Why am I a Happy Catholic ?


I was born into a Catholic family and received the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation as a young boy. I attended Sunday Mass regularly as a family custom for over 25 years until the day Patrick, a colleague at work, asked me whether I was saved. After many hours of discussion, Patrick showed me how wrong and unbiblical the Catholic Church was. Patrick told me that prayers to Mary, confession of sins to priests, calling priests 'father', having statues/idols in church, etc. were very unbiblical. That was the start of 11+ years of searching for God.

My many questions

Before I met Patrick, I had already found many of the Catholic teachings simply "weird". One example is when I heard Pope John Paul II on French TV saying that the best way to fight AIDS was abstinence. How strange! A man abstaining from sex ? I remember thinking "you gotta be kidding!". Then, however, I discovered Catholic Church's position on artificial contraception. I found this teaching strange in a modern society but I didn't see anything wrong with it. Moreover, I realized that I had many other unanswered questions that I've never bothered to look into.

Seeking answers to my questions, I started to study many other Christian denominations to understand what they believed. I also read about Judaism, Jehovah Witnesses, Buddhism, Hindhuism, Islam and Mormonism. By the end of the almost 11+ years of searching for God, I hadn't found all the answers to my various questions. Most of the above listed faiths had answers to some of my questions but not to all of them. Below are some samples of the kind of questions that I had:

The above questions were only a small number among the many other questions that I had.
Pondering these questions, I was also wondering what my life and the lives of billions of other human beings were about. Working, eating, playing sports, watching movies, having fun, paying bills, sleeping only to do them over and over again for years. Was that all to life ? I can't do sports all my life, I'll eventually get old. Watching movies ? Doing that for 80 years ? Eating ? Dancing ? What else ? I felt that if life was merely doing those things, then life was pretty boring. And how about life after death ? Does life end at death ? Do we just pass through this earthly life as biological beings, and nothing more ?

Children Education and their responsibilities in society

Regarding the education of my children, if I didn't know where I was going myself, how was I supposed to lead them ? At the time, my first two children were neither baptized nor educated in any faith. Our little family was living a quite empty life. I first followed the commonly accepted idea to let children choose whichever gods they wanted to follow. That was convenient for me because it gave some relief to my conscience. I didn't have to be bothered by that question anymore. Well, for a little while anyway. But then my continuous thoughts about children eventually led me to the question: "if God exists, how does He want me to raise them ? Does He care at all ? Should I let them choose their god(s) when they grow older ? Should I teach them about right and wrong ?

I knew that my wife and I had to make most decisions for them. So did it make sense that we let them choose for themselves when it came to spiritual matters ? Was choosing what kind of spiritual education they would receive like other choices we would make, such whether to add or not onto a car we were to buy ? We had to make decisions on which school to send them to, which healthy and balanced food to feed them, which kind of clothes for them to wear, which doctor should care for them, etc. My wife and I didn't wait for them to grow older to ask them which school they wanted to go to, or whether or not they liked eating their vegetables, so why should we wait for them to get older before choosing which god they'd follow ? If we were to teach them about God then we should know who the true God is. Who is He ? So far, I had been searching for Him without success.

When my children are teenagers, will it make any sense to tell them to save sex for marriage ? Does that still mean anything nowadays ? Or should I just go out and buy them condoms and birth-control pills when they reach the age of 12 or 13, or even earlier ? What does God want me to do ? Does God have some moral teachings that He wants us to obey ? I was swamped with so many unanswered questions. I discussed those questions with my wife too, of course.

Mormonism

I had been carpooling with Matthew (not his real name), a Mormon friend of mine, for about a year. We had about 90 minutes of time to discuss about faith and moral questions everyday. Matthew has four children. He, his wife and children had been living out their faith and keeping high moral standard. I was very impressed with the way Matthew led his family and taught them about God. Matthew invited my family to attend Sunday celebrations in the Mormon Church and also a baptism celebration of his son. I liked everything that I had been observing. One day, I told my wife that I had been thinking seriously about us joining the Mormon church. I liked the sense of family I found in the Mormon church. I started to study about Mormon theology. I quickly found out that the Jesus-Christ of the Mormon church was not the eternal uncreated almighty God but simply a created man. I, however, was searching for THE God who exists on His own and who is not dependent on anyone else to exist.

I went to my wife and told her that if God was not in the Mormon church, then I didn't know where to find Him. I had been searching for Him for over 11 years. My wife gave me a very simple answer. She said "To me, if God exists, He is in the Catholic Church." I thought her answer was funny since she was neither baptized nor raised as a child to believe in God at all. I was stunned by her answer though. I then asked her why she said that. She replied, "Even though I wasn't taught about God as a child, I prayed to God. I had no idea who God was, but I prayed regularly. After I met you, I learned more about Jesus and to me, God is in the Catholic Church. I have no rational explanation for it." I was overwhelmed by her conviction !! I thought I knew the Catholic Church much better than she did. Eventually, without telling me for a long time, she later revealed to me that she had been upset with me for having wasted my time searching around for so long. She couldn't understand why I invited all kinds of missionaries home to study and discuss with them. For her, it was so obvious that I should have spent time to study the Catholic faith. Anyhow, she didn't want to interfere with my search for God, so she let me study many different faiths.
Although I first didn't want to give it a try, after being stunned by such a conviction from my wife, I promised her that I would give the Catholic faith a fair hearing in order to study more about it. That's something I actually had never done before, since I had thought I knew the Catholic faith well enough already.

