Rachel and I will be received into the Church on the Feast of the Assumption, in mid-August.

Thank you. I started studying the history of the early church and the foundations of the faith and was shocked by both how the Bible was originally preserved and assembled, and then how the Reformation had made a sharp break with what the Church had always believed. Particularly the idea of baptism and communion both being symbolic things. The Early Church believed Baptism literally saved you by washing away original sin, and would never leave children upbaptized. There’s a book called “Four Witnesses,” which has lots of writings from four very early church fathers. Their views are almost completely contrary to many current Protestant teachings, yet they were very soon after the Apostles and some even were taught by them! The endless schisms and the loss of history very much bothered me, and I realized that despite the current terrible issues in the Catholic Church, it must simply be the One, Holy and Apostolic Church. They were the only ones with the direct link to the first century, as well as the laying on of hands in a chain that reaches all the way until now. It was not a conclusion I wanted to reach, but I have been forced to reexamine what I believe and now think there’s just no way out of joining. In the early church, an altar was the center of worship – Christ’s Sacrifice being the main focus – and now, it’s a pulpit, and the best talkers win. Whew.