What Prompted me to try Tradition?

I almost left the Catholic Church many years ago because I did not see the difference between being Catholic or a Baptist. I had absolutely no idea that Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church, but by God’s providence I stumbled across a discussion between a Catholic priest and a former Protestant about the proofs and origins of the Catholic Church.

Upon watching the discussion I learnt about the writings of the first Christians, known as the Church Fathers.

If you do not know about these writings I strongly encourage you to research;

here are some examples:

• St Clement of Rome (writings dated 80 A.D.)

• St Ignatius of Antioch (110 A.D.)

• St Justin the Martyr (writings 148-155 A.D.)

• St Irenaeus (“Against Heresies” 180-199 A.D.)

As a side note, these writings pre-date the formal compiling of the books of the Old and New Testament, which wasn't completed until approximately the fourth century.

The key argument of Catholicism versus all other Protestant groups is that we are the Church established by Jesus

Christ.

It is the only Church which possesses the four marks of the Church established by Our Lord; One, Holy, Catholic (means universal) and Apostolic.

We can prove this by looking at what the first Christians believed and practiced; we look at

Tradition which is evidenced in the early writings of the first Christians, also known as the Fathers of the Church.

Upon watching the televised discussion, I realised that I knew next to nothing about my Faith and this ignited a fire inside of me to learn the Faith in order to understand the proofs of the origins of the Sacraments, the Papacy and devotion to the Saints, to name some examples.

I desperately wanted to do what I could to pass this on to other Catholics to stop them

misunderstanding the most precious gift; the Catholic Faith.

I realised that if the proof that the one true Church is the Catholic Church is because its teachings have been constant throughout history, then the notion that moral teachings must be changed to suit the modern outlook has always been rejected by genuine Christians.

As the years passed I further understood that innovations have to be rejected because the

essence of innovations undermine sound, Catholic practices; this is not to be confused with the Church deepening its expressions of the Faith. For example, the Council of Trent used the term 'transubstantiation’ to more precisely define the dogma of the Real Presence; it does not mean

the dogma of the Real Presence was invented at the Council of Trent in 1545-1563.

Consequently, questions surrounding the liturgy and the state of the Church became relevant to me because I was awakening to the reality of a crisis existing.

Such an understanding deeply troubled me because I wondered if I was wrong and I also could not comprehend how God could permit His Church to experience a crisis. Was I blinded by my own pride and just looking for an excuse to not ‘offer up’ the sufferings of attending irreverent masses where at times heresy is preached from the pulpit?

It was not until I turned to Our Lady that I received the clarity I was searching for.