October 11, 2012 marked the beginning of the “Year of Faith”
in the Catholic Church, which Pope Benedict XVI hopes will inspire all
believers to profess their faith in fullness, with renewed conviction,
confidence and hope. In his
Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, the
Pope invites and challenges us to rediscover “the joy of believing”, and to
share this with others “in the midst of a profound crisis of faith that has
affected many people.”
It struck me that my husband Bill and I have been given a natural
opportunity to share our faith journey with others, simply through the fact
that many people are curious about the decision we made five years ago to
become Catholics. We have been
asked many, many times – by Protestants, non-Christians and even other Catholics
– “Why in the world did you join the Catholic Church?”
It’s pretty hard to relate all the reasons for our decision in
a few words, so that question has often become a great excuse to get together with
folks over coffee and tell our story.
It’s a story of how we were drawn to the Catholic faith through the
suffering of our youngest son, who has Tourette Syndrome. Basically, in the
search for answers from God about why He was allowing our son’s neurological
and mental health challenges to continue (despite our fervent prayers!) we came
to see how we had reduced our relationship with God to a formula – we perform
A, B and C, and God responds appropriately. It became increasingly apparent that the formula wasn’t
working.
Developing a new understanding of God’s love for us took
time, but part of the puzzle was realizing that His love doesn’t shield us from
suffering. He knows the value of allowing His children to experience both
darkness and light during our sojourn on earth. And suffering becomes more
meaningful and fruitful as we gaze on Christ’s suffering on the cross. We
received these insights from Catholic teaching, and from connecting with God in
new ways through the Sacraments. It changed the way we looked at God, in much
the same way Job was changed through his experience with suffering: “Before, I
knew you only by hearsay, but now, having seen you with my own eyes, I retract
what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42: 5,6) These insights also
revealed to us Christ’s desire, above all else, to be with us, and in us, and
working through us, as we walk the road of joy/love/pain. Jesus walked that
road Himself, and has continued to walk it with His followers for over 2000
years. That’s pretty much the story of the Catholic Church in a nutshell – countless
saints and sinners, moving forward together in time towards our heavenly home,
in close companionship with a merciful Saviour who knows us intimately, and
calls us friends.
St. Francis saw suffering as an avenue to actively demonstrate
his love for Christ. He realized other gifts and blessings were freely given to
him by the Holy Spirit, but suffering was one gift he could give back – a way
of showing his devotion to the Lord. St. Francis’ explanation of perfect joy
was this: “Above all the graces and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit which
Christ grants to His friends is the grace of overcoming oneself and accepting
willingly, out of love for Christ, all suffering…” Such a foreign concept in
our western society today, where avoiding suffering or even discomfort seems to
be our primary goal!
And so my husband and I have come to appreciate the opportunities
that come our way to join in Pope Benedict’s challenge to participate in the
New Evangelization – to be bearers of good news. It’s not about being heavy-handed or self-righteous, but
simply sharing our stories in a spirit of humility and friendship, and
pondering together some of the insights we’ve gained along the way. It’s a
wonderful way of celebrating “the joy of believing.”
