Yesterday I visited a friend who I have recently become in touch with again. She is a Christian. She was baptized Catholic and received first communion but shortly after that her family stopped going to mass. I think she started going to church again about around the time she met her husband over four years ago. She goes to Protestant churches but she believes in infant baptism and she seems drawn to liturgical churches such as Lutheranism. It seems that her and her husband are continually trying to find the right church for them. She was telling me that she thinks Evangelicals miss out on a lot by not celebrating different liturgical seasons like Lent. They are currently attending a Lutheran church after having previously attended a Baptist church for a period of time.
She also seems to prefer churches that offer communion on a regular basis. I want to say to her why not just go for the real deal and become Catholic. She was asking me how often Catholic churches receive communion. Catholics not only believe that the Eucharist is the body of Christ but also that priests have the authority to make this miracle happen because of apostolic succession. The bishops have come down to us from the apostles who were ordained by Christ himself. By what authority do Lutherans and other churches who believe in the Eucharist in their own way claim that their pastors can make this happen?
Any way at this point it seems that we are a little fearful of going into any depth about our religious differences. At least I am. I pray that she comes back to the Catholic Church and brings her husband along. I am sure we will learn a lot from each other as we become better acquainted. I suppose it is good just to have a Christian friend with some solid theology behind her beliefs in this day and age. Heck its just good to have a friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment