Why I am Catholic

By Terry Classen

degree of love? That is where the Catholic Church lifted me — and continues to.

Jesus is the personification of a God that exceeds understanding (Col 1:15). The apostle John said that all the books in the world couldn’t contain everything that Jesus did (Jn 21:25). The Catholic Church therefore embraces what Jesus shared with the Apostles as he lived with them. That is handed down with tradition. Tradition frequently gives the Church context to interpret the Bible.

I’ve had to acknowledge that from its very beginning, some of the Church’s leaders have had their faults — some major. Those faults, however, are the result of human failure to live up to the faith of the Church, and not a corruption of the faith itself.

The Church presents exemplary saints to guide us. The Immaculate Mother Mary reached out to us at Fatima and presented a way of life for this generation. To elevate our life, we have sacraments that confer what they signify and raise us when we fall — as I experienced that we inevitably do. Greatest of all is our sacrifice of the Mass that brings us closest to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We join our prayers, work, suffering and good intentions with Jesus’ sacrifice to the Father. We take Jesus at his word (Jn 6), that in partaking of the Eucharist, we share Jesus’ life by an indwelling, and we become part of an eternal and holy family of God. With Jesus truly, really, substantially present, we commemorate and offer his sacrifice to the Father and seek union with Jesus.

All are good reasons I am happy to be Catholic.

Classen, 67, is a retired civil engineer. He and his wife, Jayne, are members of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. They have five children and nine grandchildren. He takes interest in anything his grandchildren take interest in. He also enjoys reading about great construction projects and all things religious.