{"id":2679,"date":"2015-06-18T07:30:31","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T11:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/pursuedbytruth\/?p=2679"},"modified":"2015-06-18T07:38:02","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T11:38:02","slug":"because-its-true-why-i-remain-catholic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pursuedbytruth\/2015\/06\/because-its-true-why-i-remain-catholic.html","title":{"rendered":"Because It’s True: Why I REMAIN Catholic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I extended an invite to my readers to write about why they remain Catholic, this is one of the submissions I received from one of the\u00a0regular commenters on my blog. I am always delighted to see Justin\u2019s comments in my combox. They are always irenic (haha), patient,\u00a0calm, humorous, and lighthearted. His comments are a model of Christian charity for\u00a0so many of us (including myself) who so easily lose our marbles in the Wild West of combox land. I hope you enjoy this piece. \u00a0\u2013 Sr. Theresa Aletheia<\/em><\/p>\n

By Justin Gray<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"truth_pin\"<\/a>
Photo: unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Sister Noble asked for contributions to her \u201cWhy I REMAIN Catholic\u201d series, I glibly replied: \u201cI suppose \u2018because it\u2019s true\u2019 is a little too succinct? ;).\u201d<\/p>\n

Cue polite giggle: \u201chah-hah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she asked if I was going to contribute a piece. \u201cHah-hah\u2026 oh, crap. Now I need to actually think about this!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

So, I started thinking. Before long, however, I realized that my first response, my cute little joke, was actually the only real answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an answer that will mean nothing to a non-Catholic, and that\u2019s perfectly fine; if the question was \u201cWhy I believe in the Catholic Church\u201d, that would be the story of why I became Catholic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy I remain\u201d is the story of what I do with that belief.<\/p>\n

The great strength of the Catholic Church at first seems like a millstone tied around our necks; as Catholics, we acknowledge that God left an authority on earth who, with His guidance, actually knows what is \u201ctrue\u201d better than we do!<\/p>\n

At first blush, this does not make for a compelling pitch. It\u2019s preposterous to a modern, enlightened mind that we should trust any authority to this degree (or so we think \u2013 I\u2019ll touch on that in a moment).<\/p>\n

And yet, isn\u2019t it also preposterous that I assume, at my wizened old age of 36, and within the limited confines of my own accumulated wisdom, education, culture, and experiences, that my judgment on life\u2019s biggest questions are the most authoritative ones I shall ever encounter? None of us truly thinks that way about all things. Few of us would fire our plumber because \u201cthat pipe looks wrong,\u201d or push aside a bomb squad technician because our instincts tell us they should cut the red wire, not the green one! We recognize in applied fields that thousands of professionals have spent hundreds of thousands of hours working out the principles of their disciplines.<\/p>\n

As Catholics, we not only benefit from 2000 years of such studies, but are perhaps alone in benefiting from professionals so disciplined that they devote their ENTIRE lives to the pursuit of their profession (I\u2019ve yet to encounter a society of cloistered plumbers).<\/p>\n

Cue the naysayers: By all means, go ahead and list all the other philosophies that have been around at least 2000 years, or the very erudite professionals who disagree vociferously with Christianity. Put your Maimonides and your Sagan against my Augustine and Aquinas. These are sufficient arguments if you are not a Catholic.<\/p>\n

But if you are a Catholic, you have a benefit, one you may have forgotten or mistaken for a liability: faith. Faith that the Holy Spirit guides your Church, faith that God didn\u2019t leave every generation with no hope of discerning the truth between a thousand well-reasoned but dissenting perspectives. Faith that the oh-so-stifling infallibility claimed by the Church is perhaps not a cumbersome burden, but is in fact God leaving us a source for licensed certification in \u201cTruth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider; when a TV celebrity and a doctor from Johns Hopkins give you dueling medical guidance, which one do you trust? Probably the one backed by the authority of the prestigious hospital. Our guidance is backed by the Holy Spirit- and when the Spirit tells us a piece of guidance is infallible, it should carry the weight of a Johns Hopkins doctor telling us \u201cif you don\u2019t do this, you will die.\u201d<\/p>\n

I remain Catholic because I like that lifeline!<\/p>\n

There are plenty of dueling philosophies out there right now, and the prevailing wisdom does not promote the Church\u2019s; it can make us unpopular, and it can lead us to miss out on things that look harmless (or even fun)! But I know our guidance comes from The Top. That\u2019s a really good reason to stick with it! So, yeah. \u201cBecause it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"justin_sm\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Justin Gray is a recent convert to Catholicism from atheism. He has had a career-long involvement in the not-for-profit sector focusing on poverty-related services. Justin and his wife currently live in Southeastern Ohio, where he manages the local office of a national non-profit organization.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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