Tyler Blanski
At first, I became Catholic because Catholicism is true. But things are different now.
It’s been almost seven years since I was received into the Church. Those early years were full of intellectual revelations and heated debates, spiritual epiphanies and the thrill that comes with meeting new friends and discovering new worlds. From Mass to reconciliation to coffee in the parish basement, every new experience brought with it a freshness, a newness, a sense of purpose that felt almost like falling in love.
But like a traveler in a foreign land, I was self-conscious and aware of my efforts to adopt the customs and idioms of that place. I felt like I should defend Rome, explain the Catechism, or blog about my travels. I was more interested in the “why” of the faith rather than the “how,” and to some degree things were very principled and theoretical, which makes sense because back then I was Catholic, firstly, because Catholicism is true.
But over the years, things have changed. I am no longer Catholic because Catholicism is true, although it certainly is true, but for another, simpler reason.
My wife Brittany and I have now had three children, and as any parent can tell you, children have a way of swiftly making abstract ideas become very concrete. You are brought into a world of diapers, sleepless nights, constant cleaning, cuddling, disciplining and cooking. As a father, I’ve also had to stretch myself professionally so that I can provide for my family, and business in America is very real and down to earth. It’s a world of meetings, deadlines and the bottom line — not beautiful truths.
In a way, Catholicism is also practical and down to earth. What else would you expect from a God who in order to bring us up to heaven would come down to earth? It’s true that heaven is the goal, but our Lord left the Church behind to finish the mission on earth; and perhaps one of the reasons that mission is so difficult to accomplish is because it’s so real.
I am no longer Catholic because Catholicism is true, but because it is real. It isn’t something simply to be believed, but something to be lived. God’s grace works in you. The truths become a part of you. It’s not enough to dip your toes in the water; you have to jump in and swim. Like having children or running a business, this faith is not an abstract and beautiful picture; it’s a common life of habits and commitments and (I’m not afraid to say it) results.
Perhaps this is some of what G.K. Chesterton was getting at when he said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Tyler Blanski is the author of An Immovable Feast: How I Gave Up Spirituality for a Life of Religious Abundance (Ignatius Press) and the director of major gifts at Chesterton Academy in Hopkins. He and his wife own a publishing business in Eden Prairie and are members of Holy Family in St. Louis Park. He is also the founder of Fight for Milk, an apostolate to help Catholic men succeed in their vocation to fatherhood. You can connect with him at fightformilk.com.
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