Loyola Student Comes Home to Catholicism

It’s Monday night in Cuneo Hall and a group of about five students from Loyola’s Catholic Student Organization (CSO) are here to partake in a Bible study led by someone who would not have thought about leading a Catholic Bible study a year ago.

The group’s leader, sophomore Caley Terry, says, “I’ve been Christian my whole life. I see it as one very long continuum.”

However, earlier this year, Terry, after being a Protestant most of her life, converted to Catholicism after she began attending Mass at Loyola’s Madonna Della Strada Chapel.

The Holy Mass- A Starting Point
Caley Terry had a difficult time finding a Protestant church in the Rogers Park area so she attended Catholic Mass at Loyola to have some form of worship.

According to Terry, the Mass “was definitely a very different tone and I didn’t understand why. In a Protestant service, it’s a worship and teaching lesson.”

To Catholics, the Mass is a sacrifice where the body of Jesus Christ becomes physically present in the Eucharist.

This distinct difference led her to become friends with students who also attended the same Masses as her so that she could ask them questions about the differences between the Catholic Mass and Protestant services.

Terry eventually became friends with seminarians and other Catholic students from Loyola who were passionate about their faith.

“I had lots of conversations with my Catholic friends, different people I was in CLC [Christian Life Community] with, different authorities or semi-authorities, like the seminarians or theology majors, Catholic studies minors, that kind of stuff.”

The Investigation
It got to a point where she decided that if she was serious about looking into Catholicism she would have to do more than just talk to her friends. So she enrolled in a Roman Catholicism course for the spring semester of her freshman year.

“All Truth is God’s Truth, so investigating any certain religion, you shouldn’t be afraid of it because it’s either false or you should believe it. So that’s what I did.”

Before taking the course, she participated in a silent retreat and spent her time reading and investigating the Eucharist, the Catholic teaching on the physical presence of Christ in communion, since it is central and unique to Catholicism.

Regarding her sources, she said, “Coming from a protestant background, Biblical evidence was very important to me so I read all the gospel stories on the Eucharist like the last supper. And then I read some of the Pauline letters that talked about how to celebrate communion and was convinced of the divinity of the Eucharist in that.”

Once she accepted the doctrine of the Eucharist, it became hard for her not to admit that she had to become a Catholic. It is a belief held only by Catholics and to hold such a strong belief in the physical presence of body of Christ in the Eucharist it became hard to ignore Catholicism.

By the time spring semester started, she used her Roman Catholicism class to learn as much as she could about the faith and to make sure she was not agreeing to anything terrible out of ignorance by joining the Catholic Church.
Stumbling Blocks
When people convert to Catholicism, or any faith, there are stumbling blocks—beliefs that are hard to accept. Terry was no exception. Although she readily accepted the Catholic teachings such as the Eucharist and Sacred Tradition, she found it hard to accept and deal with two Catholic beliefs.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is a popular title for devotion to the Virgin Mary

• Infant Baptism- “I’m still unsure of what physical baptism it’s necessity. Just coming from a protestant background I’ve seen and known people who’ve had very intimate and personal experiences with God that have not been baptized yet or waited until they were an adult. So infant baptism, I don’t see the necessity of it like Catholics do.”

• Virgin Mary- “I’m working on it. I’m talking to her, asking her to pray for me but there’s still some tension there. She was never really emphasized in my faith before, so I’m learning and trying to understand things that aren’t really talked about in the Bible, like perpetual virginity and that stuff is very difficult for me to accept.”

Although she may not fully understand these teachings, it is not something she will leave the faith over. She is praying and talking to her Catholic friends to get a better understanding of these doctrines.

Returning Home
While it was easy for her to embrace her new found Catholicism at Loyola, leaving Loyola and returning home is strange now for Terry.

She explains, “I went to a nondenominational but majority Baptist high school, most of my friends are of a Baptist tradition.”

While her friends may now be of a different faith tradition than her, they understand she is the same person and that her conversion was a necessary step for her relationship with God.

“It’s added a new dimension to our conversations and the way we relate to each other,” Terry says about her new relationships with old friends.

She still goes to her old Presbyterian church while on vacation because, while it feels like there is something missing, she has a connection to the people.

Ministry
As a Christian her entire life, she has had a passion for ministry. That has not changed now that she is a Catholic Christian.

“I can’t say that there’s necessarily a shift in how much I was involved but just where I’m involved.”

Terry was active in Protestant ministry on campus last year, so as she began her journey into Catholicism, she became active with Catholic organizations on campus.

She is now a CLC leader and a member of Loyola’s Catholic Student Organization. She explains, “If I hadn’t become Catholic I probably still would be a CLC leader, just a Protestant one instead of a Catholic one. I’m part of CSO. I led a retreat earlier this year. I lead Bible study for CSO.”

Terry is ambitious and plans on continuing in ministry no matter what faith tradition she belongs to.

Fruits of the Faith
How has her faith and relationship with God changed?

Terry has come to find consolation in the sacraments.

The sacraments are, as St. Augustine wrote, “A visible sing of an invisible grace.” They are physical signs of God’s presence on Earth.

Vatican Coat of Arms

She says that as a Protestant, “That was always a problem in my faith and something I struggled with: that God couldn’t hold my hand. He made me physical but he wouldn’t come to me that way other than Jesus.”

Now she finds comfort in the Sacrament of Confession when the priest holds her hands and says, “You are forgiven.” She finds comfort in Christ present in the Eucharist.

These sacraments give her a greater intimacy with God that she could not find elsewhere.

