150 Titles Of Christ From The Scriptures

There are many, many titles of Christ in both the New and Old Testaments. As one prays and studies them, they amount to a mini-Catechesis of the Lord Jesus.

Presented below are over 150 titles of Christ.I have also presented “hot-links” to the Scriptures from which they are drawn for your further study. The list is compiled from various sources, but most come from The Catholic Source Book, compiled and edited by Fr. Peter Klein. I have also placed this article in PDF Format here: The Titles of Jesus Christ in Scripture, if you’d like to print or save the material for later reference.

I would also ask your help. The list needs to grow. There are other titles of Christ that you may know that can and should be added. If perchance you would like to use the comments section to add titles you see missing here, I will be grateful.If you know the scriptural reference and want to include it that is great. Otherwise I can probably search for it.

When considering an addition please consider if it is a true title or just an adjective. For example, “kind” is an adjective, and is true of Jesus, but it is not a title, per se. Nouns show usually show better promise as titles of Christ. But even nouns do not always amount to a title. For example “walker” is a noun, and surely an accurate description of Christ who did a lot of walking, but again, it is not a title per se.

Titles of Jesus Christ in Scripture:

Advocate – 1 John 2:1
Alpha and Omega – Revelation 1:8; 22:13
The Almighty – Revelation 1:8
Amen – Revelation 3:14
Apostle and High Priest of our Confession – Hebrews 3:1
Author and Finisher of our Faith – Hebrews 12:2
Beloved – Matthew 12:18
Beloved Son – Colossians 1:13
Bread of God – John 6:33; 50
Bread of life – John 6:35
Living Bread – John 6:51
Bridegroom – John 3:29
Brother – Matthew 12:50
Captain of our Salvation – Hebrews 2:10
Carpenter – Mark 6:3
Carpenter’s Son – Matthew 13:55
Chief Shepherd – 1 Peter 5:4
Chosen One – Luke 23:35
Christ – Matthew 16:20
Christ Jesus – 1 Timothy 1:15; Colossians 1:1
Christ of God – Luke 9:20
Christ the Lord – Luke 2:11
Christ who is above all – Romans 9:5
Consolation of Israel – Luke 2:25
Chief Cornerstone – Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6
Dayspring – Luke 1:78
Deliverer – Romans 11:26
Deliverer from the wrath to come – 1 Thessalonians 1:10
Eldest of many brothers – Romans 8:29
Emmanuel – Matthew 1:23
Faithful and True Witness – Revelation 1:5; 3:14
Father Forever – Isaiah 9:6
First and Last – Revelation 1:17; 2:8
Firstborn among many brothers – Romans 8:29
First born from the dead – Revelation 1:5
Firstborn of all creation – Colossians 1:15
First Fruits – 1 Corinthians 15:20
Friend of tax collectors and sinners – Matthew 11:19
Gate of the sheepfold – John 10:7
Glory – Luke 2:32
Good Shepherd – John 10:11; 14
Grain of Wheat – John 12:24
Great Shepherd of the sheep – Hebrews 13:20
Head – Ephesians 4:15
Head of the Church – Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22
Hidden Manna – Revelation 2:17
High Priest – Hebrews 3:1; 4:14; 7:26
He Who Holds of the Keys of David – Revelation 3:7
He who is coming amid the clouds – Revelation 1:7
Holy One – Acts 2:27
Holy One of God – Mark 1:24
Holy Servant – Acts 4:27
Hope – 1 Timothy 1:1
Horn of Salvation – Luke 1:69
I Am – John 8:58
Image of God – 2 Corithinians 4:4; Colossians 1:15
