I’m glad this person has started to take his faith more seriously. I too pretty much mirrored this person’s path. Here’s something I’ve discovered that may save this person some time and hassle (if he may read this):
First I started off as a cradle Catholic then skipped the CINO stage he apparently went through. I went straight to atheism for 10 years then “got saved” (March 16, 1999 by the way) and limped along looking for a “local church” for a couple years after that. I spent the time reading the Bible mostly to “win” theological arguments on the Internet.
Then when I got serious about finding a “local assembly”, because I had become convinced at the time it was necessary to “assemble with like minded individuals”, I started looking for a church, anyone, that could trace its lineage back to the time of Christ because, I reckoned, that church would be able to speak authoritatively about what the Bible really says. Because I had spent 2 years arguing with people on the Internet about predestination speaking in tongues, whether or not women can be pastors and the Trinity. Mostly on Paltalk. And the debates weren’t going anywhere.
At a certain point I came to the realization we need someone to put these questions to rest or else Christianity will never be anything but a debate society.
Well to make that long story short (too late right?) I came to realize that at least historically speaking, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church can do such a trace. Well I decided the Catholic Church was the best out of those three for other reasons I won’t get into here.
Suffice to say, I started to dive into my faith with a passion, becoming more and more “traditional” with each passing month. (And this is the point I think the author of this piece is at).
But you know what I discovered? That one thing non-Catholic Christians are right about is that everyone needs a personal relationship with Jesus, and that’s easy to say and doesn’t really mean much unless it’s real. So I’ll say it another way.
We all need a way that we can encounter Christ in reality, every day and not just as a theory or some theological construct but a real man encountered, every day. Because that’s who we’re made for. We’re made for God. To be with Him. Not some idea we can put in a box or a shelf and made to look pretty but is nothing more than a museum piece.
No we’re made for the Man who became flesh and dwells among us. He’s risen and in the world and wants a real relationship, like the one you have with your friend or coworker or parents or children. That kind of relationship not some idea or nice feeling. So there will be some rough spots (where you will realize how wrong you are since He is never wrong, but you’ll still get angry with Him sometimes because we are all petulant children on occasion and that’s real). That’s the kind of real He wants not some fancy moralism not some brilliant argument but a relationship that stinks sometimes but is surrounded and defeated by His Love.
And that’s what the Catholic Church gives me now, not by reading some dusty old book and arguing theology about it but by reading Scripture attentively expecting Him to talk to me through them.
Not by viewing the “liberals” in the Church with contempt or scorn but by meeting them where they are at and again, expecting that God will be part of such encounters through them (to teach me something) and hopefully through myself (to benefit them).
Not by being the best “traddy” on the block (or the Internet) but by realizing the Church Universal isn’t best by being “traditional” OR “liberal” (whatever those terms mean anyway) but that She is at Her best when all her members live truly human. Which means actually interacting with people (yuck! Right?)! But yeah that’s what it means and not just the people I like but actually interacting with people I disagree with, and not only treating them with respect but actually expecting to learn something from such interactions.
Which is why it’s necessary to have a real relationship with Jesus. It’s really the only way the Church is truly the “Mystical Body of Christ”. When we live in cooperation with Him, when we allow Him to make us fully human.
It’s the only way to “save” the Church.
Where is this phrase you've quoted to be found?