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Letters
From Visitors
Here
are some letters from readers I would like to share with you. I have found that
I sometimes get tremendous insight into our faith by reading letters from some
of our visitors. Each person has special ways of telling their story and it is
amazing how clearly some express the tenants of Our Catholic Faith.
"I
stumbled on your website accidentally as I was looking for teachings on the
Catholic Church. I will like to commend your efforts in this direction and I can
assure you that God will not forget all you are doing.
Sometimes I really wonder how so many churches came about with each of their
founders claiming to have had a direct revelation from God to start a church. I
put it all down to human vanity and sometimes diabolical manipulation.
Take St. Paul for example; no one can deny that he had a real revelation from
Christ. But that revelation steered him towards and not away from the body of
Christ. A respected believer in the city was sent by God to restore his sight
and he later maintained a strong communion with the apostles in Jerusalem. Paul
was doubtlessly a fiery preacher and later established many communities in
Philippi, Ephesus, Thessalonica, etc. It would have been very easy for him to
break away from the church and start his own order. But since he was guided by
the true spirit of God, the unity of the church for which Christ prayed so
fervently before His sufferings, was preserved. In fact when division erupted
between the believers, Paul was the one to fervently condemn this. Some were
claiming to belong to Paul and others to Apollo. Others like Augustine and
Thomas Aquinas were to follow; men of great learning and anointing. But they all
directed their efforts to the good of the Church as a whole and were not led by
selfish ambition.
The Catholic Church is the only church that today is still organized along the
lines of the primitive Church as we read in the Acts. Look at the controversy
that erupted over the question of circumcision for non Jews. Paul and Barnabas
had to go up to Jerusalem and a council was held to discuss the matter. A letter
then ensued addressed to the Christians in question, stating the stance of the
Church. There is no room for division or dissension in the Church. She must
speak with the authority of Christ and Christians are bound in conscience to
accept her teaching ( He who hears you hears Me). The main ammunition against
the Catholic Church today is that her teachings are extraneous to the Bible. The
answer to this question lies in understanding the mission and source of
authority of the Church . Compare the teachings of Jesus on his body and blood.
That outraged most of his disciples and some even left Him because of that. But
the teachings of Christ and his Church do not bend before human ignorance; it
must be the other way round. We must believe that the holy spirit Christ
promised to send is at work in the Church and preserves her from error. If
Christ speaks through the Church then both can neither deceive nor be deceived.
If a Christian is genuinely confused about any particular teaching of the
church, he should pray to the Spirit, the great teacher of all truths, to give
him understanding and a docile disposition. Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for what is right, they shall be satisfied.
I told a friend the other day the importance of the (Catholic) Church to my life
and salvation. She asked what would become of my faith if the church was to
fall. That comment has never since ceased to amaze me. If any Christian really
believes that his church is of divine origin then its collapse is totally out of
the question. What of the words of Jesus to Peter: "the gates of the underworld
will never prevail against (the church)". The earthly Church must last for all
time till Christ comes again: Then she will be made perfect in all things and
Christ will reign all in all." H. N. Kangha - London, England
"Coming
on to your site was like a kid in a candy store. I wanted to "taste" everything
I saw. And I could not get enough! Spent most of this afternoon there. When you
were not looking, I made a copy of "An Open Letter To Non-Catholics". I sure do
like your place and will be back many times. Will tell other "kids on the block"
where you are located." E. Mrozinski - Stevens Point, WI
"I was raised in the
non-denominational Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. From a very early age I
felt that something was wrong with my religious instruction and "tried" many
different Protestant groups, and in the end I stopped attending Church
altogether. My sister met a wonderful Catholic man and they fell in love. One
small catch, on his part, was that she had to at least learn about the Catholic
Faith. Less than a year later she called me on the phone and said that she was
going to convert. My concern was that she was doing this for her fiancé, and not
for herself, so I asked her as much. She refused to say anything more than,
"...I am happy. If you are interested in learning about being Catholic, go to
the nearest Parish and ask them any questions that you like..."
Hearing these words coming from a sibling who was raised as I was, with her
multiple degrees and education? Well I was stunned. My wife was non-committal,
saying only that she was happy if my sister was happy. (My wife was a non
practicing Missionary Baptist)
Here came July 2006. I was asked to play my trumpet at her wedding. I accepted
of course, so we drove from our new home in Cicero , Indiana to attend her
wedding in Houston. I was asked to play "Seek Ye First" during the ceremony.
Seek Ye First was the most beautiful thing that I had heard in my entire life,
and the melody was coming from my own instrument. By the time the Eucharist was
finished, for the first time in many years I could actually feel the presence of
God.
I of course said nothing to my wife. I would never consider a group that
"worshipped Mary" (as I was taught to believe). But it seems that God had other
intentions. I later discovered that my sister and brother-in-law had been
praying for God to send his Holy Spirit to us. So, completely unknown to each
other, my wife and I started reading as much as we could about the Catholic
Faith, not once discussing it with one another until our "research" was
completed.
I had always believed in the prophesies about Jesus Christ, and was consistently
leaving Churches because not one person there up to and including the Pastor
could answer my questions. (How do we know that Jesus is the Son of God?). The
1st time I Google searched for Catholic Faith? Here come the words from a long
passed Bishop by the name of Fulton Sheen (www.ourcatholicfaith.org).
My answers were in there, Divine Conception to a Virgin, Died at Calvary, Rose 3
days later, Sits at the right hand of God. And not only there, but integrated
directly into the Faith! (Apostolic Creed)
My wife called me on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and we started talking
about what we were going to do about a Church (we had tried several in our area,
to no avail). After a moment of silence, we both spoke almost together, "Why not
try a Catholic Church?" I asked her why, and she answered, "I think that it is
the True Church."
By no coincidence, we called Sacred Heart of Jesus (www.sacredheartcicero.org),
the week before their RCIA classes began. We cannot wait for Holy Saturday. We
have come home." M. Enloe -
Houston, TX
"I cannot possibly tell you
what your web site has done for me...My Wife is Catholic, but I have always
resisted the faith basically because of the reasons you write about. The thing
is, years ago I accepted Christ as my savior and began praying for the
truth...and I was touched by God when visiting the Vatican display that came to
my home town of San Antonio Texas. Once I Learned about the history of the
Church, I was converted. I tried to join the Catholic Church but I was too late
for the classes.....so I have waited an entire year to join...which is ironic
because one of my biggest sins my whole life has been a lack of Patience. All I
can say is ...bless you for your writings! When I read your site I felt like I
wrote it myself!" W. Woodward - San Antonio, TX
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