Eye of the Tiber: My Journey to Catholicism Pt. 3
After my exchange on Facebook, and private talks with other friends, I came to reject Sola Scriptura. I sent the following email to Sirico. This covers my more emotional side to the story.
Rev. Sirico,
Thank you very much for coming to Southern California on the 28th to speak. It is always a treat to hear you speak and it was really cool to finally meet you! Hopefully I can experience similar events again!
During one of the breaks, we had a talk about Catholicism. I am a former Catholic (and former Marxist Atheist) and you presented to me an argument, what I perceived to be, contra sola scriptura. I've given it some thought and am keeping you updated, as you requested.
I've presented the same argument (The Bible comes from the church, not the church from the Bible) to a number of close friends in my church and other like-minded acquaintances on the internet. I was hoping for some cogent responses because I confessed I was stumped, and didn't know how to adequately respond. Coming out of atheism, I just accepted the Bible to be true, and so long as it was true, it was probable that it was inspired as well. However, through my conversations and interactions with people, I realize that is not enough. Inspiration is a very hard thing to justify!
In one conversation, a straw-man was attacked. The argument was represented as the Church giving authority to the scriptures, not recognizing the authority it already had. But even in recognizing that certain books are inspired, there seems to implied some kind of power and authority to at least recognize inspiration. I said I certainly can not do that. Nothing in scripture jumps out to me and says "This is inspired". In another conversation, there was an attack on the Pope, which was just a red herring, although to be fair, he did say that the Pope can decide what is canon, and that just doesn't seem to be correct. But even if that were the case, his conclusion was, 'I don't like that' which says nothing about the truth or falsity of the proposition. So nothing there. Another friend gave me historical criteria, which as a former atheist I was familiar with, but I pointed out that saying something is true is not the same as inspiration. I can write something about Jesus now that may happen to be true, but it doesn't follow that it is revelation from God. Another friend in that same conversation said that the scriptures were self-authenticating. As I mentioned earlier, this is not obvious to me. In a similar conversation with another friend, he suggested, implicitly, that the authority of scripture is not obvious to me because I am not elect. He is a Calvinist. I am not. Aside from that comment being unappreciated, I took issue with his citing of John 10.
In short, I am finding no answers to your challenge. This has really rocked my world. I have had to remind them that I am not a Catholic and that should at least assure them that I am taking their responses seriously but objectively.
So, where am I right now? I am not sure (and it's only been a week!). I'm still not a Catholic. There are aspects of the Catholic church I don't find plausible. Even the sheer size of what I would have to believe seems to make the institution as a whole improbable (the more things I have to believe, the more likely I am going to disagree with something along the way). But, I am still very open.
Did you have literature to recommend for me? Catholic apologists who have written work? I am, unfortunately, intrigued now. I am not looking forward to this, it is very uncomfortable for me, but I pride myself in seeking for truth even at the expense of comfort, and my convictions won't allow me to ignore this.
Thank you for coming out and speaking to us, and thank you for the thought provoking questions!
God Bless,
Adrian Urias
He mailed me some books, Rome Sweet Home and Catholicism and Fundamentalism. I read those in three or four sittings. I re-read Rome Sweet Home in another sitting. I was hooked. After a few months and about a dozen books, I emailed him again.
Forgive me Father, for much of this is an intellectual confession of a scared and confused young man,
Well, I have finished the books you mailed me. Actually, I finished them a while ago. It has been more than a month, and I completed both books in about two weeks. I read the Hahn book twice. I was captivated by the Hahn book because of the contraception being the issue that got the ball rolling. I completely relate to that! In my studies on sex ethics, I came roughly to the same conclusions on my own. When I realized I was against contraception, I immediately thought of the Catholic Church, and how strange it was to come to the same conclusions that Catholics did. I remember that leading to the thought that I should perhaps check out the Catholic claims about reality in more detail, but did not take it too seriously, and it stopped where it started. The excitement the Hahn's had, I share. With their Scriptural backing and my more Natural Law approach, I decided to put my findings on my Facebook for all to see. This is important because the Elders in my church confronted me on this. More on this later.
After I was finished, I went back to scan for any points that I disagreed with. I could not find much. Any points I did take note of were not points that I necessarily disagreed with, but were points I felt were not expanded on enough for me to make an adequate assessment on.
