Keith Drury, "Why I like Catholics"

(via Brad)
I couldn't agree more with Drury!

Thanks, Keith, for verbalizing all the things that I've felt for over 40 years. My Dad was Catholic and my mom was Southern Baptist; they married before Vatican II and they each loved their church and attended faithfully. We kids were brought up Baptist.

I have fond memories of mealtimes reminisicent of Acts 2, where simultaneously the Lord was beseeched: "Bless us O Lord and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, Our Lord, Amen” and "Come Lord Jesus Be our Guest May our daily food be blest Amen." No wonder I grew up to be Evangelical Covenant. I thank God to have experienced the best of both worlds.

"Here are seven things I like about you:

1." I appreciate how you preserved Christianity

....Thanks for keeping the Christian torch burning for all those years, even if it flickered at times. We Protestants have been around only half that long and frankly, the torch were carrying today is flickering too.... "

2. "I like how you stand firm

... You don’t set church policy by taking a poll or having a vote of “the people,” pandering to the common denominator of the masses’ desires..."

3. "I like how politically balanced your pope is

...We Protestants always seem to wind up on one side or the other politically. Your pope scolds conservatives and liberals alike..."

4. "I like how you emphasize the Lord’s Supper

...Many Protestants treat Communion like it is a pain in the rear and something to get over with quickly so we can fill up the service with our own words. You Catholics really take this Sacrament seriously and I admire that..."

5. "I like how you kneel in worship

....When I was a kid we “holiness people” were always kneeling in worship too, but we don’t do that anymore since we moved to the suburbs...."

6. "I like how you emphasize confession

...You’ve kept the idea of sin and confession in your worship all the time we Protestants have been manufacturing a sinless religion which has no sins at all to confess or we lightly dismiss our daily habitual sins through “spiritual breathing.” I respect how you treat sin seriously..."

7. "I like your confidence

...We Protestants are always running around like the church is about to go out of existence if we don’t hurry up and adapt to the culture. You guys don’t seem to worry about being “kewl.” Your cardinals wear those pointy hats and bright red get-ups and march around like you are the kewlest folk of all and it is the world that is out of touch. I admire you for ignoring the world and having confidence in the supremacy of Christ’s church over the world’s styles and values. You guys even act like sooner or later all we Protestants will realize you’ve been right all along and we’ll all come home into the mother church. That’s confidence!"