By Paul Dion, STL
Tell us what your sincere opinion is: Is it better to be a lukewarm Catholic or an on-fire Protestant?
I was in San Diego last weekend and as usual I was taking a break from my intellectual pursuits and working with my orchids. At one point I had to stand upright and give my aching back a "breather". As I finished stretching and twisting I saw two very fetching young ladies standing in front of me, not too far from my front door.
They asked me if I was interested in talking about God. I said that talking about God is one of my favorite and quasi on-going activities. I pointed out that at the moment I was helping God make my orchids gather enough strength to blossom fully by Easter which was going to be upon us in five short months.
Then I attacked, "Do you believe in Easter?", I asked. I surprised them.
They said "yes". I said, "Good".
"How important is it to you?" I fired back.
"Oh, very" was the reply.
Then one of them got the message that they were not in charge of the conversation. She noticed that I was not quoting verses and chapters. Smooth lady!
"You're Catholic, aren't you?, she asked.
"Yes, I am" I answered. "I've been Catholic all my life and I am not about to negotiate that away."
They said that they understood. We talked for about ten more minutes on the difficulties of the life of door-to-door missionaries. We separated with smiles and promises of interchanging prayers.
These two young ladies are door to door missionaries. All of us have met some of these people before. Have we ever asked ourselves why none of them that we have met are Catholic?
Do we sometimes wonder whether it would be better to be a Protestant door to door missionary than a lukewarm Catholic? Do we sometimes ask ourselves if it would be better to be a zealous Boy Scout master for a Presbyterian church than a so-so Catholic who never offers anything to the Church? Would it be better to be working for the Episcopalian Home Economics group teaching people how to cook for one person and enjoy it rather than to sit by and wonder why the Catholic church doesn't do things like that?
You know that these are "Burning Questions" that come up in conversation all the time. What do you feel about these things? Don't be shy, tell the world what you REALLY think.
CLICK HERE to view the ParishWorld.net answer to this Burning Question.