Then I moved on to the Keating book. While I found the first 120 pages irrelevant, this put the nail in the coffin for me concerning Sola Scriptura. In retrospect, I am not so sure if I ever bought into that doctrine. For example, when I am asked whether or not Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians, I say they are not because they deny the deity of Christ, a heresy known as Arianism. But I always wondered to myself, why is that so definitive? Why is saying, "You are an Arian" a conversation stopper? They must have some sort of authority backing it up. So then, Sola Scriptura cannot be the only authoritative source of truth. In the Hahn, book, he seemed to come to the same conclusion when a Protestant friend of his seemed cavalier about naming a person this or that heretic.
So, what is this authority that affirms the inspiration of Scripture? To avoid the Catholic conclusion, I began to think that the Church I am currently in can make that claim. Why not? We believe baptism is necessary for salvation. We're really disciples of Christ. And so, we make up the body, and as the body, we can make those claims. Hahn said that there really is not a Church that is making the definitive claim to authority, except, of course, the Catholic Church. And I don't see why we cannot deny Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide. We are not a Protestant church, we are part of a Restoration movement, a distinction our church emphasizes.
The problem with this is, the leadership of my church do not agree. Besides, if to avoid being a Catholic, I am merely adopting identical doctrine but calling it a different name, it is just a distinction without a difference. If it walks and talks like a duck...
There was little I found myself disagreeing with in the Keating book. I thought the chapter concerning Saints was weak or unpersuasive. I also would have appreciated a chapter on the Apocrypha (if calling it that does not beg the question). I felt pretty solid on Marian teachings by this point as well. I do not know why, but I was hooked. So many new teachings, and so clear answers. Yet, so many more questions! So I decided to purchase a few more books. I bought "Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic", "Crossing the Tiber", and a Catholic friend of mine let me borrow his copy of "Not By Scripture Alone" (a 600+ page whopper!). I am planning to buy Beckwith's book sometime by the end of July.
I do not need to review those books here. You will not be hearing anything new, I am sure. It was when I read this quotation by Chesterton I feel like I have admitted to myself that my reconciliation with the Catholic Church is inevitable. He writes, "He has come too near to the truth, and has forgotten that truth is a magnet, with the powers of attraction and repulsion....The moment men cease to pull against it [the Catholic Church] they feel a tug towards it. The moment they cease to shout it down they begin to listen to it with pleasure. The moment they try to be fair to it they begin to be fond of it. But when that affection has passed a certain point it begins to take on the tragic and menacing grandeur of a great love affair." A love affair! What an acute description of my state of mind!
Inevitable. But not too welcome.
Armed with such interesting insights, I began to try it out. I understood that many in my church believe we are saved through faith alone (but is simultaneous and identical to baptism) and that Scripture is the only authority concerning theological truths, and began debating the doctrines on Facebook, for the whole world to see. Somehow, my list of Catholic friends grew, and grew fast. I suppose the few Catholic friends I had, seeing my development publicly, suggested their like-minded Catholic friends to help me. In fact, a Catholic stranger (we had mutual friends though) was impressed with my Natural Law approach to contraception he asked that I do a guest post for his website, and that led to more Catholic friends. Then, one day, on my college campus, a Christian group approached me and asked me to study the Bible. I usually politely decline, and say I am already very active with a Christian group, and give them encouragement to keep doing what they were doing. But, instead, I sat down with them and talked about authority. It was a brief exchange, but it was evident I came out on top, playing devils advocate with the Catholic position. They said they would get back to me. I have yet to hear from them.
I picked up a book authored by a well respected teacher in my church that was supposed to be a refutation of Catholic doctrine. It utterly failed. I watched debates between Protestants and Catholics. Calvinist Protestants. I cringe at Calvinism, but I figured, if there is going to be any devoted and well informed anti-Catholic, it is going to be a Calvinist. So, I watched some of the most well-informed Calvinists engage in debate. While I saw some Catholics lose, they lost for making unforced errors. They could have won. I could have won, if I were in their position.
Then, just this last week, my church's elder asked that I sit down with him and two other church leaders. It was an upsetting conversation. Their initial purpose for our meeting was an incident I had with a sister whom I suggested had racial tendencies for supporting affirmative action. My elder thought it was inappropriate. While they were correct on my attitude and spirit in that particular conversation, they were insistent on saying affirmative action was not wrong. After a heated back and forth, we agreed to disagree. This would have been the end of the conversation, but then they brought up my essay on contraception.
