Yesterday, in Part I, I shared how I became Catholic in my heart during a Holy Mass with Pope Benedict XVI. Today’s story is less exotic. It happened about a year before I visited Rome and it happened in Fort Worth, Texas.
In his work Called to Communion (Ignatius: 1991. German title: Zur Gemeinschaft gerufen), then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote: Anyone who becomes acquainted with [the Church] as she lives out her life sees immediately that the ancient Church never consisted in a static juxtaposition of local Churches. Catholicity, concretely realized in many forms, belongs to her essence from the [...]
This week is the week for Christian unity. I hope to daily write a brief post about key moments in my journey that pushed me over the edge. I’ll begin by admitting that becoming Catholic is very difficult. For some, it entails for losing their jobs. It can cause deep marital strain and stress. Grown [...]
Blessed Lord, You guide Your children often by mysterious paths to Yourself — to the Truth. Bring us all together in unity and love in Your Church — together here on earth as fellow pilgrims and workers in Your vineyard, and together forever in the joys of heaven with You and all the Communion of [...]
Each year, Called to Communion takes note of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.” It is an occasion prompted by the World Council of Churches, an occasion to which the Catholic Church gives full-throated support.1 Since Called to Communion is a Catholic website devoted to God’s call to communion, made to all Reformed and [...]
When I was a Calvinist, I began to call myself a “Reformed Catholic.” I wanted to be Reformed, but I wanted to take the church and the sacraments seriously. Of course, if one follows the Westminster Confession, he cannot hold to an Anabaptistic understanding of sacraments. He is bound to hold that the sacraments have a sort of [...]
Next month Christians worldwide will observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18 to 25. Since unity between Catholics and Reformed Christians is the particular focus of this site, we too will partake and encourage participation in this week of prayer that Christ’s John 17 prayer for our unity will be fulfilled [...]
I’ll be honest; The Church and New Media isn’t the sort of book I’d normally buy. But per chance, I ended up with a copy and decided to read it. This had nothing to do with the fact that CTC’s own, Dr. Taylor Marshall, is a contributor. But that alone should be enough to encourage [...]
A priest friend of mine recently remarked to me, “Whenever the Christian faith is allowed to be reduced, the Catholic faith will lose out to Protestantism, for the simple fact that Protestantism began as a reduction.” My friend went on to add, “Now some might still become Catholic, but not for the most important reason: the [...]
When seeking to attain an end, one must keep that end in one’s mind and heart, and ensure that one’s understanding of it is as accurate as possible, to ensure attaining that end. That is no less true in the Christian life, which has heaven as its end. But what is heaven? Is it a [...]
