For months I imagined posting a blog where I laid out a big theological argument for Catholicism and why I have been drawn to the Catholic Church. Now, however, thanks to what I have gleamed from the wisdom of my wife, I simply want to focus on Christ. I want to focus on the fullness of Christ and that which I never would have seen without the Catholic Church.
Far from "Silent Night" or snow covered fields of majestic stillness, the birth of Jesus teaches us something stunning about how God gives His grace to us. Nothing is silent or still about birth, trust me, I've watched two! At Christmas we're reminded that the most abundant gifts of God's grace take a physical form. Everything about the incarnation is physical. The whole life of Christ, from His painful birth, to his agonizing death, teach us, that our sinful state requires a physical remedy. This is the core of Catholic Sacramental teaching, that God's grace comes in physical form. This reality, is not only true of the incarnation and Christ's death, which reconciles us with God, it is also true for how God changes us. We are not changed by signs and symbols, but by the life giving bread and the saving cup.
This has changed Christmas for me. Silent Night isn't Silent Night because of an idealistically quiet baby or a peaceful birth. It is Silent because of the presence of the Holy God. As I sat today around the burning candles and kneeling parishioners at St. John Newman Church, this reality silenced and calmed my busy, distracted mind. As I repented for my selfishness I was relieved to actually find myself distracted from focusing on myself. The beauty of the Holy, Perfect Child, our Emmanuel, seemed, however vaguely, present. Present enough to leave me hungry for more. In the end, this is what Christmas is all about, what C.S. Lewis called, "cultivating a hunger for God." The Catholic Church doesn't teach, and I don't believe, that somebody has to be Catholic to experience Christ. Wanting to experience more of Christ, however, has led me here, and since I seem to have fallen of the face of the earth to many of you, I thought it would be good to share my thoughts with you this Christmas.
Far from "Silent Night" or snow covered fields of majestic stillness, the birth of Jesus teaches us something stunning about how God gives His grace to us. Nothing is silent or still about birth, trust me, I've watched two! At Christmas we're reminded that the most abundant gifts of God's grace take a physical form. Everything about the incarnation is physical. The whole life of Christ, from His painful birth, to his agonizing death, teach us, that our sinful state requires a physical remedy. This is the core of Catholic Sacramental teaching, that God's grace comes in physical form. This reality, is not only true of the incarnation and Christ's death, which reconciles us with God, it is also true for how God changes us. We are not changed by signs and symbols, but by the life giving bread and the saving cup.
This has changed Christmas for me. Silent Night isn't Silent Night because of an idealistically quiet baby or a peaceful birth. It is Silent because of the presence of the Holy God. As I sat today around the burning candles and kneeling parishioners at St. John Newman Church, this reality silenced and calmed my busy, distracted mind. As I repented for my selfishness I was relieved to actually find myself distracted from focusing on myself. The beauty of the Holy, Perfect Child, our Emmanuel, seemed, however vaguely, present. Present enough to leave me hungry for more. In the end, this is what Christmas is all about, what C.S. Lewis called, "cultivating a hunger for God." The Catholic Church doesn't teach, and I don't believe, that somebody has to be Catholic to experience Christ. Wanting to experience more of Christ, however, has led me here, and since I seem to have fallen of the face of the earth to many of you, I thought it would be good to share my thoughts with you this Christmas.
Love in Christ and Merry Christmas, Jeremy
5 comments:
Bub, I am so proud of you for walking through the doors that God has opened for you, no matter how surprising. I know that a few years ago you would have never dreamed that you would be joining the Catholic church, but in your passion to see Christ more fully, here you are. You are brave to post your thoughts to many of your friends that I know may disagree with you theologically. I love you and am always so proud of you. I love hearing your thoughts and the beautiful way you string words together to express them.
Cannot wait to see you.
This is touching, and reminds me of my journey to the Church and Tradition.
Blessings as you continue to follow Christ,
Jonathan
I love your Christmas message, Jeremy. You demonstrate beautifully that ultimately faith is not about theology, but rather faith is about spiritual nourishment. How fortunate we are to have that hunger filled by the Eucharist!
One of the many reasons I am proud to be Catholic is that the Church does not make an exclusionary judgment about a non-Catholic's faith journey. So many of the wonderful non-Catholic friends I have met through you and Erin are living proof that somebody does not have to be Catholic to experience Christ.
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I agree, I have sat in the presence of God at St. John Neumann and St. Mary's Catholic churches. The architecture, candles, statues and Icons truely bring you to the Lord. It's a shame the St. Andrew by the bay is so void of these traditional and important elements of faith.
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