Life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. - St. John Paul II

Time and time again due to the latest headlines about the Catholic Church in the secular media outlets, such as a new lawsuit alleging child abuse by a clergy member or the ‘risk of schism’ due to the actions being taken by the Church in Germany, I have been asked the following question, “How are you still Catholic?” It is a question that often has been presented to me not simply with verbal words, but usually with the addition of an eye roll and look of complete and utter perplexity. It was not a query that I could readily answer at first, and it was not until the first time someone presented it to me that I deeply pondered such thoughts within my heart and mind as to what I would offer as a response.

The first time I encountered such an experience was when I was working on a science experiment in our college organic chemistry lab as an undergraduate student, and one of my classmates came up to me with her hands on her hips with uplifted brow and directly blurted out, “For such a smart and intelligent woman, how on earth are you a Catholic?” I remember staring blankly at her with a million thoughts running through my mind, and so many things that I wanted to say, but I was so taken aback by her enquiry that nothing came out of my mouth. I completely froze standing there near the bunsen burner with a test tube in my hand. I knew in my heart it was because of love and love alone, but I could simply not find the words to express this indescribable feeling. 

Why was it that so many of my young adult Catholic friends, those from the millennial generation, had left the Church, and yet I remained a practising Catholic; not only going to Mass on Sundays out of obligation, but because I genuinely loved going to Mass? I remember being out with my friends on a Saturday night as a twenty-something year old, and looking forward to Mass the next morning, which for me was the highlight of my weekend. Having an hour each Sunday to be with Christ meant everything to me, and I simply did not understand why I felt this way, but not my friends. We all spent our childhoods attending state schools and receiving an hour of religious education each week at our local parish Catholic schools learning the exact same things about our faith. Why did I remain a practising member of the Church?

Throughout my time spent at the City University of New York, I watched a vast number of my close friends completely abandon their Catholic faith for a laundry list of reasons, which ultimately led to the end of many friendships, including my best friend, Anne, of eight years. She wanted to be married in the Catholic Church, and was marrying a man who at first agreed to be married sacramentally, but then ultimately decided he wanted nothing to do with the Church.  They ended up marrying outside of the Church, and Anne became a part of the “none” generation. 

My best friend completely severed any ties to the Catholic faith, and then ultimately cut off any ties to our friendship because my choosing to live Catholic by accepting all of the Church’s teachings became too much for her. I never judged her for her decision to walk away from Catholicism, but I knew that even though she never said it, she judged herself. I never saw or heard from her again, but if I had to choose again between her or Christ’s Church I would still always choose the latter.

There were yet other friends of mine who were getting into a “cooler” faith, as they called it, a faith that they felt was more adapted to the modern age and the millennial lifestyle. Catholicism was an out-of-touch, ancient tradition with too many restrictions, and needed to be modernized and adapted to the present time. It was much more appealing to go to the mega “church” with “hip” pastors and music that made you want to shout out and dance.

There were a number of times that I received an invitation to attend these types of “churches”, and each time it became more and more difficult to dodge the requests of my friends because I knew that repeatedly refusing to go was causing a strain in our relationships. It was two of my friends, especially Mallory and Beatrix, who were the most persistent in their constant nudge to come with them. Mallory insisted that becoming Born Again was the next step of Catholicism, and she gave me a King James Bible to read, and Beatrix, pleaded with me to accompany her to the young adult group that met on Friday nights because her pastor very much wanted to meet me.

Each Friday after class my friend, Beatrix would text me begging and pleading for me to just try it once, and one evening I almost yielded to the pressure along with another one of my Catholic friends, who was also a practicing Catholic like me. As I was walking to my car across campus, I felt this sudden nudge to call my friend, and there was dead silence when she answered the phone, then a couple of breaths, and finally I said to her, “I can’t go, it doesn’t feel right to me,” and she responded with “I know, I feel like I’m cheating on the Church”. I told her how I felt the exact same way, and the night ended with us both not going to the other “church.” I lost another friend that night because of our decision.

How is going to another church cheating on the Catholic Church? The Catholic Church is the only church that holds the whole and complete truth, even though the other churches do hold parts of the truth. They have pieces of the puzzle, but it is the Catholic Church that has the complete puzzle together with all of the pieces. Any other “church” is an imitation of Christ’s One, Holy, and Apostolic Church as we have the true Body and the true Blood of Christ; the Real Presence in the Eucharist. How can I believe that the bread and wine actually transform into Christ’s Body and Blood, and then suddenly not believe that truth, and walk away from the Eucharist? I remain a Catholic because of the Eucharist.

At every single Catholic Mass I know, believe, and understand that a miracle is taking place by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that the same sacrifice that took place at Calvary is being re-presented upon the altar. Christ appears to me in a tiny, white host veiled before my eyes, and it is because of the gift of faith that I truly believe He is present as He sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven; Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity as True God and true man, in His Glory. By consuming the true Flesh and true Blood of Christ, I know that we become a living tabernacle that radiates the light and love of Christ to the world.

He has not only saved me from my sins by shedding His Blood on the Cross, and then rising as to give me eternal life, but He has never abandoned me by offering the precious gift of His sacrament of love. How can denying that through my Baptism I am forever a member of the Mystical Body of Christ, and refusing to accept Christ’s gift of the Eucharist, lead me to my ultimate goal of being happy with Him forever in Heaven? Walking away from the truth once I know the truth cannot lead me to salvation, and it is because of my belief in the Real Presence, that I could never settle for anything other than the Catholic Church.

Originally published in the Sept/Oct 2021 The Faith Companion Magazine, U.K. Parish Publication