Indescribable Gift – 2 Corinthians 9:15
Intercessor – Hebrews 7:25
Jesus – Matthew 1:21
Jesus the Nazarene – John 18:5
Judge of the World – 2 Timothy 4:1; Acts 10:42
Just One – Acts 7:52
Just Judge – 2 Timothy 4:8
King – Matthew 21:5
King of Israel – John 1:49
King of Kings – Revelation 17:14; 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15
King of Nations – Revelation 15:3
King of the Jews – Matthew 2:2
Lamb of God – John 1:29
Last Adam – 1 Corinthians 15:45
Leader – Matthew 2:6; Hebrews 2:10
Leader and Perfecter of Faith – Hebrews 12:2
Leader and Savior – Acts 5:31
Life – John 14:6; Colossians 3:4
Light – John 1:9; John 12:35
Light of all – Luke 2:32; John 1:4
Light of the world – John 8:12
Lion of the tribe of Judah – Revelation 5:5
Lord – Luke 1:25
One Lord – Ephesians 4:5
My Lord my God – John 20:28
Lord both of the dead and the living – Romans 14:9
Lord God Almighty – Revelation 15:3
Lord Jesus – Acts 7:59
Jesus is Lord – 1 Corinthians 12:3
Lord Jesus Christ – Acts 15:11
Lord of all – Acts 10:36
Lord of Glory – 1 Corinthians 2:8
Lord of lords – 1 Timothy 6:15
Lord of Peace – 2 Thessalonians 3:16
The Man – John 19:5
Master – Luke 5:5
Mediator – 1 Timothy 2:5
Messiah – John 1:41; 4:25
Mighty God – Isaiah 9:6
Morning Star – 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 2:28; Revelation 22:16
Nazarene – Matthew 2:23
Passover – 1 Corinthians 5:7
Power and wisdom of God – 1 Corinthians 1:24
Power for salvation – Luke 1:69
Priest forever – Hebrews 5:6
Prince of Life – Acts 3:15
Prince of Peace – Isaiah 9:6
Rabboni – John 20:16
Ransom – 1 Timothy 2:6
Redeemer – Isaiah 59:20
Rescuer from this Present Evil Age – Galatians 1:4
Radiance of God’s Glory – Hebrews 1:3
Resurrection and Life – John 11:25
Rising Sun – Luke 1:78
Root of David – Revelation 5:5
Root of David’s line – Revelation 22:16
Root of Jesse – Isaiah 11:10
Ruler – Matthew 2:6
Ruler of the kings of the earth – Revelation 1:5
Ruler and Savior – Acts 5:31
Savior – 2 Peter 2:20; 3:18
Savior of the world – 1 John 4:14; John 4:42
Second Adam – Romans 5:14
Servant of the Jews – Romans 15:8
Shepherd and Guardian of our souls – 1 Peter 2:25
Slave – Philippians 2:7
Son – Galatians 4:4
Beloved Son – Colossians 1:13
Firstborn Son – Luke 2:7
Son of Abraham – Matthew 1:1
Son of David – Matthew 1:1
Son of God – Luke 1:35
Son of Joseph – John 1:45
Son of Man – John 5:27
Son of Mary – Mark 6:3
Son of the Blessed One – Mark 14:61
Son of the Father – 2 John 1:3
Son of the Living God – Matthew 16:16
Son of the Most High – Luke 1:32
Son of the Most High God – Mark 5:7
Only Son of the Father – John 1:14
Source of God’s creation – Revelation 3:14
Spiritual Rock – 1 Corinthians 10:4
Living Stone – 1 Peter 2:4
Stone rejected by the builders – Matthew 21:42; 1 Peter 2:8
Stumbling Stone – 1 Peter 2:8
Teacher – Matthew 8:19; Matthew 23:10
Testator of the New Covenant – Hebrews 9:16
True God – 1 John 5:20
True Vine – John 15:1
The Way the Truth and the Life – John 14:6
The One who is, is was, and who is to come – Revelation 3:7
Wisdom of God – 1 Corinthians 1:24
Wonderful Counselor – Isaiah 9:6
Word – John 1:1; 14
Word of God – Revelation 19:13
Word of Life – 1 John 1:1

Source: Archdiocese of Washington


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Are All Sins Equally Bad? Are All Saints Equally Good?

Colijn de Coter,
Saint Michael Weighing Souls (detail)
(16th c.).

