The Faith in My Nutshell

What do I believe?

Recently, I have been in a most unpleasant, for me, dialogue with a Christian Brother, raised in the Catholic faith, who did not find Jesus, while a Catholic, but found him after he had left.  He developed a love for the Bible, and is practicing the faith he discovered in his spiritual home here on earth.  In the exchange that occurred, he asked me repeatedly what I believed.  In the mean time, he was thumping me with his biblical quotation skills about all the things that the Catholic Church believes or does not that are contrary, in his less than humble opinion, to the Bible.

Even when I, much to my own chagrin, articulated some of my faith for him, he went back on the attack.  He was far harder on me than two others commenting in the same exchange, one of whom is a self proclaimed practicing Witch, and the other who is a confirmed pope and RC Church hater.  In fact, when I shared what I believed, there was nary a peep out of them, which I actually appreciated, since it was a point of vulnerability to me in the circumstance, and at the time.

One of the things my fellow believer was critical of me for, when I told him to look at my blog to see what I believed, was that I copy and quote a lot of other people here, but what do I really believe, he asked again and again.  Well, here it is, but it again is not original.

I believe in the Sign of the Cross.  In other words, I believe: "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

That is the essence of the Catholic Faith.  It is for all intents and purposes, the Reader's Digest version of the Apostle's Creed, which I too believe.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; 

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, 

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. 

He descended into Hell;

the third day He rose again from the dead; 

He ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty;

from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, 

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.

I tried to say this in my own words, but there was no mollifying my Christian friend.  I have no doubt that this will not do either.  Sigh!!

What's a Bible believing, Spirit filled, Roman Catholic Papist to do?