Blessed Weekend

 

It was a great weekend with a lot of football watching and a lot of Mass attending! I attended Mass at Saint Patrick Cathedral in Fort Worth on Saturday morning. The Bishop of Fort Worth, Michael Olson presided over the Mass, check out Bishop Olson's bio here. After the Mass, the Archdiocese of Fort Worth invited Dr. Scott Hahn to give two talks on evangelization and the mercy of God. I was grateful for the opportunity to see Dr. Hahn in person; he is the man that the Lord used in my life to make me start really considering the claims of the Catholic Church. Here is another link to a video where Dr. Hahn discusses his journey home to the Catholic Church, check it out here. 

Dr. Hahn gave a great talk on evangelism. Two things that resonated with me from the first talk, is that to successfully evangelize it comes down to friendship and joy. Friendship is the method that Jesus used to evangelize and disciple the apostles, the men who later would turn the whole world upside-down! Jesus befriended these men and lived life with them for three years. It shows the importance of the friendships that the Lord has blessed us with and not to take them for granted. The second takeaway was the importance of showing our joy. It sounds simplistic but if we want our friends, co-workers and family to come to the faith we have to show them we actually enjoy following Christ. I'm praying that the Lord helps me in this area. Please pray for me! 

The second talk was titled the Father of Mercies. Dr. Hahn recalled when his wife gave birth to their firstborn son and how much intense love welled up within him. God spoke to his spirit at that moment and he realized how much more God truly loves him and all of us. Being a disciple of Jesus requires us to die to self, take up our cross and follow him. This is a lifelong journey in learning how to die to ourselves and follow him. The beauty of the Church is that through the sacraments the Lord dispenses his grace to us which helps us on our journey following after Christ.

 

I'm looking forward to another RCIA class on Wednesday, more posts to come!

 

God Bless,

 

James

Inspiration

I attended Mass this morning at Saint Maria Goretti's in Arlington TX. Just a side note you can attend Mass pretty much every day of the week, how awesome is that? There is a cool website and app that lets you enter your zip code and it will show you where you can celebrate Mass that day, check it out  here. When attending Mass you not only hear the Scriptures preached and expounded but you also celebrate the Lords Supper or what Catholics call it, the Eucharist! If you attend Mass every day you will hear almost the entire Bible preached in 3 years! I've found that attending daily mass is a great way to abide with the Lord and focus each day on what matters and that is eternity! If you've never been to a Catholic Mass, I encourage you to check one out sometime!

But getting back to this morning, during the Mass the Priest mentioned that today, September 9th is the day in the Churches calendar that we celebrate the life of Saint Peter Claver. The priest mentioned how much this saint has meant to his faith and how he feels a special connection with this saint. He went on to explain how this priest from Spain travelled to Columbia in the 1600's as a missionary. While in Columbia he was shocked at the cruelty of the slavery that was practiced. The slaves that were brought from Africa were treated so poorly that he was moved with compassion to spend the rest of his life ministering and caring for the needs of the slaves. It is said that he personally baptized over 300,000 slaves in Columbia during his ministry. When a wealthy plantation owner would invite him over they would offer for him to sleep in the main house but he would refuse, stating that he preferred to sleep in the slave quarters with the slaves. You can read more about Saint Peter Claver here. 

Saint Peter Claver had a deep faith and love for Jesus that made him love and treat the slaves as if they were Christ himself. He understood that by loving the least, he was loving Christ. I pray that Jesus would grace me with that kind of faith and love. The Church teaches that I can also ask Saint Peter Claver himself to pray for me to the Lord. It would be like me asking a brother or sister here on earth to pray for me when I have a prayer request, well as Christians we don't believe that death is final, we believe that our spirits live on and that the saints are in heaven in the presence of all mighty God and that they can and do bring our prayers before the Lord. Check out this passage is Revelation chapter 5 verse 8  "the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" For more information on the intercession of saints check out this website. 

 As believers in Christ, we are all one big universal family. This extends to not only believers that are living but also those that have gone to glory. We are all called to pray, love, and care for one another. We are Christ's Mystical Body here on earth! What a blessing it is to be part of this universal family. This family has members from all different denominations, cultures, ethnicities, socioeconomic background, political parties, etc. etc. etc. I'm truly grateful that the Lord has opened my eyes to see the beauty of his church, may we all strive to build it up and care for one another.

God Bless,

James

A Unexpected Journey

Well, where to start... First off I would say I would've never imagined that I would be seriously considering joining the Catholic Church if you would've asked me a couple years ago. My life with God started May 19th, 2007 when I had an incredible encounter with the living God. He overwhelmed me with His love and grace and I've been changed/born again ever since. Since my encounter with God back in 2007, I've visited many different churches, from Presbyterian to Baptist and almost every denomination in-between. One Church I never thought about joining was the Catholic Church.

The Lord started seriously opening my eyes and heart to the Catholic Church about a year and a half ago. While driving to San Antonio to meet my missionary girlfriend at the time, I was looking for a Christian podcast to listen to and I came across a message by a Pastor named Scott Hahn. In his message, he describes his journey into the Catholic Church. He was a well-known Presbyterian pastor and studying for his Ph.D. in theology when the Lord started drawing him into the Catholic Church. While listening to this podcast, I was shocked and surprised... I never heard of a protestant theologian joining the Catholic Church, it sounds funny to say that but I had never heard of such a thing. That podcast made me start thinking about the roots of my Christian faith and I started asking questions about what I believe and WHY I believe it.

There are countless other instances that I can see that the Lord was leading me toward Catholicism. I hope to use this blog to share and chronicle my journey into the Catholic Church. The journey officially starts tonight, when I attend my first RCIA class at Saint Patricks  Cathedral in Fort Worth Texas. RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. The class is a process developed by the Catholic Church for prospective converts to Catholicism who are above the age of infant baptism. Candidates are gradually introduced to aspects of Catholic beliefs and practices with the ultimate goal of joining the Church.

 I would appreciate your prayers during this time of discernment. I'm seeking the Lords will and asking for his guidance, I'm reminded of the verse in Proverbs, 16:9 "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."

Check out the video Scott Hahn's testimony: https://youtu.be/YW-qX6DgcPw


God Bless,


James