Father, I am a Catholic but I have a lot of questions about what I believe. I’m thinking about leaving?
When I was in my early twenties, a friend invited me to an evening of fun and prayer at the Garden Grove Crystal Cathedral. Dr. Robert Schuller wanted to provide a place where young adults could play football, eat hamburgers and hotdogs, get to know each other and pray. While we gathered under the shadows of the impressive Crystal Cathedral and Tower of Hope there was never a push to convert or leave our religions or churches. I was a Catholic and, in those years, unaccustomed to mixing with Protestants. I think it was probably the same for Protestants. This exposure to other Christians made me think of my own commitment to Catholicism and I remember at one point, praying to God: “If you want me to become a Protestant, a Mormon or anything else I will do it. I just want to know the Truth!”
Questions are good because they lead us deeper into truth. God will always reward a sincere question about faith. One of the things that frustrate me is when someone presumably with questions, leaves the Catholic Church without talking to a priest, religious sister or someone who loves and knows their Catholic faith. Archbishop Sheen says, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
There is a lot of confusion out there but there are also good answers too. Find someone who loves and knows their Catholic faith and ask your questions.
One last thing — don’t forget to also bring your questions to Jesus. Pray about your doubts. The Lord who loves you will send you to the right person if you ask. Especially in the field of faith: “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7)
So ask the questions but give the Lord who loves you a chance to show you that you are in the right place, you are home and He has the right Church ready to lead you deeper into faith.
Fr. Al