Why I'm Catholic

I chose the title of the post carefully. I didn't want to say Why I'm "a" Catholic and not "a" Protestant. I am not a "Convert" - i.e. from Protestantism to Catholicism. I am what the Catholic would call a "Revert". You see, I was baptized into the Catholic Church at the age of 12. Then I drifted away and lived a life without Christ for quite a while. In 1977 I rediscovered my Christian faith through the Chinese United Church in Ottawa, Canada. My Christian faith was nurtured by many protestant churches along the way, wherever I relocated because of my study or my work. The list of churches (and their denominational affiliation) included the Chinese Gospel Church in Toronto (Associated Gospel Churches), the St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Hong Kong (Anglican Communion), the Westmount Baptist Church in Montreal (Baptist World Alliance), Philpott Memorial Church (Associated Gospel Churches) in Hamilton, and finally The Meeting House in Ancaster (Brethren in Christ). I was greatly blessed by the teaching and fellowship of believers in all these churches.

Then something gradually changed. It was my wife who started to hunger and thirst for more inner transformation. She found Jesus' Presence in the Holy Communion in a way that she had not experienced before. She started going to a local Anglican Church on Wednesday mornings in addition to the Sunday service at the Meeting House in order to receive Holy Communion regularly. And then one day she decided to attend Mass at St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, and as they say, the rest is history. She was greatly attracted to the Catholic faith. She was always a great reader and a learner. She took a couple of courses at Redeemer University College the last couple of years. Although the subjects were related to (Christian) Philosophy, she found the teaching from the early Church Fathers (like St . Augustine) fascinating. She also found authors who were essentially Catholic Converts extremely helpful to her understanding of her own faith. Among such authors was Dr. Peter Kreeft.

Also during the last few years her conviction on Pro-Life issues became even stronger. With the Euthanasia Law passed in Canada in June 2016 she felt the need to get more involved. So it was God's most amazing providence that we found ourselves attending the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians conference in Ottawa. The main speaker was Dr. Peter Kreeft! There we had the most wonderful fellowship with believers who shared the same call to uphold human dignity in our work place.

I have since been going to Mass with my wife at St. Ann's parish. I often attend Mass at least 2-3 times a week. In fact, while I was on vacation to Hong Kong and later while attending a conference in Vancouver I couldn't help desiring to attend Mass every day while I was away from home! I even found a Mass at the Pearson airport while I waited for my flight! I truly found the Mass of the Universal Church (that's what the word Catholic means) very encouraging - whether it was in a small village chapel or a world class city cathedral, I found myself drawn to Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist. Also surprisingly I found the ministry of the Word very helpful. The priests may be very different but I found the same Spirit at work everywhere. I said "surprisingly" because I had always thought that Catholics placed very little emphasis on the Bible but I was wrong. My wife and I have found so many solid Catholic teachers who not only teach from scripture, but also from traditions handed down by the Apostles (Apostolic succession), church fathers and saints for over 2000 years.

I have discovered solid biblical answers to many of my misconceived understanding of the Catholic belief. These are but a few with answers I have found helpful:

1. By Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura) - when I hear a new teaching I always asked - where in the Bible can you find this? Well it depends on who is interpreting the bible! In all the years of Bible Study I have discovered many different interpretations of the same passage in scripture. Who holds the authority to interpreting the bible? This explanation by Dr. David Anders has been very helpful to clear the confusion.
2. By Faith Alone (Sola Fide) - coming from a Calvinistic background, it has been very important for me to believe in being saved by faith alone. But I understand that not all protestants agree on this. The struggle between trusting that God alone can save me but also the need to work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) has always been very real to me. I now discover that there are many layers to the doctrine of salvation. Here is a very good summary from Catholic Answers.
3. Praying to Mary and the saints - this is perhaps one of the most beautiful discoveries since coming back to the Catholic church. How I love Mary and the many wonderful saints of the past who are available to help me to become a better version of myself. They are truly my best advocates to pray on my behalf. I ask my friends to pray for me often, why wouldn't I ask these most righteous people to do the same? There are many great answers to this question online. Here is one that cleared up my confusion.
4. Purgatory and what will happen to me when I die - I must say I wasn't so sure given the many answers I got from the many denominational interpretation of heaven and hell, and end times. I now completely embrace the idea that when I see Jesus face to face (1 Corinthians 13), I will be perfectly holy (more than just being forgiven) to worship and enjoy Him forever. The fires of purgatory serves to purify me for that very day. And I now know that I can still pray for those who have fallen asleep! Tim Staples has a very good answer on this.

I can go on and on but I think and I hope you can understand better why I am Catholic? I have simply found fullness of grace and truth. I am trusting that this new journey enabled by His Presence and Sacramental Grace will empower me to live more fully for Christ.

The Church is ultimately one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in her deepest and ultimate identity, because it is in her that "the Kingdom of heaven," the "Reign of God," already exists and will be fulfilled at the end of time. The kingdom has come in the person of Christ and grows mysteriously in the hearts of those incorporated into him, until its full eschatological manifestation. Then all those he has redeemed and made "holy and blameless before him in love," will be gathered together as the one People of God, the "Bride of the Lamb," "the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God." For "the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
Taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 865)