Studying the Catholic faith seriously for the first time

I went to a bookstore in search for something to read about the Catholic faith. There were too many choices of books and I didn't know where to start. Somehow, I ended up buying a book about Fatima. In my childhood, I had read with great interest the story about Fatima, so I thought this book would reconnect me with something I cherished in the past. Then I wanted to know what the Catholic Church had to say to defend itself from all the accusations of idolatry, confession of sins to priests, worship of Mary, baptism of children, and the papacy, all of which seem to be so unbiblical !! My next book was Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating. Wow, what a book ! I never thought that Catholics knew anything about the Bible, but Keating showed me how much the Church knew about the Bible and I discovered the consistency and the coherence in the interpretation of the Bible by the Catholic Church. Keating's book was the start of a long and exciting journey. I then read from authors like David Currie, Dr. Scott Hahn, Steve Ray, Dr. Peter Kreeft, Dave Armstrong, Mark Shea, Marcus Grodi, Alex Jones and many others. These authors all had one thing in common: they were former Protestant pastors or ministers, who converted to the Catholic faith. Most of them had been engaged in full-time ministry to study the Bible and had been searching for the Truth for over 20 years before their conversion. Most of the books I read can be found in the Apologetic Books section of this website. I read the Bible again with better insight helped by the Navarre Bible Commentary. I eventually found my way to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and devoured it from cover to cover. Wow! I've never thought that the Catholic faith could be so deep, so beautiful and so true. I was faced with the spiritual splendor !!! The Catholic moral teaching made a lot of sense when one was willing to spend time to study. By the Holy Spirit's grace, I finally found all the answers to my many questions. I realized that in order to fully understand one topic, I had to acquire some background knowledge in other areas. It's like playing with a jigsaw puzzle. If one does not have patience and looks for quick answers without putting in some effort, then there is a good chance that that path will lead to misunderstandings.

Along with my extensive reading, I also listened to Father John Corapi's Apostolic Preaching series on EWTN Global Catholic Network, and on many of Father Corapi's DVDs. Attending two of Father's conferences was the Holy Spirit's gift to me. His preaching definitely helped me to understand the teaching of the Church and to come back home. He strengthened and confirmed me in my faith.

Going Home

As a result of my long search, I now know where I am heading. And therefore, I am now ready to lead my children. I have discovered the Truth and how infinitely beautiful the Truth is. I now understand what Love is: the Christian love, the ultimate sacrificial love. My wife along with my then two children were baptized in the Catholic Church in 2004. I am perfectly aware that most Catholic men and women are not perfect, neither am I. We, Catholics, are together in a journey trying our best to follow the Truth, guided by the Holy Spirit, protected by Our Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary and cheered up by the Communion of Saints and Angels. We are together to help each other on that journey through the desert.

Things in my life have completely changed. In my roles as husband and father, I try my best to follow the teaching of Christ through His Church. As long as I am still in this life, I will still fall, I will still sin. But Jesus has paid the price of my sins and given me the grace to stand up again every time I fall to continue my journey. Strangely enough, my wife and I find that we love each other more and more each day, not less and less. Many people I know would discourage young couples to marry because they think that marriage can only end up in nasty fights in the tribunal. That is easily understandable. When we take God out of our marriage and when we give up at the first difficulties, things can only go wrong. On the other hand, if married life is cultivated each day with sacrifices, with care, with consideration and respect for my wife as a beautiful and precious child of God, then married life can only blossom in unexpected wonders and beauties. In light of my faith journey, isn't it strange that a man like me could one day end up thinking of marriage life as wonderful ?

Finally and most importantly, I found what I had been looking for: all the answers to my questions. I now know what to teach my children about God, right and wrong, moral issues, etc. I couldn't teach my children until I knew them myself. It is not my intention to expose and explain the answers to all the questions I had here. However, I think it is useful to do so for one common question that many people have about sex, chastity and abstinence. Here is a link to the short version of my answer and explanation on the topic of Chastity and Abstinence. Regarding right and wrong, I'll refer you for now to the following quote:

"If we forget the moral and the religious, what standard of right have we? The only standard of right left in democracy is the majority, and thus we would conform our democracy into an arithmocracy. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong."
- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)


I am very grateful to the Holy Spirit and to the Blessed Virgin Mary for their guidance, care and protection while I am on my journey to Jesus. I am also thankful for my Protestant, Mormon and Jehovah Witness friends, who during our long hours of discussion, took part in challenging me and putting me back on track. My thanks also go to all the people that God put on my path to bring me back home. Many of my friends and family members have ceased communication with me due to what I believe and what I stand for. But following the Truth has a cost, a big cost sometimes. On the other hand, for the very few friends and family members that I have left, we enjoy a far deeper spiritual understanding and relationship. Yes, the path to the Truth can be lonely at times, but the rewards are definitely worth it! In the end, I have no regrets and I am a happy Catholic and am honored to have the great St. Joseph as my patron saint.

There are a lot more reasons for all to be happy Catholics. A whole library will not be large enough to write down all the reasons. However, in the meantime, I'll give you a hint to the number one reason why Catholics are happy : take a look at what is represented in the icon at the upper right corner of this page. All happy Catholics know what that is, and they won't miss that on Sunday for any reason. How about you ?

In Christ,
S. Thoi

Published on June 20th 2009, the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
www.happycatholic.org