They said they had another concern, and that was my teaching. After receiving complaints about how I handled the conversation with that particular sister, they went onto my Facebook. They said they did not like what they saw, especially my essay on contraception. It was "based on opinion, and not the Word". This irritated me. I fought them on the choice of the word "opinion" as if it were a subjective thing and had no correlation to reality, thereby making my claim false. After being tired of arguing, I said, it doesn't have to be in Scripture to be true. On this they pounced on me and asked for clarification. I became hesitant to answer. I did not want to show my hand, for I never actually came out to my leaders about denying Sola Scriptura.
"You are beginning to sound very Catholic, Adrian" they said. I froze. Then I scoffed. But to to my elder or to the idea that I will be Catholic, I am not too sure. I left that open to interpretation. They said that I am not to make my quarreling, my debating, my teaching and my correcting public anymore (...). I wondered though, what would happen if I defied them. I currently am. What would the consequences be, I wonder. But my point is, I feel really hurt by my church. I feel like they are overstepping a boundary, and on bad reasoning at that.
I do not know if I am really defying them to look for a reason to leave my church and make the step towards being reconciled with the Catholic Church.
But there are other things holding me back. Her name is Ariana. She is the sweetest, most caring and forgiving girl I know. I have flirted with the idea of marrying her. And I know if I get booted from my church, going Catholic is going to be very difficult emotionally if she does not come with me. It is going to be very difficult to leave her behind. I am choking up just thinking about it. And I know how stupid it sounds. I have done countless Bible studies with men who refuse to become Christians because they are living in sin with their girlfriends, and I always think to myself, How can you be so stupid!? This is so much more important than your silly girlfriend! Yet, here I am, wondering if I will become such a hypocrite. She is the one who gave me the book that was supposed to refute Catholicism. I do not know how well she would take it if she learned I had strong Catholic tendencies. I am currently thinking of ways to slowly have her question these things. She already agrees with me on contraception, so maybe that can be a good start.
Then there is my Mother. She has seen me go from Catholic who did not finish his Catechism for behavioral reasons, to Atheist, to Evangelical, and so Evangelical I would argue with my Catholic aunt on the legitimacy of the Pope, and how embarrassing it would be for her to see me go back to Catholicism, which she despises. I would become the worlds biggest hypocrite to her, and would probably never take my invitations to Mass seriously. In her mind, who is to say that I will not flip-flop again?
And finally, the culture shock. Hahn and his wife were eager and excited about going to Mass. However, in Crossing the Tiber, the couple there became somewhat depressed after their conversion because it seemed so dull. No shouting and dancing around, or laughing or musical instruments that we are so used to (although I am fond of Chant). And why haven't any Catholics, in my entire life, come up to me in the street? Or even on Facebook? Why has no Catholic, other than yourself of course, ever initiate conversation? Why did no one try to convert me? It makes me mad! I get approached by so many Evangelicals, so many Mormons, so many Jehovah's Witnesses, whom all bash the Catholic Church, and I have never seen, in all that time, a single Catholic defend himself or approach me and question my presuppositions. Why? WHY?! Would I be the only Catholic, should I join, who tries to make an evangelical effort? Would I be so alone?
I know I said I would come back to you in a few months, at the end of the summer, but too much has happened. I know what I am not, and I know what I will eventually be. I want to put a timetable, like the Scott Hahn did, for the sake of his wife, and I for the sake of Ariana, so she can catch up with me. But like I said, I am quite confident that it will be inevitable. Honestly, the only legitimate reason that might hold me back is prayer with Saints. I still think the reasoning is flimsy, but could just be tossed into the authority net, and really is not that big of a deal. But I am petrified. I do not know what move to make, unless there is something to react to, in this case, discipline from my elders. I don't ask anything of you really. It's just that, I haven't told anyone this. I've told people that I've been studying out some Catholic ideas, but they don't know how deep I'm entrenched. They have no idea. I guess I just needed to tell someone, and if I'm going to become a Catholic, I guess I better get used to talking to a priest.
God Bless,
Adrian Urias
Hopefully, Sirico won't mind me quoting him without permission from personal correspondence. But his words really comforted me and I think are worth sharing. He wrote,
(...) Like Martha, you seem worried about many things, when there is really only one thing you need to focus on. Choose Mary’s ‘better portion’. (...) I rejoice with you even as I sense your trepidation. What must Moses felt like when he approach to Red Sea with Pharaoh at his back? And I will pray for you and for God’s grace to be operative in Ariana’s heart as well.
