreciation of the Catholic faith\u2014didn\u2019t he suspend writing for another two months or two years, until he had made his peace with these other things, too?\u00a0 For yes, there are times when human talents fail, when a homily is cobbled by the priest\u2019s limited vocabulary and fails to ignite the congregation\u2019s hearts with love and apostolic zeal.\u00a0 Sometimes the liturgy becomes so commonplace that its beauty is overlooked.\u00a0 But Haw is still on the road, and if he\u2019s completed only 80% of his journey home, he might better have waited until these challenges, too, found their answer in the divine presence.<\/p>\nThe popular evangelical preacher Dr. John MacArthur once told a story<\/strong> about two men who tried to jump toward heaven.\u00a0 One, an average man, could jump only a few feet; while the other, a world champion pole vaulter, could leap four times higher.\u00a0 From the vantage point of earth, the second man jumped much higher; but when examined against the scale of the universe, neither man\u2019s insignificant leap could even reach the nearest star.<\/p>\nPerhaps Chris Haw could look at the Mass and at our Catholic prayer with a forgiving eye:<\/strong>\u00a0 One homily is better constructed and more insightful than another, one church building is more skillfully designed to point the soul toward God; but like MacArthur\u2019s earth-bound leapers, bound by gravity and still light years from the nearest celestial body, none approaches the greatness of God and the beauty of the heavenly liturgy.<\/p>\n* \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 * \u00a0 \u00a0 *<\/p>\n
\u00a0This review is part of the Patheos Book Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Haw\u2019s journey\u2014from lukewarm Catholicism, into earnest Evangelicalism, and finally to a renewed and vigorous Catholic faith\u2014is a familiar one. Like Chris, I too was raised in a Catholic home but was drawn away from the Catholic faith in early adulthood.\u00a0 Peer pressure, lack of understanding, personal pride, and the tumultuous \u201860s came together in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":556,"featured_media":9287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,49,67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-catholic","category-conversion"],"yoast_head":"\n
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