Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Faith is A Gift

The term “Cradle Catholic” is a phrase that is tossed around quite a bit. It refers to those Catholics who were given the Faith at their birth. This is, of course, as opposed to “Converts,” or people who converted.

I would fall into the Cradle Catholic category. I’ve never really been fond of the term, though. Sure, most of the Converts that I know are amazing Catholics who have great fervor for their faith. But that fervor shouldn’t take away from my own. As you probably know, your faith life is a marathon, not a sprint. It isn’t always perfect, and there are some seriously dark times in everyone’s faith walk. At the end of the day, we share the same faith, no matter who gave it to us or when we accepted it.

We have a tendency to want to control things. If we can’t control something, or we can’t fully understand it, we can easily write it off. Yet, the mystery of the faith was a genius design. As humans, we get bored, fast. As soon as we figure out the mystery, we move on. That’s why movies are (almost) never as good the second or third time around. It is the mystery of something that keeps us interested and engaged.

With our faith, we don’t have to have all of the answers. In fact, that’s part of what faith is. Believing without seeing.

The other day in Mass, the thought crossed my mind. How will I explain who God is to my son? Children, as you may know, can only truly comprehend what they have seen. My 7 year-old brother-in-law didn’t believe that I had a brother until we showed him pictures. So, how will I tell my son about God, a being who’s Resurrected body he won’t see until death?

Despite being a mystery, faith is truly a gift. It’s a gift that we must cherish, because it’s the gift that will carry us through any situation. It won’t always be glamours, it won’t always be fun, but it will be steadfast.