Good Afternoon

[DeusMisereatur]

Salvete! (Latin: Greetings, y'all!)


My name is Zach. I am a college Freshman in Middletown America (more-so a reference to the kind of town and the region than to its actual name, but it was at one time "nicknamed" such). I am majoring in English Education, and am undecided as for a minor, but might choose Latin -- its such a beautiful language. I was born, raised, and baptized Southern Baptist, but have experience in United Methodist and Pentacostal (many forms) denominations. I have studied to varying degrees Nordic and Greek mythology, the Baha'i faith, Buddhism, and various economic systems (Communism, Marxism, Utopian Socialism, Captialism, Objectivist Capitalism [please do not make me place the technical French term]). Despite this last listing, I still do not understand economics . . .

. Shortly after my 8th grade year, I renounced Christianity and proclaimed myself an atheist, although agnostic would have been a more accurate term. Science seemed to contradict what my pastors taught. Science had evidence, my pastors did not. I understand the relationship between science and religion thusly: Truth cannot contradict Truth, where there is contradiction, it is either a case of bad religion or bad science. This does not mean discarding what is uncomfortable or against one's opinions -- it means after carefully analyzing the objective evidence on both sides, which is true? In short, I felt that religion had failed as a medium for Truth. The ideas I held before this were exclusively my parents'. After this, I started to form my own perspectives. Oddly, it was the very same vehicles that pushed me away from Christianity in the first place that led me back: science and human reasoning. When I attended a Catholic Mass for the first time, I became fully aware of where the answers to my many questions and wanderings lie. After much researching, I became convinced. But it was the Holy Eucharist (Sacrament of the Altar, Blessed Sacrament, Communion) that spurned me to convert. I was confirmed into the Catholic Church in a parish specialized for college students during the Easter Vigil of '10.


My favorite translation of the Bible is the RSV-2CE (Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition). The RSV branch of translations is accepted by both Protestants and Catholics and is based entirely and directly off the Greek and Hebrew texts. It is considered by many biblical scholars to be one of, if not the, the most accurate translations of the Holy Scriptures in the English language. The Catholic editions (1st edition is no longer in print, I think) include the Deuterocanon (sp?), commonly, but incorrectly, called the "Apocrypha" by many non-Catholics. The second edition simply replaces the thee's and thou's with you's. It is considered as part of the same vein as the KJV -- a literary and faithful translation, but more suitable for modern readers due to the natural evolution of the English language.

 

[fivesense]

If it is OK to call you DM, that is what I will do. The complexion of the moniker you chose is no doubt appropos, and a unique story.

I was raised by practicing Roman Catholic parents, and attended a few years of parochial school. The truth of God surrounded me throughout my youth, but there were none in my life who could testify to the power of that truth, so I never gave myself to that religion. Should a member of the elect Body of Christ been nearby who was aware of the evangel the Cross of Christ, maybe things would have been different. Instead I went about my affairs of pursuing my crooked hearts' desires, making an utter catastrophe of my youth and mid-life years.

Most of my extended family, my wife's relatives, are or were Catholic. So I am familiar and still in association with its activities in the States. There is very little communion though, with the devout ones to the Roman Papacy, due to many factors. God is not accessible to them in any real form, so conversations with them are tense and tested, their having no personal experience with Holy Spirit and grace. It was a cause of grief for many years, but the realization that God is working all according to the counsel of His will has allowed me to surrender my sorrow for them into His keeping. Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men, specially them that believe. This is absolute truth, and worthy of all acceptance by everyone who names the name of the Lord.

I believe the Roman church to have exerted itself over the centuries to the benefit of mankind in great ways. Without the prominence and influence of the Seat of the Pope in the affairs of men throughout history, barbarianism would have lifted its ugly form in its stead. So as a preventative effect against evil, and the wicked forces that we are unable to see, Catholicism has contributed much to society and humanity in general. Many of the Churches "saints" were pivotal in the direction mankind has taken as a race, and my personal favorite, Mother Theresa, is one whom I am dying to meet and spend time with. She truly was a living saint.

I ponder your situation with all the sectarian influences you have had upon your life. While some things of import were cast in formative years, there must be conflicting thoughts and ideas that come to you that distress you or cause you to backpedal for answers. Not all of what Christendom extends as truth, is so. But there is sufficient amounts in each sect to validate their existences. How do you sift through all those things, indeed, if you even wonder, as I would, to come to conclusions to accord with the mind of God? What is your goal in this life, and how does the Eucharistic Feast obtain what Christ has for you today? Just a few thoughts to converse on. Feel free to email me should you find yourself entertaining these things.
fivesense