Tuesday morning I checked my phone messages at the office. One was from a student from Fort Valley State University asking me if I could come to her class to speak about the “Catholic religion.”
I called her back to get details and to determine if I would go speak about the “Catholic religion.” It was an advanced counselling course and her group was presenting on inter-faith marriages. I would speak for fifteen to twenty minutes, focusing primarily on the Catholic Church’s view on inter-faith marriages and their impact on children. I happily and excitedly agreed.
The class had nineteen students, most of them counselors at area schools and none were Catholics. I spoke about the sacraments and the Church’s teaching on marriage. Questions began to come. The fifteen minutes turned into forty-five minutes!
With so many misunderstandings and incorrect representations of the Catholic Church out there, I believe it’s important to accept these types of invitations to allow people to learn about the Catholic Church from someone within the Church. For many the Catholic Church is a mysterious entity, so reaching out to society can clear up many misconceptions and destroy prejudices. I believe this happened tonight with the students at Fort Valley State.
Many believe the Church is irrelevant in society with little or nothing to offer to a post-modern world. When people realize this is not the case and that the Church speaks logically and intelligently, they take an interest in the greatest thing we possess and propose: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Tonight we ended up speaking about working with immigrant children and the unique needs and challenges that arise. We spoke about annulments and how marriage is a foretaste of our union with God after our earthly life. It was a great time, and I look forward to many more opportunities like this one.
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