Yes, the sad truth is that lately I have been so incredibly Bored that I forgot to document what I did in my Boredom. So, here's a recap. Due to a medical procedure, I have spent most of the last couple weeks in my room, watching entire series of TV shows on Netflix, most notably In Plain Sight and Numb3rs. I watch In Plain Sight because when I am mad at the world, I can always count on Mary Shannon to be mad with me. I watch Numb3rs because secretly (although I guess not so secretly now...), my fantasy in life is to be a certifiable nerd. High test scores and a book collection 5 million times the size of my DVD collection isn't enough. I've always wanted to be able to rattle off 500 digits of pi, tell you the meaning of floccinaucinihilipilification, and remember what year squirrels arrived in Nantucket, then tell you how many calories you've burned banging your head against the wall while I speak. But, no matter how many random facts I look up, I never can quite convince anyone, including myself, that I'm actually a nerd. Instead, I just watch nerdy tv shows like Numb3rs and experience the characters' nerdiness vicariously.
Anyway, that's what I've been doing most of the time, but I've also spent some time thinking. This thinking had led me to change my name to Angry for a while, although I'm sure to switch back to Bored soon. You see, I'm so Angry right now that I'm actually going to explain my religious beliefs on my blog, where I said I would never discuss them. I am Catholic, for anyone who doesn't know me. (You don't know me and you're reading my blog? Yay!) In my life, I generally have not received much direct opposition to my beliefs. Yes, people disagreed with me, but most people never attacked me directly. Recently, however, I have been accused of being illogical in my faith. The allegation is that I am only Catholic because my parents raised me as such, and that I have no reason to actually believe in the Catholic Church. This claim is unfair, and I intend to show why. Yes, I was baptized Catholic at my parents' request, and for many years, as a young child, I gave little or no thought to religion, simply believing whatever my parents told me. I did become Catholic solely because of my parents, but they are not the reason why I remain Catholic. I remain Catholic, and I always will, because relatively simple logic dictates to me that the Catholic Church is the one true Church of Christ, and it's all based on the Eucharist.
You don't have to agree with me, but I see the Bible as very explicitly stating the truth of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. 1 Corinthians 11 states: "For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself." Not only does this verse indicate the Real Presence, but it also indicates that we must be especially reverent towards the Eucharist, only receiving it in the proper way. Therefore, it stands to reason that there must exist some specific proper way to receive the Eucharist, a ritual. If there is no specific ritual, then it may be thought that whenever someone says "This is my Body" anything in front of them, even goldfish crackers, might become Jesus' body, but no one would know for sure so it would be impossible to show the right reverence, and people might in fact reverence items that did not contain the Real Presence. So, there must be some ritual, and only that ritual results in Transubstantiation, for God does not wish his Body to be received unworthily. How can we know this ritual? It is not described precisely in the Bible, so based on the Bible alone, the ritual could be open to interpretation. Therefore, we must have a reliable tradition - the ritual must have been passed on since the apostles. The Catholic Church claims to have passed it on, but how can I trust the Church? I must trust the Church because I know God would not leave us without the Eucharist, when He was so clear about its importance, and for me to trust the Church to be the perpetual messenger, then the Church must be infallible. For if the Church makes mistakes in her doctrine, then I cannot trust that the Eucharist I receive at Mass is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. The Catholic Church must be infallible in her teachings to be able to precisely preserve the Eucharist for over two millenia. So, since I know the Eucharist must have been preserved, I know the Catholic Church must be infallible. Since I know the Catholic Church must be infallible, I must accept all her other teachings, even when they seem strange to me or even unacceptable. God does not fit into our logic. Just because I do not understand something does not mean it is false. When something appears illogical at first glance, I cannot just write it off, because I am not the ultimate expert on logic. That's God. Yes, I have innumerable reasons for my beliefs. I have many justifications for my faith. Even when I doubt everything else though, I cannot suspend my belief in the Catholic Church, the Church which faithfully delivers the Eucharist throughout the ages. I hope this helps anyone who wonders why I'm Catholic or thinks I'm insane for believing what I do. You don't have to believe the same way I do, but you should at least recognize that I believe of my own choice, based on my own reason and not merely that of others.
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