Why do you love being Catholic?

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Lately I feel like I’ve been inundated with negativity and hostility, and I found myself in quite the doldrums, questioning my faith and just frustrated with it all.

Then this morning, I decided to go out to Adoration, and within minutes of settling myself in front of the Blessed Sacrament, it was like all the negativity and grayness had just been swept away.

So, I decided I would try to spread the joy I received to everyone else. Let’s have a lovely positive discussion on what it is we love about this faith (and please, no backhandedness).

I’ll get started. Obviously I love Adoration and spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. There is a certain peace that comes from sitting quietly before Jesus and just being there, and it cannot be replicated anywhere else. No matter how terrible my day has been, I always leave Adoration feeling like I’m a little bit lighter.

I’ve also been reflecting a lot on Confession, and what an incredibly beautiful gift God has given us in that Sacrament. Having grown up in a family where forgiveness was the exception and not the rule, once I chose to believe that God provides us with unconditional love and forgiveness, it was like I opened a whole new door to my life. I hear Catholics talk about how much they dislike Confession, and I just want to share my enthusiasm, help them see what they are missing.

What about you? What part of this faith fills you with so much joy you want to share it with others?
 
Ya know. I’ll second that. My time at Adoration is/was 1 AM this morning. It is quite wonderful sitting in the presence of Our Lord.
 
I am going to Adoration at 6 this evening. I am taking a non-Catholic friend who is not Catholic (yet). I am anxious to see his response.
 
Yeah. Interesting, Eric. You might get a good reaction, but you are likely to get no or negative reaction. Until you understand that Christ is really, really, really there with you, the person may just close their mind down.
 
We will see. It may be the Holy Spirit kick in the pants he is needing to move forward.
 
Because what we refer to as the Catholic Church was established personally by Jesus of Nazareth.
 
The obvious answer is the Sacraments. But to me, next on the list, and what enables me to even give the obvious answer is that the Catholic way of thinking (not just the theology) is so complete. Ronald Knox’s book, “The Beliefs of Catholics” sums it up very well.
 
I wish we had perpetual adoration so I could be there late at night or early in the morning. I love the few times I find myself all alone in Adoration - I know it sounds silly, but when I kneel in front of the sacrament and I’m just there in the silence, I feel like Mary sitting at Jesus’s feet listening to him (and I’m usually more Martha-like, so it’s a nice change.)
 
For me, nothing compares to receiving Holy Communion. That would be my first love. My second choice would be sitting in Adoration, for very similar reasons.
 
It just feels right for one. There are just so many reasons. Just one of which being able to ask the Blessed Mother of our Savior for her intervention, to pray for me and others, along with all the Saints. It’s just all very beautiful to me and feels so right. Hard to explain.
 
I have to agree with you that Adoration is the best. I experience such a peace and connection to Christ. I also love arriving 45 minutes before Mass and spending time in prayer. All the worries of the day fly away. I like to think about all the saints and angels surrounding the throne, saying holy, holy, holy. I love singing the Gloria.
 
One of the things I love about being Catholic is the saints. Their lives provide such compelling testimony +

Also love praying to some of them, with a new found joy in praying to St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower.

I just prayed a novena to St. Therese, Tues being the last night of the novena. Yesterday, I went to adoration at a church, but they didn’t have it, so I prayed before Blessed Mother instead and there right in front of me was a vase of flowers! I think St. Therese is known for that? I didn’t see any roses, but I did see two roses today, and I wasn’t looking at all to see one. Providence?
 
I love staying close to Jesus in the sacraments.

I also love being Catholic because it gives me a way to help others who have died and are in purgatory, particularly loved ones. I can have Masses said for them or try to get indulgences for them myself. I appreciate the Church’s and various saints’ clear teaching on purgatory.
 
When I read the title to your post I was going to reply with very simply THE EUCHARIST.

Which is true!

Yet, it’s Adoration what brought this Cradle Catholic back into the Church after many years of being out among the “separated brethren”.

To me, receiving the Eucharist is first, best and foremost.
Then, Adoration with the Eucharist exposed.
Then, the Eucharist reposed in the Tabernacle (where I regularly go to pray when the above 2 are not available at the time).

That’s the main reasons. But then, it’s all the uniquely Catholic stuff most the rest of Christianity doesn’t have: Mary, the intercession of the Saints, the solid magisterium, the rosary, sacramentals, holy cards, the abundance of prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, holy water… I could go on and on!
 
speaking of Adoration… not to go off topic here, but I’m continually shocked how few go. Is this the case in your area? I go to a few parishes regularly that have it, all with thousands of members, and if there’s 10 at any given time during EA that’s it.
 
This may sound like boasting which does not sit very well perhaps with some posters in CAF, but what a joy and a privilege it is being Catholic because God is so real - tangibly experienced.

Your example of going to the adoration and to found that you had your faith and encouragement back, is one of them.

To me, how often it is when I seek God through the Sacraments or retreats to spend and give time exclusively for Him, I would never fail to experience His presence and blessing and edification. That God is tangible and real.
 
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Still new, but some things I like:
  • Confession: It offers more certainty that forgiveness has been received than I got in Protestantism. As a Protestant, there were certainly moments of confusion with questions like, “Is my faith genuine and suitable for justification?” These questions sort of went away when I was Calvinist, but they never fully did. Confession, while it can be difficult and embarrassing (since I choose to do it face-to-face), offers much needed certainty.
  • Eucharist and Adoration: It absolutely blows my mind that Jesus would come to be fully with and in us. Both of these bring that to the forefront. My understanding of what it means to reverence and fear God has increased tremendously as I ponder the Eucharist.
  • Mary and her Rosary: Mary was the biggest surprise for me. I had intended to be sort of “moderate” on Mary - acknowledging the Church’s doctrines but having no devotion. Long story short, she didn’t let that happen, and her and her Rosary have helped me tremendously. I don’t spend nearly enough time with her and her Son as I should.
  • Apostolic Succession: I find a lot of comfort in knowing that I’m now fully part of the Church Jesus founded 2000 years ago, not some church that can only trace its history for a quarter as long. This especially is the case as I consider Jesus’ promise to never let His Church fall and that the Holy Spirit would guide us in all truth.
 
My soul craves Truth.

I have been many places spiritually. Strayed from the Catholic faith at times. Catholicism always comes back into my life whether I want it to or not. I did not intentionally test Jesus; that is a sin. I stray. He comes and finds me. I see the signs Catholicism is the Truth no matter where I stray. If Someone wants you to know Truth, They will pursue you and guide you back onto the correct path. A shepherd always tends to his sheep. No matter where I turn, my Shepherd is there. This is why I love being Catholic. Jesus loves me unconditionally. I have been given more chances than I deserve to follow the path of Truth.
 
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