Protestants typically believe that all sins are equally bad, and all Saints are equally good. For example, a Kansas middle school teacher is in hot water for writing, according to the Huffington Post, that “Being Gay Is 'The Same As Murder'.” Despite the quotation marks, the teacher didn't actually write that. Instead, he wrote:

All this talk in the news about gay marriage recently has finally driven me to write. Gay marriage is wrong because homosexuality is wrong. The Bible clearly states it is sin. Now I do not claim it to be a sin any worse than other sins. It ranks in God's eyes the same as murder, lying, stealing, or cheating. His standards are perfect and ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Sin is sin and we all deserve hell. Only those who accept Christ as Lord and daily with the help of the Spirit do their best to turn from sin will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There aren't multiple ways to get to Heaven. There is one. To many this may seem close minded and antagonistic, but it doesn't make it any less true. Folks I am willing to admit that my depravity is just as great as anyone else's,and without Christ I'd be destined for hell, if not for the undeserved grace of God. I'm not condemning gay marriage because I hate gay people. I am doing it because those who embrace it will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And I desire that for no one.

While he's not actually saying that being gay is the same as murder, he is saying that homosexuality “ranks in God's eyes the same” as everything from lying to murder. In other words, every sin, from the smallest lie to the largest massacre, is equally bad. But is that right?

Are All Sins Equally Bad?

The clearest Scriptural evidence as to the degrees of sin comes from 1 John 5:16-17,

If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal.There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal.

In other words, Scripture clearly distinguishes between two categories of sin: mortal (or deadly) sin, and venial sin, which John defines as “sin which is not mortal.” A Christian who knowingly and willingly commits a mortal sin cuts himself off from eternal life. That's what John means by “mortal” or “deadly.” It kills the soul. So a man who, on his deathbed, is mildly rude to a family member is not going to be treated the same way as a man who, on his deathbed, renounces his faith in Christ. A Just Judge doesn't treat those two cases the same, and God is a Just Judge.

Look at 1 Cor. 11:29-30, in which St. Paul says of the Eucharist that “any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” Just as mortal sin is mortal to the soul, here again, it's primarily their souls that are weak, or ill, or dead. But notice that we're beginning to see distinctions even within the two categories: that some sinners are objectively worse off than others. So even within the categories of venial and mortal sins, we can distinguish between the degree and gravity of sin.

Jesus refers to sinners as “the sick” in Mark 2:17, and Himself as the Doctor. But of course, there are different kinds and degrees of illness. Even if all of the sick need a doctor, and need healing, it's just not true that a headache and cancer are equally bad. We see this also in Luke 7:36-50, in which Jesus compares sins to different sized debts, in the house of Simon the Pharisee:

Jean Beraud, St. Mary Magdalene in the House of Simon the Pharisee (1891)

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and took his place at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "What is it, Teacher?"

"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."

Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

So this captures two different points, each of which is very important. First, that some sins are actually worse than others, that some sinners have offended God's Justice more egregiously than others. But second, that everyone is in need of redemption, and everyone is offered redemption, regardless of how bad their sins are. Protestants generally grasp the second point, but in the process, they often deny the first one. It's a shame, because each teaching is clear from Scripture.

Are All Saints Equally Good?

The flip side to the claim that all sins are equally bad is the claim that all Saints are equally righteous in the eyes of God. But as with the first claim, this doesn't appear to be based on anything from Scripture. Because Scripture actually paints a rather different picture.

When God is planning to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He doesn't talk to Lot, who lives there. He talks to his holier cousin, Abraham, instead, even though Abraham doesn't live in either of those cities (Gen. 18:16-33). And Abraham intercedes on behalf of his cousin, Lot, saving him and his family. Genesis 19:29 captures this succinctly: “So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.” So it's for the sake of Abraham that Lot is spared.

And Jesus rather frequently speaks about which of His followers are the greatest. For example, in Luke 9:48, He says, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.” And in Luke 22:26 says that, “the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” And shortly after this, He says to His Apostles (Lk. 22:28-30):

You are those who have stood by Me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as My Father conferred one on Me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in My Kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Now, Jesus doesn't give all of us that authority in Heaven, but just the Apostles who were with Him in His trials. And indeed, the image of Heaven given in Scripture is much more hierarchical than anything Protestants tend to describe. There are various ranks of angelic beings (angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominions, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim) lists in Scripture, and rankings even among the Saints. For example, Revelation 14:3 refers to a song that can only be sung by the 144,000 redeemed, a subgroup of the saved who are honored in a special way (see Rev. 14:1-5).

So clearly, both in Heaven and on Earth, the Saints are not merely interchangeable parts. Some have more power and authority. This is one of the reasons why Scripture prescribes intercessory prayer (see 1 Tim. 2:1): because we want those holier than ourselves interceding for us.

