There is nothing more important in all of life than our relationship with God through His Son. And I firmly believe there is nothing we should put more energy into than that relationship. For this reason, since as a convert I am relatively new in the faith myself, if I were to give an admonition to people young in the faith, I would say the following:
Learn your faith inside and out. Guard and protect your faith. And live it. If you ‘live your faith fast and loose’ you will meet those who will attempt to kill it. You may even kill it yourself. Your place in The Church is unique and planned. Continually seek the plan that God has for you here.
Some in The Church are converts, like me. Some were baptized into the faith in infancy. For each of us, this church is an inestimable gift.
For 2,000 years God’s children have been given the privilege of taking refuge in His Church. Let that refuge be your peace. His children have been given the privilege and honor to receive His grace to carry on, beginning with their Baptism and continuing through receiving the Body and Blood of His Only Begotten Son. Spend time learning what that means, over and over, through and through. As the deep knowledge of that honor permeates your soul you will be changing into the image of His Son.
I nearly missed the gift of the Catholic Church. I am often close to tears when I receive our Lord in the Eucharist. They are not only tears of gratefulness that He brought me to this place. They are also tears of fear when I think of how I nearly missed the fullness of faith in this place. How did I almost miss it? I was busy striving to build the church – a misguided Protestant direction.
The reality is that The Church is built and the blood of the martyrs has paved the way for her work. They have paved the way for us to be the Church – to be the hands, the feet, the heart of Jesus on the earth. We are The Church who feeds the hungry, clothes the poor, shelters the homeless, visits the prisoner, cares for the widow and the orphan. And through the Sacraments, we can know the power of His grace to work through us to those ends.
Because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the blood of the Martyrs, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of the Sacraments, my spiritual journey will continue in that safe place which God has made for His children. My journey continues, with you, in that place that is Christ’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
We are home and our hearts should rejoice in that fact – moment by moment.
St Thomas More Advent 2014
