In my youth, my whole family was actively involved in many aspects of the United Church of Canada in Calgary, Alberta and in Montreal, Quebec. They were good and creative years. My call to ministry came while serving as a counselor for a church camp outside Montreal. One beautiful summer morning, the sun was dancing off the water and a gentle breeze was blowing.
After leaving the Catholic Church and attending evangelical denominations, Louise Winant sought the truth of Christ and decided to reconcile with the church of her youth. Even after returning, there was one teaching of the Catholic Church — the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist — that Louise could not get over, until Jesus touched her heart.
I sat at work with my head in my hands looking at the computer screen. I couldn’t believe what I had just read. There was no possible way that was the truth. How could it be? I always thought that I was right and the Catholics were wrong. If the statement I had just read was true, it would mean so much would have to change. Yet, how could they be right? This was only supposed to be a harmless trip to EWTN.com in order to disprove my fiancée’s parents and their firm Catholic beliefs.
Taking dramatic steps of faith runs in the family. In the eighteenth century, my ancestors left Switzerland for the new colony of Pennsylvania to find religious freedom. The two Longenecker brothers were Mennonites — members of an Anabaptist sect so strict that it had been persecuted by John Calvin.
Because you are among several folks who are worried that we have fallen off the Christian cliff, I thought that this record of an interchange with Internet friends who had similar concerns might ease your anxiety about our salvation prospects. It is important to understand that we are not writing this to try to convert you, but to hopefully neutralize your prejudices so if any other friend converts, you can say “Gee Whiz, that is wonderful” as opposed to “You poor lost soul.” Here is the interchange:
In 1978, I was ordained a Presbyterian minister (Presbyterian Church in America) and served two churches while I also obtained a doctoral degree in biblical linguistics. Shortly after my ordination, I was preaching a homily on the unity of the Church and stated that the only justification for the Reformation was that the Catholic Church had left the Gospel.
Appearing only briefly in both the Old and New Testaments is a mysterious figure named Melchizedek. The identity of this first priest mentioned in the bible is as strange as
The following chapter is reprinted from Cardinal Gibbons famous book, “The Faith of Our Fathers” (TAN Books, Rockford, IL 61105) which sold over 1.4 million copies in the first forty
“But I believe in the Real Presence!” said Doug, my Bible Christian friend, “Why do you Catholics refuse to admit me to communion?” “Whoa!” I said, “I’m delighted to hear
Both “transubstantiation” and “Eucharist” are big words foreign to the everyday language of everyday Americans. We may be more familiar with words like “Monosodium glutamate,” “euthanasia” or “inalienable rights,” but
I was not raised as a Catholic. In fact, the Christian tradition in which I grew up is, in many ways, at the opposite end of the theological spectrum from Catholicism. We had
Two Former Presbyterian Ministers and One Former Evangelical gather to discuss the Bread of Life Discourse, John 6:25-69.
Help us share the truth and beauty of the Church.
Help us share the truth and beauty of the Church.