Conclusion

This is admittedly a bit of an overview for what should be a basic point: some sins are worse than others, and some Saints are holier than others. This point strikes me as so basic and intuitive that the burden should really be on the one who denies it. Where in Scripture do we ever hear that murder is no worse than, say, lying?

Source: Shameless Popery

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Who Is The Beast Of Revelation?

One of the most sinister figures in the Bible is the so-called “Beast” from the Book of Revelation. Portrayed as a frightening monster and identified with the ominous number 666, the Beast has been the subject of an enormous amount of discussion down through the centuries.

Countless individuals, both past and future, have been proposed as the true identity of the Beast, but what does the evidence from the Bible say?

In this video, I take a calm, balanced look at the evidence from the perspective of the original Christians reading the book of Revelation in the first century and suggest that the evidence points to an individual that many will find very surprising, especially if they view the book of Revelation as applying almost exclusively to the future.



There is more evidence regarding who the Beast of Revelation is than I could fit in the first video I did on the subject, so in this video I pick up where I left off and reveal new and surprising facts–things most people have never heard of–that point to who the Beast is.



Source: Jimmy Akin

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Misty's Testimony

Pro-Choice Atheist writer and editor becomes Catholic.

Ten years ago Misty was a pro-choice atheist living out her dream of being a writer and editor outside of Washington, D.C. Then her husband convinced her to join him in a spiritual journey through investigations of Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, Judaism, and Christianity.

Through God's grace, they're now both practicing Catholics blessed with faith, hope, and love--and five beautiful children! She now lives in Alaska and spend her days educating our children at home.

This is her story:

Why I Became Catholic (and Not Buddhist)

One of the questions I get most often when people hear I’m a convert is, “Why did you choose to become Catholic?” I’ve been asked this question by Jews, Baptists, Mormons, atheists, and even Jehovah’s Witnesses. The person who asks the question never says the rest of it, which is, “Why did you choose to become a Catholic INSTEAD of what I am?” These are people of genuine faith, who believe they have found and are living by The Truth. So naturally they want to understand how someone educated and sane could believe so differently.

It’s always a hard question to answer, because I’m sensitive to that unspoken part. I don’t want to insinuate–even accidentally–that they are less intelligent, less holy, or inferior to me as a Catholic. I usually give the “safe” answer, and talk about how my husband and I were drawn continuously to Jesus in the Eucharist. But part of me always yearns to say what G.K. Chesterton said so beautifully:

The difficulty of explaining “why I am Catholic” is that there are 10,000

reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true.

I never wanted to be a Catholic. I never even wanted to be a Christian. When my husband convinced me to join him on a quest through major and minor religions nearly 15 years ago, I did it mostly to humor him. I had lived as an avowed atheist for more than a decade and couldn’t imagine that The Truth even existed, much less it could be found. Especially when I couldn’t even accept that God was real.

Fortunately, God literally changed my mind about Him with a thunderbolt. One day, I was reading an article about the human genome project (I was a technical writer), when I was drawn to look at my own hand. What had before been a clever machine of flesh and bone was suddenly revealed to me as a pure miracle of creation. It was truly that instant; one second I was an atheist, and the next I was a believer. I knew with absolute certainty that only an intelligent designer–God–could have created something as incredible as me!

But accepting God’s existence didn’t solve anything; in fact, it created new problems. I’ve had friends who are Deists, who believe God created the universe (including humanity) and then left it alone…much like a clockmaker might create a masterful clock he sets into motion and then ignores. To me, it was simply unthinkable that God would create the glorious universe–including all the amazing people such as my husband–and then just walk away. I realized that the beauty that had brought tears to my eyes even as an atheist could only be interpreted as the uniquely personal stamp of a loving God who delighted in His creation. If God created the majestic earth, gave us the joy of music, and gave me the mind to appreciate it, then it made no sense that he’d create all that just to turn His back on it.

So my agnostic husband and I started questioning the people who claimed to know something about God: the believers. All believers. Every time we encountered someone of faith, we invited them to dinner and then respectfully grilled them on their beliefs. We visited their churches and temples, went to services with them, and read ad nauseum about what and why they believed and how they lived out their beliefs.