Let me know what else I can do.
Blessings,
Fr. Robert
Rev. Sirico,
Thank you very much for coming to Southern California on the 28th to speak. It is always a treat to hear you speak and it was really cool to finally meet you! Hopefully I can experience similar events again!
During one of the breaks, we had a talk about Catholicism. I am a former Catholic (and former Marxist Atheist) and you presented to me an argument, what I perceived to be, contra sola scriptura. I've given it some thought and am keeping you updated, as you requested.
I've presented the same argument (The Bible comes from the church, not the church from the Bible) to a number of close friends in my church and other like-minded acquaintances on the internet. I was hoping for some cogent responses because I confessed I was stumped, and didn't know how to adequately respond. Coming out of atheism, I just accepted the Bible to be true, and so long as it was true, it was probable that it was inspired as well. However, through my conversations and interactions with people, I realize that is not enough. Inspiration is a very hard thing to justify!
In one conversation, a straw-man was attacked. The argument was represented as the Church giving authority to the scriptures, not recognizing the authority it already had. But even in recognizing that certain books are inspired, there seems to implied some kind of power and authority to at least recognize inspiration. I said I certainly can not do that. Nothing in scripture jumps out to me and says "This is inspired". In another conversation, there was an attack on the Pope, which was just a red herring, although to be fair, he did say that the Pope can decide what is canon, and that just doesn't seem to be correct. But even if that were the case, his conclusion was, 'I don't like that' which says nothing about the truth or falsity of the proposition. So nothing there. Another friend gave me historical criteria, which as a former atheist I was familiar with, but I pointed out that saying something is true is not the same as inspiration. I can write something about Jesus now that may happen to be true, but it doesn't follow that it is revelation from God. Another friend in that same conversation said that the scriptures were self-authenticating. As I mentioned earlier, this is not obvious to me. In a similar conversation with another friend, he suggested, implicitly, that the authority of scripture is not obvious to me because I am not elect. He is a Calvinist. I am not. Aside from that comment being unappreciated, I took issue with his citing of John 10.
In short, I am finding no answers to your challenge. This has really rocked my world. I have had to remind them that I am not a Catholic and that should at least assure them that I am taking their responses seriously but objectively.
So, where am I right now? I am not sure (and it's only been a week!). I'm still not a Catholic. There are aspects of the Catholic church I don't find plausible. Even the sheer size of what I would have to believe seems to make the institution as a whole improbable (the more things I have to believe, the more likely I am going to disagree with something along the way). But, I am still very open.
Did you have literature to recommend for me? Catholic apologists who have written work? I am, unfortunately, intrigued now. I am not looking forward to this, it is very uncomfortable for me, but I pride myself in seeking for truth even at the expense of comfort, and my convictions won't allow me to ignore this.
Thank you for coming out and speaking to us, and thank you for the thought provoking questions!
God Bless,
Adrian Urias
He mailed me some books, Rome Sweet Home and Catholicism and Fundamentalism. I read those in three or four sittings. I re-read Rome Sweet Home in another sitting. I was hooked. After a few months and about a dozen books, I emailed him again.
Forgive me Father, for much of this is an intellectual confession of a scared and confused young man,
Well, I have finished the books you mailed me. Actually, I finished them a while ago. It has been more than a month, and I completed both books in about two weeks. I read the Hahn book twice. I was captivated by the Hahn book because of the contraception being the issue that got the ball rolling. I completely relate to that! In my studies on sex ethics, I came roughly to the same conclusions on my own. When I realized I was against contraception, I immediately thought of the Catholic Church, and how strange it was to come to the same conclusions that Catholics did. I remember that leading to the thought that I should perhaps check out the Catholic claims about reality in more detail, but did not take it too seriously, and it stopped where it started. The excitement the Hahn's had, I share. With their Scriptural backing and my more Natural Law approach, I decided to put my findings on my Facebook for all to see. This is important because the Elders in my church confronted me on this. More on this later.
After I was finished, I went back to scan for any points that I disagreed with. I could not find much. Any points I did take note of were not points that I necessarily disagreed with, but were points I felt were not expanded on enough for me to make an adequate assessment on.
