Why?

As we began questioning things about our Protestant faith, and speaking to people about our looking into the Catholic Church, we got the question of "why" over and over again. So I would to review just a few of the things and "why's" that set all of this in motion.

Division
This was huge for us. We saw the church so divided. Everyone disagreed over so many things and churches just kept splitting off from each other. Over 30,000 denominations could not be the church Christ came to establish.

Authority
This became an issue after we saw the division in the church. Every group claimed they were the ones following scripture and had the correct interpretation. With no one agreeing, it seemed like we were all relying on our own understanding of scripture and not what God was saying. But how could we really know what scripture meant? And how did we even get these scriptures and how do we know they are infallible? It seemed a piece of the puzzle was missing.

Eucharist
Most but not all Protestant churches teach that the bread and wine is merely symbolic. I couldn't agree with this after having read the book of John.

Faith alone
We also couldn't agree with this Protestant teaching after having read Hebrews and James. Yes we are saved by God's gift of grace, but it was clear works was an active and bigger part of faith and salvation than we were being taught.

Peter
In Matthew, Jesus renames Peter and founds the church. After researching this issue and looking into the Greek, Hebrew, church history, and other evidences of renaming in scripture, it was clear to us the church was founded on Peter... But what did that mean?


So here we find ourselves in RCIA, learning and praying and seeing the beauty of Christ's church revealed to us. There is so much more to the "why's", but this is all only a beginning.

All Saints Day

Last night was our first "Catholic" All Hallow's Eve. It was neat to really learn more about this holiday and where it originated from and its meaning. Here are a few things our family did for Halloween and what we will be doing today:

Donuts for Breakfast - We got yummy donuts for breakfast and talked about Trick or Treating and where it came from. We talked about the history of All Hallow's Eve being the vigil of All Saints Day, and how this was a time when some believed that the veil between heaven and purgatory and the earth was thinned. We talked about how it is important to pray for those in purgatory, and how Trick or Treating started with people getting Soul Cakes in exchange for their prayers for the dead. We also talked about one legend that donuts came about because one cook noticed that the children coming for soul cakes were making light of it, and not remembering why they were getting these cakes or following through with their promise to pray. At that time, the shape of a donut, the neverending circle, represented everlasting life, and served as a reminder to those eating them.

Pumpkin Carving -  We were going to carve pumpkins... but never really got around to it. We will try to do that today! We missed out on it yesterday, but I don't think its too late to have a nice lesson about the history of turnip or pumpkin carving. And as a friend of mine says - scoop out the sins and put in the light of Jesus!

Trick or Treat - We did go out Trick or Treating. My sweet little kiddos dressed up. Before we left we talked about how there is real evil in the world, but that everything we would see on Trick or Treat is just pretend. But that because there is real evil, we should know that and pray for protection. We asked for the protection of St. Michael the Archangel before we went out.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen. 

 

All Saints Day Lesson - For us, my kids have no idea what All Saints Day even is. So we are having a short lesson on that. We are also going to read about each of our Name Saints to learn more about them, and talk about how we are also called to be Saints, and what that means.

Mass - and of course, we will be going to mass this evening as a family!

RCIA - The Journey Begins

Over the last several years, our little family has been on a winding and spinning faith journey. Distraught over the division in Protestantism, and confused about how we would know what was true in all of that jumble, we began to slowly consider the Catholic faith. We almost joined RCIA numerous times, but never could take that last step and would always circle back. My husband and I are now in RCIA, and our oldest daughter is in RCIC. Barring any complications, we will join the church at the Easter Vigil.

This blog is to be a record of our journey into the church, a place where we work out how to practice and live out our faith, and to encourage others who God is calling to His church.