Witness

My daughters and I had the honor of seeing Jim and Debbie Druley received into the Catholic Church at the 9:30 Mass at St. Joachim in Madera.

I heard them publicly announce that they "accepted, professed and confessed" ALL teachings of the Catholic Church.

Wow!

Talk about your blank checks.

We cradle Catholics seem to take a fairly cavalier attitude to that kind of thing. On Catholic Match, for example, there are "seven faith questions" ranging from contraception to premarital sex to women priests to the infallibility of the pope that get a wide range of answers. (Actually, it's kind of useful to sort out potential dates based on the answer to question #2.) So, for anyone to show the public level of commitment that Jim and Debbie have shown - to pretty much anything, actually, in this day and age - is a wake-up call for those of us who have never had to witness to our faith in the public way they have.

It's also a reason that the so much of the vitality and hope of the Catholic church comes from its converts and reverts.

So, from a "lifer," welcome home.