Then I moved on to the Keating book. While I found the first 120 pages irrelevant, this put the nail in the coffin for me concerning Sola Scriptura. In retrospect, I am not so sure if I ever bought into that doctrine. For example, when I am asked whether or not Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians, I say they are not because they deny the deity of Christ, a heresy known as Arianism. But I always wondered to myself, why is that so definitive? Why is saying, "You are an Arian" a conversation stopper? They must have some sort of authority backing it up. So then, Sola Scriptura cannot be the only authoritative source of truth. In the Hahn, book, he seemed to come to the same conclusion when a Protestant friend of his seemed cavalier about naming a person this or that heretic.
So, what is this authority that affirms the inspiration of Scripture? To avoid the Catholic conclusion, I began to think that the Church I am currently in can make that claim. Why not? We believe baptism is necessary for salvation. We're really disciples of Christ. And so, we make up the body, and as the body, we can make those claims. Hahn said that there really is not a Church that is making the definitive claim to authority, except, of course, the Catholic Church. And I don't see why we cannot deny Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide. We are not a Protestant church, we are part of a Restoration movement, a distinction our church emphasizes.
The problem with this is, the leadership of my church do not agree. Besides, if to avoid being a Catholic, I am merely adopting identical doctrine but calling it a different name, it is just a distinction without a difference. If it walks and talks like a duck...
There was little I found myself disagreeing with in the Keating book. I thought the chapter concerning Saints was weak or unpersuasive. I also would have appreciated a chapter on the Apocrypha (if calling it that does not beg the question). I felt pretty solid on Marian teachings by this point as well. I do not know why, but I was hooked. So many new teachings, and so clear answers. Yet, so many more questions! So I decided to purchase a few more books. I bought "Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic", "Crossing the Tiber", and a Catholic friend of mine let me borrow his copy of "Not By Scripture Alone" (a 600+ page whopper!). I am planning to buy Beckwith's book sometime by the end of July.
I do not need to review those books here. You will not be hearing anything new, I am sure. It was when I read this quotation by Chesterton I feel like I have admitted to myself that my reconciliation with the Catholic Church is inevitable. He writes, "He has come too near to the truth, and has forgotten that truth is a magnet, with the powers of attraction and repulsion....The moment men cease to pull against it [the Catholic Church] they feel a tug towards it. The moment they cease to shout it down they begin to listen to it with pleasure. The moment they try to be fair to it they begin to be fond of it. But when that affection has passed a certain point it begins to take on the tragic and menacing grandeur of a great love affair." A love affair! What an acute description of my state of mind!
Inevitable. But not too welcome.
Armed with such interesting insights, I began to try it out. I understood that many in my church believe we are saved through faith alone (but is simultaneous and identical to baptism) and that Scripture is the only authority concerning theological truths, and began debating the doctrines on Facebook, for the whole world to see. Somehow, my list of Catholic friends grew, and grew fast. I suppose the few Catholic friends I had, seeing my development publicly, suggested their like-minded Catholic friends to help me. In fact, a Catholic stranger (we had mutual friends though) was impressed with my Natural Law approach to contraception he asked that I do a guest post for his website, and that led to more Catholic friends. Then, one day, on my college campus, a Christian group approached me and asked me to study the Bible. I usually politely decline, and say I am already very active with a Christian group, and give them encouragement to keep doing what they were doing. But, instead, I sat down with them and talked about authority. It was a brief exchange, but it was evident I came out on top, playing devils advocate with the Catholic position. They said they would get back to me. I have yet to hear from them.
I picked up a book authored by a well respected teacher in my church that was supposed to be a refutation of Catholic doctrine. It utterly failed. I watched debates between Protestants and Catholics. Calvinist Protestants. I cringe at Calvinism, but I figured, if there is going to be any devoted and well informed anti-Catholic, it is going to be a Calvinist. So, I watched some of the most well-informed Calvinists engage in debate. While I saw some Catholics lose, they lost for making unforced errors. They could have won. I could have won, if I were in their position.
Then, just this last week, my church's elder asked that I sit down with him and two other church leaders. It was an upsetting conversation. Their initial purpose for our meeting was an incident I had with a sister whom I suggested had racial tendencies for supporting affirmative action. My elder thought it was inappropriate. While they were correct on my attitude and spirit in that particular conversation, they were insistent on saying affirmative action was not wrong. After a heated back and forth, we agreed to disagree. This would have been the end of the conversation, but then they brought up my essay on contraception.
