I've been Catholic all of my life, but I probably wouldn't be a practicing Catholic today if it weren't for the deeper discovery of one profound truth: Jesus Christ is truly, really present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. Here's a bit of my story.

I grew up in a loving Catholic family - thanks, Mom and Dad! - that went to Mass every Sunday, prayed together, and talked about God. Because I was surrounded by Catholic aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors, I don't think I even realized that non-Catholics existed until about fourth grade, when I learned that one of my good friends was Methodist. Catholicism was an unexamined, unquestioned, and unappreciated element in the air that I breathed throughout my childhood.

In high school, however, I began to spend a great deal of time with some truly inspirational Evangelical Christian friends who made me reexamine my Catholic roots. They talked about being “saved,” “having a personal relationship with Jesus,” and “walking with the Lord.” They read the Bible on their own and seemed to have Scripture verses memorized for every occasion. While many of my Catholic peers could barely stay awake at Sunday Mass, these Protestant friends seemed to have a sincere, joy-filled love for the Lord that they were eager to share. At their invitation, I began to attend “Christian Club” at Leonardtown High School and Young Life, an inter-denominational ministry for high school students. I also started dating a lovely young Baptist girl named Nicole. (Spoiler alert! Nicole is now my Catholic wife.)

Inspired by my Evangelical friends and by Young Life, I began to realize the depth of God's love and the beauty of his plan of salvation. Like many Catholics, unfortunately, I had assumed that we get to Heaven by just checking the right moral boxes - this is actually a long-condemned heresy called Pelagianism - but I was beginning to discover our profound need for the salvation that Jesus won for us by his death and Resurrection. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). I began to pray more fervently, knowing that God loves me and desires a relationship with me now and in eternity.

My newfound Christian zeal brought some challenging questions: Why was I Catholic and not Protestant? What do Catholics and Protestants actually believe about salvation, and who's right? Why are Evangelical worship services so different than Catholic Mass, and do those differences really matter? Is the Catholic faith even biblical? I began looking for answers to those questions in Catholic and Protestant books. Although I never stopped attending Mass with my family, I had serious doubts that I should remain in the Catholic Church.

My commitment to the Catholic faith was eventually reaffirmed by Scripture itself. Matt Hall, a local Young Life leader who made a deep, positive impact on me, issued a challenge to read Scripture every day for 30 days, promising a prize for all who succeeded. I decided to take him up on the challenge and began by reading through the Gospels. At some point during my reading, I came to these words of Jesus from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John:

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world... Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him (John 6:51-56).

This passage comes up almost every year in the Sunday Mass readings, so I know that I would have heard it before, but the words struck me differently this time. As a child preparing for First Holy Communion, I had learned the basic Catholic teaching that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus, and I had since learned that Protestants generally view Communion merely as a symbol of Jesus. As I read John Chapter 6, I thought, “This is exactly what Catholics believe about Holy Communion! This teaching of the Catholic Church is biblical!”

The initial excitement that Catholics were actually right about something soon gave way to a sense of amazement - The same Jesus who died on the Cross and rose again 2,000 years ago out of love for me is really, truly present under the appearance of bread and wine in Holy Communion. As a child, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was just another doctrine to be memorized, but as a teen who was beginning to develop a personal relationship with Jesus in prayer, the Real Presence was a life-changing (re)discovery. How many times had I received Communion without acknowledging the Lord whom I was receiving? Though I still had many questions to answer, I began to attend Sunday Mass with more excitement and appreciation. I wanted to be closer to Jesus, and you can't get any closer to him than literally receiving him into your body!

Motivated by the realization that at least this Catholic teaching was biblical, I began to devour Catholic apologetics resources by Scott Hahn, Catholic Answers, and EWTN. I eventually came to grasp the truth and beauty of the rest of Catholicism and began to sense a call to teach the Catholic faith that would eventually bring me to my current position at St. Aloysius Church. It all started, though, with the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

Beginning in just a few days on Tuesday, February 2, St. Aloysius Church will begin offering daily Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from 6:30 to 7:30 AM and 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the Sacred Heart Chapel. While there is no greater privilege than actually receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, simply spending time in the Presence of the Lord can provide us the opportunity to develop that relationship with him in prayer for which we were created. Look for details on our Eucharistic Adoration page.

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