Living a Catholic Lifestyle?

What does it mean to live a Catholic Life? Answers to this question come in every form and shape. From just meeting the bare requirements of being Catholic, to living a life that would make you a Saint.

To answer this, I can only give my views as a convert. I am not a great theologian. I am just the guy in the pew. I had no great knowledge of Catholicism before I became Catholic. In fact, I became Catholic in a ‘Road to Damascus’ experience.

I knew just enough about the Catholic Faith to be dangerous, which was basically nothing. I had been known to ridicule and demean people that I knew to be Catholic. And when my wife began to consider becoming Catholic, I figured it would just be a passing thing, and that it would go away. I told her I didn’t have problem with it, but, I was not going to become one. I knew what I believed and it was not Catholic. I considered myself a free thinker. I didn’t need a bunch of holier than thou people telling me how I should believe. And I sure didn’t believe that worshiping a Jewish Mother or praying to a statue was going to get me to Heaven.

She started going to Mass and studying the Catholic faith. I had been lead, as everyplace we stopped for any length of time we would go to Mass. Of Course she couldn’t receive Communion, because she hadn’t been made a Catholic, yet.

We would talk about the Catholic faith and I had her read out loud as I drove. To my surprize, I found it interesting, and going to the Mass was a peaceful time, after all the stress of driving the delivery truck. But, I was not going to become Catholic... No way.

Then one week I made a delivery in Laredo, Texas, which we called vacationland, because when you dropped your trailer there, you would most likely be there for a week waiting for a load to go out. The Catholic Church was not far from the terminal and we went to Mass everyday. That Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a Holy Day in the Catholic faith that begins a forty day fast til Easter. My wife explained it to me as best as she could, but, I was curious if someone could get ashes if they weren't Catholic. The priest, Father Charles, told me when I asked that we could do so. He explained that the ashes were a sign of ‘Repentance and Spiritual Renewal’. After the Mass, he invited us over to his office and talked to us about the Catholic faith. I told him I had no intentions of becoming Catholic, and that my wife wanted to, was not a problem. He then asked me if I would like to read some books on the Catholic Faith. He knew I didn’t want to become Catholic, but it would help me understand what my wife was doing.

We left Laredo and took a load to the Northwest. All the way up, we stopped when we could to go to Mass and I read the books the priest had given me. I began to understand more about the Catholic Faith, but, I was determined not to become Catholic.

My truck was being loaded early one morning in Caldwell, Idaho. As I stood on the dock counting the load on the truck, I began to feel weak and I sat down on some pallets The Dock Manager came over and asked if I would like to come to his office and sit down. As I sat drinking a cup of coffee, I asked him to go out and wake my wife., as I didn’t feel very good. The next thing I knew the EMT’s were there, and I was on the floor. I could see my wife, but I couldn’t talk. One of the EMT’s said, “ I’m not getting any Blood Pressure!” That was the last thing I remember til I woke in the ER.

I woke in the Intensive Care Unit, with my wife asking me if I wanted to see a Baptist Preacher or a Catholic Priest. For some reason I said a Priest. I woke as a young Priest was giving me what I thought was the Last Rites. He explained that it was the Anointing of the Sick. He said I had asked to be Baptized and asked to give Confession and Communion. Asking my wife and the nurse to wait outside, He asked me if I understood what I was asking. I said "yes". The priest then baptized me, heard my Confession, gave me Absolution, and brought me into full Communion of the Catholic Church.

In the years since then, I have learned what it is to live as a Catholic, not that I have always done so. But, I know that I can repent and begin fresh and new each time I fall from Grace. That is the key to Living Catholic. Knowing that you are never lost, that you can pick yourself up and start over as iwith the Sacrament of Confession, our sins will be forgiven.