They said they had another concern, and that was my teaching. After receiving complaints about how I handled the conversation with that particular sister, they went onto my Facebook. They said they did not like what they saw, especially my essay on contraception. It was "based on opinion, and not the Word". This irritated me. I fought them on the choice of the word "opinion" as if it were a subjective thing and had no correlation to reality, thereby making my claim false. After being tired of arguing, I said, it doesn't have to be in Scripture to be true. On this they pounced on me and asked for clarification. I became hesitant to answer. I did not want to show my hand, for I never actually came out to my leaders about denying Sola Scriptura.
"You are beginning to sound very Catholic, Adrian" they said. I froze. Then I scoffed. But to to my elder or to the idea that I will be Catholic, I am not too sure. I left that open to interpretation. They said that I am not to make my quarreling, my debating, my teaching and my correcting public anymore (...). I wondered though, what would happen if I defied them. I currently am. What would the consequences be, I wonder. But my point is, I feel really hurt by my church. I feel like they are overstepping a boundary, and on bad reasoning at that.
I do not know if I am really defying them to look for a reason to leave my church and make the step towards being reconciled with the Catholic Church.
But there are other things holding me back. Her name is Ariana. She is the sweetest, most caring and forgiving girl I know. I have flirted with the idea of marrying her. And I know if I get booted from my church, going Catholic is going to be very difficult emotionally if she does not come with me. It is going to be very difficult to leave her behind. I am choking up just thinking about it. And I know how stupid it sounds. I have done countless Bible studies with men who refuse to become Christians because they are living in sin with their girlfriends, and I always think to myself, How can you be so stupid!? This is so much more important than your silly girlfriend! Yet, here I am, wondering if I will become such a hypocrite. She is the one who gave me the book that was supposed to refute Catholicism. I do not know how well she would take it if she learned I had strong Catholic tendencies. I am currently thinking of ways to slowly have her question these things. She already agrees with me on contraception, so maybe that can be a good start.
Then there is my Mother. She has seen me go from Catholic who did not finish his Catechism for behavioral reasons, to Atheist, to Evangelical, and so Evangelical I would argue with my Catholic aunt on the legitimacy of the Pope, and how embarrassing it would be for her to see me go back to Catholicism, which she despises. I would become the worlds biggest hypocrite to her, and would probably never take my invitations to Mass seriously. In her mind, who is to say that I will not flip-flop again?
And finally, the culture shock. Hahn and his wife were eager and excited about going to Mass. However, in Crossing the Tiber, the couple there became somewhat depressed after their conversion because it seemed so dull. No shouting and dancing around, or laughing or musical instruments that we are so used to (although I am fond of Chant). And why haven't any Catholics, in my entire life, come up to me in the street? Or even on Facebook? Why has no Catholic, other than yourself of course, ever initiate conversation? Why did no one try to convert me? It makes me mad! I get approached by so many Evangelicals, so many Mormons, so many Jehovah's Witnesses, whom all bash the Catholic Church, and I have never seen, in all that time, a single Catholic defend himself or approach me and question my presuppositions. Why? WHY?! Would I be the only Catholic, should I join, who tries to make an evangelical effort? Would I be so alone?
I know I said I would come back to you in a few months, at the end of the summer, but too much has happened. I know what I am not, and I know what I will eventually be. I want to put a timetable, like the Scott Hahn did, for the sake of his wife, and I for the sake of Ariana, so she can catch up with me. But like I said, I am quite confident that it will be inevitable. Honestly, the only legitimate reason that might hold me back is prayer with Saints. I still think the reasoning is flimsy, but could just be tossed into the authority net, and really is not that big of a deal. But I am petrified. I do not know what move to make, unless there is something to react to, in this case, discipline from my elders. I don't ask anything of you really. It's just that, I haven't told anyone this. I've told people that I've been studying out some Catholic ideas, but they don't know how deep I'm entrenched. They have no idea. I guess I just needed to tell someone, and if I'm going to become a Catholic, I guess I better get used to talking to a priest.
God Bless,
Adrian Urias
Hopefully, Sirico won't mind me quoting him without permission from personal correspondence. But his words really comforted me and I think are worth sharing. He wrote,
(...) Like Martha, you seem worried about many things, when there is really only one thing you need to focus on. Choose Mary’s ‘better portion’. (...) I rejoice with you even as I sense your trepidation. What must Moses felt like when he approach to Red Sea with Pharaoh at his back? And I will pray for you and for God’s grace to be operative in Ariana’s heart as well.
Let me know what else I can do.
Blessings,
Fr. Robert
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