Do I count too?: Loving Jesus as a Catholic 

Every Sunday at 10 a.m., I find myself in the same spot: sitting in the presence of the Lord, as incense burns around me, lost in prayer, feeling peace. 

Catholicism isn’t just a denomination, but a way of life: to walk out one’s days in a way that reflects Jesus Christ. 

I was born and raised in the Catholic faith, being baptized as a baby, receiving my first communion and then eventually getting confirmed into the faith. 

Culturally, you will see kids going through the processes just because their parents made them but never actually having a devotion for the faith. 

In truth, at one point, this was me. It wasn’t until the year of my confirmation, junior year of high school, that I realized if I was going to walk with the Lord and live out my life serving Him, then I needed to find a denomination that would embrace that and not steer me in the wrong direction. 

I started looking everywhere except more into the Catholic faith, mainly because I never thought I would find a reason to stay in it. I had visited Baptist churches, nondenominational youth groups and listened to multiple protestant church services, which were all great. Yet, no matter how much I enjoyed them, none could quite convince me to leave Catholicism. 

For some reason, I had a tug on my heart not to give up on it. I couldn’t tell if it was the familiarity of it, the fear of going into something new or God Himself moving in my heart to stay. 

Finally, hitting my junior year, I knew a decision needed to be made. I couldn’t confirm in a faith that I wasn’t committed to, so I waited patiently until it hit me— it wasn’t until that year that I finally discerned that it was the Eucharist calling to me, Christ Himself. 

For those who don’t know, Catholics believe in the concept of transubstantiation, which is where communion, the bread, or the Eucharist and wine, becomes the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. 

It can be a difficult notion to wrap your head around, but once you’ve studied it, there’s no way you can turn your back on it. 

This is what kept me in the faith—the profound knowledge of the holy presence of God—confirming one of the best decisions I could have ever made in partaking in Catholicism. 

Or at least that’s what I assumed. 

Once confirming into Catholicism, things actually got more difficult, spiritually. I was faced with more doubt than ever before, not from my own mind but the minds of others. Specifically, other believers. 

Christianity as a whole can be split into numerous branches. I personally find it silly to have so many denominations, all because certain ones don’t meet our standards to our liking. 

For simplicity, I’m going to split Christianity between Catholics and Protestants, Protestants being members who separated from the Roman Catholic Church, such as Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Nondenominational. 

I feel that, by not being part of a protestant denomination, I’ve offended others. I know, it sounds crazy. Yet, once I claimed the Catholic faith, heads seemed to turn and eyes shifted. 

I could meet people who’d know my love for Jesus and support me and my beliefs fully, until they hear what denomination I’m in. Which, frankly, is heart-crushing. 

It feels as if I’m being rejected by my own community. To feel at one moment that you’re so loved by like-minded people, just for them to turn away from you all due to you not being the same religion as them. 

This experience has molded me over the past few years. The idea that I can never openly discuss my faith, even around fellow believers, unless they’re Catholic, formed inside of me, always feeling forced to take such a defensive position when questioned. 

Quite often, I find myself trying to actively prove my faith to others due to another feeling of “not being a true Christian” when surrounded by protestants. 

Now I feel I must clarify that this isn’t all protestants. I have so many people in my life who love Jesus and aren’t Catholic that I hold dear to my heart and love endlessly. And I know they love me too. However, I can’t say it’s the majority. 

To further clarify, I speak for Catholics when I say we do the same thing. Truthfully, as Christians in general, we have to stop arguing and fighting one another. Through Christ’s death, we’re born again and adopted into the kingdom of God. So, brothers and sisters, may we please find the unity that Christ so desperately wanted from us: “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace,” Ephesians 4:3. 

I know I won’t fit in with every Christian group and what I’ve had to learn is that it doesn’t have anything to do with the denominations but the hearts of the people in them. I am aware that all the denominations love and follow Jesus and admittedly, that’s all I care about, whether or not I’m liked in the setting. 

So though tension may seem inevitable, I challenge all of us, no matter our beliefs, to allow room at the table. Keeping ourselves rooted in our faiths and shifting our hearts into a mindset that’s open and values the thoughts and opinions of others.