I wanted to be cool, but God made me Catholic instead. Le sigh.

We were initially most attracted to Buddhism, no doubt because its adoption by prominent Hollywood celebrities made it a “cool” religion. But despite our best efforts, we just couldn’t accept that Buddhism was true. For one, we found it too morally fuzzy. We had both come around to the pro-life position a few years earlier; even as an atheist I could see it was a human rights issue. So we were disturbed to hear a Buddhist woman who claimed to respect all life describe assisting in an abortion.

When we talked to Buddhists about morality, their answers were relativistic: “It’s only wrong if it’s wrong for YOU.” This never set well with us; either abortion is wrong in all cases because it takes a human life or it’s never wrong. The idea of basing the morality of an action on whether I want it to be right or wrong just seemed ridiculously self-serving. We shuddered to imagine a world where people get to decide for themselves whether lying, stealing, or killing are right or wrong.

There also was the problem of access. When the local Buddhist temple brought in a Buddhist master for a few days, the temple charged several hundred dollars for a guided retreat. While the temple likely would not have turned away a person who couldn’t afford to pay, the wisdom of their living saints ordinarily came with a hefty price tag. My husband simply couldn’t accept this. “So the poor get Truth at the charity of the wealthy?” he asked. This became an insurmountable barrier to him.

For me, it was what Buddhism said was our ultimate destiny that proved the real stumbling block. The end goal of Buddhism is extermination of the self, to annihilate your consciousness by entering “Nirvana.” You’re reincarnated again and again until you learn to eliminate all desire from your soul, at which point your “consciousness” diffuses and becomes one with the universe. Unlike in Christianity, where the goal is union with God (but you are still, in essence, an individual named Susan or Richard), Buddhism’s goal is to destroy the self.

When I considered the people I loved, I found it terrifying to think that what makes them who they truly are–the soul–would just disappear. As atheist convert Jeff Miller (the Curt Jester) said in his conversion story, “Facing death, I found that I did not really believe that if I had been killed that my existence would have winked out of the universe. The soul is not just some metaphysical idea.” Even for myself, I could never understand how spiritual extermination was a palatable goal.

My coffee addiction would have caused serious problems for me as a Mormon.

So we stopped going to Buddhist temples and asking Buddhists to dinner. And it was nice, because I could now serve meat to our guests again. But it was actually a Mormon who made us realize Jesus of Nazareth was the key. One night we had dinner with a faithful Mormon family. The father spoke about Jesus so tenderly that his love for Him was almost palpable.

I can only describe what happened to both my husband and I at that dinner as “Love testified to The Truth.” We knew that Jesus was not just real, but that He was–inexplicably–ALIVE and that this man had a relationship with Him. It was like reading about Abraham Lincoln your whole life and finding out he was actually still alive. And that there were people among you who were friends with him!

While we were strongly attracted to the Church of Latter Day Saints because of its emphasis on family values and strong sense of community, we’d done enough research to know we did not accept Joseph Smith’s claim to divine authority. So we went looking for Jesus in the only other place we’d seen His friends congregate: Protestant churches.

Why not the Catholic churches? Because most Catholics we knew believed more in Luke Skywalker than Jesus. Even those who participated externally in the faith, such as the coworker who went to Mass each week and never failed to show up with her annual ashen cross, told me she didn’t need to believe “all that stuff about Jesus” to be Catholic. “I just like the idea that God came down to live with us,” she said. “But I don’t care whether it actually happened.”

We knew just two young Catholics who practiced their faith, but their quiet reverence was eclipsed by the Protestants we knew, who unabashedly talked about their love for Jesus and whose churches were vibrant and welcoming. When you showed up at their services, they were on you like white on rice and never failed to invite you to their spiritual family. We’d attended several Catholic Masses to learn more about Catholicism, but we’d never once been approached by a welcoming Catholic. In fact, when we’d asked one priest if he’d meet with us to answer questions about the faith, he gruffly told us, “Call the diocese.” Catholics seemed to worship more as individuals, even in Mass.

