My Five Favorite Things About Being Catholic

In all reality a list of what I love about being Catholic and why I am Catholic could go on and on. And on. 

Last week's episode of The Visitation Project was actually about our favorite things about being Catholic so I thought I'd add to the conversation by playing along with Jenna's lovely link-up. So, in no particular order:

My five favorite things about being Catholic! 

#1 - The consistency. Everything we believe is connected and I love that. The Teachings of the Catholic Church are clear (even where they are empowering us to use our own discretion) and they are all intertwined. What we believe about being made in the Image and Likeness of God is directly related to what we believe about the moment of conception, and those are both related to what we believe about marriage, and those are all related to what we believe about salvation, and those are related to redemptive suffering. When a minister of the Eucharist holds up the Sacred Host and says "The Body of Christ" I say "Amen." And that "Amen" means that I believe. I believe that Host really is the Body of Christ, which means I also believe in transubstantiation, Holy Orders, the authority of our local bishop, papal succession, papal infallibility, and really everything that the Church teaches. It's all connected, there's no loopholes, and everything is bathed in charity and love of God.

#2 - The Sacraments. Of course of all the Sacraments the Eucharist is my favoritest favorite but they are all incredibly special to me. The holy gift of Baptism and Confirmation, the blessing of Marriage, the awesomeness of Holy Orders, the restoration of Confession, the peace and healing of Anointing of the Sick, and my Lord and my God in the Blessed Sacrament. What gifts! Thank you, God, for the Sacraments. +

#3 - The beauty The mural in my parish literally and figuratively looks like hell though it is supposed to depict the Last Supper. A lot of recent music is horrible. But then there's singers and songwriters like these two, creating beautiful songs of praise.


And then there's videos like this one, from Likable Art:


Okay, even if you don't usually watch videos in blog posts, please watch the one above. It's short and lovely. The birthday cake part makes me cry every. single. time.

#4 - The community. Catholicism is possibly just as quirky as it is beautiful and true, so it's really great to have a tribe of people who get it. In a special way I appreciate my Catholic friends who live near me, those who I connect with online, and those who are in Heaven. All three of those groups of friends have been irreplaceable in my life and in helping me to grow in my faith. The Catholic community has often prayed for me when I just didn't have the words and I have literally seen the dead come back to life because of this community.

#5 - The order it brings to my life. I struggle with pacing myself and creating a rhythm to our days. That's why I'm glad the Church does this for me. Advent and Lent help me prepare for Christmas and Easter and not lose sight on why they matter. Feast days and Friday's fasting help me keep in check the calendar and what's important. Grace before meals, morning prayer, the angelus, compline... all these things (if and when I use them, which is almost always for some, often for others, and rarely for the rest) help me mark the moments of the day and return to Christ repeatedly. The way the Church breaks down the liturgical seasons and the hours of the day truly is a blessing to me.


Also, want to know more about my love, love, love! of God and faith? Well here you go:
Creating a Catholic culture in your home
Ideas for building a Catholic culture in our parishes
Tips you may not get in RCIA