[My2Cents]

Our son recently joined the Catholic Church, having been raised in a Baptist church. But then, his mother and I separated from the Baptist church a few years ago for many of the same reasons these cited neoCatholics separated from their Protestant churches, and while we have bounced from one unacceptable evangelical church to the next, our son has found his own path. To be honest, I think the importance for him wasn't in that he found the Catholic church, but that he found it on his own. It was his own decision, uninfluenced by us. And I respect his choice. His commitment (as one of my co-workers said, "He joined out of choice, not out of guilt") has given his life a stability and a structure that he didn't have before.

I've attended mass with him (most recently on Christmas eve, and then at midnight Christmas morning), and while there is much that I respect of the Catholic Church, I've never been convinced it's "the way, the truth, and the life," as, obviously, Jesus Himself can only claim to be those things, and we take possession of those things in Him by means of His Holy Spirit.

I know Catholics whom I hold in the highest regard for their spiritual maturity (and many of those who have influenced me the most in my spiritual journey have been Catholics -- St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Thomas a Kempis, to mention a few). I also know some Catholics who for all their devotion to the Church and its sacraments, seem to have lost Jesus in the midst of all the trappings. And I know some who have left the Catholic Church and have found a more meaningful walk with Christ as non-Catholics. And I know evangelicals who are tired of the shallowness and "glitz" that has become "evangelical Christianity" who might find a more meaningful worship in a Catholic context. But to me, "follower of Christ" is a more appropriate label for any of us who know Him as Savior and Lord than a sectarian label. Whether Baptist, Orthodox, Catholic, or Presbyterian, tell me about Jesus, not your church's distinctives.

[dangus]

>> I've never been convinced it's "the way, the truth, and the life," as, obviously, Jesus Himself can only claim to be those things, and we take possession of those things in Him by means of His Holy Spirit. <<

You're post overall is reflective and interesting. Thanks. But where do you get the notion that the Catholic Church is "the way, the truth and the life"? It's true in a sense: The Church is the body of Christ. But I've never heard the Church call itself that.