While becoming a Catholic was a big step for her faith journey, she does not see herself as any more or less Christian. She sees her conversion as a natural step along the way to God.

“It doesn’t feel like my spirituality has taken a U-turn or a huge sharp turn, it’s seems like this is the natural progression and path towards God is becoming Catholic. This is the next step…Looking back on it now it doesn’t seem like it could be any other way."




written by: Andrew Gonzalez
Photo of Caley on her Confirmation by: Dan Rogers
Photo of Our Lady of Guadalupe by: Simona Eulalia/Creative Commons
Photo of Vatican Coat of Arms by: NielsF/Creative Commons

Get over the Hangover

 (image from Washington Post)

The candidates aren't the problem.

OK, yes they were. Who seriously thought Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, or Michele Bachmann would be considered credible Presidential candidates? The truth of the matter is that yes, the candidates the GOP put up weren't the greatest. There were a couple good ones (Ron Paul, Gary Johnson and Thad McCotter come to mind) but they mostly didn't do well in polls and had to drop out. For the most part, the debate stage didn't have that many great candidates.

There was no Mitch Daniels or Jeb Bush. No great Republicans that embodied the changes made to the party since the last Presidential election. Instead we were left with a choice between Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. These weren't candidates that inspired the great changes made to the Republican Party since 2008.

After John McCain lost the 2008 elections to now President Obama, it looked like the Republican Party finally woke up and said, "No more liberal Republicans. We need someone who can make a strong case for a true conservative message." And with that came the fiscally conservative TEA Party. I won't get much into it, I've mentioned on a previous post how I support the original libertarian TEA Party (which I dub the "Ron Paul TEA Party") not the neo-con Rick Santorum TEA Party. After McCain's loss, there seemed to be a wake up call in the GOP that we needed true Barry Goldwater conservatives much like Senator Jim DeMint, Governor Mitch Daniels and Governor Mark Sanford. The party needed someone who can not only deliver an effective small government message, but also someone who could walk the walk.

Then came the start of the 2012 Presidential Primaries. People like Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and El Rushbo (who I do listen to on some occasions) claimed that we will not go and pick a liberal moderate like John McCain. We will pick a True Conservative this time around. Then what happened? Mitt Romney got the nomination. The reason why I said that the candidates weren't the problem was because Mitt Romney didn't get the nomination on his own. Voters gave it to him. Voters who said "No more liberals" gave the Republican nomination to the liberal Republican governor of Massachusetts.

Why? Why did they elect him? First off, I would say, "Did you see the other candidates on the debate stage?" Like I said before, out of the candidates that were invited to all the debates, Ron Paul was probably the best one out there. Governor Gary Johnson and Rep. Thaddeus McCotter were good candidates but lack of media attention didn't get them anywhere. So seeing the lack of very good candidates, voters voted for Gov. Romney.

So OK, the candidates were the problem.

Now that I concede that, I want to talk about one of the reasons why Romney was elected: He was a safe candidate. He's an even tempered guy, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and he isn't very polarizing. For the most part, he is the anti-Palin.

You see, the Republican Party is still getting over a hangover from the 2008 elections known as the Sarah Palin Hangover. McCain picked a running mate that was high risk, high reward. Unfortunately, it didn't play out the way they planned. So this time around, Republicans were still feeling the pain of the 2008 loss were hesitant to pick a candidate who would too risky. So Mitt Romney seemed like the perfect candidate.

Now as Mitt Romney chooses his running mate, the Sarah Palin Hangover is being talked about again. People like former Vice President Dick Cheney are talking about how Romney needs to pick a safe candidate, not a risky "Sarah-like" candidate. Because of this Hangover, the two likely names floating around are Ohio Senator Rob Portman and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Picking these two candidates could be the biggest mistake Romney could make.

Yes, Portman and T-Paw are safe candidates. But they are too safe. A Romney/Portman ticket or a Romney/Pawlenty  ticket would be one of the whitest, blandest, and worst tickets they could possible put up. Remember, our candidate is a middle aged, boring white guy. The opponent is a charismatic black man. We can't have another middle aged, boring white guy as the second half of the ticket.

Republicans need to go big or go home this time around. Get over the hangover and pick someone who is young, charismatic, and can make the conservative argument. This election is between Mr. Salt Lake City and Mr. Chicago. Mitt Romney is going up against the toughest political machine in modern Presidential politics. Hell, they're not afraid to call him a tax evading murderer. He isn't going to win by being Mr. Nice Guy. They need a Vice Presidential candidate who is tough and hold no punches. They need someone with a vision and who can stir some enthusiasm for Romney. Portman and T-Paw won't do that for him.

It seems like Romney needs to go and pick a running mate who is the future of the party. And it seems like the future of the party is best held by four men: Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie. These men are the future of the Republican Party and can make the case for true conservatism. Yes, they are risky, but it will show that Romney can make bold decisions and not just play it safe.

It's time to hand the baton over to the next generation of conservatives. Get over the hangover and choose the right man for the job.







SIDE NOTE: Given the image above, my personal favorite (besides a Paul) would be Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan is one of the country's top Republicans and will most likely be a party leader in years to come. He is also very articulate and intelligent. When it comes to the budget and government spending, he knows the budget better than anyone else in the country. Sure, his embrace of the third rail of American politics (Medicare and Social Security reform) may be his downfall with Dems, but the Obama campaign is going to make Mitt talk about those issues anyway, he might as well have the one guy who knows what he's talking about defend it. Paul Ryan really is one of the best we have to defend True Conservatism. Romney says he wants a running mate with vision. Out of all the names floating around, Paul Ryan is the only one with vision.