I’ll never forget our first Easter in a Christian church. We attended Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia, an on-fire congregation that has since left the Episcopal Church. The line to get in wrapped around the block, with so many children you’d swear there was an orphanage on grounds. In front of us, a little boy played with action figures. Not of wrestlers or superheros, but of Jesus and the apostles. When the priest entered the church and processed down the aisle shouting, “Christ is risen!” the place erupted with so much excitement you felt like you were at a rock concert. These were people truly joyful to be Christian.

But for us, it wasn’t just about which group of believers impressed us. After all, we had been most impressed by the Mormons, but the teachings of Mormonism were a showstopper. The same thing happened with Protestantism. We’d call up churches and ask the pastor to meet for lunch. We’d meet, interview him about the church’s beliefs, then attend services the following Sunday. And we just could not accept that everyone gets to discern for himself what the truth is in the Bible. Everyone claimed their church was “Biblically-based,” yet every one taught something different. Even within the same traditions: Episcopalian Pastor A told us that abortion was always wrong while Episcopalian Pastor B told us it was sometimes acceptable. So remarriage is wrong in this church but not in that church? Women can be priests here but not there?

How can the Holy Spirit be leading so many people to different and even conflicting truths?

The more we read about Christian history, the more we realized that Protestant churches had changed “The Truth” to whatever was culturally acceptable at the time. Far from being immutable, Protestantism teachings were only true for as long as the congregants said they were. And if Truth really existed, we intuitively knew it wasn’t decided by committee.

That’s when we began seriously researching the teachings of the Catholic Church and discovered that the teachings of Catholicism today are the same as taught by the earliest Christians. We read that early Catholics—people who lived just a century or two after Jesus—believed in the Eucharist as the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus. They believed in infant baptism. They believed in Confession. Purgatory. Hell. They were against abortion and yes, even contraception. That the Bible canon was compiled because the books supported the oral traditions of the Church and not the other way around.

For us, it was the historical consistency of the Catholic Church—that the teachings are the same today as they were in the first centuries after Christ—that led us to it despite the poor experiences we’d had with individual Catholics. We believed firmly in objective truth: that was what morally true thousands of years ago for humanity is still true today. If the nature of marriage and sex made contraception wrong 2,000 years ago, then it’s still wrong, because the essential nature of sex and marriage is the same.

So Catholicism is true after all. Crap.

It’s one thing to intellectually accept a religious institution has divine authority. It’s another thing to live that out. We’d decided at the beginning of our quest, though, that if we ever found Truth, we intended to live by it. Integrity, for some strange reason, was critically important to us both. If Buddhism was true, then we’d shave our heads and wear robes to work. If Mormonism was true, we’d give up coffee and Coke and wear sacred underwear. Probably even move to Utah.

But then there was Catholicism…and we realized that being faithful to Catholic teachings was the hardest path to follow as far as religions go. The bar is set very, very high for a person who wants to be a genuine Catholic—it’s not that there are so many rules about what you can’t do, but the call to holiness in Catholicism demands more of you spiritually than any other faith. C.S. Lewis called this the “weight of glory.” Were we ready to never tell a lie again? To avoid gossiping? To attend Mass every weekend after years of sleeping in? To eschew contraception for NFP even when we didn’t want to abstain?

By the time we were done RCIA, we were beating down the doors to become members of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

We realized that if we believed the Church spoke with the voice of Christ—and we did—then we had to submit to all her teachings, not just the ones we found convenient or easy. We realized that if we decided, for example, the Church was wrong about remarriage, then we were undermining the Real Presence. If the Church is wrong about contraception, then how can we have faith it’s right about baptism taking away sin or about God or even heaven? We had rejected, over and over, faiths that taught we could define morality on our own. But with that Truth facing us, it was a frightening prospect to submit our whole lives to it.

In the end, we did. We became Catholic together, surrendering our wills to the Church because we knew it was the same as surrendering them to Christ. That alone made it possible for us to accept all the teachings of Catholicism. And all along this hard road to sanctification, we’ve relied on our love for Him–and more importantly, His love for us–to live out the gift of faith He gave us.

Some people are amazed we were so resolute in our search for truth. But really, we did not choose Him–He chose us. Like Aslan in The Horse and His Boy, Jesus was there the entire time, nudging us this way and that, ensuring we had the grace to find the truth, accept it, and live by it.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving me even in my sin and for calling me home to You. What a gift it is to be Catholic!

Source: Catholic Sistas

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