If I wasn’t a Catholic, I fancy I'd be some kind of New Age hippy.

I’ve always had granola-type tendencies, and the idea of collecting multi-coloured rocks kind of appeals to me. I would lift my arms to the sunrise and drink weird teas. I would still have a lot of children, because Mother Earth would bless my goddessness with fertility.

All my sons would have long flowing hair and wear organic linen pants. My daughter would be named Artemis, goddess of freedom and the hunt. My sons would be Oden, Tyr, Vali, Uriel, and Remiel. We would gather mushrooms in the forest and play fairyland as they fingered amber-emanating teething necklaces. I would worship the sky, the waters, and myself.

I can’t say for sure, but I think I would still shave and wear deodorant.

Honestly, it would either be that or Catholicism. I can’t see it any other way. Thankfully, I was raised in a Christian home and given the opportunity to hear the Gospel and to know of the sacrifice of Jesus. I have heard scientific proofs for the existence of God and seen that the story of Jesus was either one of a liar, a lunatic, or a Messiah. Because only the last makes sense, Christianity is the obvious choice. But then, why be a Catholic?

Scott wasn’t a Catholic when we met. He believed the Church was the whore of Babylon, that we worshipped Mary and didn’t know the Bible. We would question and challenge each other late into the night.

As Scott came across books from the first and second century that were written by the early Christians, disciples of the disciples, he found the worship they described didn’t sound much like what he experienced at his services. To his dismay, they sounded like a Catholic Mass. They used Catholic language. They taught Catholic doctrines. His world started to spin. Then he read books of Catholic theology, apologetics, and the stories of converts. There wasn’t much left to say. He received the sacraments and joined the Church Christ began.

Scott is a very passionate Catholic. And if I can say so, he’s quite brilliant in sharing what’s he learned. He is often invited to speak to new Catholics, or to debate with anti-Catholic Protestants.

The anti-Catholics usually don’t change much in their position. I'm always baffled when their arguments are utterly blown away, yet they remain stubbornly in their choice.

The difference between Scott and these is that Scott was open to truth. He didn’t want to win an argument. (Well, we all want to win the argument, but he wanted truth more.)

He listened and reasoned, researched and prayed. The people I’ve seen challenge Scott are usually just trying to make a fool of him.

The same scenario plays itself out almost every time. Someone makes a claim against the faith, and Scott shows them scripturally and historically how they are misinformed. They ignore his reply and move on to another untruth. Scott shows them scripturally and historically how they are misinformed. They ignore him and move on to another untruth.

When they make claims they say are sola scriptura, he asks them why they don’t believe certain words that Christ spoke. They reply, “well, those particular words mean something different than what they seem. Jesus actually meant…. And the cycle continues.

When they eventually see they cannot make a fool of him or the Church, they end the conversation with, “Well, the Holy Spirit has told me I’m in the right.” It almost always ends this way, and there is nowhere to go with a lie like that.

This year is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s theses nailing. For some strange “let’s make friends” kind of reason, Catholics have been smiley-faced and congratulatory about it. As a college professor I know recently told his students, “If any of you, Catholic or Protestant, are cheering for this anniversary, you should get down on your knees and beg forgiveness. You are cheering on the destruction of Christ’s own prayer, that his church would be one.”

Even my children are questioned about why they worship Mary, why they don’t believe the Bible, why they have a Pope instead of Jesus. The need to know our faith, our history, our Scriptures (our Scriptures – written, collected and approved by the Church) is so important.

The tension between confidence in our faith and the tendency to pride is hard to overcome. Pray, with me, for humility. We are called by St. Peter: “Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pt 3:15).

Thank You, Lord, that my children are named for the saints.

(If you haven’t already, I strongly recommend subscribing to Formed.org. Two other great resources I’ve recently come across are Ken Hensly’s Understanding Luther, and Fr. Robert Spitzer’s Science.)