Catholic?

Some people have asked (and even more have wondered) how I, an Evangelical pastor for so many years, could make the decision to enter the Catholic Church. Often the recent scandals in the Church are raised as objections; others criticize what seems to them to be lifeless formalism. While these things do exist, they are not reflective of true Catholic teaching and practice. Particular reasons for my decision are many and varied, but one of my devotional readings from this past week gives one window:

....the Church would be without stain if we were not a part of it! The Church would have one less wrinkle if I committed one less sin. Martin Luther criticized Erasmus of Rotterdam for remaining in the Catholic Church despite its corruption, but Erasmus answered him: "I put up with this Church in the hope that one day it will become better, just as it is constrained to put up with me in the hope that one day I will become better." (Fr Raniero Cantalamessa)

Amen.